by Annie Wilson
Meanwhile Knuckles and his fellow prisoners were flying the seaplane high over the countryside. Knuckles tuned a portable radio to get the news.
“Four convicts made a daring escape from Portobello Prison last night,” said the newsreader. “So far the police have no clue as to the whereabouts of any of the prisoners . . .”
Knuckles, Spoon, and Phibs cheered!
“. . . except Paddington Brown,” said the newsreader, “who was last seen boarding a train bound for Bristol. The police are closing in.”
Their faces fell.
“Poor little guy,” said Phibs glumly. “He must be somewhere down there now. Probably scared half to death.”
Spoon caught Knuckles’s eye. “Shouldn’t we help him, Knuckles?”
“If we go down there now, they won’t just lock us up; they’ll throw away the key!”
“I know,” said Spoon, “but he’s our friend.”
“We stick to the plan,” Knuckles said fiercely. “I don’t do nuthin’ for no one for nuthin’.” But the tough man had to turn away as he said this, so that his friends wouldn’t see his eyes fill with tears.
CHAPTER 21
A Sinking Feeling
Somewhere far below the seaplane the fairground train was rushing through the countryside. Phoenix Buchanan was taking off his porter’s wig as he made his way to the carriage with the organ, clutching the pop-up book close to his chest. The organ was covered with tarpaulin. Phoenix pulled it off and gazed at the instrument with glee.
“Well, Grandfather,” he said, “now for the moment of truth. At last I shall finish what you started and claim the treasure that is rightfully mine.”
He opened the pop-up book to the first page. “‘Tower Bridge—D,’” he read out. Then he pressed the note on the organ keyboard and a light appeared. “It’s working!” he gasped, his eyes shining.
He turned to another page and another, keying in all his notes.
Little did he know that Paddington was watching him the whole time through a window in the carriage behind.
Paddington thought of Mr. Brown’s words: If we can find Phoenix and that book, we can prove everything.
“But how am I going to do it?” Paddington asked himself. He looked around for inspiration and spotted a barrel of toffee apples. “Aha!” he said. “Something sticky—just what I need.”
Taking one in each paw, he climbed up a ladder at the end of the carriage and clambered onto the windy roof. He needed to reach the skylight above Phoenix’s head. Paddington breathed in sharply as he saw the train was about to go through a tunnel. He ducked down just in time and held on for dear life as the train went rocketing through it and out the other side.
Thinking on his paws, Paddington stuck the toffee apples to his feet, then using them as suckers so that he wasn’t blown clean away he made his way across the roof.
Phoenix was pressing the last two notes in the code. “F . . .” he said, “and E . . .”
Suddenly the whole instrument lit up. Phoenix gazed at the organ, transfixed, while behind him Paddington swung through the skylight, using the toffee apples to hang from the ceiling above.
There was a whirring noise as all the cogs in the organ began to turn. The front of the instrument itself then began to open slowly, exposing a complex clockwork mechanism in the heart of the organ.
Phoenix’s eyes grew wide with greed. “Soon the treasure will be mine!” he said.
Paddington was watching the whole thing. He chose his moment with care, waiting until Phoenix was distracted by the whirring cogs. Then he stretched down to grab the pop-up book from the actor’s hands. He was almost there—but just not close enough to touch it! He inched forward on his sticky paws, stretching toward the book . . .
Phoenix was still entranced; the organ was completely open now. He gazed on the clockwork mechanism as, with more clicking and whirring, a gorgeous, intricately decorated treasure box rose up from somewhere deep inside the instrument.
Phoenix reached out his hands toward the object for which he had been hunting for so long. “Hello, my beauty!” he cried.
Paddington was near enough now to reach the pop-up book. He stretched as far as he could and succeeded at last in grabbing the book. Then he turned and began making his way slowly and stickily back to the skylight.
Just then, the box opened, revealing its treasure.
“Aren’t you pretty?” said Phoenix as he gazed into its mirrored interior. But something caught his eye in the reflection. Phoenix turned away from the box to see Paddington hanging from the roof above him.
