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" WOOOOOOOOOOO-WOOOH!!!" The throaty whistle of the sidewheeled paddle steamer, the Ace of Glasgow, bellowed out across the docks of Wedgewood Harbor, signaling she was almost ready to shove off.

"C'mon, Daddy!" said a little fox kit, tugging at the sleeve of an older fox, "We're gonna miss it!"

"Calm down, Timothy..." the older fox said, "We've still got plenty of time before the boat leaves."

"But I don't want to miss the race!" Timothy said, excitedly, "I've never seen a steamboat race before!"

"I know, Son;" said the older fox, "But before we go onboard, I need to check one more thing." He knelt down and gently felt the seat of his son's shorts.

"Daddy!" Timothy yipped, "I'm dry! Really!"

"Yes you are;" said his father, smiling as the little fox's pull-ups peeked out over the lip of his shorts, "Just making sure." He then took Timothy's hand and led him up to the gangway where a vulture stood, taking the passengers' tickets. "Friendly Brush;" he said, producing the tickets, "Here with my son, Timothy, for passage on the Ace of Glasgow." The vulture took the tickets, punched them, and said,

"Alrighty then; welcome aboard, Mr. Brush." Friendly smiled and led Timothy up the gangway.

"Wow, Dad!" Timothy squeaked with excitement, "We're on a steamboat!"

"We certainly are;" said Friendly, "Now all we need to do is find a good place to sit and enjoy the race."

"I bet this steamboat is a hundred years old!" said Timothy.

"Not quite, Timothy;" said Friendly, "The Ace of Glasgow was completed and launched only last year; she's the most modern steamboat working in Canada."

"Wow..." said Timothy, "That's cool!"

"It is cool indeed;" said Friendly, "And the best part is, her boiler is fueled by chip fat instead of coal; very friendly to the environment." At this point, they were on the top deck, just behind the wheelhouse. "Here's a good spot to sit;" said Friendly, "And just in time; the brochure says the race starts in fifteen minutes."

"I can't wait!" squeaked Timothy, hopping up and down, "I can't wait!"

"Easy there, Tiger;" said Friendly as he lifted his son up and set him in his seat, "Don't want to get too excited now do we?"

"Sorry, Daddy;" said Timothy with a blush and a smile. At that moment, there was a whistle. Friendly and Timothy looked forward to see a raccoon in a sharp blue captain's uniform.

"Welcome aboard, Lads and Lasses!" said the raccoon, "I am Captain Button, and I would like to welcome you aboard the good ship the Ace of Glasgow." The crowd gave a gently, but sincere round of applause for the captain. "As you all know," said Captain Button, "This is the Glasgow's first year in the race, so we're not quite sure what to expect. But, we're going to do our best to win, so thank you all for coming out to show us your support. I hope that this will be a voyage that you all remember!" The passengers cheered as the captain took a bow. "Right!" he said, "Time to get underway!"

"Daddy...?" asked Timothy, "Are you alright?"

"Oh...?" asked Friendly, "Uh... of course I am." He had been staring at the captain from the moment he had taken notice of him; why that raccoon couldn't have been older than he was. On top of that, he couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he had a sneaking suspicion that he had seen the captain somewhere before...

*****

In another few minutes, the _Ace of Glasgow_had slipped her moorings and was steaming towards the starting line. Wedgewood Harbor wasn't actually on the sea; it was instead on one of western Canada's largest lakes. The lake itself connected several different towns via steamer in the olden days. Today, the steamers survived as reminders of days gone by. Timothy was in a whirl of excitement, and Friendly was happy that his son was having a grand time. He too was enjoying the smooth ride as the boat paddled over the clear, calm waters of the lake. Over the chatting of the passengers, he could hear the rhythmic splashing of the paddle wheels as they shifted water and pushed the steamboat along. He could almost hear the whooshing of the exhaust steam as it traveled up the stack.

"This is fun, isn't it, Daddy?" asked Timothy.

"It certainly is;" said Friendly, "I haven't been on a lot of steamboats, so this is pretty exciting for me too."

"Do you think we'll win today?" asked Timothy.

"I can't say yes or no;" said Friendly, "I'm not really an expert on these kinds of things, so it will be interesting to see whether a modern steamer can outperform her older counterparts." At that precise moment, Captain Button came back onto the deck.

