Every place has its legends, but one of the most famous ones is of the Loch Ness Monster from Scotland. The tale is of a large creature named Nessie who roams the Loch Ness in Scotland. Many people have reported seeing the beast, some even taking pictures of it. Some Scottish engines have even seen it, or at least think they had.
Being Scottish themselves, Donald and Douglas often liked to tease smaller engines with the story, although they never really believed the story themselves.
One foggy morning at the Docks, Donald and Douglas were picking up a long train of fuel tankers to take to the Dieselworks.
Billy was also there dropping off some passengers.
Donald smirked and whispered something to Douglas.
Douglas giggled and looked over to Billy.
"Say Billy, have ye heard the tale of the Loch Ness?" asked Douglas earnestly.
"The what?" said a puzzled Billy.
"The Loch Ness Monster. People say there's a beast that roams the waters of the world." replied Donald spookily.
"They say it has giant teeth and huge eyes!" added Douglas; they didn't really know this, but they usually added fake details like that to make it more spooky.
And Billy indeed was spooked.
"I hope it doesn't come after me!" he cried in fear.
Donald and Douglas chuckled.
"Who knows…? Who knows…" said Donald in an eerie tone.
Suddenly Porter pulled up alongside.
"Stop with your tall tales you two. You're scaring the little one!" scolded Porter.
"Och, and what would ye know about stories? Your driver likes to watch scary movies, so I'd think ye would know better," argued Douglas defensively.
Porter rolled his eyes.
"Those movies are fake Douglas. They're not real."
Billy sighed with relief.
"Thank goodness. The tale of Frankenstein freaked me out."
Donald rolled his eyes.
A foreign Scottish Diesel arrived on the scene, delivering some Scottish goods to Sodor.
He looked pale.
"I-I came from Scotland, and I just saw the worst thing I ever saw…"
The Diesel gulped and looked around.
"What is it?" asked Porter.
"It was a giant head peering out of the lake! It looked right at me and spooked my passengers this morning. It was terrible."
Donald looked worriedly to Douglas.
"Are you sure it wasn't something else?" asked Porter in confusion.
"Oh no, I'm postive I saw something. You Sudrians better keep a good look-out."
Billy was now pale and he scurried off.
Porter also puffed away, not believing him.
The Diesel looked around again in fear.
"I hope the creature is friendly. I really do." and he raced off to find a turntable.
Donald and Douglas were surprised.
That afternoon, they told Hank what they heard.
"Do they have any tales like the Loch Ness in America?" asked Donald.
"Well, I'm not sure. There is the tale of Big Foot, but not much about a sea monster." replied the American engine.
"Wait, Big Foot? What's that?" asked Douglas.
Hank frowned.
"I'm afraid I don't know. I hear it's a creature that lives in the snowy mountains somewhere. At least, that's what I heard from my bud."
"What if all these tales are true?" wondered Douglas worriedly, "What if the Loch Ness Monster was real all these years?!"
"Don't be so daft," said Harvey, who had just came back after rescuing Stanley from an accident, "Monsters don't exist."
"That's what they always say…" worried Donald as the twins set off.
Hank looked to Harvey.
"Do you think they're right about their… monster?"
"No, of course not," scoffed Harvey, "I think those two are acting pretty immature if you ask me."
That night, the twins couldn't sleep.
"I'm afraid I'll have nightmares," Douglas said, shivering.
"Don't worry," said his driver, "you won't. I barely have nightmares anymore. Most adults don't."
"But we don't age like you humans do!" argued Donald.
But their crews had already walked away.
Douglas looked over to Donald.
"I can't sleep…"
"Neither can I." sighed Donald.
"Try counting sheep, Mr. Donald," suggested Toad from the goods shed.
But try as the twins might, they couldn't get to sleep.
The next morning, Donald and Douglas felt tired from being up most of the night.
"Oooh, I need sleep," yawned Donald.
His driver was confused.
"Didn't you sleep last night?"
"...no," came the meek reply.
The crew shook their heads in dismay.
Later that day, the twins had to take a train of supplies to Callan Castle, but they were worried.
"The last time we were down there, we got trapped by a landslide." said Donald.
"Don't worry about it," said his fireman.
"You two have been worrying over being near water lately. Is it because of that stupid legend with the monster?" asked Douglas' driver.
"It isn't stupid!" snapped Douglas.
"Well, even if it isn't, we have to get moving or Lord Callan will get cross."
The twins reluctantly agreed.
They chuffed along the misty route as their wheels pounded the rails.
Donald and Douglas felt creeped out by all the shadows that cropped out of nowhere.
"Oooh, what's that?" exclaimed Donald.
"It's a tree branch," mumbled the fireman.
Douglas yelped as an owl hooted and he blew his whistle so loud in paranoia that the owl flew away.
The crew just sighed.
It was late by the time they reached the castle.
Lord Callan was very cross indeed as he waited on the platform
"I thought you two were reliable engines." he scolded, "What happened driver?"
"Our engines had some trouble sleeping last night, and now they're freaked out by the Loch Ness monster." explained Donald's driver.
