Thomas and Friends Fanfiction Series 7

Rebecca to the Rescue

Rebecca is a very cheerful and happy-go-lucky engine. She helps pull the Express but is just as useful taking goods trains. And what makes her even better to have on the Island of Sodor is that she knows how to make others happy. 

One day, Rebecca had just taken some passengers to Knapford when the Fat Controller spoke to her. 

"Today, Rebecca, I need you to take a special Express to Great Waterton. It holds a Railway Inspector and he wishes to check that the great town is still as fabulous as it had been when restored on Sodor Day." 

"Yes, sir, it'll be a delight! I've always wanted to see Great Waterton. Gordon and the other engines have told me so much about it!" 

"Splendid, off you go then!" boomed the Fat Controller pleasantly. 

Rebecca smiled as she was coupled to her coaches and the passengers boarded. 

(The passengers include Albert's wife, Young Thomas, Ray, Edwina and the Lady with the Big Hat. Philip is the shunter.)

"I can't wait to get to Great Waterton," she beamed. 

"Nor can I," said the Railway Inspector, "I have heard many things of that historical town since my own youth."

"Wow!" said Rebecca. 

The whistle sounded and the flag waved, and Rebecca steamed away. 

"Enjoy Great Waterton, Rebecca," whistled Thomas as he passed. 

(He is pulling Annie and Clarabel.)

"I will, Thomas!" cheered Rebecca. 

As Rebecca followed the Main Line, she thought of the stories her friends had told her of Great Waterton. 

Thomas had told her of how he discovered Great Waterton. 

"I had gotten lost after another engine played a trick on me, but it was the best trick ever, because the route I took helped me rediscover Great Waterton."

Percy had told her of how he and Thomas both got to take the Brass Band to and from the town. 

"Thomas got to take the Band to the concert and that saddened me, until he let me take them home while he took my mail train!" 

And several other engines talked of their own visits to Great Waterton. 

"I thought it was beautiful on the opening of Sodor Day,"  Emily had said. 

"It was a very huge project and we were all Really Useful, and Great Waterton is a testament to that,"  Henry had said. 

"Of course, you can tell that I did a great deal of the work that made Great Waterton great again,"  James had boasted. 

Rebecca giggled at the different stories and couldn't wait to tell the other engines of her own story about her first visit to Great Waterton. 

Meanwhile, Nia was shunting some trucks at Great Waterton. But the trucks were causing no end of trouble. 

"Hold back, hold back!" 

"Keep with me, you silly trucks....or you will have an accident!" groaned Nia. 

But then there was trouble! 

The trucks saw Nia's words as an invitation to cause such an accident. 

They began to make a plan...

Rebecca pulled into the Great Waterton station with her passengers and the Railway Inspector. 

He took a good look around whilst the passengers explored the beautiful town. The Inspector observed the view of the whole area from the top of the footbridge. 

"Hmm, it looks like a fabulous landmark," he said thoughtfully, "Sir Topham invested well in the restoration-" 

"LOOK OUT! RUNAWAY TRUCKS!" 

Without warning, the trucks that Nia had been pulling up the hill were rushing out of control into the station!

"Oh no!" gasped Rebecca. 

The trucks rattled through and into the siding. The crash into the buffers caused not only a derailment, but the lumps of coal to fly everywhere!

The Inspector was covered in coal dust, as was the station. 

Nia came rushing to the scene. 

"Oh my!" she gasped. 

Nia saw that the broken trucks had caused some structural damage to the tower next to the station. 

"If that collapses, it will cause another catastrophe that Thomas had caused during the restoration!" cried Nia.

"And the Railway Inspector might dub the station area as unsafe for travel! Great Waterton will be closed down again!" cried Rebecca. 

Rebecca took action immediately. She got the Stationmaster to telephone the Search and Rescue Centre right away, and then the Fat Controller. 

At Knapford, Albert rushed over. 

"Sir, the telephone rang! You're wanted urgently!" 

"Bother that phone," grumbled the Fat Controller. 

He answered. 

"Oh, my! I'm on my way!" he gasped in a different tone.

Rebecca's first message got through to the Rescue team. Emily rushed away pulling Rocky, and Harold took to the skies. 

The rescuers arrived in no time. 

Rocky used his arm to hold the tower securely and then Harold used a hook to secure the tower's balance from above. Then, the Inspector watched as workmen set to work propping up the tower and making urgent repairs. 

Rebecca saw Nia looking sad. 

"What's wrong, Nia?"

"This was all my fault. I nearly made Great Waterton fall again," she said sadly. 

"You couldn't have known your trucks would break free," reassured Rebecca, "and everybody knows you would never intend to destroy Great Waterton and the other engines' hard work to make it a wonderful place." 

"Rebecca is quite right," said a voice. 

It was the Railway Inspector. 

"All this accident has shown is that you are both dedicated to the protection of the hard work your friends had achieved, and you have also shown, Rebecca, that you know how to think fast and take the necessary measures. The whole Railway has shown it is Really Useful, as well as the great town of Great Waterton!" 

Everybody cheered. And Nia felt much better.

The Fat Controller suddenly honked in on Winston. 

"Oof! Don't worry, sir," said Winston patiently. 

"What happened?" cried the Fat Controller, "Where's the destruction?" 

"It's all fine, sir," said Rebecca happily. 

"Indeed, Sir Topham," said the Inspector, "Thanks to Rebecca here, the tower didn't fall, Great Waterton is safe and I shall be giving a wondrous report!" 

The Fat Controller smiled proudly at Rebecca, and Rebecca herself couldn't have been happier. 

"This will be quite the story to tell my friends," she thought to herself.

(The End!)