Thomas, Edward, Gordon, James, Percy and Toby were all gathered at Knapford station to celebrate Henry's return. Bertie, Terence and Trevor were also invited to join in as well. Everyone was excited to see the North Western Railway's number three engine return to service.

"Oh, when will he get here?" asked Percy, bubbling over with excitement.

"Patience, Percy," said Toby calmly. "He'll be here soon."

"Got to admire his energy though," chuckled Edward.

"Please don't encourage him," Toby deadpanned. Just then, everyone heard a whistle in the distance.

"That's new," said Trevor.

"That'd be Henry," cried Thomas. A large green shape came closer and closer to the station, smoke rising high into the air from its funnel.

"Hello, everyone!" called Henry as he came into view. The engines were amazed when they saw their friend.

"Henry, is that you?!" gasped James. Henry now had a Belpaire firebox, exterior steam pipes, top feed on his boiler and no splashers.

"Well, yes," he smiled. "What do you think?"

"You look wonderful, Henry," grinned Edward. "Welcome home, old friend."

"Crewe did a fine job on you, Henry," said Sir Topham Hatt. "How do you feel?"

"I've never felt better, sir!" said Henry proudly. He blew his whistle loudly to show how was feeling, much to Gordon's dismay.

"Oh, hello, who's this?" asked Henry when he spotted the traction engine among the non-rail vehicles.

"That's Trevor," explained Edward. "He's a traction engine."

"Pleasure to meet you, Trevor," said Henry. "Welcome to our family."

"Thank you, Henry," smiled Trevor. He then went on to explain to Henry about how he got rescued.

"Well done, Edward," Henry praised.

"It was nothing..." the elderly blue engine said modestly.

"I also bought a couple of friends back with me," said Henry. Two middle-aged figures hopped down from Henry's cab.

"Hello, everyone," said Mrs. Kyndley.

"Mr. and Mrs. Kyndley!" Thomas cried excitedly.

"Good to see you all," said Mr. Kyndley. "How is everyone?"

"We've been doing fine," smiled Toby.

"How was your holiday?" asked Percy. "Did you see any sea creatures from the beach?"

"We did see a dolphin in the distance from our balcony," said Mrs. Kyndley. "A playful young one who was jumping around."

"That must have been cute," chuckled Toby.

"Indeed," nodded Mr. Kyndley. "But we have missed you all. And it's good to be home."

"I couldn't agree more," smiled Henry.

"It will be good to have all the berths at Tidmouth full again," said Edward.

"And it will be good to see you whenever we pass by the cottage, Mr. and Mrs. Kyndley," added Thomas.

"Now, everyone," said Sir Topham Hatt. "Since Henry is back, I want you all to get back to work."

"Yes, sir," said the engines, but Sir Topham Hatt stopped Gordon before he could take the express.

"Sir, what is it?" asked Gordon.

"I figured I'd let Henry take the express today to stretch his wheels after his rebuild," said Sir Topham Hatt. "Would you like that, Henry?"

"Oh yes, sir!" grinned Henry. "I'd love that." Gordon was speechless with what he'd just heard!

"Henry, pull the express?!" gasped Gordon. "He needed Edward's help last time!"

"That was before his rebuild, Gordon," said Sir Topham Hatt. "And before the Welsh coal, but that's besides the point." He looked over at the green engine. "Do your best, Henry."

"I will, sir!" smiled Henry. The big green engine gently buffered up to the coaches, feeling a bit nervous but excited at the same time.

"You'll be alright, Henry," soothed his driver. "You can do this." The guard's whistle blew, and with a blow of his own whistle, Henry set off pulling his first train in ages. The green engine started out slowly, and then gradually picked up speed.

"Wow!" Henry cried happily. "I've never gone this fast before."

"You're doing well, Henry," said the driver. "Keep up the pace."

As Henry blew his whistle, some children on their way to school stopped walking and then ran up to the fence to wave to him.

"Oh, what a lovely welcome," smiled Henry. "Good day to you too."

"Those kids will be late for school," sighed the fireman.

"But it is nice to be welcomed back by the locals on the island too," said Henry. "I wonder how Skarloey and Rheneas are." He soon found out when he made his stop at Crovan's Gate.

