Disclaimer: All characters belong to HiT Entertainment.

Through Sam's Eyes

Cadet Catastrophe

Series 11 Episode 2

Exactly a week after the drama involving Joe's Firedog Two-Thousand, a north-westerly gale blew in. Despite that, I felt quite cheerful when I arrived at work shortly before nine o'clock. I was even whistling as I signed on for duty.

The reason why I was so happy was because, earlier in the week, I'd managed to persuade Station Officer Steele to let someone else take the Junior Cadets out for their training day. I'd thought that Penny would be willing to do it, but she'd already decided to carry out a few minor repairs to some of our equipment, so she'd be too busy. Then, on Wednesday night, Ellie bravely volunteered to look after the Junior Cadets for the day. Since this would be her first solo training day, Penny and I sat down with her to go through some suitable activities she could teach the kids. I was glad she'd volunteered, because if it all went well, it would help her end her probationary period sooner.

After I'd signed on, I went upstairs to prepare a cup of tea. I frowned when I saw that the wind had picked up dramatically.

"I hope you'll be careful today, Ellie," I said to her as I sat down at the table with my cup of tea. "This wind could easily send embers flying where you don't want them."

"Don't worry, Sam. Knowing my luck, I won't be able to light a fire in this wind anyway."

"I wonder if Norman will be responsible for starting any fires today?" Penny teased. "You did make that bet with him, Sam."

"Well, he's been pretty good so far. Mind you, it's only been a week. We'd better be on high alert anyway, just in case something goes wrong." My mobile phone rang then. Seeing that it was Tom, I answered it. "Hello, Tom."

"Hey, Sam. Are you still coming to help me with Wallaby Two this morning?"

"Of course. I just have a few loose ends to sort out here, and then I'll come up to the Mountain Rescue Centre."

"Good. I don't suppose you could bring a new wind sock with you? This wind has shredded the old one."

"Oh dear. Hold on. I'll just have to see if we have a spare one…" Keeping the phone to my ear, I hurried downstairs to the Control Room, and I took a ring binder down from the shelf. I flicked through it until I found the list from our latest equipment check. "You still there, Tom?"

"Yes."

"Good. We do have a spare windsock available. I'll see if Elvis and Arnold can put it up for you. In this gale, it'll be a two-person job."

"Excellent! I'll see you soon then."

"Bye Tom." And I hung up the phone. I returned the ring binder to the shelf and went in search of Elvis and Arnold. I found them in the appliance bay. "Ah! There you are. I need you both to come to the Mountain Rescue Centre with me this morning. Tom needs the windsock changed."

"Okay, Sam," Elvis agreed. "Come on, Arnold. We need to find the spare windsock."

"It should be in the locker next to the training hoses," I told them. At that moment, I heard Trevor's bus pull into the driveway. Guess that means the kids will be here shortly, I thought. "Ellie? Are you ready to go?"

"Almost," Ellie replied from the locker area. She was putting on her firefighting uniform.

I decided to head outside to see if Trevor needed any help loading the gas cannister onto his bus. However, when I opened the front door, I saw Trevor chasing after his hat, which was being blown around on the ground by the breeze.

Guess I'll leave him to it. I went over to Sarah, James, Mandy and Norman, who had just arrived too.

"Who do you think's going to be taking us?" I heard Sarah ask the others.

"Uncle Sam, of course," James replied confidently.

"Good morning, everybody!" I greeted the kids as I joined them. "Are you all ready for your Junior Cadets' training day?" Behind me, I heard the front door close as Ellie came outside.

"Yay!" the kids cheered excitedly.

"Fantastic! So, let me introduce you to your Junior Cadet leader for the day… Ellie!"

She appeared beside me as I said her name.

"Yay!" Norman, Sarah and Mandy cheered. The girls clapped a high-five.

"Girl-power!" Sarah said.

"Ooh! Ellie!" Norman added quietly.

James looked a little nervous. "Er… Aren't you taking us on the training day, Uncle Sam?"

I placed my right hand on his shoulder to try and reassure him. "Ah, no James," I said. I knelt down to his height, so I could look him straight in the eyes are I spoke to him. "I think you'll find that Ellie is more than up to the task."

