A/N: The second chapter is one that I improvised with. You might be able to tell by reading it. Like last time this will be experimenting, but I hope you enjoy it.
Treasure Hunt
The family stood outside Toby's house, having just rung the doorbell. Toby answered seconds later, greeting the family with his warm smile. "Oh, all of you came. Not often we see you anymore, Henry," he laughed.
"Hi, Mr Holden," replied Henry, forcing a smile. Henry didn't want to come but when Gordon pointed out he didn't have anything else to do he decided "eh, why the heck not."
"How are my favourite students?" asked Toby, looking down at the youngest two of the family. "I hope you've remembered those times tables I taught you last week, Percy."
"I did, thanks Toby!" said Percy excitedly. Toby had insisted the children call him by his first name so they feel more comfortable around him.
"James, I hope you haven't crashed your bike into any more tar wagons," he chuckled, remembering the time he had found an injured James covered in sticky tar. He remembered James had been more upset that his clothes were dirty than being hurt.
"L-let's forget about that," muttered James, choosing not to remember several embarrassing moments in his earlier years.
"Come in, come in," said Toby, stepping aside and gesturing for everyone to come in.
Henrietta, Toby's wife, was seated in the living room. While Toby managed to stay very active for his age, Henrietta unfortunately let old age take over her body, she looked 30 years older than her husband and she didn't leave the house much because of her lack of strength. The Awdry family were kind enough to come and visit her when they had the time, but this wasn't often because of Gordon's working hours. With Toby still working, Henrietta would be in the house alone most of the time. She was a very kind woman though, and whenever the Awdrys visited her she was always happy to know how they'd been getting on.
"How are you, Henrietta?" asked Gordon as the woman looked up.
"Oh, hello Gordon," she replied. You could tell she was frail just by how she spoke. "I'm fine, how are you?"
"Grand," replied Gordon with a smile.
"How old are you now, Henry?" she asked, looking at the eldest boy.
"16, Mrs Holden," replied Henry. "I turned 16 a few weeks ago."
"I remember when you were that high," she replied with a chuckle, holding her hand a few feet above the ground, acting like a grandmother would to her own grandchildren. Unfortunately she and Toby never had children of their own but Gordon had acted almost like a son to them at times.
"It's nice to see you too, Jeremy," she added, looking at James. James, confused, looked behind him. "Jeremy?"
"That's James, dear," corrected Toby.
"That's what I said," she replied. "I'd never forget Jack's name."
Toby was about to correct her again when James spoke up. "Y-yeah, thanks Mrs Holden."
"Hi, Mrs Holden," said Thomas and Percy and the woman smiled when they spoke to her.
"Wow, you two have grown as well," she chuckled as they sat next to her. "Now, you tell me everything that's happened at school."
"Where'd she get Jeremy from?" James whispered to Henry.
"You'll get used to it," replied Henry. "She called me Harold once."
"You two think you have it bad?" muttered Gordon, surprising his two sons. "She used to call me Greta."
James had to restrain himself from laughing.
"I'll make some tea," said Toby as he went to the kitchen. He turned around. "How many drink tea?"
"I'll have some," replied Gordon before looking at his children. They all shook their heads.
"You know I only drink Dr Pepper, dad," muttered James. "I'm a man of class." Gordon rolled his eye.
"Do you want tea, dear?" asked Toby, looking at his wife.
"Ay?" she asked, looking at him as if he were daft.
"I said," replied Toby, raising his voice slightly, "would you like some tea?"
"No, I haven't seen a tree," she replied.
"No I-" Toby sighed. "Never mind then."
"My Toby always says the weirdest things," sighed Henrietta before looking back at the two youngest Awdrys. "That reminds me, would anyone like a lemon?" she asked, pulling lemons from her pocket, to the confusion of the visitors.
"We'll be going soon," said Gordon. "As much as I love talking with your wife about the National Cheese Museum, I'm afraid Thomas and Percy are going out later with their friend Duck."
"That's fine," replied Toby, smiling as he watched his wife. "I think Henrietta's enjoyed the visit. I haven't seen her smile this much in weeks."
"It feels nice to make an elderly person feel appreciated," chuckled Gordon.
"Mrs Holden," said Percy curiously, "what was it like when you were growing up?"
"I don't remember much," muttered Henrietta as she paused in thought. "I have a photograph somewhere of me as a child. Jim, could you pass me that photograph on the table?"
