The Wrath Of Bulstrode
Written by Lee Pressman
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The sun shone brightly over Knapford Harbor. Seagulls called as the flew over. One landed gently on top of an unfamiliar-looking hull beside the quay when…
"Shoo! Shoo!"
The seagull squawked and flew hurriedly away as the old barge groaned with annoyance.
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Long ago, Bulstrode the Barge worked at Knapford Harbor, where he would usually carry goods in and out of quay to and from places far and wide across the Island.
HONK-HOOOOONK!
"Come along, you trucks!" Bulstrode gawked, as he ventured slowly into port. "Look sharp! And get in line where you should be!"
"There's no engine!" one called.
"Yeah! And we can only go where we're put!" shouted a second.
"Get in line yourself, Bulstrode!" another snapped.
"Grrrrrrrr!" Bulstrode growled, as he returned to his port beside the quay.
Bulstrode was highly disagreeable and never stopped complaining, which caused him to have trouble with trucks and engines alike! At last, the day came when the trucks were finally able to be rid of Bulstrode, with Percy's help of course…
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"Our stone is for Bulstrode!" one truck told Percy, as he lined up behind them.
"Please put us on a siding so we can load them up and be rid of him!" another demanded.
PEEP-PEEP!
Percy smiled as he pulled the trucks away.
As Percy was shunting the trucks towards a siding, they burst through some buffers and landed all over Bulstrode!
"Grrrrrrr! I'm sinking!" Bulstrode wailed.
Bulstrode was towed away to the harbor and left on Tidmouth Beach.
"There you are!" said a workmen. "Now you can just stay here! Children can play in you all day and at long last you'll be useful!"
Bulstrode groaned sadly.
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Years later, a tank engine named Gator discovered him washed up by the shore and, seeing that he couldn't make himself useful any longer with the children losing interest in him, decided to arrange a rescue mission for him.
"Careful!" Bulstrode gawked at them, as the chains dangled noisily from his sides.
"We'll soon have you loaded, mate!" Jerome answered.
"It's as easy as pie!" Judy added.
Gator and Percy watched with amazement as Bulstrode was carefully loaded onto the flatbed between the two cranes, before he was tied down with ropes.
Nowadays, Bulstrode is situated at the Fishing Village that runs through Norramby on Arthur's Branch Line. The old barge keeps himself very busy as fish crates are loaded and unloaded from his haul by Saul the Container Crane.
BOOM!
"Oof! Watch it, careless crane!" Bulstrode groaned, as a load of fish was loaded into his haul.
"Just doing my duty, guy!" Saul confidently replied, before turning back to pick up another load.
"Huh!" Bulstrode huffed.
Bulstrode never stopped complaining about trucks being in the wrong place…
HONK-HONK!
"Come on! Come on!" he shouted. "Get those silly trucks in line so I can be rid of them once they're loaded!"
"Sorry there, big fella!" Rebecca replied, and moved her trucks gently forward.
"Stay where you are please, Rebecca!" Saul kindly said. "You're in the right place!"
"Much obliged!" said Rebecca, rather confused.
"Defying me again, are you, silly crane?" Bulstrode gawked, raising an eyebrow.
"I know what I'm doing here, pal!" Saul bluntly replied.
He proceeded to hurriedly swoop some more crates out of Bulstrode's haul, and carefully move down to where Rebecca's first truck was.
"Huh! Slow crane!" Bulstrode murmured to himself.
"Heard that!" Saul shouted, moved slowly back to where Bulstrode was waiting.
"Grrrrrr!" Bulstrode groaned
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
"Come along now, you silly trucks!" Bulstrode gawked, as Henry arrived with a train of fish trucks. "Get in line and be ready!"
"Stay put, Henry!" Saul ordered, as he carefully scooped the first load of fish crates from his first truck. " we're gonna do this promptly and carefully!"
"Huh! More like slowly!" Bulstrode remarked.
Saul shot him a dirty look as he released the fish crates into his haul, then edged slowly and carefully back towards Henry's truck for more.
