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On the little railway, an important source of revenue is charter trains. These are not in the schedule, and tickets are only handed out to those invited. These include groups of friends, families, or some guests of other formal events.
Schools also prefer to use charters instead of the timetabled trains. This means that the children won’t annoy the other passengers, and if needed, the train can stop in places it wouldn’t normally if the teacher wants to sightsee a bit more. The engines do not like this very much, but they understand how important this is to the Thin Controller and the Owner.
One day, Duncan was assigned to one of these trains. His driver and fireman fussed around him, making sure he looked his best for the guests. Duncan pretended to not like the extra attention, but there was someone he could not hide his pleasure from.
“What’s up, Duncan? Relishing the polish?” Rusty asked cheekily as he pulled up alongside, getting ready for his maintenance train. Duncan just sighed.
“Maybe a teeny bit.” he replied, quieter than usual.
“Charter, I assume?” Rusty asked.
“Indeed. Hope it’s wedding guests again. Those afterparty folk were horrid…” the steamer replied. Rusty gave a worried look.
“I heard it was some schoolchildren…” he said. Duncan’s previously shut eyes jerked wide open.
“WHAT?!” he yelled, so loudly that even the mountain engines heard him.
“Didn’t they tell you?” Rusty enquired. Duncan stared daggers into his crew.
“We didn’t want to ruin your mood…” they said, trying to ease the engine’s nerves, unaware that there was no such thing.
Duncan wanted to give them a plain-speaking piece of his mind, but instead just let off steam knowing there was nothing he could do. Rusty rolled closer.
“Do you want me to take them? Then you can help Mr Hugh and the workmen…” he offered. Duncan looked solemnly at his friend.
“No need.” he said before puffing towards his coaches. Rusty looked on, dismayed. He liked Duncan, and he knew the only reason he didn’t start complaining was because he was afraid that if he did, anything that went wrong during the trip would be blamed on him. He tried to come up with a plan to make him feel better, but couldn’t think of anything good.
“Come on,” ordered Mr Hugh. “I have a feeling we’ll hear from him soon, whether we want to or not.”
“But we shouldn’t!” argued Rusty. “He shouldn’t be afraid that the actions of incompetent passengers will be blamed on him!”
“Listen here,” said Mr Hugh, leaning closer to the engine, “this isn’t some universal injustice against him, he brought this on himself. Every time he complained about the most menial of things, it made him earn his reputation. I haven’t the slightest clue why you defend him so much. It’s just that he’s having one of his quieter patches recently.”
“I know, I know, he can be very difficult… but we can also be very difficult to him!”
“Maybe so.” sighed Mr Hugh as he got inside the cab to start Rusty.
~~
Rusty went about the day like he normally would, inspecting the track and getting rid of anything by the side of the line that could cause a fire. All the same, the way he saw Duncan in the morning ate him away. Mr Hugh noticed, and went up to him when the gang was having their elevenses.
“Alright, I promise you, if I see Duncan getting mistreated, I’ll immediately report it to the Thin Controller, even if he’s the one doing it.” he said. Rusty felt a bit better afterwards.
He was soon done with his first patrol and went back to the station. What he saw in the yard made the oil run cold in his engine: a rather angry Thin Controller shouting at Duncan, with the children and the coaches on another siding. Rusty quietly stopped nearby, not close enough to be noticed but not far enough to not hear.
“...and I don’t think I need to say what I’ll do when this happens again!” the Thin Controller shouted before turning away. “Now I’ll have to scramble to find someone else to pull this train.” he said before scouring the yard. Duncan just glared, but didn’t say a word. The Thin Controller’s eyes soon found Rusty. “Ah, perfect! Uncouple from the maintenance train, Rusty! Get on the charter please.” and he walked away before the little diesel could say another word.
“Mr Hugh, what will you do?” Rusty asked despairingly. Mr Hugh smiled.
“Don’t you worry, I’ll talk to the Thin Controller when we’re finished. But I’ve got another idea. How about you teach those little gremlins a lesson, eh?”
Rusty was indignant. “I won’t bully children!” he yelped. Mr Hugh laughed.
“No, you silly thing! You won’t hurt them, you will play a little joke.” he explained as he lifted his toolbox out of one of the vans and into Rusty’s cab.
“And what exactly will that be?” the little diesel asked.
Mr Hugh shrugged. “You’ll figure it out.” he chuckled.
Rusty made his way over to Duncan, who looked more heartbroken than ever before.
“I didn’t do anything.” he weeped. “I bumped the coaches once.” he paused impressively. “But one of those kids tried to put a branch between my rods, and I didn’t see him and blew steam…” Duncan didn’t have the strength to keep going. Rusty looked at his buffers, before finding determination he never knew he had.
“Don’t worry, Duncan. I’ll make it right!” his engine roared into life as he made his way to the coaches. Duncan smiled.
“I hope so.” he said as he watched Rusty back down onto the coaches.
