Rosie, Neville and the Fruitiful Afternoon

Narrator: "It was a very good morning on t I o S, and Neville was feeling very pleased with himself, his black coat of paint gleamed in the sunshine just as he sped along the line, he reached the junction just as Rosie puffed in with some Freight Cars. Neville was surprised to see her coming by.

Neville: "Hey, what are you doing here, Rosie? you should be at the next station by now, you're late."

Rosie: "I know."

Narrator: "Sighed Rosie, looking a bit tired and tense."

Rosie: "These Freight Cars have been troublesome to me all morning."

Neville: "Well that's no excuse, Rosie,"

Narrator: "said Neville."

Neville: "Nothing should stop us, the Fat Controller and his wife rely on us to be on time, now if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way."

Narrator: "And Neville puffed importantly away."

Rosie: "Know it all."

Narrator: "Muttered Rosie angrily.

Neville arrived at the harbour, It was market day, the harbour yard was filled with the sweet smell of fresh fruits from faraway lands, the fruit was delivered in big ships, Neville watched the strawberries, oranges, melons, and bananas being carefully loaded into his Freight Cars, then he set off to the station on the main line.

Along the way, he met Percy.

Neville: "Really reliable, that's me!"

Narrator: panted Neville proudly.

Neville: "Too bad the exact same can't be said for Rosie, goodbye!"

Emily: "What was that about?"

Narrator: "Gasped Emily in surprise."

Percy: "That was trouble, trouble for Rosie, just wait and see."

Narrator: Rosie was back in the yard, and busy shunting, she had the Freight Cars in a good fashionly order, and was making up for lost time, but the station master had terrible news.

Rosie's Driver: "What just happened?"

Narrator: asked Rosie's driver.

Station Master: "Neville's wheels have jammed, we need Rosie's help right away."

Narrator: Rosie set off to the rescue.

She found Neville stuck on the line and looking depressed. Rosie couldn't help laughing her face off."

Rosie: "Got yourself in a jam, right, Neville? what you might call a very sticky situation?"

Neville: "Forget about it."

Narrator: said Neville.

Neville: "It's not a good idea having jammed wheels."

Rosie: "And not very reliable, either."

Narrator: teased Rosie.

Rosie: "I'm quite surprised you let it happen, Neville, nothing should stop us railroad engines."

Rosie's Driver: "That's quite enough, Rosie."

Narrator: said Rosie's driver.

Rosie's Driver: "Can you push these Freight Cars?"

Rosie: "Of course I can,"

Narrator: "said Rosie."

Rosie: "There's no time to lose, Neville's done way too much of that already."

Narrator: Neville grumpily hissed steam just as Rosie was coupled to the Freight Cars.

Rosie: "Off we go!"

Narrator :said Rosie.

Rosie: "I'll need to go faster to get there in time, those black engines are so unreliable."

Rosie's Driver: "Be very careful, Rosie."

Narrator: called Rosie's driver, but Rosie was in such a hurry.

She didn't see that the sign had failed and that she had been diverted right into a siding.

Rosie's Driver: "Look out, Rosie!"

Narrator: exclaimed Rosie's driver, and applied the brakes, but it was way too late, Rosie's driver had jumped clear, but smashed fruits have splattered all over Rosie, and the Fat Controller and his wife arrived.

Fat Controller: "Rosie, you're not to blame for the sign failure,"

Fat Controller's Wife: "but we don't run a jam factory."

Rosie: "Yes, kind sir and ma'am, sorry about that, kind sir and ma'am."

Narrator: and Rosie squelched depressingly away.

That night, Percy's place at the Roundhouse was silent, Neville and Rosie were feeling terribly sorry for themselves, and tt last, Percy spoke to them.

Percy: "You know,"

Narrator: he said to nobody in particular.

Percy: "There's more than 1 way to get jammed, we all learned from that today."

Narrator: still, there was silence.

Percy: "What's more than that?"

Narrator: continued Percy.

Percy: "We also learned that sometimes when railroad engines help 1 another out of a jam, things can still go crazy.

Narrator: "'So?" said a peculiar voice.

Buster: "So,"

Narrator: finished Percy.

Percy: "that means we learned a lot today, and therefor,"

Narrator: "Then Rosie spoke up."

Rosie: "We're brave engines after all."