"Welcome home, Henry!" said Skarloey, coming in with his coaches. "You look great."

"Thank you, Skarloey," smiled Henry. "How are things going on your line?"

"Well, there's been a bit of bad news," said Skarloey. "Things have started declining on our railway. The Thin Controller is doing his best, but... we don't know how we're going to fix that."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," said Henry sympathetically.

"Thank you, Henry," said Skarloey. "Rheneas and I are doing our best to make sure this railway doesn't fall into bankruptcy."

"I'll let the others know if there's anything we can do," said Henry. "You have my full support."

Just then, Henry's guard's whistle blew.

"I better be off," said Henry. "Goodbye, Skarloey."

"Goodbye, Henry," called the little old engine. "I'll tell Rheneas that you're back."

Henry had a splendid run with the express and everyone was very pleased to see him home. But Gordon was in a grumpy mood.

"It's not fair," he grumbled that night at Tidmouth sheds.

"What's not fair?" yawned Toby.

"Why should Henry have a new shape?" said Gordon. "A shape good enough for me is good enough for him! He goes gallivanting off leaving us to do his work, and then he comes back saying how happy he feels! It's disgraceful!"

"So you'd rather I'd be scrapped after I crashed?!" snapped Henry suddenly. That seemed to wake up the rest of the North Western fleet who stared in shock. Gordon was taken aback by what Henry had just implied about his response.

"No... that's not what I..." Gordon trailed off, trying to find a way how to explain himself.

"If you'd have seen what had happened," retorted Edward, "you'd understand why Henry needed a rebuild!"

"Edward," Toby sighed, having taken a few deep breaths himself, "please calm down. We don't want to start an argument that will be regretted later."

"I..." Edward sighed. "I guess so."

"Let's try to get some sleep," said Thomas. "It's been a long day, and Sir Topham Hatt's asked me to help Percy with some extra mail shifts early in the morning." The engines started to go to sleep, but they were uncomfortable with what Gordon had been saying.

The following morning, Percy had just arranged the express for Gordon to take after taking the mail train. The little green engine was feeling sleepy after being up so early.

"There..." he yawned. "I'm glad Thomas was able to help me with the mail..." Percy started to go back to get the next train, when Henry gave a loud whistle at the station and got coupled up to his goods train.

"There you go again, blowing your whistle loudly at stations!" Gordon complained as he backed down onto his train.

"What's wrong with that?" asked Henry, slightly hurt. "I was only saying hello."

"I like your whistling, Henry," said Percy with a smile. "It woke me up just now."

"Thanks, Percy," said Henry.

"Whistling loudly at stations isn't wrong," Gordon muttered, "but we just don't do it!" After the guard had blown his whistle, Gordon set off pulling the express.

"Goodbye, Henry," he called to the bigger green engine. "We are glad to have you with us again, but remember what I said."

"Just ignore him, Henry," said Percy. "You know he can be a bossy boiler at times."

"I guess you're right, Percy," said Henry as his own guard's whistle went. "I'd best be off too. Have a good day."

"You too, Henry," said Percy as he set off back to work.

Further up the mainline, Gordon was grumbling as he puffed along.

"That Henry..." he sighed. "Why can't he quieter in stations?"

"You do realize engines are supposed to be heard when they come into stations," said his driver. Gordon groaned and rolled his eyes as his whistle sounded when passing through Crosby station. But little did he realize, something was amiss. When passing under a bridge, something hit Gordon's whistle.

"Did you hear something?" asked Gordon's driver to the fireman.

"I thought I heard a clunk," the fireman replied. "We'd better check Gordon over on our next stop."

"Maybe a bolt got loose on his boiler," suggested the driver. Something was indeed loose, but they didn't know what.

"It's probably nothing, driver and fireman," said Gordon. "We must keep to time."

"Okay," said his driver, "but don't say we didn't warn you."

Gordon headed along further, and approached Wellsworth where he blew his whistle again. But it seemed to sound out for longer than usual.

"Driver, you don't need to pull my chain that long," Gordon called over the noise.

"What did he say?" the driver shouted to the fireman.

"Something about a gong, I think!" replied the fireman. Edward was shunting nearby and was taken aback by the prolonged noise coming from Gordon's whistle.