Rusty now had three main objectives: firstly, he had to actually pull the train towards its destination and back here. Secondly, he had to clear Duncan’s name in front of everyone. Last, but not least, make Mr Hugh’s joke plan a reality. He took a deep breath before departing.
No turning back.
~~
The ride was both better and worse than Rusty had expected. He didn’t have to brake suddenly, they didn’t need to stop where they shouldn’t, but maybe the kids already being a bit tired had something to do with that.
What the children were not tired to do however, was jump around inside the coaches, making them shudder during the whole journey. The coaches, who treated charter trains as something special before, were having second thoughts.
Rusty was annoyed, but he had bigger things to worry about. At the station by the lake, the children went off to get ice cream from the Refreshment Lady, leaving Rusty and Mr Hugh to themselves.
“Well, Rusty, lad, have you thought of anything?” Mr Hugh asked.
“Well, actually I have.” Rusty replied, looking around to make sure no one heard them. “Do you still have some of your equipment from when you were in the army?”
Now it was Mr Hugh who looked around. “Don’t you tell anyone,” he whispered, “they’re right here, in my toolbox.” he took it out of Rusty’s cab, and opened it. Rusty saw exactly what he was looking for.
“Yes! All we need is…”
So it was arranged. They also told the guard, as he’d have a small but important role to play as well.
All three were doing their best not to laugh as they set off for home.
~~
As they made their way there, the weather worsened. Gray clouds hovered overhead, threatening to give way and pour rain over them at any second. Before getting to the loneliest part of the line, the guard clambered down, and ran in front.
“Bumpy stretch, this one.” he announced. “Gotta look over it to make sure it’s safe!”
Rusty also slowed down, making sure the guard wasn’t visible from the coaches. Soon, he returned.
“All fine!” he shouted as he climbed back into the van.
Rusty sped up a little. They went for about one mile, then a giant BOOM echoed everywhere. Rusty stopped suddenly. Mr Hugh got off to check for damage. He knelt down to inspect Rusty’s wheels. His face went pale.
“CRUCIFIX! WE’VE GOT A PUNCTURE!” he yelled, shaking his fist into the sky.
“Mr Hugh, you’re overdoing it.” Rusty whispered.
“A what?” the teacher asked, horrified.
“A puncture!” replied Mr Hugh. “This needle has punctured one of Rusty’s tires! The journey will be much more difficult now!”
“What now?” the teacher had now gotten out of the coach, alongside some mortified students.
Mr Hugh shook his head. “It’s no good. We can’t make it back…” he sighed.
“Why don’t we call a fitter?” asked a child.
“It’s annual fitter’s day.” replied Rusty. “They can’t come here.”
“Then call another engine!” said a different child.
“At this time?” asked Rusty indignantly. “There’s no one to drive them, all the drivers have gone home!”
“Do you have an air pump in that toolbox of yours, Mr Hugh?” enquired the guard, who had also gotten out of the train to inspect the damage.
“I took it out just this morning!” weeped Mr Hugh.
Rusty’s face grew determined. “Then I’ll do what my friend Duncan would do in a situation like this… I’ll go on, and get us home!”
The children looked at him in awe. “Would he do that?”
“Of course he would!” Rusty grinned. “He’s the bravest engine I know!”
“Come on, then,” said Mr Hugh. “All aboard!”
The children, the teacher, and the guard got back into the train. Rusty set off with some exaggerated groans of pain.
Luckily, the weather didn’t work against them for the rest of the trip. Rusty was scared that the couplings between the coaches would give way, but they held on until the very end.
A very satisfied Rusty rolled into the station. The children got off, and thanked him, Mr Hugh, and the guard for their efforts.
“We’ll make sure to tell everyone how brave you and Duncan are!” they said as they boarded Henry’s train. The teacher exchanged a few words and a couple pounds with Mr Hugh and the guard before following her students to the big train. Henry soon set off, and Rusty returned to the shed, eager to tell the others his tale.
~~
“Wow!” exclaimed Peter Sam that night. “How did you do it?”
“Well, Mr Hugh had a spare detonator, so we put it to good use.” the little diesel explained.
Mr Hugh went up to Duncan.
“I’ve arranged it.” he said, putting his hand on one of Duncan’s buffers. “The Thin Controller will meet with you tomorrow."
“Thanks, Sir.” Duncan replied quietly. Mr Hugh smiled and went home.
All the little engines were laughing so hard at what Rusty had done that their boilers almost burst. Except for one.
“I’m ashamed of you, Rusty.” Skarloey said angrily. “You scammed our passengers. Is that what you want people to think of us?”
“Don’t worry.” soothed Rusty. “We told the teacher about it, and for the students, it was just a learning experience…”
Skarloey wasn’t satisfied with the answer, but he calmed down enough to leave the little diesel alone for the rest of the night.
In the end, the Thin Controller apologised to Duncan, who was overjoyed.
Nowadays, whenever the engines have to take a charter train, they can’t help but think and laugh about how Rusty got his train home in just ten minutes flat.