Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to HiT Entertainment. All OCs belong to me.

Through Sam's Eyes

Monster Mania

Series 11 Episode 3

If I ever see that news crew again, it'll be too soon, I thought crossly as I slammed Jupiter's cab door closed a little harder than I'd intended. I exhaled heavily as I leaned back against it.

"Stardom getting to you, is it?" Penny asked me smugly.

"Don't start," I muttered under my breath. "You know I can't stand the media."

"Well, I think we all did a good job today," Ellie said as she joined us.

I cast her a longsuffering glare before I went over to the lockers to take off my firefighting uniform.

"What's up with Sam?" I overheard Ellie ask Penny.

"He doesn't like the media filming him, especially during an emergency," Penny explained. "I think he's just camera-shy."

I scoffed quietly, hoping they wouldn't hear me. I hung up my uniform neatly, and then I headed upstairs to report to Station Officer Steele. He looked up when I knocked softly on the open door of his office.

"Ah! You're back then."

"Yes, sir," I said as I crossed the room to his desk. "The grass fire is out, and the investigation team from Newtown arrived before we left. They'll send us a copy of their report."

"Excellent. So, it was all routine then?"

"Yes, except for our unwelcome guests."

Station Officer Steele raised an eyebrow, and he waited for me to continue.

"A news crew from Newtown arrived while we were containing the fire."

"That's the third time this week."

"I know. I suspect that they've tuned into our radio. I don't have any proof of that though, but how else could they know when we're dealing with an emergency?"

"I agree. It's your fault, you know."

"My fault?" I exclaimed. "How could it be my fault?"

"You're too famous now. Ever since you exposed Buck Douglas last year, everyone wants to know more about you."

I groaned inwardly. "I sometimes wish I hadn't exposed him."

Station Officer Steele stood up, and he placed a caring hand on my shoulder. "It's too late for that now, Sam."

We both heard someone shouting outside. Frowning, I went over to the window and I looked down. Ellie was outside, shouting crossly into her mobile phone. I tapped my knuckle against the glass to get her attention. She glanced up and immediately stopped shouting as soon as she saw me. Satisfied that she'd received my subtle message to keep the noise down, I returned my attention to Station Officer Steele.

"We need to do something about that news crew before they cause an incident to turn into a disaster," I said.

Station Officer Steele nodded in agreement. "I'll phone the network and order them to stop following you. If they don't, we'll alert the police."

I sighed heavily. I knew it was the best we could do for now. "I'll go and fill out the incident report now."

"Good. Oh, Sam?"

I paused in the doorway. "Yes, sir?"

"Could you ask Elvis to make me a cup of tea, please?"

"Of course, sir," I replied, smiling.

…

Twenty minutes later, I'd finished the incident report. After I'd placed it on Station Officer Steele's desk, I returned upstairs to find Penny, Ellie and Elvis sitting around the TV, watching the midday news. I groaned when I saw news footage of myself on the screen.

Surely these journalists have better things to report on? Must have been a slow news day.

"It was a fierce blaze, but fortunately Fireman Sam was there to save the day," the newsreader said.

Yup, slow news day all right…

"You look brilliant, Sam!" Elvis exclaimed proudly.

"Well, I think Jupiter looks pretty good too," I replied, hoping to throw the spotlight off myself. I needn't have bothered though.

"You'll be on next, Penny," Ellie whispered.

The footage cut to Elvis holding a beater. "Well, um, er, the fire was spreading, so I hit it with a floppy shovel."

"It's me," Elvis said in stunned surprise. He placed his hands down on the back of the sofa and leaned forwards between Penny and Ellie. "It's me! I'm on the telly!" And he whooped with joy.

The cameraman must have filmed Elvis while I'd been having words with the reporter. That was just before I threatened to drown the camera in the river if they didn't go away.

Ellie shook her head in disgust. "Where are you, Penny?"

