The Adventures of Thomas (MKII)

Before the Storm

9:00 a.m. Saturday, September 14th, 1940

Today, the Luftwaffe had their eyes set on the British cities of Clacton, Great Yarmouth, Ipswich, Southampton, Bournemouth, Hastings, Selsey, Littlehampton and Worthing. London was also on their list as usual, as there were at least a few districts that had remained unscathed by previous bombings. In addition to the attacks, British Navy had other concerns to deal with: the navy destroyers HMS Barham and HMS Resolution, had left West Africa from a refueling stop to reach the French controlled port of Dakar, while the HMS Cumberland had been dispatched to intercept any ships from Vichy France that were trying to reach Dakar. Meanwhile, in faraway Japan, the Imperial General Headquarters were making up plans of their own: to move their troops into Indochina.

To the people of Sodor, the men who fought for the Sodor Regiment were the pride of their Island. It comprised of some 1,000 to 500 men who were training to assist the mainland army against the air raids over Britain and other attacks against the enemy. At their base, located in Peel Godred, Lieutenant Robert Charles Norramby greeted his troops in the mess hall early that morning while they were eating breakfast, smiling casually and politely as he went. As the son of Charles Henry Norramby, Robert had taken over as commanding officer of the regiment following his father's retirement just eight years earlier, impressing the troops with his leadership, discipline and punctuality.

When breakfast was over, Norramby and his fellow lieutenant Regaby watched the soldiers-in-training perform their daily exercises. Their drill instructors were tough as nails and a living dictionary of colorful phrases and sentences, but were actually very gentlemanly to their families and closest associates.

"Look at them," said Regaby, shaking his head disparagingly. "They're not even trying."

"A wise man once said that a man who counts his chickens before they hatch gets a scrambled egg," said Norramby. "Or simply put 'don't count your chickens before they hatch'."

"Are you trying to confuse me?"

"No, I'm just saying be patient."

"How can anyone be patient? The Germans could invade the mainland any day."

"The mainland is doing her best," Norramby reassured. "If worse comes to worse, we will send every man available out to help them."

They spent the rest of the morning on a long stroll, talking of Germans and warplanes and Parliament.

Johnny woke up to another day of rain and thunderstorms. He began to believe that, as some kind of twisted punishment, the forces of nature were preventing him from seeing Thomas again. When he got downstairs, his father was reading the newspaper as usual. Today's news was looking as grim as the weather outside. More and more bombers were attacking London to the point of overkill. The Awdrys were out for the morning, buying rations from market. After finishing his breakfast, Johnny broke the silence by asking:

"Why did you leave them?"

His father stared at him, his fork halfway to his mouth.

"Who?"

"The engines on Sodor. Thomas still remembers you."

"To tell you the honest truth, Johnny, those were just some imaginary friends your grandfather made up to keep me entertained during the last war."

Johnny scrunched his face.

"Then how come they're real?"

"Maybe you're imagining them too and it's good for you. You don't want to be sad forever while you're here, do you?"

"No, I don't."

Of course, Johnny was sad over his father not believing him. Then he brightened at another thought.