Lee's Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends
Stories
Grizzly Bear's Picnic
Mabel the white jubilee engine was still adjusting to the news that her owner didn't want her anymore. Teddy Bamm had seen like such a nice man, he had taken in many years earlier and had made her one of his best known engines. The fact he was threatening her and lucky carriage Bucket with scrap if they returned was the saddest thing of all. Days had passed since the Fat Controller told her the news and even though she was sad, it was Sodor that was helping Mabel have a smile on her face.
"This is really special place," she said to Bucket one morning.
"I can't disagree..." smiled the carriage.
Things were relatively normal on Sodor and while Gordon was away with express duty for most of the day, the Fat Controller had given Mabel and Bucket some smaller passenger routes to keep them occupied. She enjoyed the run-out on the line and was grateful to have something to do. It was on these short journeys that she ventured through Henry's Forest and saw the wonders of nature before her. There were so many different shades of green, it was hard for her to take it all in. Home was never this green, it was very grey with industry. Mabel loved this and after dropping off some passengers she saw Henry at the station on a rest.
"Your forest is lovely." she said in her husky voice as she pulled up alongside the big green engine.
"Why thankyou." said Henry. "I think it's the most beautiful thing in the world. I just hope everyone loves it as much."
"I do." said Mabel.
"And me." chipped in Bucket. Henry was pleased.
"There's some excited schoolchildren I'm going to be giving a nature tour of the forest too later today as well. I can't wait." Henry then beamed with excitement. Then, just as he was about to tell the pair more about the forest and the schoolchildren's nature tour, the Fat Controller appeared.
"Henry," he boomed. "There's been a slight change of plan with things today. We need you to take an important freight load to the other side of the Island immediately."
"But sir!" protested Henry. "What about my nature tour?"
"Well," said the Fat Controller. "This is where I thought I'd ask Mabel to cover. She's been taking passengers all day and knows the route to your forest well. Plus, she has Bucket. It's a match made in heaven if you ask me." he added. Mabel looked shocked but honoured at the same time.
"Thank you sir." she said. "But are you sure? The tour is Henry's job."
"My decision is final." boomed the Fat Controller. "The children will love it and you will too." he added before leaving. Mabel beamed.
"Can you believe it Bucket? We're doing a nature tour." she said to her beloved carriage.
"There's no need to rub it in." said Henry sadly as he chugged away to the important freight train. Mabel immediately felt sorry but couldn't wait for the nature tour to take place.
The schoolchildren going on the tour had been waiting for this trip for some time and to make things that bit better for them, their teacher had arranged for a picnic to take place during a rest break. The children could bring teddy bears with them for the picnic to make sure all the food was eaten and all their belongings were safely packed away and not lost. When the small group of 15 children arrived at the station, Mabel and Bucket saw a wide array of teddy bears being held by the children. Some were dark brown, others were light brown, while others had clothes and bow-ties on. Some even had hair and hats. The sight was quite unusual.
"All aboard children." Mabel then called out to the waiting crowd but the children looked confused.
"I thought we were going on Henry?" one asked the teacher.
"Where's the green engine?" another wondered. The teacher too was confused and was about to consult a guard at the station when Bucket decided to explain.
"There was a last minute change of plan, we are very sorry." he said calmly and with authority. "I am Bucket and this engine is my great friend Mabel. She will take you on the tour." he added as both he and Mabel beamed widely.
"Mabel?" said one girl. "That's my mummy's name." Mabel didn't know whether that was a good thing or not but again urged the children to get aboard. A guard's whistle soon followed and it wasn't long before Mabel and Bucket were off. The sun was shining brightly and the sky was bright blue. Mabel loved this side of Sodor. Back home, the sky was normally full of cloud and was grey in colour, partly due to all the industrial buildings, so all of this was quite the marvel.
"It's so wonderful, isn't it?" Mabel asked Bucket.
"I can't think of a better place we've been." said the carriage who was trying to stay calm while children were being loud and noisy inside him. Despite his outer appearance of being a little scruffy, Bucket's interior was top notch and in spic and span condition. He feared the schoolchildren might make a mess and was trying to urge Mabel to go slow to ensure no food or drink was spilled.
"I can't go too slow, Bucket!" Mabel called back as she whistled loudly to other passing engines. "There's a forest to see."
"Fine." agreed Bucket as he hoped the children weren't too messy. To his relief, the children were well behaved as their teacher ensured no food and drink was ate or drank along the way. The day was going great for the pair and as they steamed towards the forest, Mabel's smile widened even further.
"I love it here." she said quietly to ensure no-one else heard her. "I really do."
It wasn't long before Mabel reached Henry's Forest and for the children onboard Bucket they all looked to their windows in awe at all the trees and greenery on show.
"It's wonderful, isn't it children?" asked the teacher.
"It's like lots and lots of broccoli." mused one child. It was an observation that made both Mabel and Bucket chuckle as they pulled in slowly to their siding. There was a small wooden platform now erected in the forest at this siding which had been used for other similar tour events. For Mabel and Bucket, it was now time to rest while the teacher and the children went off on their tour.
"We'll be back within an hour." promised the teacher as she led the children away. Mabel's crew took this as a sign to stretch their legs.
"There's a small cafe just down from here, we'll have a cup of tea and some cake and be back after that." said Mabel's driver as he and the fireman waved both her and Bucket goodbye.
"So long as they don't bring the cake back and get it everywhere inside me, I'm fine." Bucket remarked jokingly.
