Thomas and the Magic Railroad Remake

Chapter 6 "Arrival"

Thomas was awoken by a loud boom. It was the boat horn. He yawned as he looked next to him. He had made it to America. It was midnight by the time they got there.

"Ethan, wake up! We're here!" Thomas said excitedly. He wanted to blow his whistle, but couldn't since no one was in his cab. "Ethan?"

"Right here, Thomas." Ethan said, coming from the captain's control room. "I had to change into some new clothes."

Ethan looked over the boat. He was happy to be back in America. "Oh, boy! This is going to be an exciting adventure, Thomas." He hopped into Thomas' cab as the crane lifted the engine off the boat and onto the rails.

Thomas' boiler bubbled with excitement. Suddenly, he forgot where Mr. Conductor's hometown was. "Um, Ethan, you don't happen to know where Shining Time is, do you?"

Ethan grabbed the map from his bag. Him and Thomas were in Florida, while Shining Time was in Indiana. "Woah! Okay, then. Looks like it's gonna be awhile until we get to Indiana."

Thomas sighed. It was gonna be a long trip to Indiana, and it meant stopping for coal and water every few hours. "Well, onward to a big adventure!" Ethan blew Thomas' whistle and they set off to Shining Time.

Thomas and Ethan puffed down the line. And even though it was sunny out, it was still very cold due to the wind. Ethan shivered and pulled up his hoodie. Thomas had to keep going. He needed to get to Shining Time so he could find Lady.

"How are you doing back there, Ethan?" Thomas asked.

"G-Great. But, i-it's getting cold back here." Ethan said, shaking. It was really cold and windy. Thomas would be fine since he was a steam engine, but Ethan wasn't.

"Warm up next to my firebox, Ethan. It should keep you warm till we get somewhere." Thomas explained. The wind was howling whenever it blew against the trees. It scared Thomas. "Okay, I'm starting to regret coming here."

Suddenly, a loud whistle filled the air. Thomas looked around, scared. "Okay, now I'm really starting to regret coming here." He squinted his eyes to see if anyone was there. "Hello? Is anybody there? If there is, can you help us? My driver's getting cold."

Thomas waited for someone to speak back, but didn't hear anyone. The blowing whistle got closer. Up ahead, Thomas could see a dim lit lantern, coming towards him and Ethan. He shut his eyes tight and hoped whatever was coming toward him would pass by.

"Thomas? Is that you?"

Thomas opened his eyes and blinked. How did this engine know his name? Suddenly, he recognized the voice. "Spencer? What are you doing here?"

A silver engine came out of the darkness, with a dim lantern attached to his funnel. "It is you. What are you doing here and not on Sodor?" He asked.

Thomas chuckled nervously. "It's a long story. But I'll tell you when we get Ethan somewhere warm."

Spencer looked at Thomas' cab. Ethan was standing right there, shivering next to the cab door. "Okay, follow me. There's some sheds right next to a station." He started to reverse and Thomas followed.

Once they got to the sheds, Spencer's driver and fireman helped Ethan to a coach, where it was warm, cozy and a cup of hot chocolate was waiting for him.

"Now, tell me what you're doing here? You should be Sodor." Spencer asked.

Thomas smiled. "Well, I'm here to find the lost engine."

Spencer blinked. "The lost engine? But that's just a silly myth. It's not real." He said, chuckling.

"But it is real, Spencer. I was sent here by Mr. Conductor." Thomas said, firmly. Spencer stopped, holding back his laughter. "The engine's name is Lady and I need to find her to help restore Mr. Conductor's magic Gold Dust."

Now, Spencer stopped for real. Thomas sounded serious, and he couldn't take it as a joke. "You really are here to find the Lost Engine?" Thomas wished he could nod but said yes. "Do you even know where you're going then? That engine could be here anywhere, Thomas."

"Actually, Mr. Conductor told me and Ethan where she's hiding." Thomas then told Spencer's driver to get the map Mr. Conductor provided for him and Ethan. "She lives up at Muffle Mountain in Shining Time, but we don't know how to get to the mountain."

"Of course, you can't. There's no track that goes to Muffle Mountain. It's just rock and dirt for people to walk on." Spencer explained. "Ethan would have to travel the rest of the way."

Thomas knew there were tracks that lead to Muffle Mountain. He just needed to find them. "Then I'll have to look for the tracks." He said, proudly.

"What? Thomas, I just said there's no track going to the mountain. You'll have to let Ethan go find Lady." Spencer huffed.

"No. Mr. Conductor told me and Ethan to find Lady together. So, I'm not letting Ethan do this alone!" Thomas said. He wasn't going to give up until Lady was found and brought to the island of Sodor.

Back at Shining Time, Lily was sleeping soundlessly in her bed in the guest bedroom. She tossed to her side and heard a distant but beautiful whistle. It was clearly loud, but not too loud.

Lily got up from her bed and opened her window. As the whistling continued, something sparkly landed on Lily's hand. She looked at it closely. It was clearly a gold like substance. Lily rubbed her finger on it.

"What is this stuff?" Lily asked herself, rubbing the gold substance on her hand. She knew that the visions would keep coming if she didn't find out what was going on. Not after listening to her mom and grandpa's conversation.

As the mysterious whistling kept going, Lily lied back down in her bed. Even though it was a beautiful sound, Lily still needed to sleep in order to see Patch tomorrow.

Lily placed her hand under her pillow and sighed. She looked at her door. "Love you, mom." She closed her eyes, listening to the whistle. And as she fell back asleep, the sparkly substance disappeared from her hand, as if it wasn't there in the first place.

Back at the station sheds, Thomas' eyes shot open. He felt something in his boiler, a feeling that something is wrong. He looked at Spencer, who was snoring loudly. "I need to find that engine. Mr. Conductor's counting on me."

He silently rolled up next to the coach where Ethan was sleeping. He whispered softly. "Ethan, wake up."

A light flickered on and Ethan opened the coach's window, yawning. "Thomas? What time is it?" He asked, stretching his arms.

"It's midnight. We have to get going if we want to find Lady." Thomas said. "Can you get dressed?"

Ethan nodded, grabbed his clothes and went to the changing room. He came out a minute later holding a book.

"What's that?" Thomas asked softly.

"Oh, just a book I brought with in case the journey got long." Ethan said as he hopped inside Thomas' cab. He started the firebox and threw some coal in. "Ready?"

Thomas smiled. "Ready as I'll ever be." And with that, Thomas puffed out of the sheds, turned around on the turntable and went the way Spencer came from.

Spencer snorted in his sleep. "Yes, sir. I'll pull some trucks to the docks." He muttered as Thomas puffed away from the station and the sheds.