It was a sunny day. No rain had fallen for a couple of weeks.
Sam was just leaving through his door to catch the bus to work. Freckles was with him, as usual.
"Hello there, Trev!" Sam waved as the bus came to a stop outside his house, "Pontypandy Fire Station, please."
"Aye, hop in!" Trevor smiled.
At the Fire Station, Elvis, Penny, and Station Officer Steele were already there.
"Ah, Fireman Sam…" Steele greeted him, "Today we will be doing a practice drill with some new ropes and harnesses."
Sam nodded, "Very good, Sir."
The training drill was to practice mountain and rock rescue. Sam and the crew had done a few mountain and rock rescues before. Once, James had fallen onto a ledge in an old quarry. Luckily, he hadn't been hurt and Sam had rescued him using the rescue climbing equipment. Now, they were to test some new ropes and harnesses.
Station Officer Steele was checking the ropes. "Well…They SEEM sturdy enough…" he said slowly.
Sam, Penny, and Elvis got geared up. "Ready to practice descent, Sir." Sam announced.
"Very good, Fireman Sam." Steele approved, "Right…away you go!"
The three Firefighters began to descent the cliff on their ropes and harnesses. Sam thought he heard something that sounded…but it only happened once and it could have been anything.
They all reached the ground, safely. However, Steele wasn't as impressed. "Could've been a bit faster…" he sighed, "Right, now I want you to go down, one at a time…Who will go first?"
Elvis raised a hand. "M-may I go, Sir?" he asked.
Sam chuckled to himself. He knew Elvis wanted to impress Penny. Station Officer Steele nodded. "Very well, Cridlington…" he replied, "And I shall time you."
Elvis took a deep breath and began to descend. As usual, he was a little unsure with his footing but refused to give up. He reached the ground after a while.
"45.7 seconds…" Steele looked at his stopwatch, "Not…TOO bad, I suppose…Right, who's next?"
Penny offered to go next.
"You can do it, Penny." Elvis smiled.
Penny smiled back, "Thank you, Elvis."
It took Penny 35.3 seconds to reach the ground. Steele was impressed. "Very good, Firefighter Morris!" he called.
"Uh, yeah…V-very good work, there, Penny!" Elvis added with a big grin.
Now it was Sam's turn.
"Down you go, Fireman Sam." Steele commanded as Sam waited at the edge of the cliff.
Sam began to descend. Everything seemed to be going well, so far. But then, he heard that sound again. It sounded like…a rope starting to fray. His rope FELT sturdy…but Sam was sure he heard it. He began to feel concerned. He was just about to consider altering course to wait on a nearby ledge when the rope snapped…
The others didn't see Sam fall…but they heard the rope snap…and they heard him scream.
Shocked, they all rushed to look over the edge of the cliff. Sam lay, unmoving at the bottom.
"Good HEAVENS!" Steele exclaimed, "Quickly, Fireman Cridlington and Firefighter Morris…! Get down there!"
Elvis and Penny descended the cliff in an impressively short time. The urgency of the situation made even unsure Elvis faster. Penny reached Sam first.
"Is he…?" Elvis gulped, "I-is he dead?"
Penny shook her head. "No, he's still breathing…but he's in a bad way. She unhooked her walkie-talkie and contacted Steele, "It's bad, Sir…" she told him, "Sam's got a nasty cut to his head but it's his leg I'm really worried about…It's a really bad open break."
"Right, I'll call for an ambulance." Steele replied.
"Oh, Sam…" Penny sighed and put hand on his shoulder, "Please be alright…"
"He'll need surgery to fix the leg." The doctor told Penny, who had offered to stay at the hospital while Elvis, Trevor and Station Officer Steele manned the Fire Station.
Penny nodded. "Thank you…" she sighed, "I'm going to have to tell his niece and nephew about this…They were supposed to visit Sam tomorrow."
Sarah and James were horrified and wanted to see their uncle straight away. Penny promised they could see him after the operation.
The surgery went well, and Sam was awake by the time Sarah and James arrived.
Sarah burst into tears when she saw her uncle and James seemed unable to speak.
Sam gave them a comforting smile. "I'm going to be alright, kids…" he assured them, "No firefighting for me for a few weeks, though, I'm afraid."
Penny was frowning. "Station Officer Steele is very angry about that rope snapping." She told Sam, "He contacted the firm that provided them and complained."
Sarah looked at Penny curiously. "Were ALL the ropes unsafe, Penny?" she asked.
Penny shook her head, tucking the loose strands of her blond hair behind her ears. "It's not easy to tell…" she replied, "Mine and Elvis's may have held together THIS time…But, who knows if they'll be as reliable next time?"
Sam was worried. Fully functioning rescue equipment was extremely important. If something went faulty during a rescue, it could spell disaster for both the victims and the crew. "Station Officer Steele might want to get a new batch of ropes…" he said, wincing as pain shot through his leg.
Penny agreed. "Yes, and we'll have to find safer ways of testing them…" she sighed.
It was soon time for them to leave. Sarah and James both gave their uncle a tear-filled hug. "Goodbye, Uncle Sam…" Sarah sniffled.
"Please get better soon." James added.
Dilys was in her shop, serving Bella, who was buying ingredients for biscuits she planned to sell in her café. "I can't imagine how Sam must be feeling right now…" she tutted.
"I know, Mrs Price." Bella agreed, "He's-a not got going to enjoy being-a cooped up at-a home."
Norman came down. He showed his mum a card he had made. It had a drawing of Jupiter on it and the words "GET WELL SOON, SAM!" in big, multi-coloured letters.
Dilys read the message inside, "To Sam, I hope your leg gets better soon, I'm going to miss seeing you come to the rescue for a while. You're a really great Fireman, love from Norman."
"Such a nice-a message." Bella praised.
Dilys drew her son in for a cuddle. "You see, my sweet…" she smiled, "You're such a nice boy when you're not up to mischief."
Norman blushed, "Aww, Mum…"
Sam was able to return home the next week. But he wouldn't be back on duty for a month or so. Bella had been right, he didn't enjoy being cooped up at home at all. Penny came around as often as she could to help around the house. Freckles still did his Rescue Dog duties at the Fire Station.
Sam liked to hear about everything that happened while he was off work.
"Another chip-pan fire at Bella's Café this morning." Penny told him as she handed him a mug of coffee, "We did the usual, you know, damp cloth method…um…and Norman got stuck in a tree, trying to get his new frisbee back."
Sam gave an amused chuckle and shook his head. "Trust Norman to get stuck in a tree!" he smiled.
They both laughed.
"Oh, I hope my leg heals before too long…" Sam sighed, "I do hate being off duty."
Penny patted his shoulder. "Yes…" she replied, "and we miss having you at the Station." Then she added with a smile, "Don't worry, Sam…You'll be back to fighting fires and rescuing people before you know it."
