Transcript/Frozen Mavis

**Narrator:** It was a cold icy morning and Mavis the Quarry Diesel was taking some stone trucks to Knapford Harbour. She loved travelling to places other than the quarry, especially the harbour, but she didn’t much like the view in colder weather. It also didn’t help that the icy rails made her journeys difficult.

**Mavis:** “Whoa!”

**Narrator:** The buffers at the end managed to halt her and the trucks to a stop.

**Mavis:** “Thank goodness for these buffers. I don’t know what we’d do if I fell into the sea.”

**Narrator:** As she rested on the quay, she saw Captain the rescue boat coming towards the harbour. He was doing his usual ocean patrol.

**Captain:** “Ahoy, Mavis. Doesn’t it feel great to be a boat? Free to travel all over the ocean, go to places far and wide. Boy, I love it.”

**Mavis:** “Only you love it. I think the water is untrustworthy and cold, no matter what the weather maybe. I’m better off with my rails, thank you. Having dry wheels is a much better feeling.”

**Captain:** “Suit yourself. We all have different opinions, I suppose. Just be careful on those rails of yours.”

**Mavis:** “I know what I’m doing! My sandbox is full, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

**Narrator:** And she rolled away back to the quarry. A few days later, it was colder than ever. Mavis shivered as she waited for her stone to be loaded.

**Mavis:** “*Brrr!* I don’t know how any engine can bear this.”

**Narrator:** As soon as her trucks were full, she wanted to roll down to the harbour as quickly as possible.

**Mavis:** “The sooner this stone is delivered, the sooner I’ll be back in my shed.”

**Narrator:** But there was trouble ahead. Some large round hay bales were wrapped down in a farm field near Elsbridge, just before the viaduct. The farmers had tied most of them down with tarpaulin, ropes and pegs, ready to feed to the animals during harsh winter days. Most of them, except one. The hard winds had loosened some of the pegs and they soon detached from the ground. And with a few great gusts of wind, it pushed the hay bail out of the field, crashed through the fence and it rolled onto Mavis’ line. Mavis was wincing so much by the freezing wind, that she wasn’t watching the tracks properly. She didn’t see the escaped hay bail until it was too late.

**Mavis:** “Bust my buffers! Stop!”

**Narrator:** She braked as hard as ever she could, but the icy rails and the weight of the trucks wouldn’t let her. She hit the bail with a painful bump.

**Mavis:** “Ouch! Oh, bother! This just isn’t my day.”

**Narrator:** Her driver ran back along the line and phoned for help. It wasn’t until sunset when Percy and Thomas arrived for the trucks. They uncoupled Mavis from them and the two engines pulled the heavy trucks back onto the rails. But, by the time they had done so, it was getting dark.

**Mavis:** “But, what about me? My wheels are freezing!”

**Percy:** “Sorry, but it’s too dark now and the stone delivery is late enough as it is.”

**Thomas:** “We’ll bring the breakdown crane first thing in the morning.”

**Narrator:** The two tank engines pushed the train over to the harbour, leaving a lonely, battered and very cold Mavis. Mavis couldn’t sleep at all that night. She was way too cold for her to do anything.

**Mavis:** “Why do these things always happen to me during the winter? First, the quarry lane incident and now this. Brrr! It’s not fair!”

**Narrator:** But the next morning, when Percy arrived with the breakdown crane, the workmen couldn’t secure Mavis to the hoist. The water wouldn’t let her.

**Mavis:** “*Grrr!* As if this wasn’t bad enough! This river had frozen solid overnight!”

**Narrator:** So, the workmen had to find some pick axes and dig poor Mavis out of her icy prison before lifting her back onto dry tracks again. The next morning, Mavis wasn’t sure what to make of herself.

**Mavis:** “I think I need a whole month in the shed to recover from that!”

**Narrator:** On her way to the harbour, she saw Captain by the quay again.

**Captain:** “Mavis? What’s this I hear about you taking a swim in the river?”

**Narrator:** But Mavis wasn’t amused by his teasing.

**Mavis:** “I don’t want to talk about it.”

**Captain:** “But, I thought you didn’t like the water. And I think you would know better than to take a dip in the winter.”

**Narrator:** Mavis had completely lost patience.

**Mavis:** “Oh, just find an iceberg to crash into already!”

**Narrator:** She fumed back to the quarry. Captain, on the other hand, chuckled to himself and bobbed away.