“YOU!” he shouted. He leaped up to grab the pop-up book from Paddington’s paws; however, instead he succeeded in pulling Paddington back into the carriage with him.
The two of them collapsed in a heap, knocking against the keyboard of the organ.
The bump caused the pipes to descend and the treasure box began folding back into the instrument.
“NO!” groaned Phoenix, lunging for the treasure.
But it was too late. It had disappeared back inside the mechanism.
Paddington took advantage of the distraction to grab the pop-up book again. He turned and ran out of the carriage and through the train, leaving Phoenix to try to key in the code again from memory.
“D . . . G . . . ? No! E . . . G . . . ? NO! I’m never going to get it right without that book!”
With a howl of frustration the actor ran after Paddington. “Give me that book!” he yelled. “GIVE ME THAT BOOK!”
The Browns were catching up in their steam train with Jonathan at the helm. They were getting closer and closer to Paddington’s train—but not close enough.
“Can this thing go any faster?” Mr. Brown asked Jonathan in despair.
“I can try to reroute the steam brake, but that’ll take a couple of minutes,” Jonathan shouted. “And we need more coal!”
“I’m on it!” said Mrs. Brown.
“Try to pull alongside,” Mr. Brown said to Jonathan. “If you can line the front of our train up with the back of theirs, I’ll be able to get across.”
“I’ll come with you, Dad,” said Judy.
“Me too,” said Mrs. Bird. “Just you try and stop us!” she added as Mr. Brown began to protest.
“Come on, then!” said Mr. Brown. And he swung out of the cab with the others close behind.
They made their way down to the front of their train while, inside, Mrs. Brown was furiously shoveling coal into the furnace to keep the train going and Jonathan was doing everything he could to get the steam train to move faster.
Judy, Mr. Brown, and Mrs. Bird had scrambled out onto the front of the engine by now. They were close enough to be able to climb across to the back of the fairground train. Mr. Brown helped Mrs. Bird and Judy across. He had one foot on each train and was about to clamber aboard and join the others when suddenly the tracks parted.
The two trains diverged and Mr. Brown found himself sliding as his legs moved farther and farther apart . . .
He closed his eyes and, remembering what his Chakrabatics instructor had taught him, he intoned, “Open your mind and your legs will follow.”
His face took on a picture of pure peace as he meditated on this phrase. Then, as the trains moved even farther apart, Mr. Brown went into a split!
He opened his eyes, smiling with delight. “I’ve done it— Oh no!” he cried as he saw a bollard in the middle of the tracks, getting closer and closer toward him.
“Don’t worry, dearie. I’ve got you!” shouted Mrs. Bird, leaning across and pulling him to safety on to the fairground train.
“Thank heaven for Chakrabatics!” Mr. Brown murmured, mopping his brow.
Paddington meanwhile was running down the fairground train looking for an escape. He scrambled out through a window and up on to the roof.
“I’m coming to get you!” Phoenix cried.
He climbed out of the carriage and chased Paddington across the roof.
“Where do you thin
k you’re going, Bear?” he shouted. “It’s a train! It comes to an end—like all of us, alas,” he added.
Paddington turned to see Phoenix gaining on him. He ran faster and faster until he realized Phoenix was right—he was nearly at the other end of the train! He skidded to a halt just as he reached the edge and wheeled back on his paws to prevent himself from falling.
“Whoops!” said Phoenix, striding toward Paddington.
Paddington’s eyes grew wide in horror as Phoenix came closer and closer.
“Exit bear, pursued by an actor,” said Phoenix, laughing. Then, “Whoops!” he cried again, as a skylight opened beneath him and he went tumbling into the carriage beneath.
He landed with a bump in front of Mrs. Bird, Judy, and Mr. Brown.
“Mrs. Bird?” said Phoenix, blinking up at her.
“Oh, you remember me now!” she scoffed.
Phoenix looked from Mrs. Bird to Judy and Mr. Brown. “The cavalry! An old crone, a little girl, and an insurance man. What are you going to do to me, Henry?” he teased.
