Percy's Chocolate Crunch and Other Thomas the Tank Engine Stories (4 page)

“Aye,” said Salty, “I do.” But Salty knew the quarry work was important.

The next day, he tried to show Bill and Ben his secret with the trucks. “I like working to a musical rhythm,” he said. “And so do the trucks. Why don’t you give it a try, me hearties?”

“Here we go, here we go, here we go.”

“No we don’t, no we don’t, no we don’t, don’t, don’t.”

But try as they might, Bill and Ben could not move the trucks the way Salty could.

Later that day, Sir Topham Hatt came to the quarry. He was surprised to see the job had been completed. “Well done,” said Sir Topham Hatt.

“It was Salty,” said Mavis. “We couldn’t have done it without him.”

“Then I’ve got a bigger job for you, Salty.”

“Aye, aye, sir. What kind of a quarry is it?”

“Quarry?” said Sir Topham Hatt. “I’m sending you to Brendam Docks!”

“The
docks
?!” Salty exclaimed. “The docks are hard by the sea! Oh, thank you, sir!” he said. “This reminds me of a time in Bimini ….” And Salty was telling stories again.

Salty loves Brendam Docks. He gets more work done than any
three
engines and feels Really Useful. And only the trucks know his secret.

“Yo ho ho and a bucket of prawns.

The tiller spins and the captain yawns.”

A BAD DAY FOR HAROLD THE HELICOPTER

Harold the Helicopter loves flying.

Up in the bright blue sky, over the Island of Sodor, he looks out for anyone in distress.

Sometimes he delivers the mail.

This makes Percy very cross.

“The mail run is done! Is there any more? I can deliver it for you in a jiff! That’s what friends are for.”

“Delivering the mail is an engine’s job,” said Percy grumpily.

Percy has many jobs, but carrying the mail is his favorite. It makes him feel Really Useful.

The next morning, Percy was happily pulling the mail train. “Must be on time, must be on time,” he chuffed.

But up ahead there was trouble with the signal box. It was broken. The signal engineers did not know how long it would take to fix.