28 - The Golden Warden

The North Western Railway's Golden Warden reveals themselves. It's exactly who you think it is. Or is it?

"Something wrong Ms Grey?" Stepney asked as he happened upon the Australian engine looking a little lost.

"I wonder where Thomas went," the emerald green engine huffed. "I swear he was right here but now I can't find him anywhere!"

"He probably had stuff he needed to take care of, it wouldn't surprise me!" Stepney noted. "He's a busy Tank Engine! Always gotta be somewhere!"

Grey gave a click and a humorous hum. Then she chuckled in response.

"Ah, of course, I get it," she smirked with a wink. "Business I see."

Stepney giggled in return as their attention was taken by the sudden arrival of two large engines looming in the distance, Union sandwiched between them.

"More guests!" Stepney squealed happily. "My, my, my you've caused a stir, Grey!"

"Yeah nah, I bet these boys are here for Scotsman's build day aren't ya?" Grey laughed as the three engines emerged from the darkness. Grey's eyes lit up with delight as she recognised the Great Western. "PenPen!" She gleefully sang.

Pendennis Castle laughed as he approached the large green and gold engine.

"How's it going? Long time no see yer great Green Cucumber!" He greeted her brashly much to the shock of the engines nearby. Bittern threw him a very confused look and between them, Union's face was one of disgust and confusion.

"Haha! You haven't lost it, Rio!" Grey boomed happily. "Though you're all prettied up like a princess now, it doesn't suit ya! You need to get dirty and greasy, do some real work ay?"

Pendennis just grinned. "Can I not look pretty? Can I not have nice things Grey?" He retorted in jest.

"No you can't," Bittern blustered and Pendennis shot him a sour look. "Great Westerns aren't supposed to have nice things. You're all the 'no fun gang'."

"HA! You're one to talk!" Pendennis chortled before turning his attention back to Grey. "Grey, this is Bittern."

"Yeah I know you, Scottie's best mate!" Grey cheerily greeted the blue A4 ignoring the green A4 with a sourpuss face vehemently ignoring the three large engines around her.

"That's me! Pleasure to make your acquaintance gorgeous girl," Bittern fluttered his eyelids at her and Grey just snorted dismissively at his flirtation.

"No offence but you're too small for my liking Birdie," Grey quickly shot him down. "No less than 10 driving wheels for me, thanks. Besides, I like girls. Are you a girl, Bittern?"

Bittern was stunned, staring at the Australian engine gobsmacked as Pendennis Castle burst out laughing at him.

"I am neither a boy or a girl," Bittern huffed, trying to hide his embarrassment at being so publicly rejected. "I am a man!"

Pendennis rolled his eyes and gave a sigh. "Forgive him, Grey. He's a nuisance to everyone around him."

"Ah that's good then!" Grey laughed. "We have something in common! No wonder Scottie gets along with you!"

Bittern gave a half smirk, still somewhat embarrassed by his rejection.

"He's a free spirit, our Scot!" He boasted and Grey smirked.

"Speaking of which," Grey turned her attention to Pendennis Castle. "Did you and Scottie ever make up, Rio?"

It was Pendennis's turn to blush.

"We uh," Pendennis hesitantly revealed. "We broke it off permanently. We find we get along better as friends than in a romantic relationship."

"Ah, that happens," Grey assured him sympathetically. "You'll find someone."

"I actually have!" Pendennis piped up sounding rather proud of himself. "Her name is Dotti! She's a real catch!"

"Others would say otherwise," Union muttered snidely behind Pendennis and the Castle Class gave a scowl before purposely reversing into Union with a loud clunk.

"How dare you!" The A4 shrieked, incensed, but seemed to cower when Grey threw her a very threatening glare.

"You shut yer trap or I'll show you how we deal with miscreants Down Under!" The Australian engine snarled at the Green A4 who proceeded to give a high pitched whine like a dog.

"I told you she wanted to scrap me!" Union whined to her brother and Bittern frowned and looked at Grey.

"What the hell is going on here anyway?" Bittern eyed the Railway and only saw Stepney at the station. "Where's Scotsman? I came all the way from Margate for him!"

"He-" Grey looked upset now. "He had to go and take care of Tornado."

"Tornado? What happened to Tornado?" Pendennis asked, concerned. "Is the lovely young lady alright?"

