All the afternoon, there was only the sound of drilling droning steadily on, as Creamy moved along the pavement. Bits of stone and concrete were flying off the drill tip, which he sank deep into the ground at regular intervals.

Lennie, who had stopped to give his arms a little rest, caught sight of Creamy's broad back shaking as the drill vibrated under his paws.

Good old Creamy, smiled Lennie to himself, whether it's doing nothing or doing something he always puts his back into it! I'd better get on with it, too!

Sighing wearily, Lennie picked up the spade and bent down to clearing the soil away from the water pipe and throwing it out of the ditch.

It was when he paused for another short rest that – all of a sudden - the skies seemed to have opened above his head. ‘Can't be raining, surely!’ he exclaimed and raised his eyes to the sky – and just as quickly closed them tight. He could see nothing: it was not the rain that hit his face; it was a deluge of water, pouring down on him and into the ditch, filling it fast.

Lennie dropped his shovel and tried to scramble up the side of the ditch, but his paws found no grip, and he slithered back into the mud. ‘Oh, bother!’ he muttered, trying to lift his feet out of the sticky black mess. But the more he moved around, the deeper he sank, till he could barely see out of the ditch. But what he did see was enough: there was Creamy, drill held high in the air, dancing in the middle of a fountain.

Lennie's heart sank. ‘Creamy!’ he gasped, horrified. ‘What're you doing!’

Creamy did not hear him. But as he was getting a little bored of dancing and rather wet, too, he rushed over to the hole where the water was spurting from and put his foot firmly over it.

‘That's no use,’ yelled Lennie, ‘fetch the foreman, Creamy! Quick!’ and with that Lennie disappeared from sight.

Creamy heard nothing. Even if he could hear Lennie's cries – which he could not with the ear phones still stuck against his ears – he was too busy jamming his foot down the hole to pay attention to anything else.

Fortunately, the foreman was already on the move. There was a sound of footsteps running fast, and in another moment, the water stopped pouring into the ditch.

Creamy looked round. He could not see Lennie at all. Instead, there was the foreman glaring at him and bellowing: ‘I thought so! You went right through that pipe down there!’

‘Never mind about that! Where is my friend? What've you done with my friend?’ bellowed Creamy back. And without waiting for an answer, he turned round and ran in the direction of the ditch.

Lennie – arms shaking from the effort of holding himself up – could hear heavy footsteps thudding along the ground. He smiled with relief and cried out: ‘I'm here, Creamy! See my paw?’