"May I have your attention, please?" he asked. The passengers stopped chatting and focused their attention on him. "We are pleased to announce that our engine is running fit to race;" said Captain Button, "But we regret to inform you that the Carrie Rose has been forced to withdraw thanks to some dodgy gaskets. So it will be a three horse race today."

"But they aren't horses!" Timothy called out, "They're steamboats!" Friendly blushed; he hadn't been counting on Timothy just calling out like that. But to his surprise, Captain Button gave a good-natured chuckle and came right up to him.

"It's just an expression, Son;" he said, "That means that just three boats will be racing."

"Oh! Okay;" said Timothy.

"Tell me, young man..." said Captain Button, "What is your name?"

"My name is Timothy!" the little fox said, "and I think we'll win today because this steamboat is brand new! It's only been here for one year."

"My, my..." said Captain Button, "Aren't you the smart one?" He looked over at Friendly and said, "Excuse me, Sir, but would you happen to be the young boy's father?"

"That... that I am, Sir;" said Friendly.

"Well then," said the captain, "How would you and your son like to come with me and see the race from the wheelhouse?"

"The wheelhouse...?" asked Timothy.

"Yes;" said Captain Button, "That's where we steer the ship." That was all Timothy needed to hear.

"Can we go, Daddy?" he asked, practically glowing with excitement, "Can we? Can we? Please...?"

"Of course!" Friendly laughed, "We cannot refuse such a generous offer." He turned to Captain Button and said, "We would be honored to join you in the wheelhouse, Sir; it's just the thing that would make this experience all the more special for my son."

"The pleasure is all mine;" said Captain Button. He led Friendly and Timothy forward, past the smokestack, and to a smaller room where an orangutan was manning the wheel.

"Welcome back, Captain Button, Sir!" he said, delivering a crisp salute, "I see we have guests."

"We do indeed;" said Captain Button, "Here to enjoy the race with us." he then turned his attention back to Friendly and Timothy. "This is the wheelhouse;" he said, "It's where I command the ship, and where we give the orders to the engine room."

"Wow..." said Timothy, "This is so cool!"

"Feel free to explore;" said Captain Button, "Just please don't touch anything."

"Okay!" said Timothy. He wandered over to the front windows to try and get the best view.

"That was very generous of you, Sir;" said Friendly, "I certainly wasn't expecting to be here."

"Well this will certainly be a race to remember, wont it?" said Captain Button, "I can't help it sometimes; whenever I see a young child like that, I can almost see myself; just a slip of a lad who was a bit, well... not so grown up."

"What do you mean?" asked Friendly.

"I had a lot of challenges growing up;" said Captain Button, "Took me quite a while to discover my calling in life. For a while I wanted to be a bus driver, then a train engineer, and then a hot-air balloonist of all things! It wasn't until five years ago that I discovered that I had a real passion for these magnificent vessels."

"Well I'm glad you found it;" said Friendly, "Myself, I'm pretty good with kids, so I run my own home-based daycare. I've got a five star reputation."

"Brilliant;" said Captain Button, "You certainly do seem to be good with children, I can tell just by looking at your son; he's very well educated. Say... just how old is he?"

"He just turned six;" said Friendly, "This steamboat race is his birthday present. It's just too bad his mother couldn't come along, she gets seasick just looking at a boat."

"Sorry to hear;" said Captain Button. Both of them heard Timothy giggling, and turned around to see him standing on tiptoes to try and see through the front windows.

"Here, Son;" said Captain Button as he brought over a small box for the young fox to stand on, "Let me give you a hand;"

"Thanks, Captain Button!" said Timothy; But as he stepped onto the box, his shorts slipped down a little bit, revealing his pull-ups to all in the wheelhouse. "EEP!" he squeaked as he quickly yanked his shorts back up. His faced flushed red and he suddenly didn't look so cheerful anymore.

"Oh dear..." said Captain Button. He knelt down next to Timothy, who had tears of embarrassment in his eyes. "There, there, Son..." said Captain Button as he patted the young fox on the shoulder, "There's nothing wrong with wearing pull-ups if you need them."

"But I shouldn't need them..." Timothy whimpered, "But when I get excited, I sometimes... wet myself... I can't help it..."

