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One night, Percy had to take some trucks of stone to the Big Harbour. He was supposed to take them to the harbour on the branchline, but he got redirected. He arrived a bit late and very tired.
“Don’t sweat it, Percy.” soothed his driver. “You’ll be allowed to sleep at the big sheds tonight, so no need to refill until morning. How’s that?”
“Very good!” replied Percy, flattered.
So Percy went to the big sheds, and spotted an empty berth.
“That’s the one!” he said to his driver, who duly obliged.
Percy looked around. Next to him, Gordon and Henry were deep in conversation.
“I feel worked off my wheels.” mumbled Henry. “It wasn’t this bad since… I can’t even remember!”
Gordon hummed. “You see, dear Henry, that is no matter. The matter is what’s happening to me. I have to pull the express as well as stopping trains. At this point, it’s easier if we throw a coup d’état!”
Percy could bear it no longer. “What’s a coup dental?” he asked. The two bigger engines darted their eyes towards him. They hadn’t even noticed the small green engine.
Gordon took a deep breath.
“You see, Percy, it is when the underlings do not tolerate the one in charge, and replace them by their own force.” he explained. Henry gave a dry chuckle.
“Didn’t think you were smart enough to know that.” he said. Gordon shot him an icy glare. Percy meanwhile was mortified.
“In charge?! Like the Fat Controller?” he squealed.
“Well, that is quite the assumpt-”
“Yes!” cut in Henry. Gordon glared once again, but the big green engine paid it no mind.
“Oh dear! That would be terrible!” Percy went on. “Maybe no one will think of it. That’d be nice.”
“I hope so.” replied Gordon and Henry in chorus. This odd exchange took the wind out of their sails so they all went to sleep instead.
The next day Percy was back home on the branchline. He was doing his usual farm run at McColl farm halt. He was coupled to a short line of cattle trucks and box vans. Farmer McColl was ordering his men about, as they had a decent number of animals to take to market. Percy sizzled happily. He had done this job hundreds of times before, and wasn’t really paying attention after so many times.
It might have been better if he had.
They were almost done when some more of the farmer’s men ran over to the platform.
“Mr McColl! One of the rearview mirrors broke on the tractor!”
McColl muttered something under his mustache, before addressing his workers.
“Change it!” he called.
“We can’t!” the workmen answered. “The entire tractor’s tipped over on its side!”
McColl’s eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. He jumped off the platform to go and inspect the damage. The workers who were helping Percy followed the farmer’s lead.
“Look after the coops, Percy!” yelled McColl. Percy broke out of his daze at the mere mention of the word.
“COUP?!” screeched the engine. “Henry was right! Somebody wants to overthrow the Fat Controller! I must save him!”
He looked around desperately.
“Farmer McColl said ‘look after the coup’...” he thought. “Or at least I think he did… oh dear it all happened so quickly… Anyway, how should I look after the coup?”
His eyes landed on the animals in his trucks and on the platform.
“That’s it! The animals are planning to overthrow the Fat Controller! I must prevent them!” he steamed, as he directed his full attention at the animals.
“Oh please, don’t overthrow the Fat Controller, he’s a very nice man.” Percy pleaded. “It would be a real shame if he wasn’t in charge! I mean, you animals likely can’t run the railway, can you?”
The animals looked dumbfounded and unamused at the small engine’s pleas. To Percy, it looked like they weren’t listening. He got even more stressed.
“Well then, if you won’t change your mind, I will. If you try any tricks, be prepared for the worst! I will-”
Percy’s train of thought was interrupted by Farmer McColl yelling at his men from the other side of the farm.
“What idiots do I have working for me?” he bellowed, “I need to get to the market, but you can’t even be trusted with this rubbish tractor! I don’t have time for this…”
He soon appeared within Percy’s line of vision, sprinting madly towards the engine. He didn’t stop until he clambered into the cab, nearly knocking the driver and fireman over.
“Are we ready?” he asked, out of breath.
“I made sure of it!” Percy replied, still in a bit of shock after his coup rant.
“Off we go then,” said the Farmer. Percy hurried away.
In no time at all they reached their destination. The station staff soon unloaded Percy's trucks, with McColl’s keen eye watching their every move. Sure enough, he noticed something.
“Where the ‘ell are my chickens?” he gasped.
“What chickens?” Percy asked.
“The ones in their coops. Fiddlesticks, we must’ve left them at the halt.” grumbled the farmer.
Percy’s face went as red as Bertie the Bus as the realization dawned on him. He didn’t speak on it. He didn’t want to look even sillier than he had for forgetting to alert McColl about the coops.
“I’ll go back and fetch them.” Percy offered. The farmer nodded, so off Percy went for the coops. All the way there, he berated himself for being so foolish as to confuse chicken coops with a coup d’état. He decided that he’d never listen to Henry and Gordon’s brainwaves again.
After the run to the farm and back, Percy was very late for the rest of the day. He rushed here, there, and everywhere for the rest of the day. He even almost forgot to say ‘hullo’ to Thomas and Toby when he met them.
Like the previous day, his final train consisted of heavy stone trucks, and once again, he got redirected to the Big Harbour.
“How about another night here?” asked his driver. Percy solemnly agreed.
Like clockwork, Gordon and Henry were once again in a debate about something Percy didn’t understand. The small engine couldn’t care less however. He decided that whatever those two were talking about, it was better if it stayed between them and only them.