The Secret Railway: Season 3 (Female Controller Reader)

Chapter 18: A Part of Me Stayed Behind

Gordon awoke with a jolt. He looked around, feeling a bit strange.

"Something wrong Gordon?" asked his driver.

"No," said Gordon, "Let's get going."

Soon, Gordon was hard at work, but something was lingering in his mind.

"Hey Gordon!" said Thomas, "Having an odd day?"

"Well, I've just been having these strange dreams recently."

"What do you mean?" asked Thomas.

"About the mine."

"The mine?" asked Thomas, before realizing what he meant.

"Oh, that mine. Well, you're not alone."

"What do you mean?" asked Gordon.

"Percy and I have been having similar dreams. Only Percy's is about the coal mine when he was a middle engine."

"The coal mine? Where he was buried?"

"Yeah," said Thomas, "And, it's been bugging us for some time. Do you remember pulling me out of the mine?"

"I don't even remember leaving the mine," said Gordon.

"Percy also doesn't remember being dug up," said Thomas.

"I feel that something is calling us back to Sodor," said Gordon.

"We can't go there by rail anymore," said Thomas, "Remember the rails were torn up?"

"Well, there are other ways."

That night, Thomas, Gordon and Percy all headed to the docks, and Cranky lifted them up onto a boat, heading to the Island of Sodor on their own terms. However, unknown to them, there was a stowaway, who was worried about them.

It took a few days, but soon, the trio of engines arrived back at the Island of Sodor, and were loaded onto Lorries. The old railway lines were no longer there, and the engines were taken to the mines, only to find nothing. Just, big holes where they were stuck in.

After a few hours of searching, and nothing coming up, they left, only to wind up in a scrap yard due to some fog.

"We're in a scrap yard!!" yelled Thomas.

"Just the place we DIDN'T want to be!!" said Gordon.

"I don't want to be here!" said Percy.

"I know Percy," said his driver, "But, we just need.... to...."

His driver stopped, and looked in a direction. The other crews looked, and gasped in shock, as Thomas, Gordon and Percy looked, and saw what was beyond belief:

There, sitting there, were engines, with their exact shapes, only, they were rusted, and crushed.

"W-W-WHO ARE THESE ENGINES!?!" exclaimed Gordon.

"I was hoping that we would never have to come to this," said a voice, "And yet, here we are."

The engines looked to the side, and saw an elder woman, with grey hair, (Y/N) eyes, and a (F/C) dress on, and glasses.

"It's, (Y/N) the first," said Percy.

The elder (Y/N) walked forward, using a cane to help support her, and said, "It was deep within the archives of the Sodor Railways, and I found the incidents. These engines, were you."

"W-W-What do you mean, were?" asked Thomas.

(Y/N) I sighed, "Thomas, when you fell in that mine, you didn't just fall in, you were swallowed by the ground."

1952.....

"Gordon was brought to try and pull Thomas out, but, they had not calculated how damaged the ground was."

Gordon was heading towards the hole, about to pull Thomas out, only for the ground to give out beneath him, and rocks, and many other things, fell onto him and Thomas.

1953.....

"As for you Percy, you were also buried at the coal mine, but, a large machine also fell down on you, crushing your boiler, and making you damaged beyond repair."

Percy was buried under the coal, but a giant excavator came down, and it's arm fell right down into Percy, crushing him under all the pressure.

Present.....

"B-B-B-B-But, h-h-h-how can we be here, when we're over there?" asked Gordon, very shaken.

"That is where things get very grim," said (Y/N) I, "The Fat Controller, Sir Charles, found out you were still alive, and managed to get into contact with some of the greatest minds in engineering. And, they were assembled at Crewe, and then, well, they saved your faces."

"O-O-O-Our, Faces?!" asked Percy.

"Your smokeboxes were removed from the bodies, and were put onto new shells, using the exact same blue prints that were used to build you all. This," said (Y/N) I, pointing towards the rusted shells, "Is one of many reasons that I wanted to get away from Sodor. I'm sorry you had to find out this way. The engines you see here, are who you used to be. But that doesn't change who you are. You three are proud members of the Paradise Railway, and I know, no matter what, you will still be really useful engines, whatever condition you are put in. Now, let's get you all back home."

The lorries then took the three engines back to the Brendam Docks, and loaded back to Paradise Island. (Y/N) I was comforting the three engines, who now knew the truth of their pasts. But now, they didn't feel whole now, knowing that a part of them, was left behind.