"Shhh..." said Captain Button as he gave Timothy a gentle hug. Friendly was amazed; this Captain Button was certainly good with children; perhaps he had some of his own. "There's no shame in wearing pull-ups if you need them;" said Captain Button, "You know... when I was your age, I wore pull-ups all the time."

"Really...?" asked Timothy.

"Really?!?" asked Friendly, his expression changing to one of disbelief.

"Of course;" said Captain Button, "It was embarrassing for me too if the wrong person found out. Thankfully I had a wonderful best friend who always took care of me."

"Um... Captain..." said Friendly, "This friend of yours... did he have a name?"

"He most certainly did..." said Captain Button, "His real name was Robbin Brush; but we always called him 'Friendly'." Friendly felt his jaw drop and his mouth go dry.

"T... T... Timothy...?" he asked. "Timothy Button...? Is that you...?" Captain Button stood up again and faced Friendly with a wide-eyed expression.

"Friendly...?" he asked. For a moment, the world stood still; only the whooshing of the steam and the clatter of the paddlewheels perforated the air. But Friendly couldn't hear them; He just mouthed,

"Yes..."

"FRIENDLY!!" Captain Button shouted as he sprang forward and enveloped the fox in a huge hug.

"TIMOTHY!!" Friendly shouted back, hugging the raccoon with just as much vigor, "I can't believe it's really you!"

"I can't believe it's really you!" Captain Button replied, "I haven't seen you for nearly ten years!"

"Uh... Daddy..." came Timothy's voice, "What's going on?"

"Oh!" said Friendly, "I'm sorry." he went over to his son and said, "Timothy, let me introduce you to my childhood friend, Timothy Button!"

"Timothy...?" Timothy asked, "So... he has the same name as me?"

"He sure does;" said Friendly, "You were actually named after him."

"My goodness..." said Captain Button, "I'm flattered; I really am."

"Uh, Sir..." said the orangutan, "Not to break up the reunion or anything, but we're just about at the starting line." Indeed, the Ace of Glasgow was approaching the starting buoys. On either side of her, two other paddle steamers were getting into position for the start. On her port side was the sternwheeler, Yukon Comet. On her starboard side was another sternwheeler, Sweet Maria; making the Ace of Glasgow the only sidewheeler in the race.

"Of course!" said Captain Button as he adjusted the engine telegraph and brought the ship to a halt just short of the line. He turned to Friendly and said, "Um... I hope you don't mind me asking, but do you think we could save the reunion for after the race?"

"Okay with me;" said Friendly, "Timothy and I are really fired up for this race; aren't we, Timothy?"

"Yeah!" the little fox cheered. At that moment, a small boat motored up to the starting line; on board was a small four pound cannon and an official looking bear.

"Skippers!" called the bear through a loudhailer, "On my mark!"

"This is it;" said Captain Button as he prepared to move the telegraph.

"Ready..." said the bear, "Steady..."

\ **BANG!!!* * The cannon fired. Captain Button moved the telegraph to 'Ahead Full' and after a few seconds, the Ace of Glasgow sprung to life, surging off the line with power and speed amazing for a vessel of her size. She got the jump on the aging sternwheelers and shot into the lead.

"Go on, bonny Glasgow!" shouted the orangutan, "Go on!"

"We're winning!" shouted Timothy. The little fox was bouncing with excitement, and Friendly suddenly felt genuinely excited now that the race was underway. The Ace of Glasgow was indeed winning; she was soon an entire furlong ahead of Sweet Maria. Captain Button stood with his hands on the telegraphs, keeping the engines at full power.

"This really is something else!" said Friendly.

"I just hope we don't short circuit anything..." said Captain Button.

"Short circuit...?" asked Friendly.

"Yep..." said Captain Button, "The timing of the engine is actually controlled by electronics rather than pressure. It saved us some costs in building her, but we admittedly took a gamble with them; if we lose the electrics, we lose the engine."

"That certainly wouldn't do..." said Friendly. By this time, the Glasgow had opened up a commanding lead.

"Wow!" said Timothy, "We're really far ahead of them!"

"We sure are!" said the orangutan, "That's because we've got our paddles mounted on the sides instead of at the stern; so our hull doesn't impede the flow of water to the paddles."

