Give Me a Brake! - ThomasNATION Fanstory
June 24, 2023
"Whew, last call!" Rebecca sighed. "Vicarstown dead ahead. Now, time for a slow, graceful stop..."
But then there was trouble. When Rebecca applied her brakes, she wasn't stopping. She wasn't even slowing down. She slid right past the platform.
"What's happening?!" Rebecca cried. "I thought you applied the brakes!"
"I did!" replied her driver.
Then, things went from bad to worse. Rebecca looked ahead and saw she was going to bump right into Henry!
"Rebecca!" Henry screamed. "Watch out!"
"Oh, no!" Rebecca cried. "I'm not slowing down!"
The two tried to stop, but it was too late. They clashed right into each other with a mighty wallop.
"What just happened?" asked a clearly disoriented Henry.
"I don't know," said Rebecca, slowly reversing. "I've been having...wait, hold on." She noticed that, again, she wasn't stopping. "Where am I going? Little help?"
Rebecca suddenly received a bump from behind, noticing Nia behind her. "There you go!"
"Thanks, Nia!" called Rebecca.
"Are you okay, Rebecca?" asked Henry. "What's with the whole not stopping thing?"
Rebecca's driver hopped out of her cab as the passengers disembarked from the express. "I think there's something up with her brakes."
"Really?"
"Yeah, pretty much. They haven't been feeling right all day."
Henry uncoupled from his goods train and coupled up to the express. "My advice is to go get them checked over. I'll handle the express."
"Are you sure, Henry?" asked Rebecca. "It's a pretty difficult route."
"Eh, I've done it before." chuckled Henry. "Plus, I've seen Gordon do it. How hard can it be?"
Rebecca wasted no time heading to the Steamworks. She was a bit embarrassed - she had never had this much trouble with her brakes before, but if anyone knew what to do, it was Victor. He closely inspected Rebecca's brakes.
"I see..." Victor said to himself. "And you say the problems started on your express duties?"
"That's right." Rebecca replied. "They were fine yesterday."
Victor started to piece it together. "So what I think the problem is, Rebecca, is the extra passengers. The additional weight to your coaches is putting pressure on your brakes, causing your brave valve to come loose-"
"It's come loose?" gasped Rebecca, interrupting Victor. "Can't you tighten it again?"
"Let me finish, please. This is important." said Victor. "That rough stop at Vicarstown was possibly the straw that broke the camel's back. Look."
A workman emerged from Rebecca's cab, holding a broken brake valve. Rebecca was horrified!
"So, wait, does this mean I have no brakes?" she panicked.
"No, don't be silly!" laughed Victor. "Kevin! Check the back for any spare brake valves."
As Kevin searched, Rebecca didn't know what to do now. Victor noticed the nervous look on her face.
"Don't worry, my friend." Victor reassured her. "You'll be fine. You just need to be more careful from here on out."
"Okay, I'll try my best." sighed Rebecca.
Soon, Rebecca's brakes were 100% fixed and she was back out. And while she felt good as new, she still felt a bit cautious. But one thing was for sure; she wasnāt taking any chances. She was going noticeably a bit slower. She was pulling less cargo. She had even asked Sir Topham Hatt to skip express duty. All anyone knew was this wasnāt the same Rebecca, especially when she pulled into Knapford pulling vans full of chickens, much to the shock of everyone at the platforms.
āRebecca?ā gasped Thomas. āI thought you were on express duty.ā
āOh, no, no, no!ā laughed Rebecca. āHenryās sorted that. Iām taking more gentle loads from now on.ā
āWhy?ā asked Philip.
āOh, you know,ā Rebecca explained. ābetter to be safe than sorry. After that trouble with my brakes, I'm not taking any chances."
"But I thought they fixed your brakes," said Annie.
"There's no reason for you to worry." added Clarabel.
Rebecca laughed this off. "I'm not worried, ladies. I'm more so...cautious."
Nobody knew what to make of Rebecca's new behavior. "Seriously, Rebecca, are you doing okay?" asked Thomas.
Before Rebecca could respond, the stationmaster's whistle blew and it was time for her to go. "Oh, can't answer that, have to go! Bye, everyone!"
And with that, Rebecca slowly trundled out. Thomas watched with high worry. āI donāt know what came over her. Sheās been acting like this for two days, and she keeps on running late! Percy told me she showed up late fifteen times yesterday.ā
āPerhaps we should think of a way to get her back to her old self again.ā thought Annie.
āBut how do we do that?ā asked Clarabel. āShe wonāt listen to us.ā
āMaybe,ā thought Thomas, ābut I know who she might listen to.ā
Rebecca slowly rolled into Vicarstown later that day, and needless to say Sir Topham Hatt was not amused.
āRebecca!ā he shouted. āThis is the sixth time youāve been late!ā
āThis week?ā
āToday.ā
āOh.ā Rebecca was starting to feel a little bit embarrassed. āSorry, sir.ā
As Sir Topham Hatt was left shaking his head, Henry approached her. āHello, Rebecca. How are your brakes?ā
āUmā¦okay, I suppose,ā Rebecca sighed, ābut Iām still a bit worried theyāll snap off again. Iāve never had this sort of thing happen to me before. I donāt want a repeat of all that.ā
Henry listened closely to what Rebecca had to say. āRebecca, listen. I was once in your wheels myself.ā
āReally?ā
āYeah. A while back, my brakes werenāt working properly. I didnāt think much of it, until I crashed into the back of a brakevan!ā
Rebecca gasped. āWhat happened then?ā
āI had to get fixed up. Sir Topham Hatt took me to a workshop in Crewe and I got fixed up. But I still got worried about my brakes from time to time. It wasnāt until Edward told me that I shouldnāt worry about my brakes not working, I should be focused on being really useful. And that, I think, is what you should be doing.ā
Rebecca really considered what Henry was saying. And in the end, she realised maybe he was right. āYeah, youāre right. Thanks for that, Henry, I needed to hear that.ā
āNo problem, Rebecca.ā Henry smiled as Rebecca disembarkedā¦before nearly bumping into the Flying Scotsman.
āEasy there!ā said the Flying Scotsman.
āWhoops!ā called Rebecca. āMy bad!ā
And just like that, Rebecca was back to her old self. From that day on, she didnāt worry about her brakes again, because that mattered was being a really useful engine.
About the Author: JF the LOLZOR
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