It was a chilly day on the Island of Sodor. Nia was delivering some trucks to Brendam Docks. As she traveled along, she could see strange decorations being hung up and pumpkins with faces carved on them.

When Nia arrived at the Docks, Thomas was there. "Hullo, Nia."

"Hullo, Thomas." Nia thought Thomas would know about what she saw. "Thomas, have you noticed strange pumpkins and decorations at the stations today?"

"You mean the jack-o-lanterns and Halloween decorations? Have you not seen any like them before?"

"Um, what's…Halloween?"

Thoams was surprised. "You've never celebrated Halloween before?"

"No."

"It happens every year in the autumn. It's a holiday celebrating scary things like ghosts and monsters. The children wear fancy dress costumes, and everyone tells spooky stories and tries to scare each other. There's even a big Halloween Party at Tidmouth Bay and sometimes, we see the Harvest Firework Display too. It's lots of fun."

"Oh, I see," replied Nia. "It does sound like fun."

As Thomas puffed away, some trucks suddenly bashed together. "BOO!" Nia jumped and blew her whistle. "Haha! scared you!" Diesel called.

"Oh, Diesel," laughed Nia, "I see you're excited for Halloween too."

Diesel was surprised. He didn't expect Nia to find his joke funny.

Soon, it was Halloween Night. At Tidmouth Sheds, Edward was telling one of his scary ghost stories. "And on foggy moonlit nights, the ghost wanders the scrapyards looking for more steam engines to be broken up."

"Ooh, that is scary," Rebecca shivered.

Just then, the Fat Controller arrived. "There is a delivery to be collected from the Smelter's Yard tonight," he said. "I need two engines to fetch it."

"I'll do it, Sir," said Nia. "I don't want the others to miss the party."

"You'll be back in time too, Nia. Do I have another volunteer?"

"I'll go," said Rebecca.

"That's a good engine," said the Fat Controller. "On your way now."

As the two engines made their way to the Smelter's, Rebecca couldn't help feeling nervous. "That was some story Edward told us," said Nia.

"Yes," agreed Rebecca. "I still feel shaky.

"Don't worry. It was just a story."

Nia and Rebecca arrived at the Smelter's Yard. The mist was rolling in and there were piles of scrap everywhere.

"It's even scarier around here at night," said Rebecca quietly. Suddenly, there was a moaning and a groaning sound. "What was that?!"

"Probably just the wind," replied Nia. Then, they heard a creaking sound. "Who's there?!" Suddenly, some old trucks began rattling. Rebecca shut her eyes and cried out in fright. "Hey, who's doing that?!" called Nia crossly.

'Arry and Bert rolled forward. "Scaredy engines, scaredy engines," they laughed.

"That wasn't funny," huffed Nia.

"Can't you take a joke," 'Arry snorted, and they rolled away.

"Nia, I don't like this," quivered Rebecca. "Maybe, we should come back in the morning."

"But the Fat Controller said this delivery needed to be collected tonight," Nia protested. "Don't worry, Rebecca. I'm here. Now, where were we supposed to collect our trucks?"

Rebecca gulped. "The…the Smelting Shed."

"Then let's go. To sooner we collect the trucks, the sooner we can leave."

Nia and Rebecca approached the Smelting Shed. The doors were shut, but strange sounds could be heard inside.

"Nia?"

"Calm down, Rebecca." Nia looked up at the big metal doors. "Hullo?!" But there was no reply. Nia whistled loudly and called again. "Hulloooo?!"

Suddenly, a loud buzzer sounded, and the doors slid open. A bright red glow shown from inside the Shed as smoke billowed everywhere. Then, the two engines saw a big dark shape and an arm reaching out to them. "WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"

Rebecca cried out again. Her whistle wailed, her wheels slipped, and she raced away as fast as her pistons would pump. "Rebecca!" Nia called, but Rebecca was gone.

The dark shape slid out of the shadows. "Well, what do you want?!" Nia could hardly believe what she saw. In front of her was a big grimy diesel with a claw on its roof.

"I'm…I'm her too-"

Then, the Yard Manager appeared. "Diesel 10, what is all this noise?"

"That's what I want to know, Sir."

"I'm sorry, Sir," said Nia. "My friend, Rebecca, got scared when she saw him inside the shed."

"Silly steamies," Diesel 10 sniggered.

"Well, it won't be silly if this delivery isn't made on time," said the Manager. "Diesel 10, you will have to help as this engine can't do it alone."

"But Sir-"

"Diesel 10…"

"…Yes, Sir."

Rebecca had raced all the way back to Tidmouth Sheds. She sat quivering in her berth with her eyes closed tight.

"Rebecca, please tell us what happened," said Emily.

Then, everyone heard Nia's whistle. Rebecca opened one eye to look, but quickly shut it again. "AGH! The monster! It's got Nia!"

"That's not a monster," said Thomas. "That's just Diesel 10."

"He works at the Smelter's Yard," huffed Gordon. "There are no such things as ghosts or monsters."

Rebecca opened her eyes again and saw Nia and Diesel 10 with their delivery. "Really? I've…never seen an engine with a claw before."

"It may be scary, but it's useful," said Edward. "He uses that claw to load and unload scrap metal. It's very handy in a busy place like the Smelters."

"Oh…I'm sorry if I upset you, um, Diesel 10."

"Whatever," the diesel snorted. "Now, I have to stay in Tidmouth overnight."

Then, Rebecca had an idea. "Why don't you join us at the Halloween Party? I'm sure the children will love to see you."

"That's a nice idea," agreed Nia.

"Fine," Diesel 10 sulked. "I have nothing else to do anyway."

The engines joined the Fat Controller and the children at Tidmouth Bay. Rebecca was right. The children thought Diesel 10 was very scary and he fit in very well at the party. He didn't know what to say, but he tried to smile when he saw Rebecca. Rebecca smiled back; they didn't need to say anything.

"I love Halloween," said Nia. "It's so fun and exciting."

"Happy Halloween, Nia," called the children.

Nia happily whistled back. So did Rebecca and the other engines and even Diesel 10 gave a loud blast of his horn.