Chapter 202: Not the Ticket

It was late evening once the inspector had returned. By that time, it had begun to rain hard. Thomas, Emily, Annie, and Clarabel had become miserable, but the inspector brought good moves.

"I've phoned ahead, and The Museum will be able to fix your engine as soon as you arrive tomorrow. They're still busy setting up your area, so this actually works out better than expected."

Everyone nodded, but one question was still on their mind.

"But how do we get there? You said it yourself, we can't drive the train."

"I've arranged for a lorry to come and collect you tomorrow. It'll be here at 8 o'clock, so I suggest getting some early sleep."

The four were relieved, but Thomas was rather annoyed.

"A lorry," he grumbled to himself, "Everyone back home will have a good laugh at that. "Fancy the famous Thomas making his grand entrance by road," they'll say."

"Aye, but there's not much we can do," Emily sighed. "At least we can say we got a paid vacation."

Thomas laughed, cheering up a bit. That night, they got a room at a nearby inn. But Thomas didn't sleep well. All he could think about was Gordon, James, and Henry laughing when they found out how he finished his journey.

"I can hear them laughing now."

The next morning, they set out early so that they could be there when the lorry arrived. They didn't have to wait long, and an engine arrived shortly after to help the engine onto the trailer. Thomas was most surprised to see who was at the engine's controls.

"Diesel?"

"Oh...hi, Thomas. Didn't expect to see you here."

Thomas wanted to talk more, but Diesel quickly pushed his engine onto the trailer and drove off. Emily took note of this.

"What was that about?"

"Its a long story. I'll tell you later."

With that, the four of them crammed into the lorry, their bags piled into the engine.

"Welcome, folks. National Railway Museum, right?"

"Yes sir."

"Well, don't you worry. Should get you there before noon, as long as traffic is good."

With that, the lorry took off. At first, Thomas remained unpleased with the injustice. But as they rode along, he couldn't help but enjoy the view. He chuckled at Annie and Clarabel pressing their faces against the window, pointing at every little thing they'd never seen before.

"Its actually kind of nice not to be the one doing the driving for once."

"Agreed."

Soon enough, the trees and dirt paths turned into paved roads and buildings, with small shops darting the streets. Annie and Clarabel oohed and aahed.

"Is this York?"

"Sure is. Should be at your destination in- hey, wait a minute!"

Suddenly, the driver parked his card on the side and pulled out a map. After a minute, he let out a yell of frustration.

"I should've known! Stupid company, gave me the wrong map!"

To everyone's surprise, he flung the door open, and stomped out.

"I'm sorry folks, but I'm lost. There's a cafe around the corner, I'll ask for directions there. You four just hang tight, I'll be right back."

With that, he disappeared down the street. Bored, Annie and Clarabel began playing a game of I-Spy. Just then, a constable came around and, seeing the parked truck, mumbled to himself and began writing something in his notebook. With a final humph, he slapped a note on the windshield and stormed off.

"Gee, he didn't seem too happy, did he?"

"Reminds me of when Toby came to Sodor."

A few minutes later, their driver came back, with some doughnuts in a bag.

"Hey guys, I felt sorry about leaving you like that, so I- Huh?"

When the driver took a look at what the policeman had written, his face turned into a scowl and didn't say a word for the rest of the drive. His four passengers were confused, but kept quiet so as not to set him off.

By the time they reached their destination, he had calmed down. As Thomas's engine was pushed into the workshops, the lorry driver came up to him.

"Hey man, I'm sorry about how I acted back there. Its just that I've never gotten ticketed before, and my boss can be a real stickler about that."

"Ticketed? For what?"

The man showed him the ticket. It was a ticket for illegal parking. Despite this, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Imagine that! The world famous Thomas getting booked for parking."

Thomas just rolled his eyes. Now he really wouldn't hear the end of it!