Daisy Does it All

Daisy Does it All
Season 2, Episode 5
Air date	April 26, 2019
Written by	Semaj5nodrog4
Episode guide
Previous Rosie Takes Over	Next Henry Knows Best

Daisy Does it All is the fifth episode of the second season of the Many Adventures on the Island of Sodor.

Plot

There are many engines on the Island of Sodor who are unique in some way. Some may look different or have features that are unique to others, but no matter what the differences are, they are still really useful in many ways. Daisy the diesel-railcar is one of these engines as she can take passengers inside of her without the need of any coaches. She feels proud of this and she can also take trains along with passengers, though she often declines to because she thinks she's too good to pull trains, and because she doesn't want to. This results in her friend, Ryan, doing some of her jobs instead, which annoys him sometimes, but he knows that Daisy still is a really useful engine and works hard, though he secretly wishes she would do more work all the same.

One morning, Ryan and Daisy were resting in their shed and were preparing to start their day. Ryan was already awake, but Daisy was still dozing.

"Wake up, Daisy," whistled Ryan cheerfully. "It's the beginning of another day. Are you ready to get started?"

Daisy yawned. "Getting there, Ryan," she replied lazily, "but first, I need some time to wake up from all the work yesterday. You know how it is. Busy taking passengers around, trying to look good, it's an exhausting task sometimes."

"Oh really?" puffed Ryan. "Well, if it's so exhausting, then how come all you did was take passengers from Harwick to Knapford and vice versa yesterday, and you went to sleep early last night too?"

Daisy snorted. "Well, it's exhausting because of all the passengers I had to take and all this summer heat was getting to me. Too many passengers and sweltering heat is really bad for my swerves, you know."

Ryan had to chuckle. "Oh Daisy, you and your excuses. They never cease to amaze me, but I'm not going to argue with you about them, so long as you do your jobs and be really useful."

"Thank you Ryan," purred Daisy. "I appreciate that."

Just then, they looked over and saw Sir Topham Hatt had arrived. "Good morning, you two," he said. "I'm glad to see you are awake because I have plenty of jobs for both of you. First Ryan, I need you to collect some goods from Arlesburgh Harbor and take them to Knapford, then I need you to collect ballast from Arlesburgh West and take it up to Harwick for laying down on the rails."

"Yes sir," replied Ryan.

"And Daisy, I need you to collect visitors and some mail from Knapford and bring the mail to Arlesburgh as well as Harwick and the visitors to only Harwick. Then later this afternoon, bring the passengers back to Knapford," added Sir Topham Hatt. "It'll be a lot of work, but I know I can rely on you two to get the jobs done on time, right?"

"Yes sir, absolutely," replied Ryan eagerly. "You can definitely rely on us."

"Excellent, that's what I wanted to hear," said Sir Topham Hatt. "So in that case, good luck to the two of you, and I will check up on your day's work later today."

"Sounds good sir," replied Ryan. "Good bye sir." Then Sir Topham Hatt drove away.

"Well, I'm ready to get started now. How about you, Daisy?" asked Ryan.

But Daisy was feeling disgusted. "He wants me to take the mail and passengers at the same time?!" she exclaimed. "The very thought! A splendid diesel railcar like me is designed to take passengers and passengers only. Not freight or anything else. Sir Topham Hatt ought to know that by now."

"Calm down, Daisy," chuckled Ryan. "It's just the mail, after all. It's not like it's coal or rubbish or anything like that. You can still take it in addition to passengers. I'm sure they won't mind."

"Huh, I highly doubt that Ryan," scoffed Daisy. "Passengers never like it when engines multitask on their jobs because they don't like the smell of freight dragging behind them. They'll complain about us engines and things like that are bad for our appearances as well and for an engine like me, that is highly undignified."

"Oh really?" questioned Ryan. "And you know all of this…how?"

Daisy paused for a second. "Uhhhhh, because I just know. That's how," she replied hastily, then she hurriedly purred out of the shed and headed to Knapford. Ryan just rolled his eyes and chuckled, then he set to work as well.

Daisy scoffed all the way to Knapford, still not looking forward to taking the mail. "Disgraceful, disgraceful, disgraceful," she muttered. "Railcars are not multitaskers. They are for passengers and that is that. I will not take even just one dirty, filthy old mail coach and no one can make me."

Soon Daisy arrived at Knapford. She was pleased to see the visitors on the platform and happily welcomed them aboard, but then she looked over and saw a mail coach waiting on another platform, knowing that was for her.

"Ah there you are Daisy," said the stationmaster. "Glad you could make it. As you can see, your mail is waiting for you. Percy delivered it a little while ago, so when you're ready, you can go ahead and couple up and you'll be on your way."