Saul was a crane who liked to remain steady yet cautious, but it wasn't enough for Bulstrode!
HONK-HOOOOONK!
"Hurry up, you silly old crane!"
"I'll take as long as I need!" Saul firmly replied, as he swooped up more fish crates from Henry's truck.
"I'd be surprised if I was able to get this fish anywhere on time with all your clanking about!" Bulstrode insulted.
James arrived behind Henry in time to hear the commotion.
"I say, Henry," he remarked, "have you ever heard such a racquet?"
"No, James," Henry admitted. "I haven't."
"That Bulstrode is a nasty piece of work!" James added.
Saul cautiously moved along the dock side towards Bulstrode's haul.
"Serenity Saul! Serenity…" he muttered nervously to himself.
HONK-HONK-HOOOOOONK!
"Come along! Faster! Faster!" Bulstrode gawked.
But Saul would not be hurried. At long last, Bulstrode's haul was full and he was ready to go.
"Huh!" the barge scoffed, as he left the dockside. "About time!! It's pathetic how unbearably slow that crane is!"
Saul watch the barge leave with his haul full of fish, and sighed sadly to himself.
"Not even so much as a thank you!" he murmured.
Saul was beginning to lose patience with Bulstrode as well…
PEEP-PEEP!
"I tell you, Arthur," the crane confided to his friend, as the tank engine returned with some empty trucks. "That Bulstrode is starting to become a real problem! All his barging in and moaning is spreading bad atmosphere around the dockside! Not only among us, but also engines coming in and out!"
"I agree, Saul," Arthur wearily replied, "but there's not much we can do about it right now aside from except that Bulstrode may very well be the answer to the issue we had beforehand."
"How?" Saul demanded, raising an eyebrow.
"Well," Arthur continued, "we can always rely on Bulstrode to pick up and drop off goods whenever a ship's been caught in rough seas."
"Hmm," Saul thought. "Good point."
"Bulstrode is still settling into his new surroundings," Arthur suggested. "If you recall, it only took you, Saul, a day to do so before learning to work faster. Anyways, must get going. Need to get some trucks in line for my coastal run."
He puffed away, leaving Saul speechless.
"Easy to say," Saul murmured to himself, moving about the dockside. "Bulstrode's been here for quite some time and still acts like he runs the joint. I'll soon give him a piece of my mind…"
Early one morning, Bulstrode was fast asleep by in his port by the quay when…
"Oi! Bulstrode! Wake up!"
"Grrrrahhhh!"
Bulstrode woke with a start, to see Saul eyeing him as they moved about the dockside.
"Look sharp!" the crane demanded. "You have quite a journey ahead of you once you're loaded up with fish crates for the Mainland Canal!"
Bulstrode groaned with annoyance.
"Silly old crane!" he muttered to himself. "I'll show him to talk to me in such a manner!"
PEEP-PEEP!
His thoughts were cut off by Arthur whistling as he rolled into port with some fish trucks.
"Morning, you two!" he greeted. "Fresh trucks of fish here ready to be taken to the Mainland!"
Saul smiled at him as he swooped up the first batch of crates, but Bulstrode was still in a bad temper!
HONK-HOOOONK!
"Come on, you silly trucks!" he gawked. "Hurry it up and assume your rightful positions!"
"Trucks can only go where they're put!" he bluntly reminded him. "Perhaps you should line up in place with my hoist so that I can have you loaded and on your way!"
Bulstrode felt insulted!
"Why can't you just slide over into place to load up my haul?!" he demanded.
"I'm only a fishing crane!" Saul suggested. "I can't just move about wherever I want on the dockside! Only to places within my reach! That's why the engines bring the trucks to me!"
"Huh!" Bulstrode snorted, as his operator got him ready and in alignment with Saul, then guessed aloud, "maybe they should have gotten a gantry crane instead! That way, old and fragile barges like myself wouldn't need to budge in order for the trucks to come to us! Not with cranes doing a fair share of the moving about by moving to different locations across the quayside!"