Penny pointed to the TV. "Look, there I am! Standing behind Elvis' floppy shovel…"

The footage changed to a view of the lake and the railway station, showing people getting off the train. "And finally, monster mania has come to Pontypandy, with some new sightings of the legendary Pontypandyness monster."

I glanced worryingly at Elvis. Not this again! "Where was I when this started?"

"Watching the World Cup with the rest of us," Penny muttered.

I shrugged indifferently. "Oh. Well, first things come first."

Ellie leapt up and she turned off the TV. "That floppy shovel was on the telly more than Penny was!" she snapped.

"The camera loved my floppy shovel," Elvis retorted.

"Not as much as it would have loved Penny!" Ellie really looked cross now.

"Er, it really doesn't matter, Ellie," Penny said, trying to diffuse the situation. "What matters is that we put out the fire."

Hear, hear!

"It does matter!" Ellie protested. "You should be on the news, Penny! Not Elvis' floppy shovel!

Realising that Ellie wasn't about to stop, I placed a hand on Penny's shoulder. "Penny? Maybe you and I should go and give Jupiter a wash?"

"I'm thinking that's a very good idea, Sam," Penny replied as she stood up. Together, we made our way downstairs to the appliance bay.

"Okay, Penny. What's going on with Ellie?" I demanded to know.

"Nothing, Sam."

"Nothing? She's been in a mood all day, and then she went on and on about Elvis being on TV instead of you!"

"She just overreacted. It's nothing serious."

I stepped in front of her to block her path. "Penny, I'm speaking Leading Firefighter to Leading Firefighter here. Our primary responsibility is crew moral, and if there's an issue that's going to affect someone's work ethic, I need to know about it."

Penny exhaled in defeat. "You're right, Sam, I'm sorry. She did ask me to keep it a secret though."

I folded my arms across my chest. "It won't go any further than here unless it's a health and safety issue. Then, I'm obligated to report it."

"It's not that, Sam. She broke up with her boyfriend last night, and this morning she got a call from his lawyer demanding that she returns everything he gave to her, including the car he bought for her. He's also being paying for her rent here, so that's going to stop too."

"So, that's why she was shouting into her phone earlier."

Penny nodded. "I've told her that she needs to contact a lawyer, but she won't because she thinks it'll cost too much."

"I know our wages aren't brilliant, but they are enough for us to live on," I mused. "Especially since we do have access to a lot of services within the fire service. I'll contact Mr Harrison in London and see if he can help Ellie the way he helped me."

"Sam, you promised not to get involved."

"No, I didn't. I just said it'll go no further than me. I'll talk to Ellie. She has more rights in this kind of situation than she realises. In the meantime, I don't want her responding to any high-risk emergencies, is that understood?"

"Perfectly, Sam. Now, are we going to wash Jupiter or not?"

I handed her a bucket and I grabbed one of my own. Then, we went outside to fill them up at the tap. We'd just returned inside the appliance bay to start washing Jupiter, when the alarms sounded.

"Norman Price is trapped underwater in a submarine looking for the Pontypandyness monster!" Station Officer Steele announced over the loudspeakers. "And it's filling up with water."

I turned to face Ellie and Elvis as they slid down the fireman's pole. "Ellie? Elvis? You two take Bessie and meet us at the lake. We'll take Hydrus."

"Rodger that, Sam!" Ellie and Elvis responded with a salute.

I went over to the rack to put on my firefighting uniform. "And Penny? You might need your scuba gear for this one."

"Roger that, Sam." And Penny went to get it. "Are you going to contact Ben to be my back-up diver?"

"No," I replied as I fastened the clips on my jacket. "The guidelines state that divers only need a back-up for dives deeper than ten metres. The lake is only eight metres deep. Don't forget to wear your DSU though, just in case."

"I've already go it here, Sam."

"Good. Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"Then let's go." I put on my life vest and helmet before I hurried over to Hydrus. I climbed into her first, and Penny handed her oxygen cylinder to me. Then, she also scrambled aboard. Once we'd fastened our seatbelts, I started Hydrus, and I drove her out of the appliance bay, sirens wailing.