Daisy sulked, but then she got an idea. "I would do that sir, but haven't you heard? There's been a change of plans."

"Oh really?" sniffed the stationmaster. "And what is that? Your oil needs changing again or it's too much for you or you've broken down?"

"No!" snapped Daisy. "It's nothing like that. Ahem, the change is that Ryan will be picking up the mail for me while I take the visitors to Arlesburgh and Harwick. I'm supposed to be collecting more visitors along the way too and taking the mail will be too much work for me, so he volunteered to take it."

The stationmaster stared at Daisy and thought for a moment. "Well, I can believe Ryan said that, but how can I be sure that he really agreed to that and you're not making up another excuse, Daisy?"

"Because it's Ryan, sir," replied Daisy. "You know how he is. Always being helpful and going out of his way to help other engines. It's in his nature, really, and he would do anything for me if I can't handle something. It's a saying we have: he helps me and I help him."

The stationmaster was still not sure, but he conceded. "Well, alright then, Daisy. If you say Ryan will be taking the mail, then I believe you, but when will he get here? The mail can't wait too much longer."

"Uh, he should arrive here in the next few minutes," guessed Daisy. "In the meantime, I must be off with my visitors. So au revoir, sir." And Daisy hurried off with her visitors. The stationmaster was a little concerned.

A little while later, Ryan arrived with his goods train. "Hello there, sir," he whistled to the statiomaster. "Nice to see you." Then he noticed an extra mail coach sitting next to him. "Oh, has Daisy been here yet?"

"Yes she has," replied the stationmaster. "She told me about the change you two made and so, your mail is all ready and waiting for you Ryan."

Ryan was puzzled. "Um, what change, sir?"

The stationmaster was worried. "Um, the change where you agreed to take the mail for her while she takes more visitors," he explained, "but now I'm beginning to think that never actually happened."

Ryan was annoyed. "Oh bother that Daisy," he fumed. "She got out of another job that she could easily do. I knew she was going to do this base on her behavior earlier."

"Oh dear," sighed the stationmaster. "I'm sorry Ryan. I should've known better than to listen to her."

"Never mind, sir," soothed Ryan. "I'm not cross with you, but I am annoyed that I have to take the mail along with my next job now, meaning extra work."

"Oh," said the stationmaster. "Do you need any help with them?"

"No thank you," replied Ryan. "I can manage it. I'm used to extra work, so this will be no problem."

"Alright then," replied the stationmaster. "If you say so and you're sure you can handle everything, then good luck."

"Thank you, sir," said Ryan. Soon Ryan was coupled up to the mail coach and then he puffed away.

Ryan was soon well on his way back to Arlesburgh West, but because the mail was now behind schedule, he had to hurry to make up for lost time and the fact that he had his other job didn't help either.

Eventually, Ryan made it to Arlesburgh West and the mail was quickly unloaded. The Arlesdale engines greeted him.

"Hello Ryan," called Rex. "Glad you're back. We were starting to wonder where you were."

"Yes, sorry about that Rex," panted Ryan. "Daisy abandoned another one of her jobs and I had to do it for her again."

"Well, at least you're here now," chuffed Bert, "and if it makes you feel better, Duck has already gotten your ballast train ready too, so when you're ready, all you have to do is couple up and you're on your way."

"Oh, well that was nice of him," puffed Ryan, then he saw the train, which was long. "Whoa! That's a long train. Why so many hopper trucks?"

"I guess you didn't get the news, did you?" asked Mike. "Well, while you were gone, Sir Topham Hatt received word that there was more ballast needed for the tracks at Harwick and he ordered more trucks to be added to your train."

Ryan was worried. "But pulling all eight of those and the mail at the same time will be too much for me."

"Well, I hate to say it, mate," sighed Mike, "but you're already late as it is, so I don't think you have a choice."

"But if you want," suggested Rex, "we could find another engine to help you."

"No, it's fine," huffed Ryan. "I'll do my best. I've handled harder jobs before, so I hope I can handle this one."

Ryan soon coupled up his mail coach to the ballast train, and then with a mighty heave he huffed away. The Arlesdale engines were worried: they had a feeling there was going to be trouble for Ryan.

Ryan went slowly at first, but he eventually picked up speed. "Must be time, must be time," he puffed to himself as he hurried along.

Then there was trouble: as Ryan was approaching Arlesburgh, he came to the top of the hill that lead to the town. Suddenly, as he started going down, he felt the weight of the trucks pushing against him. He started to gather too much speed.

