Post by fusilier23 on Aug 10, 2005 1:09:29 GMT
As a legal disclaimer, Paddington Bear is copyright by Michael Bond, and I write this purely as a "fun" thing, not seeking ANY profit.
For those of you who don't know him, he is a bear from Darkest Peru who emigrated to London after his Aunt Lucy had to go into the Home for Retired Bears in Lima, and was found in Paddington Station by the Brown family, with nothing but his hat, his suitcase, and a tag saying "Please look after this bear. Thank you." With storybook logic, he was adopted, and his adventures began. Not strong on spelling or logic, but with lots of heart and stamina, especially with a marmalade sandwich to fortify himself, he somehow always finds his way in and out of unusual situations.
For purposes of this, it is also known that Hayley had a great-grandfather who was Maori. I do not know if she knew him, but for purposes of this story let's assume he didn't die till she was about 5, and she knew him and called him "Paka," and he made her a very special ornament called Hine-au-tami, "the dawn maiden," for all the brightness she brought...
DETECTIVE PADDINGTON AND THE SINGER
It was not long after Paddington returned home from visiting his Aunt Lucy in Lima that a new neighbor moved in up the block from Number 32 WIndsor Gardens. His name was Mr. Gardner and he was a retired inspector from Scotland Yard. He rapidly became a favourite of both the local children and Paddington, who delighted so much in his stories of mysteries solved and wrongdoers caught that on his next birthday (for bears have two birthdays a year, you see) Mr. Gardner presented him with a box with the words "One Deluxe Detective Kit" stencilled neatly across it.
Inside were a magnifying glass, black fingerprinting powder and a brush to apply it, several bottles of chemicals for testing evidence, tagged bags to keep evidence in, a notebook and pencil for interviews, a few other items, and a satchel to keep them all in. Combining this with the remnants of his kit from a previous adventure and an old raincoat he liberated from the rummage sale, Paddington rekindled his desire to solve mysteries.
The Browns adjusted very quickly to the presence of an amateur detective in the house, though they found Paddington's continuous peering at everything through the magnifying glass to be unsettling. However, when Paddington attempted to investigate the "disappearance" of several buns from the table by dusting the entire white tablecloth with fingerprint powder until it was completely black, there was nearly a very big row.
"I declare ma'am, either that kit goes or I do!" raged Mrs. Bird, the housekeeper, after several washes failed to bring the tablecloth to more than a grayish off-white. She then stumped off to the pantry to make sure no monkey business, or bear business, had gone on there, leaving it to Mrs. Brown to deal with a crestfallen Paddington.
"I'd suggest you keep well out of her way for a while." she said. Paddington took the point, stuffed a marmalade sandwich in his pocket, and took the tube to St. James' Park, where he was less likely to get into trouble. However, when after three hours he had found nothing to write in his notebook entitled "Klews" he returned home, most unhappy.
Things brightened, however, when Mr. Brown showed up with tickets to "the most unbelievable concert you could ever hear." He showed a poster with the legend "Hayley Westenra In Concert" across the top, and the picture of a young blue-eyed girl with her mouth open in song beneath. This promised to be more interesting than a mystery, he decided.
Two nights later it was time, and the whole family, Paddington with his duffle coat newly washed and his fur properly combed, piled into the car and headed across town to a large round building, the likes of which Paddington had never seen before. Jonathan Brown suggested they go around to the stage door, and maybe they could get Miss Westenra's autograph.
Around back a very large crowd of people was milling about the stage door. Paddington tried to push his way through, but was met by an unknown hand that grabbed his nose and tweaked it very hard and painfully to the right (BEEEEP!). He staggered back for a moment at the pain, but tried again, undaunted, only to have the same hand grab his nose again and tweak it even harder to the left. (HONK!)
"Ouch!" he yelled and fell back to nurse his now-throbbing nose. At that moment an official-looking man came out and said that Miss Westenra was already inside and that they should all take their seats. Crushed, he began to walk back around front, when he trod on something sharp and came down flat on his tail. Examining his paw, he found there was a most unusual brooch sticking in it. He knew that was what it was because he had gotten one for Mrs. Bird his first Christmas with the Browns, but that had been made of more or less ordinary material and been in the shape of a bear. This was made of some bluish-gray stone, polished extremely smooth and in the shape of a strange person with very stylized features, like something from the other side of the world. Hmm, he thought, this could be a clue to something, or at least an interesting addition to his collection of knick-knacks, but he didn't have time to dwell on it, as Jonathan yelled to him to hurry up. So he stuck it in his pocket and went in.
