by Annie Wilson
Paddington opened his eyes properly. His face shone as he realized he was back in his own attic room. He looked around and saw that the whole family was there, waiting patiently for him to wake up.
“Paddington!” Judy exclaimed with joy.
“Take it easy now,” said Mrs. Brown, laying a hand on his paw.
“You gave us a wee scare, but you’re home now,” said Mrs. Bird kindly.
“Home?” said Paddington. He tried to sit up.
“That’s right,” said Mrs. Brown.
Judy handed him a copy of her newspaper.
The headline read: “EXCLUSIVE! PADDINGTON FREED! ACTOR ARRESTED!”
“The police realized they’d made a terrible mistake,” said Jonathan.
“Phoenix Buchanan has been sent to prison,” Mr. Brown explained. “And, I might add, he’s been thrown out of my company’s Platinum Club.”
“You’re a free bear, Paddington,” said Mrs. Bird.
Paddington smiled. “How long have I been asleep?” he asked.
“Three days!” Jonathan declared.
“Three days?” Paddington repeated. “But that means . . .”
“It’s Aunt Lucy’s birthday,” said Judy, nodding.
The spark went out of Paddington’s eyes. “Oh. And I never sent her anything,” he said.
“It’s all right, Paddington,” said Mrs. Brown.
Paddington struggled to sit up again. “No, but you don’t understand!” he protested. “Aunt Lucy gave up her dream of coming to London to look after me. I wanted to give her the pop-up book as a small way of making her dream come true after all. Now she’s going to wake up on her hundredth birthday with no present. And she’s going to think that I’ve let her down completely,” he added miserably.
“Oh, you great goose, she won’t think that!” Mrs. Bird said.
“Won’t she?” said Paddington. He looked around at everyone’s faces. They all seemed strangely excited.
Mr. Brown exchanged a cryptic look with the others. Then he beamed and said, “Come with us.”
The family helped Paddington out of bed and led him down the stairs.
“What are all these people doing here?” Paddington asked in surprise.
The hallway was packed! The whole neighborhood had come to wish Paddington well.
Mr. Gruber waved up at him. “Here he is!” he said to the gathered friends. “Paddington’s here!”
Everyone turned to look up at him and they burst into spontaneous applause.
Paddington could not believe his eyes as he scanned the crowd. “What are you all doing here?” he asked.
“We wanted to say thank you,” said Miss Kitts.
“Thank you?” Paddington repeated, looking puzzled.
“For everything you’ve done for us,” said one Miss Peters.
The crowd murmured and nodded their agreement.
“If it wasn’t for you, we’d never have met,” said the Colonel, putting his arm round Miss Kitts.
“You helped me pass my exams,” said Fred Barnes.
“And I would be permanently locked out of my house,” said Dr. Jafri.
Paddington turned and looked at the Browns. He was feeling rather overwhelmed.
Mr. Brown put a hand on his shoulder. “I’d say you have rather a lot to be proud of, Paddington,” he said.
Mr. Gruber chipped in. “When we heard that the police wanted the popping book for evidence we thought we’d get Aunt Lucy another present,” he said.
Dr. Jafri nodded. “So we all clubbed together,” he said.
“I pulled in a few favors from my old air force chums,” said the Colonel.
“And we think she’s going to love it,” said Mademoiselle Dupont.
Paddington was baffled. “But . . . what is it?” he asked.
“You wanted to get the book so Aunt Lucy could see London, didn’t you?” said Mrs. Brown.
Paddington nodded.
“Well, we thought why look at London in a book when she could see the real thing?” Mrs. Brown explained.
As she said this, the doorbell rang.
Paddington looked at Mrs. Brown, not daring to believe.
“Why don’t you go and answer it?” Mrs. Brown said, nodding toward the door.
Paddington did as she suggested. His friends stood aside as he walked down the hallway to the door. He opened it, and there, on the doorstep, standing in the snow, a suitcase in her paw was . . .
“Aunt Lucy!” cried Paddington.
“Oh, Paddington!” said Aunt Lucy, pulling him into a warm embrace.
“Happy birthday, Aunt Lucy,” said Paddington, and his face lit up with a look of perfect joy.
EPILOGUE
Things worked out well for everyone in the end. While Paddington enjoyed showing Aunt Lucy around London’s famous landmarks, his friends Knuckles, Phibs, and Spoon were enjoying themselves too. They had been granted parole for good behavior and were spending their days setting up a lovely tearoom, selling the cakes they had learned to make in Portobello Prison.
Meanwhile Phoenix Buchanan had taken their place! He wasn’t letting prison get him down, though. He lost no time in finding a way to put on an extravagant musical number for the other prisoners. He may not have been a success in the West End, but he was doing very well inside.
As he said, “It seems all I needed was a captive audience!”
Photo Insert
Paddington lives with the Browns and Mrs. Bird in London. He loves his new home.
Mrs. Brown is training to swim across the English Channel to France.
Mr. Brown is practicing chakrabatics.
Judy Brown is starting her own newspaper.
Jonathan Brown is trying to be cool but secretly loves steam trains.
Everyone is excited about Madame Kozlova’s Steam Fair! The actor Phoenix Buchanan is opening the show.
Paddington wants to buy a special gift for Aunt Lucy’s one hundredth birthday. Mr. Gruber is letting him look through Madame Kozlova’s old trunk and Paddington has found a beautiful rare pop-up book. It shows London’s magnificent landmarks.
Paddington decides he will earn the money for Aunt Lucy’s gift by washing windows.
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Credits
Based on the Paddington Bear created by Michael Bond
© Paddington and Company Limited/Studiocanal S.A.S. 2017
Paddington Bear™, Paddington™ and PB™ are trademarks of Paddington and Company Limited
Licensed on behalf of Studiocanal S.A.S. by Copyrights Group
Copyright
HarperFestival is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
PADDINGTON 2: THE JUNIOR NOVEL. Based on Paddington Bear created by Michael Bond. © Paddington and Company Limited/Studiocanal S.A.S. 2017. Paddington Bear™, Paddington™ and PB™ are trademarks of Paddington and Company Limited. Licensed on behalf of Studiocanal S.A.S. by Copyrights Group. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, 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 hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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ISBN: 978-0-06-282433-2
EPub Edition © November 2017 ISBN 9780062824349
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FIRST EDITION
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