"Oh no!" he cried. "I can't stop!" He tried to apply his brakes but it was no use. Then to make matters worse, Ryan looked and saw Oliver and Toad were further along the line ahead of him.

Toad saw him and he was worried. "Goodness gracious me! Stop Mr. Ryan, stop! We can't go any faster!"

"I can't Toad!" wailed Ryan. "My train's too heavy!" And they shut their eyes, but luckily a nearby signalman changed the points and sent Ryan up the other track, just in time. Ryan was relieved, but not for long: he was still going too fast and then he realized he was on the track that lead to the sea. Ryan tried harder than ever to apply his brakes, but the trucks surged into him again and Ryan plummeted down the track.

Oliver stopped just in time as Ryan sped past him. "Whoa!" he cried. Then Ryan finally plunged into the sea and stopped. Luckily, no one was hurt and the mail and ballast was safe, but unfortunately for Ryan, he not only ran into the sea, but he hit the barrier that was under the sea so hard, he severely damaged his front and buffers. He was most upset.

"Don't worry Ryan," called Oliver. "Toad and I will get help. You stay there for now and hang tight." And they hurried to get help.

"That's all I can do," muttered Ryan sadly.

A little while later, Daisy was returning with her visitors from Harwick, feeling pleased with herself. Then as she was approaching the harbor she saw Donald and Douglas puff by with Ryan's train.

"Hmmm, that's odd," she thought. "What are those two doing with Ryan's…" Then when she arrived at the harbor, she gasped. There was Judy and Jerome lifting Ryan out of the sea.

"Oh deary me," sighed Judy, looking at Ryan. "You look like you've been through a lot."

"Huh, you can say that again," muttered Ryan. "Overworked, working too hard, and running into the sea, definitely a rough day for me."

"Well don't you worry, Ryan," soothed Jerome. "Once we have you loaded, you'll be on your way to the Steamworks and you'll be repaired in no time. You'll see." Soon Ryan was loaded onto a low loader and once he was all set, Oliver and Toad took him to the Steamworks.

Daisy rolled up. "Poor Ryan," she said. "What are on earth happened to him?" she asked Duck, who had brought Judy and Jerome.

"From what I heard," replied Duck, "Ryan was taking the mail and his ballast train at the same time, but it was too much for him and he lost control coming into the harbor, ran into the sea and damaged his buffers. I knew he had the ballast to deliver, but I didn't realize he also had the mail to deliver too. He could've ask you to help him, Daisy."

Daisy felt ashamed. Then Sir Topham Hatt arrived and he was cross.

"Daisy!" he said sternly and slowly. "I told you to take the mail and the visitors and yet, you let Ryan take the mail for you anyway? You better not have made up another excuse to get out of taking goods again, did you?"

Daisy was about to make up another excuse, but she felt so ashamed, she owned up. "I'm sorry, sir, but yes I did, but I also didn't mean to cause that accident for Ryan. I didn't realize the mail and ballast would be too much for him."

Sir Topham Hatt was crosser still. "Ooh, when I ask you to do a job Daisy, I expect you to do it, and I thought you learned your lesson about being lazy too." Daisy was upset. "Huh, well you won't have an excuse to be lazy now because you'll be the only engine running the Harwick line."

Daisy gasped. "Beg pardon, sir?!"

"That's right, you heard me," replied Sir Topham. "I have no other engines available to help you out, so until Ryan is back in service, you'll have to maintain all the work on the branchline. I'll go ahead and start making the arrangements so you can handle the jobs in a timely manner."

"But, but, but, sir," began Daisy.

"No buts," boomed Sir Topham. "I've made up my mind Daisy, and I expect a much better behavior from you tomorrow and better responsibility too. So good day." Then Sir Topham Hatt drove away.

After he left, Daisy was horrified. "Me? Do all the work on the branchline? Ugg! I can't do everything around here. I'm just one engine, not two. That's too much for me."

"Well maybe if you actually multitasked instead of taking passengers all the time," huffed Duck, "you'll find it's really not that much work, Daisy. If fact, you would make the work go easier if anything, considering you can pull trucks and coaches."

Daisy snorted. "Hmph, maybe." Then she got an idea, and smiled at Duck. "Or maybe things would be easier if someone else were to help me. Eh Duck?" she said slyly.

"Sorry Daisy," replied Duck, "but I can't. You know how it is on the Little Western: goods and passengers come in all the time and Oliver and I are always busy taking each of them respectively. So neither of us can help you out there, Daisy. So you may want to keep trying, or do the more sensible and Great Western thing and just do your jobs." Then with that, Duck puffed away with Judy and Jerome.

Daisy was cross. "That engine really needs to stop it with all that Great Western nonsense," she muttered to herself, then she purred away as well.

