“You did lock the door when you came in, didn’t you?” he asked casually.
“I think so,” said Paddington, beginning to look worried himself at the expression on the Doctor’s face. “It’s a bit difficult with paws, but…”
Paddington looked round and as he did so he nearly fell backwards out of his chair with surprise. For there, before his very eyes, neatly framed in a large porthole next to the door, were five very familiar faces. Not just Mr Brown, whose face, pressed hard against the glass, had taken on an unusually flat and puddingy appearance, but Mrs Brown, Jonathan, Judy and Mrs Bird as well.
Reaching across the table the Doctor picked up a telephone. “Get me the Master at Arms at once, please,” he barked. “And tell him to hurry. There’s something nasty going on outside my porthole.
“It’s all right, bear,” he continued. “There’s no need to be alarmed.” Slamming the telephone receiver back on to its cradle the Ship’s Doctor turned back to Paddington and then broke off in mid-speech.
He had been about to explain that help was on the way, but from the glazed expression on Paddington’s face as he lay back in the chair with his paws in the air it looked very much as if one occupant of the cabin at least was beyond caring.
Mrs Brown dabbed at Paddington’s forehead with some eau-de-Cologne as he sat up in his bunk and stared round the cabin.
“Thank goodness,” she exclaimed. “We thought you were never coming round.”
“Every time you caught sight of us you fell over again,” said Judy. “We were getting jolly worried.”
Paddington rubbed his eyes as if he could still hardly believe them. “I thought you were a halluci-something,” he explained.
Mrs Brown turned to her husband. “It’s all your fault, Henry,” she said. “If we’d gone to the Purser’s office in the first place as I suggested all this would never have happened.”
“I wanted it to be a surprise,” complained Mr Brown. “How was I to know Paddington would think we were all ghosts?”
Mr Brown was looking a trifle fed up. It had been his idea that the Brown family should combine their summer holiday with a trip home on Paddington’s liner, meeting it at a point when it was still two days away from England.
At the time it had seemed a very good idea and when they’d boarded the liner late that afternoon at its last port of call they had all been looking forward not only to the experience but also to seeing the look on Paddington’s face when they confronted him. They hadn’t bargained on his reacting in quite the way he had and Mr Brown was tending to get most of the blame.
“Well,” said Mrs Bird, “I must say that if I thought someone was hundreds of miles away and then I suddenly met them face to face in the middle of an ocean I’d be upset.”
“And at night,” said Judy. “I bet it was jolly frightening.”
“Besides, I don’t think Paddington was the only one to be taken in,” added Jonathan. “I don’t think the Ship’s Doctor was too keen on us either.”
“I’ve always heard sailors are supposed to be superstitious,” said Mrs Brown, surveying her husband as he helped himself to a sandwich from a pile next to Paddington’s bunk, “but you don’t look much like a ghost to me, Henry.”
“I don’t think the Doctor thought so when he got over the first shock,” said Judy. “He looked jolly cross.”
The Browns’ laughter was suddenly broken into by a tap on the cabin door.
“I expect that’s my cocoa,” said Paddington importantly. “The steward always brings me some before I go to bed.”
The others exchanged glances as the door opened and a man in a white coat entered carrying a tray laden with a large jug of steaming hot liquid.
“This is the life,” exclaimed Mr Brown. “I must say I’m looking forward to the rest of the voyage. Sunshine and deck games all day. Bear’s cocoa last thing at night to round things off. Even a ghost couldn’t ask for more!”
Paddington nodded happily as the steward sorted out some extra mugs and began to pour. He was keen on cocoa at the best of times, especially ship’s cocoa, which somehow always had a taste of its own, and now that the problem of the ghosts had been solved he was looking forward to his nightcap, particularly as it also celebrated the unexpected early meeting with the Brown family.
He eyed the jug from behind a cloud of rich, brown steam. “There’s only one thing nicer, Mr Brown,” he announced amid general agreement. “And that’s two cups!”
MR BROWN GAZED along the broad deck of the Karenia with a puzzled look on his face. “Has anyone noticed Paddington lately?” he asked. “He seems to be acting very strangely.”
The rest of the family followed the direction of Mr Brown’s gaze and were just in time to see a familiar figure emerge from behind a lifeboat some distance away, stand for a moment staring up at the sky with a very odd expression indeed, and then hurry back to the rail.
“He was all right at lunch time,” said Mrs Brown. “I do hope it’s nothing he’s eaten.”
“Perhaps he’s got something in his eye,” suggested Mrs Bird, as Paddington stepped backwards and then almost fell over as he bent himself double in order to peer up at the sky again.
“He was tapping the barometer outside the Purser’s officer earlier on,” said Jonathan. “I thought he was going to break it.”
“And he’s got some seaweed hanging out of his porthole,” exclaimed Judy.
“It must be something to do with the weather,” said Mr Brown, turning his attention back to the ship’s newspaper. “Perhaps he thinks we’re going to have a storm.”
“Crikey! I hope not,” exclaimed Jonathan. “I don’t want to miss the party tonight.”
“If I know Paddington,” replied Mr Brown, “he won’t, either. I expect that’s why he’s worried.”
Satisfied with Mr Brown’s explanations, most of the family returned to their various activities. After a morning spent exploring the great ship they were only too glad to have a rest. Travelling on an ocean liner was an exciting event, not unlike being let loose in a miniature floating town, and with Paddington acting as guide, it was almost as tiring.
During his long voyage he’d made friends with a good many of the ship’s crew, so that apart from visiting the shops, the swimming pool, the gymnasium and various lounges, they’d also been taken on a tour of inspection of the ship’s kennels, the bakery, the engine room, and many other places not normally open to the public.
The only person who wasn’t quite satisfied with Mr Brown’s explanation was Mrs Bird, and she wisely omitted to mention that to the best of her knowledge Paddington didn’t even know there was a party taking place that evening, let alone that he was going to it. From past experience she knew only too well that whatever it was Paddington had on his mind, matters couldn’t be hurried and that all would be revealed in due course.
Unaware that he’d been arousing so much interest, Paddington dipped his paw in a nearby mug of cocoa, held it up in order to see which way the wind was blowing, and then peered anxiously over the side of the ship towards the blue waters far below.