Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends: Into The Boob Verse.

Caelen Turns Pot Hunter

Early one summer's morning, Caelen passed the girder bridge, to find a strange sight beneath him. A group of men and women seemed to be digging around the land, looking closely into the now ruined soil. Caelen was very puzzled.

He told his driver when they got to the works.

"I think they're called pot hunters."

She spoke softly.

"They look for old fossils, and other rare things in the ground. It's quite a big deal if they do find something."

Caelen scoffed.

"Pah! Just seems like an excuse to tear up some ground! Pot hunters indeed! Ridiculous if you ask me!"

"Id's more complicaded dan dad..."

His stoker whispered. At that moment, Big Mac rolled in.

"Pot hunting's an exciting thing!"

The Scottish diesel engine spoke.

"You get to find something that's a part of history! Something that people will talk about for ages!"

But Caelen wasn't listening. He complained for the rest of the day.

Caelen's complaints fell on deaf ears to the pot hunters. They happily continued to hack away at the ground. Still, nothing came up. So after a few days, they moved a bit further down the embankment.

A few days later, Hector was heading down the line with a small goods train. He was just passing the bridge, when he felt a sharp jolt come from his wheels.

"Oh dear."

He thought to himself.

"That's not good. I'll let the signalman know at Edward's station."

But he never got the chance. Unknown to him, the track had been buckled by the heat, the heavy load of one of Hector's trucks had been far too much, and it finally snapped. No one noticed..

Caelen was still in a foul mood as he steamed through the seaside station. He began to grow crosser and crosser, as the bridge came into view.

"Fancy! Tearing up our lovely dirt! All for some stupid bones! It's ridiculous!"

He clattered passed a green signal, not paying much mind to it. However, as the bridge came into view, Caelen scowled. The closer they came to the bridge, the more he tried to look out for them. He didn't see the buckled track coming flying towards them!

"Buckled track!!"

His driver cried!

"Stop!!"

She threw on the brakes! Caelen was horrified! He tried his hardest to stop, but nothing worked! Before anyone could say 'Fat Controller.' Caelen's wheels left the rails! He shut his eyes, as he tore down the embankment! Ripping up the dirt like a bulldozer! He finally came to a stop! Just on the other side of the embankment!

When he opened his eyes, he found himself buried deep into the dirt around him. Oddly, weird white shapes seemed to be scattered within the mess on his front. His driver and stoker trudged in front of him, luckily unhurt.

"You should've paid attention to the line."

His driver almost sobbed.

"That could've ended a whole lot differently."

The guard trudged over, a puzzled look on her face.

"What's happened here?"

She asked. His driver was about to speak, when the stoker noticed something sat in the dirt.

"Whad's dis?"

She quizzed, picking up the white object. It was filthy, and long. But it was clear what it was.

"A bone?"

Caelen gasped!

"How did that..."

His crew all gave each other a knowing look, Caelen's face flushed red with embarrassment.

The news crews arrived before the cranes, the pot hunters seethed with fury as Douglas and Big Mac's crews dug away at the dirt, uncovering more and more bones.

"The press will have a field day with this."

Douglas driver sighed. But The Fat Controller didn't care. He was bursting with excitement.

"These must be old dinosaur bones!"

He gasped!

"These would be worth a fortune!"

The engines all let out a string of 'Oohs' and 'Ahhs'. All but Caelen, who stayed quiet.

"Well, well, well."

Big Mac snickered.

"Seems like our old Caelen wanted to become a pot hunter himself!"

Caelen flushed with red anger. But didn't say a word in reply.

Caelen's discovery was a big deal. And the railway found themselves in the spotlight once again.

Caelen, for his recklessness, was placed onto maintenance trains. He found the work slow and boring.

The engines, at first, found themselves quite jealous of Caelen. Wishing they'd have been the ones to find the bones. But after some time, the topic became a great joke amongst the fleet. They'd often make pot hunter jokes, or do fake animal roars as they passed him by. And while he found the jokes childish and immature. Caelen couldn't help but think that maybe him turning pot hunter, wasn't such a bad thing after all.