An old building was being demolished. The construction crew was busy, and Marcus had brought empty trucks for loading the rubble. Sandy and Loni were there too.
As the trucks were being loaded, a workman called out. "Wait a minute! There's something in this one." He climbed into the truck and pulled out a role of paper.
"What is it?" asked Marcus.
"It looks like an old map," said the workman. "Where did you find these trucks, Marcus?"
"They came down from Carlisle Quarry. I found them in Whitehaven Yards."
"This map must belong to one of the Quarry workers," said the Foreman.
"Could it be a treasure map?!" honked Sandy excitedly.
"Maybe," said Loni. "Why don't you go with Marcus and find out?"
"But won't you need me here?"
"Don't worry, Sandy," said one of the Banksman, "We have everything under control."
"Are you sure, Loni?" asked Marcus. "The Quarry can be dangerous with those heavy rocks. Isn't Sandy too little for this?"
"I'm not too little," said Sandy confidently, "and nothing scares me."
"Besides," Loni added, "repair work is a big job, and I can always count on Sandy. Also, the Quarry workers are even smaller than she is, and they get on alright."
"…Alright," whistled Marcus, "let's do it."
When Marcus and Sandy told the Tall Controller about the map, he sent them up to the Quarry with some more empty trucks. The Quarry was near Carlisle, and it was a big and bustling place. Every day, heavy stone was collected and loaded before being delivered. Slater was a diesel engine who worked at the Quarry, and he was always kept busy loading and shunting trucks about.
The Quarry workers were on their tea break when Marcus and Sandy arrived. Slater was surprised to see them. "Hullo, you two. I wasn't expecting to see you today. What's up?"
"We found this map in a Quarry truck," explained Marcus. "We thought someone might have lost it."
"Well, you've come to the right place."
When the Quarry workers returned, Marcus and Sandy explained what had happened. One worker stepped forward. "That's my map!" he said. "I was wondering what happened to that. Thank you."
Sandy bubbled with excitement. "Where does it lead?! Buried treasure?!"
"Something like that. I've been researching the rock in this area, and I think there may be crystals buried around here."
"What are crystals?!"
"They're clear rocks that you can see through. They are very special indeed."
The Quarry worker lead Marcus, Sandy and Slater to a far corner of the Quarry. Marcus looked at the rock. "The crystals are buried behind this wall?"
"They should be," said the worker, "far beneath in the ground. Now, let's get digging."
"Just like buried treasure!" cheered Sandy. "What a beautiful day for a big adventure!"
Everyone stayed well back as the Quarry workers started blasting the rock. Then, the Quarry machines started lifting the fallen rocks away, loading them into huge dump trucks and empty wagons. Even Sandy was able to help by carrying the workers and their tools, but it was a long and tiring job.
"This is taking forever," groaned Sandy. "When are we going to find the crystals?"
"Sometimes, it takes time to find or discover things," said Marcus. "When Kenneth, Tracy and I visited Ulfstead Castle on the Island of Sodor, Stephen told me how, back in the days of kings and queens and knights in shining armour, King Godred's golden crown was stolen by thieves and was lost for years. Then, when the Castle was being restored, Stephen found the crown in a wooden chest hidden in the Old Mine below."
"Marcus is right," said Slater. "It might be days before we find anything. I'm sorry, Sandy."
"GET CLEAR!" called the workers as another blast went off.
As the dust began to settle, something bright shone in Sandy's eyes. "Woah! what was that?" Everyone waited as the cloud of dust cleared away…and there…sticking out of the Quarry wall…was a something that looked like glass, but it had a different shape, and no one could see right through it. Sandy's eyes grew wider. "Is that…?"
"Crystal!" shouted the Quarry worker. "I knew they were buried somewhere around here!"
The workers grabbed their tools and dug gently into the rock and sure enough, they found more crystals in many different colours. There were red ones, blue ones, orange ones and even purple ones.
Everyone stared in amazement. "Wow," said Sandy, "they're the most beautiful things I've ever seen."
"And everyone else will love them too," added Marcus.
"And thank you all for helping," said the Quarry worker, "especially you, Sandy."
"It seems that I was wrong about you," said Marcus. "Maybe you aren't too little after all."
Sandy's face went as red as the crystals and the two friends set off to tell everyone the news.