Sainsbury the Bear – Adventure Two

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“Sainsbury the Bear were stories I wrote when my children were at primary school; if a child were good, they would get to take the class bear, Sainsbury, home for the weekend. I thought it would be nice if I could write some of Sainsbury’s adventures. Sainsbury the Bear Adventure Two was writen in 2010.”

In no time at all, he had arrived below the clock on the wall.  Sainsbury looked at its hands: the short one was just over the nine, which meant it was something past nine, and the bigger hand was almost on top of it.  This meant that it was almost forty five minutes past nine.

                Thank goodness, thought Sainsbury, just in time!

As he watched, the second hand tick, tick, ticked toward the twelve at the top of the clock’s face.  No sooner had it reached the twelve than there was a loud popping noise and the isle next to Sainsbury began to shake.

He took a few steps back and watched as the isle began to shudder and jiggle.  Then it split right down its middle with a sound like a zipper opening and there before him was the Adventure Isle!

A huge grin appeared on Sainsbury’s face.

                ‘Ah, Sainsbury,’ said a wheezy voice, ‘you’ve come back for more.’

                ‘Hello, Mr Bear!’ said Sainsbury as he saw the old caretaker approach with his mop and bucket.

                ‘Call me Fred, Sainsbury.’

                ‘Oh, are you sure?’

                ‘Well it is my name.  Either that or Ivor Mopinhand.’

                ‘Er…is that your name too?’

                ‘No, Sainsbury, it’s just my little joke.  Fred will do just fine.’

                ‘Right-o, then,’ beamed Sainsbury.

                ‘Was that you I heard singing just a moment ago?’ asked Fred.

                ‘Well…yes, but I’m not very good at that sort of thing,’ said the little bear, embarrassed.

                ‘I think we’ve already talked about how you think too little of your talents, Sainsbury.  I think your ability to sing a decent tune is as good as your ability to have a cracking adventure.  Talking of which, are you ready for your next one?’

                ‘I…I think so,’ he said.

                ‘Of course you are, young bear,’ said Fred.  ‘Go ahead, choose an item.’

Sainsbury looked up at all the old, dusty items crammed together on the Adventure Isle’s shelves.

                ‘Go on,’ said the caretaker, placing a matted paw gently upon Sainsbury’s shoulder.  Sainsbury walked forward gingerly, reached up and found a white packet.  Lifting it from the shelf, he blew the dust from it.

                ‘Flour,’ he said, looking up at Fred nervously.

                ‘Not just flour, but self raising flour, Sainsbury.’

                ‘What does that mean?’

                ‘Who can tell, eh?  Go on, drop it in.’

Sainsbury took a deep breath and let the packet of flour drop into the trolley.  The isle before him parted magically like a curtain to reveal a glowing tunnel.  Despite knowing it was coming, Sainsbury yelped as the trolley bounded backward like an excited dog, tipping the little bear in, next to the flour.

                ‘Now remember, Sainsbury,’ shouted Fred as the trolley started off down the magical tunnel, ‘be careful – and be good!’

                ‘Okayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy’ yelled Sainsbury as, with a whizz of trolley wheels, he was gone.

Sainsbury landed on a hard floor with a thump.

                ‘Ouch,’ he said, rubbing his bottom, ‘that hurt!’

                All around was dark compared to the bright light of the glowing tunnel.

                ‘Dear me, it’s rather cold here,’ he said, shivering.  ‘Wherever am I?’

He stood and looked around; he appeared to be in a castle for the floor and the walls that stretched high above him were built from heavy stone bricks and the roof had many delicate arches cut into them.  On the walls were hung paintings of what Sainsbury thought were rather snooty looking lords and ladies.

                ‘How extraordinary!’ said Sainsbury.

Then, something happened that made Sainsbury wonder if he had bumped his head as well as his bottom.  Hearing a scurrying noise, he peered down the corridor ahead.  He watched as something small and round scampered toward him.