Mr. Brown put up his fists and glowered at Phoenix. “I’m going to bloomin’ well biff you on the nose,” he declared.
Phoenix raised an eyebrow and coolly grabbed a sword swallower’s sword from the wall. He brandished it professionally at Henry. “Not a very good idea. I’ve got Stage Combat Level Four, you know.”
Mr. Brown gulped and put his fists down.
Mrs. Bird had been looking around for a suitable weapon. She spotted a gun on a rack at her end of the carriage. “Where I come from, laddie,” she said, grabbing the gun and pointing it at Phoenix, “they teach you not to bring a knife to a gunfight!” Judy and Mr. Brown gasped as Mrs. Bird took aim at Phoenix.
Phoenix smiled calmly. “I think you’ll find that gun shoots only plastic darts.”
Mrs. Bird pulled the trigger. Sure enough, a plastic dart hit Phoenix smack on the forehead.
He pulled it off with a pop, still smiling.
“So it does,” said Mrs. Bird.
“Whereas this sword is razor sharp,” said Phoenix. “Now, back you go,” he added, waving the sword at them and grabbing some handcuffs from beside him.
By now, the two train lines were coming together again. Paddington glanced out between the two carriages to see the Pullman steam train pulling up alongside once more.
“Mrs. Brown!” he shouted.
Hearing his cry, Mrs. Brown stuck her head out of the driver’s cab. “Paddington! Thank goodness. She turned back into the cab. “Jonathan, slow down.”
“Okay, Mum!” he replied, putting on the brakes.
The trains were still at least ten yards apart, with no obvious way for Paddington to get across to Mrs. Brown and Jonathan.
“How am I going to do this?” Paddington asked himself. He looked around for something—anything—that he could use to bridge the gap between the two trains. His gaze fell on his trusty leather suitcase. And an idea began to form.
Paddington was not the only one struggling to escape. Phoenix had handcuffed Mr. Brown, Mrs. Bird, and Judy to some poles.
“Set us free!” Mr. Brown growled, wriggling.
Phoenix laughed. “I’ll deal with you later. But first I’m going to sort out your furry friend . . .”
Paddington jammed the door of the adjoining carriage shut before opening his suitcase and pulling out his telescopic window-cleaning ladder. He began to unwind it so it extended toward the Pullman train.
He was just beginning to feel hopeful that his plan would work when Phoenix arrived outside the door and began kicking at it, trying to break it down.
Paddington jumped on to the front end of the ladder so that it took him with it as it stretched farther and farther across the gap between the trains. Paddington wound the handle faster still. He was almost across when Phoenix gave the door one last kick and the wood splintered . . .
Further back down inside the fairground train, Judy was panicking. “What are we going to do?” she cried, struggling to pull herself free from the handcuffs.
“Don’t you worry, dearie,” said Mrs. Bird. “I learned a trick or two from Harry Houdini, the famous escapologist . . .”
Phoenix was standing between his carriage and Paddington’s. He had caught sight of the bear, who was still trying to make his way across the tracks on his telescopic ladder.
“Hello there,” the actor called out. He smiled nastily. “What a clever little bear!” he said, realizing what Paddington was trying to do.
Paddington didn’t stop to respond to Phoenix, but kept inching nearer and nearer to Jonathan and Mrs. Brown.
Phoenix gave a wicked laugh, then leaned forward and pressed the “Retract” button on the ladder.
Paddington was immediately pinged back across the tracks.
“Whoooaah!” he shouted as he felt himself fly back into the arms of the evil actor.
“Thank you,” said Phoenix, whipping the pop-up book out of Paddington’s paws. Then he shoved the little bear into the final carriage of the train and slammed the door, throwing the bolts across for good measure.
“Let’s see you get out of that!” he cried, pulling out the pin that joined Paddington’s carriage to his own.
He leaned out of his carriage and used the pin to knock a trackside lever.
The points shifted and Paddington’s carriage was disconnected and sent hurtling on to a different track.
“Bye-bye, Bear!” said Phoenix.
He turned back triumphant, but stopped dead when he saw he was surrounded by coconuts on stands. Facing him was Judy, her camera clicking away.