"Well, maybe the Fat Controller should have gotten a barge who doesn't complain as much!" Saul fired back. "At least not as much as you do!"
Arthur watched the banter back and forth nervously.
"You're just lucky I'm here!" Bulstrode suggested. "Back in my day, a sensible barge like myself would carry dignified goods like coal and stone, not smelly fish! And we would be loaded promptly and more directly too!"
Saul ignored Bulstrode as he proceeded to unload the first set of fish crates from Arthur's first truck.
HONK-HONK-HOOOOOOONK!
"Hurry up!" Bulstrode gawked.
"I will not be hurried!" Saul firmly assured him, as he carefully yet steadily loaded the fish crates into Bulstrode's hull.
All the while that Saul loaded Bulstrode's hull, the grumpy old barge continuously made him feel on edge.
HONK-HONK-HOOOOOOONK!
"Get…a…move on!" he honked impatiently.
SWOOP -SWOOP-SWOOP!
Saul steadily swooped up more crates from Arthur's trucks, before moving steadily along the dockside.
"Serenity Saul! Serenity Saul!" he muttered anxiously to himself.
Soon enough, Saul was finished loading and Bulstrode was ready to go.
"Off you go now, Bulstrode!" he insisted.
HONK-HONK!
"Pah!" Bulstrode snorted, as he took off. "How pathetic! Let me assure you that barges back in my day will be loaded quickly and more efficiently!"
Saul sighed with relief as he watched him set off.
"Whatever are we gonna do about that barge, Arthur?"
"I don't know, Saul," the tank engine replied. "But I must get along with my coastal run! Keep yourself in high spirits and don't let Bulstrode get to you!"
He whistled and set off, as the trucks chatted quietly amongst themselves.
Saul wasn't sure what to do about Bulstrode, but little did neither of them know that the troublesome trucks have the wrong plan in mind…!
As Bulstrode waited at the Mainland Canal for his cargo to be unloaded, he complained to Beresford the Gantry Crane about Saul!
"I tell you," he ranted on. "That old fishing crane they got at the Fishing Village. Goes by the name of Saul he does! He's so slow and takes his sweet time with everything!"
"Oh," Beresford wondered, then chuckled. "Is that right?"
"At least cranes like yourself can move about so as not to keep old and fragile barges like myself waiting!" Bulstrode went on.
"Huh!" thought Beresford, then smiled, suspecting no trouble.
"The Fishing Village could surely use a crane like yourself instead of a slow and stagnant crane like that!"
"Well, thank you!" Beresford beamed. "I'll take it as a compliment!"
"Huh?" Bulstrode wondered, confused.
"Why, it's not too often that engines and barges take the time to talk to me! However, I am more than happy to work where I am at and go about where I'm needed!"
"Grrrr…what?!" Bulstrode mumbled, baffled.
"Oh," Beresford thought. "My apologies. My name's Beresford! What's yours?"
"Just get these crates unloaded so I can be on my way!" Bulstrode bellowed.
Beresford blushed a slight shade of red and frowned, as he continued unloading crates from Bulstrode's hull.
Meanwhile, word got out amongst trucks across the Island about Bulstrode being at it again and causing trouble at the Fishing Village.
"Old Bulstrode's at it again!" one truck whispered to another, as Porter shunted them into place at Brendam Docks.
The second truck giggled and passed it on to the next.
"Bulstrode's at it again! Pass the word!"
The trucks giggled and chattered as Porter shunted them up to Big Mickey, the pair eying each other with confusion.
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"Old Bulstrode's at it again!" the trucks at Wellsworth giggled to each other, as Edward shunted them about.
"He's in for it this time!" one chattered.
"It'd serve him right!" another chimed in.
Edward let out a sigh of relief as he bought them to the platform, and backed away to find a brake van for his train.
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"Old Bulstrode's at it again!" the trucks at Knapford chimed out. "Better warn him this time, Percy!"
