Beckett and The Little Match Filly

**Beckett and The Little Match Filly** is the second episode of Season 6 of The Railway Stories of CW Railroad, and is the second installment of The Cold Snap story arc.

## Summery

While returning home during a cold winter evening, Beckett and his crew find a poor, cold and hungry little filly half frozen to death while trying to sell bundles of Matches. Beckett steps up to do what he can to help the poor thing.

## Plot

### Bitter Cold Night/The Discovery

It was a bitter cold night on the CW Logging Railway, with the wind blowing snow flurries all around. And out on the main line, Beckett was returning home with a waycar after finishing a shunting job up at the sawmill yard. With his headlight shining the way through the rough snow, while shivering from the cold, Beckett braves through the snow, eager to get back to the nice, warn sheds. However, when he's nearing one of the small towns, he makes out something in the snow near one of the sheds. At first, it looks like an old raggedy blanket was blown into the sheds, but when he gets closer and his headlight shown onto it, it turns out to be a filly! Beckett quickly comes to a stop nearby as his crew rush out with flashlights to take a closer look. While the workers in the waycar look outside to see why they stopped, but upon seeing the engine crew find the filly in the show quickly rush to help aswell as one of them grabs a blanket from the waycar. On closer inspection, they find the filly was dressed with old, ragged clothes incapable of keeping warm in the snow, while finding several burnt out matches near her front limbs, with a box full of matchboxes around her neck. The driver feels her, finding a weak pulse while her muscles are shivering, seeing she's barely alive. As the worker with the blanket quickly wraps her up while the other brushes off the snow covering her body, then both pick her up and get her into the waycar and set her near the stove to try and get her warmed up. The engine crew return to Beckett's cab and set off for the sheds right away. The fireman throwing as much wood into Beckett's fire to try and get the small engine to the sheds faster as Beckett tries hard to get the filly back to the sheds, all the while praying she'll be okay.

### In the Engine Sheds

Meanwhile, in the engine sheds, Steamy, Puffy, Evan, Shai-Shay, Cly, and Cobin are resting warmly with their crews having some hot cocoa and coffee while the beavers are cooking some nice, hot soup. Exchanging stories from their day, when they hear Beckett's whistle blowing frantically from outside. As the crew quickly threw open the shed doors the wind blew right through them as Beckett comes rushing in at his birth track, panting trying to catch his breath, just as the doors are quickly shut. The other engines are annoyed with his sudden out burst, but quickly change their minds upon seeing the workers carrying the frozen filly out of the waycar. All the other crew members quickly jump from their chairs to try and help. The beavers do the same as Timber and Splinter grab some washtubs and some kettles full of hot water as they quickly fill the tubs with water. Just as the workers then set the filly's rear legs into the water, before pulling off her wet shawl as they set the blankets from the waycar over her body as the filly is still shivering. All the engines are also praying she's okay, as their crews examine the shawl and the box full of matches the filly had. In which Steamy suddenly realizes the filly is a Literal Little Match Girl! Like from the story. Beckett is both appalled and upset of why such a young filly would be out on a cold night in the first place. Which Evan assures they'll likely know when the filly can respond, as one of their drivers quickly calls for a doctor and another calls Mr. Logstein.

