The Wonderground

34 - The Rescue

"Yee-ha," howled Eeleye Slugcandle as he perched on the external footplate of the Shadow Kiss engine.

Tog Twigpepper grabbed the throttle and punched it forwards to the maximum. The nose of the Shadow Kiss crunched sickeningly against its counterparts on the Crimson Sandstorm. Tog stared determinedly at his opposite number in the driver's seat of the other engine. Dood Flamecherry, the traitorous pig, was furiously grappling with the controls trying in vain to outrun them. The Shadow Kiss was carriage-less, and Tog kept up easily, unburdened from the additional weight of carriages.

"Get closer!" shouted Eeleye.

"What do you think I have been trying to do?" hollered Tog. He plunged the accelerator forward again. Eeleye steadied himself as the Shadow Kiss rammed the Crimson Sandstorm a second time. The third shunt was accompanied by a gut-wrenching squeal of twisting metal as the snowplough on the Shadow Kiss pierced the front grille of the Crimson Sandstorm, locking them together in a metallic kiss. Tog applied the counter steam brake to try to slow the two engines. He glanced at the analogue speedometer. No change in speed. He rolled up his sleeves and popped his top hat on the control panel before sliding down a window. Warm air rushed into the cockpit. Tog grabbed the frame and hauled himself upwards and out onto the exterior of the engine. Eeleye grabbed Tog's jacket and helped him onto the footplate.

"The Sandstorm is too heavy," yelled Twigpepper over the roar of the engine. "We are not slowing down."

Eeleye adjusted the straps on his backpack. "I will get to the children," he said determinedly.

"Flamecherry is mine!" nodded Twigpepper.

Eeleye clambered nimbly over the twisted metal up on to the roof of the Crimson Sandstorm. The driver peered at him with an expression of amazement and horror through the filthy cockpit window. Dood Flamecherry shook himself back into focus. Everything would be okay. They were only five minutes from The Abbey station where agents of the Red Prince were waiting to collect their bounty. They would return Mari to him and they could go home. Together.

He reached up and wrestled the emergency stop key from the illuminated console above his head. He hurriedly popped the key in his mouth and swallowed. The cold serrated metal scraped the inside of his throat and Flamecherry wretched as the key begrudgingly slipped down towards his stomach.

Tog was mesmerised by the tracks whipping by through the grille of the snowplough. "I am getting too old for this," he mumbled as he stepped unsurely down from the footplate on to the sturdiest-looking mangled piece of metal. The snowplough growled under his weight but held. He focussed on his boots, taking one measured step in front of another. The wind was howling around him and he flipped his goggles down over his eyes.

***

Eeleye crawled along the roof of the first carriage. He guessed that the children would be in Canine Class, two carriages down. He had tried to stand but the wind was too strong and so he slid warily but purposefully, on his belly, towards the rear. He slithered effectively, dragging himself along using the torpedo-shaped roof vents dotted along the spine of the carriage roof. He dropped gratefully into the gap separating the carriages. He pressed his nose against the glass and peered into the conductor's carriage. It was empty. He tried the door handle. Eeleye's heart lifted as the door pushed inwards. He bounded through the empty goods compartment and pulled open the connecting door at the far end to reveal the tastefully designed entrance to the first Canine Class carriage. He tried the door. Locked. The shutter was lowered over the window obscuring any view inside. A red dome light was spinning over the door. The emergency measures had been deployed. The children were trapped inside.