Bertie Bears Big Adventure
Peter Fogarty
Copyright Peter Fogarty 2011
Published at Smashwords
All rights reserved
Written and Illustrated by Peter Fogarty
DEDICATION
Victor, Irina and Nae. Thanks for making my life a permanent adventure
Chapter 1 - Life in the Toy room.
There is a very old house, in the North of London, which has always been full of children. From the street, it looks like a perfectly ordinary house, indeed, even the man who owns this house, Mr. Simon Spurr, thinks this is a perfectly ordinary house, but what he does not know, is that there is magic going on in the toy room.
The toy room is a very special place, full of toys from all sorts of places around the world, and from different ages. Here you will find Simon's mother's old grey rocking horse, a couple of small French rag mice, Pinkey and Bluey (you can, I am sure, guess why!), who are soft and worn from years of being held tightly by countless happy French children, and the King of them all, Bertie Bear.
Bertie is older than any of the other toys in the toy room. He is so old that no one can remember when he was not there. He was been loved and cuddled by so many children, that he is looking a little worn in places, his button eyes don't quite match, and he is rather a floppy old bear.
He still wears his bright blue trousers and red waistcoat and a funny little yellow bow tie. He loves just sitting by the window, watching the world go by.
He loves to tell stories to the little French mice, about wonderful places far, far away. They will sit for hours hearing him tell them stories that children have whispered into his ears or read to him from a colourful picture book.
However, Bertie Bear has a very big secret, a secret so big that none of his playroom friends know it. Would you like to know it? Bertie Bear has never been outside the toy room. Ever. Why not I hear you cry! Well, when he was young, everyone said "What a fine bear he is! He is much too handsome and smart to play outside. He will get dirt on his new trousers and waistcoat. Now wouldn't that be a shame!"
So he would watch the children play on their wooden horses in the back garden from the window. He was always very proud of his red waistcoat, with its little silk lining and so he was happy to keep it clean and dry.
As the years went by, the children were told 'Leave Bertie Bear here, he is now very old. He was your granny's favourite bear. It would be a great shame if you got him wet or dirty.' So poor old Bertie was put onto the windowsill, and watched the happy children running around the garden having fun and looking up and waving at him.
One day, Simon's little niece, Lauren, came to play. She was a sweet little girl, with shiny brown hair in pigtails, her face full of pale brown freckles and she was so excited to be spending time with her dearest Uncle Simon.
As soon as she saw little old Bertie Bear, she decided that he really needed to see the world. She decided the best start was a trip to the local department store.
Ashdown department store was one of the finest stores in London. It had everything anyone could possibly dream of, from a chocolate tea pot which, as well as tasting great, also held a mug of boiling water without the pot melting into a brown gooey mess, to every school boy's dream, a small robot which could copy your handwriting and write 100 lines while you sat back, with a cup of tea (from the chocolate teapot of course!) and a biscuit and watched your favourite television program.
Bertie was rather terrified by the thought of leaving his home for the first time. He thought London was a tiny street and a small, green park he could see from his playroom window.
Lauren was having no arguments over taking Bertie the bear with her, and insisted he would be safe with her. Uncle Simon was rather worried, but nothing could persuade Lauren to take any other bear instead of old Bertie.
After five minutes of standing in the sunshine, the big red number 43 bus arrived and in jumped Lauren with Bertie the bear. They climbed to the top of the swaying bus and found two seats at the very front, so Bertie could see everything on the way into town.
After half an hour of travelling through London and still not getting to see any fields, cows or sheep, Bertie Bear was convinced London went on forever! He remembered that Lauren had promised to look after him, and that he must not worry.
"What great things I will tell the little French mice tonight!" thought Bertie as he passed tall buildings that looked like mirrors flying high into the sky.
After another few moments, the bus stopped outside the biggest building that Bertie Bear had ever seen! It was 10 stories high, with mirrored glass on every window. The walls were painted dark green and above the huge shining doors were the bright red words 'Ashdown Emporium'. Beneath this was the famous slogan ' Where dreams are made'.
Well, if you wanted to go anywhere, finding where dreams were made seemed like an excellent starting point. Next to the doors, was an old man, in a dark green suit and a bright red tie, who said to every shopper entering “Welcome to the land of your dreams”.
Bertie Bear was whisked inside with Lauren, and gasped, as only a little old bear can gasp, at the wonderful child's wooden roundabout in front of him. The horses had beautiful, golden manes, and looked as if at any moment they would jump off their roundabout and gallop off to a distant enchanted field.
Lauren and Bertie watched the roundabout in awe. When no one was looking, Lauren popped Bertie on one the horse’s bright red saddles and put the shiny black reins into his paws, and was about to take his photo on her mobile phone, when disaster struck!
The horses moved. At first they went around slowly and then as the musical organ got faster so did the horses! Then the horses started to move up and down on their red, yellow and golden poles, making poor Bertie Bear feel rather dizzy. He was however a very brave bear, and held on tight!
"How proud the little French mice will be of me!", he thought, "I wonder what other adventures I will have today!"
After five minutes, which felt like an hour for our courageous bear, the horses slowly came to a gentle stop. He patted the horse and said "Thank-you horse - next time I see you, I will bring you an apple!”
Lauren took off Bertie from his horse and whispered into his ear, "What a brave bear you are Bertie! I have taken lots of photos of you on the horse - won't Uncle Simon be surprised!"
Bertie, who of course, could not speak to humans just smiled and nodded and felt very pleased with himself.
"Now, what shall we do next?” Lauren said to herself.
