Theodore And The Mysterious Girl

One dusky evening in the Great Big Harbour, Theodore was finishing up his job with Barrington Barge. It had been a long day for the two and they were both looking for a rest after their work. "Come along, Barrington," Theodore called to the little barge, "We're almost done for today." "No problem," said Barrington, "Call it a 'dusk' job." "Right," Theodore agreed.

All the other tugs were already done with their works for the day and Theodore was the last tugboat working that. First, Theodore took Barrington Barge to the oil refinery to deliver a load of pipes. "Here we are," said Theodore with a smile. "I'm going to unload Barrington now," a crane called out.

"Uh, Theodore," said Barrington as the crane started unloading, "How long has that guy been working here?" "I don't remember," Theodore answered. After the crane had unloaded Barrington, Theodore and Barrington headed off to a small dock to pick up the last loads for the day.

"Now it's crates ahoy," said Theodore. Barrington had to laugh at what Theodore had said. "Right," said Theodore, "We'll deliver these crates to the Great Ocean Dock and that's it." "Right," said Barrington. As Theodore secured Barrington to the loading dock, the crane immediately set to work.

But as Theodore finished making the final check on the little barge, no one noticed that an unexpected visitor has jumped onto the tugboat.

About 20 minutes passed when the crane had finished loading the last crate onto Barrington. "Now it's time," said Barrington, "Late delivery. I don't know how to put it better in anyway." Theodore was about to tie his towrope onto Barrington when suddenly a small thing popped up right in front of him.

"Holy!" Theodore exclaimed, shot backwards and bumped into Barrington. "Ow!" cried Barrington as he was forced backwards. "Sorry," said Theodore. "Did you plan on barge-pooling?" Barrington asked. "No," Theodore answered, "Hold on."

Theodore had to save Barrington by throwing a towrope at him. He saved the little barge. Luckily, he wasn't damaged, and neither were the crates on the little barge. "Thanks," said Barrington. "Sorry about that," Theodore, said in return, "Something surprised me."

"I understand," said Barrington. Theodore did look down on his front deck. To his surprise, he saw a young person, lying on his deck. "Oh," Theodore thought, "A person." "A person?" Barrington replied. "You know," said Theodore, "This one is young."

Before Theodore could say anymore, the person on his deck grunted, then got up. Theodore immediately knew that this person is a girl. "A little girl," Theodore whispered, "A she." The little girl managed to push herself up and looked. "What was that?" she said, still confused. Theodore decided not to say anything at the moment.

"What just happened?" the little girl asked. Then she looked up at Theodore's wheelhouse, facing face to face. "Hi there?" Theodore said quietly. "Don't look too surprised?" Barrington added. "Hi?" the little girl asked. "Are you all right?" Theodore asked the girl. "Yeah," the little girl replied, "I'm okay, just shaken."

"What were you doing up there?" Theodore asked the girl, in a concerned, but not too severe, "Don't you know it's dangerous for you to climb up onto a tugboat's wheelhouse without supervision?" "Huh?" the little girl replied. "Ok, now I get it," said Barrington.

"You just gave me a surprise," Theodore told the girl, "That's why I jumped." "And I fell down," the girl concluded, "Ok, but don't worry, I'm okay." "Well," Theodore was about to say more, but instead, he asked, "Uh, do you have a name?" "Oh," the girl replied, "Yes. My name is Laurie."

"Oh," Theodore said in response, "Well, my name is Theodore and I am a tugboat. That's Barrington the barge." "Yep," said Barrington. "Nice to meet you, Theodore and Barrington," the little girl, named Laurie, said in response.

"All right," said Theodore, "Little- I mean Laurie. Listen, I'll finish my job first, as it is the last job of the day. Then I'll take you home." Laurie was about to say something in response, but didn't. "Right way!" Barrington replied.

So at once, Theodore took Barrington to his last destination for the day, with his new passenger, well sort of a passenger. Once all of the crates had been unloaded, Theodore took the little barge back to his dock and prepared to go anywhere in the Great Big Harbour, with a reason.

"All right, Laurie," Theodore said to Laurie, "I'm going to take you home now, so, where do you live?" Laurie paused for a moment. Then she said, "I don't have a home." Theodore immediately paused. "What?" he said in a gasping tone, "Don't have a home?"