James still looked nervous, but I didn't have time to deal with it now. Ellie took charge of the group as I stood up again.

"Right, so, let's all get on Trevor's bus."

The kids headed over to the bus. I shrugged at Ellie, hoping that she wouldn't take James' comments about her skills personally. She just smiled confidently in response.

"Can I sit next to you, Ellie?" Norman asked flirtatiously.

"Erm… Of course, you can, Norman," Ellie replied awkwardly. She'd clearly picked up on Norman's flirtation.

Having retried his hat, Trevor waved at me as he walked past.

"Have a good time, everyone!" I called. And, please, stay safe.

I returned inside the fire station to find Elvis and Arnold loading the bag containing the new windsock into Venus. "I hope you two can manage that between yourselves, because I'll be busy helping Tom give Wallaby Two an inspection."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about us, Sam," Elvis reassured me. "We know what we're doing."

"Right…" I couldn't hide the doubt from my tone. My phone rang again. It was James, so I answered it. "Yes, James?"

"Uncle Sam…" James whispered. "Are you sure Ellie knows enough to teach us?"

"Yes, James," I told him as patiently as I could. I glanced at my watch. It was already twenty minutes past nine, and I knew that at this rate, we wouldn't get to the Mountain Rescue Centre until at least a quarter to ten. We really need to get going…

"But… Does she have the same qualifications as you, Uncle Sam?" James asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Ellie has enough qualifications to teach you."

"Oohh… Are you sure?" James really sounded worried.

"Yes. I'm sorry, James, but I am rather busy today. I have to go now, or I'll be late. Just listen to Ellie and you'll be fine."

"Okay, Uncle Sam," James reluctantly agreed.

I hung up my phone and I slipped it into my pocket. "Okay, you two. Let's get going." I went over to Mercury, and I checked that the paperwork I needed for Wallaby Two's inspection was still in the locker where I'd placed it yesterday afternoon. It was all there, so I put on my quadbike helmet, climbed onto Mercury and drove away. Elvis and Arnold followed close behind me in Venus.

Fifteen minutes later, we arrived at the Mountain Rescue Centre. Tom came outside to greet us as we parked Mercury and Venus.

"Ready to help me with some Wallaby Two checks, Sam?" he asked as he held up his clipboard that had his checklist clipped to it. I climbed off Mercury and removed my helmet.

"Certainly am, Tom." I turned to face Elvis and Arnold. Arnold was carrying the bag containing the new windsock. "Right, you two put the new windsock up, while we check over Wallaby Two."

"Roger that, Sam," Elvis and Arnold replied in unison.

I retrieved the inspection checklist from Mercury's locker, before I followed Tom inside the Mountain Rescue Centre.

"Okay, Tom," I said as we walked out onto the helicopter pad. "First, let's do a visual inspection, and then we'll test her engine."

We both walked around Wallaby Two, inspecting all of her moving parts closely. Then, we climbed into the cockpit. Tom started Wallaby Two up. He let the engine run without initiating take-off. Seeing that all was in order, I motioned for Tom to shut it down.

"Nothing wrong there," I said, and we both filled out our checklists. "Now, let's check to see what emergency supplies are on board."

"I restocked the first-aid kit last week," Tom informed me as we climbed inside the passenger bay. I opened the draw where the flares were kept.

"Three of each type of flare…" I confirmed, checking that off the list. Then, I took out the first-aid kit, so I could check that for myself. It's not that I didn't trust Tom, but I needed to see for myself that everything was there.

…

Ten minutes later, Tom and I completed our checks, so I went to see how Elvis and Arnold were going with the windsock. I arrived at the top of the hill behind the Mountain Rescue Centre to find Arnold up a ladder at the top of the windsock pole, with the sock covering his face.

"Er… Maybe it would be better if you attach the windsock to the bottom of the pole, and pulled it up like a flag?" I suggested. Arnold removed the windsock from his face.

"Oh! Sam! That's very clever," Elvis said, turning to face me and letting go of the ladder. A second later, the ladder topped over, leaving Arnold clinging to the top of the pole with the windsock. I winced as it crashed to the ground. Elvis looked surprised. "Didn't you want the ladder, Arnold?" .