Just then Lauren's phone rang. It made a noise just like children giggling, so Bertie looked around but could not see any laughing children.
"Hello, Beatrice! Are you also in London?" she asked in surprise, "Let's meet up for a cup of tea in a chocolate cup, and some biscuits on a white chocolate plate!”
Beatrice Best, and her two sisters, Rose and Charlotte were in town to do some shopping. Rose and Charlotte had fine, golden hair, blue eyes and the prettiest smiles you could imagine, while Beatrice, the biggest sister had wonderful fiery red hair and the biggest heart of them all. After a long morning of trying on big summer hats, they were happy to stop, sit down and have a cup of tea with their friend, Lauren and Bertie Bear.
Lauren was just like a big sister to them all and so when they met in the little Ashdown coffee shop, she kissed them each on the cheek, and they sat down for a fabulous Ashdown tea party. The lovely thing about an Ashdown tea party is there is nothing left at the end. When you have drunk the sweet tea and eaten the biscuits, you then eat the chocolate cup, the chocolate saucer and even the chocolate plate!
Poor Bertie, after seeing so many wonderful things, felt he really needed a little nap. While no one was looking, he climbed down from Lauren's bag and found a nice quiet spot under the table where he could have forty winks.
Lauren, who is something of a fashion queen, said to her three favourite girls, "I saw the perfect velvet gloves and silk scarves to go with these hats! You really must come and see them!”
And with this, all the girls got down from the table and with a dance and a skip towards the gloves department, were gone!
Poor Bertie! How was he going to get back to his little French mice now!
Bertie woke up to find a rather large two year old, called Victor, had crawled under the table, and went "Brumm Brummm!" when he saw little Bertie lying there in his beautiful blue and red outfit.
As Victor was now very quiet, and his mother was so enjoying putting her feet up, having a sweet cup of the famous tea in a chocolate mug, and a big cream cake, she decided to let him play with the bear for a few moments more.
When she was finally ready to get up again, she looked around and she can't see where he had found it. When she tried to remove it from his little pink hands, the baby screamed so loudly that everyone stopped eating and stared at the embarrassed mother and child. “Shhhh, Shhhhh, Shhhhh!” whispered his mother, “everyone is looking at us. However nothing stopped Victor from crying loudly. The only thing she could do was let him hold it in his hand and together they toddled out with it and disappeared into the crowds, with his mother holding his other hand.
Back in the glove department, the four girls were having fits of laughter as they tried on all sorts of ladies gloves, from those made of the finest butterfly wings, to the self-cooling frog skin gloves, but none seemed to match their beautiful new hats. As Lauren looked into her bag for her mobile phone, she let out a loud scream and fainted to the floor! Bertie was gone!
After a few moments panic, the girls decided they must find Bertie because poor Lauren would get into terrible trouble if she had to tell her Uncle Simon that she had lost Bertie. The girls went back to the teashop, but no Bertie could be seen, they looked on the magical roundabout, but still no Bertie. They went into the cuddly toy area, and let out a scream of joy, when they saw a little bear, with blue trousers, a smart little waistcoat and a distinguished purple bow tie. As you can guess, this wasn't Bertie, but his cousin, Bernard. Oh dear, how the children wailed and wept when they discovered there was nothing more they could do but go home and tell poor Uncle Simon about their loss.
The children spent all day going from floor to floor, shop to shop, hoping against hope that somehow they would find him...
Where was Bertie all this time? For a short time, as you know, he was with Victor. However, as little baby Victor loved cars even more than sweet tea in a chocolate cup and teddy bears, he quickly decided that carrying an old teddy bear was not so much fun as he had thought. He wanted a car - not just any car, but a big shiny green car, with black wheels and a place for his blanket. As Ashdown's department store specialised in making every little boy's wishes come true, the very next floor had on display Victor's perfect car, complete with a special Friday afternoon discount attached to its little window screen. He let out a very loud "Brummm Brummm" before dropping poor Bertie on the floor like yesterday's newspaper and running to the car.
What did Victor's mother do? She didn't want people, especially anyone looking for their little bear, to think she or little Victor had taken someone's, clearly loved, lost bear, so she picked Bertie off the floor, and popped him gently inside a large, yellow teapot which was next to her, on a rather dusty shelf and forgot all about him!
Victor was still in the car going 'Brummm Brummm'. Poor mother, feeling more tea was needed, picked up baby Victor and promised him a ride on the magic roundabout downstairs. As this seemed even more exciting than green racing cars, off they went and disappear out of our story forever!
The funny thing is, the poor, frantic girls passed by the yellow teapot at least three times as they searched for Bertie. However, teapots, dusty shelves and little girls' new hats never go together, so even the tearful girls had to stop looking in the end, and go and tell Uncle Simon the bad news.
A small tear fell from the old man's face as he heard the news... He would certainly miss his little bear!
Chapter 2 – A magical night of fun!
Poor Bertie Bear was now lost and in a dark, dark place, far away from his beloved French rag mice, Uncle Simon and his toy room kingdom.
If a bear could cry, I am sure Bertie too would have felt tears trickling down his face. However, anyone who knows an old teddy bear knows that teddy bears are the bravest and luckiest toys in the toy room, and Bertie Bear was the bravest of them all!
As any child can tell you, and any adult will refuse to believe, toys can walk and talk and play every nighttime. As soon as the clock strikes twelve, unless an adult is in the room, all the toys jump up and have a wonderful time until the sun comes up. The next time you see one of your toys in a very funny place, somewhere you are sure you didn't leave it yesterday, remember that it probably walked there at night!
