Now, the large boulders that Chloe was resting on were not too far away from a harbor in England. The port of Bigg City, to be exact. At the time, Bigg City Port was growing to be the busiest and biggest harbor in the world. And the power behind its docks and waterways were thanks to two teams of tugboats. One of the teams, the Star Fleet, was ran by a man called Captain Star. His team consisted of six anthropomorphic tugboats; each of them had their own personalities, and they all did their best to work together in the harbor, the surrounding rivers, and the different outposts of barges hauling goods and garbage.
The other team, the Z-Stacks, was ran by a weasel of a man called Captain Zero, and he had five sneaky anthropomorphic tugs who regularly bickered and antagonized the Star Tugs. Most of the time, the Star Tugs proved their worth and diligence to impress Captain Star and several of the ferries and trampers that came to Bigg City Port; but other times, the Z-Stacks "earned" the credit, usually done by cheating or naughty pranks.
On this particular summer day, one of the Star Tugs, a late nineteenth century paddle steamer called OJ, was out doing some barge duties a few miles away from the Dem Der Rocks when he rode beside a large boulder sticking in the water. He then stopped himself, believing that he saw a strange object lying on that particular boulder. "I wonder if Hercules or Lillie Lightship know anything about this," OJ wondered to himself in his Welsh accent, "I'd best go back and see if my eyes are deceivin' me."
So, that's what he did; OJ put his engine in reverse and decided to take a closer look at the strange object. Lying on that boulder was a familiar mermaid-turned human child, still unconscious. "A child?" OJ asked himself with surprise, "She looks like she's been in a terrible shipwreck! I should call for help!"
So, OJ sounded his whistle as loud as he could, and help arrived within minutes. A rowboat with three men rowed over to OJ and the boulder, and the paddle steamer showed them what was lying on the boulder. "This child needs help, and soon," OJ explained, "We should take her back to Bigg City Port, 'cause if I leave her out here like this, she will soon die!"
"You're right, OJ," one of the men said as he climbed out of the rowboat to retrieve Chloe. As he climbed onto the boulder, he saw a familiar piece of driftwood and said, "There's a message written on this driftwood!"
Another one of the men climbed out of the rowboat, and the first man showed him the message. It said:
To whoever finds my child,
My husband and I were brutally attacked by a shark, and we cannot care for our daughter anymore. The whistle she wears around her neck is to be used only when times are right – preferably in the water. She is four years old, and her name is Chloe.
Love,
A Mother from the sea
"Oh my!" OJ gasped with shock as he listened to the note being read, "The poor lass! Come on, men! Bring her onto my deck, and see if she's still alive!"
The first man felt the child's neck and said, "She is alive, but her pulse is somewhat lower than normal!"
The third man in the rowboat said to his friends, "You heard the tug! Bring her onto his deck and see if you can revive her!"
The first two men carefully took Chloe and then climbed OJ's left side and onto his deck. The paddle steamer began to make his way back to Bigg City Port as the first man took his water canteen and then gently poured a little water over the child's lips.
Chloe's mouth slowly opened up, and she started breathing.
"Are you alright, young lady?" the second man asked her.
Chloe slowly opened her eyes and made out an image of a skyline – Bigg City's skyline – coming close. "Where… were am I?" she asked softly.
"You're safe on my deck, that's where," OJ plainly answered.
"We found a note saying that your parents were injured, and that you need someone to take care of," the third man from the rowboat explained to her.
"Do you remember what your mummy and daddy looked like?" the first man asked Chloe.
Chloe tried to remember something about her parents, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember. "I don't… know," she said sadly, "I can't remember."
"Do you remember where you're from?" the second man asked.
Chloe couldn't remember that, either, because the blow to her head by the shark's tail caused her to go amnestic. "I can't," she said to the men, "I can't remember anything." As she moved her head upward, she rubbed it and cried out, "Ow! My head hurts!"
"You must've really been through a lot," OJ said to her with a sympathetic tone, "Well, no need to worry, Chloe, we'll get you help. I know a man who might be able to help you."
"Who is Chloe?" the child asked, not even remembering her own name.
"Tis your name," the first man who rescued her said, "This tugboat and my friends and I found a note saying your name is Chloe, and you are four years old."
Soon, OJ arrived at the Star Docks in Bigg City Port, where Captain Star and his five other Star Tugs were waiting for him. Captain Star was a man in his late thirties, with light apricot skin, brown eyes, and dirty blonde hair with a matching mustache. He was dressed in a white dress shirt, a red tie, dark blue slacks, a blue hat with a gold band, a white jacket, black socks, and matching shoes. His other five tugboats were made up of Ten Cents, a harbor switcher; Big Mac and Warrior, who were both harbor tugs; Top Hat, a railway tug; and Hercules, an ocean-going tug.