"What's a hull...?" Timothy asked, confused.

"It's the main part of the boat;" the orangutan explained.

"Oh... okay!" said Timothy, and he went back to peeking out of the front windows. In all honesty, it didn't take long for the Glasgow_to establish that she was the dominant paddle steamer on the lake; in a matter of minutes, she had left _Sweet Maria and the Yukon Comet for dead and was steaming towards the finish at an amazing eighteen knots.

"This is it!" said Captain Button, "Almost there...!" To say it was close would be a blatant lie; The _Ace of Glasgow_stormed over the finish line nearly a full mile ahead of the other boats.

"Stone the crows; we've done it!" shouted the orangutan, "We've won!"

"We won!" cried Timothy with glee, "We won! We won! We won!" Suddenly, he stopped bouncing and said, "Uh-oh..."

"Timothy..." said Friendly as he knelt down in front of his son, "Is something wrong...?" Timothy's faced flushed red with embarrassment.

"I... think I had an accident, Daddy..." he said, quietly.

"Oh dear..." said Friendly, "Well, don't worry, Son; we'll get that cleaned up once we get back to land." He gave Timothy a reassuring pat on the shoulder, and the little fox managed to smile a little.

"Yes indeed;" said Captain Button, "We'll get that all sorted out. But for now... how would you like a little something extra for your present?"

"What?" asked Timothy.

"Well..." said Captain Button, "How would you like to blow the whistle?"

"I'd love to!" said Timothy, his face lighting back up. Captain Button lifted the little fox up in his arms and gestured to a cord hanging from the ceiling.

"Just grab on and let 'er blow." said Captain Button. Timothy reached up, grabbed the cord, and gave it a tug.

" WOOOOOOOOOOO-WOO-WOOOOOH!!!" The Ace of Glasgow bellowed.

"Yikes!" said Timothy, "That's loud!"

"Did you enjoy it...?" asked Captain Button.

"I sure did!" said Timothy, "I've always wanted to do that!" Friendly smiled; his best friend from childhood was now making a friend with his son; the boy who was named after him. Friendly couldn't possible think of anything that could make his day more perfect.

*****

Eventually, the Ace of Glasgow was moored up at her dock again. With Captain Button's shift over, he led Friendly and Timothy over to some public restrooms were Friendly could change Timothy's wet pull-ups. Once Timothy was dry, they came back out to spend some time with the captain.

"I still can't believe we didn't see each other for ten years..." said Friendly as they sat on a bench near the water's edge, "I was convinced that we'd never see each other again."

"I believed it too;" said Captain Button, "But between building a paddle steamer from scratch and taking care of two bonny wee lasses, life has been busy."

"You have kids?" asked Friendly.

"Of course!" said Captain Button, "Sharron and I have been married for five years, and our twin girls, Dawn and Claire, are four years old."

"Wow..." said Friendly, "Maybe we can arrange for them to meet Timothy sometime.

"I'd like that!" said Timothy, "I love to meet new friends!"

"I'm sure that can be arranged then;" said Captain Button, "I'm sure the girls wouldn't object to having a new friend to play with either."

"Out of curiosity..." said Friendly, "Did Sharron have anything to do with the naming of the Ace of Glasgow?"

"That she did!" said Captain Button, with a laugh, "She put in a lot of the funds for the engine and the hull construction, so she insisted that we give the vessel a Scottish name of some sort. I decided to pay tribute to the town where her father was born, and she loved the idea."

"I'm so glad;" said Friendly. He then looked down at Timothy and said, "So, Timothy... how was your birthday?"

"It was great, Daddy!" said Timothy, "I got to see a steamboat race and to blow the whistle!"

"Boy..." said Captain Button, "It's gonna be pretty hard to top this birthday, isn't it?"

"I'll say!" said Timothy, "I might have to go to the moon to top this!"

"It would be pretty hard to eat cake in zero gravity!" laughed Friendly; and they all shared a good-natured laugh. Friendly couldn't believe it; he had been reunited with his best friend since childhood.

"Say, Friendly..." said Captain Button, "I'm so happy we met each other again." Friendly smiled and shed a happy tear as he said,

"I am too, Timothy."

The End