"She suffered a catastrophic failure in her firebox," Grey lamented. She looked up and glared at Union who tried to mask her fear with false bravado but it wasn't working. "This… this fucking- ihoon/i gave her train up for me when she knew it was on an incline! She set Tornado and me up!"

"I did not!" Union shrieked but Stepney decided to pipe up at that moment.

"That's enough!" The little tank engine snapped. "It is late and I'm sure that everyone's crews want to turn in for the night. Union will be locked in the store shed for now."

"What!?" Union screeched. "I will not be taking orders from an insignificant little tank engine!"

"Oi none of that, this Steppy's railway, he gets to make the rules," Grey stepped in to defend the little tank engine much to the Terrier's surprise.

"Thank-you Grey!" Stepney cheered.

"You heard the Terrier," Pendennis chimed in with a cheeky whistle. "Let's move on out!"

Union tried to slam on her brakes and put herself in reverse to stop Pendennis and Bittern however she was shocked to find that she couldn't, like something was preventing her from doing so.

Union looked over at the little ochre Terrier who had a mischievous grin on his face and a golden gleam in his eye.

"Sleep well, Ms Osprey!"

Inexplicably, Union suddenly felt a weight over her frames and a sense of tiredness suddenly overwhelmed her.

She wasn't sure, but she sensed that Stepney had caused the feelings to wash over her.

Oscar managed to smash one of the windows to the old house, Mallard's raven screeching and shrieking as he did so.

The bird was anxious and shrieking and Oscar could understand its frenzied state. Hell, his mum's dogs would be the same if she left the house for 5 minutes.

Still, it's not important to dwell on right this minute.

Navigating his way into the entrance hall, Oscar thankfully found no sign of the Black Smoke that Mallard had been yelling about.

"Mallard?"

There was no reply and Oscar feared the worst. Despite everything, he was surprised to find that Mallard was actually quite pleasant to be around. Still, he kept his guard up in case this was a trap.

The house seemed empty until Oscar happened upon Mallard kneeling over something, or rather, someone.

Anger flashed in Oscar's vision and he grabbed the back of Mallard's cape and yanked him backwards, eliciting a strangled yelp from the man in question.

The motion pulled Mallard away from the… there was no other way to describe it but a icorpse./i

"What the hell have you done?!" Oscar thundered rounding on Mallard, all that sympathy he briefly had for the A4 instantly evaporating.

There before Mallard, lay the cold, limp body of Great Northern, his eyes white, staring and lifeless. His body was in some early stage of rigour mortis and even the smallest glimmer of hope was crushed by the fact that his chest which should have risen and fallen was still.

Olivia would be heartbroken. This was her childhood friend, her father. Oscar couldn't go back to her and tell her that he was gone.

With a snarl of anger he reached down and grabbed Mallard by the collar, getting in the long haired man's face.

"What did you do? What the fuck did you did!" He demanded of Mallard who only stared up at him, an equally lost look in his eyes.

"He was infected with Black Smoke," Mallard croaked out, annoyed with Oscar shaking him. "I purged it but it was too late. What was left of his soul was too weak and it dissolved."

"You killed him!" Oscar ignored his words and shouted furiously at him. "You killed Olivia's father!"

There was a spark of fury in Mallard's eye as the A4 grabbed his wrist and pulled it from his collar.

"Why the fuck would I destroy the one chance I have to bring back my brother!" Mallard snarled back. "I've lost Gadwall forever now! I'll never get him back now! I tried to save him but of course I can't because monsters don't save people right? Right?"

Mallard looked frantic now as he looked desperately at North's corpse.

"I'm sorry, there was nothing I could do," Mallard finally spoke, sounding defeated. "He wasn't able to hold on. It was too late. Whoever infected him with Black Smoke is responsible for this, not me."

Oscar stared at Mallard noticing he was trembling with anger or distress, he wasn't sure but he did know one thing. Olivia would take this the hardest.

"Olivia is going to be heartbroken," he ground out, trying to hold back his tears. "She'll never forgive you if this was your doing."

"I know that," Mallard muttered bitterly. "Before he died, North showed me his memories of himself and Olivia. Of him desperately trying to save her as a child."

Mallard glanced sadly over at North.

