MOUNTAINS OUT OF MOLEHILLS

Based upon "Buster 1, Moles 0" by Jan Needle

Adapted by Zack Wanzer and Rachel Ravens

On the Brendam branch line, the new girls' school was making good progress. The football field had just been laid, and Buster was keen to get rolling.

"Okay, field!" Buster grinned. "Prepare to be flattened!" He started to hum to himself as he got to work. "The girls are going to have a great time once I'm done here!"

"We can't argue with that, Buster," called Jasmine. "No one can say they tripped on uneven ground with you in charge of flattening the area."

Just then, the Pack members heard some honking noises.

"Hmm," David remarked. "Jasmine, Alex, does one of those horns sound familiar?"

"I-it's Olivia!" exclaimed Alex. "Sh-she must be here to-to become one of-of us!"

A light green lorry drove in with a purple loader, bringing with them more building supplies for the school. Immediately, David, Jasmine and Alex rushed over to the former.

"Olivia!" cried Jasmine. "I can't believe it, you're part of our crew!"

"You know her?" asked Buster, chuffing over.

"Oh, we know her, alright," said Jasmine. "She's our sister!"

"Wait, what?!" exclaimed Poppy, driving over. "We had another sister and you all didn't tell me?!"

"You never asked us," remarked David. "Olivia, this is Poppy. She was built a few years ago for the Pack."

"A-and this is Buster," added Alex. "H-He was part of the P-Pack before we were."

"Pleasure to meet you two," said Olivia. "And this is Talia; we met in East Anglia several years ago."

"Hello, Olivia and Talia," greeted Buster. "Welcome to the Pack."

"Thanks, everyone," smiled Talia. "Olivia told me several things about her siblings."

"And you're both very punctual," called Miss Jenny, Jet at her heels. "Ye'd make a mother proud. Welcome to th' Pack."

"Thank you, ma'am," both lorries smiled.

"We need all wheels on deck if we're to get this project done," Miss Jenny continued. "Talia, we need ye to pick up some metal brackets from the harbor. Olivia, you need to go to th' yard to collect some bricks."

"You got it, ma'am!" Talia replied. "Let's go, Livy!"

"Last one back has a flat tire!" she challenged. The two drove off, and Buster glanced down at the ground.

"What's up, Buster?" asked Jasmine.

"Well… just looking at you and your siblings," he said quietly, "I wish I had a sibling like that. Or at least, someone in the Pack with the same type of job as me."

"Ah, it's George, isn't it?" Jasmine guessed.

"Yeah, we're both Aveling designs, but we're not from the same workshop." He rolled his eyes. "Just as well; he's not the type of sibling I'd want."

"I wish we could say the same about Horace," said David. "We were built in the same workshop at the same time! He thought that being numbered one made him the best, and it went to his bonnet."

"Good thing that didn't apply to Thomas or Skarloey," Jasmine agreed.

"And what does that make me?" remarked Poppy. "A wildflower?" She laughed at her own joke.

"My name comes from a flower too, you know!" laughed Jasmine.

Just then, Jet started barking in the middle of the football field. Some dents still stood marooned on the far side.

"Oh, whoops!" cried Buster. "Almost forgot I didn't finish my job. Thanks for reminding me, Jet. There's a good boy." He eagerly headed back out to the field. However, he didn't notice something dark and furry duck underground…

Out on the roads, Olivia and Talia had to go in different directions. The former started heading down to Elsbridge, where she saw Daisy and Emily; the latter with Martha and Julian.

"A few museum pieces and a coach with a mind of her own!" she scoffed. "I can't believe this."

"I beg your pardon?!" huffed Daisy indignantly. "I'm a diesel railcar!"

"And we are in fine working condition!" scoffed Martha.

"Maybe you should be a museum piece instead!" huffed Julian.

"Lorries like you don't belong here!" wheeshed Emily. "You can go and be in a pigsty for all I care!"

Olivia rumbled in outrage. "A pigsty?! A lorry like me wouldn't be caught in a final firing in a pigsty! Hmph!" She flounced away.

"Well, bust my radiator!" cried Daisy. "What a horrid lorry."

"Hopefully she gets the boot," Emily scoffed.

A bit later in the day, Miss Jenny was awaiting the return of her new acquisitions. As neither were back, she decided to take some time to talk to Patrick Percival, who was stroking Alfie Jr., one of the cats who Alfie rescued sometime back.

