The Abandoned Island

A Narrow Break

After the last two and half days of working non-stop, be it collecting and organizing the parts, working on the Mystery Engine, or maintaining the others, Zeph was letting everyone take the day off. It would be nice to let them rest their wheels and let her recuperate some energy. Though, being the busy body and easily bored person she was, she soon got up and walked outside. It was a lovely day today, with white fluffy cloud, a nice warm sun, but a cooling breeze. She couldn't help but smile as she looked around, but as her eyes landed on the narrow gauge side of the tracks, they went wide. "I forgot about the little narrow gauge engines!" Immediately, she took off across the tracks over towards the narrow gauge sheds. She had been so busy with the standard gauge engines that she hadn't even and said hi to her smaller friends; the ones that introduced her to this islands strange little quirk. She felt so bad as they were the first friends she had made and hadn't even gone to see them since her return. She ran over to the front doors of the sheds, and as much as she wanted to fling them open, she did so slowly as to not blind the poor engines she knew were in darkness. She cracked the doors open and peaked inside, smiling as she saw Skarloey and Rheneas looking at her. "My my, look at who we have here." The deep voiced Skarloey said with a smile. "Indeed, it is a filthy young girl with no manners." teased Rheneas with a big grin. Zeph blushed, but hmphed. "And here I was going to be all apologetic for not saying hello sooner." All the little engines and herself had a good chuckle as she peeled the doors fully open. The little engines groaned from the sunlight but soon adjusted and smiled at her. "You know, it is nice to know we aren't all going insane. We've been hearing a lot of noise outside, but no one has come to investigate our shed." Peter Sam said with a chuckle. "Though I'm sure the others would like to meet you, well, maybe not Duncan. I'm sure even after all these years, he still likes to complain." The girl looked puzzled as she looked at the little engines. "Who is Duncan?" Peter Sam spoke up again, "He came as a spare engine when I was in a bad crash at the Slate Quarry. He loves to grumble and complain, though he does work hard." This Ducan character sounded very interesting. She'd have to be careful how she talked with him when they found him. "Do you know where he is?" She asked, thinking about the section of the map dedicated to the Skarloey railway. "He is next door to our left, your right." Rusty said with a chuckle. "He got put in there with Ivo Hugh, Bertram, and Fred." Now she was very surprised. "You have a lot of engines on this little railway!" The six little engines chuckled a bit. "Yes, we do, but we all stayed plenty busy, both with freight and with passengers." Skarloey said, remembering those days after if they were yesterday, as did the other engines as they all had their eyes closed and were smiling. Zeph was glad they had such fond memories, but she softly coughed to get their attention. "Well, it'll be a while before I get your little railway up and running. I need to make money, so I need to get the standard gauge up and running first." The little engines sadden slightly, they understood what she was saying, but it was still saddening to hear. "However, I notice on the map that you all have a colliery. If we can get that back up and running, we can keep everyone full with coal, and I can sell some to heritage lines." That immediately brightened the engines' spirits.

"So you say these other little engines are next door?" She peaked outside to the tracks to her right. "Yeah. It used to be an open-air shed, but before we closed down, they walled it in and added doors so it could be used to store us engines." Rheneas confirmed and informed the girl. She nodded and was about to walk over and open it, but stopped and looked at Skarloey. Before she could even open her mouth, he smiled, "Yes, you may break the lock to get inside." Her face flushed, but she nodded and walked over to that sheds front door. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a hammer and gave the rusted lock several well placed hits. With one final hit, there was a loud crack, followed by a bang of metal hitting metal as it fell onto the rail. Stowing her hammer, she grabbed the doors and began tugging them open slowly, but surely. Immediately, there were groans from inside, and she peeked her head around the door to look in. The first engine she saw was a little diesel, then an engine that looked like Duke, then a larger boxy engine, and then finally a larger engine still with a tall funnel. Before she could say anything, the engine in the back spoke up with some sort of accent. "All the noise from the previous days, and now the doors getting yanked open. Can't an engine just sleep in peace!" "Ducan, we been waking up and sleeping for years. Aren't you excited for a little excitement?" The engine in front of this 'Ducan' asked.