"What on earth was that?!" he cried.

"What was what, Edward?" asked Henry as he pulled in.

"That was Gordon coming through here, whistling like nobody's business," remarked Edward. "But Gordon never whistles like that."

"It isn't wrong," chuckled Henry, "but we just don't do it." And he explained to Edward what Gordon had said.

"Oh, don't we now?" chuckled Edward. "Last I checked, engines are supposed to whistle when we come into stations."

"Probably not like that though," laughed Henry.

Back with Gordon, he screeched along the line with his whistle seemingly never stopping. The noise was awful! Some cows and horses in the paddocks started galloping widely off to the other end of the farm, and some fire trucks came driving out.

"Where's the fire?" asked a firefighter to his co-workers.

"I don't know, but the siren's coming from the railway," said another. The fire truck came to the road by the railway and were shocked what was making the noise.

"That's not a fire alarm," said the chief. Gordon came racing by with his whistle blowing loudly.

"Why is that engine whistling all across Sodor?" asked one of the volunteer firefighters.

"Goodness knows why," sighed the lead firefighter. "False alarm, men. Back to the station."

The firefighters all went back, but Gordon was still whistling fit to burst when he came into Vicarstown. Everyone was holding their ears to block out the noise.

"What is going on?!" shouted Sir Topham Hatt, racing outside. He was at an important meeting at Vicarstown and could barely hear the people he was talking to inside the station. When he saw that it was Gordon blowing his whistle loudly, he facepalmed and, with a groan, went to speak to his crew.

"TAKE HIM AWAY AND STOP THAT NOISE!" Sir Topham Hatt cried at the top of his lungs. Gordon groaned with embarrassment as he was uncoupled and sadly slunk away onto a siding, still whistling loudly.

Gordon's driver quickly called some fitters over.

"I THINK I HEAR THE PROBLEM!" said a fitter when they got there. He quickly got on a ladder to climb up to Gordon's whistle, and hammered it back into place.

And then there was silence.

"Peace at last..." sighed Gordon's driver.

"Oh... the indignity..." grunted Gordon. To make things worse for him, Henry had just arrived at Vicarstown with his goods train.

"It isn't wrong," said Henry as he came to a stop, "but we just don't do it." Gordon said nothing; he didn't want to be seen right now. Sir Topham Hatt then came up to Henry.

"Right on time, Henry," Sir Topham Hatt smiled. "Since Gordon is, erm, indisposed at the moment, do you think you can handle taking the express for the rest of the day?"

"Of course," said Henry. "I'll just get this goods train out of the way and I'll get to the train."

"There's a good engine," said Sir Topham Hatt. "Keep up the good work, Henry." The green engine smiled and went straight to work.

"Another express run," he said to himself. "This is a special occasion for me."

"You're doing very well, Henry," said his driver. "Just do what you did when you took the express last time."

"Right," said Henry.

Henry was enjoying the long run from Vicarstown to Knapford.

"It's a wonderful spring day today," he smiled, taking in the warm sunlight. On the way to Crovan's Gate, he took notice of a large forest mostly on one side of the railway line, with several trees scattered on the other. He heard the sounds of birds chirping in the trees up above, and a few rabbits and deer bouncing around the forest floor.

"Aww, that's so cute," said Henry as he saw a fawn rush up to it's mother. Some of the passengers aboard the express were also in awe of the wonders of the forest, so Henry slowed down enough so they could enjoy the moment.

"It's so peaceful around here," said Henry's driver.

"I could really get used to being here," agreed Henry. But eventually, they ran out of forest, and Henry had to speed up once again.

The rest of the journey was uneventful until they got closer to Crosby station. Before the station was a bridge, where Henry could see some boys.

"Oh, more children coming to see me," smiled Henry. "I guess I haven't been back too long, maybe these boys missed seeing me last time." He then blew his whistle at them to say hello, but the response he got from the boys was not what he and his crew were expecting.

"Ouch!" cried Henry.

"Argh!" winced his fireman.

"Hey!" cried the driver. "What is the meaning of this?!" Instead of waving and taking his number, the boys thought it'd be funny to drop stones down Henry's funnel. Some had hit his boiler, causing scratches, and others ended up hitting the windows of the coaches, startling the passengers. One had even hit the fireman on the head!