"Hey there, little buddy," he soothed, stroking the cat's ear. Alfie Jr. purred, rubbing his head deeper into his hand.

"He could take that all day if ye let him," chuckled Miss Jenny. "Almost as bad as my Jet."

"He does liven up anyone's life," remarked Patrick. "Sort of like Phoebe for Peter and Sophie."

"Ah, yes, yer niece," said Miss Jenny. "How is she?"

"Growing every day," said Patrick. "She's now able to walk, but she hasn't said a word yet."

"I'm sure she'll speak in her own time," assured Miss Jenny. "Ye just have to be fast enough to help her parents catch her if she wanders off."

Patrick chuckled. "Oh yeah, she's very fast. Peter even joked about her driving Gordon when she's old enough."

"Considering yer brother might become controller o' the Skarloey line, that doesn't surprise me," she laughed.

RING! RING!

"Oh, excuse me, Patrick." Miss Jenny picked up the phone and answered it. "Packard Construction Company. How may I– what?! Oh… thanks fer alerting me. And what about Talia… okay, that's good. Goodbye." She hung up.

"Miss Jenny!" gasped Patrick, Alfie Jr. sat up. "Is Talia okay?"

"She's fine," insisted Miss Jenny. "It's Olivia that concerns me."

"Oh. What's she got herself into?"

"Accident at the windmill on the Ffarquhar branch line," she explained. "Nothing too serious, but that's the least of my worries."

It wasn't long before Butch arrived at the Pack's yard with Olivia in tow. She wasn't too badly damaged, but she looked quite a mess, covered in flour.

"Sis!" cried Jasmine. "What happened back there?"

"I got into some arguments and then crashed into some flour sacks!" she growled. "Of all the engines I had to run into, it was that garden shed!"

Gasps of shock rang out across the Pack, and Talia looked down at her bumper.

"What?" Olivia asked. "What did I say?"

"Ye had th' audacity tae call Toby such a derogatory name?!" growled Patrick the cement mixer.

"Toby's one of our friends on the railway," added Jack. "As are all the engines!"

"How can they be our friends?!" cried Olivia. "They can't get around as much as we can, and they act like they own the place!"

"The only one acting like they own the place is you!" growled David.

"David's right!" said Miss Jenny, strolling over to the light green lorry. "Olivia, I am very disappointed in ye. Ye will be confined to th' yards until I can trust ye again."

Olivia didn't say anything; she didn't dare make everyone more upset with her than they already were.

"In additional news," said Miss Jenny, "a storm is coming tonight. All of ye need to stay in yer garages until it's safe to come out. And Poppy, ye will deliver th' bricks tomorrow instead o' Olivia."

"Understood!" she said.

Miss Jenny then went over to Talia. "As for ye, Talia, well done. Yer a fine addition to th' Pack."

"Th-thank you, ma'am," she said quietly.

That night, as the storm raged on, Olivia was the only one awake. It was not because of the storm, but because of what everyone said.

"They must be wrong!" she huffed. "They don't know what Talia and I went through… or what that g– ugh, tram engine was like. Even my brothers and sisters are on the Pack's side…" Hold up, she thought. Alex, David and Jasmine are all here, and Poppy is newly built… "Where is Horace…?" She added under her breath.

"He's been turned into a pig trough."

Olivia gasped and looked around, wondering who spoke up. "Wait… what?! No, that's impossible!"

"He took part in a coup to try and take down the North Western Railway alongside George, but he was stopped and converted into a pig trough as punishment. Poppy had been built to replace him."

Olivia's lips ran dry. "Re-replace him?!" she shrieked. "No… no, he has to be fine! I know he has to be! I'll prove it as soon as I'm allowed out again!" Quivering, Olivia shut her eyes and began crying herself to sleep.

Buster sighed. "I hope she learns that to be the truth…" he muttered. "Before it's too late…"

The following day, the storm damage strung out as far as the eye could see. Trees were knocked down, some telephone poles were broken and puddles were everywhere.

"Great Highways Above!" cried Kelly. "If this is what the yard looks like, then I'd hate to see our building site!"

"I hope the storm hasn't set things back any further," gulped Alfie.

"Some o' those phone lines could be vital fer local businesses," said Oliver the excavator. "We might need to assist there as soon as possible."

