Trestle Bridge

The rain came down. And down. And down.

Pitter-patter-pitter-patter went the drops on the roof of the Lookout.

Splish-splash-sploosh they went in the puddles outside.

The wind whistled a little song through the trees with a soft whooosh.

Inside the Lookout, Jake and the pups watched the raindrops race down the big window.

Tank the bulldog was dreaming of a giant squeaky biscuit.

Blaze the Bernese Mountain Dog was chasing his own tail. He tripped over his big paws with a fwump.

"I'm good! I'm okay!" he woofed, wagging his tail.

Suddenly, a light on the big screen started to blink. Beep. Beep. Beep.

A face popped up on the screen. It was Farmer Gus! He looked very worried.

Behind him, the wind was blowing and the rain was falling hard. His little white goat, Clementine, was chewing on his hat.

"Jake! Can you hear me?" called Farmer Gus. "We're in a bit of a pickle."

Jake leaned in close. "What's wrong, Farmer Gus?"

The screen showed Farmer Gus stuck on the old wooden trestle bridge.

A giant pile of rocks and mud blocked one end.

And another giant pile blocked the other!

The creek below was a rushing, tumbling river of brown water.

"This big storm knocked the hillside loose," said Farmer Gus. "Clementine and I are trapped. And the bridge is making a funny noise."

The old wooden bridge let out a long, low creeeak.

Then a groooan. It wiggled a little.

Jake could see two of the big wooden legs under the bridge were cracked. And right in the middle sat Farmer Gus's cart, full of shiny jars of jam and honey for the market.

"Don't worry, Farmer Gus," Jake said calmly. "We're on our way."

The screen went dark.

Jake turned to the pups. They all sat up straight, ready for action.

Jake pointed to the screen. "We need to clear those rocks. And we need to fix that bridge. This is a job for… Tank!"

Tank the bulldog puffed out his chest. "Let's dig it!"

"And Bolt!" Jake added.

Bolt the mixed breed grabbed his favorite wrench. "I can fix that!"

"And Blaze!"

Blaze jumped up so fast he bumped right into the couch with a boink. "I'm good! I'm okay!"

Jake grinned. "Crew, launch!"

The pups lined up by the big silver pole.

Zip! Tank shot down the line.

Zip! Bolt was right behind him.

Zip! Blaze went last, his big fluffy tail trailing behind him like a flag.

Whoosh! They landed on a big, soft mat.

Tank scrambled into his yellow bulldozer.

Bolt hopped into his red tow truck.

Blaze climbed into his big, bright fire truck.

Jake jumped onto his ATV. It started with a vroom!

"Let's go, Crew!" he called.

The trucks rumbled out of the garage and down the wet, winding road toward the forest.

When they arrived, the creek was even louder. The water let out a roar!

The bridge let out another creeeak as it swayed back and forth.

Farmer Gus waved from the middle. "Well, I'll be…" he said. "You critters got here fast!"

Clementine the goat bleated a little hello. Baaa!

Then she started nibbling on the wheel of the market cart.

Tank rumbled forward in his bulldozer. His job was to move the rocks.

Scrape! He pushed his big scoop into the pile of mud and stones. He pushed one rock. And another. And another.

But the closer he got to the bridge, the soggier the ground became. His tracks started to slip in the gooey mud with a squish and a slurp.

His bulldozer slid sideways. He was stuck!

If he tried to get any closer, he might slide right into the creek.

"I can't reach the rocks right next to the bridge," Tank called out. "The ground is too mushy!"

The bridge gave another loud groooan.

They needed a new plan.

Bolt looked at the broken bridge supports. He saw some strong, fallen logs nearby that would be perfect for fixing them. But how could they get the heavy logs under the bridge?

Bolt looked at his tow truck's winch. He looked at Blaze's fire truck ladder. He looked back at the logs. He patted the side of his truck. "Good thinking, Winchy," he whispered to his winch. He had an idea.

"Blaze!" he barked. "Can you park next to the creek? And point your ladder out over the water?"

Blaze carefully drove his fire truck to the edge of the creek. Beep. Beep. Beep.

With a long whirrrrr, his ladder stretched out, out, out over the rushing water, right next to the shaky bridge.

Next, Bolt backed up his tow truck. He unspooled his long, strong winch cable with a click and a ziiing!

He tossed the hook up and over the very end of Blaze's ladder.

Now, the ladder was like a giant fishing pole.

Bolt hooked the winch onto a big, sturdy log.

"Ready, Jake?"

"Ready, Bolt!" Jake called back. "Lift it up!"

Bolt pushed a button. The winch started to whirr. The cable pulled tight.

Slowly, slowly, the heavy log lifted off the ground.

It swung out over the creek.

But just then, Clementine the goat trotted over. She saw the wiggly winch cable. It looked delicious.

She started to chew on it. Nom. Nom. Nom.

"Clementine, no!" Farmer Gus said.

Bolt stopped the winch. "Hey! That's not goat food!" he called.

Clementine looked up, blinked her funny goat eyes, and went back to nibbling the cart with a soft baaa!

Bolt started the winch again. The log swung perfectly into place, right beside one of the cracked supports, landing with a slam!

They did it again with a second log. Slam!

The bridge stopped creaking. It stopped groaning. It was strong again.

Now that the bridge was safe, Tank could get back to work.

He carefully cleared the last of the rocks from both sides of the trail. Scrape! Crunch! Clatter!

The path was clear.

Farmer Gus carefully rolled his cart off the bridge and onto the solid trail. He sighed a big, happy sigh.

"Thanks, critters," he said, patting Blaze on the head. "You saved my shortcut. And my jams!"

He opened up a basket on his cart. Inside were jars of bright red strawberry jam and golden honey. He gave one to each of the pups.

Tank looked at his jar of honey. His tummy rumbled. Grrrowwwllll!

Everyone laughed.

Back at the Lookout, the rain had finally stopped. The pups were warm and dry, sharing toast with Farmer Gus's sweet strawberry jam. The whole room smelled delicious.

Jake watched his team, smiling. "Good job today, Crew," he said. Tank took another big bite of toast, and his tummy gave a happy little grumble. And outside, a rainbow started to peek out from behind the clouds.