"Yes," Arnold whimpered. "I did actually."

My phone rang, so I took it out of my pocket. "Ah," I muttered when I saw that it was James again. I placed it against my ear. "Yes, James?"

"Uncle Sam!" James shouted. "How many fires has Ellie put out?"

"Yeah, no… Ellie has put out lots of fires," I replied, leaving Elvis to deal with the ladder.

"As many as you?"

"No, no, no, probably not as many as me, but still quite a few…" The signal dropped out then, so I walked a few paces to try and get it back. "Hello? Hello? Lost you, James. It's dropped out."

I listened for a few more seconds, but the signal had completely gone, so I hung up the phone. Elvis had manged to put the ladder back up by then.

"Do you two think you'll be able to manage?"

"I hope so," Arnold replied. The wind was still blowing the windsock around, making it difficult for him to hang on to.

"Right, well, I'm going back inside. Come and get me if you need help."

"Okay, Sam," Elvis agreed.

I returned inside the Mountain Rescue Centre. Tom was making some tea.

"Want a cuppa, Sam?" he asked.

"Yes, please."

We'd just sat down to drink our tea, when we heard the rumble of an explosion in the distance. It was followed a few seconds later by a second, much louder explosion.

"That didn't sound good," I exclaimed as I bolted out onto the balcony. I looked around, but I couldn't see any smoke or other tell-tale signs of an explosion.

"I think it came from the other side of the hill, Sam," Tom said.

"Let's go and take a look around."

We were halfway upstairs, when the emergency alarms went off. "There's a forest fire near the mill," Station Officer Steele announced over our radios. "And the wind is making it spread quickly."

"We're on our way, sir," I radioed as Tom and I ran out onto the helicopter pad. "Penny? Bring Jupiter and meet us at the mill."

"Roger that, Sam," Penny replied.

I climbed into Wallaby Two's passenger bay, and I fastened my seatbelt before I put on my helmet. Tom started up Wallaby Two, and we took off into the air.

It only took us a few minutes to get to the mill. I could see several small grass fires raging below, with an even larger fire burning a small group of trees in the near distance. I unfastened my seatbelt and I connected a single harness to the winch. Then, I slipped it around myself as Tom started hovering Wallaby Two over the area.

"Okay, Tom," I said over the radio. "You can lower me down now."

Tom activated the winch, which took me down to the ground. Once there, I removed the harness and the helmet. I smiled when I saw that Ellie and the children were safe. Then, Penny arrived with Jupiter. She got down from the cab and handed me my firefighting uniform.

"Looks like the fire's spreading fast, Sam."

"Ellie? You operate the outlets on Jupiter," I instructed. I put on my uniform as quickly as I could. Tom flew away in Wallaby Two, to go and fetch some water. "Come on, Penny," I said as I finished putting on my uniform. "Let's put out that fire!"

Ellie had already opened Jupiter's lockers, so I grabbed a water hose and I bowled it to unroll it. Penny did the same with her hose. We attached nozzles to the far ends of our respective horses, while Ellie connected the other ends to Jupiter's outlets.

"Water on, Ellie!" I called once we were ready.

As soon as I felt my hose inflate with water, I turned on the nozzle. Water gushed out, dowsing the fire closest to me. Penny worked on the next spot fire over from me. Working together, Penny and I had managed to contain the smaller fires by the time Tom got back with Wallaby Two. He dropped the whole bucket on the biggest fire over in the near distance, smothering it.

Once the fires had been extinguished, I put my hose down and I raised my visor. "Okay, Ellie. What happened?"

"Um… I'm not really sure, Sam. I was about to teach the kids how to safely connect a gas cannister to the barbeque, when I noticed that James had wandered off, so I went to look for him. I'd only just found him, when there was a huge explosion. We ran back, and I realised that the gas cannister must have exploded somehow. Apparently, Norman got Sarah and Mandy safely out of the way."

"Er… Uncle Sam?" Sarah called quietly. I went over to her.

"Yes, Sarah?"

"Um… This fire was my fault. Ellie told us not to touch anything while she went to find James, but I wanted to help her with the gas cannister."