As I drove Hydrus at full speed towards the mountains, Penny put on her scuba diving gear. By the time we arrived at the lake, she was ready to go. I drove Hydrus straight into the lake and over to where the satnav told me the submarine was located. Penny patted my left shoulder to indicate to me that she was good to dive. I stopped Hydrus directly above the submarine.

Penny dived in backwards over the side, taking a rope down with her. The rope was securely attached to Hydrus. Now, all I could do was wait until Penny surfaced. I was a bit concerned about her diving alone, even in shallow water.

After about a minute, Penny surfaced. She gave me the 'okay' signal with her fingers. I accelerated Hydrus to full power. The engine responded with a powerful thrust that churned up the water, but it wasn't enough. The rope tightened, but I could feel that the weight of the submarine was too heavy for Hydrus' engine.

"I can't move it, Penny!" And I stopped pushing the levers forward.

"We need to hurry, Sam! It's filling up fast! What about Phoenix?"

"Phoenix would be strong enough," I agreed. "But we'll never get her up here in time. Hmm…" I thought quickly, going through the different vehicles we had access to. "There is one other thing that might be strong enough to lift up that submarine." I pressed the 'talk' button on my radio. "Sam to Tom. We need Wallaby Two at the lake, urgently."

"Copy that, Sam," Tom replied. "I'm on my way!"

While we waited for Tom to arrive with Wallaby Two, Ellie and Elvis arrived. They started herding the spectators away from the edge of the lake. I could see that the group consisted of the entire Flood family, Mrs Chen and Lilly, Trevor, Gareth and Sarah. I knew that Charlie and Bronwyn had taken James to Newtown for a dental appointment, which was why he wasn't there.

Joe ran over to the group. "Where's my Submaster Two-thousand?"

"I think it might be at the bottom of the lake, Joe," Elvis told him sheepishly.

"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!" Joe moaned.

At that moment, I heard Wallaby Two approaching. Tom flew in overhead until he was hovering directly above Hydrus. The wind sheer from the rotor blades whipped up the water, creating small waves.

"Lower the winch, Tom!" I instructed over the radio.

"Lowing winch now, Sam."

I managed to catch the end of the winch, and I handed it to Penny. She made another dive, taking the winch with her. Half a minute later, a green light flashed on Hydrus' dash panel. "We're ready, Tom," I radioed.

Tom slowly started to fly Wallaby Two straight up to a higher altitude. When I saw the top of the submarine break through the water's surface, I carefully steered Hydrus as close as possible to it. As soon as Hydrus was close enough, I leapt onto the submarine and I opened the hatch. Norman was already there, so I grabbed his hand and pulled him out.

"Don't worry, Norman," I reassured him. "You're safe now."

Everyone on shore cheered as I helped Norman into Hydrus.

"Oh! Thank you, Fireman Sam," Norman said gratefully. I handed him a life vest. Tom and Wallaby Two pulled the submarine clear out of the water.

"That was a really dangerous thing you did today, Norman," Penny admonished as she started to climb back into Hydrus.

"I know," Norman replied as I helped Penny. "I'm sorry. I won't do it again. But, I did get some very good film of you, Penny." And he pointed to his camcorder.

Penny removed her goggles. "Hmm… You won't get round us that easily, Norman Price."

"No, Norman," I agreed. "I think you're going to be in a lot of trouble when you get home."

I held out my hand and, with a disappointed whine, Norman handed over the camcorder. Penny sat down, and she began removing her scuba diving gear.

"But I might have a use for this," I added as I held the camcorder up higher. After all, the best way to fight the media is to give them exactly what they want.

Hearing a commotion on the shore, I looked over. Everyone was gathered around Ellie, who was lying on the grass on her side. She looked like she was struggling to breathe. Helen was already with her, but she looked like she could use some help.

"Hold on!" I instructed Penny and Norman. I gunned Hydrus' engine and I drove her out of the water. After I'd parked her, I leapt out and I sprinted over to where Ellie was lying. "What happened?"

