ohjeeztrains - Tumblr blog

ohjeeztrains · 8 days ago

Text

Summary: There was something strange on the tracks...

Prompts: The Departure | Dusk

[And so ends my very first crack at Traintober! I hope you've all enjoyed my quickly little drabbles, and Happy Halloween!]

---

~~~🌕~~~

When he was younger and still considered a relatively modern engine, Edward used to work at any given time of the day.

From the very crack of dawn to the tail-end of the witching hour and beyond, he'd been able to withstand some of the most arduous working schedules an engine of the time could ever be bestowed with.

Something which he'd greatly prided himself in.

But his time in the limelight had certainly come and gone, and as trains grew longer and heavier it became very obvious that his class was far too outdated to keep with the turn of the century. The modern commute far too much for an engine of his rather respectable age.

That grueling schedule belonged to both Henry and Gordon now. Sometimes even James. All three of them larger, stronger, and considerably younger engines than Edward. And this was fine by him, as he greatly enjoyed being able to take things slower these days.

There was, however, the rare occasion where Edward would find himself slotted to do extra work outside of his usual schedule.

The fat controller would either entrust him with exported goods trains that went outside of his usual route (including to the mainland), or he'd request that Edward inspect the lines at certain dates when there was sure to be some wear and tear from the past couple of months of service.

The latter had been what he was set to do, on this perfectly calm yet oddly eerie full moon night...

Charlie and Sidney had approached as the sun began to set. Still a little drowsy from their four hours of rest in the breakroom, but alert and chipper enough that Edward knew their yawns and bleary-eyed looks wouldn't be much of a problem.

He could have been assigned a replacement crew to do the inspection, but the two had insisted that they take the job instead. Reassuring their boss that, if Edward could do it, so could his trusty crew.

Besides, they knew the route by heart, and they also knew the parameters of the job. It'd be easier that they just do it themselves than leave Sir Topham Hatt to scramble in search of a crew with nearly as much experience, on such short notice.

The two men drank their respective caffeinated hot beverages to help wake them up a little more, and then set off to work getting Edward ready for the trip.

They wouldn't be pulling anything today. It was just Edward, his full tender, and his crew with a trusty clipboard and flashlights in hand. They'd jot down their findings, compile a report, and then swiftly deliver it to the fat controller's office.

And then they'd all get the morning off. A fairly simple in and out job made even easier by the bright shine of the full moon's light.

A win-win scenario!

They departed at dusk. Edward calling out one last farewell whistle to the kindly guard as he left the station, and enjoying the sensation of stretching his wheels without the burden of coaches or trucks to weight him down.

It wasn't often that Edward got to enjoy the thrill of a run all around the island. His age and his responsibility over his branch line, keeping him far too busy to go on joyrides. But it also wasn't like Edward was one to want for things anyway. He loved his work, loved his crew, and above all else loved the railway he served under.

The NWR having become both a home and a family to him.

Still, self-indulgence wasn't a crime. And he greatly enjoyed indulging in some guilty-pleasures. No one was perfect, after all!

Besides, the beginning of these inspection runs were quite dull. It was best to find some enjoyment out of them before the real work began.

"So far so good chaps!" Sidney called out, as he temporarily put his shovel down to wipe at the sweat on his brow. "Smooth rails, no overgrowth, and not a single fallen branch on the line."

"The lads have been keeping this part of the island nice and tidy." Charlie responded, as he kept a keen eye out. Occasionally reaching out of the cab window to give Edward a light pat. "And the weather's been perfectly docile... Odd for this time of year, but not unwelcome. Means there's less to clean up."

"It's been calm, yes." Edward added his own thoughts without hesitation. His crew rather loved involving him, which he greatly appreciated. "Even so, I've heard that Old Bailey has been complaining about the lines down by Hawkin Lake..."

"Ah..." Charlie scratched his chin in thought. "Yeah, people are wont to complain about the Peel Godred branch... Lots of odd happenings there."

"At the very least, the ghost is friendly." Sidney quipped as he went back to shoveling. "But I have to admit, the whole area looks pretty spooky after dark..."

"Shouldn't tonight." Charlie dismissed. "With how bright the moon's shining, you could almost mistake it for daytime."

