Shampoo, one of Horsmarlonerpool’s three engines, was taking his train of three red carriages to the Pastures, out to the west. There is only one station on route, the small village of Little Fisher. And the station itself is so small that the platform can only fit one carriage So Shampoo made sure that any passengers for Little Fisher were all sat in the first coach as he pulled in.
As he sat waiting for the doors of the first carriage to open and shut, he noticed a set of points on the line in front of him. Points are where one train track spilts off from, or connects to another train track. He’d never noticed these points before because the second line was so overgrown and rusty, compared to the shiny, well used line that stretched ahead, that it almost made it look as if there weren’t any points there at all. To the left of the points, a very old piece of track went away into the undergrowth.
“I wonder where that goes,” Shampoo said to himself.
Well that evening, after he’d finished with his last train, Shampoo told Mersey and Sixwheels - the other engines - about the strange old points at Little Fisher station, and seeing as they were all chatting with Amira, Dylan and Maggie at the time - all six of them decided to travel down there that evening and investigate.
What a lovely sight it was! The three engines, Shampoo, Mersey and Sixwheels, chugging down the line in a row without any carriages or trucks to pull. Amira, Dylan and Maggie all rode on Shampoo’s footplate - looking out for any dangers ahead on the line as the evening grew darker.
As Shampoo pulled in to Little Fisher station, Amira, Dylan and Maggie all climbed off onto the platform and walked down the ramp at the end to the side of the line. It was true, there was an old set of points here, and they obviously hadn’t been switched in years and years.
Still, Maggie found the lever, and with the help of Amira and Dylan, the three of them pulled it over with a rusty clunk.
With the points switched, Shampoo, Mersey and Sixwheels crept forward very carefully. The old branch line hadn’t seen a train in so long that it might be too damaged to support one. But inch by inch, the three engines, with Amira, Dylan and Maggie walking alongside, crawled along the old line, pushing branches steadily out the way and crushing the overgrowth beneath the heavy wheels. Soon, they arrived at a metal gate which covered the tracks.
But as Shampoo pushed against it, it sprung open, and the line continued up to a dark entrance in the rock face: where it stopped.
Amira, Dylan and Maggie walked up to the entrance and examined it. There was no sign explaining what it was, but Dylan noticed some strange markings on the wall - a large circle with the 12 months of the year written around it - and a large metal hand like a clock. But the hand was pointing to November and it was currently July, so that couldn’t be working.
What could this be?
Bravely, Amira, Dylan and Maggie walked into the entrance and turned on the three torches they’d brought. Combined with the light from Shampoo outside, they could see an entrance chamber, with two little railway carts at the start of a rickety old narrow track that led down a steep slope into the darkness.
“It’s a mine,” said Maggie.
The three friends ventured in further, and began to see a bluey, green glow coming from far within. A sort of turquoise light.
Outside, the three engines were getting nervous.
“We should never have let them go in!” said Mersey.
“It’s all fault for bringing them here,” said Sixwheels.
“It’s my fault for spotting those silly old points this morning,” said Shampoo.
But after ten long minutes of the engines worrying, Shampoo saw the three friends emerge. And Amira was carrying what looked like a glowing, blue crystal.
“My uncle Nathanial lives in Little Fisher,” said Maggie. He’ll know what to do with this.”
In middle of Little Fisher, just to the side of the village green, Maggie’s favorite Uncle, Uncle Nathanial, was playing boules with his friends. He played every Tuesday evening in the summertime, and tonight the game was just getting very interesting when he saw - to his surprise - his niece Maggie running up.
“What are you doing here?” said Uncle Nathanial.
“We’ve brought you this,” said Maggie.
“It’s from the mine!” said Amira, passing him the blue crystal.
Uncle Nathanial examined it, puzzled. But Lan - who was one of the older children in the village and very good at science - stepped forward.
“It’s a power pod”, she said. “Where on Earth did you find it.”
After Maggie had explained, hoping she wasn’t in trouble for going in to the old mine, Lan held the crystal up for all the villagers to look at.
“These are the stuff of legend,” said Lan. “I’ve been reading about them. People thought they’d run out years ago.”
“But what do they do, Lan?” asked Uncle Nathanial.
“Hopefully, something really amazing,” said Lan and carried the crystal over to a small statue in the village square of a small boy holding a cup. Nobody had ever really paid the statue too much attention, and certainly hadn’t paid the cup too much attention, but if they had they’d have noticed that the cup contained a small hole at the top. Lan inserted the crystal into the hole, and waited…
Slowly, every house in the village began to glow in the dusky evening light, and the old street lights around the green and down every little street off it, began to glow a warm comforting blue.
“I read,” said Lan to the astonished spectators, that one power pod can fuel Little Fisher for an entire year!”
Within minutes, Amira, Dylan, Maggie, Lan and all the villagers were standing outside the entrance to the mine where the three engines had been waiting for them.
“The entrance was just… it was just here…” said Maggie, confused.
Because in its place was just a smooth rock face.
“Look,” said Dylan, and everyone suddenly turned their attentions to the strange round calendar that they’d spotted by the entrance. The hand was now pointing at July.
“It’s changed!” said Amira.
“I think,” said Uncle Nathanial. “That the mine is giving you a message.”
“I agree,” said Lan. “One power pod per year. It will unlock again in July. It means we can’t get greedy.”
“And it means,” said Uncle Nathanial. “That the mine was happy for you to take that one power pod. Well done.”
“It also means,” said a happy villager. “Free power for a year!”
And with that, everyone of the villages looked at each other in disbelief, and then thanked the three friends.
“Thank Shampoo,” said Maggie, pointing at the smiling engine. “He found the old line this morning!”
As the three engines listening to the applause, they felt happy, proud, and relieved.
Their work was done.
Until next July.