Daisy was determined to get another engine to help her, so she decided whenever she saw another one, she would try to convince them to work with her on the branchline. When she got back to Knapford, the first engine she encountered was Stafford.

"Now's my chance," she thought.

"Hello Daisy," tooted Stafford. "How are you doing this afternoon?"

"Oh Stafford, I've been well, but unfortunately, I'm in trouble now," Daisy whined, but really she was just pretending.

"Oh dear, how so?" asked Stafford.

"Poor Ryan has gotten into a dreadful accident and he will be out of service for a while," explained Daisy, "and now, I'm stuck doing my work as well as his until he gets back. It'll be too much work for little old me."

"Mmm, that sounds like it's quite a predicament for you, Daisy," said Stafford. "I wish there was something I could do to help."

Daisy smirked. "Well you know, there is something now that you mention it, Stafford," she purred. "How would like to work on the Harwick branchline with me? Hmm? I can still take the passengers and you can take all the goods trains for Ryan. How does that sound?"

Stafford thought for a moment. "Uh, well, umm…that's nice of you to offer and I would like to help, Daisy, but I don't think my battery would be able to last that long. I'm mostly designed for shunting, not taking trains and I would probably breakdown several times."

"Oh come now, don't think like that," soothed Daisy. "Have some confidence. I've seen you work hard in the yard, so taking a few goods trains a day should be no problem for a strong little electric engine like you."

Stafford blushed. "Ah-ha, that's nice Daisy and I appreciate that, but I'm going to have to say no. Besides, I still have to maintain the work here at the station, where I feel most comfortable." Then Stafford honked his horn. "But all the same, good luck with finding someone, Daisy." And he went back to work. Daisy was cross.

Just then, Donald and Douglas just arrived back from delivering Ryan's train. Daisy got another idea.

"Hello you two," she said. "Nice to see you again. How was your trip up to Harwick? Were you able to deliver everything on time?"

"Aye, no trouble at all, lass," replied Donald. "We deliver that mail and ballast in no time."

"But it was certainly too much for young Ryan," added Douglas. "No wonder the poor wee engine had an accident. Hopefully, everything goes well with his repairs and he's back soon."

Daisy squirmed, feeling slightly guilty about Ryan, then she got another idea. "Yes, that is a shame about Ryan," she said, "and I too hope he gets repaired soon, but how about you two do me a favor while he's gone?"

Donald and Douglas looked puzzledly at Daisy. "Depends on what it is," replied Donald.

"Well, considering I'm going to be the only one working the Harwick branchline," Daisy began, "and there will be too much work for me, how would you like to help me out? Hmm? Two heads are better than one, you know, and everything will go by like clockwork with your help. What do you say?"

Donald and Douglas looked at each other, then back at Daisy. "Hmm, I think we say…good try, Daisy!" teased Donald, and he and Douglas laughed.

Daisy was surprised. "I beg your pardon?!"

"Ah it's nothing. It's just Duck warned us you would be trying to get someone else to help you while Ryan's away," explained Douglas, "even though like he said, you could handle all the work if you really tried."

Daisy was cross again. "Bother that Duck," she growled under her breath. "But come on, you two. Can't at least one of you help me? Honestly, I'm sure you could go one day without the other."

"Mmm, not if we're going to be taking goods trains all day," retorted Donald. "We have many of them tomorrow and they're going to be long ones, so sorry Daisy, but Dougie and I can’t help you."

Daisy scoffed. "Not even if the stronger can't help me?" she asked cheekily, trying another way of convincing them.

The twins paused for a moment, looked at each other, then laughed again. "Nice try again Daisy," laughed Douglas, "but trying to get us to argue and help you isn't going to work either."

"Aye, we're both equally strong and we know it," added Donald. "So with all due respect Daisy, but either you keep trying, or have some confidence and just do all the work yourself. That's all we can say." Then with that Donald and Douglas puffed away.

Now Daisy was very annoyed. "Well, I guess I'm going to have to keep trying," she thought to herself, and she went back to work.

Daisy went all around trying to get any other engine to help her with the work, but no matter how much she tried convincing them, no other engine was willing to help her and they told her she could do the work herself. This just made Daisy even crosser, and a little nervous too.

She even went as far as asking Skiff to help her. "Oh. Well, I would like to help you Daisy," he said, "but I don't think I would be much help to be honest. I'm just a small rail boat, and I wasn't exactly designed for taking trains."

"Oh sure you are," encouraged Daisy. "If you can ride on rails, then you can certainly take trucks as well."

