Narrow Gauge Louds

Narrow Gauge Louds is the third chapter of You Bring The Summer.

Summary
When James takes Frank, Joey, and the girls to visit the Narrow Gauge Engines, an unlikely alliance is formed.

Story
Later that day, Joey, Lori, Lola, Lana, Lucy, and Lisa were in their hotel room. Lola and Lana were having a tea party with Lana's teddy bear and some of Lola's stuffed animals, Lisa was playing with a toy called an "X Cube", which was kinda like a normal Rubik's Cube, only shaped like the letter "X" rather than the traditional cube, Lucy was watching The Addams Family on TV, and Joey and Lori were sitting at the table in the corner, talking.

"I really wonder what's wrong with Lynn," said Lori.

"Me too," said Joey, "I haven't seen her this glum ever since her Todd Gurley plush got destroyed back in Episode 7 of our series."

"Yeah," said Lori, "Maybe it was something at school?"

"Yeah, probably," said Joey.

Just then, the buzzer in their room rang.

"Lana," said Joey, "can you get that, please?"

"Sure thing, Joey," said Lana.

Lana went to the buzzer, stood on a chair, and hit the "answer" button.

"Who is it," asked Lana.

On the other end was James.

"It's me," said James, "is Joey there?"

"Sure is," said Lana.

Lana called Joey to the buzzer, and the latter talked with James.

"What's up," asked Joey.

"I was thinking of taking you, Frank, and the girls to meet some friends of mine," said James.

"Cool," said Joey, "I'm sure they'll be very excited."

"Okay," said James, "I've got the carriage ready and I'm outside the hotel."

"Right," said Joey, "I'll tell the others."

"See ya then," said James.

Joey the hung up and, after calling his brother, Luan, Luna, Leni, and Lynn in from their room across the hall, relayed the information, and all of them, except Lynn, was excited.

"Sounds like fun," said Luna.

"Well," said Frank, "what're we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Yeah," said Lori, "We don't wanna keep James waiting, now do we?"

"Can I bring my teddy," asked Lana.

"Sure," said Joey, "but you better hang on it, because you don't want it to blow away in the wind."

"Don't worry," said Lana, "I've already got that covered."

"Okay then," said Joey.

With that, they went outside and found James waiting with his carriage. While Frank, Joey, and the other girls boarded the carriage, Lana went over to James' cab and pulled on his driver's pant leg.

"Yes, sweetie," asked James' driver as he got down to Lana at eye level.

"Can you hang onto my teddy for me," asked Lana as she handed the driver her teddy bear.

"Sure thing, kiddo," said the driver as he took the teddy.

"Now," said Lana, "make sure you keep it nice and secure, because that thing's special to me."

The driver laughed.

"Don't worry, sweetie," said the driver, "I'll just put it in this box."

The driver put the teddy in a crate that contained his and the fireman's lunchboxes, then patted Lana's head.

"Now, go join your friends," said the driver.

Lana then joined Frank, Joey, and her sister in the carriage and they set off with James to the Narrow Gauge Railway.

"So," asked Joey, "who're the friends you're taking us to see?"

"The Narrow Gauge Engines," said James, "they're smaller than standard gauge engines like me."

"How come," asked Lola.

"Their tracks are much more narrow than the tracks I run on," said James.

"Interesting," said Lisa.

"Are the Narrow Gauge Engines nice," asked Lana.

"Well," said James, "most of them. But one of them's an expert prankster, so watch your back."

Luan perked up when she heard the word "prankster".

"Finally," Luan said to herself, "someone I can get along with!"

Just then, they saw the teal streamlined engine from Chapter 1, whose name turned out to be Connor thanks to the nameplates on his sides, fighting with Smudger.

"Any time, pal," Connor hollered, "I'm gonna pick the rivets outta your boiler one by one!"

"Take your best shot," said Smudger.

"You name the place," Connor yelled.

"Oh, yeah," asked Smudger.

"Yeah," Connor howled, "because when you get there, you are dead !"

"Who's that," asked Luna.