Percy said nothing as he backed down onto the trucks and was coupled up.
"Come along, you trucks!" he demanded. "It's off to Norramby we go! Then to Maithewaite once the fish is loaded!"
He pulled the train sternly away, as the trucks giggled and chattered behind him.
When Percy arrived at the Fishing Village, the trucks taunted Saul about what they knew about his rivalry with Bulstrode!
"So we heard you and Bulstrode got off on the wrong foot!" one said.
"All day and all night he goes on!" Saul insisted.
"We remember what that was like!"
"Barging in and moaning all the time!"
"You trucks have no idea!" Saul moaned.
Percy watched the exchange back and forth nervously.
"Like he did back at Knapford Harbor!"
"Lucky we don't have to deal with him anymore!"
"Pity to be you, Saul!"
Saul let out a deep breath as he waited for Bulstrode to return.
"And he says I'm the slow one!" he pointed out. "I mean…honestly!"
"You should teach that old barge a lesson, Saul!" one truck suggested.
"Yeah! Show 'em who's boss!"
But Saul only laughed.
"I'm not sure about that!" he admitted. "It might only end up causing trouble!"
"You should trust us!"
"Yeah! We know difficult he can be!"
"We can help you set him straight once and for all!"
"Hmm…" Saul wondered. "And just how do you suppose that can be done?"
"Ah, Saul!" the Dock Manager called out, catching the crane off guard as he walked into sight. "Bulstrode should be back any time now with crates of fish for Percy's trucks to be taken to Maithewaite! In the meantime, there are some important shipments of fish here at the Village that need to be taken to both Arlesburgh and Knapford Harbour!"
"Oh," Saul thought.
"Anyways, your job is to coordinate with both Arthur and Bulstrode about getting them shipped off to one location at a time!"
Saul smiled as he watched the manager walk off.
At that moment, Saul had a sudden idea!
HONK-HONK!
"Hurry it along now, slow crane!" Bulstrode burst out, as he arrived back.
"You took your time with getting back here yourself!" Saul pointed out.
"Well, even stagnant cranes on the Mainland were able to load my hoist faster than you!" Bulstrode remarked.
SWOOP-SWOOP-SWOOP!
Saul proceeded to unload fish crates from Bulstrode's hoist, and move steadily along his reach of the dockside towards Percy's first truck.
HONK-HOOOONK!
"Hurry…up!" Bulstrode shouted.
But Saul just smiled as he loaded the first set of crates and moved back towards Bulstrode.
"Are you up for a challenge, Bulstrode?" he asked.
"Challenge?!" Bulstrode doubtfully wondered. "What sort of challenge?! I can commit to any sort of challenge in twice the amount of time that you can!"
Saul widened his eyebrows, surprised, then chuckled.
"Well, then. There are some important shipments of fish that need to be taken to both Arlesburgh and Knapford. Arthur should be bringing them along any time now…"
"Cut to the chase, will ya, slow crane?!"
"Well," Saul boldly went on, "perhaps you can deliver the fish crates to both Arlesburgh and Knapford Harbour all in one trip!"
"Mmm," Bulstrode thought, rather intrigued.
"If you make it back before teatime, you will have won, but if you don't, you will have proved yourself to be no quicker than me! Then you'd have to stop all your grumbling and complaining for good!"
Bulstrode grinned, then looked sharply up at the Container Crane.
"Challenge accepted!" he remarked. "I'll have those fish crates delivered and unloaded to both ports in twice the time that you can load me up!"
"Go for it!" Saul smugly encouraged, as he loaded the next batch of fish crates into Percy's trucks.
The trucks quietly giggled to each other as Saul continued to load them up.
"Bulstrode's getting creamed! Spread the word!"
The news quietly spread amongst Percy's perch of trucks until he was ready to go.
PEEP-PEEP!
"Thank you, Saul!" the saddle tank engine greeted, as he pulled the trucks away.