"Mmm, I don't think so," replied Skiff. "You engines can take many trucks. I could probably only take one, if I'm lucky if that. So sorry Daisy, but I can't help. Besides, Captain Joe and I have to do one more final check of the harbor before it's gets dark, so I'll see you later Daisy." Then with that, Skiff dove into the sea and started sailing around the harbor. Daisy was even more annoyed now.

At the end of the day, Daisy brought her last passengers back to Arlesburgh West, feeling exhausted. "Huh, I don't understand," she sighed. "I asked many engines today, but not one of them agreed to help me. I would think at least one would have. I mean, is that too much to ask?"

"Well, quite frankly, Daisy," replied Duck, who was there along with Oliver, Toad and the Arlesdale engines, "that is too much to ask. I told you earlier today you could do all the work yourself if you really tried and yet, you're not listening and you went everywhere trying to get others to help you for no reason."

Daisy snorted. "Excuse me, but I do have a reason, thank you Duck," she scoffed. "I'm one engine going to be handling jobs enough for two and that'll be too much for me. All I ask is that one engine helps me to make things easier."

"Just don't worry about it, Daisy," soothed Oliver. "Sure it will be a lot of work, but as long as you're calm and have confidence, you should be fine."

"Well that's easy for you to say," huffed Daisy. "You're two engines that work together, so you have no problem with the work you have. I have an actual dilemma here that needs fixing."

The Great Westerns were feeling exasperated. "Daisy, to be quite honest, you are being very ridiculous right now," huffed Duck. "I don’t know what else to tell you, but just do the work you are given tomorrow and there won't be any issues."

"Also, if I may add," inquired Toad. "I don’t think you're being very fair to Ryan, Miss Daisy."

Daisy frowned. "How so, Toad?" she asked.

"Well, from what we all heard today," explained Toad, "it sounds like you're the reason why Ryan had that accident. So if you hadn't abandoned the mail and taken it like you were supposed to, then Ryan would've been alright and you wouldn't be in this mess." Daisy looked ashamed. "Lastly, and with all due respect, the fact that you are trying to get out of doing his work is pretty selfish and it's showing how you're not willing to makeup for Ryan's accident."

"Toad's absolutely right you know, Daisy," added Oliver. "The way you treated Ryan today with both causing the accident and trying to get out of doing his work is completely foolish. Ryan's a hardworking engine you know and he's very reliable and nice, so based on your behavior towards him today, you don't deserve help unless you take responsibility for your actions and make it up to him."

"I couldn't agree more," agreed Duck. "So with that being said Daisy, all we have left is, good night and see you tomorrow." Then he and Oliver and Toad puffed away to their sheds.

Daisy felt very ashamed now, then she looked over at the Arlesdale engines, who were also not happy with her.

"Don't look at us," scoffed Mike. "You got yourself into this mess, so you can get yourself out." Then he and the others went back into their shed. Daisy sighed, then she went back to Arlesburgh Yard.

It was fully dark by the time Daisy got back, and she felt very tired and upset with herself. Judy and Jerome were there next to the sheds.

"Hello Daisy," chirped Judy. "Oh my, why the long face? Was it that rough of a day for you? Or did you get a smudge on your paintwork?" Then she and Jerome giggled.

Daisy didn't laughed. "No Judy, I just feel terrible about what I did today."

"Oh? And what exactly happened that made it a bad day, if I may ask?" asked Judy.

"Well, as I'm sure you heard by now," started Daisy, "I'm the one who caused Ryan his accident today and up until a little while ago, I've been trying to get other engines to help me with all the work tomorrow because Sir Topham Hatt said I'll be the only engine working here until Ryan gets back. Then Duck, Oliver and Toad pointed out that I'm being very selfish for not willing to make up for my mistake and do Ryan's work as well as my own and I have to admit they are right. I feel terrible for what I did to poor Ryan and I want to make it up to him, but the fact that I have to do two jobs at once is not suitable for me. I'm a diesel railcar. I'm only made for taking passengers."

"But Daisy," soothed Jerome, "You can still take goods and things like that with you even with passengers. There's no harm in that really."

"But passengers won't like that Jerome," protested Daisy. "They don't like it when engines multitask and take goods along with them. It's bad for our image and for a splendid diesel like me, that would make me look awful."

"Or," suggested Judy encouragingly, "that would make you look special." Daisy raised her eyebrows. "Hm? How so?"

"Well you are an engine that can carry passengers without the need of coaches," explained Judy, "and you have couplings and buffers, so you can take other things with you on your journeys. That's something that not too many engines can do, Daisy."

"Yes, and sometimes people think that's fascinating," added Jerome. "So the way I see it, passengers will most likely find it rather interesting that they will be with an engine that can do two different jobs at the same time."

