Paddington Races Ahead Read Online Free PDF

past-mistress in the art of raising her eyebrows to good effect. The Browns could tell at once by the look on her face when things were not to her liking.
    So when she happened to glance into Paddington’s bedroom one morning and her eyebrows soared heavenwards to their fullest extent, he wasn’t at all surprised. In fact, for a moment or two he thought they might disappear altogether over the back of her head.
    His own eyebrows had recently been doing much the same thing when he woke in the morning and he saw the state of his room. It always looked much worse by daylight, but by the time he reached his dressing table mirror his brows were usually in their normal place and try as he might he couldn’t see any joins.
    The simple fact was that ever since the debacle over Mr Curry’s birthday present, followed by his efforts at creating the oyster montage, he had been putting off tidying up.
    His Aunt Lucy, who in many ways was not unlike Mrs Bird, would have recognised the signs immediately. It was what she would have called a bad attack of the mañanas – the Spanish word for tomorrow, and as everyone knows, there are times when ‘tomorrow never comes’.
    Paddington braced himself for the worst, but for once Mrs Bird seemed at a loss for words. Pursing her lips, she closed the door and disappeared downstairs, only to return a few minutes later armed with a dustpan and brush and a bucketful of cleaning materials.
    “It’s the first day of the summer sales,” she said, “and Jonathan and Judy are coming home for the school holidays tomorrow, so Mrs Brown and I are going out to look for some new curtain material while we have the chance.
    “That being so, I’m afraid lunch will be later than usual, which may be no bad thing. It will give you more time to make your room spick-and-span by the time we get back. And when we do, I don’t want to see any marmalade stains or dried oyster juice, and none of that dreadful shaving cream which seems to have gone everywhere except where it’s supposed to.
    “I don’t know what Mr Brown will say if he ever gets to see the state your room is in.
    “And don’t forget to clean under the bed!”
    With that parting shot she closed the door.
    “Do you think it wise leaving Paddington to his own devices for such a long time?” asked Mrs Brown, as they left the house. “Remember the old saying – ‘the devil finds work for idle paws’?”
    “You haven’t seen the state of his room,” said Mrs Bird, “it’s worse than that of an average teenage boy, and that’s saying something. Remember what Jonathan’s room used to look like before he went off to boarding school?”
    Mrs Brown gave a sigh. “You couldn’t see the floor for junk. He used to stand all his jeans in a row by the side of the bed and step into the pair he fancied most next morning.”
    “Don’t remind me,” said Mrs Bird. “At least Paddington hangs his duffle coat on its proper hook at night. As for being left to his own devices, that bear’s paws won’t be idle for the rest of the day. It’s a long time since his room had a thorough going-over, and he can’t come to much harm with a dustpan and brush and a few old scrubbing brushes. Besides, the exercise will do him good.”
    “How about the vacuum cleaner?” asked Mrs Brown, recalling the time when Paddington had put the tube in the wrong end and blown soot all over the dining room carpet.
    “Locked away in a cupboard,” said Mrs Bird. “And the key’s in my handbag.
    “As for the carpet… if you remember, when it was first laid it was done in a rush by Mr Briggs, and he didn’t even bother with any proper underlay. He left the old newspapers in place and added a few more for good measure. One way and another the room needs a good going-over by a proper decorator.”
    “Oh dear,” said Mrs Brown. “I keep asking Henry to do something about it, but he can be very forgetful when it suits him.”
    “That’s as may be,” said Mrs