"I think Olivia was the only friend North ever had," he murmured solemnly. He then shook his head. "Quicksilver asked me to find North and I have. I was too late though. Maybe it's not too late to find Olivia's whistle."

Oscar frowned and looked down at Mallard's hand.

"Then what's that?" He suddenly demanded, realising what it was. "Isn't that hers? It's a LNER whistle."

Mallard frowned and looked down at his hand. He seemed perplexed as he held it up looking it over as Oscar stared at it.

"Wait, that's not hers," Oscar frowned and Mallard seemed shocked by it.

"It's Sir Nigel Gresley's." Mallard realised, with shock on his face. "He- he showed it to me once. North shoved it into my hand before he died."

Mallard stared at it flabbergasted, Oscar narrowed his eyes as he surveyed it. It was slightly different to Olivia's. More ornate and carved with intricate designs.

"Would it, would it help Olivia?" Oscar asked and Mallard narrowed his eyes as he held the whistle up to his face to examine it.

"No," Mallard sighed as he hung the whistle around his neck. "This was Great Northern's Whistle given to Sir Gresley. It has no Gold Dust anymore."

"Damn it!" Oscar snapped. "I need to find Olivia's whistle!"

Oscar turned heel and went to search through the house.

He had had enough of this wild goose chase. Olivia's life was in danger. Their daughter that lay within her belly was in danger.

If something were to happen to her, Oscar would not only lose the woman he loved above all else but the daughter who he had been looking forward to meeting since he knew of her existence.

He briefly wondered what Black Smoke could do to the unborn child but quickly pushed it from his mind.

He could worry about that later. Now he really needed to find that Golden Whistle.

He briefly thought about offering Mallard a lift but decided against it. He was wasting time. The man in blue didn't even offer him a parting word, instead he turned to lean over North.

Mallard grasped him and shook him, as if he were taking a nap. There was no response, nothing and Oscar watched as Mallard seemed to slump forward, ignoring his presence now.

"What do I do now?"

He passed the study of the house but stopped abruptly when he saw lain across the desk was a rifle.

Not just any rifle but Olivia's old hunting rifle she had found in the old family cellar.

"What…" he muttered to himself confused before going over and taking it in his arms.

He wasn't seeing things. The Gresley name was embossed onto the barrel in an old font.

He frowned but shook his head.

This could wait.

Olivia's Golden Whistle could not.

Gordon wasn't sure how to handle the tense silence that hung between himself and his cousin.

The younger V2 was incredibly agitated and very much not in the mood to talk, his entire focus on getting to his friend.

He supposed he could relate. If anything happened to one of his friends, like Henry or Thomas he would very much be the same. He had to wonder though, how Arrow knew about his feelings about Boco. Had he been that obvious? Was he that much of a sap? Or maybe Boco himself had noticed that Gordon acted weird around him and complained to the other engines on Edward's branchline.

He really hoped not. He didn't want Boco thinking he was some kind of creep or he was being Dieselphobic or something along those lines. Oh Lady what if- what if Thomas had told him his secrets? Gordon wouldn't put it past Arrow to somehow use his words to pry the information about him from Thomas.

"Thomas didn't tell me about your feelings for Boco," Green Arrow suddenly spoke up and Gordon was so startled that he jolted his frames violently.

"I- I- I-" Gordon began to stammer but Arrow just humphed and looked away as they travelled down the line.

"People always underestimate my ability to figure out people's intentions," Arrow continued. "When I was younger, a lot of the LNER express engines took advantage of me not being able to socialise or pick up on social cues that well. I was very gullible back then. So I watched and I learned. I promised myself that no one else would ever do it again. I became incredibly perceptive to the point where I could read people like a book. Yet it didn't help me find any friends."

Gordon said nothing. He didn't know how to respond to Green Arrow suddenly overflowing his boiler with all these feelings.

"I know that you hate me for what I tried to do to your brother," Arrow acknowledged the A1. "I know what I did was wrong but your brother stole my rebuild. He stole the one chance I had to return to the mainline. I need to work. My mind starts to spin and destroy itself if I don't. I'll never forgive Scotsman for robbing me of the one thing that gave me hope for so long."

Gordon had heard this many times before, but hearing it from Arrow himself made him deeply unsettled. He supposed that he and his brother were very much lucky and entitled. Other engines like Arrow, were not.

