Searching For A Warm Shed

It was a quiet night on the Island of Sodor. Moonlight fell from the clear sky, glinting off the miles upon miles of steel track throughout the island. The wind blew softly through the trees. An owl hooted deep in the forest. From somewhere in the distance, a whistle sounded, one of the few late night engines still doing their rounds. For the most part, the rails are silent.

Save for one stretch of track, just a few miles outside Tidmouth. A single engine rolled along on its lonesome; no coaches, no freight cars. It trundled along, past darkened houses and closed stations, its lamplight lighting up the track just a few hundred yards ahead of it. It moved slowly, not in any rush.

In the distance was a red signal light, the orange of a single lamppost lit up the track next to it. With a small screech, the engine applied it breaks, slowing down. It came to a gentle stop just under the light.

Its shape was rather different than most tender engines, more slender and curvy, colored a deep green and lined with brass. Its boiler was smaller than most, leading to a smallish cab. By contrast, its funnel was very tall, ending in a brass tip. Most notably, however, was the single massive drive wheel on either side off it. Its face was distinctly female.

It was Emily, the only Stirling Single on Sodor.

And she was not happy.

"Stupid Henry." She grumbled to herself, her mouth set in a deep frown. "Stupid Duck with his stupid slip coaches."

She didn't really mean it; she was too nice to truly think so lowly of the Great Western. Still, if it wasn't for them, she'd be asleep and warm in Tidmouth Sheds, instead of running through the dead of night, searching for somewhere to sleep. She was frustrated, and just needed to vent.

It wouldn't be so bad if not for the sting of bad luck she'd encountered. As soon as she'd seen Tidmouth Sheds were full, she'd gone to the nearby freight shed, the well-known place to go whenever Tidmouth Sheds weren't an option. She'd managed to get a good night's sleep there the night before, but, to her surprise, the fright shed was now full, lines of coaches and trucks spilling out of the entryway, waiting for the busy day tomorrow. Annie and Clarabelle, who had been parked there for the night, apologized profusely for the lack of room. Emily had just smiled and assured them it was alright, and that she knew somewhere else she could go.

And she did. Just outside Tidmouth, down near Thomas' Branch Line, was an old shed that use to belong to Thomas. No one stayed there anymore, but Thomas made it clear that anybody who needed a place to sleep was welcome to it. Granted, its small size made it useless to the bigger engines (something James and Gordon made sure Thomas knew), but that was fine with Emily. Unlike most tender engines, she wasn't above leaving her tender outside so that she'd fit. So long as it was warm and dry, she was happy.

Unfortunately, she had found the shed to already be occupied. And of all engines, it had to be Diesel. He'd made his irritation at being awakened very known. Emily's question of why he was there was only answered by a vague "it's closer", before he told her bluntly to go away. After exchanging some rather choice words, Emily had chuffed crossly away from a very smug Diesel.

Which lead her here, waiting at the signal to get onto the main line, wondering where she could go for the night.

Brendam Docks is an option. She thought to herself. Mavis might have someplace at the quarry. Or Ulfstead Castle. If nothing else, there's always Scruff and Whiff at… the dump. She scrunched her nose at the thought. Scruff and Whiff were nice enough engines, but spending any longer than a few minutes at the dump was guaranteed to make your boiler smell something awful.

She was pulled from her thoughts as a loud horn honked from down the line. She looked up to see a long, boxy diesel thundering towards her, pulling a large freight train behind him.

"'Evening, Emily!" He called out as he neared her.

Emily mustered up a smile as he passed. "'Evening, BoCo!" She yelled back. As he disappeared around the bend, however, and the signal turned green, Emily's frown returned as she started down the Main Line.

"I mean, it would have been fine if someone would have told me ahead of time." She muttered to herself as she chuffed through the moonlight. "Just a quick heads up. 'Oh Emily, by the way, Duck is staying in Tidmouth Sheds for the night. You might want to find someplace else to sleep.' There! Done. Easy."

She kept puffing along on the right outside track, scanning the railside for any sidings or structures that would make a good resting place, at least for the night.

"Maybe I could try Knapford," She thought out loud. "I'm sure Harvey and Murdoch could put me up for one night." Smiling at her idea, Emily sped up slightly, headed straight for Knapford.