"She started complaining about a pain in her chest, and then she collapsed," Helen explained as I knelt beside her. Ellie was conscious, but she was shivering and clutching at her chest. Her breathing was coming in short wheezes. I leaned over, so I could whisper in Helen's ear.

"Panic attack?"

"I think so," Helen whispered in reply.

Glancing up, I saw that everyone was standing around us still. I needed to take charge of the situation. "Can everyone stand well back, please? Give her some room to breathe."

Reluctantly, everyone took a few steps back.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Joe offered.

"Sorry, Joe," Helen replied. "Just stay out of our way, please." She looked at me. "Let's get her inside the Mountain Activity Centre, Sam. I can assess her better in there."

Nodding, I gently scooped Ellie up in my arms. She was alert enough to place her arms around my neck for extra support. "I…I'm sorry about this, Sam," she whispered.

"Just concentrate on getting your breathing back under control," I told her kindly.

When we entered the Mountain Activity Centre, I sat Ellie down on a chair. Helen grabbed a first aid kit out of a cupboard, and she joined us. She immediately began assessing Ellie's condition.

"Sam? Can you fetch Ellie some water, please?"

I took a bottle of water out of the fridge, and I removed the cap before I handed it to Ellie. She took a couple of sips. I crouched down in front of her.

"Now, Ellie, haven't you got something to tell me?"

Ellie stubbornly shook her head.

"You don't want to tell me why you were shouting into your phone earlier? Or why you've been taking your anger out on Elvis?"

Ellie looked at me in surprise. "I didn't think you'd noticed."

Helen nearly laughed. "You've been here long enough to know that you can't hide anything from Sam. He's good at hiding things from us, but you'll never be able to hide anything from him."

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks, Helen."

Ellie sighed in defeat. "I suppose you'll find out soon anyway. My boyfriend broke up with me last night, and his lawyer contacted me this morning demanding that I return everything he gave to me, including my car. He's also cut off my rent payments, so I could lose my house. Then, to cap it all, Elvis stole Penny's thunder on TV. I've had enough of men right now."

I nodded in understanding. "Would you like to talk to Penny instead of me then?"

"What? No! I… Well, you know everything now, so it really doesn't matter anymore."

"Yes, it does matter," I told her firmly. "Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to contact my lawyer, and we'll see if he can help you. He's a fire service lawyer, so there'll be no cost to you. Perks of the job and all that."

"I didn't know we could do that," Ellie whispered sheepishly.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of everything. We can even get you rent assistance if you need it."

Ellie couldn't hide the relieved expression that crossed her face. Helen placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Feeling better now?"

"Yes, thank you," Ellie replied with a small nod.

"I think you should take some time off work while you get yourself sorted out," I advised.

"But, I need the money," Ellie protested.

"I'll discuss it with Station Officer Steele and we'll see what we can do for you," I promised. "I'm sure you can still get some pay if you're on compassionate leave. You also get paid during your holiday period, so that's an alternative option."

Ellie breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "Thank you, Sam. I really appreciate that. Sorry I collapsed. I just had no idea what to do, and the stress got to me."

"I understand. We'd better get you back to town," I said. "I think you should come back with me in Hydrus. Penny can go back with Elvis."

Helen helped Ellie stand up. "Thank you. I am feeling so much better now."

"Good. Let's go."

…

About two hours later, I drove Mercury into Newtown. My first task was to drop off some forms for Ellie to Chief Fire Officer Boyce. I'd decided to hand them to him personally, to ensure they didn't get lost in cyberspace. By delivering them personally, Chief Fire Officer Boyce would understand that the matter was urgent. I knew that the fire service would do everything they could to help Ellie.

After I'd given the forms to Chief Fire Officer Boyce, I drove Mercury around to the Newtown TV network. It was only a small, local news channel, broadcasting only to the towns in the area. I entered the building carrying a file containing a couple of forms. They would be the safe-guard in my plan.

"I want to see the manager, please," I told the receptionist.

