Thomas and the Magic Railroad Remake

Chapter 9 " The Buffers"

The next day, Thomas woke up bright and early. He looked over at Ethan, who was sleeping on the bed.

"Good morning, Ethan!" Thomas said. The werewolf jolted awake and jumped onto the beams above Thomas. He looked at Thomas and came back down. "Sorry, I guess you're still angry about yesterday."

Ethan sighed. "Look, I'm sorry I got between you and James, Thomas. But, the fact is that I don't like seeing people fight. They could end up saying something that'll make them hate you forever."

"I'm sorry, too."

Ethan looked to see James awake as well. But, it looked like he didn't sleep at all. "James, did you sleep at all last night?"

"No." James said. "I had to think about what I said to Thomas. And you're right, I shouldn't have treated Thomas like that. He tried his best to find Lady, and I basically called you a failure, Thomas. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, James. But when I'm told to do something like finding the Lost Engine, it doesn't mean I'm special." Thomas said. He smiled at James. "You're special too, James. We all are. It's the reason why we keep Sodor going."

James chuckled. "Thank you, Thomas. Do you still need my help?"

"Of course! This time, we're gonna search all over Sodor for that engine." Thomas said, when a knock interrupted him and James. The shed doors opened to reveal Mr. Conductor and the three passengers Thomas and Ethan had encountered.

"Oh, good morning, Mr. Conductor." Ethan said. He hugged Mr. Conductor and looked at the three passengers. "Oh, right. We never introduced ourselves. I'm Ethan and these are the steam engines of Sodor."

The rest of the shed doors opened and the engines came out. Lily looked at each of the engines and smiled. "Hi, I'm Lily. It's nice to meet you all."

Thomas smiled. "Nice to meet you too, Lily. I'm Thomas, and these are my friends." He said, and blew his whistle. "Welcome to the Island of Sodor."

Ethan hopped in Thomas' cab and tried to start the firebox. Mr. Conductor noticed. "Where are you two going all of a sudden? I haven't even given you a specific job yet."

"Sorry, but James, Thomas and I are gonna look for the Lost Engine." Ethan said and looked at Lily. "Want to help us, Lily? We could use an extra set of eyes."

"Sure, I can help you." Lily ran over and hopped onto Thomas. She looked at her mom and grandpa. They looked worried. "Don't worry, I'll be fine with these guys. We'll just go around and look for the Lost Engine."

"Okay, just be careful and try not to hurt yourself." Mrs. Stone said. She looked at Thomas. "Take care of her, okay?"

"You can count on me, ma'am." Thomas then blew his whistle and set off to find the Lost Engine. "All aboard for a big adventure!"

Soon, Thomas, James, Ethan and Lily were all around the island. They went to the mountains and asked the little engines iff they'd seen anything strange.

"Nope, we haven't seen anything at all, except for Diesel 10 ruining our trucks." Luke said. He was still upset that Diesel had talked bad about his friends.

"Thank you, Luke. And we'll inform Mr. Conductor about your trucks." And Thomas puffed away, with James right behind him.

Thomas and James puffed down the line where Hiro was found. The rusted rails creaked and groaned as Thomas and James puffed slowly down the track. 

"Okay, Lady can't be hiding here. We would've spotted her right away." James said. He couldn't see any engine on the line, except for a truck. "What's this doing here?" 

Thomas watched as James rolled into the siding, and bumped the truck hard. It rolled down the line and out of the siding, heading for the buffers. 

Thomas gasped as the truck headed toward the buffers. But, instead of crashing off the tracks, Thomas and James watched as the truck disappeared in a storm of sparkles. 

Ethan and Lily gasped. They couldn't believe what had just happened. 

"Did… Did that truck disappear through the buffers?" Lily asked, turning to Ethan. 

"Yep, it sure did." Ethan hopped off Thomas and walked over to the buffers. He touched the old wood, tracing his fingers across. "These must be magic." 

"Maybe by the Lost Engine. But, where do the buffers go?" Thomas asked. Ethan shrugged. Then, an idea popped in Thomas' funnel. "I think we should find out tonight." 

"But, how? Diesel 10 is always running around the island at night, keeping an eye on us." James said. 

Thomas knew that James was correct. Sneaking out would be too risky, especially if Diesel 10 was around. "Then, we'll take the mail train." 

"The mail? But, Percy said Diesel hid it from him. How are you going to pull the mail, if the mail cars are hidden?" Asked James.

Ethan chuckled. "Because I got a text from Mr. Conductor. Him and Gordon found the mail cars hidden in an abandoned shed."

"Great. Now, we can take the mail train for Percy and then we'll see where these buffers will lead us." Ethan hopped back into Thomas and blew the whistle. "Come on, we have to tell Mr. Conductor."

When they got to Knapford Station, Thomas, James, Ethan and Lily explained what they had found to Mr. Conductor.

"You found magic buffers in Hiro's hiding place?" Asked Mr. Conductor. Ethan and Lily nodded. "Well, then we have to find out where they lead to."

"That's what we're gonna do. James and I will take the mail train tonight and we'll see where the buffers will lead us to." Thomas said with determination. He was glad that he and James found another clue to finding the Lost Engine.

"Can I come with you?" Lily asked. She looked at her mom, who looked even more worried. "I know it's dangerous, but I might have a connection to this engine. I have to go with them."

Mrs. Stone sighed and smiled. "Fine, you can go." Lily punched her fist into the air. "But, I am having your Grandpa go with you."

"Alright, let's go!" Lily hopped onto James and blew his whistle. "All aboard for an exciting adventure!"

Thomas laughed as the sun started to set. He thought about his plan. Was this plan gonna work? Or would Diesel 10 ruin his mission? He had to find out later tonight.