A Special Friend for Duck

**A Special Friend for Duck** is the thirteenth story of the third set of *Between the Lines*. It was originally published on December 29th, 2023.

## Plot

Not long after Christmas, Duck is coasting up the Little Western with Alistair, Mirabel and Benjamin. Just as he approaches Bluff's Cove he hears someone singing to himself and hears the words, "Quack, quack, quack". Duck assumes that he's being mocked and when he rattles into the station, he demands that the person stops. The person singing is revealed to be a boy who asks how he was mocking Duck. Alice then scolds him for constantly quacking in front of Duck. The boy didn't know that it was Duck, despite having a book with the engines' names in them given to him by Annabelle. Then the boy's younger brother, Jake, defends him and gets into an argument with Alice. Annabelle races over and, after learning the situation, he tells Jake to calm Julian (the older boy) down whilst he talks to Duck and Alice. Annabelle explains to Duck that the song was from a children's show called *The Wiggles* and Duck promises to apologise if he sees Julian again. Annabelle then scolds her daughter for not respecting Julian's limitations.

Later on, Duck is discussing matters with Donald, Douglas, Oliver, Ryan and Daisy when Gwen walks over and explains that she was busy with a vet house call on the other side of town, so her husband Tyler let the boys stay with him at the station while he worked. The engines then promise Gwen to keep a lookout of Julian when she's not close by.

The following day, Jake and Julian were at Bluff’s Cove again and when Jake finds a seashell, Julian wonders if Henry the octopus has discovered more in the ocean. This attracts a snarky comment from a girl named Chantal, who assumes he's talking about the big green engine and rudely mocks him for it. When challenged by Jake to tell the engines apart, Chantal is embarassed when she mistakes Oliver for Duck and is shocked that the two engines are cousins. Julian asks if it's being because of their similar paint but Oliver explains that he and Duck were designed by the same person - Charles Collett. Jake and Julian read the book Annabelle give him and are just discussing Thomas when they hear that the stationmaster has turned up the radio as it's one of his favourite songs. A few of the passengers start to dance to the music too but other passengers and station staff couldn’t quite hear each other over the music. Poor Julian is upset by the resulting noise and screams his head off. The stationmaster is furious and when Jake points out that Julian is autistic, the stationmaster simply mocks him. Duck bustles in and scolds the stationmaster. Tyler also scolds the stationmaster and the boys' aunt turns down the radio, which makes Julian feel better. Duck is shocked to discover that Julian's aunt is none other than Sylvia Starkey who bullied Annabelle as a teenager. Sylvia reveals she regrets her actions and how Goldie's attitude has rubbed on her daughter Chantal and her husband Atticus Eclair (the stationmaster). Atticus then states that Julian should have been institutionalized. Julian is frightened by this and runs off. Jake and Tyler chase after him. Duck tells Sylvia into his cab and they leave Atticus and Chantal with the angry passengers.

Duck and Sylvia find Jake and Tyler heading Julian, who had hurt his knee, to his feet. After Sylvia checks his knee, Duck gives them a lift. When Julian asks if he can sing 'quack quack' on the way back, Duck agrees. By the time, they arrived back at the station, Duck is singing along with Julian and Gwen, Annabelle and Alice are waiting. Annabelle praises Duck for helping to find Julian and keeping him calm. Alice then apologises to Julian for misunderstanding the situation.

Sir Topham Hatt is furious with Atticus Eclair and fires him from his position as stationmaster of Bluff's Cove. Tyler is promoted to stationmaster in Atticus' place and agrees to his son's request of playing *Wiggles* music. Duck is surprised that there is a *Wiggles* song about a character with the same name as Henry.

## Characters

* Duck
* Donald and Douglas
* Oliver
* Ryan
* Daisy
* Alistair, Mirabel and Benjamin
* Annabelle Percival
* Alice Percival
* Gwendolyn Starkey
* Tyler Starkey
* Julian Starkey
* Jake Starkey
* Sylvia Starkey
* Atticus Eclair
* Chantal Eclair
* Sir Charles Topham Hatt (does not speak)
* Thomas (mentioned)
* Henry (mentioned)
* Toad (mentioned)
* Goldie Blackhart (mentioned)

## Voice Cast

### Official

* Steven Kynman as Duck and Benjamin
* Rob Rackstraw as Donald
* Joe Mills as Douglas and Oliver
* Eddie Redmayne as Ryan
* Tracy Ann Oberman as Daisy
* Jonathan Broadbent as Alistar
* Rebecca O'Mara as Mirabel

### Fan Chosen

* Bonnie Wright as Annabelle Percival
* Tara Strong as Gwendolyn Starkey
* Christopher Daniel Barnes as Tyler Starkey
* Emma Tate as Julian Starkey
* Jessica DiCicco as Jake Starkey
* Jackie Buscarino as Sylvia Starkey
* Peter Woodward as Atticus Eclair
* Chantal Strand as Chantal Eclair

## Trivia

* This story was based on an incident in 2018 where an autistic child was mocked by Great Western Railway staff at Paddington station.