The Narrow Gauge saga

Passengers and polish

Nancy is a conductor's daughter. One day, she was polishing Skarloey with a nanofiber cloth. Skarloey was snoozing happily, but Nancy wanted to talk. "Hey, pressure cooker!" she yelled, "your brass is tarnishing, ain'tcha shamed?" "No," yawned Skarloey, "you're just an old fusspot," and he closed his eyes. He was thinking about all the times he and Rheneas had before Rheneas went away. Nancy interrupted again. "Doncha wanna look your best when Rheneas comes home?" "Yeah..." Skarloey mumbled before woke up with a flinch. "AGAWAGABAGA! What?! When?" "Dad said tomorrow. Gotta go." "Nancy! Wait! DoIlooknice?Didjagetalltheunreachablespots?Ismybrassreallytrnishing?Polishmeagain!Please!Please!Pleeeease?" "Now who's an old fusspot?" laughed Nancy, and did a double check. Duncan envied Skarloey. "Aren'tcha gunna polish me, too?" "Sorry, not today. Gotta help the refreshment lady give frozen desserts to the passengers. Don't mind your l00ks, Duncan." But Duncan did mind. "Taint fair!" he moaned, "Peter Sam gets a special funnel, Sir Handel gets special wheels, and passengers get special food. But I'm not even polished. Of course, this wasn't true; but Duncan loved to complain. He got more sulky by the minute. That afternoon, there was bad news from the station by the waterfall. "One of Skarloey's coaches went off the rails, so we're taking workmen to get it." Duncan's systems were prepared, so he had to go. "All this extra work," he grumbled, "it wears an engine out." "Rubbish," said his driver, "shamone." The derailed coach was in the middle of a train, so Skarloey went to the station with the front coaches. Duncan left the workmen to recover the coach, then he took the other coaches to the next station. He sulked all the way, but he got back in time for his own 4pm train. "I get no rest. I get no rest!" he complained. Duncan made the journey very difficult. He was sulky and short of steam, so his driver waited a few minutes to raise more; but Duncan wouldn't try. "We can't keep these guys waiting anymore!" said his driver. Duncan was cross. "You always think about the passengers, and never about me!" At last, Duncan had enough steam to go again. But he was still in a bad mood. "I'm overworked, and I won't stand it." At last, they reached the viaduct. Nobody can walk on it when a train is around. "Shamone, bud!" encouraged his driver, "One more effort, and you can have a rest and a drink at the station." Then, Duncan was very rude. "Keep your old station! I'm stayin' here!" And he did too. Nothing anyone did could make him budge. Skarloey had to haul Duncan and his train all the way to the station platform. The passengers were furious! They told everyone what a bad railway it was. That night, Sir Topham Hatt told Duncan, "No passengers means no polish." And Duncan obstinately said "and no polish means no passengers," when Hatty wasn't looking. He still has a lot to learn, doesn't he?