Sebastian

Alan Field

Description

When Sebastian says he wants to travel, the other toys suggest a trip to the North Pole or the Equator. But Sebastian is just a teddy-bear: how could he possibly go around the world on his own? Fate steps in, and soon he is on an adventure that takes him first to Paris and then on a train bound for Russia. Along the way, he has his portrait painted, joins a circus, becomes a magician's assistant, and is mistaken for the Abominable Snowman.

Informations

• Publié par: Andrews UK
• Date de parution: 02 juin 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781911105138
• Langue: English

Extrait

Title Page
SEBASTIAN
A Travelling Bear
by
Alan Field



Publisher Information
First published in 2016 by
Chaplin Books
1 Eliza Place
Gosport PO12 4UN
www.chaplinbooks.co.uk
Digital edition converted and distributed by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
Copyright © 2016 Alan Field
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder for which application should be addressed in the first instance to the publishers. No liability shall be attached to the author, the copyright holder or the publishers for loss or damage of any nature suffered as a result of the reliance on the reproduction of any of the contents of this publication or any errors or omissions in the contents.



Dedication
To Mandy and Biffo



Chapter 1: Making Plans


I can’t remember when I first thought of becoming a travelling bear instead of one that just simply sits and sits. The trouble with a stuffed bear is really the rain: once you’ve been out in a shower you never feel quite the same again. For one thing your squeaker gets rusty and turns into a croaker. So the first thing I thought of was an umbrella.
Not, of course, like Amanda’s umbrella: even though it was meant for children it was far too big for a bear. I wanted one meant for a bear. But as Toots said (Toots is one of the menagerie, as Amanda calls us), hanging upside-down from the bookshelf, “That jersey from Auntie Vi was meant for you, but it covers up all your paws and goes round you three times.”
No, it was going to be difficult finding something that would do. Perhaps a sugar bowl? Or a leaf from the African rubber plant in the dining room? Amanda’s Mummy had said it was threatening to take over the whole room so they wouldn’t miss one leaf. And being rubber it would be just the thing.
Well, that was settled.
Another thing I fancied was the old brass telescope. It used to belong to a fierce sea captain who came to the house from time to time to see Amanda’s Daddy, but now it was Amanda’s. She had given up using it for seeing the time on the church clock after last Christmas when her Uncle Alec had made her a present of a watch.
A rather useful thing about the telescope was looking at things through the wrong end. Everything went small. Toots looked just like a mouse and Amanda had to put it away quickly when she heard Muffin the cat coming. And another thing, if you put the telescope to your ear, you could even hear the sea; and that made me even more anxious to set off on my travels.
“Before you go,” Diddy said, (Diddy is the baby of the menagerie and fond of making wise remarks on things he knows nothing about), “before you go you will need to have a Passport.” Fortunately I remembered that Amanda had already made one for me when we were playing Post Offices. The photograph was one she took of me sitting in her bicycle basket just before we had gone shopping. It was rather a good likeness, I thought, and my ears and nose looked particularly fine, though she had insisted that I put on an old pair of Uncle Alec’s spectacles. She said it would give me a distinguished air.
“ ... allow the bear to pass freely without let or hindrance and to afford the bear such assistance and protection as may be necessary”
it said, which was very grand.
PROFESSION: House Bear
PLACE AND DATE OF BIRTH: Not known
COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE: England
HEIGHT: 21 inches
COLOUR OF EYES: Black
COLOUR OF HAIR: Golden brown
SPECIAL PECULIARITIES: Loose stuffing in right paw
On the cover of the passport, it said ‘Sebastian’. Of course, Sebastian wasn’t my original name. I found my original name on a little label on my paw: it was ‘Genuine Kapok’. Rather majestic as names go, but I think I prefer the one Amanda gave me, even though it was not quite as exclusive.
The passport said - in the part marked Profession - ‘House Bear’. Well, I was going to change all that. When I came back from wherever I was going they would have to call me ‘Travelling Bear’. The trouble was I had not really made up my mind exactly where I was going.
“The North Pole,” said Toots, “and then you could see some Pole-a-bears.”
“The Quator,” said Diddy, trying out a word he could just see inside Amanda’s geography book.
“The Equator isn’t a place, silly,” said Toots. “It’s a menagerie line drawn around the earth’s tummy.”
