Thomas and the Secret Engine Chp. 7: Retaliation
Boomer never let go of Tasha, and now, back in the present, he was still grumbling to himself while George and the diesels watched.“How… How am I going to find that peasant’s pile of scrapheap…” He thought to himself.“Well boss, I thought blowing up that shed was a good move-” Said Splatter.“Surely if we keep doing that, we’ll eventually blow up fuddy duddy’s engine!” Added Dodge.“SHUT UP YOU TWO!” Bellowed Boomer. “I can’t just blow up every single goods shed on the island! People will get suspicious, and no way will Burnett tell me where she is.”Diesel 10 then pitched in, “You know, boss, Burnett does have that granddaughter visiting too. We could always go after her.”“BURNETT’S GRANDDAUGHTER?!” Screamed Boomer, “It’s his engine I want, not some girl! I’d cancel this entire plan to sabotage and modernize the railway if I could just get my hands on-” Boomer then paused for a moment. “Burnett’s granddaughter, you said Diesel?..”“Yes… I did, boss.”Boomer then had an idea. “Ah, yes! I have it! Here’s our plan Diesel, we’ll capture her when Burnett and that blue puffball aren’t looking, and then when Burnett finds out…”“... We can blackmail him into surrendering the engine to us!” Laughed Diesel, “You’re always coming up with clever plans, you know that boss?”“I know Diesel, I know. Probably the best idea I’ve had since I saved you.”George was horrified at this plan, “C-C-Capture Burnett’s granddaughter, Mr. Boomer? You mean kidnap a young girl?”“Yes Georgie, and don’t worry… We’re not going to hurt her, we just need her to get rid of Burnett’s engine once and for all… And you can finally have your roller rink, isn’t that right?”“I suppose, boss…”“Great. We’ll do it tomorrow, you all can go home for the night.” Said Boomer as he left.Diesel left next, and all that remained were Splatter, Dodge, and George. George broke the silence with something that was brewing on his mind.“Splatter… Dodge, I want to ask… How far are you willing to go on this plan before you decide that ‘Enough is enough’?”“What do you mean?” Asked Dodge.“Look… The idea of a roller rink did sound pretty awesome when Diesel first proposed it to me, but at the same time, I don’t want to be responsible for kidnapping a child.”“But if you don’t go with the boss’s plan, George, you won’t get it.” Said Splatter.George thought long and hard. “... Why are you two helping them, anyway? Diesel doesn’t even refer to you by your full names, what do you see in them?”“Tryf-”“Splatter, remember, we don’t call him that anymore!” Said Dodge.“Right, thank you Dodge… Diesel 10 is our best friend, in fact he was our only friend in England, a-a-and Boomer saved him from scrap.”“... Wait… Diesel 10 was almost scrapped?”“He and his brothers were withdrawn five years ago,” Explained Dodge, “And before he was cut up, Boomer offered to save him in exchange for helping him with his plans.”“So all this… The reason why we’re all here right now… The reason why Diesel 10 is still alive… The reason why I’m questioning my moral values… Is because an old man wants to make this railway ‘More modern’? Is that really it?”“Pretty much.” Said Splatter.“... I’ve had enough,” Decided George, “Come on you two, we should stand on our ground and tell those two that we quit. I don’t think the roller rink is worth it anymore-”“NOT WORTH IT?!” Exclaimed Dodge.“George, you can’t back out now!” Said Splatter, “If you do, Diesel will… Will…”“Will what?” Said George, “Use ‘Pinchy’ on me? I’m not afraid of him.”“Well regardless… We won’t join you, we can’t betray our best friend!” Said Dodge.“And we mean that.” Put in Splatter.“Emphatically!”“What does that mean?”“I have no idea.”“It’s a good word.”“Fine then…” Said George. Then, George made his decision. He rolled onto the tracks they were on, and started pushing them.“George?!” Cried Splatter.“W-W-What are you doing?!” Said Dodge. “Let’s just say I’m… ‘Taking out the trash’.” Said George, and then he pushed them off the quay. Luckily, they were saved by a barge, but they were angry.“You shouldn’t have done that!” Cried Splatter. “Diesel’s going to be mad when he finds out!” Shouted Dodge.“Like I care at this point…” Said George, then he turned around and headed for home. “Railways are no good, turn ‘em into roads…” He hummed.The next morning, Boomer was heading to the main sheds to give the engines their orders for the day. But things didn’t go as expected.“Where’s Dodge?” He asked, noticing that the berth where Dodge would normally sleep in was empty. “He’s supposed to be taking a ballast train soon.”“You mean Duck’s supposed to be taking one…” Growled James.“What kind of an attitude is that?” Asked Boomer, noticing that James and the other steam engines were looking extremely angry.“We’re not stupid, Boomer.” Said Gordon, “We know you’ve been bringing all these diesels onto the island. Did you really think we’d buy the ‘No other engine available’ excuse?”“You’re all acting ridiculous, and where’s Henry too?” Boomer asked, sweating.“You’re lucky he already had to take the Flying Kipper earlier this morning.” Said James, “Otherwise, he’d be doing what we’re doing now. We’re going on a strike!”“You can’t do that!” Snapped Boomer, “A really useful engine obeys their controller!” “You’re not our controller!” Retorted Gordon, “We want Sir Topham Hatt back, and we won’t work with this… This thing!” He continued, looking at Diesel 10 in disgust.“Here here!” Agreed James, “It’s time to stand up to bullies, everyone!” Then on cue, all of the steam engines began to blow their whistles in fury.“Stop that! STOP THAT AT ONCE!” Screamed Boomer, but his voice was drowned out.“It’s no good, boss!” Said Diesel, “What’ll we do?”