The express was forced to make an emergency stop to make sure none of the passengers had been hurt. The boys had run away before Henry's crew had a chance to chase after them.

"Those rude boys," muttered one of the passengers as they scrambled down from the coach. "Our run was going so well too."

"You should report this to the police!" another passenger called out.

"Actually, I have another idea," said the driver after he bandaged up the fireman's head. "Henry is going to sneeze at those boys." The passengers looked on in confusion.

"How is sneezing going to help?" asked one of them.

"Just wait and see," assured the driver.

"I'm not sure how I'm going to do this, driver," said Henry.

"Well... do you trust me on this, Henry?" he asked.

"Of course I do," said Henry. "You're my driver, after all."

"Well, here's what we're going to do..." He whispered something to him.

"I guess that would teach them a lesson," said Henry. "Okay, driver, let's do it." The passengers had boarded the coaches once again and Henry set off for Knapford.

"We're going to need to get the coaches fixed," said Henry. "And my boiler. And I just had a rebuild as well... wonderful...!"

"Nothing a bit of touching up can't fix," assured the driver.

"That's a good point," Henry replied.

Henry and the express soon pulled into Knapford station. The run-in with the boys with stones had delayed them, but not by a whole lot. Percy came in shortly after to collect the empty coaches.

"Whoa, Henry, are you alright?" he cried.

"Sort of," sighed Henry. "I can't say the same about the coaches though." Percy winced as he looked at the broken glass. The stationmaster was also displeased with what had happened to them.

"They'll need to have their windows replaced," he sighed. "Percy, see if you can find some spare express coaches."

The little green tank engine bustled off and quickly found some spare ones in the nearby sidings.

"I'll get these to the Steamworks when I get a spare moment," said Percy. "Take care on your next run, Henry."

"Thanks, Percy," smiled Henry.

When Percy and the stationmaster left, Henry and his crew prepared their plan. Lots of soot and ashes were purposefully put in Henry's funnel. Already, Henry was feeling a little stuffed up.

"Keep all windows shut until after we pass the bridge," said the driver to the passengers. "I know Henry is excited as we are to see this play out, aren't you, ol' fellow?"

Henry couldn't say anything, but he winked at his driver as the train started.

"When I say so, Henry," said the driver.

They soon approached the bridge near Crosby where the boys stood with stones. Henry was now on the verge of sneezing; his eyes were watering. Just as the boys were about to throw stones, it happened.

"Now!" cried the driver.

"Ah-ah-AH-CHOO!"

Smoke, steam and ashes flew everywhere! They flew onto the bridge, on top of Henry, and most of all, on the boys, who were so startled by this sudden blast from Henry's funnel that they dropped their stones and ran off as black as soot.

"Ha ha ha!" cheered the driver. "Well done, Henry! That'll teach those boys! Don't worry about your paint; we'll give you a good rub down and paint over your scratches when the day's work is over."

"Thanks, driver," smiled Henry. He felt much better, if not a little dirty.

Later that evening, Sir Topham Hatt came to see Henry as he was being cleaned.

"I can't say that is a good habit, Henry," said Sir Topham Hatt, "but sometimes, desperate times do call for desperate measures. And you handled things very well."

"Thank you, sir," said Henry, "but what will become of those boys?"

"Their parents told them that they are banned from being anywhere near the railway until they learn to behave," said Sir Topham Hatt. "That being said, you scared them so much I don't think they'd be willing to go back."

"Heh... oops," said Henry quietly. "Well, at least they have learned their lesson."

"And I trust that incidents like this won't be a regular occurrence?" asked Sir Topham Hatt.

"You can assure that, sir," said Henry. "Driver and fireman said they'd make sure my funnel is completely cleaned out at the end of the day."

"That's good, Henry," said Sir Topham Hatt. "And hopefully Gordon will wisen up from his own incident too."

That night, all the engines were gathered at Tidmouth sheds. No one mentioned whistles or sneezes.

"What did you think of the forest, Henry?" asked Percy.

"It looks just beautiful," said Henry. "I felt like I could be there for hours."

"Maybe we should start calling it 'Henry's forest'," chuckled Edward.