"Indeed," nodded Miss Jenny. "I have assignments fer ye to help out as much as possible fer the storm damage. Jack, Alfie, Ned, there's been a landslide near Hackenbeck tunnel; David, Jasmine, Alex; get some fences down to th' farm on th' Little Western…"

As she continued listing everyone, Olivia glanced down at her wheels, knowing she wasn't on the job today.

"I don't even know if I'll have any work with them after how I'd behaved yesterday…" she muttered to herself. "I might as well have stayed in that shed."

"…and Poppy, Kelly and Oliver will come with me to th' site," Miss Jenny finished.

"Excuse me, Miss Jenny," said Buster, "but what about me?"

"Oh… I'm sorry, Buster," she said. "But there's nothing that ye can do right now. Don't worry though, if I find that there's any potholes in th' road, I'll let ye know."

The group all drove off as Buster sadly watched them go. Olivia groaned.

"Left behind… again!" she muttered.

"Do you think I'm happy about this?" Buster sighed. "Being stuck with someone who's on punishment– Wait… what do you mean 'again'? This is your second day with the Pack!"

"You wouldn't understand…"

"Maybe I would, if you just tell me," Buster insisted. Olivia sighed, knowing that the red steamroller would probably not stop inquiring until she told him.

"Before Talia and I came here, we used to live in East Anglia," she explained.

"Wait… not near the same tramway Toby worked on?!" cried Buster.

"The same. We were brought to help out with the farms and factories as a faster, more efficient alternative to the railways."

Buster was quiet. "Hmm… now I understand if Toby was hostile to you," he said. "Poor Henrietta, his coach, was nearly turned into a henhouse due to your intervention."

"Oh yeah, sure," Olivia scoffed. "Why are you road vehicles only taking that tram engine's side?!"

"He has a name, you know," Buster snapped. "Please use it!"

"I don't see a reason to!" huffed Olivia. "Especially because… well, maybe I should just tell you straight up…"

Past

"Well, Talia, we did it!" I grinned. "We have secured our spot at running this joint."

"I don't know, Olivia," said Talia. "We're just doing the jobs we were contracted to do."

"And we're good at it, Talia," said Olivia. "That is why we're wanted, and that garden shed and his henhouse aren't."

"Didn't they help out when Vernon crashed into that hole in the road?"

"That was one time," I scoffed. "He just got lucky. We earned our position through management and hard work."

I glanced back at the shed as we drove past, seeing the tram and coach being stored away, for what appeared to be forever…

"Huh?! Talia, come look!" The shed doors were wide open and empty the next day.

"How could those two just… disappear?" cried Talia.

"They must've been taken away to a scrapyard or something," I shrugged. "If so, then that was quick."

"You were right about 'or something'!" called Vernon. "That stout gentleman who was here in the summer bought them both for his railway. I saw them leave this morning."

"What?!" I exclaimed. "You mean that they're still in operation?!"

"Yeah, but I wouldn't worry too much," said Vernon with a smirk. "Whatever's happened here will probably happen on his new railway as well one day. They're just delaying the inevitable." That was what I assumed at the time, but I can now see that it wasn't the case.

What happened instead was that, for quite a while, Talia, Vernon and I, along with some others, ran as we were. However, I was pulled aside one day on the road.

"Hey!" I cried. "Driver, we're going to be late!"

"Sorry, ol' girl," soothed the driver, "but something is coming." Indeed it was – a much larger delivery lorry, with a container flat.

"My goodness," I trailed. "He is very sleek…"

"Come on, dear," urged my driver. "We can make that delivery now."

I made my delivery without further delay, and soon, I came across that same bigger lorry again, and he was joined by two other big lorries.

"Er… h-hello." I felt as timid as Alex in that moment. "My name is Olivia. What are your names?"

"You have a name?!" scoffed one of the bigger lorries; the others laughed. "You don't deserve one."

"You're weak and out of date," said the second. "We can do your work in half the time."

"Go on and buzz off!" remarked the third. "The companies will want us, not you!"

"I-I can still be useful!" I huffed, trying not to let their words get to me.

"Yeah, as a produce stand, maybe!"

I rumbled away, seething. Surely, the companies still wanted me. I was useful! I knew I was…

"I'm sorry…" Our manager shook his head. "We just can't keep up with the demands anymore."