"My brother always said resources were low on the mainland," was all Gordon could offer. "I suppose seeing it for myself was a shock."

Green Arrow snorted. "You made a lot of enemies on the mainland when you took over Flying Scotsman's train. Trains for steam engines are few and far between. A lot of engines wanted that position."

"Then why didn't you use your words and take it for yourself?" Gordon remarked and Arrow gave a sad, long desperate sigh.

"I was in disrepair, one of my cylinder casings had hairline fractures and was close to cracking," Arrow scolded his cousin. "I was so close to failure that I couldn't do heavy work. Only the Fat Hat giving me a rebuild and my voice back was what saved me. I'd lost Evening Star, I'd lost Tornado and then my voice. I awaited the day that Cold Iron Sleep would free me from that wretched existence. There was nothing left for me."

Gordon was appalled. One of Gresley's engines, even if it was a mixed traffic engine, was so badly neglected. It made him feel sick.

Never once during that time when Green Arrow had first arrived on Sodor had he considered how the V2 had been feeling or the condition he was in.

To arrive on Sodor, be harassed relentlessly and to be in such a failing state of health. It was any wonder how the smaller engine had weathered such an appalling time in his life. Gordon himself had contributed greatly to Green Arrow's depression.

"I'm… sorry," Gordon admitted quietly and the V2 looked at him surprised. "But I won't ever forgive you for trying to kill my brother."

Green Arrow said nothing. He only watched Gordon curiously as they travelled.

"You're a lot nicer than your siblings on the LNER," Arrow finally said after a long while. "They were nothing but elitists and made every effort to drag others down. Especially if you were smaller. They barged around like they owned the place."

Gordon humphed. "And yet I recall the V2's boasting about being the best express haulers in the UK. I do believe that the 8F's would have something to say about that."

Arrow gave a snort of laughter.

"Are you really out here praising Stanier, Gordon?" The V2 accused and Gordon scoffed at the notion.

"Stanier and Gresley were good men with mutual respect, competitive with one another, yes, but they respected each other greatly!" Gordon pointed out. "Had the war not broken out, it's a wonder what the two men's rivalry would have produced!"

Arrow hummed thoughtfully but said nothing in response.

Feeling that the tension between them had eased, Gordon felt he could speak on the matter at hand.

"Evening Star means a lot to you, doesn't she?" He asked and his cousin gave a sad sigh.

"I think she was the first engine I could consider my friend," Green Arrow recounted wistfully, at ease with his cousin like never before. "She never saw me as a dirty little goods engine or some try hard pretending to be an express engine. She saw me for who I was and I'll forever be grateful to her. We were just two lost souls, trying to find our way during dieselstation."

There was a pause as Gordon mulled over Green Arrow's words.

"I must apologise, I've seen you in the same light, I never understood why my brother so vehemently defended you," Gordon admitted and Arrow's face pulled a sour expression at the mention of Flying Scotsman. "But I will never forgive you for trying to destroy my brother."

"It would be absurd if you did," Green Arrow agreed.

"Tornado and Scotsman have tried to get me to be nicer to you," Gordon offered and Arrow rolled his eyes.

"Of course they did," the V2 grumbled. "But I don't need them to defend me, I can defend myself quite well, I've been doing it for the most part of 90 years."

"You've proven that very well indeed," Gordon raised an eyebrow at him. "You've also proven that you'll risk your boiler for Tornado."

"She's my friend, why wouldn't I?" Green Arrow asked, looking at Gordon confused.

Gordon just focused on the track ahead and said nothing more as the two Gresley's travel in a more amicable atmosphere.

Perhaps they had more in common than Gordon would've ever liked to admit to himself.

It was a funny world, wasn't it?

She sat there quivering, confused and terrified for her soul.

The deathly cold crept along her boiler like spindly freezing workers' hands searching for her bright young soul. She cried out for Maindy but there was no response.

She took a passing glance at the King Class before her and found that that engine appeared warped, his face covered in cracks and a wild, monstrous expression upon his face.

He didn't even look like an engine anymore.

She screwed her eyes shut and tried to move away from him but found her wheels rigid and rooted to the tracks, her fear keeping her in place.

