Sodor: Blacked Out

Chapter 8A: Norramby or Bust (Arthur's POV)

August 18th, 1984:

Almost as soon as they had left, the sun had gone down over the horizon. The darkness quickly surrounded them and a shallow mist formed upon the ground. They were making good time as they passed multiple signals. BoCo could see a junction up ahead on the line.

"Is that the junction Arthur?" he whispered

"Yes it is. I can recognize it even in the dead of night." Arthur replied.

"Are you sure it's safe down here Arthur?" asked Gordon. "What if there are engines that could have gone down the line?"

"My line is special. It's a one lane track most of the way down so we need a key to get there. I'm the only one that has it and in special cases The Fat Controller provides spares if I need help."

Fergus groaned as he heard about the key. He knew it was an old fashioned way of taking care of lines but he didn't want to bother with the current situation. 

The track slowly merged into one as the engines saw Ballahoo station come into view. They needed to get some more coal and water at the station before the supply was out. The closer they got, the more difficult it was to continue as Gordon slowly applied his brakes harder and harder. He was frightened at the empty station. The lights being off startled him as he was only used to seeing them during the daytime. It felt abandoned to him.

The engines split into two groups as they entered the small yard. Arthur and BoCo headed towards the trucks sitting behind the station, while Gordon pushed Fergus to the coal hopper that sat adjacent to the track. The line wasn't long enough to contain all four engines so Arthur decided to ration his coal for the time being. The hopper wasn't very full, and Gordon's tender wasn't even halfway filled up when he was done. 

"We need to conserve our fuel until we get to Norramby." said Arthur. "Shipments of coal always come in once a week from the coast since it saves time on the line."

"Why wasn't there any coal in this hopper then?" asked Fergus.

"I didn't have time to come down the line to fill it up. It wasn't my fault." Arthur replied.

"Yeah, Sure. Maybe you're just keeping it all to yourself so some of us bigger engines can't have it." complained Gordon.

BoCo growled fairly loudly behind the station, startling Gordon once again. 

"Just because an unfortunate event happened, doesn't mean he's being selfish." BoCo said. "Arthur clearly is meant to run this line for himself, not to provide for every engine on the island."

Fergus looked back at Gordon, visibly cross. Gordon didn't care however. He still felt as if everything going on was unfairly meant towards him. Before he uncoupled from Fergus, he backed away quickly towards Crovan's Gate. Leaving BoCo and Arthur on their own behind the station.

August 19th, 1984

Arthur wanted to go back to find the two engines but he knew that heading down the line was much safer.

BoCo had eventually fallen asleep on the way, and Arthur was just alone with the noises of the woods around him. He puffed slowly down the line to not wake BoCo from his slumber.

The sun slowly rose over the trees and cleared a path for them. Arthur was glad to see the daylight again but he had gotten distracted. 

There was something on the line ahead.