Inside everything was velvet and old wood, with splendid lighting. Wisely he hung onto his coat, not wishing to have another row with the coat-check people as he had had once. He simply filed with the Browns into the box and waited for the show to begin. The conductor of the orchestra stepped out to loud applause, the orchestra played one piece, and then a chorus of men sang two songs. However, the girl on the poster did not make an appearance. After several uncomfortable minutes, Paddington knew he had a mystery to solve. He hopped from his seat and set off down the hall, without anyone seeing him go.
Several turns brought him into an area strewn with iron bars and ropes, where one man was working.
"Excuse me, I was wondering if you could tell me where I could find the girl on the poster?" he said.
"Oh, you mean Miss Westenra. I think she's over that way," said the man, pointing and not looking up. Paddington made a beeline in that direction and was out of earshot before he could hear the man yell "Oi! Oi!You're not supposed to go back there!"
A few steps brought him to a door with the name "Miss Hayley Westenra" and a large star on it. He knocked as hard as he was able. A dark-haired man opened it and said "Sorry, Miss Westenra isn't giving autographs..."
Paddington raised his hat and said "I'm sorry. I wasn't looking for an autograph, I only came here to remind Miss Westenra that there's a crowd waiting for her. I thought something might have happened."
At that moment he saw past the man into the room. Two other men were searching up and down for something, while Miss Westenra, looking almost as she had on the poster, but without her smile, dressed in a shiny blue gown, was sitting on a couch sniffing quietly and wiping her nose and eyes with a handkerchief. Next to her sat two people obviously her parents, trying to console her. "What seems to be the trouble?" he asked.
"That's no matter for..." began one of the men, but then Miss Westenra spoke.
In a soft voice she managed, "I lost the pin my great-grandfather made for me. He died when I was five and it's the only thing I have of his. Oh, I'm so upset!" She began to cry afresh, as her mother patted her shoulder.
"Well, I'm a detective, I'll help you look," said Paddington, entering.
"Now see here..." said one of the men, but Miss Westenra's mother intervened.
"Oh, let him look. He can't do any worse than we already have, and Hayley's heartbroken."
As Paddington took his magnifying glass from his pocket, the brooch he had picked up outside fell out and fell clattering on the floor. Miss Westenra gave a cry and almost dove for it! "Paka's pin!" she yelled, holding it up. "Oh thank you! Thank you!" she yelled, wrapping Paddington in a very strong, very tight hug.
Jill Westenra laughed and said "Is that what you call a "bear hug," Hayley?"
Releasing Paddington and holding his paws with her soft hands, she asked "Where did you find it?"
"Well, I went around back looking for you, and it found me, or it found my paw, anyway." All laughed.
"Er, Hayley, may I remind you you have a concert to do?" said the dark-haired man.
"Right!" said Hayley, pinning the brooch to her collar. She turned to Paddington. "I have to go, but don't leave at the end."
Paddington returned to his seat as Hayley, her bright smile back, made her entrance to loud cheers. It was a great concert, and at the end she addressed the audience.
"Thank you, thank you, you've been such a wonderful audience. Before I go, I just want to thank this wonderful orchestra and chorus, Mr. Powell, the conductor here, Steve, my manager, and my family both here and absent: Mum, Dad, my wonderful siblings Sophie and Isaac, and my dear departed Paka, in whose memory I wear this (she pointed to her brooch). I'd also like to thank the young bear detective who found this for me and saved the evening. Paddington, could you please stand up and take a bow?"
Paddington did so, and bowed so low he was only saved from falling out of the box by a quick lunge from Mr. Brown.
Miss Westenra gave a rendition of "the Teddy Bear Picnic" and a Maori lullaby, and the concert was finished.
The next night, Paddington sat on his bed next to the cabinet he had labelled "The Fyles of Detektiv Padingtun: Lundun, Yurop, the World." He was filling a file he had made with a copy of the programme from the night before, which both Miss Westenra and Mr. Powell had been kind enough to sign for him, as well as a signed picture of Miss Westenra. According to Mr. brown, these items might be worth a bit of money, but he would never consider parting with them. On the outside of the folder he had written "The Mistery of the Mising Bruch." He now took a red marker and wrote "Kays Klowsed" under it, then placed it in the cabinet.
