Emily Jerks It Out
Emily was working with Sigrid the supply ship. She was pulling Brunswick barge with an extra load of railings. Sigrid carried extras, just in case. "So, what are these railings for?" asked Sigrid.
"These are for Cumberland," explained Emily, "He needs new ones. His old railings have been worn out." "I see now," said Sigrid. "So, Emily," said Brunswick, "Are we going to have an adventure?" "No," chuckled Emily, "You're carrying a load of railings. We can't loose them."
Brunswick was disappointed. He wanted an adventure. But he knew that he had a job, and it must be done. However, when Emily reached the dock Cumberland was at, trouble happened.
Brunswick swerved too far out. "Brunswick," said Emily, "What are you doing?" "I don't know," said Brunswick. Then, with a loud bang as Brunswick hit a ship, the railings on Brunswick slid off and fell into the ocean. "Yikes!" cried Emily. "Oh no!" cried Sigrid. All of Brunswick's railings sank to the bottom of the ocean.
Emily was cross with Brunswick. "Brunswick," said Emily, "We had a job. I didn't want you to rock and roll just for you to have some excitement!" "But," said Brunswick, startling. Emily was so furious; she turned her back on Brunswick. "Don't worry," said Sigrid, "This is the case of an emergency where I brought extra railings."
"Thanks," said Emily, still furious. After Cumberland's railings were replaced, Sigrid left to rest. But Emily tugged hard on Brunswick and took him home. She was so cross; she bumped him really hard when she returned him to his dock. "Stupid thrill-seeking barge," she mumbled to herself, "Wanting to have fun instead of doing work! Huh!"
"But," said Brunswick, however, Emily didn't want to listen. After that, she floated to Shelburne, the sea barge. "Let's go," said Emily, crossly. "I'm ready," said Shelburne, slowly.
Emily tugged Shelburne really hard to a deep part of the harbour. Emily was told to use Shelburne's crane to pull up a large container that sunk to the bottom of the ocean. But Emily was so cross, she didn't care at all. However Emily was so rough, she swung Shelburne from side-to-side. Then, suddenly, on the way, there was a loud thud.
"Ouch!" said Shelburne. Emily felt the thud, too. She didn't know that Shelburne swung out to far and got stuck on a sharp rock. Emily didn't see the mishap, and she revved her engine, pulling really hard.
"Uh, Emily," said Shelburne, but before he could say any more, he jerked a bit. "I can do it!" groaned Emily. Unfortunately, she was only making things worse, but she too cross to care. She didn't even listen to Shelburne cries. The rock was tearing a hole in Shelburne's bottom.
With a mighty jerk, Emily pulled Shelburne off the rock, but not properly. Emily then set off on her way, but not knowing the hole in Shelburne's bottom, which soon began to fill with water. By the time Emily reached the site with Shelburne, Emily wanted to get the job over with so she could go home. Pearl and Petra were waiting. "Good," said Pearl, "We can start."
But then, Shelburne cried out. "Help me!" he said, "I'm sinking!" "Emily!" shouted Pearl, "What did you do to Shelburne!" Emily was shocked. "I don't know!" said Emily. "We got to save that barge!" shouted Petra. Shelburne's cab started to fill up with water. "Emily," said Petra, "Don't move! You're only making Shelburne sink even faster!"
Soon, Foduck and Theodore came to the rescue. They brought Bonnavista barge with her crane. In no time, Foduck, Theodore and Bonnavista helped raised Shelburne out of the water. Foduck looked in Shelburne's deck. "There's a gaping hole at the bottom," he concluded. Theodore had to keep Bonnavista steady while she kept Shelburne raised up.
Emily felt terrible about what happened. After the tugs towed Shelburne to the repair docks, and George set out with Bobby barge to the site. Emily now understand what went wrong. "Emily," said Theodore, "What happened to Shelburne?" "Well, Shelburne said that he landed on a rock that ripped a hole in his bottom," said Foduck. "Oh!" said Emily.
Theodore and Foduck turned to see Emily. "He must have swung out onto a rock," she said, "I must have been careless, and he landed on the rock and I jerked him off of it, thus causing the gaping hole."
"Emily," said Foduck, "Don't you know that was not a smart thing to do?" "I know now," said Emily, sad, "I was just so angry that I didn't care." "What were you angry about?" asked Theodore.
"Brunswick played thrills and chills while we were working," explained Emily, "And he dropped Cumberland's railings into the water while playing his game."
"Hmm," said Theodore, "Brunswick does like thrills and chills, but not like this. Maybe he didn't do it on purpose." "I thought he did," said Emily. "Come on," said Foduck, "Let's ask." The three tugboats went to Brunswick's dock. "Hey," said Brunswick.
"Brunswick," said Emily, "I wanted to ask you a question. You didn't mean to drop the railings into the ocean, did you?" "No," said Brunswick, "I didn't. I wanted to play games, but I didn't. Something went wrong." Then Foduck noticed Emily's towrope. "Emily," said Foduck, "You didn't use your extra-long towrope, did you?"
"I did," said Emily, "That's why Brunswick dropped the railings and Shelburne crashed onto the rock. It was both my fault." Emily turned to Brunswick. "Brunswick," she began, "It was my fault that you lost the railings. I shouldn't have blamed you, and I shouldn't have bumped you. I'm sorry."
"That's okay," said Brunswick, "So, are we friends again?" "Yes," said Emily, "Friends again." After that, Theodore, Emily and Foduck decided to get the railings out of the water. They had Bonnavista fish all of them out. They weren't badly damaged.
After that, the three tugboats went home together. Emily promised to never jerk things out ever again. Emily decided to laugh to herself, since she did act like a jerk. But it's all settled now. Emily also decided to get rid of her extra-long towrope.