"They wouldn't do such a thing." smiled Mabel. She kept looking around in awe at the forest and was loving every second if it. In the distance she could see the teacher and the children looking at different trees and could hear birds tweeting ever so loudly. Everything was so different for Mabel and she couldn't help hide her ever-widening smile. But then as the beaming engine surveyed the scene something caught her eye.
"Bucket..." she said quite seriously.
"Yes Mabel." called back the carriage.
"What kind of animals live in forests?" Mabel asked.
"Many different ones, why'd you ask?" wondered Bucket. Mabel didn't respond but her eyes kept lingering on some prints in the ground up ahead. They didn't look like footprints from her crew and weren't from the teacher or schoolchildren either. These were shaped differently. There was one main round bit in the ground with five individual points sticking out that. On these points were even sharper points, almost like claws. Mabel didn't know what to think, but thought something was possibly lurking in the woods…
The hour came and went and it wasn't long before the teacher and children arrived back and clambered into Bucket once more. However, Mabel's crew hadn't returned from their cafe visit.
"Is there a problem?" asked the teacher.
"A slight one." admitted Mabel. "I can't move without my crew." The teacher was clearly annoyed but she got even more annoyed when one of the children tugged at her crimson cardigan.
"Miss." said the child. "I think I've left my teddy at the picnic site. I can't find him anywhere."
"Oh Maisie." sighed the teacher. "I asked everyone to make sure they brought everything back."
"I'm sorry." apologised the little girl.
"I'll go and fetch it." the teacher then said but just as she was about to open the passenger door on Bucket, a growl was heard in the distance. Then there was another. The teacher closed Bucket's door firmly to and made sure the children were seated safely.
"What was that?" asked one child.
"Just my stomach." the teacher lied but then Mabel let out a shriek louder than she realised she could, It startled everyone onboard Bucket and even the carriage himself.
"B..bb...bb...bear!" Mabel then cried. "A bear!" she added as the children immediately peered out of the passenger windows and saw that out of nowhere had appeared a bear in front of Mabel. It was big and brown and was looking over the white jubilee engine with considerable interest.
"Just stay calm." Bucket then tried to tell his friend quietly and calmly but Mabel was struggling to hold her own.
"How can I stay calm?" she asked. "There's a bear in front of me. A big bear. It might eat me." she added as the bear sniffed her before moving round to Bucket.
"Oh….bother…." said Bucket as suddenly he got very nervous. Onboard, some of the children were getting understandably scared too while others couldn't grasp the situation. The teacher nervously looked out of the window and saw the bear was eyeing up the carriage. She feared the worst but told the children to stay down and out of sight of the bear.
"But it's just a big teddy bear, isn't it?" said one of the children.
"Not exactly David." replied the teacher as she tried to maintain authority by telling the children to stay down once again. They could hear the bear outside Bucket and could hear its deep breaths. It was very loud and was getting louder and louder. Bucket was especially nervous.
"Just stay away, just stay away." he muttered under his breath but the bear was seemingly ignoring Bucket's wishes and moved closer and closer still. The bear sniffed loudly again before letting out one growl that scared nearly everyone.
"Come on driver." Mabel then wished, hoping for her crews' return. "Please, now would be nice. I don't want to be eaten." she added as the bear raised a paw towards one of Bucket's windows. The sight of it scared the teacher as she screamed loudly, shrieking even louder than Mabel had done. It was this scream that seemed to scare the bear as it dropped its arm immediately and went back to looking over Bucket once more. After one last sniff, the bear looked over the scared engine, carriage and its occupants one last time before slowly making its way towards the luscious green forest. In a matter of seconds, the big bulking bear was lost to the sight of trees and greenery all around.
"Has the giant teddy gone?" one girl asked the teacher.
"I think so…." sighed the teacher with relief. "I really hope so."
A few minutes later, Mabel's crew returned to see the sight of their engine and carriage looking petrified while the passengers had either been crying or were still crying.
"Where were you?" Mabel asked.
"Helping an elderly lady into an ambulance." explained the driver. "She fell and hit her head in the cafe. We waited for the ambulance. What on earth have we missed?" he then asked. Mabel and Bucket explained. The crew couldn't believe it.
"A bear?" said the fireman. "Really?"
"Yes." called out the teacher who overheard their doubts. "A very big bear, so if you don't mind taking us back to the station. We've had quite the day."
"Of course madam." obliged Mabel's driver, but his attention was then caught by a little girl.
"Excuse me," she said. "Before we go, can you get my teddy? I left him over there but I'm scared the big bear will come back."
"No problem." said the driver who quickly fetched the bear who rather unimaginatively had a name-tag on him saying his name was Mr Bear. Once reunited, Mabel's driver returned to Mabel and got her ready to leave. He could sense she still wasn't best pleased with him though. "I am sorry about being late back." he apologised.
"Apology accepted." smiled Mabel as soon the nature tour left Henry's Forest. It wasn't long before she and Bucket were back at the station and despite the experience, Mabel still loved the forest and was more than relieved to see Gordon at the station when she arrived.
"Have a nice day?" he asked.
"Interesting…." said Bucket. "Definitely different."
"The children quite a handful I take it then?" Gordon wondered.
"No," said Mabel. "They were fine. It was the bear that was more of a problem, wasn't it Bucket?"
"Bear?" asked Gordon.
"Oh, we'll explain at the sheds later on. It's quite the story. The children went for a teddy bear's picnic but we almost became a grizzly bear's picnic. It was nothing really…." Mabel smiled, but deep down she was still a little bit scared.