                ‘Erm, hello?’ he said but it was not slowing down.  With a yelp of alarm Sainsbury jumped out of the way, his eyes staring in disbelief, for the thing that had just scuttled passed looked just like a cinnamon whirl cake with two cherries for eyes and chocolate twists for legs!

Sainsbury rubbed his head.

                ‘Oh dear, I rather think that my eyes are playing tricks on me!’

Suddenly, Sainsbury heard more noise coming toward him.

                ‘Oh, you stupid, stupid little girl,’ screeched a woman’s voice.  ‘You really are the most useless creature in this place!  How dare you try and shirk your chores.  Coming to me, snivelling like a baby.  And we all know how I hate babies!’

Sainsbury watched as a tall woman with short hair and a short temper dragged a girl up the corridor toward where he stood.  Not wanting to get trampled, Sainsbury darted into a dark alcove and hid.

                ‘P…please,’ stammered the little girl, trying desperately to keep up, ‘I just need a little help.’

                ‘Help?  Help!  I cannot believe your nerve!  The job was given to you and to you only!  You will get back to it immediately or it’s the dungeons for you!’

The poor girl cowered in fright at the mention of the dungeons and Sainsbury saw a large tear roll down her little grubby cheek.

As the woman and the girl passed, Sainsbury was quite unsure as to what to do.  A small part of him wanted to find his way out of the dark castle and into the daylight but there was no way that he could leave that poor girl in such a state.  At the very least he had to talk to her and see what was wrong.

                ‘Oh dear,’ he said to himself.  ‘Here we go again…’ and Sainsbury sped off in pursuit of the bossy woman and the little girl.

Sainsbury followed them for some time, keeping far enough back that he would not be seen or heard.  Just when he thought they must surely be walking around in circles, the woman thrust the little girl through a large, arched door.

Creeping up and putting his furry ear to it, Sainsbury listened.

                ‘Right,’ shrieked the woman.  ‘I do not want to see or hear from you until the next course is ready.  Do you understand me?’

                ‘Y…yes, m…Madam Harshwhip,’ snivelled the girl.

                ‘I said I don’t want to hear you!’ bellowed Madam Harshwhip.

A door opened and then slammed shut.  The little girl began to sob.  Guessing that Madam Harshwhip had gone, Sainsbury peered in.

Hearing the door creak, the girl looked around.  Seeing Sainsbury’s little furry face looking over at her, she fell suddenly silent.

                ‘Who are you?’ she said, her eyes wide.

                ‘Hello.  I am Sainsbury the Bear,’ he replied, smiling encouragingly.

                ‘I’m Katie,’ replied the girl.

Sainsbury slipped through the door and into the large room.  It would appear that they were in a kitchen; there were racks upon racks of pots, pans, ladles, jugs, plates, bowls and many other kitchen items hanging from walls and ceilings.  On one wall was a huge cooker, which was glowing from a fire within.  On its top were many saucepans, which hissed and rattled as their contents bubbled.

Against another wall was the biggest sink that Sainsbury had ever seen, stacked almost to the roof with dirty pots and pans.  It looked big enough for him to swim in!

                 ‘I heard that nasty woman shouting at you,’ said Sainsbury.  ‘Whatever’s the matter?’

The little girl began to sniff loudly and Sainsbury had to hand her a length of tissue so she could blow her nose.

                ‘Thank you,’ she mumbled.  ‘Well, it all started when Piebald, that’s the chef, tried to steal some dragon eggs to make the main course for the Harshwhip’s  banquet tonight.  Problem was that the dragon didn’t much like her eggs being pinched and got rather angry about it.’

                ‘A dragon?  Really?’ said Sainsbury in surprise.  ‘Oh dear.  What happened?’

                ‘Well, the dragon grabs Piebald and makes him sit on her eggs to keep them warm.  Every time he gets up to run away, she burns his bottom until he jumps back down again.  He just can’t get away!’

