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

Chapter X: Reveals

11 PM.

Thomas had been at the spot where he told Duck he'd be for a little while now, and it was time to go now. But he waited for the minute to go by just in case. His crew waited patiently too and all were silent. Neither felt like talking before this trip to Arlesburgh. Thomas had never been up this branch line before, it had been closed down ever since the traffic had dropped when the Mid-Sodor Railway had closed and since its revitalization, only a few engines had gone on it. Mainly Ava, then Douglas, and now Gabriel.

Just then, Thomas heard the sound of puffing and his eyes looked back to see Duck come up from the harbour and stopped before the points where Thomas stood next to him. Both were silent for a moment. Until Thomas finally spoke up. "So, you decided to come," he noted.

"I did because it is right," Duck replied, "Sodor Research needs to be called out on what it has done to Ava and how it has affected the island, it must be stopped."

"Yeah..." said Thomas, "what about the others? Do they know?"

"I haven't told any of them," said Duck, "Donald and James haven't been seen since this afternoon, Peter is at the works, and Gordon and Henry are snoozing in the sheds right not."

"Snoozing," scoffed Thomas, amused, "sometimes you make me laugh at how ridiculous you are."

"I'm ridiculous?" Duck said, "you're the one who's despised me ever since I came here."

"Despised?"

"Yes, despised," Duck said.

Thomas' smile fell, his brow furrowed and he looked away coldly and dismissively. "We're getting off-topic here," said the tank engine.

"No, I'd say we're not," interjected Duck, "if we are to go to the facility, with no knowledge what to expect inside, I at least need to know why you've always not liked me until now."

Thinking carefully about what to say next. Thomas gave a heavy sigh. "When I first saw you go against Gordon, Henry and James at the sheds the first day you came to our region. I didn't know the full context of the whole story, but I had gotten on so well with them and Percy too that I thought you were creating a bad influence on Percy and causing disruption in the yards. I didn't realise what was going on until Percy... told me about the whole ordeal a year later. By then, we hadn't gotten along too well so I thought we'd just never get along afterwards."

Duck's angered expression softened a bit and he looked away. "Until now of course," Thomas continued, "through these... investigations I have seen what you're really like and well... it's not that and for that, I am sorry for being a pain in the undercarriage for those years."

The Great Western engine chuckled wholeheartedly. "Apology accepted," he replied, "but I think, before going there, that we don't go there as enemies... but as friends."

Thomas smiled confidently. "Yeah, that would be appropriate," he said, "do you want to lead the way?"

"No, I'll let you do it," said Duck kindly, "besides, you had the idea of doing this... raid."

A chuckle came from Thomas as he set off. "Paah," he said mockingly, "I wouldn't call it a raid, it's more like breaking and entering!"

The Great Western engine laughed and both set off towards the facility, both not saying a word for the entire trip.

***

As the pair finally arrived at Arlesburgh, they travelled under a road bridge kept in good condition, but afterwards looked abandoned and derelict. With a station on their left in complete ruin, vandalised and in pieces whilst points lead to other lines which all look unfit to carry any engine or even a truck. Only the lines going past the station looked fit enough to go through and one of them was acting as a goods loop for trains to run around on. They eventually travelled further down the line, they then reached a quiet harbour, with the lines now going into the paved brick ground, in a sort of tramway like fashion. They went along it for a few minutes, up the line in between the houses as quietly as possible so as not to wake anyone. As they exit the harbour and town, they found themselves turning right, the track beginning to look like they didn't belong on the earth they laid upon as the landscape became claustrophobic and they then reached a tunnel which looked too small for them to fit, but they managed and slowly went through it. Thomas wondered even how the other engines got through here in the first place. At last, they came out of the tunnel and came to the site of the facility, the area looked mostly dead apart from the grass and trees which surrounded the facility.