She felt good, and was looking forward to a good night's sleep, even if she would have to put up with Murdoch's snoring.

That is, until, just few miles before Knapford, she saw the line of red lights hanging over the line ahead.

Emily came to a sudden stop beneath the signal lines, baffled and horrified. This late at night, there was no reason why all three rail lines of the Main Line would be blocked. There simply weren't enough engines working. Besides, BoCo had just come down this line!

Emily looked a little ways down the line, spying a signal box with all its lights on. Her driver got out and walked down the tracks to the signal box, hoping to find out what the problem was.

Emily idled anxiously. She shivered slightly as a sharp wind blew past. It was getting colder as the night wore on, and she was really hoping she could find a nice warm shed.

Movement caught her eye as she saw her driver walking back. In her lamplight, she could see the grim look on his face. Oh no…

"There's been an accident on the line up ahead." He said to her fireman. "Two engines collided and spilled their entire line of freight across the main line. It'll take all night to clean up. They're letting one engine through that was already headed this way, and then they're closing of the Main Line."

"What?" Emily said, surprised. "But… how am I supposed to find a place to sleep?"

Her driver smiled sheepishly. "Well, the signalman said that siding over there won't be used for the rest of the night."

Emily's eyes snapped to short siding that ran right up to the signal box, ending in a set of old buffers. "But… there's no shed! And it's getting colder!"

Her driver patted the side of her cab apologetically. "It's the best we can do for tonight."

Emily was not happy.

She pulled up into the siding, stopping just short of the buffers. Her driver and fireman then left her idle as they went up into the signal box to call for a cab, saying they would put out her fire once it got there.

Emily sat there, fuming. "Stupid Duck. Stupid Henry. Stupid red signals." She muttered. Her anger quickly puttered out, however, replaced with a slight depression. She shivered as another gust of wind blew past, chilling her warm boiler. She sighed deeply.

Well, she thought dimly. Might as well try to get some sleep.

She closed her eyes and cleared her mind, trying to ignore the cold. Slowly, she felt darkness encompass her mind…

Peep-Peep-Peep!

Emily's eyes shot open. If it wasn't for her boiler feeling slightly cooler, she'd of thought she hadn't fallen asleep at all.

She looked around for the whistle that had rudely awakened her. She peered around the signal box and looked down the line. Who she saw wasn't anyone like she was expecting.

The general shape bared a striking resemblance to Thomas, though slightly more boxy, and perhaps a little taller. As the engine neared, Emily started to make out three domes on top of it, one normal size, while the others were much narrower. Once it made it to the light of the signal box, Emily could clearly see its coat of pale lavender paint, and the pink, freckled cheeks on its smiling face.

"Emily!" The engine greeted coming to a stop next to the signal box. "It's good to see you! What are you doing way out here?"

Emily, still blinking the sleep from her eyes, gave the engine a kind, if strained, smile. "Hey, Rosie. Just trying to get some sleep."

Rosie frowned. "Why would you be sleeping out on a cold siding like this? Is there something wrong with Tidmouth Sheds?"

Emily opened her mouth to say something, but stopped herself, thinking what she'd been about to say was rather rude. Instead she said, "Nothing's wrong. Duck had to spend the night at Tidmouth so he could work there tomorrow. Someone had to give up a berth for him and… I was the odd engine out."

Rosie's expression remained unchanged. "But, why are you on this siding? There must have been somewhere nicer than this."

Emily's eyes darted around briefly. She felt a little uncomfortable. "It was… a bit last-minute. Everywhere in Tidmouth was full, and when I started looking for somewhere else… well…" She trailed off, looking up at the red signals in disdain.

Rosie glanced up, and then let out a laugh. "Oh, right! I just barely made it through there. Silly Paxton, wasn't paying attention, ran a red signal. Hit poor Stanley coming from the docks. There's fish everywhere!"

Emily chuckled slightly. It was hard to be in a bad mood around Rosie. Her constant cheer and bubbliness was infectious. Her breath caught up short as another gust of wind made her shiver, shaking her frame. Her fire was getting very low.