Daisy paused thoughtfully for a moment. "Well, they might think that," she said slowly, "but that last part is the other thing: I don't think I would be able to do two jobs at once. That would mean extra work for me and I don’t want to be late and let everyone on this branchline down."

"Don't worry about it Daisy," soothed Judy. "I'm sure Sir Topham Hatt is working things out so that nothing like that will happen. I promise."

"And a good way to stop worrying about that," added Jerome, "is getting a good night's sleep. So how about we all do that, shall we?"

"Agreed Jerome," replied Judy. "Getting a good night's sleep is a good idea and a good way to be ready for a hard day's work tomorrow. What do you say Daisy?"

Daisy sighed. "Fine, it's alright with me."

"Good, in that case good night everyone," said Judy.

"Yes, good night indeed," agreed Jerome, then the two cranes went to sleep. Then Daisy closed her eyes and went to sleep too, still feeling worried about tomorrow.

The next morning, Daisy woke up bright and early, and was reluctantly preparing to start her day. Then when she was ready, she went to work. Her first job was to collect more mail from Knapford and take visitors along as well. Daisy dreaded the thought of it once again, but she was willing to try.

When she arrived at Knapford, she saw the visitors and the mail coach waiting for her. She squirmed as she slowly backed onto the coach.

"Okay, here we go, here we go, you can do this," she said quietly to herself, but she was moving back so slowly, the visitors were getting annoyed. The stationmaster noticed and was getting annoyed too.

"Daisy, what's going on?" he asked. "Is there something wrong with you or are you nervous about something?"

"Oh it-it's n-nothing, sir," replied Daisy nervously. "Just taking my time that's all."

"Well could you please take a little less time?" replied the stationmaster. "You're holding up the passengers and you're making them late. It's only a mail coach after all, so just buffer up to it."

"I will in one second, sir," replied Daisy. "Okay, here we go, almost there…" But just as she was about to buffer up, she stopped. "Oh I can't do this!" she burst out. "I can't take passengers and the mail at the same time. It's undignified."

The stationmaster and the passengers were surprised. "What makes you say that?" asked the stationmaster.

"Because it's not good for me," explained Daisy. "I'm designed for only taking passengers. I might be able to take rolling stock with me too, but people won't like it when I do it because they don't like being part of a goods train and it makes me look bad."

The visitors looked at each other in a puzzled way. "Whoever told you that?" asked a man.

"Well, um…uh…," Daisy suddenly realized something. "No one, actually."

"Then why did you think that was true?" asked a woman.

"Well, because I was…guessing, I suppose," admitted Daisy. "No one ever said that. I'm just assuming that was the case since I'm a passenger engine that doesn't usually take goods and I was not thinking correctly." Then Daisy thought of something. "So in that case, does that mean you all wouldn't mind me taking the mail along with us?"

The visitors looked at each other and back at Daisy. "No not at all," said the man from earlier. "In fact, we find it rather interesting and exciting that we're going to riding with an engine that can do two jobs at once."

Daisy was surprised. "Really? You wouldn't mind that?"

"No," said the man again, "and frankly Daisy, we wouldn't care if you were pulling a rubbish train with you. All we care about is having a good time and riding in a special engine like you. Isn't that right everyone?" All the other visitors agreed and cheered for Daisy.

Daisy couldn't believe what she was hearing, but at the same time, for the first time in a while, she felt happy. "Well, what are you waiting for then? Climb aboard and I'll definitely give you a special ride." Then with that, the visitors happily climbed aboard, and Daisy buffered up to the mail coach.

"Oh but sir," she whispered to the man, who was about to get onboard. "Be honest, you would mind if I was taking rubbish too, right?"

"Yes I would," chuckled the man. "I was just doing that for pep talk that's all." Then he jollily got into Daisy, and Daisy purred proudly away.

As she was riding along, Daisy was starting to feel a little more comfortable with taking goods and passengers at the same time, and she felt a lot better knowing that the passengers didn’t mind the mail coach. When she arrived at Arlesburgh West, she stopped to unload the mail, and she could here the visitors admiring how they handled the mail, and not one of them complained about having to wait for it. Daisy smiled.

Then after a while, she arrived at Harwick. When the visitors got off, they spoke to Daisy.

"Thank you for that ride Daisy," said a woman. "It was interesting being part of a mixed train, and you handled it very well."

"Indeed," said the man from earlier, "and it was interesting seeing how the mail is handled when it's being unloaded. That's something we don't usually see. So yes, thank you for that fascinating ride, Daisy."

Daisy blushed. "You all are very welcome," she said. "I'm glad you enjoyed it and I'm happy to help." Then with that, the visitors headed off to the beach.

