Changes in the Wind: Part I - Thomas and the Forgotten Ones

Chapter VIII: Ava

The next day, Gabriel sat outside the sheds, excited for the day's events. He was to pull another passenger service along the mainline and was eager to go. The men had to calm him down as he waited in the sidings, with them inspecting him all over before heading out. Henry and James watch intriguingly from the sheds, right behind the diesel. "He looks like a hard worker," commented Henry.

"He is," smirked James, "you should see him on the mainline. Both goods and passengers."

"Unlike you to praise a newcomer," Henry said with a raised brow, scepticism flickered in his tone.

The red engine rolled his eyes. "I'm always welcoming to newcomers," he retorted.

"Like to Percy, Toby Duck, Donald and Douglas?"

"Oh shut up," huffed James, looking slightly annoyed and offended, "that was years ago."

"Donald and Douglas haven't even been on these rails for five years," Henry replied with a smirk widening every second in bemusement

"Och will yae tae shut up," snapped Donald before the argument could escalate further, the Scottish engine idled in the shed crossly with them, in one of the corners, "I cannae stand yae both arguing at each other for another minute."

Both tender engines shut up then, and then looked over to the Scottish engine whose appearance was looking unkept, worn and angry, dark bags under his eyes and his brow lower than usual, facial hair beginning show in areas around his cheeks and mouth. Henry and James knew it wasn't hard to know what Donald was going through.

"You alright Donald?" asked Henry, concern now covering his face instead.

"What dae yae think?" Donald snapped, "my brother is currently in a facilaty where they wouldnae allow him tae leave and we haven't heard of anythang from them since!"

Henry sighed. "I understand," he said, "forgive me for saying that, perhaps you can ask Gabriel and even Ava once she's fixed to go to the facility and check on him?"

"Aye," said Donald slowly, "Gabriel said to be me last night he'll check as soon as he goes there, but Ava..."

All three engines looked over to the other side of the shed and saw the Great Western tender engine sitting there. Her face was pale, icy-looking and unmoving, lines at the bottom of her eyes with them looking down to the track, barely moving an inch and eyelids down like she was looking lazy. She had just been finished with repairs by the engineers from the facility who had come down to fix her themselves and were just testing to see if she could steam properly. But her face didn't describe anything from them, she hadn't even responded to her name.

"Yeah," said James, in a slow, sarcastic manner, "I think she got the message."

Peter, who was still at the sheds with the others, looked over to the red engine with a stern look making James subside instantly and look at his buffers. After that, the topic ended and the engines went on their way to work one-by-one. Peter had to collect another train of aluminium from Killdane, he was more hesitant to leave Ava with her steaming up, getting prepped for testing to see if she could start work. The engineers and Ava's own crew noticed this.

"You best get going," called the driver, "you don't want to be late, otherwise you can be a part of the relic trains anytime soon."

Hearing this, Peter looked down crossly at the men who looked up at him with uncaring looks, but the freight engine knew they were right — in that he had to go and take his train — and puffed off, however still worried for the other engine who was now the only one left in the shed. Once he had gone, the men looked back at each other. "What a worthless idiot," said an engineer rudely, "if it were up to me, I'd just send him to the scrap heap years ago."