Henry's adventure across the canal

Vandals

The sun shines brightly and the spring flowers bloomed on the fresh green fields in a small part of Germany. But this part has become quite special recently for a few weeks now you could hear something thundering over tracks. Maybe if you are at the right place at the right time you can catch a glimpse of it. An engine. A steam engine now runs a line. That steam engine's name is Henry. Henry had become quite fond of his new work. And the people of the surrounding villages adored their new way of transportation, especially the kids. Their train was never late and sometimes they had time to chat with the old loco. In the evening when the days work was done, Mrs. Drachenzorn Henry's owner always came to take care of his valve gear and coat at night. But one morning there was trouble. Mr. Drachenzorn, the Engines fireman, was shoveling a fresh load of coal into the green giants firebox when they both heard a loud and angry scream. Seconds later his wife slammed shut the small shed door. "These god damn, stupid, simple minded twats!", she fumed, "If I get them into my grasp, they will, they will regret messing with me!" "What happened?", asked Henry and the fireman simultaneously. The big green engine was stunned by how much energy his new driver could muster. "Some. Some punks sprayed graffiti onto OUR coaches", she grunted. "What?! Why would someone do that?", the green engine was puzzled.
"Because they find it funny. Or it's a test of courage. I dunno", the fireman attempted to explain. "That's property damage, isn't it?" "Yes, Henry it is.", the woman with a big frown walked up and down then turned to her husband who was still standing in Henry's cab. "Arti, we have to get new paint and other supplies and before the night round we can attempt to get rid of as much of that, that "artwork"" The man nodded.

When Henry was coupled with his coaches they started moaning: "Look what they did to us, Look what they did to us" Their nice paintwork was covered in crude drawings and even some of the windows were covered by spray paint.  "Despicable", he grunted in agreement. He had pity with them. All the rest of the day Henry and his crew were very crossed. Some passengers were understanding, others laughed at them. Henry in one case let off steam in their direction when he left, leaving them coughing. During the lunch break, the big engine was uncoupled and stood besides the three coaches as Mr. and Mrs. scrubbed and tried to overpaint the damage as much as possible before night fall. They only got one side on each coach clean. And when it came time for Mrs. Drachenzorn to clean Henry, the two ranted all throughout it. "These vandals", the engine spat out the last word, "They deserve to be punished" "But we don't know who it was", shrugged the woman, "and it can be a one time prank and so catching them in the act is almost impossible" "I know", muttered Henry. And even after she wished him good night, Henry pondered for a while.
After a few days Henry's crew was able to give the rolling stock their original colors back. The following days everything was back to normal until the next Monday morning.

"I have enough!", shouted Mrs. Drachenzorn when she stomped into Henry's shed, "one week, one fucking week later the coaches are turned into a canvas for these artistic atrocities, again!"
"May I suggest a plan", Henry asked "Sure", grumbled the woman. And the engine explained its idea. Mrs. Drachenzorn smirked when he had finished. "That might work, our guard knows some people who could help us out.",she was delighted and rubbed her hands.

And on Sunday evening everything was ready. The two Drachenzorns, Henry's guard and 5 other people had gathered in Henry's shed. They talked through the plan one final time and then the preparation started. And when Henry got home everything was set up. He was uncoupled from his train but instead of rolling into his shed, he rolled on to the rails beside the coaches. Mrs. Drachenzorn and the others connected their phones to the cameras that had been set up in the meantime. It were wild life cameras that turn on when they register movement. Mrs. Controller and her husband then climbed into Henry's cab and waited with some tea and cookies. The rest of the group had taken up various positions around the yard. Henry pretended he was sleeping but he listened closely. The minutes crawled by and with more and more passing sleepiness got hold of them. Mrs. Drachenzorn leaned on her husband who already had fallen asleep when suddenly her phone started vibrating. A camera had registered movement.
She looked at the tiny screen and smiled deviously. "Gotcha", she whispered. Henry opened his eyes just a bit when he heard the crunching sound of gravel behind him and voices. Suddenly he heard a clear voice right beside his face" Shhhh Henry it's me", Mrs, Controller whispered. "Is it, them?", he asked as quiet as possible. The woman had climbed out of the cab and over the handrails on the engines boiler to his face. "Is everyone ready?" The woman snickered. Then Henry with the rest of Steam he had in his boiler, blew his whistle. Immediately they heard surprised shouting and cursing. And running steps, but it was too late. The group of three young men and two women, who were maybe a few years away from adulthood got surrounded by the helpers with flashlights and with no other option than to admit defeat. They were brought before Henry and his driver who stood on his pony truck with crosses arms,  glared down at the culprits. "Soooo", started Mrs. Controller, "what do we have here? A group of mucky pups, hmm." "What do you want?", shouted one of the boys "I want an explanation for what you have done to my coaches!", she thundered. Silence. "You know we could call the police on you for trespassing and property damage", continued the fireman. All five looked down in shame. "Mrs. Drachenzorn...", one boy mumbles. "What's the matter?", she looked now more relaxed. "We always miss the train because we have younger siblings that go to school in the earlier grandes and our parents don't have the time to drop them off. So so we do.", he started explaining, "But because of that we always miss the train because you are always on time and we were so frustrated that we, we did this." Mrs.Controller went silent for a few seconds. Everyone looked at her with anticipation. "Very well", she muttered. "I understand your case and I think it's possible to wait at the station you are from a little longer. But as compensation for the mess you caused you'll clean out the coaches for a week after the round around dinner time and I forget the charges", Mrs. Drachenzorn offered them in a more kinder tone. "You would do that?" One of the girls asked shyly. "Yes", the older woman nodded ,"but under one condition. Only if you apologize to Henry here for causing this unnecessary mess" The group looked at each other and then in unison: "Sorry Henry for causing trouble for you and your crew" the Engine's face lighted up. "I accept it and next time just ask us. Now go home and get some rest", he chuckles. The helpers escorted them off the property. Meanwhile Mrs, Controller hopped down with a helping hand of her husband. She let out a huge yawn. "I need a warm bed, now" ,she muttered before her eyes closed shut and she fell asleep on her husband's chest. The big man picked her up and after whispering a quick good night towards the engine, he carried his wife away. Henry soon after fell asleep with a smile on his face listening to the soothing sounds of the forest.