Daisy thought for a moment. "Maybe I can do Ryan's work as well as my own after all," she puffed. "It would mean more work, but as long as the passengers are fine with me taking them along with goods trains, then I should have no problems with this." Daisy was starting to feel a lot more confident now.

For the rest of the day, Daisy proudly took care of her jobs as well as Ryan's. When she had to take visitors and goods from Arlesburgh, she didn't complain and neither did her passengers and she happily took them to where they needed to go. Then when she had to go to Anopha Quarry to collect stone, she was a little worried about what the passengers would say, but as it turned out, the visitors she was bringing from Harwick didn't mind at all. They were actually quite fascinated with the quarry as they've never been there before. Daisy was pleased and she coupled up to her stone trucks and she purred away.

Throughout the day, Daisy was as busy as bee as she handled the jobs. It was definitely more work for her than what she was used to, but she knew it was for a good cause and she was making it up to Ryan. Duck, Oliver, Toad and the Arlesdale engines could tell Daisy was trying hard and they were pleased with her.

"Good work, Daisy," called Oliver.

"Yes very good work indeed," agreed Duck. "That's the Great Western way!" Daisy didn't even mind that Duck said that.

A little later, while Daisy was getting refueled, Sir Topham Hatt came by. He had news for Daisy. "Well Daisy, I've been hearing a lot about you today, and I must say, I'm quite impressed. You have been working surprisingly hard today and I haven't heard one complaint."

"Thank you, sir," replied Daisy. "To be honest, I was a little worried at first, but I actually find doing two jobs at once easier than I thought, though I would like to have a few more rests now and then, but I also want to make it up to Ryan as well."

"And you are certainly doing that Daisy," smiled Sir Topham Hatt. "Oh, and speaking of Ryan, I have an update about him. Apparently, his damages were a bit more severe than expected, so he won't be back to work until at least tomorrow. So do you think you handle everything‪ until then‬? I checked my schedule and I have a few more engines available to help if you want."

Daisy thought for a moment. She was about to ask for more help, but then she made a decision. "You know, sir, as much as I would like more help, I think I can still handle everything just the same. Besides, everyone's been saying how fascinating it is riding with an engine that can do two jobs at once. I don't need another engine to steal my spotlight."

Sir Topham Hatt chuckled. "Well, if you're certain about that Daisy, then so be it, as long as you continue to do a good job and not continue to boast."

"Uh, yes sir, I'll keep that in mind," replied Daisy hastily, blushing a little bit.

So with that, Daisy continued working hard for the rest of the day. When night came, she went right to sleep, and then in the morning, she got up bright and early and started doing her usual work, which was collecting more mail and visitors again and making her daily run to Arlesburgh then Harwick and the passengers didn't mind at all.

Then her next job was taking passengers from Harwick and ballast from Arlesburgh West to Knapford. After she collected the passengers, she waited while her trucks were being loaded with ballast. Then after a while, they were soon full.

"Here you Daisy," said Bert. "Your trucks are loaded and you're all set to go."

"Thank you Bert," said Daisy, and she purred away. The passengers had a fun time watching how the ballast loading process went and were excited to be the ones who witnessed it.

Then Daisy's next job was taking visitors and ice cream to Bluff's Cove. She actually enjoyed that one. When she arrived there, the passengers were delighted.

"Fancy riding on the train that also brought the ice cream," said a woman. "This is quite a special occasion."

"Yay! We get ice cream!" cheered a boy.

"And it's all ours too! Hopefully we get it for free since we rode with it!" added a girl. Daisy grinned at the passengers delightment.

As the day went by, Daisy was being an extra hard worker and being a very reliable and useful engine on the Harwick branchline. Everyone thought so too and praised Daisy for all her work as well.

At last, it was sunset and Daisy was finally finished with her day's work. She was feeling tired and exhausted, but pleased she did a good job. When she arrived at Arlesburgh West, she saw Duck, Oliver, Toad and the Arlesdale engines waiting for her. Daisy was surprised.

"Oh, hello everyone," she said. "What's all this?"

"We just wanted to say how impressed we are with all your hard work this week, Daisy," replied Duck. "That's all."

"Yes," agreed Oliver. "You certainly surprised us with everything you did in the past couple of days and we knew you had it in you."

Daisy grinned. "Thank you everyone. I really appreciate it. Also, now that I remember, I'm sorry for the way I behaved the other day. I was mostly just worried about doing all the work myself, but I have to admit, it actually wasn't that bad after all and I think I handled everything really well too."

