The Legends of Sodor

Chapter 11: Tracks Within Tracks

After Stephanie's bruise from landing on the Gem of Sodor has healed, she has thought about what Duncan had said about not being able to travel around like what the others do.

She felt sorry for them for not being able to do it, so she decided to help them by making a change by asking Sir Topham Hatt.

So that morning, at the correct time than before, Alice woke Stephanie up gently without shrieking at her like her other 'maid.'

"Good morning, Stephanie!" Alice greeted her with a smile on her face. "Are you ready for a bright and lovely day?"

Stephanie nodded her head after Alice asked and got out of bed as she walked out of her room to let her have privacy to change.

Once she changed into her clothes, Stephanie went downstairs to ask Sir Topham Hatt about the idea she had in mind.

Stephanie was nervous about explaining what her idea was about adding smaller tracks inside the bigger tracks.

She thinks that Sir Topham Hatt would dismiss her idea, calling it silly, and continue with his day.

But she took a deep breath, gathered her courage, and walked up to Sir Topham Hatt as he was getting ready for work.

When she went up to Sir Topham Hatt before leaving for work, he noticed Stephanie and smiled softly, turning his attention to Stephanie.

"Hello, Stephanie," he greeted. "What seems to be the problem today?"

"Nothing, Sir," Stephanie answered. "I was wondering about something."

A curious expression appeared on Sir Topham Hatt's face.

"What is it?" he asked.

Stephanie paused for a moment about her thoughts, having self-doubt about Sir Topham Hatt's reaction.

After being silent for a moment, Stephanie finally answered, "Do you think of adding rails inside the normal tracks for the narrow-gauge engines outside the quarry?"

Sir Topham Hatt thought to himself for a moment after Stephanie answered his question before asking, "Did the quarry engines back in the Blue Mountains talk to you while you stayed there?"

"Y-Yes, sir," Stephanie nodded, placing her hands behind her back as she glanced down at the ground, blushing a little. "I just felt bad for them having to wait for Thomas or the other normal gauge engines to come to pick them up. So, I thought asking you to put a smaller pair of rails could help them."

After a few minutes of silence, Sir Topham Hatt gently smiled and placed his hand on her shoulder, which was lucky for the bruise to be healed at this point.

"I think it is an excellent idea!" he smiled, causing Stephanie to perk a little. "I'll let the workers at the Steamworks know to make more rails."

Then, Stephanie felt nervous about other trains being crossed towards her to give Sir Topham Hatt the idea.

She thought that would slow down things for the work, and she would be blamed for getting the idea.

"But what about the other trains?" Stephanie questioned worriedly. "They might slow down a little since the workers are working on the rails."

Sir Topham Hatt gently chuckled after Stephanie asked him about the other engines, placing his hand on her shoulder again after turning around to face the door.

He led her outside the mansion as Stephanie followed him by his side.

"Don't worry about that, Stephanie." Sir Topham Hatt assured. "The engines will either take a different route to go around or slow down a little."