Chapter 305: Fergus Runs Away
Late one evening, Fergus was parking his engine in the shed for the night. He was just about to head home for the evening when he heard the manager talking to a workman.
"Are you sure, sir?"
"I'm sure, Arnold. It's given us plenty of years of hard work, but it's just too old. Time to replace it, I think."
Fergus was surprised. Replace what?
"I suppose so. Still, I'll be sad to see it go."
"As will I. But trust me, once the diesel powered one arrives, you'll forget all about it."
Fergus was shocked! They were planning to replace his traction engine!
"Yeah, you're right. When will those Smelter's twins come for it?"
"Arry and Bert will be here first thing in the morning."
Fergus was so shocked he didn't know what to think. How could they replace his steam engine? Sure, it was old fashioned, but it still worked. They wouldn't get rid of it…would they?
Fergus stayed up all night thinking about it.
"She's the pride of the cement works. How could they do that? She's not the fastest on the island, but she's put in more work than anyone."
But the more he looked at his traction engine, the more he saw the faded paint and the worn parts.
"Oh, who am I kidding? She's so old, she's falling apart. They're right, its time to upgrade. Well, I'll save them the trouble."
And so he fired up the engine and drove away.
The next morning, the manager came to the sheds first thing in the morning.
"Alright Fergus, time to start work! Now, the first thing I want you to do is-"
But to his surprise, Fergus wasn't there as he thought he would be.
"Where is he? It's not like him to be late."
Arry grunted as he climbed into his engine's cab, gulping down coffee to try and wake up.
"Time for the daily grind again."
As he made his rounds, he spotted Fergus having parked his engine in a siding.
"Huh, what's this? Oi, you're that bloke from The Cement Works, ain't ya? What're you doing here?"
"Saving you the trouble."
Arry groaned;
"Look, not that I'm opposed to scrapping steam engines, but I can't just scrap your engine just because you tell me to. Take this thing back to where you came from before you get us both in trouble."
"The manager said he's getting rid of my traction engine. Said you'd be coming for it today."
As soon as Arry realized the truth, he let out a long groan.
"Alright, this is stupid. Come on, let's go get this sorted out."
When they arrived at the cement works, they found the manager waiting for them.
"Fergus, where've you been!"
"I overheard you say you were going to replace my traction engine with a new diesel engine last night, so I took it to the Smelter's Yard."
The manager chuckled.
"Oh Fergus, you have it all wrong! I'm not replacing your engine."
"You're not?"
"No! The steam generator behind the shed has finally failed. I'm replacing it with a new diesel powered one."
"So…you're not going to replace me?"
"Replace the pride of The Cement Works? Of course not!"
Fergus just beamed happily.