The Legends of Sodor

Chapter 16: Trouble On The Rails

Once they were restored back into their original coats and fixed from being nearly rusted, Stephanie was concerned for them, knowing that they did not have anywhere else to go.

But Sir Topham Hatt surprised her when she was in his office the next day after hearing the conversations he had over the phone.

For Ryland, the Virginia and Truckee 18 Dayton locomotive, he is working with an unknown company that Stephanie had not heard of before, called 'The Misty Island Logging Company.'

This seemed to pique Stephanie's curiosity about the company, wanting to know more about both it and the island called 'Misty Island.'

But, deciding to save the island for later, Stephanie only placed it on a sticky note and stuck it in her head, just to remind herself to see what the island is about with Sir Topham Hatt.

With Damian, Milwaukee Road's A2 class locomotive wearing a metal mask, Stephanie was worried at first when Sir Topham Hatt called the Ironworks, thinking he was going to scrap him, but relieved when they instead hired him.

But, when it came to Smudger, the missing Fletcher Jennings Class Bb locomotive, Stephanie's high hopes lingered a little, thinking no one would take Smudger since his cockiness and rudeness many years ago.

Sir Topham Hatt did not see Stephanie's worries on her face after he finished with Damian but called a station that seemed to surprise Stephanie.

He had called Mr. Percival, the owner of the Skarloey Railway that has Duke working at.

Why call the Skarloey Railway instead of the other railways just as she hoped would take him?

She bit her lips with her teeth nervously as she listened to the conversation between Sir Topham Hatt and Mr. Percival, remembering Duke's words as if he had met Smudger again.

'But if we did find him...' Duke once spoke to her as she listened to his stories about the relationship between him and Smudger. 'I don't know about accepting him again since he was reckless in his past.'

Stephanie clenched her sweater in her hand, still feeling very nervous about Smudger encountering Duke one more time, not wanting to see an argument between the two.

So, after staying in the office with Sir Topham Hatt, Stephanie went to visit Smudger, worried about his reaction to the news of working at a railway with Duke.

But as she reached his shed and entered, Stephanie was about to gently wake him up from his sleep as he had a tarp draped over him like a blanket, a sudden feeling of sleepiness washed over her.

Blinking a few times with confusion, Stephanie yawned a couple of times as she covered her mouth with a hand, shaking her head a little.

But her unusual sleepiness seemed to make Stephanie drowsy.

So while being half-asleep and half-awake, she crawled underneath something that seemed to cover her body like a blanket and fell asleep.

---

Smudger slowly woke up after a few hours passed, blinking a few times with grogginess, before yawning widely.

While inhaling, something hair-like went into his mouth suddenly, causing him to cough and gag a little, spitting out what entered his mouth.

'Ew!' he groaned as he sputtered the hairy thing out of his mouth. 'What did I eat? A spider? Ew!'

Smudger shook his body with disgust a little after eating a 'spider' as some tarp draped over him moved slightly.