Zipp flipped through the books and sighed. "This is getting really frustrating," she groaned. "Whilst the family trees are certainly handy, why did nobody put portraits to these names? Figuring out who is who is gonna take so long!"

"Is everything OK, Zipp?" asked a voice. Zipp glanced over and saw Lady Haven walking into the reading room.

"I'm doing family research again, but matching these names to the portraits on the wall is not easy," Zipp replied. "I've gotten Sir Bedivere and many of his issue correctly sorted, but from about 1700 onwards it becomes really difficult."

Lady Haven looked at the wall. "The fact that the fashion then was for wigs and frock coats possibly does make telling them apart rather difficult," she admitted. "Besides, the paintings were not always accurate. See the one there? Of Lady Patricia Haven?"

Zipp looked. "Yeah?"

"I found a note in the receipt asking for her appearance to be... 'altered', shall we say."

"Ah, so the painter did a Hans Holbein?"

"Though not quite as extreme as that." Lady Haven nodded. "I would like to stay and help, but I've got much too much to deal with right now. Why not go and talk with Argyle? He's an expert on this sort of thing- he helped sort those texts into the correct order."

Zipp nodded. "I'll ring him now. Thanks mom!"

"No problem, my dear."

"Welcome to the genealogy lab!" Argyle said, as Zipp entered the lighthouse home. The tables of the living/dining room had been covered in books old and new, with many archaic and unusual titles.

"That's a lot of books," Zipp said.

"I like to go to the source," Argyle explained. "I find that while Ancestry and FindMyPast can be useful, not everybody who uses the site transcribes things correctly- not helped by the fact some people in the past had truly dreadful handwriting."

Just then, Sunny arrived. "Just got the last books for you here, dad!" She popped them down next to the table.

"Thank you, Sunny." Argyle turned to her. "Now, which book should we start with?"

Sunny dug through the pile and opened it, then placed it on the table. "At least your family history is so well documented," she said. "We've had to glue ours together from various sources. Astonishingly, we discovered that Dyrham Park had once been owned by the Skylights, and that a distant relative of mine had been stationed there in WW2. We're still working on piecing together things from before the 1600s, though."

Argyle looked over. "Sunny, that's the wrong book. That's an early photo album."

Zipp dashed over to see what was in it- and the picture it was turned to caught her by surprise.

The picture had clearly been taken when Sunny was still a baby, but it was the other figure in the scene that surprised Zipp. Holding her was a woman who appeared to be in her early thirties, who had pinkish skin and purple hair. Her olive green eyes seemed to twinkle in the shot, and she was dressed in what appeared to be very casual clothing that had some paint on it.

Zipp was surprised. She knew this woman couldn't be Sunny's mother, as she knew Goldie very well. So who was she?

Argyle noticed Zipp's surprise, and started to speak. "You're wondering who the woman is, right?"

"Uh, yeah."

Argyle smiled. "Boy does that bring back memories. That's Veronica, my sister. That must have been taken when Sunny was only a few months old."

Zipp took a seat. "How does she fit into the story, if you don't mind me asking?"

"She often helped to take care of me when mom was away or busy," Sunny said. "She lived in Truro, so she could easily pop down to help out." She flipped the page, a tear in her eye as she saw scenes she remembered from when she was a kid.

"What's the context behind that one?" Zipp asked, pointing to an image of them next to a tree.

"Well, that's quite the story," Argyle said. "I'm still not entirely sure how she got up there!"

"If I had another penny/
I would have another gill!
And I would make the piper play/
The bonny lass of Byker Hill!

"Byker Hill and Walker Shore/
Collier lads for ever more!
Byker Hill and Walker Shore/
Collier lads for ever more!"

"These steelworks trucks have a fine voice," Harvey said, as he continued shunting trucks.

"What's the song?" Goldie asked.

"It's an old coal mining song," Harvey said. "I learned it back when I worked in Shelton Steelworks. Many of the hoppers were converted from old coal trucks, and they'd learned the song from older trucks based at coal mines in the northeast. It was quite the sound hearing hundreds of them singing in unison."

"You've not talked a huge amount about your life in industry," Goldie said.

"That's mainly because nobody has asked," Harvey replied. "But there's one story I think works especially well, considering where we are. It all began many years ago..."

In that moment, Sunny realised she had made a terrible mistake. She was up a tree... with no way to get down!

She panicked and gripped the branch tighter.

"Sunny! We're down here!"

Sunny looked down to see her dad and Veronica standing below the tree.

"Just jump down!" Veronica called. "We'll catch you!"

"What if I miss?" Sunny asked, her voice quivering.

"You won't!" Argyle replied. "You got this, Sunny!"

Sunny steeled herself- and after closing her eyes let go. There was an awful sense of going down, of the ground rushing towards her-

and then suddenly stopping, feeling arms around her. "She's certainly heavier than last time we did this!" Argyle said.

Sunny opened her eyes- to be in the arms of family. "Thanks for catching me."

"Well, we weren't going to let you slam into the floor, were we?" Veronica replied. "You did what so many others haven't, Sunbeam- you threw yourself at the ground and missed!"

That at least got Sunny laughing.

"Back in those days," Harvey began, "I was painted red. I had originally been painted out in green for my early years of the Scottish docksides, but the steelworks was a potentially hazardous place, and as such I was painted red so I could easily be spotted. I also gained yellow bufferbeams for the same reason. Unfortunately, my appearance made me the subject of mockery from mainline engines. They often asked me if I was having an identity crisis, or tell me I would never do anything other than shunt trucks."