He lay down and began to drift off to sleep. It was nice to have such great friends, escpecially when you were a bear called Paddington.
For those of you who don't know him, he is a bear from Darkest Peru who emigrated to London after his Aunt Lucy had to go into the Home for Retired Bears in Lima, and was found in Paddington Station by the Brown family, with nothing but his hat, his suitcase, and a tag saying "Please look after this bear. Thank you." With storybook logic, he was adopted, and his adventures began. Not strong on spelling or logic, but with lots of heart and stamina, especially with a marmalade sandwich to fortify himself, he somehow always finds his way in and out of unusual situations.
For purposes of this, it is also known that Hayley had a great-grandfather who was Maori. I do not know if she knew him, but for purposes of this story let's assume he didn't die till she was about 5, and she knew him and called him "Paka," and he made her a very special ornament called Hine-au-tami, "the dawn maiden," for all the brightness she brought...
DETECTIVE PADDINGTON AND THE SINGER
It was not long after Paddington returned home from visiting his Aunt Lucy in Lima that a new neighbor moved in up the block from Number 32 WIndsor Gardens. His name was Mr. Gardner and he was a retired inspector from Scotland Yard. He rapidly became a favourite of both the local children and Paddington, who delighted so much in his stories of mysteries solved and wrongdoers caught that on his next birthday (for bears have two birthdays a year, you see) Mr. Gardner presented him with a box with the words "One Deluxe Detective Kit" stencilled neatly across it.
Inside were a magnifying glass, black fingerprinting powder and a brush to apply it, several bottles of chemicals for testing evidence, tagged bags to keep evidence in, a notebook and pencil for interviews, a few other items, and a satchel to keep them all in. Combining this with the remnants of his kit from a previous adventure and an old raincoat he liberated from the rummage sale, Paddington rekindled his desire to solve mysteries.
The Browns adjusted very quickly to the presence of an amateur detective in the house, though they found Paddington's continuous peering at everything through the magnifying glass to be unsettling. However, when Paddington attempted to investigate the "disappearance" of several buns from the table by dusting the entire white tablecloth with fingerprint powder until it was completely black, there was nearly a very big row.
"I declare ma'am, either that kit goes or I do!" raged Mrs. Bird, the housekeeper, after several washes failed to bring the tablecloth to more than a grayish off-white. She then stumped off to the pantry to make sure no monkey business, or bear business, had gone on there, leaving it to Mrs. Brown to deal with a crestfallen Paddington.
"I'd suggest you keep well out of her way for a while." she said. Paddington took the point, stuffed a marmalade sandwich in his pocket, and took the tube to St. James' Park, where he was less likely to get into trouble. However, when after three hours he had found nothing to write in his notebook entitled "Klews" he returned home, most unhappy.
Things brightened, however, when Mr. Brown showed up with tickets to "the most unbelievable concert you could ever hear." He showed a poster with the legend "Hayley Westenra In Concert" across the top, and the picture of a young blue-eyed girl with her mouth open in song beneath. This promised to be more interesting than a mystery, he decided.
Two nights later it was time, and the whole family, Paddington with his duffle coat newly washed and his fur properly combed, piled into the car and headed across town to a large round building, the likes of which Paddington had never seen before. Jonathan Brown suggested they go around to the stage door, and maybe they could get Miss Westenra's autograph.
Around back a very large crowd of people was milling about the stage door. Paddington tried to push his way through, but was met by an unknown hand that grabbed his nose and tweaked it very hard and painfully to the right (BEEEEP!). He staggered back for a moment at the pain, but tried again, undaunted, only to have the same hand grab his nose again and tweak it even harder to the left. (HONK!)
"Ouch!" he yelled and fell back to nurse his now-throbbing nose. At that moment an official-looking man came out and said that Miss Westenra was already inside and that they should all take their seats. Crushed, he began to walk back around front, when he trod on something sharp and came down flat on his tail. Examining his paw, he found there was a most unusual brooch sticking in it. He knew that was what it was because he had gotten one for Mrs. Bird his first Christmas with the Browns, but that had been made of more or less ordinary material and been in the shape of a bear. This was made of some bluish-gray stone, polished extremely smooth and in the shape of a strange person with very stylized features, like something from the other side of the world. Hmm, he thought, this could be a clue to something, or at least an interesting addition to his collection of knick-knacks, but he didn't have time to dwell on it, as Jonathan yelled to him to hurry up. So he stuck it in his pocket and went in.