"It was my fault too, Sam," Mandy confessed. "We were fighting over it, and it rolled into the fire."

I sighed and shook my head in disbelief. Bending down, I disconnected the nozzle from the hose, and I handed it to Penny to pack away. I needed time to think about what I was going to say in response to Sarah and Mandy's confession.

While Penny and Ellie were rolling the hoses away, I returned to where the kids were standing.

"I'm really sorry I went off on my own, Uncle Sam," James said meekly before I could speak.

"That's okay, James," I said kindly, remembering how nervous he'd been earlier. "But you should always let someone know where you're going."

"And…we're really sorry too, Sam," Mandy apologised.

"We both just wanted to help Ellie," Sarah added.

"Well, I'm sure you all know that gas cannisters are dangerous things and should be left to the grown-ups to look after," I explained, just as Trevor arrived in his bus. He honked in greeting before getting out. He was holding his ukulele.

"Hello, everyone! How was your day?"

"I have to say, Trevor, it wasn't the best Cadet's training day we've ever had," Ellie said sadly.

I knew she was worried about her probation, and whether or not it might be extended because of this. I'd have to think about it some more. As a leading firefighter, it would be up to me to advise Station Officer Steele if she was ready to become a fully-qualified firefighter.

"But I'm very proud of Norman," Ellie finished, pointing to him with her hand.

None of us could hide our surprise. Even Norman looked stunned. Penny was the first to recover from the surprise.

"Well! That's not something I'd thought I'd hear today!"

"Me?" Norman said, blushing slightly. "You are proud…of me?"

"Don't worry, Ellie," Trevor told her. "I've got something that will cheer you up! I've written you a Junior Cadet song." And Trevor started strumming on his ukulele. "We learn to be brave, we learn to be strong, we learn to be ready all day long, we are the Junior Cadets. We'll be cool, we'll be calm, then we'll never come to harm, we are the Junior Cadets. Woohoo! We are the Junior Cadets."

Ellie and the kids applauded. For once, it wasn't a bad song from Trevor.

"That sounds fantastic, Trevor!" I said.

"Sam!" Elvis called as he and Arnold sprinted across the field towards us. Elvis reached me first. "Sam! We got the windsock up!"

"Oh! Well done!" I looked at my watch. "Although it did take a little longer than I thou-" A brown piece of heavy material hit me full in the face, having been carried on the wind. I didn't need any prizes for guessing what it was. "That's a windsock, isn't it?"

"Yes, Sam!" Elvis agreed. "Yes, it is."

Realising that I was about to give Elvis and Arnold a piece of my mind, Trevor struck up the song again.

"We learn to be brave, we learn to be strong, we learn to be ready all day long, we are the Junior Cadets."

"That's enough, Trevor," I told him firmly as I removed the windsock and handed it to Elvis. "I think you'd better take the kids home now. Ellie? Go with them, please."

As soon as Trevor and Ellie had herded the kids onto the bus, I turned my attention to Elvis and Arnold.

"Okay, you two. You've wasted more than enough time with this. It really isn't that hard to put up a windsock."

"It is when the wind is blowing a gale," Elvis pointed out.

"Right, I want you two to go back to the Mountain Rescue Centre and put that windsock up properly this time."

"Yes, Sam," Elvis and Arnold said in unison.

"And you can bring Mercury back with you when you leave," I added before climbing into the driver's side of Jupiter's cab. Penny got in the other side.

"Rough day?" Penny asked as I folded my arms across the top of the steering wheel. I rested my head on my arms before I replied.

"Let's just say that I probably should've gone with the Cadets after all."

"Maybe you should have. Don't worry. I'm happy to take them next time."

"Thanks, Penny. I suppose the only good thing to come out of all this is that Norman actually did the right thing for once."

"Which means that you now owe him a skateboard," Penny reminded me.

Startled by her comment, I accidentally let my hand slip and it hit the horn, making it beep. "Yeah, I suppose I do… I'll get it on my next trip to Newtown."

Penny folded her arms smugly across her chest. "And when will that be?"

"I don't know yet, do I? Don't worry. I won't forget." I turned the key to start up Jupiter's engine. "Norman won't let me forget."