The Abandoned Island

A Small Amount of Work

As Zeph laid in bed that night, she constantly slipped in and out of consciousness, wondering what she should or could do for Smudger. Of course, she was going to have him restored, but after that, she didn't know what to do. She could keep him on the Skarloey Railway to help, but the animosity and anger he held towards Duke could probably power the entire island. That is also assuming that he is willing to work, considering he could just not move. Another option was to send him to a heritage line somewhere, but the amount of things that could go wrong, especially with non-faceless engines not having their rights, it made her shudder to think. Despite how disagreeable and snappy he was, she wanted him to have a good second chance as an engine, and to have that, he would need to stay here.

Not being able to sleep any longer, she got up from bed and got dressed. Checking the time, it was a little past midnight, which made her grumble under her breath. Deciding to be productive, she slipped to the back of the Works and began working on her little P class friend. It had been a long time, and plenty of new metal and parts, but her friend was almost ready to steam. She just had to fix the last few spots on her frame and put everything back together. So, for the rest of the night, she finished working on the little engines frame and began to piece them back together. By the time the sun peeked through the window, her friend had all her big pieces back together like boiler, wheels, and tanks. Her metal was bare and shiny, ready to be painted, which could happen at a later date. She did look weird without her funnel and dome and cab, but they would be reattached later, as today she would work on her friend.

When the others woke up, she did help Kelky off of the low-loader and let Arry and Bert back into the engine side of the works. With that taken care of, Zeph went back to working on her friend, but she could hear the others trying to talk to Smudger who either didn't respond or would with a cold, angery response. Zeph just sighed and focused on her work, getting the little P class put back together. Herself and Victor had made sure throughout the process she was on green water for short periods of time, a week or two at most, before letting her off of it for two or three weeks. She always chimed in about what stage of the process she was in and always had a kind word to say. So, by the end of the day, all her big parts were refitted, including her cab. It was just the case of all the small parts and pipes that would take a while to reinstall. When they woke her up from the green water, she yawned and smiled at Zeph, "Everything still coming along smoothly?" The young girl smiled and nodded, "Yep. Besides all the parts in your cab, you are almost fully rebuilt. So, you need to start thinking on a color or paint job you want." The engine grinned, "I can have an actual paint job and not be just painted black. That sounds wonderful!" Zeph smiled but yawned and groaned, "Goodnight. Try to get some sleep and not be distracted by all the options before you." The little engine chuckled, "You get some sleep as well, dear." Zeph nodded and went and flopped into bed and passed put instantly.

When the next morning arrived, she did her normal routine before heading over to the brothers, and the three of them headed to Brendam with Smudger in tow. She had received an email from Mr. Percival, the previous day, telling her that the preparations for Smudger were made. So today, she would take him to the mainland and then do the china clay runs, and on the return trip, bringing even more heavy duty rails and sleepers like she did with every delivery. As it currently stood, they had enough to do an entire second stretch of the mainline, and most of the narrow gauge rails, it was just a matter of time and effort. But she was getting ahead of herself. As they pulled into the docks, Carly couldn't help but joyfully comment, "I can't wait to see ya all restored, little engine! Stanley came back all new and shiny!" "You can say that again, Carly. He looked like a completely different engine from when we loaded him onto the barge, but he seemed very happy," remarked Cranky as he swung over to pick Smudger up. Zeph hooked chains around the little engine, who still refused to talk to her, but as he began to be lifted up, the look on his face was that of worry. Stanley had had that same look, thinking he was going to be scrapped right up till the last time she saw him. She guessed that no matter how rude or mean an engine or rolling stock was, they all feared being cut up. She could see, though, that the cranes' words were easing his tension, even as he was lowered into the barge.

Once inside, as she was chaining him firmly down, Carly piped up again, "Next time we see ya, you'll be all fixed and clean with paint work shining. I'm definitely jealous of you and Stanley!" Big Micky chuckled while Cranky groaned. "Carly, we aren't as easy to work on as the little engines, so we are going to have a long time before we get that kind of treatment," pointed out Cranky, but Big Micky spoke up, "But it will happen eventually. Especially with this young girl." All three cranes smiled down at her, making her face flush slightly. With Smudger securely fastened down, she hopped out and went over to the brothers. Helping them park the low loader, she rode with them to the clay pit. They would pick up both lines of trucks and head back so they were at the ready when she got back. When that was done, she bid farewell and sailed away from Sodor and off to the mainland. Like the many trips she had made before, it was slow going and boring, but her mind kept wandering back to the little engine sitting in the barge. She knew he was bitter for how he was treated and that no one came for him like they did Duke. She hoped, however, that part of him was glad to have been found finally. Once he was restored, hopefully, he would be in a more forgiving mood. If not, she didn't know what she would do. If it came down to it, she could always build a narrow gauge line somewhere else for him to run on or designate him as an industrial engine and have him work at one of the quarries. That way, he interacted very little with the others but was still able to be useful. These thoughts, and more, filled her head for the entire day as she handed over Smudger to Mr. Percival and did the clay runs. By the time Arry, Bert, and herself were done, it was late in the evening, so they returned to the works to rest.

The next two weeks, Zeph and all the working engines, returned to working on the main line, wanting to finish it quickly. Once it was finished, trains could run at full speed from Crovan's gate all the way to Knapford. Granted, it was only one of the three main lines, but it was a start! When it was done, there was immense satisfaction felt by all. Two branchlines and almost one complete main line track was rebuilt from the ground up, which was something they could all be proud of. Now, Zeph was sitting on Rosie's buffer beam, looking at the map on her phone. "I'd like to reach Rheneas station before winter comes, and with Stanley here, his strength means we can haul more supplies up there. However, I'd also like to go poking around another of these branchlines to find more engines, rolling stock, and useful things in general. Any suggestions?" she asked aloud to all of the engines. They thought for a minute before Boco spoke up, "Why not go down the Little Western? I'm sure Duck and the others are down that line, plus it leads to the Arlesdale miniature railway where we get all our ballast." This piqued the young girls interest, and the other engines agreed that she would probably get the most from that branchline. "And to top it off, if we fix up that line, it should attract tourists simce it is a coastal run," added Derek with a warm smile. Zeph hopped up and nodded, "Then the Little Western is where we shall reclaim next!" Everyone agreed and began to talk excitedly of seeing all their friends again. Zeph chose Salty to come with, as it was clear he was missing the ocean, plus his lighter weight wouldn't stress the track as much. The duo would head out early the next morning, stopping at Tidmouth sheds to check on everyone there and update them on everything, along with apologizing for the lack of communication, plus letting Salty rest his wheels. Gordon, Henry, James, Bear, and Emily all wished them a safe trip and to say hi from them to their friends. With that, the duo left, ready to head down the Little Western.