Love from Paddington
By Michael Bond
A. “I’ve filled your suitcase with jars of marmalade for the journey,” continued his aunt. “And I have paid one of the crew to make sure you never run short of drinking water.” While she was talking she tied a large label round her nephew’s neck. “I’ve knotted the string twice over,” she said, “so it shouldn’t come apart.”
B. There was nothing unusual in that, for it was a regular crossing carrying as
many passengers as it could take, along with a full crew to look after their
every need during the voyage.
C. She only just managed to avoid falling into the harbour and by the time she had righted herself a wall of darkness separated her from the lifeboat.
D. “Thank you, Aunt Lucy,” said the bear, raising his hat. “You are very kind.” He would have preferred cocoa, but he was much too polite to say so.
E. “Now, promise me you will write,” she said, as the liner’s siren gave an impatient wail that echoed round the harbour.
F. ONE night, many moons ago, the ocean liner S.S. Karenia left the Peruvian port of Lima in South America and set sail for Europe.
G. In any case there was no time for more as the gap between the Karenia and the quay began to widen and his aunt had to make good her escape by sliding down a rope.
H. However, on this particular occasion, unbeknown to the Captain, they had a stowaway aboard. He had been smuggled onto the ship at the very last moment by his aunt, and he was hiding under a sheet of tarpaulin in one of the lifeboats.
I. She wiped away a tear as she waved a last goodbye into the pitch black night. “I hope I’ve done the right thing,” she said, when she arrived back at the Home. “It feels as though I have lost a part of myself.”
J. “I promise to write as soon as I get the chance,” said the bear.