Indeed, the full moon that night was rather bright. And as Edward made his way through the various tracks and stations, he couldn't help but to be somewhat enthralled by it.

The silvery sheen it cast upon Sudrian soil making everything look dazzling and almost enchanted.

Down to the piles of fallen leaves that had been raked during the day to be collected in the morning, to the very shapes of the hills and trees that they passed by.

The clear lakes looked the most stunning of all, reflecting the gorgeous sights surrounding them.

So entertained was he in taking in the beauty of the night, and his crew so busy with their tasks, that none of them noticed a figure darting from the woods and onto the tracks. Not until Edward glanced back up, only to find a living obstruction in front of his path...

"DRIVER!" He shouted in alarm as he instinctively applied his own breaks in a panic, before his entire world grew painfully askew...

Charlie and Sidney coughed and spluttered as they crawled and then climbed out of their poor engine's overturned cab. Broken glass cut into the palms of their hands, and where their knees met the wall (now temporarily serving as the floor).

The spilled hot coals had to be stamped out quickly before they threatened to cause a fire.

It was a chore, getting out and onto solid ground. But one that they managed surprisingly well, as they were lucky enough to not be as injured as they could have been in this situation. Edward on the other hand, was in much worse condition than them...

The old engine had been completely derailed, his tender twisted in another direction with it's cargo of coal spilled out on the tracks, and the rest of him half buried in the ground by the sheer strength of the impact.

It was hard to believe.

One moment everything had been fine and dandy, and then the next they'd suffered a rather brutal and unexpected accident.

It was almost unthinkable.

Never in their years of service had this ever happened to them. But that was a thought for later... Right now, Charlie and Sidney needed to do right by their friend.

"Oh dear..." The driver climbed onto a pile of upturned soil, noting how one side of Edward's buffer beam and footplate were fully interred. The one visible buffer was bent out of shape, and the twisted railing looked almost painful.

Worse yet was his friend's face. One side scratched up and reddened, as well as covered in copious amounts of dirt. Harder to ignore were the tears welling in Edward's eyes as he came to. Moaning in clear pain.

"Oh dear... Oh you poor lad..." Charlie mournfully put a hand to the undamaged side of Edward's face, trying his very best to comfort the frightened engine. "What a disaster..."

For what it was worth, the K2 class did his best to blink away tears and look to his driver and friend's face, before whimpering sadly.

"T-There was something on the tracks..."

There had been. Otherwise Edward would not have stopped nearly as abruptly. But whatever it had been, it had vanished back into the night. Likely a deer that had come inches away from death.

"Hey... Charlie...?" Sidney called out from the other side of the wreckage. He sounded confused. "You might wanna come have a look..."

Charlie hesitated in doing so. Not wanting to leave Edward by himself right now. But, on Sidney's insistence and their engine muttering that he'd be fine for a few minutes, he climbed back down and went to meet with the fireman.

What he saw made him pause.

There, on Edward's tender, were some rather odd scratch marks. Not the same as the ones caused by the crash, but rather... Well, they looked very much like claw marks.

"What in god's name...?" The driver stared at the deep gauges in disbelief.

"The hell did we hit...?" Sidney muttered to himself as he felt just how deep the scratches were. Stopping only when Edward yelped in response to the sudden jolt of pain.

"I don't know.... I didn't see any blood." Charlie admitted. "Whatever it was, we probably just... Grazed it...?"

"These are too deep to be a graze... But... Oh, it doesn't matter." Sidney groaned, dismissing the topic completely. "We need to get help..."

"We're not too far from the next station. Just 5 more miles... Can you make the trek, or should I go?" The driver offered.

"I'll go, you're limping." Sidney pointed out. "Keep the old chap company... He's in a bad way."

"I don't blame him... Poor thing." Charlie shook his head and made his way back to the front of their fallen engine. Hoping that rescue would arrive swiftly. For Edward's sake, more than their own.

Fortunately for all parties involved, the breakdown crew came remarkably quickly.

Henry had been on his way to do his Kipper run, when news of the accident had reached him and his crew. Ted had thought fast and called in to send someone to replace Henry (likely a disgruntled James), and then they'd promptly gone to help pull Edward out of the dirt.

The older engine's state was rather poor, as Charlie had previously assessed. But the damages were thankfully repairable, and Victor's prognosis was a very positive one!

Honestly they'd all been fairly lucky. Too lucky...

