Thomas & Friends Season 12 Reimagined

The Man in the Hills

One night, all the narrow gauge engines were talking about The Thin Controller's birthday party that was happening the next day. Mighty Mac, who had never been to one of The Thin Controller's parties, grew more excited the more everyone talked about it.

Just then, Madge pulled up.

"Hello, Madge!" peeped Duncan, "What are you doin' here?"

"My last delivery was quite close by so I thought I'd swing by!" said Madge with a smile, "Now, what are we talking about?"

The engines got Madge caught up, then began talking about what each of them were doing for The Thin Controller tomorrow.

"I'm going to tell him a story about The Man in the Hills," Sir Handel puffed proudly, "I heard it while I was working at the stone quarry."

"Who even is The Man in the Hills?" huffed Mighty.

The other engines were all excited to tell Mighty but Sir Handel was allowed to speak.

"He's very tall," said Sir Handel, "and dressed in white. He's said to live in the hills but no-one has ever found him."

"How interesting!" said Madge, "I'm going quite far up into the hills for some deliveries tomorrow; I'll have to keep an eye out for him."

The next morning, Mighty Mac woke up early.

Mac whispered to Mighty, "You know, we could be the ones to find The Man in the Hills if we search thoroughly."

"We've got work to do," replied Mighty. He then thought about it for a bit longer. It would really be something if they could find him.

Before the two of them could discuss it any further, their driver and firewoman arrived. It was time to get ready for their day's work.

Their task for the day was to pick up a big tent from the wharf and take it to the field where The Thin Controller's party was to be held.

"We're lucky enough to only have one job today!" chuffed Mighty.

"And once we've gotten the job done..." Mac said hopefully.

"We can look for The Man in the Hills," finished Mighty.

As they were coupled to the wagon with the tent in it, Madge arrived.

"Any luck?" Mighty asked her.

"None at all," Madge replied, not looking too bothered by it.

"I'm sure there are plenty of roads you haven't explored yet," peeped Mac, "you could still find him!"

"I can't be searching for The Man in the Hills all day," chuckled Madge, "I've got work to do. Mr Percival is relying on me! Now, I mustn't stop. Lots more to do!" With that, she sped away.

Mighty Mac were ready to go. They steamed out of the wharf, eager to get their delivery done as quickly as possible.

After travelling along the line for a while, they came to a junction. The most direct route to the field was on the left; there were more hills than flat fields for having parties in on the right.

By now, Mighty Mac couldn't contain their excitement. They wanted to find The Man in the Hills more than anything.

"There's a little village on the right," said Mac, "we haven't been in that area much but I remember a dairy was up there. There must be good connections between that and the farm we're heading for."

Mighty was very tempted to go up the right-hand track but their driver and firewoman were not convinced.

"We don't want to be late," said the firewoman.

"To be fair," ventured Mighty, "the party doesn't start for a while and the guests won't be in the tent that much anyway..."

The driver and firewoman reluctantly agreed and the engine set off along their chosen track.

In no time at all, they reached the village. It was about midday and several little cafés and shops were open but barely anyone was about.

"Has everyone gone to the party?" puffed Mighty.

"No, Mighty," said the driver, "this is actually where I live. It's never busy here."

Mighty Mac watched the village intently as they steamed past it. It looked like the sort of place one would like to spend the day in. They were confused as to why no-one was there.

Suddenly, Mighty spotted a large rock in the distance. A ledge at the top of it hung over one of the more poorly maintained tracks. He thought it could be where The Man in the Hills had been hiding this whole time.

"Have you ever explored near that big rock over there?" Mighty asked the driver. When the driver replied in the negative, both he and Mac were ecstatic. This was their moment!

The two of them raced towards the junction.

What they didn't realise was that some tree roots had grown under the track they were heading onto. They had pushed the track upwards and bent it out of shape.

The double-ended engine bounced along the rails as they strayed further away from civilisation. The rock loomed over them like a giant about to stomp on them. It was all quite terrifying but quite exciting too.

Round the next bend, the foliage was particularly overgrown and the ground particularly uneven. A part of the track had been snapped in two and the two pieces both bent upwards.

Mighty only spotted the broken bit of track right when they were about to hit it. They were too late to do anything. They shut their eyes and their driver and firewoman hung on for dear life as they went careering off the rails and into a ditch.

Mighty Mac could do nothing but feel silly. The firewoman clambered out of the ditch and headed back to the village to telephone for help.

During the wait for help, Mac spotted something. On the corner of the rock, there was a white line. It could have just been chalk but he was curious. He asked the driver if she would take a look.

The driver hauled herself out of the ditch and went to investigate. When she came back, a huge grin was plastered on her face.

"It's a huge outline of a man!" she whispered, "I think it could be..."

"The Man in the Hills!" Mighty Mac cried in unison.

Eventually, the firewoman returned on board Sir Handel. When Sir Handel heard the news, he couldn't wait to spread it and had to be told to rescue Mighty Mac first!

Soon, all the other narrow gauge engines, Madge, The Thin Controller and all the party guests turned up. Everyone was eager to see The Man in the Hills.

"Well, Mighty Mac," boomed The Thin Controller, "your judgement might have been poor here but you can't really complain about the outcome."

The Thin Controller's words only had more weight when people from the nearby village began approaching with tea, cakes and all sorts of other wonderful food.

"This is the best Victoria sponge cake I've ever tasted," said a party guest, "why did you just have this on hand?"

"I run a bakery," said one of the villagers.

This marked the start of several villagers talking up their local businesses and some of the party guests going to investigate.

"Well," Madge quietly said to the twins, "what can I say? I suppose I should have searched more thoroughly."

"No hard feelings, Madge," said Mighty.

"After all," laughed Mac, "you were still more reliable than us!"