"The green one is Smudger," said James, "he's the baddest of the Narrow Gauge Engines."

"How bad is he," asked Lana.

"Bad enough to try and ruin Christmas back in Episode 9," said James.

The Hardys and the Louds were shocked.

"He really did that," asked Leni.

"Yup," said James, "he even had help from his two dump truck friends, Max and Monty."

Soon enough, they arrived, and James' crew took their lunch break while James took his guests inside to meet the Narrow Gauge Engines. However, just as he opened the door, a bucket of purple slime fell on him. A laugh was heard from inside.

"I'm assuming that's the prankster engine," said Lori.

"Yup," said James, "Sir Handel. Always up to his old pranks. Well, that's not entirely true."

"What do you mean," asked Frank.

"Well," James explained, "back in Episode 22, he pranked me very bad."

"How," asked Joey.

"I'll tell you more inside after I get cleaned up," said James.

Soon, the slime had been cleaned off, and James told Frank, Joey, and the girls how Sir Handel's prank had gone down.

"Oh my," said Frank, "That'll do it."

"Yup," said James.

"That's nothing compared to what Luan did one time," said Leni.

"Yeah," said Joey, "Back in Episode 11 of our series, Luan faked her death."

James was shocked.

"Wow," said James, "that must've been bad."

"Yeah," said Luan, "I even got a shot in my butt."

"Ouch," said James, "My driver's first cousin twice removed once had a shot in his butt, and it hurt a lot."

Just then, Peter Sam came inside with Skarloey. The latter had paint splodges all over his face because Peter Sam had been making sponge paintings.

"Hey, Peter Sam," said James.

"Hey, James," said Peter Sam, "who're friends?"

James introduced Peter Sam and Skarloey to Frank, Joey, and the girls.

"Nice to meet you," said Peter Sam.

"Same," said Leni.

"He's an artist," said James, "A pretty good one, too."

Peter Sam felt a little insulted.

"Pretty good," asked Peter Sam.

James laughed.

"Just kidding," said James, "very good. In fact, he's got a whole studio in the backyard!"

"Yeah," said Peter Sam, "I'll show you guys after I get Skarloey cleaned up."

Peter Sam wasted no time cleaning up the little crimson engine. However, it was a bit of a challenge since Skarloey was ticklish when at came to cleaning, but in the end, the paint was cleaned off, and while Peter Sam showed Frank, Joey, and the rest of the girls his art studio, Luan decided to have a chat with Sir Handel. She found him talking to Bill and Ben.

"Hey, boys," said Luan.

"Hey there," said Sir Handel.

"They tell me you're the prankster 'round these parts," said Luan.

"Yup," said Sir Handel, "I'm Sir Handel, and the two idiots beside me are my sidekicks, Bill and Ben."

Bill and Ben felt insulted.

"Okay," said Bill, "was that really necessary?"

"I was just kidding, guys," said Sir Handel, "gosh."

"Anyways," said Luan, "suppose the four of us got together and pulled a massive prank attack on everyone."

Sir Handel beamed.

"Girl," said Sir Handel, "you're making music in my ears! Let's do it!"

"Yeah," said Luan, "I'll swing by here tonight to discuss the plan."

"Sounds good," said Sir Handel.

Meanwhile, Lana was going outside to get her teddy, because she was gonna show it to Skarloey. She went to the picnic table where James' crew were having lunch. She found them playing cards, went over to them, and tapped on the driver's back.

"Oh, hello, little one," said the driver, "here for your teddy?"

Lana nodded.

"Well, then," said the driver, "let's have a looksie."

However, when the driver looked in the crate, he realized it wasn't in there.

"That's odd," said the driver, "it's not here."

The driver turned to the fireman.

"Hey, Dean," said the driver, "you see that teddy bear anywhere?"

Dean, the fireman, looked around, but didn't see the teddy.

"Negatory, Jerry," said Dean, "I don't see it."

Lana then grew upset.

"Where is it," she asked in a panicky tone, "where is it?!"