~~~🌕~~~

After being repaired and put back into service, things should have gone back to normal. Except they hadn't. As the days crawled on by, Charlie and Sidney quickly began to notice a rather odd shift in their friend's demeanor.

He was a little more impatient than usual. And not just when he was left to wait on someone else's connection points.

His boiler and firebox were also unusually temperamental, being either alarmingly noisy (the sound of boiling water and steam rumbling in such a way that it almost sounded like the gurgling belly of a great big beast), or spitting out the occasional hot coal (Sidney had almost been hit on the leg more than once, where nothing of the sort had ever happened before!).

Most startling of all was how grouchy he had become overnight. Grumbling and glaring as he went about his days, with the most sour disposition anyone had ever seen in him...

Needless to say, Charlie and Sidney were more than a little concerned for their engine.

"I don't feel well..." The K2 class would whimper to himself, only to then bark out an aggressive retort if anyone asked him what it was that he was feeling. "I don't know! Leave me be!"

His crankiness had gotten so bad that he even put Cranky to shame. Something which lead to the other engines attempting to avoid him to the best of their abilities (even Thomas and the twins).

No one was fond of being yelled at after all...

"Do you think it's trauma related...?" Charlie asked Ted one day. Knowing that Henry's fireman certainly had experience dealing with short-fused engines.

"It could be... It could also be pain related." Ted offered thoughtfully, as they discussed the issue. "Before his rebuild, whenever we got Henry's fire going, he felt a lot of aches and pain that wore his patience thin... It made him snappish. But he also felt bad about snapping at others, which ultimately only made him even more irritable..."

"He's been complaining of feeling unwell..." Sidney mused. "But we've taken him to the Steamworks repeatedly... No one can find anything wrong."

"Well... Edward is a rather old engine. Even if he's in tip top shape, perhaps he has the equivalent of engine arthritis?" Ted again suggested, trying to give them a different perspective. "The accident could have exacerbated it..."

"If that's the case.... Then there's really nothing we can do." Charlie looked down at his feet miserably. "You can't cure arthritis..."

"No... But you can try to manage the pain." Ted gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Talk to the fat controller... He'll understand."

And talk to the fat controller they did. For the foreseeable future, Edward was to have a lighter workload until whatever was wrong with him could either be pinpointed or (if they were lucky), sorted itself out.

Needless to say, the old engine wasn't happy about being confined to the sheds. Giving his crew the silent treatment for 'going behind his back', or so he muttered to himself whenever he thought they were out of earshot.

Charlie and Sidney were crushed by this, of course, but still did their very best to be there for Edward. And their efforts paid off.

With more rest, Edward's mood did improve slightly. And with continued patience and affection, he forgave both of them for pulling him from his usual services.

"I'm sorry I've been such a nuisance..." The old engine apologized sadly. "I just... Haven't been feeling like myself..."

"It's ok... You went through something awful old boy." Charlie very gently patted the bridge of his friend's nose. "We don't blame you for feeling a little off after that."

"And besides, we're made of tougher stuffs..." Sidney beamed happily, chipper as usual. "Now rest up. We're pulling a goods train tonight! Gonna be smooth rails all throughout, and another pretty moonlit night to boot!"

"I'll try to be on my best behavior, I promise." Edward smiled tiredly as he let himself rest in his berth. Tonight would be a good night.

Or so he thought...

The morning and afternoon came and went. Engines and crews alike going about their business and then settling in after they'd completed their shifts.

Charlie and Sidney, fully rested and ready for their late night train, made their way towards the lonely shed where they'd left their dear friend to rest peacefully without any intrusion.

Only to find it empty...

Flabbergasted, they both immateriality went to the stationmaster to ask if a replacement crew had been called in to take Edward instead.

Only to be met with even more bewilderment.

"No one's wanted to work with Edward as of late, other than the two of you that is..." The stationmaster explained. "As a matter of fact, no one's gone near his shed for fear of being yelled at..."