“... Take your idea into action…” Gritted Boomer, climbing into Diesel’s cab. “Come on D10, we have unfinished business… Let’s finish it fast…”“With pleasure, boss…” Said Diesel, and they then rolled away.Meanwhile at Toryreck, Lily woke up once again to Burnett, who was more tired than usual.“You must have been working really late last night.” Observed Lily.“Yes, I was…” Groaned Burnett, “Did you watch any movies while I was gone?”“Yeah, and they were enjoyable too.”“That’s good, glad you had fun anyways.” Smiled Burnett.“Can I go see Thomas again today, grandpa?” Asked Lily.“Of course,” Said Burnett, “I think he’ll be arriving at the station soon so you may want to get a headstart.”And Lily did so, she had a good jog to Toryreck station, and was just in time for Thomas.“Morning again, Lily!” Said Thomas, “How are you today?”“Good Thomas!” Said Lily, “Can I get another cab ride?... Maybe only as far as to the junction this time, I wanted to see some of the other engines if that’s okay.”“Of course, climb aboard Lily!” Said Thomas, happily.And she did so. They were soon on their way again.“This may sound strange, Thomas, but Grandpa seemed a bit perkier today than he was yesterday. I thought that was unusual for him.”“Maybe there’s something that made him a bit happier!” Said Thomas, “Though I wish…”But Thomas trailed off, he was about to bring up how he wished that they could get Burnett’s engine working again, but he remembered his promise. Lily was a bit confused by this, and when she got off at the junction, she couldn’t help but ask Thomas what he meant.“You said ‘I wish’, Thomas.”“I wish?...” Thomas tried to come up with an excuse, “Oh yes, I wish… You’d stay on this island a bit longer, maybe Grandpa could invite you to come again in the future.”“I’m definitely thinking about it now.” Smiled Lily as Thomas departed, “I’ll see you later, Thomas!”“See you, Lily!” He called, “And remember, stay behind the yellow line and you’ll be safe!”When Thomas was out of sight, Lily was left alone at the platform. She didn’t mind, in fact, she was a little excited at first to do some trainspotting.“I wonder who will be the first engine I see… Gordon? James?”“How about me?” Said a voice from behind her.Lily turned around and nearly shrieked in horror! It was Diesel 10, his claw out and in full view. Lily tried to run, but it was too late, Diesel was able to catch her in time.“Naughty naughty,” Said Boomer from Diesel’s cab. “Didn’t your parents teach you not to run on a railway platform, little girl?”“Let me go! Let me go!” Lily demanded, she tried to free herself but Diesel got a good grip.“What shall we do with her, boss?” Asked Diesel.“Take her somewhere Burnett won’t be able to find her.” Said Boomer.Diesel soon departed, still with Lily in his grasp. As he went on the mainline, Henry, who was returning to the big station after his run with the Flying Kipper, could see the whole thing and was horrified. He raced down the line, and when he made it back to the junction, Thomas had just returned with his train.“THOMAS! Thomas! Oh, thank goodness I found you!” Panted Henry.“What’s going on?!” Thomas asked.“It’s Diesel! He’s now gone off the deep end… I saw him going down the mainline with a little girl in… In… Some freaky looking claw! I don’t know how on earth he got such a thing, but we need to do something, fast!”“... Oh no…” Said Thomas in horror, he knew the girl in question was Lily. “Henry, you let the other engines know, I have to speak to Burnett Stone!”“Roger that!” Said Henry, “It’s time we put that diesel in his place…”When Thomas got to Toryreck, he blew his whistle loudly and over and over again to get Burnett’s attention. He climbed out of his signal box pretty quickly.“What’s wrong Thomas?!” He called.“LILY!” Shouted Thomas, “They kidnapped Lily! Boomer and Diesel! Henry told me!”“What?!” Said Burnett in horror.“That’s all I know…” Panted Thomas, “I-I’m sorry Mr. Stone, I should never have let her out of my sight!... This is all my fault…”Before Burnett could reply, he could hear the telephone in his box ringing. “... I think I know who’s calling…” He said grimly, and went inside to answer it.“Boomer?” He asked.“Good guess Burnett,” Replied the other line, it was Boomer. “Listen up, I have your granddaughter, and I want to make things clear, I’m not going to hurt her…”“Why should I believe you?” Said Burnett angrily.“Because she’s right here with me and my diesel.” Continued Boomer, “And if you want to see her again, I’d like to make a deal with you…”“Okay?...”“I know you still have that engine Burnett, I know she’s still in one piece. But that’s not how fate should have gone. Turn her in to me, Burnett, and I will do what I should have done thirteen years ago. Then, you can finally have your granddaughter back. What’s it going to be, Burnett? Your engine, or your granddaughter?” He then hung up.Burnett took a deep breath for a moment. He tightened the friendship bracelet that Lily had given him the other day, then walked back outside. Thomas was still there.“What did he say?” Asked the blue engine.“He wants me to turn in my engine in exchange for Lily.” Explained Burnett.“What?!” Exclaimed Thomas, “That’s… That’s just plain evil.”“I know…” Said Burnett, he then looked at the bracelet again. “But… I can’t abandon my granddaughter like that, I just can’t.”“... Mr. Stone… Are you saying… You’re going to give in?”“I don’t have a choice, Thomas. I’d better call Edward and let him know.”“But Mr. Stone, you told me last night that that engine means a lot to you!”“And she does… But Lily means even more to me, even if she doesn’t realize it.”Thomas thought long and hard about his promise from the night before. “... Then I’ll help you, Burnett. But I do want to ask you one more thing.”“What’s that?”“How do we know Boomer won’t go back on his promise?... I think I have a plan.”“I’m all ears…”To be continued...
TheLOKRailfanDA
Add Media
Style