Duncan came happily steaming into the wharf with a line of vans behind him. He was to collect a load of explosives for the quarry, man were having trouble blasting rock, and Duncan had volunteered to collect stronger gear.
"I love stuff getting blown up." He puffed. "That's my kind of job."
As he steamed into the wharf, Racer had just pulled up with gunpowder vans. She looked exhausted.
"Here are your explosives, Duncan." She smiled. "All ready to go!"
"You look exhausted, Racer." Duncan said,"That James isn't slacking off again? You wait till I get my buffers on him!"
"It's not James this time." Racer replied.
Duncan then looked around. To his absolute shock, he saw another engine bustling about with more trucks than Racer could handle.
"I've been trying to keep up with Alice all day." Racer said. "The Earl said she wanted a change and could shunt trucks here! But she's even putting me to shame."
"Pah! She's just showing off! She'll end up bunker over smokebox, and no doubt you'll have to rescue her." Duncan replied. The explosives were soon loaded, and Duncan set off, leaving an exhausted Racer to deal with the hyperactive Alice.
Now, Racer was glad of the extra help. The wharf had been going crazy since it had appeared in the TV series based on the railway. More tourists had come to see it than ever, and more businesses were using it than ever, Alice was also more powerful than she was and a lot more helpful than her previous assistant, but she was a bit too excitable for the battery shunter to handle.
"Careful Alice!" Racer called."You took that corner much too quickly!"
"Sorry, Racer! I've never shunted trucks before!" Alice replied.
"Oy vey." groaned Racer.
A truck loaded with flour had been ordered by the bakery at Cabalnoo for making cakes for various market days around the island. A barge had delivered the sacks to the wharf, and now the truck was waiting to be attached to a goods train, ready for shipment.
Since Racer was off rescuing a crane that had toppled over into the canal, Alice was left in charge of the shunting. She was busy getting the train ready when suddenly a thought struck her.
"My goodness! That timber shipment! That should have been moved ages ago!" Without thinking, she banged the truck full of flour, knocking open the hatch and raced off with the truck in tow, flour pouring out the side.
When Racer returned to the scene, she saw Lucy looking incredibly confused.
"Where's the flour wagon for this train?" She asked.
"It should be in the consist." Racer replied. "I left Alice in charge and..."
She then looked down at the line of flower in front of her. She rolled her eyes.
"...I think I know where it's gone." She buzzed away, leaving Lucy less confused and more unamused.
Alice meanwhile was all over the place, getting trains ready for other engines, shifting loads from in coming boats and keeping sidings tidy, she was working so quickly, she didn't notice the flour truck behind her, nor did she hear anyone calling to her about it.
By lunchtime, the wharf was clear of any debris, the boats were away, and siding were neat, Alice thought she had done a good job, but then Racer, followed by an angry Lucy rolled up.
"Is there anything I can help you with?" Alice asked, out of breath but triumphant.
"YOU CAN EXPLAIN WHY YOU TOOK MY FLOUR TRUCK!!" Lucy called. "Poor Racer has been chasing you around all day! The yard master had to call in Edward to take my train on!"
"Flour truck? What flour truck?" Alice asked.
"The one you have been dragging behind you all day!" Racer panted. "It's left flour all over the wharf!"
Alice then looked behind her, and then at the tracks, her face turned as red as her paint work when she realised what had happened.
"Now, there's no flour for the bakery." Lucy rumbled. "I hope you're happy, you big scatterbrained tomato!"
Alice felt ashamed of herself. She had been so busy racing around all day completing other jobs that she had forgotten to finish the one she had started in the first place, Lucy was about to return to Tidmouth when Peter Sam pulled in with a line of vans.
"It seems these flower sacks were delivered to us by mistake." He said. "We were expecting cement, but the sacks got mixed up in transit."
"Well, Peter Sam." Racer smiled."I think you have just saved our bacon. We could use that flour to be shipped to Cabalnoo. Hopefully, they can make those cakes on time."
Peter Sam was pleased to have helped, but he didn't know what bacon had to do with flour or cakes, Lucy soon set off with a truck full of new flour along with some other trucks to drop off at various stations, the bakery was pleased to see it and got cracking at once.
Alice also made up for her mistake by fetching the cement meant for the Skarloey railway, then came back to the wharf to arrange trucks, this time, properly and safely, Racer was put on charge and this time, she could keep with the large tank engine.
That evening, Alice was heading back to Ulfstead. She had learnt a lot about shunting, and the change of scenery made her appreciate the island she was living on, as she passed a church heading home, she saw all the happy participants munching their way through cakes and pastries, she looked over and saw Lucy in a siding, she was happily watching them too.
"I'm sorry for all the chaos I caused earlier." She said.
"I'm sorry for being so snappy." Lucy replied.
"I'm just glad that the bakery was able to bake all those cakes and pastries in time." Alice said. "After all, it isn't the making. It's the end result that matters."
Lucy silently agreed.