"Yes," Laurie replied sadly, "I don't have any where to live." "Oh," Theodore gasped, "So, that means-" "Yes," said Laurie, "I'm on my own. I don't have a home or a mom or dad to look after me." "Oh," Theodore said slowly, "Now I understand. I'm sorry. I didn't know. I shouldn't have said-"

"That's okay," Laurie replied in a comforting tone, "You didn't know. We've just met." "Sorry," Theodore replied slowly. "Don't worry," Laure replied. "Well," said Theodore, "Then I could take you back to my home then, the Great Ocean Docks. I can't leave you out here alone by yourself." "That's fine," Laurie replied, "I'd like to see your home." "Ok," Theodore replied, "Time to call it a day?" And Theodore set off for home.

At the Great Ocean Docks, the tugboats were gathered around listening to one of Truro's stories. And Dorothy Dory was there with him. Today, Truro had made a special delivery, so he and Dorothy decided to stay in the Great Big Harbour for the night.

He had finished telling the tugboats a story about the time he saw a large whale near the Pictou Peaks. "It bet it is as big as a building!" Hank said excitedly. "Whales grow to be that big," Truro explained. "Right," Dorothy agreed. "Impressive," said Foduck. "Yeah," Emily added in.

"A big whale," said George, "And a late arrival." Everyone then turned to see Theodore arriving. "Hello," said Theodore, "Sorry, late." "Hey, Theodore," said George, "You're late for storytelling time. Truro had finished telling us his story." "Yes," said Theodore, "Well, be thankful I wasn't here to interrupt him."

"Yeah," Truro agreed, "Don't remind me." "Wait, don't you mean 'I'm late'?" asked Foduck, "That what you should have said." "He didn't mean it like that," said the voice that that is unfamiliar to everyone else. "Who said that?!" Emily asked, surprised. "A thing!" Dorothy said excitedly, noticing Theodore's passenger, who is Laurie.

"Hi?" Laurie said. Everyone, including the Dispatcher gasped in amazement. "Déjà vu?" Truro added in. "Who's that?" asked Hank. "A person!" said Emily, "A young girl!" "Yes," said Foduck, "A human! Like that Mr. Rodney guy down by the docks, except, Emily, you're right. She is a girl. Like you. So, who is she?" "Yes, Theodore," said the Dispatcher, "Who is she?" "This is my new friend, Laurie," Theodore said.

"Hello, everyone," Laurie said to the others, "My name is Laurie. It's very nice to meet you all, friends of Theodore the tugboat." "Nice to meet you too, Hank," said Hank. "Uh, Hank," said Theodore, "Her name is Laurie. You're Hank." "Oh, right, Laurie," Hank said, "I'm a goof."

"Well, Laurie," said the Dispatcher, "I am the Dispatcher. I'm in charge in this company." And the other boats introduced themselves to the little girl. "It's nice to meet you, George, Emily and Foduck," Laurie said, "And Truro and Dorothy." "You too," said Emily.

"Yeah," Hank agreed, "So where did she come from?" "Well," Laurie slowly, "No place." "No place?" Foduck repeated slowly. "I found her at the oil refinery," said Theodore. "Oil refinery!" Dorothy exclaimed.

"That's no place for a child to be playing around!" said Truro. "I know that!" said Theodore, "She has no home! That's why I've brought her here!" "I see," said George. "No home?" Foduck repeated, "Then she's an orphan!" "What's that?" Hank asked.

"No mother, no father," said Theodore, "No home. You're right about that, Foduck." "I understand," Foduck said slowly. "Ok," Truro agreed, "What are you going to do with her, Theodore?" "For now," said Theodore, "I'll take care of her." "What?!" the other tugboats exclaimed.

"Yes," said Theodore. "All right, that's enough," said the Dispatcher, "All tugboats are to go to their docks now for the night." "Yes, sir," said George. "You, too, Theodore," the Dispatcher said to Theodore, "And make sure your visitor is comfortable for the night." "I'll be okay," said Laurie. "And Truro and Dorothy," the Dispatcher went on, "You may go to the special visitors docks. I'm sure Bluenose would like company." "Right," said Truro.

So no one said anything else for the rest of the night. No one, other than Theodore and Laurie. "I'll take care of you," Theodore said to the little girl, "Laurie. I promise." "Thank you," said Laurie, "Theodore. You're wonderful."