Saul told Arthur all about his plan to help Bulstrode see sense, as he had him shunt an entire line of fish trucks into place.
"Are you sure about this, Saul?" Arthur asked, as he shunted the last truck into line.
"Sure I am!" Saul beamed.
"I'm not sure," Arthur admitted. "It does look like a lot of trucks! More than Bulstrode can handle!"
"I know what I'm doing!" Saul replied. "Besides, it may very well stop Bulstrode's grumbling once and for all…!"
"Oi! Slow crane! Hurry it up and have that fish loaded!" Bulstrode gawked.
"Coming, Bulstrode!"
SWOOP-SWOOP-SWOOP!
He picked up the first batch and moved steadily along the dockside towards Bulstrode's hull.
HONK-HOOOOONK!
"You're killing time!" Bulstrode shouted. "Any time you spend slowly loading up my hoist doesn't count as part of the challenge!"
"Says who?" Saul replied, looking the barge sharply in the next eye.
Bulstrode grinned.
"I can easily back out and force you to put up with my grumbling for eternity!" he suggested.
Saul gulped, as he quickly released the crates into Bulstrode's hull.
"Oof!" the barge winced, as the crates were dropped roughly into his hoist.
He glared up at Saul as the crane hurriedly made his way back towards Arthur's trucks.
SWOOP-SWOOP-SWOOP!
"Serenity Saul! Serenity Saul!" he muttered, as he made his way back towards Bulstrode's hull and had the next batch of crates loaded.
HONK-HONK!
"Hurry it along! Next load! Chop chop! Get a move on!"
Saul hurriedly rushed back towards Arthur's trucks to pick the next load, as Arthur worriedly watched him pick up the next load and made it back towards Bulstrode.
At long last, the trucks were empty and Bulstrode's hoist was loaded with all the fish needed for Arlesburgh and Knapford Harbour!
Bulstrode winced as crates moved slightly about in his hoist due to it being overfilled. Saul smiled as he watched him.
"Your hoist does look a little full, Bulstrode!" he remarked. "You ready yet to give up and stop your grumbling once and for all?"
"Never!" Bulstrode replied, as he slowly set off.
"Be careful, Bulstrode!" Arthur warned.
"I've carried many loads worth my weight back in my day!" Bulstrode remarked, as he made his way towards the horizon. "Farewell!"
Arthur watched him with concern.
"I really don't think this was a good idea, Saul," he admitted.
"Don't worry, Arthur. There's a chance Bulstrode won't make it within a mile from here and will have to give up."
They both watched Bulstrode sway slowly from side to side as he made his way along the shore.
"We'll just have to wait and see," Saul added, starting to have doubts as he watched Bulstrode's condition.
Bulstrode mumbled quietly to himself as he continued slowly along.
"Huh! Silly crane! I'll show him! Who's he to tell me I can't grumble?"
He tried to go faster, but his motor could only take him at a certain speed!
"Must…go…faster!" he groaned, tugging at the weight behind him. "Otherwise I'll have that crane under my grasp, ugh...forever!"
He grunted as he moved farther along, but it wasn't fast enough.
Suddenly, Saul and Arthur began to notice Bulstrode beginning to slow down and move suddenly about the sea.
"He's slowing down!" Saul pointed out.
"His propeller's still functioning at the same speed!" Arthur added.
"Bulstrode!" he shouted, as Arthur whistled loudly. "Come back!"
But Bulstrode ignored him as he carried on.
"I'll show them my worth!" he said to himself.
At that moment, Bulstrode began to feel a little strange and found himself rocking back and forth as his propeller splashed about the water!
"This can't be right!" he muttered. "I've carried much heavier tons then this in my day! It was coal and stone, even if it wasn't in…"
It all came to him at last as he found himself slowly going underneath.
"…crates! HELLLLP!" he wailed. "I'm sinking!"
"Oh, no!" Arthur gasped. "What do we do, Saul?"
Saul thought long and hard, until at last, he had an idea.
