Building work in Great Waterton was starting up again. Old tracks were being restored to their former glory and opened for visitors.
With few passengers and lots of building materials to deliver, Flora had been asked to shunt trucks instead of pulling coaches full of tourists. She was glad to have a change of pace but she soon found herself struggling to do the work alone.
One day, Dennis arrived at the town.
"Hello," peeped Flora cheerily, "are you here to help with all the building materials?"
"Yes," oiled Dennis, "and another steamie is coming too. I'm sure that'll help a lot more."
"I'm sure you'll do a grand job," said Flora, feeling very relieved. She puffed happily away to collect some flatbeds of timber from Brendam Docks.
Soon, Flora was puffing back and forth, delivering building materials to all different parts of Great Waterton. She was amazed at how big the town was.
However, she soon noticed that Dennis was spending a lot of time in a siding and not a lot of time shunting trucks.
Just as she was about to approach Dennis, Donald turned up.
"Hello!" peeped Donald, "This'll be different for sure!" He then noticed Dennis in the siding. "What's he doin' there?" he asked in an unimpressed tone.
Flora could tell that something was wrong.
"Uh...I don't know. Do you know Dennis very well?"
"I've heard about him," huffed Donald, "and from what I've heard..."
Donald trailed off and chuffed over to where Dennis was. Flora followed.
"What's the problem here?" demanded Donald.
"Don't talk to me like that!" whined Dennis, "I'm in need of repair. I feel like I have no fuel at all."
"Ya don't look like yerr in need of repair ta me!"
Dennis scowled. Flora was starting to realise what the real problem was here.
"Dennis," she puffed quietly, "maybe once you get going, you'll find the work alright. And if it gets worse...the problem, I mean..."
"Rubbish!" said Donald, "There is no problem. Yerr just a useless layabout fit for the scrapyard." He paused and let Dennis gasp and protest. "Get outta the sidin'. A wee bit o' work would do ya some good!"
As the day went on, Flora noticed that Dennis was working very well and that he didn't seem to find the work too hard.
'Maybe Donald was right,' she thought to herself.
Later, as it was getting dark, Flora and Donald both finished their jobs and were heading to the sheds near Great Waterton Station.
"It'll be nice to have some company in the sheds for once," said Flora.
"Ay," said Donald, "as long as nothin' happens overnight. Someone sleep whistles, ya hear commotion outside all night, someone lays an egg..."
Flora was taken aback by that last thing. Donald was delighted to tell her the full story.
As he finished and the two of them reached the sheds, Dennis came past somewhat slowly with trucks full of bricks.
"Oh dear," whispered Flora, "is he still working?"
"Probably goin' slowly in protest," puffed Donald, "and runnin' late after all that time in a sidin'."
Dennis was clearly close enough to hear Donald. Flora felt embarrassed.
The next morning, Flora woke up quite early. She noticed that Dennis wasn't in the shed.
'He might have left to start work early,' she thought, 'but I think he probably just doesn't like Donald now.'
Flora knew something probably needed to be done for Dennis to work well with her and Donald. So, when her driver and fireman came, she asked them if they could quickly look for Dennis. They agreed as long as they could still start work on time.
Fortunately, it didn't take long to find him.
"You're up early," offered Flora.
"I haven't been able to sleep," replied Dennis, "Donald was so mean to me."
"Uh...yes, I know," said Flora soothingly. She was thinking of how she could make everyone happy. She couldn't do nothing. "You obviously did a good job in the end. I saw you working hard well into the night!"
For the first time since Dennis had arrived at Great Waterton, he smiled.
Flora knew she was onto something and added, "And maybe if you keep working hard...keep doing a good job, Donald might be nicer to you!"
"Maybe," said Dennis quietly, "thank you for trying to help me."
A few hours later, Flora, Donald and Dennis were all hard at work. Donald did notice how hard Dennis was working. He asked Flora if she had done anything.
Flora knew that Dennis was working harder because she had been encouraging him all day. Every time he finished a job, she would give him a big 'well done'. However, just as she was about to tell Donald this, Dennis arrived with another delivery of bricks.
"I've done another job!" he tooted expectantly.
"Well done!" called Flora. She then smiled at Donald and whispered, "It's a simple thing to do but it makes a big difference."
"I need to shunt some trucks of debris now," called Dennis, "do you think I can do it?"
"Eh, we'll see!" replied Donald.
This was not quite the response Dennis had wanted. He frowned and moved very slowly towards the trucks.
Flora called over to him, "I'm sure you can do it!" When she saw that she had Dennis' attention, she kept going. "You've been doing amazing work all day. You're a splendid, useful engine."
Dennis started to move faster and appeared much happier.
Donald was none too pleased.
"Ya can't keep doin' that," he puffed, "He'll expect it all the time!"
Flora was worried but she decided to trust Donald's judgement. She got back to focusing on her own work.
For the rest of the day, anytime Dennis would stop and wait for some encouragement, a simple 'we'll see' was all Donald or Flora would give him. He clearly didn't like that. However, he was on a roll and so he kept going.
Jobs continued to be completed in good time. Dennis didn't keep sulking forever.
As dusk fell, the three engines all finished their work and were ready to settle down in the sheds.
"I enjoyed that," wheeshed Flora contentedly.
"Ay," agreed Donald, "especially that wee incident with the frog in the wheelbarrow!"
Both he and Flora burst out laughing.
Dennis didn't know what they were talking about and he didn't ask. He was still upset about not being praised as much as he had wanted.
Donald said to Dennis, "You impressed me today. All yerr deliveries were done on time. I think you should be more proud of yerrself than ya look!"
Hearing this, Dennis perked up.
"Well, thank you," he said. Then, after a moment, he said, "So, what happened with the frog in the wheelbarrow?"
Both Donald and Flora were happy to tell Dennis all about it.