Goldie looked cross. "If I'd been there I'd have given those engines a piece of my mind," she said. "Everybody is useful in their own way. Many leaves, one tree, I believe the saying goes."

"I wasn't too bothered by it," Harvey admitted. "Working in heavy industry does require one to be tough. And you're quite right- it doesn't matter what somebody is born or built as, but what they go on to be or do." He paused. "Where was I? Ah, I remember now. I was very used to working on my own, and the trucks being in good voice meant there was usually a work song with which to pass the time. But one day I would prove to be very helpful indeed."

"Please, do tell us!" said another voice. Harvey looked over and, to his surprise, a crowd had gathered to hear him speak.

"Wow, that sounds wild," Zipp said. "Reminds me of the time me and Pipp went climbing on the rooftops of Purbeck House, thinking we were climbing Mount Everest."

"I trust that ended safely?" Argyle asked.

"Yep. Totally worth the grounding!"

Sunny flipped to another picture. "Safe to say, people had some curious thoughts about another woman sometimes being around. There were some people who thought Veronica was my mom- I'm not sure how that works."

Zipp glanced from the picture to Sunny and back. "There is a slight resemblance, but that's because she's your aunt."

"Indeed," Argyle said. "I remember taking that one. That was Veronica's first time telling Sunny a bedtime story..."

"And so," Veronica finished, "Rheneas was always ready for another day."

"Can we see him?" Sunny asked.

Veronica looked to the window. "Not today. Sodor is very far from here, and the number of engines who can talk is declining. But nothing's gone forever, Sunny. Someday, somebody will bring them back."

"You think so?" Sunny asked.

"I know so."

"It was a cold winter morning, if I recall correctly," Harvey said. "The snow was heavy on the ground, and the thermometer was well below freezing. The workmen certainly were happy for the heat coming from the machinery, that's for sure. But I was out shunting when suddenly a call went out from the main line."

"What had happened?" Goldie asked.

"An express engine had broken down, and was stuck at the signal box. The train needed drawing forward to the next station. And I was the only engine available to do it. So I plucked up my courage and set forth into the snow, reaching the broken down train in minutes. The engine heading it was very glad to see me, but I soon realised I couldn't pull the entire train in one go. Instead, I moved it in bits to the station.

"The engine heading the train had previously been one who had mocked me, but he was very thankful, and apologised for his former rudeness. And I was happy to accept- holding grudges is unhealthy, after all."

"Seems saving other engines from things is your specialty," Goldie said, with a wry smile.

"Part of the job of being a crane tank," Harvey admitted. "Ah well, back to work. All this hot air won't put a dent in the cold."

"So, where's Veronica now?" Zipp asked. "If you don't mind me asking."

"She was dating at the time," Argyle said. "A guy called Harris. A nice fellow who was a perfect fit for her. Gradually I could sense her life was pulling in another direction to mine, and then one day she revealed to me they'd booked a date for the wedding."

"Did you go?" Zipp asked.

"As her brother I was basically obliged," Argyle said. "Besides, she'd been to mine. They did things rather differently, as I was Best Man and Harris apparently helped select the bridesmaids. I made sure to keep the speech short, but that was basically it. Not long after they moved away from here, and the wedding was the last time I saw her in person."

Sunny sighed. "It'd be great to meet up with her again and found out how she's getting on," she said. "Looking back over these photos has reminded me of a very happy time in my life."

Zipp got up. "Well, looking at the sky outside I'd best be heading home." It was starting to fall dark, and this usually meant more snow and frost. "Thanks for the help, Argyle."

"Never a problem, Zipp," Argyle said. "We'd best be getting this lot cleared up, Sunny."

Argyle retired to his study at the end of the day, and looked out to sea with a smile before shutting the curtains. He could have sworn for a moment that he had seen a familiar face in the skies before he closed the light out.

He lit the light, allowing the familiar light to glow and the smell of old paper to waft through. He then glanced to the phone he had on the desk. "You know, it can't hurt. I know it's not Sunday, but it seems to be too good an opportunity to pass up."

He dialled a number and held the handset to his ear, listening to the familiar dial tones.

Moments later, a familar voice spoke. "Argyle! It's been too long!"

Argyle smiled. "Hey, Veronica. I know this is a bit sudden, but is there any chance we could organise a family get together?"

Author's Note

This story combines the plotlines of Written in the Starscouts, an episode of the second season of Tell your Tale, and Yong Bao and the Tiger, an episode of Thomas and Friends. The title is taken from the lyrics of the song The Way we Were, originally recorded by Barbara Streisand in 1973.

The Hans Holbein remark is a reference to a rather controversial moment in art history. In 1540, Henry VIII intended to remarry following the death of Jane Seymour. He decided marrying Anne of Cleeves was the best option, and asked painter Hans Holbein to paint a portrait of her. The resulting painting bore relatively little resemblance to how Anne actually looked, which was a factor in the marriage only lasting six months. This phenomenon still happens; a stately home I once visited had a painting of a former owner whose painting was rather different to her real appearance.

Byker Hill is a coalmining song from northeast England. Byker Hill is a suburb of Newcastle, and the oldest known print version dates from 1812. A popular song with folk acts, the song as depicted her is based on the version recorded by The Longest Johns in 2023, where it is sung to the American tune 'Hebrew Children'.