Exactly at midnight, on a forgotten, dusty shelf, there was a loud 'ACHOOOO!' and out flew a very surprised bear from a big yellow teapot!
"I'm so sorry to have startled you" cried the yellow teapot, “but your fur has been tickling my insides for ever so long!”
Poor Bertie pinched himself, rubbed his eyes and whispered in a very surprised voice, "I have never met a talking teapot before, how do you do! My name is Bertie."
"I'm pleased to meet you Bertie. How nice it is to meet such a polite and elegant bear! My name is Earl Grey, and I come from a long, long line of yellow teapots. Did you know, the Queen of England uses my mother, every day at her Royal bedside to pour her Royal Tea into her fine gold teacups?"
Bertie was very impressed at this and wondered how such a grand teapot was on such a dusty shelf.
The teapot smiled and said, "This is a place where everyone's wishes come true. When someone truly wishes for a bright yellow teapot, just like Her Majesty The Queen of England, then they will find me and what a wonderful life I will have! Until then, I am happy watching shoppers go by, smiling and laughing. How I loved seeing that little boy go brummm brummm brumm in that car! Now, run along and see what else you can see in this magical place."
Bertie carefully climbed down the sides of the shelf, using some old string he had found as a rope and was soon walking around the store, watching knife juggling mice, a waltzing salt and pepper set having fun in the moonlight and finally reached the place lots of other bears had gathered.
"Bertie my old friend!" cried his cousin Bernard, "Every night I have wished to meet you, and finally you are here! What a truly magical place this is!"
Bertie looked at Bernard with a rather confused stare.
"How do you know me?" he asked, scratching his ear with his paw. "I have never left my toy room since I was a young bear cub."
"We were made by the same old lady, Miss Pease-bottom." replied Bernard, "Your yellow bowtie makes you a very rare bear, as normally she likes us all to wear a bright purple tie. She had run out of purple that day and her best friend's little girl, Diana Spurr, so wanted one of her bears that she made you with a yellow bowtie instead. She has made every bear she made after you to look for and help Bertie Bear if he ever needed help." Bertie Bear stroked his yellow bowtie and felt so happy to be such a special, loved bear. Who would have ever guessed it!
Bernard then took Bertie by the paw and they raced around the store as Bernard introduced him to all his friends.
Bertie went to the clothes department where he met the two beautiful white mice sisters. They immediately knew who Bertie was and how kindly he treated their dear friends the French rag mice. Before he could say "Jack Robinson", the mice had cleaned his clothes, stitched his trousers and made his little red waistcoat like new.
The rest of the night was like a real dream for Bertie. He ate chocolate cakes, sang songs only well brought up bears know and played hide and seek until it was time to go to bed.
As he was climbing up the shelf, to somewhere safe to sleep during the day, the electric curtains silently opened, letting in the bright sunshine, and Bertie Bear become just a normal looking bear, in brand new clothes, the perfect bear for a lovely little boy or girl. What would the French mice say when they heard about his night in the store? How will he get back home?
Chapter Three – A special gift for a special dancer
As you can imagine, a man who owns a magical store, where all your wishes come true must be rather an exceptionally special man, and Toby Ashdown was certainly this!
Every morning, before the store opened to the general public, Toby would take a walk around the store, and pick one item off the shelf and send it to someone special. Last week he had sent his mother a flute that played by itself, so when she appeared on stage, without a moment's practise, she was star of the show.
For his father he had sent a tiny little match box - and warned him, “Never get it wet!” As we all know, when you say 'Never do something...' the first thing you want to do is find out why! So Daddy Ashdown threw the small matchbox into his nightly bath.
At first there was nothing…
then a click…
then a hiss…
and a small whoosh of bubbles!
What happened next pains me to tell you.
With a loud 'pop', a twenty metre long yacht with a full ten metre high mast and sail popped out the tiny box. It was his father's dream yacht, now sadly stuck in the middle of his small, second floor bathroom, with the mast going into the loft above! What was poor Daddy Ashdown to do? He called his son, who explained all was well. All he needed to do was pull out the plug and let the boat dry out again.
When Daddy Ashdown came in the next morning, all there was the same little matchbox, and a big hole in the ceiling! After this, he always followed Toby Ashdown's good advice, when trying out his surprise gifts!
When Toby was walking around his amazing store, he spotted Bertie the bear, sitting with all the other toys. He scratched his blond hair and tried to think where this special bear had come from... At this moment his Blackberry organiser went, 'Bleep, Bleep' and he looked down and saw the message:
'Don't forget to send Miko the Ballet dancer something to wish her luck in her national dance exam'.
"What could be better than a special bear in smart clothes and with a yellow bowtie to bring her extra luck?" he thought as he picked up Bertie and walked to the packing department.
As no-one else was around, (he liked to be in very early), he picked up the perfect sized box from the post room, which had held sweet smelling flowers from Hawaii and gently put in Bertie and a card which simply said:
Good luck with your dancing! Love from Toby.
He placed a new sticky label over the old Hawaiian address and sent it off in the post.
Poor old Bertie, for the second time in two days he was back in the dark! This time there was no escape as Toby had tied the box with string to keep his valuable cargo extra safe!
A few hours later, with a lot of bumps and thumps, Bertie could see from a tiny hole in the box that he was back outside and he could see the blue sky and sun shining above him. Poor Bertie! How was he ever going to get back to the playroom now?