"Quick!" he shouted, as he reached his trolley and threw his hook out from his crane arm. "Reel me in!"
His operator quickly attached the hook to Bulstrode's back end and proceeded to pull the barge back to shore!
"No fear, Bulstrode! I've got you!" Saul assured him, as he reeled him back to the quay.
Bulstrode groaned with humiliation and spat water from his mouth, as his face was right up in it.
Arthur fetched Judy and Jerome and Bulstrode was loaded onto their flatbed in between. Soon enough, the Fat Controller arrived.
Bulstrode looked miserable as he was lowered onto the flatbed.
"Dear, oh dear, Bulstrode," he groaned with dismay. "Whatever we're you thinking taking all those fish crates at a time?"
"I-I thought I could do it, sir. You see…"
"I thought you could be a reliable barge given a second chance. But now, it looks like I'll have to send you back to the beach!"
Bulstrode sighed with dismay, but Saul gasped with shock!
"No!" he shouted, as both the Fat Controller and Bulstrode looked over at him with surprise.
He sighed and calmed down.
"Please, sir," he begged, "don't send Bulstrode back to the beach! It wasn't all his fault! It was my idea to challenge Bulstrode to take all those crates at once!"
"I see," the Fat Controller responded, listening on.
"I never meant for Bulstrode to end up like that," Saul went on. "I just wanted…to stop his grumbling once and for all."
"Mmm…" the Fat Controller thought, nodding in agreement as he looked Bulstrode in the eye.
"Please, sir," Saul finished. "Bulstrode might not be the brightest barge around but he's a hard worker and I don't think Arthur and I would have made it a lot farther without him."
Bulstrode's baffled expression softened a bit as he listened to Saul speak.
"Understood," the Fat Controller agreed at last. "Yes, well, as many complaints, Bulstrode, as I've gotten about you barging in and moaning and spreading bad atmosphere around the Fishing Village here, I can't help but say that I haven't gotten any about you being late. Therefore, I think it's best to give you another chance!"
Arthur and Saul both sighed with relief, as Bulstrode only grunted slightly.
"But perhaps," the Fat Controller finished, "you may need a bit of fixing up first. Take him to the SteamWorks please, Arthur!"
PEEP-PEEP!
"With pleasure, sir!"
Bulstrode shot a funny look over at Saul, who beamed back at him as Arthur pulled him away.
A few days later, Bulstrode was mended and lifted back into the water by the quay. Both Arthur and Saul were very happy to see him!
PEEP-PEEP!
"Welcome back, Bulstrode!" Arthur greeted.
"I must admit," Saul added, "it got a little too quiet here without you. Hard to find a quicker ship to wait for as well."
Bulstrode looked Saul straight in the eye.
"Why did you put in the good word for me? I don't know why you'd bother after I've been so rude!"
Saul just smiled.
"I just thought about all the hard work you put in to make the deliveries on time, and I didn't just wanna see you go like that!"
"Why?!" Bulstrode demanded, raising an eyebrow.
"Because you caught on to what you needed to do from day one," Saul admitted. "That's about as long as it took me to get adjusted to my new surroundings, whilst you fit right in and knew what you had to do!"
"Mmm…" Bulstrode thought, listening on.
"Having thought about that, I thought that you and I had some common ground," he finished, the joked, "perhaps that's what barges back in YOUR day are made of!"
Bulstrode managed a weak grin at his newfound friend.
"Thank you, Saul. Perhaps I misjudged you as well. I promise to be more calm and patient with you both in future and a different barge in future."
"Oh, really?" Saul wondered, rather cheekily.
"Yes!" said Bulstrode stressily, "as long as you, erm…, don't tell anyone. Might make me look silly!"
"Deal!" Saul decided. "But remember, calm and patient."
Bulstrode coughed in the midst of an awkward silence.
"So," he wondered, "does this mean you're going to work a little faster?"
Saul chuckled
"We'll see!" he replied.
PEEP-PEEP!
"Here comes our cue! Look sharp!"