"Jim?" asked James, confused.
Henry nudged him. "She means you."
"Oh..." James found an old-looking photo and passed it to her.
She showed it to Thomas and Percy. "This day we went to a forest near Crosby, and me and my friends buried some treasure."
"Treasure," James piped up, suddenly intrigued. "What sort of treasure?"
"All of our prized possessions," replied Henrietta. "We buried it with the hope of digging it back up one day, for the thrill of the treasure hunt."
"Did you ever dig it back up?" asked Thomas, also intrigued.
"No, we all forgot about it," laughed Henrietta. "Recently Toby found this photo, but I'm too old to go and dig it back up now."
Thomas, Percy and James all found great interest in this.
Thomas, Percy and Duck were at the park. Duck was sitting on a tyre swing wondering why Thomas wasn't joining in their fun.
"Hey Thomas, buddy, what's gotten into you?" he asked before picking up a small stone and throwing it to get his attention.
"Ow!" complained Thomas as he felt it hit the back of his head. "What was that for?"
"Sorry, I didn't think it would hurt," Duck apologised sincerely. "I'm just wondering why you're staring off into space."
"I'm just thinking about something." Then he and Percy told Duck all about what Henrietta had said to them.
"I want to dig it up so we can take it back to Mrs Holden and make her happy," said Thomas. "She's always so nice to us, it would be nice to do something for her for a change."
"Let's do it!" said Duck confidently. "Where'd you say it was?"
"Crosby Forest," said Percy. "But how can you be sure no one dug it up already Thomas?"
"We can still try," said Thomas determinedly. "Like Mrs Holden said, for the thrill of the treasure hunt!"
"Alright then," nodded Duck and the three boys ran off. They were running for about 3 minutes before Duck stopped. "Wait!" The others also stopped. "What the hell are we doing? We need the proper tools to dig for treasure."
"But we don't have the proper tools," replied Percy.
"No," agreed Duck before putting his hand to his chin in thought. "But I know someone who will."
"Donald and Douglas at yer service!" said the two black-haired scots.
"What can we do fer ye lads?" asked Donald, the 15 year old boys looking down at the younger boys.
"We need the tools for a treasure hunt," said Duck confidently. The twins looked at each other, then back at the younger boys.
"What exactly do ye need dose fer?" asked Douglas.
"We're digging up some treasure in Crosby Forest," said Percy before Thomas elbowed him.
"Don't go around telling people!" he yelled.
"Treasure ye say?" asked Donald. "Don't ye worry wee Thomas, we ain't int'rested in taken yer treasure."
"We ain't?" asked Douglas. Donald shot him a glance and he sighed. "Aye."
"We should have the necessary items, wait here," said Donald before he disappeared into his house.
"Why do you have this stuff?" asked Percy, having been wanting to ask the question ever since Duck had suggested asking the Scottish twins for help.
"Donald, Douglas and I used to go looking for treasure on the beach from time to time," said Duck proudly.
"Did you find anything?" asked Thomas excitedly.
"Er...no," sighed Duck.
"Here ye go, lads," said Donald as he reappeared with 2 shovels, a metal detector and some thick gloves. "This is all ye need."
"Thanks guys," said Duck as they took the equipment from them. "What's the fee?"
"No fee, since yer all such good friends," said Donald kindly.
"No fee?!" exclaimed Douglas. Donald smacked his brother across the head. "Aye," sighed Douglas once again.
"If ye do dig up that treasure, let us know," said Donald as the three younger children nodded and began to leave. "I wish ye all luck in yer wee hunt."
The three left. "Do ye really think there's treasure?" asked Douglas.
"I don't think so," replied Donald. "But best of luck to 'em anyway."
The three spent a few hours in Crosby Forest. Percy had the metal detector, and whenever he found metal Thomas and Duck would dig. They had a few instances where the detector bleeped. Sometimes they found nothing. They also managed to find some metal objects such as a spoon and a belt buckle but nothing worth any value. "I'm starting to think that maybe there was no treasure," sighed Duck.
"But Mrs Holden told us she buried it herself," replied Percy.
"I know, but someone probably beat us to it. There must be hundreds, maybe thousands of people have been in the forest since then."
"You have a point," sighed Thomas as he walked ahead. "Let's just stay out another half hour then we'll call it a day."
The three agreed. They went a while without finding any more metal. Soon they were deep in the forest.
