Thomas and the Magic Railroad Remake

Chapter 5 "A Trip to America"

The next day, Thomas was at the docks, ready to go to America. He was excited, but scared as well.

"Are you positive going by boat is safe, Mr. Conductor? I've heard about the terrible storms that happen at sea." Thomas said. He was frightened by thoughts of falling off the boat and into the sea.

"Don't worry, Thomas. I checked the weather and there will be no storms this week. You're gonna be fine." Mr. Conductor said.

Hearing that made Thomas feel a little better, but he was still wishing that someone could go with him instead of being alone the whole time. "I just wish someone could go with me. I'm gonna be all alone when I get to America."

Mr. Conductor smiled. "Actually, someone will be going with you." Thomas gasped, smiling. "Engines like you can't go around America without a driver, so I called an old friend to go with you."

A black car drove up behind Mr. Conductor and stopped. Thomas was surprised. Was this Mr. Conductor's friend?

"Thomas, I would like you to meet Ethan." Mr. Conductor said. A teen with black hair, stepped out of the car and smiled at Mr. Conductor. "Ethan, it's been so long since I last saw you."

Ethan chuckled as he hugged Mr. Conductor. "Oh, come on. You met me last year. It hasn't been that long." He looked at Thomas. "Hi, Thomas. I'm Ethan. I'll be going to America with you."

"Well, hello. It's so nice to meet you, but forgive me asking. How old are you? You look young." Thomas said.

Ethan chuckled. "Well, yeah. I turned eighteen almost two months ago." He said, pulling out a jacket. It was a grey sweater with a rainbow symbol on it.

"I like your sweater, especially the rainbow." Thomas said. Ethan blushed at the compliment.

"Thanks. No engine has complimented me before, since I'm gay." Ethan said. He was embarrassed, in a happy way.

"Well, now. Gay or not, you should be happy for who you are." Thomas said. A long blasting horn filled the air. "Oh, it's time for us to go."

So, Cranky lifted Thomas off the rails and onto the boat. Chains were strapped between his wheels to keep him from falling off the boat. And with a loud boom from the horn, the boat set sail for America.

"Bye, Thomas! We'll miss you!" Percy yelled. "And I'll make sure Annie and Clarabel are taken care of!"

Thomas smiled as he drifted out to sea, with Ethan in his cab. As the Island got further away from the boat, Thomas smiled. Even though it was gonna be a long trip, he had company with him the whole time.

"So, Thomas," Ethan began. "What do you do on the Island of Sodor?"

"Oh, I pull my coaches, Annie and Clarabel, on my branchline. They love seeing the flowers." Thomas said, smiling. "What about you? What do you do?"

Ethan smiled. "I write books." He said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Thomas gasped. "Woah, at your age? You must be proud. What kind of books do you write? Action? Mystery? Action and mystery?"

Ethan chuckled. "I mostly write crossovers and fan fiction, Thomas. I still have a lot to do before I  become an author."

"Oh, alright. So, where do you live exactly? Maybe I can visit sometime when this crisis is all over." Thomas said. The water crashed against the walls of the boat. Thomas never knew how much fun it'd be if he hadn't agreed to go to America.

"I'm actually from America, Thomas. I moved here to work on my books more." Ethan said. He took his phone from his pocket and opened up his music app. "Hey, want to listen to some music?"

Thomas smiled from buffer to buffer. "I sure do. Play away, Ethan." Ethan smiled and pressed play on his phone, as the music slowly got loud.

Thomas liked the music. It was a fast and upbeat song about the journey starting today. He liked it, he really did. The songs Ethan chose were brilliantly good to listen to.

By the end of the day, it was nighttime. The moon shined brightly on the water, reflecting its light off the surface. Thomas was already asleep, but Ethan wasn't. He stared at the moonlight, smiling. His wolf ears and tail appeared on him.

Meanwhile, back in America, Lily was still thinking about her dream with the mysterious purple engine. She couldn't get it out of her head. She looked at her mom and sighed.

"Hey, mom, when growing up with Grandpa, did you ever see a purple engine?" Lily asked.

"A purple engine? Why no. I haven't seen any steam engines that are purple. The only steam engine I've seen is the Rainbow Sun locomotive." Mrs. Stone said. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, just curious. I thought you saw it but I guess I was wrong." Lily said. She took a bite of her eggs as Burnett Stone walked in from the bathroom. "Hey, grandpa."

"Hey, sweetie. How are your eggs?" Burnett asked. "Are they good? I made them the way you like it."

"Yeah, it's good. But I have a question to ask, if you don't mind." Lily said. Burnett pulled up a chair and sat down. "When you were young, did you ever see a purple engine?"

Burnett suddenly went stiff. He knew about the engine, because he was the one who built and drove her. "Um, no. I haven't seen something like that. Why do you ask?"

"Well," Lily stopped for a moment. "The engine could talk and she said that if her magic isn't restored, her world will perish."

Burnett nodded. "Well, if anything else happens tell me or your mom, then we can figure it out." Lily nodded as Burnett got up and walked over to Lily's mom. "Lilah, can I talk to you for a moment?"

Lilah nodded and the two went outside. Burnett lived out in the country away from Shining Time. "We can't let Lily know about Lady." Burnett said.

"Why not? She's old enough to hear about Lady." Lilah said. "Surely we can't keep Lady a secret forever. She needs to know."

"Yeah, but with the magic dying? It's just not the right time to tell her, okay?" Burnett said. Lilah frowned. She wanted to tell what Lily saw was true.

"Oh, alright. But we have to tell her at some point. We can't keep Lady a secret forever, you know." Lilah said. But, they had no idea that Lily was hiding behind the door and had been listening to their conversation.

Lily smiled as she quietly went back to the table, so she wouldn't get caught. "Magic is real." She muttered and continued to eat as her mom and grandpa came back inside.