An eternity seemed to pass, all the while those horrid black tendrils trying to snatch at her soul and steal it away from her engine like it had Maindy Hall's.

She braced herself, waiting for everything to just end.

Tydfil almost didn't hear the other engine appear before her, her terrified shrieks and the rattling of her frames had drowned them out.

"Hey Tydfil," a familiar voice spoke and Tydfil gave a shaky, stuttering gasp and opened her eyes.

Through the tears in her eyes she saw the smudge of a crimson engine and found herself immediately alert.

"Arthur!" She called to the engine that had somehow appeared in front of her. "You need to leave! You need to get out! He's going to kill you-"

"Oh that's very dramatic of you Tydfil, but this false warden doesn't scare me!" 'Arthur' assured her and Tydfil narrowed her eyes in confusion.

That hadn't been Arthur's voice.

There was a sudden blast of heat that overwhelmed Tydfil and she flinched as Arthur's visage turned into what could only be described as a small sun. It was blinding at how much the tank engine shone.

"What's going on?" Tydfil asked, confused. She was tired, she was confused and she was exhausted.

The glow Arthur had given off had begun to fade and to her surprise, she found not Arthur but the number 1 tank engine of the North Western Railway sitting before her.

"Thomas?" Tydfil asked, confused. "What- How?"

Thomas gave a cheeky laugh and although she couldn't see his face, she knew that the little Tank Engine was grinning.

"Unlike this big fella here, I am a true Golden Warden like Truro and Winston!" Thomas explained as if this meant something to Tydfil.

"I don't know what that means!" Tydfil snapped, irritated and pissed off. "I've been kidnapped, assaulted and scared for my soul! I just want this to stop!"

Thomas seemed to shift his mood and a wave of sympathy came from Thomas.

"Then let's end this," Thomas declared and he looked towards the King Class looming over the both of them. "King Edward I unfortunately won't last long. He's in over his smokebox and he's been infected with black smoke."

Tydfil didn't care; she just wanted this to stop. Thomas seemed to realise this and gave her a gentle bump.

"He won't be able to teleport after using so much dust, he'll have to chase us!" Thomas explained and Tydfil sat up on her frames. "Let's go! Head down to the Little Western!"

"But the rails! They aren't safe! One of the Scottish twins- " Tydfil tried to warn Thomas but the E2 wasn't listening, the little Tank engine moving towards Duck's branch line at speed yelling at her to follow.

At a loss of what to do, Tydfil followed Thomas. Although she was confused and had no idea of what was going on, something within her was hopeful that everything would turn out alright.

Mallard felt conflicted.

On the one hand, the engine who had abused him and made him feel worthless almost his entire life was now gone. Still, he felt that worthlessness especially after his memories of the black smoke had returned to him.

All that anger, that resentment towards North and turned him into a monster.

"You turned me into this," he hissed through gritted teeth at the still body. "You turned me into this unforgivable monster."

Yet, he had seen how kind North had been to little Olivia.

i'That should have been me,'/i his subconsciousness hissed and he was painfully reminded of how such thoughts once twisted his mind against him.

Olivia was Gresley's descendant. Even when the Black Smoke had consumed him, he hadn't been able to hurt her, only breaking that promise when Scotsman had rudely intruded upon his tracks. He had recognised her as a Gresley and made efforts to make her stay away from him.

Was it because she recognised her? He didn't understand.

Olivia didn't 'feel' like a normal human. Even when he had met her earlier. She was familiar and she was somehow… a gold construct yet not. Was it because she was pregnant? No. He had met her before she had been and yet she still felt different to a normal human.

Mallard frowned to himself.

She reminded him of someone. Not just his designer.

Mallard gave a grunt and shook his head. There was no time to dwell on that. She would have to meet up with Olivia later and ask her.

She was surprisingly reasonable for someone he had threatened to kill.

There was a pang of realisation in the back of his mind that insisted that North was not entirely at fault. That he, himself was through his own choices.

Merlin and Gadwall often called him out for being uncouth and nasty to other engines. He had never minded though.

They had kept Mallard going, kept him sane and from doing idiotic things. He was forever grateful to his two closest brothers.

Another intrusive thought bubbles to the surface.

If Gadwall was to come back, he most certainly would be ashamed of Mallard. Horrified at what his brother had become. His little brother would be scared that what had happened to Merlin would happen to him.