Inside everything was velvet and old wood, with splendid lighting. Wisely he hung onto his coat, not wishing to have another row with the coat-check people as he had had once. He simply filed with the Browns into the box and waited for the show to begin. The conductor of the orchestra stepped out to loud applause, the orchestra played one piece, and then a chorus of men sang two songs. However, the girl on the poster did not make an appearance. After several uncomfortable minutes, Paddington knew he had a mystery to solve. He hopped from his seat and set off down the hall, without anyone seeing him go.
Several turns brought him into an area strewn with iron bars and ropes, where one man was working.
"Excuse me, I was wondering if you could tell me where I could find the girl on the poster?" he said.
"Oh, you mean Miss Westenra. I think she's over that way," said the man, pointing and not looking up. Paddington made a beeline in that direction and was out of earshot before he could hear the man yell "Oi! Oi!You're not supposed to go back there!"
A few steps brought him to a door with the name "Miss Hayley Westenra" and a large star on it. He knocked as hard as he was able. A dark-haired man opened it and said "Sorry, Miss Westenra isn't giving autographs..."
Paddington raised his hat and said "I'm sorry. I wasn't looking for an autograph, I only came here to remind Miss Westenra that there's a crowd waiting for her. I thought something might have happened."
At that moment he saw past the man into the room. Two other men were searching up and down for something, while Miss Westenra, looking almost as she had on the poster, but without her smile, dressed in a shiny blue gown, was sitting on a couch sniffing quietly and wiping her nose and eyes with a handkerchief. Next to her sat two people obviously her parents, trying to console her. "What seems to be the trouble?" he asked.
"That's no matter for..." began one of the men, but then Miss Westenra spoke.
In a soft voice she managed, "I lost the pin my great-grandfather made for me. He died when I was five and it's the only thing I have of his. Oh, I'm so upset!" She began to cry afresh, as her mother patted her shoulder.
"Well, I'm a detective, I'll help you look," said Paddington, entering.
"Now see here..." said one of the men, but Miss Westenra's mother intervened.
"Oh, let him look. He can't do any worse than we already have, and Hayley's heartbroken."
As Paddington took his magnifying glass from his pocket, the brooch he had picked up outside fell out and fell clattering on the floor. Miss Westenra gave a cry and almost dove for it! "Paka's pin!" she yelled, holding it up. "Oh thank you! Thank you!" she yelled, wrapping Paddington in a very strong, very tight hug.
Jill Westenra laughed and said "Is that what you call a "bear hug," Hayley?"
Releasing Paddington and holding his paws with her soft hands, she asked "Where did you find it?"
"Well, I went around back looking for you, and it found me, or it found my paw, anyway." All laughed.
"Er, Hayley, may I remind you you have a concert to do?" said the dark-haired man.
"Right!" said Hayley, pinning the brooch to her collar. She turned to Paddington. "I have to go, but don't leave at the end."
Paddington returned to his seat as Hayley, her bright smile back, made her entrance to loud cheers. It was a great concert, and at the end she addressed the audience.
"Thank you, thank you, you've been such a wonderful audience. Before I go, I just want to thank this wonderful orchestra and chorus, Mr. Powell, the conductor here, Steve, my manager, and my family both here and absent: Mum, Dad, my wonderful siblings Sophie and Isaac, and my dear departed Paka, in whose memory I wear this (she pointed to her brooch). I'd also like to thank the young bear detective who found this for me and saved the evening. Paddington, could you please stand up and take a bow?"
Paddington did so, and bowed so low he was only saved from falling out of the box by a quick lunge from Mr. Brown.
Miss Westenra gave a rendition of "the Teddy Bear Picnic" and a Maori lullaby, and the concert was finished.
The next night, Paddington sat on his bed next to the cabinet he had labelled "The Fyles of Detektiv Padingtun: Lundun, Yurop, the World." He was filling a file he had made with a copy of the programme from the night before, which both Miss Westenra and Mr. Powell had been kind enough to sign for him, as well as a signed picture of Miss Westenra. According to Mr. brown, these items might be worth a bit of money, but he would never consider parting with them. On the outside of the folder he had written "The Mistery of the Mising Bruch." He now took a red marker and wrote "Kays Klowsed" under it, then placed it in the cabinet.
He lay down and began to drift off to sleep. It was nice to have such great friends, escpecially when you were a bear called Paddington.