Hank The Hero

It was another day in the Great Big Harbour. The tugboats were doing their usual jobs and Hank liked doing more jobs than anyone else.

But Hank ran so fast, he collided with Rebecca, slamming her into a dock. "Ouch!" cried Rebecca. Luckily, no serious damage was done to her. "Sorry," said Hank nervously.

"Next time, watch where you're going!" scolded Rebecca sternly and Hank set off. Right now, Hank was to tow Bonavista the little salvage barge.

"Good morning Hank," she said as Hank pulled Bonavista away. As soon as they got to their destination, Hank stopped suddenly. "Oh! Argh!" cried Bonavista.

Constance was there. "A big container had fallen off a ship coming in the harbour last night," she explained, "You have to use the crane on the barge to raise it up."

"Sure," agreed Hank. Hank got Bonavista into place and she used her crane to grab the container. In a few minutes, the barge had raised the container up. Hank was so excited that he banged into Bonavista so hard that her crane cable broke and the container fell back into the ocean.

"Oops," said Hank, meekly. Constance looked at Hank crossly. "Now Bonavista will have to go get a new cable!" she said crossly. Hank felt nervous. "Oh dear," he said to himself. And he rushed away.

Hank sped right past Theodore who was towing Guysborough, the grumpy garbage barge. Theodore reversed his engine and gave Guysborough a real hard bump. "OWW!" howled Guysborough.

It caused his garbage to jump up and down and a banana peel flew right onto George. "Hey!" he shouted. But Hank was already far away to hear. Later, Hank was towing Scally the cargo ship into the harbour with Foduck.

"Hank," said Foduck, "Be careful around here." But Hank didn't pay any attention. He was full of excitement. But there was extreme danger ahead.

First, there was a loud thud. Then it became a crashing sound. And then it became the horrible sound of ripping steel. "Something happening!" cried Scally in alarm.

"Stop!" cried Foduck in alarm. Hank didn't pay any attention to Foduck and pushed the ship right into the obstacle. Foduck sprayed Hank with his fire hose to get his attention.

"What's happened?" Hank asked. "That ship is damaged!" Foduck shouted. Then Scally turned over on the two tugs. "Action!" cried Foduck as he pushed the ship, stopping it from turning completely over.

Then, with a loud noise, Scally sank, but not too far down. Foduck checked out what the ship ran into. "Well, I say!" he said at last, "An underwater boulder." "What's a boulder?" Hank asked.

"Boulders are giant round rocks," exclaimed Foduck, "And this one fell into the ocean and wounded up here. They're like rocks so they're extreme dangers to ships. However, boulders are not attached to the bottom of the ocean like rocks." "Can you like about things when I'm not sinking?!" cried Scally.

"Hank, stay here," said Foduck, "I'll go get help." Foduck raced off. Hank felt bad about what happened to the ship. After Foduck brought Bobby Barge and Shelburne barge to raise Scally up, Hank decided to drift off for a while.

Just then, he heard Theodore's whistle. He was towing in Cabot, the cargo ship. "Hi Hank," said Theodore, "What have you been doing?" "Causing nothing but trouble," Hank answered, sadly. Theodore asked Hank what happened.

Hank told Theodore what he had done. "Sorry that happened," Theodore said after Hank left. Theodore continued towing in the cargo ship, but he kept thinking about Hank. Theodore was thinking so much about Hank, that he didn't keep a good lookout.

A boat speeded by Theodore and then, it was right in his path. Hey get out of my way!" shouted Cabot.

The boat didn't get out of the way, so Theodore pushed the ship towards the right, out of the boat's way. "Wrong way!" shouted Cabot. The boat thought it was a joke. Cabot was out of control and heading towards Lily lighthouse on Wily's Island.

"Turn back! Turn back!" cried Lily in alarm. "I can't!" cried Cabot. The ship heavy with cargo for Theodore to turn around. Then, with a loud crash, Cabot ran aground the rocks.

Theodore snapped his cables as Cabot landed on top of him. Theodore strained to keep him steady, but the ship was too heavy.

Back at the great ocean dock, Hank, still sad, floated silently in his dock. Emily asked to see if he was okay. "I've been too careless," Hank said sadly, "I've caused nothing but trouble." "Hank," said Emily as soft as she could, "You just need to watch what you're doing. You were just going at it too fast."

Hank sighed as the Dispatcher turned to face them. "I think Emily is right," he said, "You just need to watch what you're doing. Just focus on one thing. Then you won't be so careless."

Hank thought about what the Dispatcher said, until his radio sounded. "There is an emergency," he announced, "A cargo ship has ran aground an Theodore is in trouble." Hank suddenly raced his engine.

"Hank," the Dispatcher said, only to find Hank racing off to the rescue. "Theodore!" he shouted, "I'm coming!" Theodore was having a hard time. Cabot was so heavy, that he was pushing Theodore in the water.

Theodore had to vroom his engine like George so that he doesn't sink. If water overflowed into him, he would sink. "Help!" cried Cabot. Theodore threw all of his towropes and even his anchor to keep the ship secured.

But he was still being pushed downward. The ship kept slipping off the rocks and the towropes weren't strong enough as they were beginning to break. "Hold on!" shouted Theodore. But Cabot kept slipping.

Then, one of Theodore's towropes broke. Cabot slipped further. If all of the towropes break, Cabot will end up smashing Theodore. Hank came racing to the rescue. "Hank?" asked Theodore, "What the heck are you doing here?"

"Saving you!" shouted Hank, and he pushed against Cabot. "Hank," shouted Theodore, "Get out of here!" But Hank wouldn't listen as he kept pushing and pushing and pushing. "Not giving up!" he groaned. Then there was trouble.

All of the towropes and Theodore's anchor cable broke. A rock cracked and Cabot fell right on Theodore and Hank. Theodore gasped, but Cabot suddenly stopped. Theodore opened one of his eyes and saw Hank pushing against Cabot.

His engine was at full power, smoke was blasting from his stack and Hank started to push Cabot away from Theodore. "I'm not through yet!" Hank yelled at the top of his voice. Hank's engine started to hurt, but he kept on going.

Theodore pressed against Cabot and began to push, too. The two tugs roared their engines as hard as they could.

Suddenly, the rocks cracked even more and Cabot fell right into the water, but he turned upright and he didn't sink. The two tugs sighed with relief. "That was a shocking experience," said Hank. Theodore looked at Cabot.

His hull wasn't badly scrapped, but he does need to go to the repair dock. "Hank," said Theodore, looking at him. Hank knew what Theodore would say, he was nervous for causing so much trouble earlier today.

"You saved me and Cabot from a horrible disaster." "What?" cried Hank. "We both could have been killed if it weren't for you. Thank you." "Really?" asked Hank. "Yes," smiled Theodore.

Hank was so happy that he raced his engine and whistled happily. "Thank you!" cried Hank, full of joy and happiness. Just then, Foduck arrived.

"What happened here?" Theodore and Hank explained everything. Foduck took Cabot to be repaired. And Theodore and Hank returned to the Great Ocean Dock. Hank was so happy he raced ahead of Theodore.

Theodore was glad for his friend. But he was thinking about that boat that had deliberately gotten in his way. Theodore returned shortly to find the Dispatcher praising Hank.

"For bravery and courage," he announced, "I will proudly present Hank the Hero with this Big Harbour tugboat badge." Hank felt really honored. Theodore drove up beside Hank.

"If it weren't for Hank," he said, "Me and Cabot wouldn't even be here." All of the boats in the harbour blow their whistles and horns and gave Hank three cheers. They also gave Theodore three cheers, too.

From that day forward, Hank never acted so careless again.