Jock And Frank
Today, Jock is pulling a passenger train. He enjoyed his time in doing so. "Nice day to catch a breeze," he said. He passed by one of his friends, Frank, a diesel engine.
"Hello, Frank," said Jock as he passed by. "Hey," replied Frank as Jock puffed on. Later, Jock met up with Frank. "So what's going on, Frank?" asked Jock. "Oh, nothing at all today," answered Frank, disappointingly.
"Nothing," repeated Jock, "At all? That's not something." "Exactly!" said Frank, "I've got nothing to do today. That's it!" "I see," said Jock, "Don't worry, something will turn up soon enough for you." Jock left to pull another train. "I hope so," said Frank.
But the whole day had gone by and Frank ended up with no jobs for the day. "Typical," muttered Frank. "Sorry, Frank," Jock said sympathetically. "It's not your fault, Jock," said Frank, "It just happened."
"I understand," said Jock. The two engines fell fast asleep.
The next day, Frank had been given no jobs at all. This made him frustrated, but he kept himself from hitting any shed supports. "Why me?" he grumbled, "Why me? Why wasn't I given a job?" "Steady," his driver called.
However, Frank didn't pay attention to the line ahead and hit a hard bump.
"Never mind," grumbled Frank and continued on. "Whoa," called his driver, "Slow down, buddy!" "Yeah, right," agreed Frank. So he kept on going a little bit longer.
Then suddenly, Frank started to slow down as there was a terrible grinding sound. "What's going on?" asked Frank. Soon enough, Frank ground to a halt.
His driver looked back and saw a trail of oil behind. He looked down underneath Frank's wheels and saw a big puddle of oil. "No doubt about it," he concluded, "You're leaking oil. Must have been that bump on the track."
"Oh no," groaned Frank. "We'll have to stop the leaking," said his driver, "You're going to have to go to the works to be repaired!" "Ugh," groaned Frank. The driver managed to plug the leak in Frank's engine, thus getting dirty in the process, stopping the oil from leaking. Soon enough, Jock arrived.
"Hey, Frank," he said, "What's wrong?" "A leaky engine," answered Frank. "Oh my goodness!" exclaimed Jock, "We'd better get you home! This is an emergency!"
Jock buffered up to Frank and pulled him back to the main yards. "Sorry, Frank," said Jock. "It wasn't your fault," said Frank in response. Nonetheless, Jock pulled Frank to the repair yards on the Arlesdale Railway.
Jock then left to pull a goods train after he dropped Frank off. "I need to make it up to Frank somehow," Jock thought.
At the end of the day, he spoke to the Small Controller. "What's going on?" the Small Controller asked Jock. "Sir," Jock began, Frank hasn't been given a job at all yesterday and today."
"Yes, I see," replied the Small Controller, "I gave jobs to Mike, Bert and Rex." "So, sir," Jock continued, "When Frank is repaired, can he do some of my work. I bet that will make him happy." The Small Controller pondered.
"Yes," he replied, "I'll see to it when he gets out of the repairs." "Oh, thank you, sir," Jock said in delight, "I'll make him happy."
For a few days, Jock did his usual jobs on the railway. Then the day after Frank had been repaired, he did most of Jock's work. This made Frank really happy.
Jock didn't mind having less jobs than the other engines, he was satisfied for his friend to be working. "I hope you're happy now, Frank," smiled Jock, "Now you are a busy diesel engine." Jock is right, as Frank did all of his jobs, satisfied and proud.
After a few days, Frank, whom had finished his work met up with Jock. "Jock," said Frank, "Thank you. You really are a good friend." "I couldn't have left you grumpy and miserable because you had no jobs to do," said Jock, "I just can't do that."
"I know," smiled Frank, "Thank you." "No problem," said Jock. The two engines continued doing their jobs together like friends.