"No!" I wailed. "Sir… you can't send us to the scrapheap. You can't!"

"I wouldn't dream of it," said our manager, "but you will be put into storage until I can find someone for you."

And he did. We were put into that shed – that very same shed that tram and his coach used to be in.

"Chin up, Olivia," said Talia. "We'll find a home at some point."

"Yeah… we'll find one tomorrow!" I said confidently. "If that garden shed and henhouse found a home that quick, so will we!"

But it was months, possibly years, before we found someone to take us in…

Present

"…it wasn't fair!" Olivia growled. "It only took him one day to find a new home! Yet we, the more effective and modern vehicles, waited for much longer!"

Buster was taken aback by this story. It was wrong of Olivia to be so rude to Toby and Henrietta, but that didn't mean hostility back. "Olivia, you ought to show gratitude for being here!" he said firmly. "Do you want to end up like Horace or not?"

"Wait… how do you know about my nightmare from last night?!" she exclaimed.

"That wasn't a nightmare; I told you what happened to him!"

Olivia's mouth fell open. "Y-you just made that up!" she stammered. "It wouldn't happen to any of my siblings!"

"But it did. And you could end up like him if you keep this up."

Olivia didn't feel like arguing with Buster anymore, but she could do little but reflect at this point. Could it be true… that Horace really is… in a pigsty…?

At the building site, Kelly, Poppy and Oliver set to work. Thankfully, the storm didn't do much damage to the Brendam branch or its surrounding towns.

"Oof!" Poppy's wheel got caught in something as she drove in.

"Oh dear!" cried Kelly. "Was that a pothole you landed in, Poppy?"

"No, I drove onto the grass," she explained. "But I don't think that's the only one…"

Miss Jenny looked over at what Poppy had pointed out and gasped. "It's molehills!" she exclaimed. "And lots o' them!"

"How in Sodor's name did they get here?!" cried Patrick Percival. Jet and Alfie Jr. raced into the football field, barking and hissing at the animals popping in and out of the ground.

"What are we going to do about these moles?" asked Oliver.

"We'll have to get them relocated," said Miss Jenny. "I'll call in some animal experts to move them safely. As fer the molehills themselves… looks like we need Buster after all."

"I'd get him, Miss Jenny," said Poppy, before looking sheepishly at her tire, "but I don't think I can go to work for a while."

"Sounds like we'll need Olivia's help as well," Kelly noted, "and she's already in hot water with you, Miss Jenny."

"Indeed," she nodded. "But before Olivia comes, I think she has to make a detour…"

Back at the Pack's yard, Buster and Olivia heard the sound of a steam engine's whistle approaching them. Soon enough, Edward came bustling in with a well wagon and brake van in two.

"Buster!" he called. "Miss Jenny needs you down at Brendam! The football field isn't flat!"

"So I do have a job after all!" he said excitedly. But then he looked over at Olivia. "But… what about Olivia?"

"Miss Jenny needs her as well to fill in for Poppy," explained Edward. "She also wants you to make a detour to McMains Farm along the Little Western."

"A detour?" asked Olivia, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "Whatever for?"

"Whatever it is, I'm sure you'll find out," said Edward. "Come on, Buster; we've got no time to waste!" The red steamroller was soon loaded onto the well wagon, and Edward set off back to Brendam as fast as he could. Olivia, meanwhile, drove off to the Little Western.

At McMains Farm, Horace sat miserably where he was at, surrounded by noisy pigs. In the past few years, his paint had gotten dirty, but his owners were in no rush to have him restored. The pigs didn't seem to care; they were glad to have something to carry their food in!

"Ugh…" he groaned. "Why can't I get back out there already?!"

Just then, he heard a horn, and saw a light green lorry coming up to the farm.

"What the… Olivia?! Is that really you?"

"Yes, I had to deliver some empty crates to– Horace?!" she exclaimed. There was an awkward pause between the two lorries as Lily and Patch began loading the crates. So it's true, Olivia thought to herself. He has become a pigsty.

"I suppose you saw my 'replacement' then," Horace scoffed. "She stole my number and position in the Pack!"

"Are you… talking about Poppy?" asked Olivia.

"Yeah, that's her, alright," huffed Horace. "So I failed my trials due to that quarry diesel crashing into me. I can pull my own weight!"

