Redemption (A TTTE Story)

Part V: The Life of Lies

Present Day

(1968)

The two engines sat in the workshop, with an uneasy silence in the air. At last, Molly broke the silence.

"There's something I still don't understand."

Emily groaned.

"What might 'at be?", she quizzed.

"If Nathan's fireman had quit, why was he at the station when you had your accident?"

"'e ne'er quit; it was jus' a rumor."

"And you didn't recognize the man who told you to cover for Nathan?"

"No, I didn't." Emily paused. "Now 'at I think about it, I 'ad ne'er seen 'at man before er since."

"Did Nathan leave your area in January 1891?"

"Yes, 'e di-- wait how did'ja know 'at?"

"...I think you may have been the Express Bomber's first victim..."

"Wha' are ya on about!?"

Molly sighed. "I was built in 1911. My class, however, started being built in 1900. One thing my brothers and sisters loved to discuss was stories. The eldest of my so-called "squad" was an engine named Westley. Westley's favorite story to share was about an engine he called Dusty."

"What's 'at got ta do wit' Nathan?"

"Well, let me tell you the story:"

***

Dusty was a show-off. He liked to prove he was better than anyone else.

But Dusty was also a very naughty engine. He hated anyone who could best him, and always tried to find a way to pay them out.

One fateful day, another engine had pulled a very important train. There was a buzz about it, as that engine had done it under terrible conditions, yet thrived despite them. Dusty was furious he was no longer the center of attention.

He hatched an evil scheme. A few days later, he met with an old friend. The friend was a man who had been to war, and knew how to sabotage things rather well.

On the big day, Dusty had his safety valve tampered with, with an intentional failure in mind. Sure enough, as he sat in the sheds, the safety valve failed. Smoke and steam spewed everywhere.

In the confusion, Dusty's friend snuck into the cab of the other engine. Quickly, he dropped something into the engine's water tank. Nobody noticed this at all.

The other engine was told to do Dusty's work, as well as his own. So the engine left the shed, he and his crew oblivious to what was to happen.

The engine arranged the long train, and was then coupled up. He started the heavy train, and while under strain it happened. The ground shook, steam shot everywhere, and people screamed in panic. The poor engine was seriously damaged, the crew mutilated.

Despite surviving the explosion, the engine was never the same. He had no clue he had been sabotaged, and dared not to ever pull the important train ever again.

***

Emily remained silent.

"The Express Bomber," continued Molly, "was a man who would jump from railway to railway with his engine. He would have forged papers to cover his real purpose. Once he and his engine had settled in, they would set up a trap to intentionally destroy a locomotive whenever they tried to leave an area under strain. Sometimes the so-called trap wouldn't activate for days. While the first few attempts saw only injuries, the pair quickly figured out how to make things lethal. It took fourteen years, the destruction of twenty-two engines, and the deaths of nearly sixty-five men before their luck ran out."