"OJ! You're back!" Ten Cents cried in his East End Cockney accent when he turned and saw OJ approaching the docks.
"Where've you been?" Warrior asked in his burly London accent, "We've been lookin' all over for you!"
"Oh, I do apologize," OJ stated as arrived at the docks, and the three men began to get off of his deck, "I got a little… sidetracked." He moved his eyes downward to reveal Chloe wrapped up in one of the men's coats as she was carried in a man's arms.
"OJ! What are ye doin' with those men and that lass?" Big Mac inquired in his Scottish accent.
Before OJ could answer, Captain Star took up a megaphone, held it by his mouth and announced into it, "Quiet down, everyone! OJ, can you give an explanation why you've brought back a small child and a few men?"
OJ cleared his throat and calmly explained, "You see, sir, I was just doin' my duties, and I saw this wee child lyin' on a big boulder stickin' up in the water. So, I blew my whistle for these lads, here, and they examined the child and saw a note beside her."
One of the men who rescued Chloe walked over to Captain Star and handed him the driftwood with the writing on it.
"The child has no parents, it seems," OJ continued explaining, "And if I just left her there, she would surely be dead tomorrow!" His expression became more nervous as he asked the Captain, "So… these men and I brought Chloe back here, and… uh, we-I was wonderin'… would you be willin' to help this poor child out?"
The men who rescued the child showed her to Captain Star, and Star looked at the sleeping child. "I can't raise this little girl," he softly told the men with a frown, "I know nothing about raising children! I don't know where she'd sleep in my home, or what school to send her when she's older…"
As Captain Star kept talking with the men about Chloe, OJ turned to his fellow tugs and said to them softly, "Well, if Captain Star is reluctant to raise Chloe, I might as well take matters into my own paddles and raise her myself!"
"The very idea!" Top Hat scoffed in his posh accent as his "head" moved up a little, "A tugboat raising a child? That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my life!"
"But she's lost her parents!" OJ shot at him in a quiet but stern voice, "She needs nourishment and soon! If Captain Star or I won't raise her, then who will?"
"My housekeeper?" Captain Star's voice said with surprise. The Star Tugs looked over and saw their captain continue arguing with the men who rescued the child. "Mrs. Muddlesworth already has enough on her hands when it comes to keeping my place in order!" Star kept rambling to the men, "Besides, that girl…" He stopped himself when he realized something. "OJ's right," Captain Star with a calmer voice, "The girl does have to have a mother or a mother figure… and I…"
"Are you alright, Captain?" Ten Cents asked Star when he saw him lost in thought.
Captain Star looked over at his tugs and sighed before he picked his megaphone up and told them, "Well, Star Tugs, I've done some chatting and thinking with these gentlemen, and OJ is definitely right – this poor child does need nourishment and soon. That is why I am taking the note…"
OJ grew very apprehensive on what was to happen to Chloe next.
"…And the child," Captain Star continued to his tugs through his megaphone, "To my home and my housekeeper, Mrs. Muddlesworth. We will work together at raising this child, and as we do, I will study this driftwood's note and try to find out more about Chloe."
All the Tugs murmured to each other, and OJ gave a big grin, knowing that the child was going to be okay.
"Alright, Star Tugs!" Captain Star finished, "Back to your work! I'll be gone from my office for at least an hour, and I expect to see some work done 'round here!"
All the Tugs blew their whistles in response before they went back to their duties. Warrior and Big Mac went back to the Municipal Garbage Corporation; Top Hat went back to the railway docks; Hercules went back out to sea, and Ten Cents stayed with OJ to do smaller jobs with barges in the Star Docks.
"Somethin' that's made me curious, OJ," Ten Cents said to the paddle steamer, "If you ended up raisin' that child, what kind of life lessons would ya teach her? How to pull barges? How to be better than Captain Zero's Z-Stacks?" He laughed at the last parts as he finished, "Why, that little thing would have to be a mermaid to work like a tug!"
"Tis not a laughing matter, Ten Cents!" OJ corrected him, "If it hadn't been for me and Captain Star, poor Chloe would probably die out on that boulder!"
"Chloe?" Ten Cents asked curiously, "Is that what you decided to name her?"
"Not really," OJ said with a smile, "The driftwood had a note that said her name is Chloe, and she is only four years old. So, that is what we will call the little ocean flower!"
Unknown to any of the Star Tugs, Zorran, the leader of the Z-Stacks, was watching from behind a pier, and eavesdropping on OJ and Ten Cents' conversation. A mermaid among the Star Tugs, he thought slyly, that would be somethin' to tell Captain Zero and me other Z-Stacks!