“It’s too hot anyway,” I said, remembering that I would probably have to take off my jersey and then everybody would see that the fur had worn off my chest. “I think I prefer a temperate zone,” I said loudly, and both bears went very quiet. Of course, they had never heard of a temperate zone: neither had I really, but I could just see it in Amanda’s book next to ‘Equator’.
Diddy changed the subject: he always does when there is something he does not understand. Our subjects get changed every few minutes.
“Amanda’s coming,” he said, pointing a paw towards the stairs.
It was bedtime. We always had to pretend to share Amanda’s cocoa or warm milk, and then she would choose one of us to take to bed. Being the biggest bear, I usually sat up guarding at the bottom of her bed.
Amanda knew there was excitement in the air as soon as she came into the nursery.
“What have you bears been up to?” she asked, putting her head on one side and giving us a quizzical smile. Of course, we could not answer even though we could understand: that’s the trouble with being a stuffed bear. We all looked rather guilty but I couldn’t prevent my eyes from twinkling - a bad habit because it always gives me away. She soon found the travel leaflets and the geography book, which Toots was sitting on.
“So you want to go and seek your fortune, do you?” she said, looking rather sternly through all the papers. “Well, I suppose if Puss in Boots can do it, you can. But first of all we must make a list of all the things you’ll need.”
She began to write a list on a piece of paper she had torn out of a notebook, frowning and biting her pencil every now and then.
This was the list:
Change of jersey
Change of trousers
Brush and comb
Clean handkerchief
Magnet
Sticking plasters
Compass
Telescope
Treacle toffees
Money box
Passport
Reel of cotton
I looked rather puzzled about the reel of cotton.
“It’s for if you get lost in a maze,” she said. “You tie one end to the beginning and you can’t possibly go wrong. The magnet is for finding things you’ve dropped down wells and drains and things like that. The compass is in case you are lost in the desert. You always come to the North Pole if you walk far enough.”
I looked rather doubtful.
“The sticking plasters are for your stuffing. Don’t ever let your stuffing leak out!” She wagged a finger. “Put a plaster on straight away. And the treacle toffees are for sticking things together. You’ve no idea how well one stuck Uncle Alec’s plate to the table the other day. It’s for things you don’t want to lose.”
This was all very well, but I still hadn’t decided where to go.
“How about Cheltenham Spa,” she said, “or Moreton-in-Marsh, or Weston-super-Mare? Or even,” she went on with an expression of great excitement, “or even Paris?”
Paris! Where they have those funny round kiosks all covered in posters and where they painted letter-boxes yellow instead of red. What an adventure that would be!
Amanda was serious again, nibbling her pencil. “The only problem now is where you could stay.”
I hadn’t really thought of staying anywhere, just moving about, but I supposed she was right. I had to have an address after all, for my post, as well as having somewhere to unpack.
“There’s always Géraldine,” she said. “When she came last August for her school holidays she offered to put up any member of the family. That must mean you too.”
Géraldine wasn’t too bad. A bit flippant perhaps, and with an annoying habit of standing you on your head, or covering you with a tea cosy, and then running off.
“Well, you don’t seem very keen, but it’s all I can think of. Unless we write to the French President and ask him.”
No, Géraldine would have to do; and she did live in a flat with a balcony and shutters at the windows, which sounded very interesting.
“Getting you there is another problem though,” said Amanda thoughtfully. “You can’t just go like a human bean would. Think of all the changing of trains and boats and buses, and all that sort of thing. You would probably end up in Arabia or somewhere like that, where they had never even seen a bear before.”
We all sat round rather glumly. Arabia would not suit me at all, especially my squeaker, with all that sand.
Amanda’s Mummy came in then with the hot milk and biscuit.
“Well, your menagerie does look serious tonight, dear,” she said. “Hurry up with your drink, and don’t forget to clean your teeth afterwards. Oh, and remember tomorrow we must pack up that present for Géraldine.”
Amanda was halfway through drinking her milk when suddenly she let out a whoop of excitement.
“I’ve got it! I’ve got it! We’ll pack you up in the box to Géraldine. You can go by air mail!”



Chapter 2: Off to Paris


Well, being posted off just like a parcel was not my idea of how to set off to seek my fortune. All other animals I had read about started in a very grand fashion with horses to ride, or at least with their things tied up in a little bundle and a stick to carry. I remembered seeing pictures of them waving farewell to their masters