He was put into the general post office sorting room, and I don't know if you have ever been inside a post office building but in the back are lots of whirring and clanking machines which sort all the letters and parcels and tells the computer where they need to be sent. Another then the computer reads the labels and puts them into big, grey sacks, ready for the aeroplanes to fly them around the world, so lucky boys and girls get their presents from kind uncles, aunts, grandmothers and grandparents. However, the labels need to be firmly on the box or who knows where it will end!
Sadly, for Bertie, his parcel's label got caught in a machine, and rip, away it went, floating unnoticed to the floor. The beautiful ballerina never got her good luck gift! Instead, the clever post office computer read the old address underneath. Can you remember where the sweet flowers in Bertie's box came from? My you have a good memory, yes, they were special Hawaiian flowers, and so poor Bertie was placed on the next plane to Hawaii! This trip to the shops had become a real adventure around the world! All Bertie wished for as he got further and further away from his little French mice, was a chance to go back and see his little toy room again! But how could he?
Chapter 4 – Bertie Bear dances the Hula
"Aloha!" cried Tom, the flower seller, in surprise when he took Bertie out of his little cardboard box. (Aloha is the way Hawaiians say hello to people, so clearly Bertie was being held by a very friendly Hawaiian!).
He read the card inside
'Good luck with your dancing! Love from Toby'.
"How on earth did Mr. Ashdown know that my daughter, Harriet, was in the National Hula Dancing Competition tomorrow morning? I will give it to her this evening!”
Bertie Bear was so happy to be outside his little box. When you fly with the suitcases, it is very cold and noisy, and even fluffy, brave bears don't like being in the dark too long. Now he was back on solid ground, he liked sitting high up on a shelf in the tropical sunshine. In the distance, he could hear the sea gently lapping on the beach, children playing and laughing, and having fun. As you can probably guess, his little box had arrived back at where the sweetest smelling flowers in all the world come from, and soon even Bertie was smelling like a fresh tropical bloom.
In the evening, Harriet's father came home and gave her Bertie the bear, along with the good luck message of Mr Ashdown.
"Isn't he the man who helps all wishes come true?" Harriet asked.
"Why! So he is! Quick make a wish about the dance finals!”
Harriet closed her big brown eyes tightly, and whispered softly into Bertie's ear. As you know, only whispered dreams come true, but I am sure you can guess what she was telling Bertie Bear.
That night, when it was quiet and dark, Bertie opened his eyes and said "Aloha! I am Bertie Bear!" in a very brave voice to two curious mice who had just run over his legs.
"Aloha Bertie!" chorused the two mice, "Are you not very hot in your blue trousers and little red waistcoat?"
"What should I wear then? I have only these clothes." replied Bertie, very surprised they thought he should change his clothes. He had never worn anything else in all his days!
"Wait here for five minutes, and we will show you." cried the mice in sheer delight.
The mice ran off, leaving poor Bertie alone again, watching the moonlight gently shine on the lapping sea. What a nice place this is he thought, I am so lucky to have met so many nice animals and people on my journey.
After five more minutes of sitting, dreaming and relaxing, back came the two mice with a loud rustling sound because of the grass they were holding between their teeth. The mice quickly sat down and weaved Bertie his very own Hawaiian grass skirt.
Then they climbed onto the table, picked the very best flowers from a vase (they were sure Harriet's mother, Helen, would not mind!) and made them into sweet smelling Hawaiian flower necklaces called ‘leis’.
Bertie got undressed behind a big book on the shelf, as any well mannered bear will tell you, it is never polite to undress in front of people (or even mice!). The mice then handed over his new grass skirt and leis and neatly folded his old clothes. The mice then said, "Lets go outside on the beach."
Bertie carefully climbed down the shelves and ran along the tabletop and out through the door by the little blue cat flap.
Within two minutes, Bertie was running about with his two new mouse friends on the soft white beach. He loved feeling the sand in his old brown paws. He loved the feeling of a warm breeze blowing on his furry legs and how the wind made his green grass skirt gently sway in the breeze.
In the distance, there was an almost empty traditional Hawaiian restaurant, complete with soft Hawaiian music playing from speakers onto the beach.
"Lets dance!" cried the Hawaiian mice.
"Dance? Bears don't dance. I have never learnt how to." said Bertie Bear sadly, "I can watch you.” And with that he sat down.
The mice went over to Bertie Bear. They each took a paw and made him stand up again.
"Now, close your eye and wish you can dance,” squeaked the mice.
Bertie closed his little eyes, and wished as hard as he could. He didn't feel any different.
"Now listen to the music, one, two, one, two" instructed the clever mice. "Let your bottom sway to the music."
If by magic, Bertie Bear's bottom, in its swaying green grass skirt, swayed softly to the music. Then his legs seemed to get the idea and started to also move to the music.
"Well done, Bertie, now try to move your arms like a palm tree blowing in the wind..." squeaked the mice.
Bertie and the mice had such a lot of fun dancing to the music on the beach that quickly it started to become the dawn of Harriet's big dancing competition.
Bertie wanted to make sure that this time he was ready for the sun, when the nightly magic disappears and the bear looks just like you see him every morning.
However, after the dancing in the moonlight, the long climb up onto the table, up the shelves and back to his place and clothes, Bertie the bear was too tired to change into his old clothes and fell fast asleep in his traditional Hawaiian grass skirt and leis.
When Harriet came down the following morning and saw Bertie Bear with his grass skirt and flowers around his neck, she thought "What a wonderfully clever daddy I have!” She ran and gave him a big hug.