"Maybe we should turn back," said Percy, shivering nervously. "There might be bears living in this forest."
"Don't be ridiculous, there ain't no bears here," replied Duck. "Although I do agree, we are going quite far. Maybe we should turn back."
"Alright," sighed Thomas as he stopped. He turned but when he did he heard a twig snap. They all looked around nervously.
"What was that?" asked Thomas.
"Probably a fox," muttered Duck. "You get them here."
"Or a bear," whispered Percy. They all screamed when a nearby bush started rustling. They got closer together and slowly backed away. Whatever it was, it was moving towards them, and it was big.
"Please be a fox, please be a fox," said Percy.
"Too big," muttered Thomas. "I-I think you might be right Percy."
Then the creature emerged from the bush. It was horrifying, it was dirty, it was hideous, it was...
"JAMES?!" exclaimed the three at once, watching the red-haired boy dust himself off.
"Great, now my coat is filthy," he spat. He then noticed the other three. "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for the treasure!" said Thomas confidently.
"No way, that treasure's mine!" exclaimed James. "Just think of what I could do with treasure! I'd become the most popular kid in school! I could buy a big mansion and have butlers waiting on me hand and foot. I could buy the Sodor Football Team!"
"That treasure's going to Mrs Holden!" shouted Percy, cross with his older brother.
"I don't believe you," said James, turning away and crossing his arms. "You're probably going to keep it to yourself. Well I'm going to find it first because I-" He then noticed the equipment they were holding. "Where'd you get that from?"
"Donald and Douglas," explained Duck. He noticed James also had a shovel and a second metal detector. "What about yours?"
"Donald and Douglas, the two-timing, scheming little-"
"Guys, I think I found something!" exclaimed Percy as his detector started beeping. It seems no one had noticed during the conflict.
"We found it!" said Thomas excitedly as he began digging.
"Well I'm keeping it!" yelled James as he ran towards the three, but Duck blocked him, preventing him getting past. He passed his shovel to Percy and they dug together until Thomas hit something solid. He pulled out a small metal tin that was no larger than a mobile phone case.
"Is that it?" asked Percy, disappointed.
"That's it," confirmed Thomas.
"That's impossible!" cried James, opening it. He was shocked by what he found. "What? A photograph?"
It was a photograph of what appeared to be a younger Henrietta with an equally young Toby. "That's nice," smiled Duck before James passed the tin to Thomas.
"Keep it," he muttered before walking away. "What a waste of time."
They then heard a growl and stopped dead. "W-what was that?" whispered James in fright.
"Is this some kind of trick?" asked Thomas, looking at James.
"N-no," replied James, and one look at James' white face made Thomas realise he was genuinely terrified. They then saw the same bush James had emerged through, but with a much larger shape inside.
"Oh no," whispered Duck. "Please be a deer, please be a deer."
"It's...A BEAR!" exclaimed Percy as he ran away.
"I-it can't be a bear," said Thomas before gulping. "Can it?"
Then an enormous clawed foot emerged from the bush, followed by an enormous roar. The three children immediately took off, following Percy through the forest, screaming "BEAR!"
Then, from inside the bush, Henry emerged, holding a fake claw in one hand and his phone, which was playing bear sounds, in the other. He laughed. "They are so gullible."
Toby and Henrietta both smiled as they looked at the photo Henrietta was holding. The one Thomas, Percy, Duck and James had discovered (James technically didn't discover it but he took credit anyway).
"I can't believe you went through all that effort," smiled Henrietta. "Thank you, boys."
"I bet your father's proud," said Toby, looking at Gordon, who was also present.
"I am," confirmed Gordon, Henry stood next to him.
"I just want to ask," said Henry, turning everyone's attention to him. "What happened in the forest? You seemed quite shaken when you came back."
"We were almost bear food!" explained James, before pulling a heroic pose. "But I wasn't scared. I saved us from it."
"Is that so?" asked Henry before playing a bear roar on his phone, making James jump.
"Huh?"
"I-it was you?!" the boys all exclaimed at once.
Henry laughed. "Yep. And it was worth it."
Gordon smiled as Henry's younger siblings chased him round the room. He hadn't seen Henry this happy in a long time.
A/N: So now we have introduced Donald and Douglas, my favourite characters. I hope to use them in more major roles in future chapters. It's quite hard to write dialogue with Scottish accents, which I found out while writing this. Anyway, hope you enjoyed.