Thomas and Friends Fanfiction Series 8

Ups, Downs and Surprises

On the Island of Sodor, on Thomas' branch line, there is a cottage which is owned by Mrs Kyndley, a kind elderly lady who once rescued Thomas from a landslide at Christmas time. She is loved by all the engines on the railway and is always happy to wave at them as they pass her by. 

(Percy and Toby can be seen passing the cottage, whistling to her.)

One morning, Thomas fetched Annie and Clarabel from the shunting yards and collected his passengers. 

(Many passengers include schoolchildren, the Lady with the Big Hat and Mr. Fergus Duncan.)

The Fat Controller addressed him. 

"Thomas, today is Mrs Kyndley's birthday. My mother is arranging a surprise dinner party for her at Vicarstown. I need you to collect her form her cottage this evening." 

"Yes, sir," said Thomas. He was very excited. 

(Edward can be seen as Thomas leaves.)

Thomas was soon on his branch line and was too excited about Mrs Kyndley's surprise to think of anything else. 

He came to a hill and puffed up it thinking of the balloons, the birthday cake and the look on Mrs Kyndley's face when she saw the surprise. 

(Harold can be seen up above.)

But as Thomas went down the other side of the hill, he forgot to pin down his brakes and went down too quickly. 

"Oh my!" he cried. 

"SLOW DOWN, THOMAS!" cried Annie and Clarabel. 

But it was too late! Thomas took the bend and swerved off the tracks for a second and then hit the rails again but his passengers got badly bumped. 

They were not happy. As Thomas stopped at Ffarquahar Station, the passengers complained to the Stationmaster. 

The incident was reported to the Fat Controller. So when Thomas arrived back at Knapford later, the Fat Controller was waiting for him looking very stern. 

"Thomas, what made you go too fast down the hill?" he asked. 

"I...was busy thinking about Mrs Kyndley's surprise," explained Thomas sadly. 

"Well, in the meantime, Thomas, you must be careful and concentrate on your other work. If I hear of any further confusion and delay, I will ask James to take Mrs Kyndley to Vicarstown instead of you." 

Thomas was horrified. James was pleased. He was hoping Thomas would cause trouble, so he could get the special job. And like Thomas, he was fond of Mrs Kyndley. 

Thomas tried his best not to make any more silly mistakes. He continued working on his branch line and took care going down the hills. 

Meanwhile, James was preparing to take some trucks of coal to the bunkers on the further side of the Island. But he was also thinking about Mrs Kyndley's surprise and how he might be the engine to take her. So he ended up making a mistake of his own. 

He accidentally buffered up to not just his trucks, but some farm supply trucks that Emily was taking to High Farm. 

"Here's James!" he whistled as he puffed away. 

Later, Emily found that her trucks were missing. She reported it to the Fat Controller.

"Sir, sir, my trucks for High Farm have been taken away!" 

"Calm down, Emily," said the Fat Controller. 

He checked his timetable and saw that James was the last engine scheduled to leave before Emily, and he also saw that their respective trains had been shunted earlier into the same siding. 

"I believe James may have your train, Emily," he said, "you can find him and explain if you follow the line to Arlesburgh." 

"Yes, sir," whistled Emily and she gave chase. 

James was still feeling excited about Mrs Kyndley's surprise dinner party and at first, he didn't even notice the extra weight he was pulling. 

But as he reached Gordon's Hill, he soon did notice. 

"My train's toooo heavyyyy!" he groaned. 

And then he stopped, stuck on the hill. 

"Oh no!" he moaned. 

Soon, Emily found James stuck on the hill. 

"James, you have my trucks as well as your own!" 

James gasped. 

"Oh no!" 

"Don't worry," said Emily, "I'll uncouple my trucks and you can go on your way again." 

And so she did. 

"Thank you, Emily, um, sorry for the mix-up," said James embarrassedly as he puffed up the hill. 

That evening, Thomas, James and Emily were at Knapford with the Fat Controller, Lady Hatt and Dowager Hatt. The Fat Controller had heard about James' mistake on the hill. 

"James and Thomas, you have both caused confusion and delay today," he said, "and although I think Emily would deserve the job of taking Mrs Kyndley to Vicarstown more than either of you, I did say I would only give the job to someone else if you, Thomas, made another mistake. But as you have behaved since then, you may still get to take Mrs Kyndley." 

Thomas was grateful, but- 

"No, sir," he said, "my carelessness could have caused more trouble for Mrs Kyndley if I had damaged my tracks or crashed and hurt my passengers. It would have meant cancelling the whole celebration! So...please, sir, could Emily take Mrs Kyndley to Vicarstown?" 

"A splendid idea," said Lady Hatt. 

"Besides, Topham, I have another idea what Thomas and James can do to contribute to Mrs Kyndley's party." 

Everyone listened and they were delighted. 

Soon, Emily collected Mrs Kyndley from her cottage. 

She was very surprised to be summoned like this. 

"What's all this about, Emily?" she asked. 

"Wait and see, Mrs Kyndley," giggled Emily. 

At Vicarstown, the Fat Controller, Lady Hatt, Dowager Hatt, Thomas and James all awaited Mrs Kyndley as Emily proudly steamed in. 

"One, two, three!" declared the Hatts. 

And Thomas, James and Emily whistled and sang Happy Birthday to you to Mrs Kyndley! 

Mrs Kyndley was indeed very surprised and very happy. 

"Oh, what a lovely birthday surprise!" she beamed. "Thank you all so much!" 

Thomas and James were happy to have been part of the surprise after all! 

(The End!)