"A forest named after me?" asked Henry. "You know? I don't think I'd mind if that were the case. Nice ring to it."

"Well, I'm... glad to hear that, Henry," said Gordon, who had been very quiet up until now.

"And is there anything you wish to say, Gordon?" asked Toby.

"Why, yes, Toby, there is," said Gordon.

"What would that be?" asked Percy.

"Well... Henry..." he began, "I'm sorry that I was jealous of your rebuild. I thought the railway was wasting money on what the board saw as a liability when they could've simply used it to maintain the rest of us... but I was wrong. Every engine wants to be really useful. Your rebuild was one you really needed and deserved just so you could be useful, Henry. You've always had the spirit of a really useful engine, even during your worst days."

Henry was so moved by Gordon's words he didn't know what to say.

"Gordon... I... thank you," Henry managed to say at last. "I'm glad to have gotten a second chance."

"It seems like second chances have been happening everywhere," Toby put in. "Henrietta and I were brought over here, Henry's been rebuilt..."

"Don't forget Trevor," said Edward.

"There's nothing quite like the island of Sodor," smiled James. "I'm glad we all managed to wind up here."

"We all come from different backgrounds, but we're all still Sodor engines," grinned Thomas.

In the coming months, Sodor seemed to fall into a peaceful spell for the engines of Sir Topham Hatt. Henry was delighted to see Terence and Trevor helping to plant young trees into the forest and even asked the signalman if he could stop there every once in a while.

"It's very relaxing here," he would say as he watched the animals frolicking around.

"It is good after a hard days' work," agreed his driver. Just then, there was a bell ringing through the air. Henry looked over and was surprised to see Toby and Henrietta coming up a train of bolster wagons, each filled with infant trees.

"Toby and Henrietta?" gasped Henry in surprise. "What're you doing here away from the branch line?"

"We brought some more infant trees," Toby explained. "The animals must have homes, you know."

"I'm sure the animals will appreciate that," smiled Henry. "Thanks, Toby and Henrietta."

"It's not a problem, Henry," said Henrietta. "Though, did you happen to hear about Skarloey and Rheneas' dilemma?"

"They haven't closed down, have they?" asked Henry worriedly.

"Oh no," Toby said quickly, "but apparently, Skarloey's been breaking down more often lately. Rheneas has to take his train this afternoon."

"It's a shame there's nothing we can do to help take their trains," sighed Henry. "We're too big."

"If there was another narrow gauge railway around here," said Henrietta, "maybe their engines could help."

"Ooh, maybe," said Toby. "I wonder where we'd find one though."

"It's a good question, Toby," said Henrietta. "We'd better keep our eyes out."

"I hope Skarloey and Rheneas can hold up alright until we find a solution," said Henry.

"Same here, Henry," sighed Toby. "Same here."

It was a troubling situation to be sure, and concern spread over the North Western fleet when they heard the news. Edward being the most concerned, having known Skarloey and Rheneas when he was young.

"If I can help Trevor find a home and that Henry, Toby and Henrietta were able to get second chances, maybe I can help Skarloey and Rheneas get their second chance too," Edward said dementedly. "But how..."

The old blue engine realized he had a lot to think about. But that's another story...

THE END (for now)

Meanwhile, unknown to any of the engines, a coffee pot engine was resting in an overgrown siding.

"A game of hide and seek," he said to himself. "I wonder how long before someone seeks me out..."

Author's Comments

And here we are; The Adventure Carries On comes to a conclusion with Whistles and Sneezes! Not really much to say about this one; the conversation about the possibility of Henry being scrapped was a reference to what Awdry had originally intended for him, and Henry says "It isn't wrong, but we just don't do it" when he arrives at Vicarstown as opposed to Tidmouth sheds in the evening. We even get to see foreshadowing to Henry's Forest and the Skarloey Railway arc about to take place, as well as hinting at the Mid Sodor Railway. And of course, Glynn's eventual rediscovery in a sort of post-credits scene.

Will there be more stories like this? Oh, certainly! But most likely in the form of mini-specials that we got from season 23. But first off, there'll be an adaptation of Edward, Gordon and Henry mashed up with Edward's Day Out, both serving as a prequel to The Adventure Begins. Keep an eye out for that!

THE END (for real this time)