"The Fat Controller's going to get angry if we are late again," agreed Douglas' driver.
Lord Callan chuckled.
"Oh, that explains it!"
Suddenly out on the lake Douglas saw something.
"Donald! Look!"
Donald peered over the lake to see something coming towards them.
"Losh sakes! Is it..? Could it be...?"
"Och aye! Let's get oot of here!"
Donald and Douglas whistled in terror and they scurried away; their drivers secretly terrified too.
But what emerged from the fog wasn't a monster; instead it was...
"Why, hello Captain! What brings you here?" chuckled Lord Callan.
"We're preparing to rescue anybody in need, whether it's a lost hiker or a raft without its paddles," said Captain proudly.
Meanwhile, Donald and Douglas raced into Knapford Sheds and refused to come out.
They remained in there for the rest of the day.
Harvey and Murdoch had a hard time getting into their sheds that night; when they saw the twins in their berths, they were cross.
"What are you two doing now?" grumbled Harvey.
"The monster is real, we swear! We saw it at Castle Loch!" cried Donald.
"Can't we just do this in a more calm matter? But seriously you two, you never saw a thing. Probably just a shadow." said Murdoch, but the twins trembled with fright and refused to come out.
Harvey groaned.
"It's no use; we'll have to sleep elsewhere."
"Bother." huffed Murdoch as the two went elsewhere to find a place to rest.
The next morning, Billy was heading up the coast along the Norramby line when he saw a giant tail flip around in the ocean water.
"Faster driver, faster!" cried Billy.
Billy sped up quickly and he went so fast he almost crashed at Crovan's Gate.
Rheneas was concerned when Billy bustled in with a terrified look on his face.
"Billy, what's wrong? You look like you just saw a ghost."
"I didn't see that; I saw something far worse!"
"Like what?" yawned Rusty from the shed.
"It was a monster I tell you!"
Rheneas was confused.
"You probably just saw a whale Billy. In all this fog it's hard to see things, and that makes them more scary."
Billy calmed down a bit.
"Thanks Rheneas. That does make me feel a little better."
"No problem Billy. It's what us old engines are made for." joked Rheneas as Billy puffed into the standard gauge shed.
At noon, Billy puffed out of the shed to collect some trucks but found Whiff at the station, looking very scared.
"There's a monster! Help! Help!"
Billy's face turned pale.
"What is it Whiff?" Billy asked.
"A monster! Scruff told me at the dump that Donald and Douglas saw the Loch Ness Monster at Castle Loch!" cried Whiff in alarm.
Billy gasped.
"There IS a monster! Rheneas was wrong! Oh dear, oh dear...!"
Back at Knapford Sheds, Donald and Douglas opened their eyes to find Lord Callan driving up in his car.
"What's wrong?" asked Donald's driver as Lord Callan got out of the car.
Lord Callan laughed.
"Oh nothing at all. Just clearing up a misunderstanding."
"What misunderstanding?" asked Douglas' fireman.
"The one about the Loch Ness Monster," replied Lord Callan.
Donald and Douglas exchanged a confused look.
"What you saw in the lake wasn't a monster at all! It was Captain on patrol."
"What proof do ye have?" Douglas asked stubbornly.
"I have some pictures I took."
Lord Callan showed some photos in a slideshow on his cell phone.
The first photo was of the shadow, and the next photo was of Captain.
"It...has the same shape!" cried Donald sheepishly.
"See? The monster isn't real; it's often just misunderstandings." finished Lord Callan.
Donald and Douglas laughed as they left the shed.
At Tidmouth, the stationmaster flagged them down.
"The Fat Controller has an urgent job for you: you must take a supply train to Great Waterton so they can start repairing the city after the flood."
"Yes sir!" said the twins and they set off to collect the trucks.
At Great Waterton, Billy was hiding in Stanley's shed.
Stanley was annoyed.
"Come on Billy, get out of my shed. I want some rest." grumbled Stanley.
"N-n-no way!" shivered Billy, "I don't want to get eaten by the monster!"
"What monste?" spluttered Stanley.
"Yesterday I saw a whale, but today I heard that Donald and Douglas saw the monster at Castle Loch!"
"But there is no monster!" cried Douglas as the twins puffed into Great Waterton.
"R-r-really? B-b-but Whiff told me that you saw it."
Donald was confused.
"How did Whiff find out?"
"It was probably just a big fish," huffed Stanley, "Now get out of my shed."
"No!"
Stanley was getting more and more frustrated.
"I give up." he groaned.
"What proof do you have that it doesn't exist?!" Billy cried.
"It was Captain we saw, not a monster." said Douglas.
"And what ye saw was a whale I heard too." added Donald.
"Oh... Oh..."
Billy now felt very flustered indeed.
His cheeks grew bright pink.
"It's alright Billy. Sometimes the fear overpowers your common sense." chuckled Stanley.
Billy puffed out of the shed.
"Thanks you three. I won't believe in silly stories anymore." said Billy.
"Neither will we." chortled the twins and that got a chuckle out of everyone.