When daddy saw the wonderful outfit. He went and hugged his wife. "What a clever wife I had he thought!”
When mummy saw Bertie's new clothes, she knew she had not made them, and that they were too well made for her husband to have made them, so she kissed her daughter and said, "I love your outfit!”
Harriet thought she meant the one she was wearing, not Bertie's traditional grass skirt and so she smiled an even larger smile.
After a breakfast of the ripest tropical fruits and a glass of the sweetest coconut milk, they were all ready for the great day out.
Harriet was dressed in her full Hula dancing outfit. She had fresh white tropical flowers in her hair, a long flowing grass skirt, a beautiful flower necklace and even whalebone, and dog teeth ankle bracelets. She had been practising hard and could do the moves in her sleep. Indeed, she did them so often in bed that every morning her flower filled duvet was found on the floor!
Bertie Bear was ready, in his hula outfit and the family was sure, with Mr. Ashdown's lucky bear, nothing could go wrong! They arrived early and got front row seats. Bertie watched as Harriet danced to the song 'A little brown gal in a long green grass skirt in Hawaii'. Bertie could hardly keep from swaying. What a happy bear he was!
All day beautiful Hawaiian girls, with long grass skirts, silken long black hair and covered in colourful flowers danced and sang. Bertie kept thinking "I wish the little French mice could see this. I really hope sweet little Harriet wins".
After a long day, as the sunset and music drifted through the air, they announced the winner...
" The winner is...."
Followed by a roar of drums and trumpets...
"Of this years National Hula Dancing competition is...
Followed by another roar of drums and trumpets... Poor Bertie was now on the edge of his seat!
"Is the wonderful...."
Followed by another roar of drums and trumpets... a very excited Harriet was now squeezing poor Bertie!
"Harriet Fogarty!"... At which point Harriet raced onto the stage, still holding Bertie Bear. Both were covered in flowers and only when the crowd shouted, "Encore!" (which is a posh way of saying "More!"), was Bertie hand back to Harriet's parents, and she had to do her dance routine again.
After this, she was crowned 'Queen of the Hula' with a big golden crown was gently placed on her head and a wonderfully soft robe around her brown shoulders.
Back at home, she gently took off Bertie's Hawaiian clothes and dressed him back into his neat pile of clothes on the shelf. He thought it was nice to be back in his trousers and waistcoat.
That night, she asked if her parents really thought Bertie was a real wishing bear. Her parents were certain. "After all, are you now not the Queen of Hula?" they asked.
That night Bertie spent his time playing on the beach with his two mice friends. He practised his Hula dancing and was becoming a better dancer every night.
He even climbed a great big rock to see if he could find any colourful fish or crabs hiding there. He was so busy looking for crabs that he didn't notice the tide come in. It got closer, and closer and closer until too late! The sea washed all around his rock.
The mice noticed just in time and with a long leap and a bound were safely back on the sand. Poor Bertie however could not go into the water as seawater does terrible things to a bear's fur, so he was trapped on the rock until the sun rose...
Can you guess what happened next? As the sun rose, Bertie Bear became a normal teddy bear again!
Poor Harriet was such a sad little girl when she discoverer her fabulous wishing bear had vanished. There were still so many things she dreamed of! She searched and searched for her special bear, but she never did find Bertie again.
Who did find Bertie? The first animal to find Bertie was a mischievous seagull. While she was circling around and around the beach, she saw the yellow bowtie, and swooped down and caught it in her beak. Up flew Bertie high into the air. As she flew, she found out that Bertie was a rather heavy bear, so with a loud "Squawk" she let Bertie fly back to the ground, directly in front of a fox...
The thin old fox sniffed poor Bertie and thought "My cubs can practise tearing this teddy bear apart" and so she started to go home to her cubs.
As the fox passed the rubbish bin outside a restaurant, she smelt roast chicken, still warm, in the bin so she thought, "I will come back later for this old teddy bear" and dropped Bertie to the ground, (who was now shaking like a leaf from this adventure), and ran off to her hungry cubs with a mouth full of still warm, roast chicken.
"Oh dear! Oh my! Whatever shall happen to me now? How I wish I was home in my playroom with my sweet rag French mice." thought poor Bertie Bear, "I don't like travelling at all!"
Chapter 5 – Bertie Bear teaches Hula dancing
Bertie was lost. After having been taken high in the air by the mischievous seagull, been in the jaws of a very hungry fox, he decided that at least there were no more surprises left for him!
As Bertie thought these simple thoughts, he could not imagine what was happening on just the other side of the restaurant.
A very loud, very large family had arrived, along with a teething baby. As I am sure you know, when a baby teeths, it is getting new teeth, and so it has a very sore mouth and a very nasty temper. The baby in this story was called Alfie and while he looked sweet, with blue eyes and wonderfully curly hair, when he screamed, the whole house would shake and the lights would sway.
The manager called the waiter.
"You must do something!", he cried, "That baby must be amused as it is frightening away our other customers.".
The waiter had a kind heart and knew how hard it must be to go on holiday with such a noisy baby. Even tired parents need a little sleep, rest and relaxation. He wished that there was something he could do to help.
As he went outside the back of the restaurant to put yet more unfinished, but still warm chicken in the bin, he looked down and saw Bertie Bear, lying in the sand, looking right back up at him.
He picked up Bertie and brushed away the sand from his clothes. Bertie was the perfect solution! He gave Bertie a quick puff, puff of his table cleaner, to hopefully kill any germs which Bertie had picked up from the ground and then ran to find the angry restaurant manager.