"Do you have an appointment?" she asked without looking up from her computer.

"No, but I'll make it worth his time. Tell him that Fireman Sam is here to see him, personally."

The receptionist finally looked up at me and I saw her jaw drop open slightly. I held up the SD card I'd removed from Norman's camcorder.

"I have a news story for him."

The receptionist quickly picked up her phone, and she dialled a number. "Mr Coulson? There's someone here to see you." She lowered her voice slightly. "It's Fireman Sam." A few seconds later, she hung up the phone. "He'll see you now. Third floor, second door on the left."

"Thank you." And I headed towards the lift.

A few minutes later, I entered the manager's office. Mr Coulson was sitting behind his desk, but he stood up when I entered.

"Fireman Sam! It's an honour to have you visit."

"I'm not visiting," I told him firmly. "I am here on business."

Mr Coulson gestured for me to sit down, so I did. He also sat down. "What kind of business?"

"I have something for you, but I will only give it to you on one condition."

"What's that?"

"You order your journalists to stop stalking myself and my colleagues."

Mr Coulson sniggered and shook his head. "Can't do that, sorry. You're a local hero, and I need your news stories to keep this station going."

I frowned. "I know you're just trying to do your job, but I also need to be free to do mine. The last thing I want to have to do is to rescue your news crew because they got into trouble while trying to film me."

Mr Coulson's smile faded. "What do you have for me?"

I held up the SD card. "A news story about a rescue that was carried out by my team today."

"If it's just your crew, I'm not interested. Like I said, you're a local hero. Everyone wants to know everything about you."

"Fine. But, if you don't agree to my terms, I'll go straight to the police to have a restraining order put on this entire network."

Mr Coulson sat up alertly. "You can't do that! Freedom of the press…"

"If you'll just look at my terms, I think you'll find them more favourable than the police." And I handed my file over to him.

I waited patiently for several minutes while Mr Coulson read my agreement form. Finally, he looked up at me.

"How did you know about the radio?"

I shrugged. "Educated guess. I figured there had to be a way for you to know about the emergencies almost as soon as we did. So, are you going to agree to my terms, or do I have to go to the police?"

Mr Coulson sighed. "I don't have much choice, do I?"

I shook my head. "I want you off my back, but at the same time, I want to keep everyone happy."

"And you won't get upset if we only cover major incidents as news stories?"

I nodded. "I don't have any problems with that, because those are genuine news stories. A small grassfire isn't."

"Fair enough." Mr Coulson picked up a pen and he signed both copies of the agreement. I countersigned them, and then I handed one of the copies back to him.

"Thank you. Now, before I give you the SD card, I want that radio please."

Rather reluctantly, Mr Coulson stood up and he crossed the room to a cupboard. He removed a two-way radio from inside it. "There you go," he said, placing it down on the desk in front of me.

"Thank you. And here is the SD card."

Mr Coulson took it from me. I gathered everything up as I prepared to leave. "Oh, there is just one more thing you can do for me, Mr Coulson."

Mr Coulson groaned. "Oh, good grief! What is it?"

I smirked.

…

At the Pontypandy Fire Station that evening, I ensured that everyone, except for Station Officer Steele, was gathered around the TV set in time for the evening news. Arnold had arrived for night duty with Station Officer Steele and Elvis, so he joined us too.

"Right! Time to watch the news," I announced smugly.

Ellie glanced up at Elvis. "This better not be about you again, Elvis," she said quietly.

Elvis cringed in response.

"Well, let's see, shall we?"

I turned the TV on just in time for the main headline. "Today's local tourist spot, Pontypandy Lake, was the scene of a dramatic rescue. Luckily, once again, Fireman Sam was on had to save the day…"

I had to bite my bottom lip as I watched footage of myself helping Norman out of the submarine. I had no idea where they'd got that footage from, but my best guess was that Mandy had filmed it on her mobile phone and sent it into the network. Or, she probably uploaded it online.