Fear and heartache flooded Mallard. A feeling that felt so similar to the black smoke that had once had a stranglehold on his soul.

There was no way that bringing Gadwall back would have ever worked out for him. His little brother would have disowned him. Called him a monster and wanted nothing to do with him.

He fell into despair, tears suddenly streaming down his face.

"What do I do?" he choked out, his mind racing with a million thoughts a minute. If he went back to Quicksilver, he had no idea how she would react.

She had always been a hard and stern engine. She was kind but her kindness had a limit unlike Polly. If he returned to her with North's body, he suspected that it would not go well for him.

His eyes glanced down at Sir Gresley's old whistle in his hand.

He tried to reach out, call to the soul of North or anything left of his designer within it but nothing remained.

North was truly gone and his designer was long since gone.

A loud caw startled him and he jumped, almost falling back and away from North's body.

"Don't do that!" Mallard scolded the bird and went to admonish it further but froze when he saw the raven.

Its eyes were glowing gold, like a lighthouse on a dark and stormy night.

"What-" Mallard began but before he could question, the bird suddenly leapt onto the golden lamp that sat beside him.

It began tapping it rhythmically before getting annoyed and pulling his hand towards the lamp. As it touched his hand, a warm reassurance flooded him and Mallard recognised it immediately.

He froze.

"You were here this entire time," Mallard croaked out weakly and the raven gave a soft caw in response.

Sir Gresley had mentioned that those taken too soon often lingered upon the Earth, trapped unable to pass and unable to commune with the living. He'd heard the haunting sounds that came from the smelters and the occasional engine stalking him yet no one was there.

It made sense that a young engine taken far too soon in a traumatic event would linger on the Earth to watch over him somehow.

Mallard remembered the long nights, still cold and still in the Great Hall while a Raven sat in the rafters watching over him, sadness in its eyes.

The Raven gave a mournful caw and perched on Mallard's shoulder, nuzzling his face against his cheek.

Mallard could barely utter the true name of his companion when he was in such a state, but he did, knowing that his companion deserved the recognition at long last.

"Gadwall."

Peony didn't even react to Hendrick entering Olivia's room.

"Peony you didn't answer the door," the doctor grumbled to her. "I had to use my Gold Dust to get inside the house."

Peony ignored his complaint and beseeched him.

"You have to do something! You have to save Olivia and Polly!" She implored him desperately and Hendrick stared at her confused.

"Polly, but Polly is gone-"

"Olivia and Polly exist together! Polly spoke to me! It was different from Olivia's voice! It was her!" Peony frantically tried to implore Hendrick but he put his hand up to stop her.

"Peony, I believe you," he assured her with a kind smile. Peony nodded at him but the fear and panic was still evident in her eyes.

He looked over to the bed, Olivia was sitting up, propped with pillows, thick blankets and a quilt draped over her in an effort to keep her warm. The colour had gone from her face and she looked like a statue.

A cold chill ran through the old Wren as his thoughts started to bring up memories of Olivia as a sickly child, struggling for life.

"Olivia," Hendrick lammented as he gently touched her cheek. He flinched back when he felt how cold she was. "That's impossible."

"Why is she cold?" Peony asked, frightened. "Humans aren't supposed to be cold."

Panic began to rise from the bottom of his stomach.

"Oh no, Olivia," Hendrick quickly began to rummage through his doctor's bag for his stethoscope and vials of Gold Dust. "Polly opened her up to being very vulnerable to Cold Iron Sleep."

"Is that what she has?" The panic in Peony's voice was rising and Hendrick couldn't find it in him to try and calm her down considering he too was now starting to panic.

He examined her carefully, finding the coldness wasn't just because her face was exposed. Her heart still beat but it was slow and it sounded off. He checked her twice over, trying to plead with the universe that was wrong in his speculation and he was simply him making a mistake.

It wasn't.

Hendrick frowned.

"Where's North?" He asked Peony. "Why didn't he catch this earlier?"

"North's been missing for a week according to Oscar," Peony informed him. "No one can get a hold of him and Olivia's whistle disappeared around the same time too."

Hendrick's face held a grim expression. Something was very, very wrong here.

"Still nothing from North," Hendrick muttered.

This wasn't like North at all. He was really concerned now.

