LITMIR.BIZ

       Chapter One PADDINGTON GOES TO SCHOOL

      “PADDINGTON HAS TO go to school?” exclaimed Mrs Brown. She clutched at the front door of number thirty-two Windsor Gardens and gazed at the man standing on the step. “But there must be some mistake. Paddington isn’t a…” She broke off as Mrs Bird gave her a nudge. “I mean, he’s a…”

      “May I ask why he has to go to school?” interrupted the Browns’ housekeeper.

      The man consulted a pile of papers in his hand. “According to our information,” he said, “he’s been living here for a number of years and we’ve no record of a single attendance at St Luke’s or anywhere else for that matter.”

      “But he was brought up in Darkest Peru,” exclaimed Mrs Brown. “His Aunt Lucy taught him all she knew before he left. She had to go into a Home for Retired Bears in Lima, you see, and…” Her voice trailed away as she caught sight of the expression on the School Inspector’s face.

      “I’m very much afraid,” he said, allowing himself a slight smile, “that neither the Home for Retired Bears in Lima nor Aunt Lucy happen to be on our list of approved establishments.”

      He snapped the file shut with an air of finality. “We shall expect to see him at school first thing tomorrow morning,” he continued sternly, “otherwise certain steps will have to be taken.”

      Mrs Brown gazed after the Inspector as he disappeared down the road. “Tomorrow morning!” she repeated. “What are we going to do?”

      “I think,” said Mrs Bird wisely, “there’s only one thing we can do. Make sure that bear arrives on time. After all,” she added meaningly, “we do have his circumstances to think of. I daresay it’s only a matter of the authorities setting their records to rights, but until they do, I think we’d better tread very carefully.

      “And if Paddington is going to school tomorrow,” she continued, “we’d better get busy as well. I must sew a name-tag on his duffle coat for a start. We shall never hear the last of it if that gets lost.” Mrs Bird paused at the kitchen door. “Will you tell him or shall I?”

      Mrs Brown gave a sigh. “I will,” she said.

      She knew exactly what Mrs Bird meant. Ever since Paddington first arrived on the scene, she’d had a nagging fear in the back of her mind that something like this would happen if only because they’d never actually reported his arrival to anyone, and the thought of breaking the news to him was not one she exactly relished.

      But Paddington took the matter surprisingly well, and while the others busied themselves getting his things ready, he spent the afternoon going through some of Jonathan and Judy’s old text books. The rest of the time he spent polishing his suitcase, and that evening he even had a bath without being asked, which was most unusual.

      All in all, he looked so spick and span the following morning, even Mrs Bird’s eagle eyes were unable to find fault.

      “I still can’t believe it,” said Mrs Brown, as he set off down the road. “The house’ll seem so quiet without him.”

      Mrs Bird gave a snort. “I should make the most of it,” she said. “You mark my words, it’ll be four o’clock and he’ll be back home again before we’ve had time to turn round.”

      All the same, it was noticeable that the Browns’ housekeeper spent an unusually long time cleaning the step that morning, and she didn’t finish it until long after the small figure in a duffle coat and hat had disappeared around the corner.

      But Paddington himself didn’t have any time to dwell on the matter. The school was only a short distance away from Windsor Gardens and as he drew near, one of the teachers hurried forward to greet him.

      “Good morning,” he said. “I take it you’re one Brown, P?”

      “One brown pea?” repeated Paddington in surprise. He gave the man a hard stare. “No, I’m not. I’m Paddington Brown.”

      The man let go of Paddington’s paw. “Er… that’s really what I was asking,” he said nervously. “I have instructions to check your arrival. If you hurry, you’ll just be in time for the roll.”

      Paddington licked his lips. A roll sounded a very good way in which to start the day. “I think I shall enjoy that,” he announced.

      “Good,” said the man, looking somewhat relieved. “We thought we’d put you in the

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