He gave Bertie Bear to the manager, who was never known to smile. The manager put on his biggest smile he could find and went to the large family and the screaming baby.
Alfie saw Bertie and his eyes lit up. His two little hands stretched out to grab Bertie. He smiled and gurgled and made the sorts of noises parents like to hear when eating with a baby in a restaurant. The manager beamed and smiled like never before. The family ate all the chicken on their plate, something that had certainly never happened before, making even the chef smile to himself!
Disaster came at the end of the meal, when the family (who did not know Bertie had been found near the green bin at the back of the restaurant) tried to give Bertie back to the manager.
It started as a little sob…
which became a small wail…
which became a rather large cry…
which finished as a terrifically loud scream!
By the end of it, the manager had lost his new smile, the lights were swaying and the remaining chicken dishes looked about to be returned half eaten.
Bertie was immediately returned to sweet little Alfie. A fifty-dollar tip was left to the waiter and the family and Bertie Bear returned to their unkempt family motor home.
Paul, the daddy of Alfie, held Bertie, while his wife, Nikki, changed the baby.
" How I wish Alfie would sleep!" whispered Daddy Paul. As if by magic, after a warm bottle of milk and a gentle rock while listening to Hawaiian music, Alfie did just that!
Bertie was so excited to be part of a family again. When it was night, and no one else was about Bertie and Alfie, who was obviously too young to give away Bertie's secret of coming alive at night, practised and practised the Hula dance.
For a baby with sore gums, who needed to sit day after day in a large camper van as it travelled across America, he did really enjoy dancing the Hula every night with Bertie. With so much practise, it was obvious that even a baby would become a master Hula dancer!
One day Paul put on a CD of Hawaiian music and up jumped little Alfie. He wiggled and swayed, pretended to be a palm tree on a windy day and a gentle wave lapping the beach. Paul grabs his camera and films. Before you know it, Baby Alfie has became an overnight sensation and everywhere Alfie went, people are screaming and waving. Local news channels discover his natural dancing talents and film him for their end of news programmes.
How does Bertie feel? He loves being in a family. He loves all the care and attention Alfie gives him. He couldn't be happier - unless of course he could find a way back home to his playroom and the sweet French mice.
As you know, Bertie Bear’s luck does not last forever. One day, while sitting outside the camper van, feeling the last rays of sunshine on his fur, a stray dog appears.
The extraordinary thing about stray dogs is their amazing sense of smell. The dog picked up the scent of the fox that still lingered on Bertie's brown fur. With a jump and a snatch, Bertie was gone.
The stray in fact belonged to George, the gatekeeper. He just called it 'Dog' and let it sleep under his old wooden hut.
When George saw Dog’s latest gift for him, he sighed. He didn't mind Dog bringing back bones, pieces of meat or pet’s toys, but a poor child's teddy bear was a different matter.
He picked up Bertie Bear and brushed him off and placed him high up on a wall, well out of the reach of Dog, who after trying a few times, found an old bone to play with instead.
Paul and his family saw Bertie sitting there, but who would give a baby an old toy that had been in the mouth of a dirty yard dog? The camper van drove off, leaving only a cloud of dust and a lonely bear sitting on a high wall.
Things did not look too good for old Bertie Bear. How was he ever going to get home now?
Chapter 6 – Bertie Bear makes some cookies
Bertie sat there thinking, "I'm sure they will come back for me. I am part of the family. They must have gone off to buy some bread.".
All day he sat on his wall, waiting, and waiting. As night fell, he started to worry about where they were and when would they come back for him. Sadly by this time, the family had crossed the State line and was never coming back for Bertie.
As you know, Bertie Bear is a very brave, clever bear and he sat all night on the wall waiting. He never left the wall, as he was worried Dog might find him again and then what would happen?
As luck would have it, early the next morning, a poor man, called Old Chris, dressed in an old coat, with a big, white bushy beard and a happy smile was walking past the camp site.
Looking up he saw Bertie Bear and thought to himself, "I use to have a bear just like him, I am sure my little grand daughter will love to have him for tea.".
Carefully the old man took Bertie off the wall, wiped him with a clean handkerchief, and placed him inside his large coat pocket to keep him warm and dry.
As he got home, Old Chris took Bertie Bear from his pocket and handed him to Heidi, his sweet wife, who loved keeping everything neat and tidy. Even stray bears needed to look smart if they were going to live in Aunty Heidi’s (as all the children in her street called her) home.
"Oh, Chris, what a sweet Bear. Get my sewing things together and let’s make him as good as new!”
Aunty Heidi fished out some old doll's clothes, including a sailors suit, and dressed Bertie as an English sailor.
She then took his old clothes and washed and sewed them. His clothes had never looked so clean or so smart. He felt so proud.
She then gave the bear a good, hot bath, and washed away years of dust from the toy room, grime from London, sand from Hawaii, the smell of the fox and drool from a baby sucking on his paws. He was then hung up by his ears and left to dry in the sunshine.
Now as luck would have it, it was their daughter, Susy Copus's birthday the very next day. As you can guess, while the Copus family was very kind, even birds from the sky would swoop down to take bread from Susy's hand, they were not rich, indeed they were lucky when they had two pennies to rub together.
Bertie was put back into his old clothes, as it so reminded Old Chris of the teddy bear he had when he was a boy, and placed in a box (Bertie was getting very nervous whenever he saw a box!) and it was wrapped up in the brightest of wrapping papers that they could afford and when Susy was asleep, her mother, Heidi, left it at the bottom of her bed, with a gentle kiss on her forehead and said quietly to herself "I do wish she could have more for her birthday than this old, lost bear."
