Thomas in College Capter 2

Thomas in College-Chapter 2

The next day, Thomas was still thinking about the Sodor Railway College. He really wanted his friends to come too, but if they had there own ideas, he didn’t want to force them. Was he being selfish? He didn’t think so, but still, he felt bad at trying to force the others to do something that he wanted instead of asking them first. Still, at least he had had some support. Emily especially wanted to go, indeed, she had already downloaded an application form, and was going to fill it out that night with Thomas. Ah, Emily… Just then, his mother called up the stairs, “Thomas, we’re just going to go and see Granddad, do you want to come?” “Yes please”, replied Thomas at once. “Silly question really”, chuckled Mrs Awdry, and she followed Thomas out to the car, where Percy was already waiting.

Soon, they were at St Christopher's Home for Elderly Peoples. Thomas, Percy and Mrs Awdry were lead along a corridor by a nurse until they reached a room at the top the home. “Your family to see you Mr Awdry”, she said pleasantly to the old man in the room. “Thank you Michelle”, said the man warmly, “And God Bless you”. The nurse smiled, and left. The room was fairly spacious, but much of it was taken up by a fair few bookshelves devoted to books about railways of nearly every kind. A large brass telescope stood next to an open window, and a desk in the corner was covered in what looked like the plans for a steam engine. A large bed took up most of the remaining space, and the walls were covered in photographs and painting of various trains and railway buildings, but also family paintings and a large photograph of Wilbert in a set of grimy overalls and a grease top cap next to a beaming young woman who had been Thomas’s grandmother, and on the mantelpiece there were pictures of Thomas and Percy when they had been younger, and in many pictures was a tall broad man who always had a big grim on his handsome face, their father. Above these was a sword with a beautiful hilt and a finely wrought blade, with intricate runes inscribed along the length of the sword. There had been some protest at bringing this sword into the home, but after so much fuss it had been allowed in as long as it was chained to the wall and the keys kept with the matron. “Hello, hello, hello”, said the man warmly as Thomas, Percy and Mrs Awdry entered. “Hello Wilbert”, smiled Mrs Awdry. After Thomas and Percy had said their ‘hellos’ as well, they all sat down on comfy leather chairs. “So”,. Said Wilbert happily, as he turned to face his family, smiling serenely, “What’s been happening?”. Thomas and Percy told Wilbert all about their last day of school, and then Mrs Awdry told Wilbert about their new car, and other boring things that only adults could be interested in. Percy sat on the bed, reading a book entitled “A Guide to Industrial Steam Locomotives in Great Britain and Ireland”, in particular of a picture of a curious little saddle tank engine, while Thomas strolled around the room, looking at the bookshelves and the numerous things around the bedroom. He looked at the books on the shelves, they were all well read but still kept in a fine condition. One book in particular caught his eye, a small leather-bound book entitled, ‘A Guide to Sudrian Railways and Their Links and Connections with Sudrian Mythology’. He looked at a few model steam engines on the shelves, these were familiar, as Thomas had helped to build some before Wilbert had moved here. Thomas turned his attention to the sword on the wall, which twinkled as the light from the window was reflected off it. It was a beautiful sword, such a shame that it had to be chained to the wall like that. Then Thomas turned his attention to the telescope. It was beautiful, made out of the finest brass. It must have been very old. Thomas looked at it in closer detail. It had a built-in compass, and a small handle that could turn it in any direction. There were also ornate carvings all around the edges. Beautiful. Thomas drew his eyes away from the telescope, and looked at the papers on the desk. It was definitely the plans for an engine, Thomas could not mistake them. He read the writing at the top, ‘Awdry ‘S’ class 0-4-0, MR’. Curious.

After a small lunch of a few sandwiches, some tea and cake, Mrs Awdry announced that it was time to go. She and Percy said ‘goodbye’ to Wilbert and headed downstairs. Thomas meanwhile, lagged behind for a while. “Err Granddad, can I talk to you about something?”. “Of course you can my boy”, said Wilbert warmly. They sat down on the chairs, and Thomas told Wilbert about the Sodor Railway College and about how he really wanted his friends to go with him. “The Sodor Railway College eh?”, said Wilbert slowly, “Ah yes I remember that place, I used to teach there”. “Did you?”, asked Thomas excitedly. “Yes, I was the head of the engineering department before I moved to Kings Norton to join the clergy”, said Wilbert remembering fondly, “I taught some real experts there, all went on to make names for themselves in the world of railways. Nigel Gresely went there as well, but that was a bit before my time”, he smiled, “Tell me, who is the Headmaster now?”. “I think it’s a man called Sir Charles Topham Hatt”, said Thomas. “Ah I remember him”, said Wilbert, fairly excited at remembering his ex-students fondly, “Brilliant man, one of the best in my class as I remember, came all the way from Swindon he did, would have been Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Western if it hadn’t all been nationalised”. “You taught the Managing Director of Sodor Railways?”, gasped Thomas excitedly. “Of course”, said Wilbert, “I haven’t spoken to him for years though, not since…”. He fell quiet. “So, you were saying about your friends?”. “Yes”, said Thomas, remembering suddenly, “Well, basically, we all like railways, and when I found the college, I thought they would all jump at the chance. But they, well…didn’t”, he finished, in a small voice. Wilbert looked at him. “Well my boy, you can’t force them to do so. But I’m sure that it’ll be alright, you’ll see. Did they all say they didn’t want to go?”. “Well…”, said Thomas, “Emily, Emily Stirling, she wants to go as well, and so does Edward, and the rest are going to think about it”. “Well, that sounds splendid”, said Wilbert happily, “Now, I think you had better be going to your mother now, she’ll be getting impatient”. “Yes Granddad”, smiled Thomas, and after a quick embrace, he went downstairs, and out into the car park, where his mother and Percy were waiting for him.

When Thomas got back, he was surprised to see Henry there, waiting for him. “Ah, there you are”, he said, “Hello Mrs Awdry”. “Hello Henry”, she smiled. “Right, Thomas”, said Henry quickly, “You need to come with me to the park right now”. “Why?”, asked Thomas. “I’ll explain when we get there, but we need to hurry”, said Henry, “You can come too”, he said to Percy, and he ran down the road with Thomas and Percy in hot pursuit, leaving Mrs Awdry looking quite puzzled.

They charged down the pavement, past the library, through the garage, round the back of the cinema, past the railway station, and down the street towards the park. Henry was powerfully built and could run easily, but Thomas and Percy were struggling to keep up. Then panting, they saw their friends waiting for them underneath a large oak tree. “Wh-wh-what’s this?”, panted Thomas. “Well, we’ve all been talking, about your idea”, said Emily, “And we all had a really good look at the website and what the college offers, and it turns out that you can do normal A-levels in other subjects, and they all have a railway theme, but that doesn’t matter, coz it still counts as an A-level!”. Thomas held his breath. He stared in disbelief at the green eyed girl in front of him. “You mean…?”. “That’s right” grinned Edward happily, “We’re going to Sodor!”.