Chapter 225: Salty's Stormy Tale

Salty loves his work at Brendam Docks. Day in and day out, he shunts trucks full of goods to and from the port, ready to be taken along the railway lines or out to sea on massive cargo ships. Here, an old sea dog is at home.

One day, he was working with Bill and Ben getting a large shipment of China Clay ready for exporting. As he took a minute to get a drink of water, he looked up towards the sky. Dark storm clouds were looming overhead.

"Better take shelter, mateys!" He chuckled. "It may be sunny now, but there be a storm coming!"

Bill and Ben chuckled as he drove away. They liked Salty, but they especially liked the way he talked. They thought he sounded cool, and decided to imitate him.

"Better take shelters, mateys!" Ben howled.

"It may look sunny now, but there be a storm coming! Hollered Bill, and the two had a good laugh. But as they continued their imitation, Salty had returned with some empty trucks and heard everything.

"There be a fierce storm on the way, captain!"

"Better batten down the hatches!"

Salty thought they were making fun of him, and his heart sank.

"Well, this old sea dog knows when he's not wanted."

And with that, he left to find some place else to work. A while later, Sir Topham Hatt came to see him.

"A new engine driver for the Cement Works has landed at the airport," he said. "He doesn't know the way, and could easily get lost. Please help him find his way."

"Yes, sir," said Salty sadly. Emily saw he was feeling upset and decided to talk to him.

"Is something wrong, Salty? I've never seen you like this before."

"Huh? Oh, hi Emily. Its nothing, just sick of being teased, that's all."

With that, Salty sadly drove away. Emily felt sorry for him, then rage when she realized just who was responsible.

"BILL! BEN!"

She found the two shunting another load into the dock, still imitating Salty.

"Those be dark clouds, matey!"

"There be a fierce storm on the way, captain!"

"You two should be ashamed of yourselves! You hurt Salty's feelings."

Bill and Ben felt terrible.

"We didn't mean to. We were just having fun!"

"We think Salty's really cool, and wanted to be just like him. We didn't mean to insult him."

"We'll apologize the next time we see him. Have you seen him?"

They went and searched for him, but he was long gone. Bill and Ben's hearts sunk.

Meanwhile, Salty had just arrived at the airport. The new driver was waiting for him on the platform.

"Are you my ride?"

"Sure am, matey! I'm Salty."

"You can call me Fergus. Thanks for the ride."

Soon, the two were on their way. It was a good thing Fergus's plane got in when it did, because no sooner had they reached the coast did it start to rain hard. Salty could just barely see the line ahead.

"Does it always storm this bad?"

"You get used to-huh?"

An amber light shone ahead, warning them of danger. Concerned, Salty slowed the engine down to a stop. The lighthouse keeper was there, looking most concerned.

"The generator has blown a fuse, and the lamp has gone out! A ship is trying to dock, but if I can't get the light back on, they'll be sailing into Davey Jones's locker!"

Fergus was keen to help.

"I'm a pretty good mechanic. I bet I can get it up and running!"

"Alright, but we need to work fast! Come on, the shed is this way."

Salty helped too, and the three of them worked hard and fast. It was brutal work, but they managed to get the light back on. The ship saw the light just in time and barely avoided a nasty accident. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

The next morning, Salty and Fergus drove into the docks, tired but triumphant. To their surprise, a huge crowd of people were there waiting for them, cheering as they arrived. Sir Topham Hatt pushed his way to the front, along with the captain of the ship they had saved.

"Thank ye for saving my ship. You two are really useful!"

"You took the words right out of my mouth. You two should be very proud of yourselves!"

Salty and Fergus just beamed. Bill and Ben sheepishly approached.

"We're sorry for hurting your feelings, Salty."

"We only copied you because we think you're grand."

Salty chuckled heartedly before rubbing his fist against their heads.

"Aah, fret not, he hearties! You know, this reminds me of a story..."