Paddington Here and Now (9 page)

“He may have been a bit of a whirlwind, but it will seem very quiet without him.”

“At least that bear’s ends are tied up now,” said Mrs. Bird. “It’s always bothered me.”

Having overheard the conversation, as soon as he got indoors Paddington hurried upstairs to his bedroom and examined his reflection carefully in the mirror.

As ever, Mrs. Bird was right. He had no idea how or when it had happened, but Uncle Pastuzo must have done a good job. Everything was in its proper place. No matter which way he turned, he couldn’t see the slightest sign of any knots.

Later on that morning the Browns heard the sound of hammering coming from Paddington’s room, but everyone was so pleased by the fact that he was still with them, they pretended not to notice.

“I’ve been following Aunt Lucy’s example,” he
announced that evening when they all went up to his room to say good night. “I’ve been counting my blessings. Except, I wanted to do mine
before
I go to sleep. I have so many I may not have time tomorrow.

“I still have some important shopping to do and I shall need to go to the bank to get all Uncle Pastuzo’s coins counted.”

“I don’t think you will be very popular with the rest of the queue at this time of the year,” warned Mr. Brown.

“Anyway,” said Mrs. Brown, “you mustn’t go spending the money on us. Your being here is the best present we could possibly have.”

“Life just wouldn’t be the same without you,” added Mrs. Bird amid general agreement.

Paddington pointed to a large nail on the back of his bedroom door. “Uncle Pastuzo taught me one thing,” he explained. “Home is where you hang your hat.”

Removing his bush hat, he tossed it in the air. Much to his surprise, it landed back on his head.

“Never mind, Paddington,” said Mrs. Brown amid the laughter that followed. “Practice makes perfect, and from now on you have all the time in the world!”

M
ichael Bond is the author of all the books about Paddington Bear. His first book,
A BEAR CALLED PADDINGTON
, was published in 1958. In 1997 he was awarded the Order of the British Empire for services to children’s literature and in 2007 was made an honorary Doctor of Letters by Reading University. Mr. Bond lives in London, not far from Paddington Station, with his wife, Sue, and a guinea pig named Olga da Polga.

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A Bear Called Paddington

More About Paddington

Paddington Abroad

Paddington Helps Out

Paddington at Large

Paddington Marches On

Paddington at Work

Paddington Takes the Air

Paddington on Top

Paddington Takes the Test

Paddington on Screen

Jacket art © Peggy Fortnum 2008

PADDINGTON HERE AND NOW
. Text copyright © 2008 by Michael Bond. Illustrations copyright © 2008 by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. Cover illustration copyright © 2008 by Peggy Fortnum. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Adobe Digital Edition May 2009 ISBN 978-0-06-194771-1

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