The two friends assumed their positions for work as Ryan pulled up under Saul's hoist.
As the day progressed, engines rushed in and out and Bulstrode and Saul worked together to have them loaded and on their way.
"Erm…, move up there a little bit, Philip. J-j-just a little bit down there, Saul."
HONK-HONK!
"Sure thing, Bulstrode!" Philip replied.
Saul smiled as he moved down into place and begin swooping up crates from Bulstrode's hoist.
SWOOP-SWOOP-SWOOP!
At first, Bulstrode found being calm and patient to be easy, but it wasn't long before other engines began to take notice…!
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
"Hmm…, maybe a little more up, please, Rebecca?" he asked the yellow engine.
Rebecca moved slightly up in line with Saul's hoist.
"Oh, um, erm…, g-g-good. That's good. Stay right there, thank you!"
Rebecca chuckled.
"Thank you, Bulstrode! You seem like you're in a better mood today!"
"Oh, well, erm, you see…" Bulstrode tried to explain, blushing a little.
But Thomas only chuckled from behind her.
"This is very new!" he pointed out.
"What happened to all your barging in and moaning?" Percy wondered. "Did you leave it all behind while you were at the works?!"
The other engines laughed, as did Saul as he looked down at Bulstrode, who went red in the face!
"Oh, please, hurry it along, Saul!" he begged. "And get these engines out of here before someone else finds out!"
"Roger!" Saul obliged, and proceeded to swoop up crates from Bulstrode's hoist.
SWOOP-SWOOP! SWOOP-SWOOP-SWOOP!
He rushed speedily along the dockside when…
SWISH!
"Uh oh," he murmured.
A crate dropped from his trolley and smashed, as fish landed right all over Bulstrode. The barge proceeded to spit fish angrily from his mouth.
"Whatever was the meaning of that?!" he demanded.
"Oops, sorry," he gulped, then proceeded to load Rebecca's trucks.
"Grrrrrr!" Bulstrode growled, gritting his teeth.
Thomas chuckled.
"It was fun while it lasted!" he remarked cheekily.
The other engines laughed, including Arthur as he pulled in, and Saul as he came back over for the next batch of crates.
But unfortunately, this decision didn't last very long and it wasn't long and Bulstrode couldn't help but go back to his old ways!
"GrrrrrrrRRRRRAHHHHHH!" he cried out in rage, then demanded, "get those trucks in line and where they should be!"
First entry in my home stretch for Set 3 and this time, Bulstrode the Barge is back and at it, whilst squaring off against the Norramby crew! His demeanor with Saul was fun to write here, with Bulstrode's impatience immediately clashing with the fishing crane's cautiousness. In the end, the two become unlikely allies, as Bulstrode learns his lesson about barging in and moaning and Saul learns to find common ground with him in order for them to cooperate and work together to keep the Fishing Village in good working order. It was fun giving Beresford a one-liner for this season as well. The Norramby crew is pretty much solidified and set in stone by this point and I am excited to do more with them in the future. Be sure to leave your thoughts on this story, and come back next week to see the Steam Team back in action in...
Sleep Deprived! - Percy finds himself constantly having to get up early after taking the mail so late, and denies his friends' assistance in taking the pressure off of him to give him a rest.
Thieves! (based on Stop, Thief! by Christopher Awdry) - Thomas is informed that the stationmaster's house had been robbed, and comes across the thieves in the valley, ready to pursuit them!
Byron And Brenda - Byron and Brenda are tasked with clearing the grounds around a site by Wellsworth; however, things get out of hand as Byron attempts to take charge of the situation and Brenda just wants to do her own thing.
Bulgy Plays The Fool - Bulgy comes to help out with the extra summer tourists at Ulfstead, though he takes an immediate dislike to the Earl and views him as a buffoon. When Stephen's fire is slow to start, Bulgy relinquishes the Earl into handing all the passengers over to him, though he doesn't realize that HE'S the one being tricked since the Earl figures out his plan!