Sodor: Blacked Out

Chapter 1A: Separation Anxiety (Arthur's POV)

August 14th, 1984:

Arthur the big tank engine was happily working his line at Norramby. He loved the smell of the sea air and the fish in his trucks. One morning, while Arthur was taking some empty coaches from Knapford, he passes BoCo at Wellsworth taking a train from the Mainland with some new coal. Arthur was pleased, he knew the supply at the big station was running low, and he knew the other engines would be happy that more coal was arriving. 

Arthur's day went mostly uneventful. He shunted trucks neatly around the line and when evening came he took the empty coaches back to Knapford. He was very surprised when he saw Toby staying at Knapford sheds.

"What are you doing here Toby?" Arthur asked.

"I'm just staying here for the night," Toby replied, "I'm taking that new shipment of coal to the Quarry tomorrow. I've been sent by The Fat Controller to take some stone back and deliver it to the harbour."

"Aye." said Donald. "Toby's planning to stay 'ere for a few nights to check up on the engines at the quarry. He hasn't seen them for quite some time and he said he's excited."

"Donald, why are you here? You're normally up at Tidmouth with the other engines." Arthur said, puzzled.

"I know. I had to take half of BoCo's train up to the harbour this evening. Edward was stuck down at Brendam for longer than expected so I was sent down to Wellsworth and took the train." Answered Donald.

"So, BoCo and Edward are both down at Brendam with Salty and Cranky?" questioned Arthur.

"That's what I've heard from Donald. It seems like the docks ended up in a mess after Salty ran out of fuel yesterday. Stuck in a siding behind so many trucks." said Toby.

As the engines saw the sun go down, they decided it was best to head off to sleep to get a good night's rest. 

August 15th, 1984:

Arthur was woken early by his driver. He could see the sun rising over the horizon and the hiss of steam filled the air as the three engines fireboxes were lit. Arthur spent the day ferrying passengers up and down his little line to go to all the shops and visit the beautiful beaches. He was very happy with the world as it was.

That night, when he returned, Donald had left and returned to Tidmouth, and in his place were Ben and Mavis. 

"Toby, I thought you said you hadn't seen the engines at the quarry in a while. And now they're down at Knapford instead? What's going on?" Said Arthur, quite surprised at the two smaller engines he was now sleeping with.

"Ben and Mavis said that Bill didn't seem right after I had left. He went silent and spent the whole day working productively rather than playing tricks like he usually does." answered Toby.

"Bill seemed very scary to me!" replied Ben. "I don't feel comfortable around him."

"I hope he's ok." said Mavis. "He never acts like that. he's always involved with Ben in some way but today he was always alone."

Just then, an engine puffed up from the dark. Quickly at first, but soon moved slower as it approached the sheds. Eventually, it reached the light where they were visible.

"Hey Ben." Said the engine. "Want to go shunt some more trucks at the quarry?"