"Not from where I'm standing, you can't," huffed Olivia. "You're very much stuck here."

"Only because I was withdrawn from service!" he snorted. "I was doing our siblings a favor, Olivia. This island needs more roadways, and I teamed up with George to take them down!"

"T-take them down?!" cried Olivia. "Horace, y-you seriously didn't…"

"Those railways are all over the island, Olivia," Horace pointed out. "I was ensuring our future so you and your friend could join us!"

"You wanted to ruin the lives of someone else?!" Olivia snapped. "Talia and I were faced with an uncertain future ourselves when more modern lorries came to replace us! It could've just as easily happened to you had you not ended up where you're currently at, so perhaps you should consider yourself thankful!" Consider… yourself thankful… she thought to herself. Great Highways, that's what Buster said. And… I wasn't…

"Well, Horace," Olivia said at last, "we may be lorries of the same class, but we are not siblings. I hope you're happy with what you deserve!" At that moment, Lily and Patch were done with their work, and Olivia tooted her horn. Once again, Horace was left alone with only the pigs for company.

"But that still didn't excuse Toby for brushing Talia and I aside like nothing," she muttered under her breath. "I need to talk to her as soon as possible… get this off my radiator…"

Down at the construction site, Buster took a good look at the football field.

"Look at all those molehills!" he exclaimed. "There must be hundreds of them! It looks like a giant currant bun, only green!"

Buster quickly set off to work (which wasn't very fast to begin with) in flattening every molehill he came across. The moles could only watch as Buster flattened their handiwork, and it wasn't long before the field was perfectly flat once more.

"Well done, Buster!" smiled Kelly. "Now the kids can play football when the school eventually opens!"

"Thanks," he said modestly, before sighing. "I just wish I was able to help Olivia with her feelings just as well as I was able to sort this out…"

"Still no change there, huh?" said Poppy. "Speaking of Olivia, what's taking her so long to get back here?!"

"She's coming," assured Miss Jenny. "Just had to make a little detour, is all."

As if on cue, they heard a horn, and Olivia arrived at the construction site, having dropped off the vegetables at Suddery and brought in the bricks. "Everyone!" she announced. "The windmill on the Ffarquhar branch had been destroyed by lightning. Talia's gone to drop off some timber to help. We almost hit a fallen tree on the way here."

"Goodness me!" exclaimed Miss Jenny. "Don't worry, Olivia. I'll arrange fer ye to help out with construction where ye can."

"Y-you will?" gasped Olivia. "Even after my behavior from yesterday?"

Miss Jenny nodded. "The rest of ye can pitch in whenever possible. This is no one-vehicle job."

And indeed it was not. It took the efforts of both the Pack and the engines to restore the windmill to former glory, as well as clear up the storm damage. Throughout that time, Olivia worked to improve her behavior towards the engines, even apologizing to those that she had offended like Daisy and Emily. But her biggest apology was to Toby, and he, in turn, also said sorry for his blind eye to her downfall.

And as for Brendam Girls' School, there were no more delays with finishing it, and it was opened not long after the windmill was restored. A few of the girls even came to thank the Pack when the school opened.

"Without you, we wouldn't have somewhere to play with our friends!" said one happily.

"Keep up the great work," said another as the two of them skipped off into the schoolhouse.

"Yeah…" Olivia said quietly. "We will… and we'll have the engines to fall back on for help as well."

THE END

Author's Comments

And now, the second half of this two-parter, as well as the 40th story of Series 6-7 Redux! The reason I made this a two-parter is because the first two shots of Buster 1, Moles 0 contained stock footage from Toby's Windmill, which made me wonder that, if the Pack episodes were somehow further connected to the show, the two episodes took place at the same time. So yes, the two stories do take place alongside each other, providing further context into Toby and the Windmill, and showing things from Olivia's point of view, even showing what became of her and Talia after Toby and Henrietta left for Sodor. This story was a bit trickier to write up, and it ended up going in a direction Rachel and I didn't expect, yet it still works. At least, I think it works.

Upcoming rewrites:

- Bulgy Rides Again - retooled

- A Skarloey Wedding (The Grand Opening/Best Dressed Engine)

- Another Fine Mess

- The Star of the Show (Harold and the Flying Horse/Percy Gets it Right)

- Bill, Ben and Mavis