The following morning, Susy woke up as soon as the sun peeked through her window and said "What a perfect day for a picnic in the garden.”
At that moment, she let out a shriek of joy, which filled all the house with sunshine, and jumped out of bed and grabbed her present in both hands.
As she was poor, getting any present was more than she had dreamed of. She looked at the paper . It was so pretty; she couldn't bear to break it.
She carefully took the parcel and climbed into her mother and father's bed. She squeezed between them and when they had both opened their eyes to watch her, she made a tiny hole in the paper...
Then another... This time just showing a corner of the box...
The next was a little larger, so she now could see two corners of the box...
The third hole made the next corner visible...
Then she made a hole for the fourth corner...
She then found a scissors and slowly cut a line between each corner. She then carefully removed the paper, being careful to keep it for another day.
Finally, she lifted the lid, and let out a gasp of sheer joy. Finally, she had her very own teddy bear. She picked Bertie up and carefully examined his little blue trousers, his red waistcoat and his smart, bright yellow bowtie.
It was love at first sight! Bertie Bear could not have found a warmer heart or softer hands if he had tried.
All day she played with him. He had tea and cakes in the smallest, most delicate cups and saucers he had ever seen. He was treated like a real king.
"This is the life!" he thought, "if only the French rag mice were here, all would be completely perfect."
The following day as he was looking at the newspaper while seated on Old Chris's knee, he saw a competition 'Me and my bear'. He read:
Send in a photo of you and your bear to win an all expenses paid trip for two to London. See the sights of London, travel on a London double decker bus, visit Ashdown department store, where all your wishes come true, and take home a special gift. Once in a lifetime trip. Photos must be in by the end of the week.
Bertie Bear was so excited. If he could get back to the Ashdown Department Store, he was sure he could find his way home. All it needed was just a little magic and luck.
Sadly Old Chris didn't even notice the advert, and simply turned the page to look at the Sport's page.
Bertie the bear knew if he were ever going to get home, he would need to do it himself. What can a bear do when he is thousands of miles from home? He had to be brave and think, think, think!
That night, when the all the world was fast asleep, Bertie Bear crept out of bed in his new blue striped pyjamas (as Aunty Heidi had said "You can't go to sleep in your day clothes, deary me no!", and she had quickly taken a tea towel and made his new fine clothes).
Then he crept down stairs.
He climbed back onto the sofa, and with a scissors went snip, snip, snip around the competition advert, before carefully putting away the scissors (because he was a very tidy bear) and carrying the coupon back into bed, where he carefully placed it in Susy's sleeping hand.
In the morning, there were shouts of dismay!
"Who has been cutting up my newspaper?" screamed Old Chris.
"Where is the rest of my recipe?" complained Heidi, looking at the hole in the newspaper. "How will I ever finish baking my new mushroom pie?" she continued.
Everyone looked shocked when Susy came down very excited, carrying Bertie Bear in one hand and a square piece of newspaper in the other!
"Why did you cut up the paper?" asked Chris, scratching his head. "You know we pass it onto Emily and Max when we finish it. How can I give Max a newspaper with a hole in it?".
"What should I tell Emily when she wants to make her own mushroom pie?" asked Heidi.
Poor Susy frowned.
"I don't understand. I found it in my hand when I woke up! I thought one of you must have read about the competition and did it as a wonderful surprise for me!" she replied.
The two old parents rushed over and looked at the mysterious square of paper.
"Well I never!", they both cried at once.
Without further ado, the camera was found in the back of an old drawer, with only two more shots left on the film. Susy was washed and scrubbed and cleaned until her two little cheeks glowed rosy red. Her prettiest dress was ironed and aired. The picnic carpet was dusted and beaten and everything was laid out perfectly, even Bertie Bear's special tea set.
Susy sat down holding Bertie Bear in her lap. She put on her best smile. Click, click went the camera. Then she thought of something and burst into a flood of tears! Whatever could the matter be? She had suddenly remembered how poor she was. How was she ever going to find the money to pay for these two precious photos to be developed in time for Friday?
Susy is however very much like Bertie Bear in lots of ways. Both are very brave and full of clever ideas about how to get out of a problem.
All day Susy cut her neighbours’ lawns (She did Max's and Emily's lawn for free to say sorry for putting a mysterious hole in their newspaper!). She cleaned and polished everyone’s cars but still she did not make enough money.
That night she went to bed in tears as she so wanted to go to England, see Buckingham Palace, wave at the Queen and visit Ashdown Department store, where all you wished came true.
In the morning, the house was full of the wonderful smell of fresh baked cookies. She found a mysterious note next to them saying, in very poor handwriting 'Sell Me'.
Every day she cut the grass, cleaned the cars and sold the most wonderful cookies. Every morning the same thing happened. Who could be making such fine food? Even her mother, the world's best cook (according to little Susy) could not bake like this.
On Thursday night she crept down stairs as Bertie was missing from her bed, and she wanted to make sure he wasn't alone on the floor somewhere, when she got the biggest surprise of her life!
Bertie was in the kitchen, whistling to himself, wearing a big, red apron and a funny, big white hat. As Susy is a sensible girl she said nothing, as if she had spoken, Bertie Bear would have seen her and become a normal bear in an instant.
The next day she thanked Bertie and whispered in his ear, "How can I make your dreams come true?". She was such a kind-hearted girl and she was the first to ever ask him this question that he felt a wonderful warm glow from his ears to his toes.