“Honestly, now’s not the time for the paparazzi!” said Phoenix, flashing her his best movie-star grin.
“On the contrary, it’s perfect timing,” said Mr. Brown. And he lifted his arm and hurled a ball straight at Phoenix’s head.
Phoenix opened his mouth to cry out. But it was too late. Mr. Brown had knocked him out cold.
“Mr. Brown!” Paddington’s desperate cries came floating through the window. “Help!”
Mr. Brown ran to the window, but all he could do was watch, helpless, as the runaway carriage crashed through the buffers at the end of the siding.
“NO!” yelled Henry.
Paddington’s carriage went hurtling down a slope and into the murky waters of the river below.
Mrs. Brown was watching the whole disastrous scene from the Pullman train. “Stop the train, Jonathan!” she ordered.
Jonathan pulled hard on the brake lever.
The train shrieked to a halt while the fairground train hurtled off into the distance with Mr. Brown still on board.
Mrs. Brown jumped off and shouted to Jonathan to go and get help. She ran to the side of the bridge as Paddington’s carriage began sinking into the river.
“I didn’t do all that training in the Serpentine for nothing,” said Mrs. Brown defiantly. She pulled off her coat and dived into the water.
Inside the carriage, Paddington was pushing and pushing at the side door, but it wouldn’t budge. Memories of being caught as a baby bear in the fast-flowing Amazon river came rushing back to him.
“I survived that,” he told himself, trying to stay calm. “Aunt Lucy saved me.” He shoved the door but still it wouldn’t open. “But Aunt Lucy isn’t here now.”
It was no good. Paddington was starting to panic. He was struggling to breathe now in the few inches of air that had been trapped toward the top of the carriage. He had given up all hope and was sinking under the water.
This is it, he thought. I’m sorry, Aunt Lucy. I’ll never get you your perfect birthday present now . . .
He turned for one final look through the window at the world above him, which was disappearing fast.
And then, suddenly, Mrs. Brown appeared, swimming toward the door! She was there to save him!
Paddington struggled to stay still so that he wouldn’t use up the remaining air in the carriage. Meanwhile Mrs. Brown heaved the door open bit by bit. Padding
ton could see her face through a crack in the door, but it wouldn’t open any further than that.
Mrs. Brown looked around frantically to see why the door wouldn’t budge. Then she saw—it had been chained shut.
Paddington pushed at the door on his side while Mrs. Brown tugged on hers. They worked together with all their might but it was no good—the chain was just too strong.
Mrs. Brown reached her arm through the gap and took hold of Paddington’s paw. They gazed at each other, knowing the end was near.
Then Mrs. Brown felt a huge meaty hand on her shoulder.
She looked round and saw to her delight that Knuckles, Phibs, and Spoon were there, right behind her.
Above them on the surface of the water was the silhouette of the seaplane. They had tracked Paddington down and followed him all the way. Together, the three men and Mary pulled at the door until the chain broke. Mrs. Brown reached in and pulled Paddington out.
They swam up, breaking through the surface of the water and gasping for breath.
“Thank goodness!” Mrs. Brown spluttered as they reached the bank. She helped Paddington out. “You all right there, Paddington?” she asked.
“I think so, Mrs. Brown,” said Paddington shakily.
Knuckles, Phibs, and Spoon hauled themselves out of the water.
“Thank you for coming back, Knuckles,” Paddington said to his friend. “But what made you change your mind?”
Knuckles smiled ruefully. “Can’t make marmalade on my own now, can I?” he said.
Paddington gave a tired smile and immediately fainted.
Mrs. Brown gasped. She felt his forehead. “He’s burning up,” she said, looking at Knuckles in alarm.
“Best get the little fella to bed,” said Knuckles tenderly.
CHAPTER 22
Paddington and the Big Surprise
It was three days before Paddington finally woke up. He blinked blearily. Everything was out of focus.
“Where am I?” he asked sleepily.
“Don’t you exert yourself now,” said Mrs. Bird, stroking his forehead.