After a short while, the filly regains some strength to open her eyes, as she sees she's no longer outside. At first she is scared, but is calmed by the soothing tones of the crewmen who give her a mug of hot cocoa. Then Splinter gives her a bowl of the soup, but due to her being so cold, cannot hold either the bowl or mug on her own as the worker held the mug while Splinter spoon fed the soup. Her whithers shivering but slowly feels warmth again, she asks where she is and how she got there, Beckett explains, but then asks her why she was out in the snow in the first place. With weak clothes no less. The filly explains she was trying to sell her matches, but was not having any luck whatsoever. Puffy then asks why she didn't go home, but before the filly can answer the doors to the sheds are flung open as Mr. Logstein is now present with a doctor as both come over to the filly. With the doctor examining her, as Beckett gives his report to Mr. Logstein. The doctor then praises Beckett for finding the filly when he did, for if she was out in the snow any longer she would've froze to death. Mr. Logstein then asks the filly the same question about the not going home thing, where she explains her father would've beaten her if she didn't bring back any money for her matches. This news shocks everyone in the room, but she claims it's nothing, but Mr. Logstein states it's not as this is a serious thing. And no fillies should be forced to stay out in a cold snowy night. He then orders Beckett that once the snow is died down in the morning, to find the filly's home at once, but then Cobin asks about her match selling problems, in which one of the workers suggests they have her try at the depot, for many of them could use some matches. The filly is down for the idea before yawning as the doctor tells the crewmen that she should be okay to get some sleep but advises them to keep the filly bundled up as she still needs time to recover from being so cold. Then he and Mr. Logstein leave for the night, as the beavers set up a cot near the stove in the sheds for the filly to sleep on. After having some more cocoa and soup, the filly has enough strength to move over the cot as the beavers then bundle her up with several blankets as she hands them her head scarf. She thanks them all for their kindness as she soon falls asleep. While hanging the filly's shawl and head scarf near the stove, the crewmen once again congratulate Beckett on his quick thinking. While Shai-Shay is in tears, thinking about what could've happened had Beckett not found the poor little thing. While Cly adds in she never liked the story of *The Little Match Girl* due to the girl in it dying in it. Adding in Hans Christian Anderson has a sick way of making happy endings. But Steamy explains that in his time, things were different and the story was the way it was for a reason. But Cly still claims the story is a terrible one. Beckett asks them to quit talking about it, as it's close to making him cry, but not because of the story, but more because he actually had to live it. Everyone else stop talking as they all watch the filly sleeping peacefully, now sporting a smile, which makes everyone else smile, knowing that this filly will not be having the same fate as the girl from the story.

### Next day/????

The filly awakens in the early hours of the day, now feeling much better than how she was last night. She then examines the sheds and finds all the crew members and the beavers had stayed the night in the sheds just to keep an eye on her. This brings her to tears as such caring love wasn't shown to her for years. It reminds her of her late grandmother. An hour later, the fire lighter comes to light the engines' fires for the day's work. As their boilers build up steam, they find the little filly watching them, fascinated with this. They then realize they never got her name, as she introduces herself as Lockett. The engines then introduce themselves next just as the beavers and crewmen all wake up as they check on the filly. Just as the beavers and one of the crewmen gets some hot tea and coffee going. As for Lockett, they give her a hot mug of spiced warm apple cider from Sweet Apple Acres. It was then Mr. Logstein arrived at the sheds to give the engines their assignments, not before he checks on the filly himself. In which she introduces herself to him. Mr. Logstein assigns Beckett and his crew to some shunting duties at the depot, so they can also give Lockett a chance to try and sell her matches again, then once they're done, find her home. The other engines then leave for their jobs as they give their best wishes to Lockett. Beckett's crew have Lockett join them in the cab, and they set off for the depot.

As Beckett chuffs along the line, his crew are explaining to Lockett how they drive Beckett while answering her questions about their railroad. Even explaining why Beckett is tasked with shunting duties. Where Beckett explains due to him being a porter tank engine, he isn't able to haul big trains or travel at far distances as he has neither the fuel capacity or speed to do so. But he doesn't mind it, as he likes these kind of jobs. But he does sometimes haul small trains, but his are mostly supply or worker movement trains. Lockett then shares she always wanted to visit the other railways, but her father would never take her. In his words, "Trying to look at big puffer bellies is a waste of time since we're always hearing them blowing steam around." Beckett is annoyed with this, as Lockett's father clearly doesn't understand how important trains really are.

## Trivia

* This episode is partly based on *The Little Match Girl*.
* This marks the first appearances of Lockett,

## Transcript

* Beckett and The Little Match Filly/Transcript

## Soundtrack

1. Thomas Season 6 Winter Theme
2. Dramatic Impact 5 - Ivor Slaney (Beckett finds the frozen filly)