At last, in-between cutting the grass, washing cars and selling Bertie's mysterious cookies she had just enough money to have Chris's old film developed. She immediately took the last dollar from her neighbour`s hand and cycled as fast as she could (with Bertie Bear in the basket) to the newspaper shop in the centre of town. She handed in her coupon and photos with minutes left to spare.
What she didn't know was, while she was cutting the grass, washing the cars and selling her magical cookies, everyone in her whole neighbourhood said to each other "If there was ever a girl deserving a holiday, it must be Susy.".
Indeed everyone had phoned up the newspaper and told them so! Never before or since has there been such popular demand for one little girl to win the first prize in Littleville! Emily and Max had an even better idea. They asked for just one dollar off each house in the city, so both her mother and father could fly to London with her and Bertie Bear.
A few days later, when the results were announced, the whole city came out onto the street, and everyone had a wonderful party to celebrate. The mayor handed over the tickets, and away all the family flew to England. Their surprise limousine even had a police escort with sirens wailing all the way to their little airport. No –one had ever had a nicer trip there!
Bertie was allowed to fly with Susy inside the plane, next to the window. He was even carried, as an extra special bear, into the front of the plane, where he could see all the sky ahead of him and the hundreds of buttons, switches and flashing lights needed to keep the plane flying. What a lucky bear he was!
He made sure that he was always tightly holding onto Susy, because as much as he loved travelling, he now really, really wanted to go home, stroke the old rocking horse, kiss the French mice and see his old playroom again.
He still had one big question - how would he ever find his playroom again?
Chapter 7 - The Big Yellow Teapot finds a new home!
The plane landed with a bump and a loud cheer.
The pilot thanked everyone for the trip and hoped to see them all again soon.
As they were special guests, another long limousine awaited them at the airport, and drove them in style to the Hilton hotel, where, after a quick nap, they went into town.
As expected, their first stop was to the Ashdown Department store. They sat and drank tea from a chocolate tea pot and loved eating the cups afterwards.
As they were special guests, Toby Ashdown himself came to meet them. Toby let out a loud gasp!
"Sir, I remember you!" cried Toby shaking Chris's hand very warmly. I sold your father your very first teddy bear! You were only a baby then, he bought you a teddy Bear with blue trousers, a red waistcoat and a purple bowtie!".
Chris's face frowned as he thought and thought, until pop, in came the memory!
"You are right!", he said smiling, "I don't suppose you have another just like it for me?".
Toby picked Bernard bear off the shelf, and said with a bow... "My wish is your command".
He then kissed Susy's mother's hand and asked, "What do wish for?”
Heidi blushed. "I know this sounds silly, but there is only one thing I really, really want, and I am quite sure you won't have it. All I want to have is a big, yellow teapot, just like the Queen wakes up to every morning!"
She was immediately led to a high dusty shelf, and down came the big yellow teapot Bertie Bear had been hidden in.
Bertie Bear could almost sing and dance, even do the Hula in his excitement! His new friends had found the most wonderful home to go to. He was so happy for them!
"Where is your delightful prize winning bear?" Toby asked Susy?
Susy pulled out the bear, and Toby gently took him in his hands.
"A very rare, wishing bear, all your wishes came true when you are near him. He was mine but I lost him. May I have him back?" enquired Toby with a smile.
She shook her head sadly, as what Susy wanted most of all in life was giving Bertie his single greatest wish and she did not know how to do it.
Toby realised Susy had a pure heart and recognised her dream immediately. Being gifted in magic, he whispered three magic words into the bears ear, and the bear woke up looked around and yawned a long bear-like yawn.
"Tell us your greatest wish little bear." commanded Toby.
"My greatest wish? I would really love to go home to my little playroom, and see my sweet French rag mice, pat my old wooden rocking horse and sleep in my own bed."
Stay here tonight and tomorrow your owners will come and collect you. I will pass a message by the mouse mail express today!
"Now, Susy, what else do you dream about?" asked Toby in a kind voice.
"I would like to have enough money to never be poor again. I want to write books which make children laugh and sing and be glad to be alive."
"I am sorry to say I can't give you that..." replied Toby.
Susy looked sad.
"I can't give you something I can already see is growing as a seed inside you. Instead I will give you this magic pen, which never needs ink, but when you can't think of a story, it will help you join all the ideas that are already bursting inside you to get out onto the page."
Susy gasped at such a wonderful gift, and threw her arms around Toby and kissed him on his forehead.
As Bertie was now wide-awake, Susy took him by the paw into the quietest part of the store and wrote down all his fabulous adventures. This must be true, as you are now reading all she wrote down in this book!
That night Bertie was so excited that he couldn't sleep. The mice made him look as clean as the day he was made. They even found a secret way of making his little bowtie sparkle and shine.
He rode the wooden horse, Dobbin, on the roundabout and found Dobbin liked eating wooden apples much more than real ones.
He taught all the bears how to Hula and speak like a real Hawaiian boy or girl. They even visited the tropical flower department, to make Leis and fancy grass skirts. Even a teddy bear picnic (something you know every bear loves) was not as much fun as a night with Bertie in the famous Ashdown store!
As promised, Toby Ashdown sent his happy news by his two fastest mice!
"Bertie was home and looking for his old toy room. Who could help him?"
Chapter 8 – Two French Mice save the day!
We are now looking, like a buzzing fly, into poor old Uncle Simon's house. Without that little bear, the magic that had surrounded the house seems to have vanished.
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