"Now, take it easy, kid," said Jerry, the driver, "we'll find it."

Frank then came outside.

"What's going on," asked Frank.

"My teddy's gone," said Lana.

"Oh, dear," said Frank, "Don't worry, we'll find it."

"Looking for this," asked a voice.

It was Smudger. He had stolen the teddy while the crew were busy with their lunch.

"You give that back right now," Frank demanded.

"You want it," asked Smudger, "then come and get it!"

Smudger then ran off, laughing manically.

"Someone stop him," Frank shouted.

But Smudger didn't go very far, because Duncan had his paintball gun ready. He took aim and fired. The paintball met its mark and Smudger fell to the ground.

"Yow," Smudger cried, "right on the wheel!"

Frank turned to Duncan, who blew the smoke from the muzzle of the gun.

"Nice shot," said Frank.

"Thanks," said Duncan.

However, their relief was short-lived, for a strong gust of wind carried the teddy onto the level crossing, where Gordon didn't see where he was going and ran the teddy over, separating the head from the body as Lana looked on in horror.

"NO," Lana screeched.

Lana then began to cry. Frank immediately picked her up and hugged her, letting her cry into his chest.

"Shh," Frank shushed, "it's okay, sweetie, it's okay."

Frank carried Lana inside, stroking her back while doing so. Duncan went up to Smudger and scowled at him.

"Of all the mean things you've done," said Duncan, "this has to be the worst."

Duncan then went back inside, and Smudger went to the Steam Works to get his wheel cleaned. A shadow then fell over the torn teddy.

"Oh my," said a voice, "the owner of this thing must be devastated."

Inside, Frank was relaying what had just happened to the others. Lori was the most outraged.

"That little punk," said Lori, "just wait till I get my hands on him.."

Just then, Rheneas and Rusty entered.

"Hey, guys," said Rheneas.

Rheneas and Rusty then saw the Hardys and the Louds.

"Who are these people," asked Rheneas.

James introduced Rheneas and Rusty to the Hardys and the Louds.

"Nice to meet you," said Rusty.

"Same," said Joey, "but we kinda need your help."

"With what," asked Rusty.

Joey explained.

"Whoa," said Rusty, "that's deep. Don't worry, I may have the solution."

Rusty then grabbed his Fender ESC80 guitar and played it while singing "I Love It When It Rains" by The Wiggles, with Rheneas backing him up on a xylophone. Sure enough, the song managed to calm Lana down, but she was still upset. At that moment, Duke came home, carrying a bag. After introducing himself to the Hardys and the Louds, he showed them the bag.

"What's in the bag," asked Lana.

"Something you'll be pleased to see," said Duke.

Duke reached into the bag and pulled out Lana's teddy. The latter beamed.

"Teddy," Lana said happily.

Lana took the teddy from Duke and embraced it.

"Thank you," said Lana.

"My pleasure, little one," said Duke.

"How did you get it fixed so quickly," asked Lori.

"I took it to the toy repair shop in the mall," said Duke, "and they fixed it up."

"Well," said Joey, "Thank you."

"Yeah, thanks," said Lana.

Just then, Smudger came in and Lori stormed over to him.

"You pull a stunt like that again and I'll bend your funnel into a pretzel," said Lori.

Smudger laughed.

"You don't look that strong," said Smudger.

But Lori wasn't in the mood for mockery, and she grabbed an iron pipe and bent it into a pretzel.

"Say that again," said Lori.

"Uh," said Smudger meekly, "never mind!"

Smudger then went to his room and slammed the door shut.

"Man," said Smudger, "that girl's tough!"

Later, it was time to go back to the hotel, so the Hardys and the Louds bid goodbye to the Narrow Gauge Engines and they left, but on the way home, James stopped at the local Pizza Planet and picked up two large pizzas: one cheese and one pepperoni, which they all enjoyed when they got back to the hotel.

"So," asked James, "how are you liking Winter City so far?"

"It's great," said Joey, "you have lots of friends."

"Yeah," said James, "and you're gonna meet some more soon."

End Of Chapter 3