TalesFromHasegawaValley Ch2

Morisawa Yusa (nicknamed Mori) loves working on the Upper Valley Railway. He mainly hauls freight across the mainline, and occasionally pulls passenger trains. Although he has no specific position of work yet, he tackles any job given to him with ease.

One morning, the Big Controller came to see him. “Takumi is going to the workshops for an overhaul. I need you to deliver his load of iron to Sakamoto Scrap Yards.”

“Yes sir,” said Mori enthusiastically, but really he was nervous. He didn’t want to go back to the scrap yards for anything.

Later, he was heading off to collect the iron when he met up with Retsu at a signal. Naruka had broken down at the crossing ahead, and they were waiting for EM to arrive to drag him to the workshop.

Retsu noticed Mori and stared. “Whaddaya look so down for?” he asked bluntly, “Stop frowning like that, you’re gonna depress everybody around you.”

Mori glared at Retsu, holding back the urge to switch onto another line and ram Retsu right off the rails. Instead, he sighed and quickly looked away. “I have to take Takumi’s freight to the scrap yards,” he muttered, “But I don’t want to go near that horrible place, especially because of what happened to me. What do I do?”

Retsu blinked and pondered in thought. “Make somebody else do it,” he finally muttered, “Obviously…”

Mori grinned sheepishly. “Will YOU do it?” he asked.

“Lord no!” snapped Retsu, “I have more important things to do, like taking passengers to the other end of the Valley.”

“But you’re not pulling any coaches,” pondered Mori out loud.

“I know,” said Retsu bluntly, “They’re at the other station. Anyway, I’ve been to those scrap yards before, it’s not really all that bad. Well…” He shivered a little, scrunching his face. “…not counting Semuke.”

“Who’s Semuke?”

“Semuke is a diesel that lives and works there. He’s actually made out of two diesels, and he can’t stand steam engines. I’ve seen how he mistreated Takuma when he first visited the place.”

Mori bit his lip anxiously. “Did they ever try anything drastic?”

“No…well…maybe once, I’m not so sure. Just stay away from him, it’s better for you.”

Just then, Edward Mann arrived and coupled up to Naruka. “What are you two talking about?” he asked.

“They’re talking about Semuke,” said Naruka with a sigh, “He’s actually pretty nice when you get to know him.”

“Nice?” snarled Retsu, “He snuck into the yard once and tried to steal Miharu’s passengers!”

“It wasn’t his fault!” yelled Naruka defensively, “He was told to do it!”

“Oh really?” snorted Retsu with a sinister grin, “WHO told him?”

Before Naruka could reply, EM whistled loudly over the arguing engine’s voices and began to pull Naruka clear of the line. “Wait!” cried Naruka, “I’m not finished with him!”

“Save it for later,” muttered EM with a sigh, “Seriously, you can be so immature at times…”

As the two small engines disappeared around a bend, the signal dropped and Retsu began to rumble away. “Remember my warning about Semuke!” he yelled out as he sped up and vanished in the distance.

Mori arrived safely at the yard and coupled up to the trucks. The guard blew his whistle, and Mori began to puff away. He was soon heading past the abandoned Sakamoto shed. “All good so far,” he murmured to himself, “Perhaps Retsu was wrong.”

But as he got closer to the scrap yards, everything seemed to change. The sky had darkened and a thin layer of fog seemed to settle above the ground. The trees seemed more lifeless and out of shape. Even the rails beneath them began to feel weak.

His driver was having a difficult time seeing through the fog. He turned on Mori’s lamps, but it barely did anything. Suddenly, he saw something glowing and red ahead.

“I think were here!” he called out to Mori. As they got closer, the driver slowed Mori down a little. Mori cuffed slowly into the scrap yards.

It was not a pleasant sight. Piles of twisted, rooting scrap lay in a heap beside the siding. Everything was covered in a mysterious red glow, smoke and steam filling the air. The rails were rusted and worn, the wood beneath was rotting away, and electric sparks shot from the lights dangling above.

Mori felt a shiver trail down his boiler. The very smell of the place disturbed him. His driver and fireman left him, and headed for a small building next to the line that had “MAIN OFFICE” printed neatly on the side.

Mori was all alone in the dark, terrifying place. But soon, as he looked ahead, he could tell that he had company. In the distance, two silhouetted square figures were heading toward him. As they got closer, Mori could see them more clearly and gasped.

They were two diesels, the one in front missing most of his cab, and his rear buffers merging with those of the diesel behind him. Both were painted in a red-oxide that made them blend in perfectly with the environment. The two stood next to Mori, facing him.

“Hmm…what would this one be?” asked the diesel in back, “I can’t tell.”

The diesel in front looked all over Mori, and then noticed some steam coming from underneath Mori. “It’s a steam engine,” he murmured, “How unique! I'venever seen one like this before...”

The two engines purred closer to Mori, their movements simultaneous. “Just you wait for what we have in store for you…” growled the diesel in the back. "We'll drag you to the pit and..."

Before he could finish, the driver and fireman came back, the manager following close behind. “Seme! Uke!” he snapped at the diesels, “Collect this engine’s trucks and get into your shed!”

“Yes sir,” the two engines muttered as they ran around behind Mori, still moving in union.

Mori was very glad to leave the scrap yards, and it wasn’t because of the scrap. The two diesels were very strange, and he was looking forward to never seeing them again.

Meanwhile, Semuke was shunting the loaded trucks into their siding. “Seme…” Uke asked, “Why do you have to do these things?”

Seme looked up at Uke. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“I mean…” Uke said, “Why do you have to be so rude to steam engines? Why do you always tell me what to do?”

“I hate steam engines,” said Seme coldly, “And I tell you what to do because it’s how we were rebuilt.”

“I know,” sighed Uke, “But don’t you think you could be a bit nicer, to both the steamers and me?”

Seme darted his eyes. “Let’s just head back to the shed before we get into trouble.”

“Right," sighed Uke.

And with that, Semuke rumbled away to their shed.

*END*