"What about the baby?" Peony suddenly asked and Hendrick turned his attention to Olivia's precious cargo.

He suddenly felt confused as he examined the baby. The skin was warm, almost as if the baby was radiating warmth despite its mother being bone cold.

"The baby is perfectly healthy," Wren commented confusedly. "It's not affected at all. But how-"

Then he realised.

"Gold Dust… Polly must be protecting the baby," he theorised but Peony was still understandably worried.

"But what about Olivia?" She asked. "Can Polly not protect them both."

Hendrick stared at Peony.

"Olivia must have asked Polly to protect her baby," was all he told Peony grimly. "I imagine that must have been a hard choice to make for the both of them."

"But… Ms Olivia…"

Peony was about to question him but the sound of the doorbell downstairs echoed from the doorway.

"That will be Rooster and Flying Scotsman," Hendrick nodded to her. "Iain informed me they were coming here. See them in please, Peony."

"How will I know it's them? It could be anyone." Peony asked nervously and Hendrick nodded to her.

"You'll know Scotsman when you see him. His soul is like the sun," he gave her a half hearted smile.

Peony reluctantly left the room, her eyes watching Olivia's still form mournfully as she did so, Hendrick watching her go.

The Little Wren sighed before seating himself on Olivia's bedside.

He was at a loss. As much as he knew about Gold Dust and how it worked, he needed Great Northern's experience and knowledge. Knowledge that the man always refused to share with him, even when working together to save someone.

What good was his knowledge if he didn't have the full picture?

He cursed North and his damn pride. Even now, the old A1 was inadvertently causing harm to those around him.

Hendrick looked over and gazed at Olivia's face, she looked like she was sleeping despite her face appearing colourless.

He reached over and grasped the poor woman's hand, almost like a gesture of hope even though he was lacking such feelings right this minute.

"We'll sort this out, Lady Olivia," Hendrick tried to reassure her but found that his words didn't even reassure himself. "North will return and we'll get to the bottom of this."

The little old steamworks Wren couldn't even convince himself. Who was he kidding?

There was the warmth of Gold Dust gathering behind him but Hendrick ignored it.

He assumed it to be Quicksilver, coming to check on him and his progress.

He really didn't want to deal with the bossy woman right now, her demanding attitude would not help in the slightest.

"This is not the time for your bossiness, Ms Quicksilver," Hendrick bitterly remarked.

There was a brief silence.

"I quite agree, little Wren."

Fear and panic immediately rose in Hendrick as he recognised the voice. It was the voice of an A4, but it most definitely was not, Quicksilver.

Hendrick jumped to his feet and whirled on his heel to face the person who had appeared behind him.

"Mallard!" He shouted at the man and said the man simply stared at him as if he was bored but it wasn't his appearance that disturbed Hendrick. It was the cold, lifeless body of Great Northern in his arms.

i"Blue Peter,"/i Saint Mungo's voice called to him and the A2 Peppercorn just sighed in response. Saint Mungo continued. i"It will take time for Tornado to come around, if she ever will. You must not force her."/i

"But-"

i"Tornado has other issues to deal with right now, do not add yourself to that list,/i" Mungo chided him.

Blue Peter sighed. Mungo was right. He always tended to be.

"Then what should I do?" Mungo asked, ignoring the side glances the Bluebell Railway workers were giving him.

i"That young engine, Evening Star,/i" Mungo mused. "I sense that she is in trouble."

"Trouble? A 9F? In trouble?" Blue Peter scoffed.

i"Evening Star was incredibly volatile when she confronted you,"/i Saint Mungo pointed out. i"Such volatility could land her in trouble. She could be turned into an exhibit."/i

Blue Peter realised that his old friend was right.

"Alright."

There was a flash of Gold, shrieks of several startled Railway workers and the shed was suddenly empty.

There was a moment of silence that was abruptly interrupted as Bittern burst through the doors, loudly trilling.

"Here's your shed for the night sister!"

"Get your ruddy buffers off of me!" Union shrieked loudly.

"Best get the clamps for this one boys," Bittern called to the workers staring at them, unable to comprehend just what was going on, on the railway.

"Oh this is one of those nights," someone loudly announced from the back of the sheds.

Not one but two Golden Wardens were revealed today: Thomas and Stepney!