"But... But he's gone!" Charlie insisted, pointing to the very obviously empty shed. "He's not there!"

"....That can't be right... No one took him, I swear..." The man peered into the shed himself and stared in disbelief. "The hell...?"

"Do you mean to tell us someone stole our engine right under your nose?!" Sidney glared angrily.

"I'm telling you two! No one went near the sheds all day or night! I would have seen!" The stationmaster insisted. Clearly taking offense to Sidney's accusations.

"So what, Edward just rolled off on his own? He'd never do such a thing!" Sidney retorted, crossing his arms impatiently as he regarded the other man with suspicion.

"Oh sod off Sidney... I'm gonna go make a call to see if anyone's spotted him. I'm getting to the bottom of this..." The stationmaster snapped back before angrily stomping off into his office to do just that.

Leaving the two alone to stare at the impossibly empty shed. How in the world had an engine just seemingly vanished without anyone noticing?!

"I swear to god..." Sidney kicked a pebble and made his way towards the empty berth. Hoping by some miracle that there was any sort of clue as to what had happened to their engine.

"Nothing we can do about it... I mean... Someone would have noticed the old boy going around..." Charlie tried to placate his friend's clear irritation. "He's not exactly small."

"Yet, somehow, someone vanished him out of his shed without being noticed... I mean. It's not like Edward would have just sprouted legs and--" The fireman paused.

"And...?" Charlie raised an eyebrow.

Sidney remained quiet. He seemed to blink a few times while keeping his gaze glued to the floor, then looked to Charlie with absolute astonishment in his eye. Then, without so much as a word, he pointed down to the ground.

On the unpaved soil next to where the rails met the track, was a rather large imprint in the mud. An imprint that looked vaguely like a dog's paw print. Only, neither men had ever seen a dog quite as large enough to leave prints of such a size...

It looked like it could have easily dwarfed a bear.

"....What...What is this...?" Charlie stared at the impossible sized paw print, noting the presence of others that surely enough lead towards the outskirts of the station. Into the woods.

"...I have no clue... But we're about to find out." Sidney proclaimed, before going into the nearest utility shed to get a flashlight.

"I... Don't think that's such a good idea..." Charlie pointed out.

"Don't be daft Charlie." Sidney grumbled. "This is clearly some stupid kids playing a silly prank... Honestly..."

"I mean... It could be. But..."

"Charlie. Are you really gonna pretend whatever is going on in that superstitious mind of yours is anything but silly?" The fireman raised an eyebrow. He knew exactly what Charlie was thinking, and even the driver himself had to admit it was silly to think such things. But still... Something felt off about this situation.

"I suppose..."

"Then it's settled. We're getting our engine back."

The two men went into the woods, a single flashlight between them, following the tracks that could only have been faked by some punk kids with nothing better to do than bother the railway.

The large dog-like prints almost seemed like they went on forever. Taking them deeper and deeper into the woods, where both felt incredibly exposed and yet so utterly alone...

If something were to happen to them, no one would be around to help.

"I think we should go back..." Charlie murmured uneasily, feeling more and more unsettled as they kept following the tracks.

"Not until we get Edward back and show those brats what for..."

"Sid, I really don't think a bunch of kids would go quite this far with a prank..." Charlie insisted, trying to call his friend to reason.

"Kids get up to elaborate mischief if they think they're being clever and funny. Well, guess what you punks! This is neither!" Sidney hollered into the woods, waving his flashlight about.

"Sidney!" Charlie barked, before shushing his friend.

"Oh come off it Charlie! There's nothing to be afraid of! There's no big animals on Sodor that would pose any--"

A loud crack, akin to a snapping twig but larger, startled the two men out of their conversation. Instinctively, they turned towards the source of the noise. The fireman quickly bringing his arm up to illuminate it... Only to be met with something out of a bad horror movie.

"S-s-s-Sidney!"

"Oh my god..."

The stench of sulfur and the low growl of a monster, chilled the two to their very core, before raw instinct drove them to flee. A horrifying whistle that sounded more like a distorted howl, fallowing them to the very edge of the woods where they hoped they'd find refuge from the beast.