"Ok," Theodore said quietly, "Now you go to sleep, Laurie." "I will," Laure replied and the little girl fell asleep on a nice soft mattress, completed with bed sheets that serves as blankets. Topped with bundled up coats that act as pillows. "Luckily, that was in my lifeboat," Theodore thought to himself and he, too, fell fast asleep.

The next morning, everyone got their orders for the day and Laurie heard every single word the Dispatcher had said. "So that's how it's done," she thought to herself.

Today, the morning work meeting only took a few minutes that day and once it was over, all the tugboats set to work. "Laurie," Theodore called out, "It's go time." "Right," Laure called out as she hopped onto Theodore's deck.

"Theodore," the Dispatcher called out. "Yes, sir," said Theodore. "Are you sure you want to bring that girl along with you for work?" "Yes," Theodore answered. "Don't worry about me, sir," said Laurie, "I'll be fine." "All right then, the Dispatcher said, "Theodore, you may start work now." "Yes, sir!" Theodore called back, "Ready, Laurie?" "Yes," Laurie answered, "I'm ready." "Let's go," Theodore said.

But he didn't know that his friends were watching him. "Looks like Theodore the Victorious," mumbled George, "Has been renamed Theodore the babysitter!" "Stop it, George!" Emily scolded, "Be nice!"

The first job was to move Isabelle to another dock. As Theodore helped the other tugboats, Laurie was watching the whole docking from another dock. And thus, the tugboats successfully docked Isabelle. "Thanks," said Isabelle.

"No problem," said George, "Including help from a babysitter." This made Theodore mad.

After docking the big ship, Theodore left to work with Barrington. He decided to bring Laurie with him on this trip. "Hey," said Barrington, "It's that oil refinery girl from yesterday!" "Right," said Theodore, "It is her." "And Theodore is now the babysitter to her!" George said as he towed Bayswater along.

"Ok, let's go," Theodore said as he button onto Barrington. "Theodore," Laurie said, "Are you okay?" "Yes," Theodore replied, trying to stay positive, "Come on." And Theodore started his jobs with the barge. However, Theodore wasn't to happy with George's insults.

Throughout the day, Theodore introduced Laurie to many of his friends in the big harbour, including Digby, Rebecca, Constance, Nautilus, Millie, Phillip and Filmore, and Sigrid. They were all happy to meet the little girl.

Theodore also introduced Laurie to Benjamin the bridge. "How do you do down there?" Benjamin called down to both Theodore and Laurie, well, only to Theodore. "Doing fine," Theodore called back, "But this time, I'm with a new friend." "Oh, I understand," Benjamin replied. "Hi," said Laurie, "I know you can't see me, but-"

"You can see you," Benjamin Bridge said, "And of course I can see you, kid!" "Really?" Laurie asked. "Yes," Benjamin replied. Nearby, Rebecca, Constance, Digby and Nautilus were watching the two. "Wow," said Digby, "Jumping jellyfish! A human child in our harbour."

"Yeah," Nautilus said, "They're usually at school, or on ferries, or cruise ships or ocean liners, but this one has become an instant friend with Theodore." "Right," Constance agreed, "And Theodore has volunteered to take care of her." "That is true," said Hank as he and Foduck puffed up, "Remember Theodore and the whale?"

"Yes," said Rebecca, "He named him Walter. And even though he didn't want to, he took care of him." "Like he's doing with that girl now," said Hank, "The poor thing is alone." "Is an orphan," said Foduck, "This girl was wandering around the oil refinery yesterday. There was no one to care for her. So Theodore did what he did."

"Aw, that's so sad," said Rebecca. "Well," said Foduck, "I've heard of a Japanese near-the-end-of-a-war story. About two siblings. And- it's not a happy story." "How?" Hank asked. Foduck only replied to Hank with a sad frown on his face. A really, really sad frown.

"Oh, I understand," Hank gasped, "And so Theodore is not going to let that happen to her." "I see," said Rebecca, "He'd always wanted to be an ocean tug." "I am now an ocean tug!" Hank exclaimed. "Now," said Constance, "The decision is up to him now."

"Right," Nautilus agreed. The six friends then watched Theodore set off to his next job, with Laurie still on his deck. "It's his choice now," said Rebecca. "Yeah," George called from a distance, "His choice of being a babysitter!" "What?!" Hank asked suddenly.

