One night, Marcus puffed into Whitehaven Station. It had been a very busy day. Worse still, he had to make a late-night delivery to Kirby Stephen. As he approached the platform, he saw the Tall Controller. "Sir," he yawned, "what are you doing here so late?"
"Hullo, Marcus. I needed to be here to oversee an important delivery to Bridlington, but since you're here, I have your jobs for tomorrow. You and Kenneth are to take some cows to Farmer Briar's and then, you must deliver a sailboat up north to Silloth for a special launch."
"Yes, Sir." And Marcus puffed sleepily away.
The next morning, all the engines were getting ready for the day. Kenneth yawned. "Good morning, Marcus…Marcus?" Everyone looked at Marcus. He was facing the wrong way and still fast asleep. "Wake up, Marcus!" whistled Kenneth.
Marcus woke with a start. "Agh! What? What's going on?"
"Marcus," laughed Nathan, "you're backwards."
"Are you alright?" Tracy asked.
"I'm just tired," yawned Marcus. "I was so busy yesterday, I had a late-night delivery and when I got back to the Sheds, I was too tired to turn around."
"Your fire's gone out too," said his Driver. "I hope we're ready when the Tall Controller arrives."
Luckily, Marcus built up enough steam to back out of the Sheds and turn around before the Tall Controller came and gave the engines their jobs. "Now, Marcus," he said, "do you remember your jobs with Kenneth?"
"Yes, Sir," whistled Marcus.
"Good, off you go, everyone." And the Tall Controller left.
"What are we doing today, Marcus?" Kenneth asked.
Marcus tried to remember what the Tall Controller had said. "We…have to…deliver some cows and…a sailboat."
"How exciting. Let's go."
The two engines arrived at the Shunting Yard and saw their trucks being shunted. They whistled 'hullo' to the cows as they rolled alongside.
"It was silly that we found you facing backwards this morning," chuckled Kenneth. Then, an idea flew into his funnel. "Why don't we make our jobs even more exciting by going backwards?"
"Is that safe?" asked Marcus. "We won't be able to see where we're going."
"But we can," replied his Driver. "Actually, we have a better view of the tracks when you're backing up."
"Alright, it does sound like fun."
So, after Marcus and Kenneth took on more coal and water, they turned around. Marcus buffered up to the sailboat up front while Kenneth backed up to the cattle trucks and they were soon on their way.
Marcus found it hard to see where he was going, but he liked looked at the new sailboat. "This boat is so beautiful," he puffed to himself.
Kenneth was enjoying himself too. "This is fun," he said. "Instead of everything getting bigger and closer, things get smaller and further away."
"You can also watch the tracks to see if anything is coming our way," his Driver added.
"Then we must be very safe today."
At last, the engines arrived at Farmer Briar's, but no one was around. Once more, Marcus tried to remember what he was told the night before. "Oh, we're supposed to leave the sailboat here," he said at last.
Everyone was confused. "Are you sure that's right?" puzzled Kenneth.
"Do you remember what the Tall Controller said?" asked Marcus' Fireman.
"Well, we were very tired," replied the Driver.
"I-I'm sure that's right," spluttered Marcus. "He said 'sailboat' and…'silo'. Farmer Briar must be planning a big day out with his family."
"What about the cows?" asked Kenneth.
"He said they go up north for…a special lunch." So, the engines left the sailboat at Farmer Briar's and set off again.
As the two engines puffed north, the came to the holiday town of Silloth. "Look at all the decorations," puffed Kenneth.
"I was right," whistled Marcus. "These cows must be an attraction for a special picnic lunch today." So, Kenneth shunted the cattle trucks into a siding, and they set off back to Whitehaven.
The Tall Controller was enjoying his tea when the telephone rang…and he was most surprised by what he heard. When Marcus and Kenneth puffed into the Station, he was waiting for them. "Marcus and Kenneth, what is going on here? You took the sailboat to Farmer Briar's and the cows to Silloth."
Marcus was confused. "Isn't that what you said, sailboat to the farm silo and cows up north for lunch?"
"No! I said the sailboat had to go north to Silloth for a special launch. The fishermen are giving rides to visitors today."
"Then the cows were supposed to go to Farmer Briar's!" cried Kenneth.
"Bust my buffers," groaned Marcus, "not only did we go backwards while doing our jobs. We did our jobs backwards. I'm sorry, Sir. I think I was too tired to remember what you said."
"I'm sorry, too," Kenneth added. "I thought these deliveries were strange."
"Then one of you should've spoken up and asked me," said the Tall Controller sternly, "but now, you must hurry and put things right."
"That's right," whistled Marcus," and now, we know what to do. Kenneth, you go to Silloth and I'll go to Farmer Briar's." And the two engines raced away.
Marcus collected the sailboat. On his way, Kenneth raced past as he took the cows to Farmer Briar's. Marcus reached Silloth in record time and everyone cheered and when the cows were unloaded, they chomped happily on their animal feed.
At last, evening came, and Marcus and Kenneth were both very tired when they got back to Whitehaven Sheds. "Well done, you two," said the Tall Controller. "Thanks to your quick efforts, little time was lost at Silloth."
"We would've finished sooner if only I'd asked you to remind me," sighed Marcus.
"Well, I think you both deserve a long rest before tomorrow and there will be no nighttime deliveries for a while, alright? …Marcus? Kenneth?" But the two engines were already asleep. The Tall Controller chuckled. "Goodnight, you two." And he quietly made his way back to the Station.