Rosie frowned at this. Then, she smiled; an idea flew into her funnel. "Idea! Why don't you share my shed for the night?"

Emily blinked, surprised. "Your shed? Rosie, I… I don't want to impose. Besides, I doubt there'd be room for both of us."

Rosie just giggled. "Oh, don't be silly. There's plenty of room. My shed is very large. In fact, it's a bit… excessive." She added, blushing a bit.

Emily thought about it for a moment. Then the wind picked up again. "Well… if you're sure…"

"Sure I'm sure! Just run a bit ahead of me and we'll be there in no time!"

And so it was decided. Rosie's driver went up into the signal box to speak with Emily's driver and fireman (it was surprisingly difficult to reach a cab at such a late hour), and moments later, they had Emily's fire stoked and were underway. Emily felt a bit awkward, reversing down the Main Line at regular speed, but a quick glance forwards showed Rosie following dutifully. Rosie gave her a reassuring smile. Emily smiled back, then resumed looking backwards, hoping that the points were set correctly.

To Emily's surprise, they kept going past Thomas' Branch Line. They kept going past Tidmouth Station. They even continued past Tidmouth Sheds, now dark and silent, all the engines asleep inside.

Emily was suddenly very aware that she didn't really know where Rosie's shed was, and was very curious pf exactly where they were going.

Soon the railway narrowed into a single set of tracks, running through the forest. Large pine trees lined both sides of the rails. Emily was starting to get claustrophobic in the dark woods, but Rosie just chuffed happily along. Suddenly, the trees opened slightly. The track turned onto a small siding, leading to an old shed. The shed was made of brick, their color faded from years gone by. Its shingled roof was missing pieces of slate all over. The wooden doors, however, while old, had a fresh coat of red paint on them.

As their driver's went to open the doors, Emily looked at Rosie. "This is your shed?"

Rosie smiled widely. "Yep! A bit of the beaten track, I know, but it's home."

As Emily reversed into the shed, she noted that the inside was surprisingly clean. It was a bit narrower then she had expected, but warmth inside the shed more than made up for it. As her tender made contact with the buffers, Emily saw that, indeed, the shed was rather long, with just enough space for a small tank engine to fit inside.

As Rosie pulled in, she smiled victoriously. "Told you there was enough room."

Emily smiled back. "You were right. Your shed is a bit longer then I would have expected."

Rosie chuckled. "Yeah. I think it used to be used to store coaches. That was before I came to Sodor, though. Now, it's home."

However, there wasn't as much room as they'd believed. In order to close the doors, Rosie had to pull all the way up to Emily, until their buffers were touching. Even then, it was a tight squeeze.

"Oops." Rosie giggled, blushing slightly. "A bit cozier then I'd imagined. Sorry."

Emily laughed back, a small blush tinting her own cheeks. "It's fine."

With the doors shut, Rosie and Emily's crews left for the night, Rosie's fireman offering to give Emily's crew a ride home. With them gone, Rosie closed her eyes. "Well, goodnight Emily. Pleasant dreams."

Emily smiled slightly. "Goodnight Rosie." She said. Within moments, Rosie was fast asleep.

As the two engines settled, however, Emily found it a little harder to fall asleep. Truth be told, she'd never had to sleep this close to another engine, and she couldn't help but feel a little awkward. It didn't help that the sheds walls were much closer than she was accustomed to, and in the dark shed, she felt a little trapped.

Soon, however, a single sound overcame the feeling; Rosie's slow, steady breathing. As Emily listened to it, she started to feel soothed. Slowly, her eyes started to dip down, as the late hour started to have an effect on her.

Just before the dark of sleep took her, she noted the feeling of being pressed snug between Rosie and the buffers. It felt… good. It felt… safe.

A/n: Well, that just happened. Honestly, I always wanted to write an Emily/Rosie story. Why? Why not! The only problem was that I couldn't figure out a good set up, but then I saw 'Duck and the Slip Coaches' and, boom! Problem solved.

Now, it's up to you guys. How did I do? Is my writing okay? Is the characterization right? More importantly, should I keep going?; should I try to make this a full romance story, or just leave it as a cute little one-shot?

I leave it in your hands.