Later, Theodore and George moved Margaree Pride to the loading dock with no problems. The two pilot boats, Pearl and Petra were there to watch the docking operation. "There," said Pearl, "And good idea of having an audience member, Theodore."

"Ok," said Theodore, "By the way, Laurie, they're our pilot boats, Pearl and Petra." "Hello, Pearl and Petra," Laurie called out to the two pilot boats. "It's a pleasure to meet you," Petra called back. "Yeah," said George, "Talk to Theodore the babysitter." This made Theodore mad.

The two tugboats successfully docked Margaree Pride and Theodore and George prepared to set off for their next jobs. "I'll go now," Theodore said to the two pilot boats. "Yeah," George replied, "With your pet." "What?!" Theodore replied, starting to get angry. "So you're going to spend the rest of your life babysitting?" George asked rudely, "Maybe I should put toddler stuff in your dock."

Now Theodore is mad. He furiously untied his towrope and face George. "Maybe you'll probably quit being an ocean tug," George went on, "And then you could-"

"Shut up!" Theodore burst at George, "Just shut up! I don't need your help! I'm going to take care of this girl without your help! And I don't want to hear babysitter from you ever again! Why don't you do the rest of your jobs by yourself! You don't need me around!"

With that, Theodore stormed away, with Laurie kind of shocked. George was left abashed. Even the pilot boats were surprised. "Does this mean I get my tow cheap?" Margaree Pride asked.

Nonetheless, Theodore carried out with his other jobs, but in an irate mood. But now, Laurie wasn't sure.

After Theodore finished moving a float plane with Emily, Laurie said to Theodore, "Uh, Theodore? Was that a smart thing to say to your friend?" "Well," Theodore replied, finally realizing what she had said, "No. It wasn't." "I know he was being rude to you," said Laurie, "But you shouldn't have been rude back."

"I know," sighed Theodore, "Sorry that I scared you like that." "That's okay with me," Laurie replied, "But what about your friend?" "What's going on?" Emily asked. "I shouted at George for calling me a babysitter," Theodore answered.

"Whoa," Emily replied, "Look, I know he is rude and bossy. I know. But-" "He made me mad," Theodore replied, "And I- I didn't think clearly." "You should have though about what you were going to say," Laurie said to Theodore. "I know," said Theodore, "And I didn't."

"Well," said Emily, "I'm glad you're taking care of Laurie now." "Yes," said Theodore, "I have been thinking about her. But when I got teased, I lost my patience." "Don't worry," said Laurie, "I'm still glad that you're taking care of me. Thank you." "You're welcome," Theodore replied.

"Ok," said Emily, "I got to help Scally now, you think about what to do now." And so Emily left to go to her next job. "Maybe," Theodore thought as he set off, "I'll let Laurie make her own choice. I've already made mines, and it was worth it."

"I've already made my choice, Theodore," the little girl said to the tugboat, "And I'm happy that you're taking care of me. Now you should take care of yourself. And your friend, too." "You're right," Theodore agreed.

For the rest of the day, Theodore did the rest of his jobs like normal with no problems. And Laurie had a great time with him. "Now it's time," Theodore thought to himself.

And by the end of the day, Theodore had finished all of his jobs. All the other tugboats had finished their jobs, too. And so, that night, when everything was quiet, Theodore decided to talk to George.

"Hey," said George, "Theodore, I'm sorry." "No, George," Theodore said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you." "And I shouldn't have teased you in the first place," George said, "It was foolish of me. You're grown up, Theodore, and I should have known better."

"And I shouldn't have been like you," Theodore said, "You know what I mean." "That," said George, "Theodore, how about tomorrow, I'll take care of the child? I promise to look after her like you did today." "All right then," Theodore agreed.

"And I'd like to get to know you more," Laurie said to George, "Mr. George the Valliant." "Thank you," George replied, "Let's all be friends." "Good," said Theodore. "The following day," Emily said, "I would like to be your friend, too and take you around."

"Emily has been to loads of places, just you let you know," Hank said. "Yes," Laure replied, "That's fine." With that said, everyone agreed with what they are going to do. Shortly afterwards, they all went to sleep.

The next morning, George did keep his promise and look after Laurie. Just like Theodore had done. "I'm not going to be a bossy pushy guy," said George as he prepared to go to work, "By the way, Foduck, what was the name of that Japanese, uh, story, that you mentioned?" Foduck decided not to answer George's question.