"I'll say you did," added Toad. "You certainly worked hard enough for two engines, Miss Daisy, and that is something to be proud of, and you didn't even ask for help from us during all of this time too, which if you don't mind me saying, is really impressive." The other engines laughed, and even Daisy smiled.

"Oh, before we all forget," added Rex. "Sir Topham Hatt told us a little while ago that Ryan is fully repaired and he'll be back here later this evening. How's that for even better news, Daisy?"

Daisy was delighted. "Oh that sounds wonderful, Rex. I can't wait for him to come back." Then she had an idea. "But before he does, can I ask you all to do me one favor? It has something to do with Ryan." The engines were curious, but they agreed, and listened to Daisy's plan.

Later that night, Ryan was back in service and making his way to Arlesburgh Yard. He was a little surprised to see no one was around as he puffed by Arlesburgh. "That's strange," he thought. "I know it's night time, but I don't think anyone would be asleep right now."

Soon Ryan was approaching the yard. Then when he got close enough to the sheds, "Surprise!" He had a wonderful surprise. There he saw Daisy, Duck, Oliver, Toad, Donald, Douglas, Judy, Jerome, and Skiff waiting for him with a big sign saying "Welcome Home Ryan". Ryan was most impressed.

"Welcome home, old chum," called Oliver.

"Yes welcome back indeed," agreed Toad. "Nice to have you back Mr. Ryan."

"And it is wonderful to see you again too," added Duck.

"Oh thank you everyone," puffed Ryan cheerfully. "This is quite a surprise. You all really didn't have to do this."

"Well, actually lad," said Donald, "it wasn't our idea. It was Daisy's."

"Aye," agreed Douglas. "The one you should be thanking is her. Everything was her bright idea."

Ryan was surprised. "Really Daisy? You did this?"

"Yes, I did," smiled Daisy. "It's a way to welcome you home, and also a way to apologize too. If I haven't said it already Ryan, I'm truly very sorry for causing that accident and for getting out of work too. It was very foolish of me and I never meant to get you in trouble. I was not a very nice friend at all and I felt terrible for it."

Ryan smiled. "It's alright, Daisy," he soothed. "You're forgiven and I'm not the one to hold a grudge. By the way, did I hear you handled both of our work while I was away?"

"Yes you heard right," smiled Daisy, "and I must say, Ryan, it was not always easy. Handling two jobs at the same time was definitely a lot of work and it was exhausting."

Ryan chuckled. "Now you see what I often have to go through when you don't do your jobs?"

Daisy squirmed. "Uh, yes I do see," she replied meekly, "and after what I went through the past few days, I promise I'll work hard and do my jobs and stop slacking off."

"That sounds like a plan to me Daisy," puffed Ryan, "and thanking for all your hard work too. To be honest, I didn't think you had it in you, but after all the things I heard, I can tell that you really are a useful engine and a helpful one too, and a great multitasker as well."

"Thank you Ryan," said Daisy, "and you know what? How about we make a deal: whenever I need help, you help me, and if you need help, I help you. Does that sound good?"

"Well as long as you keep your word," smiled Ryan, "then yes Daisy, I'm perfectly happy with that plan." Daisy was pleased.

"So Daisy," inquired Judy. "Now that Ryan's back, do you think you'll miss handling two jobs at once?"

Daisy squirmed. "Um, no not really, Judy. Sure it was nice receiving praise and such for all the hard work, but you all are forgetting one thing."

Everyone was puzzled. "What's that?" they all asked.

"Too much work is bad for my swerves, of course," replied Daisy smugly. "I need a rest every now and then." Everyone frowned at Daisy. "I'm just kidding!" Daisy burst out laughing, then everyone started laughing too. "Doing two jobs was interesting, but I'll be perfectly happy going back to my regular jobs, and working alongside Ryan, of course." Ryan smiled and then they all began chatting with each other, and Daisy promised herself never to get out of doing her jobs ever again, or at least not for a long while anyway!

Characters

• Duck
• Donald and Douglas
• Oliver
• Ryan
• Daisy
• Stafford
• Rex
• Mike
• Bert
• Toad
• Jerome and Judy
• Skiff
• Sir Topham Hatt
• Percy (does not speak)
• Captain Joe (does not speak)
• Thomas (cameo)
• Toby (cameo)
• Emily (cameo)
• Harvey (cameo)
• Rosie (cameo)
• Diesel (cameo)
• Mavis (cameo)
• Annie and Clarabel (cameo)
• Fergus Duncan (cameo)

Locations

• Arlesburgh
• Arlesburgh Yard
• Arlesburgh West
• Arlesburgh Harbor
• Knapford
• Harwick
• Bluff’s Cove
• Sodor Steamworks (mentioned)