"…well, this time he tells us he wasn't the real hero." The footage changed to show the underwater film that Norman had taken. "It was Firefighter Penny Morris' underwater bravery that made this rescue possible."

We all cheered and applauded, while poor Penny cringed and blushed.

"Well done, Penny!" Ellie exclaimed.

"Yes, Penny," Elvis agreed. "You look even better than the floppy shovel!"

"Oh, shush you lot!"

"And what's more, we may have had a genuine sighting of the legendary Pontypandyness monster." The footage froze on the tail of a creature swimming some distance behind Penny.

"What?" I had no idea that had been on there! I couldn't quite believe what I was seeing. It looked like a whale's tail, but there were some bumps running down the creature's spine. I've seen that tail somewhere before…

Ellie gasped. "Is that…?"

"Could it be…?" Arnold whimpered fearfully.

"It looks like monster mania is set to continue in Pontypandy."

I turned off the TV. "Well, whatever it is, I think we'd better be on standby, and uh, nobody tell Norman Price."

'MUUUUUUM!"

I froze when I heard Norman screaming outside.

"They've spotted the monster!"

Penny and I went over to the window. We looked out in time to see Norman go sprinting past on the path across the street,

"Mum! Can you give me a lift up to the lake?"

Penny sighed, and she gave me a friendly nudge with her elbow. "Too late!"

"Oh, and also, do we have an aqualung?" Norman continued shouting as he sprinted off into the distance.

I shrugged indifferently. "I think I'll sign off and go home now. Hopefully, Dilys will keep Norman inside tonight. He's already been rescued once today."

"Mmm," Penny agreed. "And I don't fancy being woken up at midnight to go diving for him again."

"Goodnight, Sam!" my colleagues called as I left the room.

After I'd signed off from duty, I went home. I found a frozen pepperoni pizza in my freezer, so I decided to have that for dinner. While it was cooking, I got out my own camcorder, tripod and digital camera. I ensured that of the cameras' batteries had been charged, and that they both contained SD cards.

If I'm right about this creature, it could be dangerous. I'd better make sure Norman never finds out. It might try to hurt him if he's not careful. And, if I do manage to capture this creature on film, I won't show anyone else. I'll just enjoy it as it's supposed to be – wild and free.

I ate my dinner slowly and waited until it was completely dark before I set off towards the mountains carrying my cameras, tripod and emergency backpack. I knew it would've been easier to take Mercury, but I didn't want anyone asking questions. Even though I knew the woods and mountains around Pontypandy better than anyone else, I knew better than to go wandering alone at night without any emergency supplies. I wore my headlight torch, which gave me adequate light to see by. It was a full moon too, so that helped a lot.

It took me about an hour to hike to the lake. When I arrived, the place was deserted. I walked around the lake to the jetty. The lake was as still as a sheet of glass. I put my equipment down and snapped a photo of the moonlight reflecting off the lake.

It's a perfect night for myths. Lucky it's not Friday the 13th, or I could expect to see ghosts!

I set up my camcorder. Once it was recording, I took a large de-frosted chicken out of my backpack. After I'd removed it from the plastic wrap, I tied a thick piece of string around its legs.

I hope it likes meat… And with that, I threw the chicken out into the lake as far as I could throw it. When it splashed into the water, I tied the loose end of the string to the jetty. Then, I sat down on the jetty with my camera in hand, waiting.

It seemed like an eternity before I saw the water's surface start to churn, but it was probably only about fifteen minutes. I held my camera up, and I pressed the button. I'd put the setting onto 'shutter priority', so the camera started taking heaps of photos in rapid succession. I was glad I did that, because at that moment, a dark-grey horse-like creature leapt vertically out of the water, snatching up the chicken in its jaws. It exhaled through its nostrils before it dove back down into the water and disappeared. The last thing I saw was its whale-like tail disappearing beneath the surface. Within seconds, the water was eerily calm again.

I stopped the recording on my camcorder before I looked at the stills I'd captured on my camera. I smiled when I recognised what the strange creature was.

Ceffyl Dŵr. A Welsh water-horse.