                ‘Truly unfortunate,’ admitted Sainsbury.  ‘But what’s this got to do with you?’

                ‘When Madam Harshwhip found out, she demanded that Wizard Wobblywand go and save him.  But it was taking too long so she dragged me, Wobblywand’s junior apprentice, to do the cooking for the entire banquet!’

                ‘Oh, how unfair,’ said Sainsbury with a frown.

                ‘I know!  And I don’t even know how to cook!  I managed to get the soup out, but then I got stuck.   I was so desperate I used Wobblywand’s spell book to help but it didn’t work.  When Madam Harshwhip came back I quickly shoved the menu into the spell book to keep my page.  That’s when it happened…’

                ‘It?’ enquired Sainsbury.

                ‘The spell book did something odd to the menu and all the food in the kitchen came alive!’

Sainsbury’s little eyes became quite round.

                ‘Alive?’

                ‘Yes,’ said Katie, sadly.  ‘After that, there was no way I could even get the food to sit still, let alone chop it all up for dinner!’

                ‘Oh my,’ said Sainsbury in a whisper.

                ‘Madam Harshwhip says that if I don’t get the banquet done, I will be chained up in the dungeons!’  Sainsbury looked shocked.

                ‘The dungeons!  A little girl?  That’s awful!’

Katie let out a sob.

                ‘Right,’ declared Sainsbury, looking determined.  ‘We can’t let this happen.  Fetch the spell book; we shall just keep trying until it works!’

                ‘I can’t,’ said Katie.

                ‘Why?’

                ‘Erm…because it grew breadsticks for legs and ran away!’

                ‘Oh.  I see.  I think…’

Just at that very moment, the whole kitchen seemed to come alive.  From behind plates and dishes, from beneath cupboards and tables, from within pots and pans, sprang all manner of odd little creatures made entirely from food!

Current buns with carrots for arms threw sprouts; fat sausages kicked over baskets of eggs with their broccoli floret legs; roast turkeys using bananas as bats wacked chocolate muffins through the air, which send out showers of chocolate chips like Catherine Wheels on bonfire night.

                ‘Watch out!’ yelled Sainsbury as a dozen balls of dough charged passed, holding above them a well-used rolling pin.  When they reached the oven, they opened the door and tossed the rolling pin into the fire, cheering as it vanished into the flames.

                ‘I don’t believe it,’ gasped Sainsbury as food bounced from every surface.

                ‘How’re we going to stop it, Sainsbury?’ said Katie, desperately.

                ‘There!’ yelled Sainsbury.  ‘The ring leader!’

Katie looked up.  Hanging from the candelabra was Wizard Wobblywand’s spell book!  As they watched, it seemed to be egging on the rest of the food creatures.  It even pulled out a candle and threw it at a pile of plates, which fell to the floor with an almighty crash.

                ‘Get it!’ cried Katie but the book dropped to the floor and charged away like a pony, a flash of white flapping between its pages as it went.  With a bang, it barged through the doors that lead into the banqueting hall.

Without thinking, Sainsbury sprang after it.  He pushed his way through the doors and found himself in a huge room with a long dining table set at its centre.  Sat on either side of the table were many well-to-do looking Lords and Ladies, most of which were looking huffy at the lack of food on their plates.

But Sainsbury paid them no attention; he was staring at the spell book as it bound away.  Sainsbury was just not fast enough to catch the book before it leapt upon the table with a crash of plates and the screams of the diners.

Jumping first onto an empty chair, Sainsbury then chased the book down the centre of the table, scattering cutlery and napkins as he went.

The screams became louder.  Some of the Ladies swiped at him with their handbags.  A Lord tried to jab him with a fork.  But it didn’t matter – Sainsbury was reaching out for the book.  He was almost within reach, when…

                ‘Eeek!’ cried a harsh voice, which Sainsbury recognised immediately.

He was grabbed by his neckerchief and hauled into the air.

                ‘How disgusting!’ said Madam Harshwhip, dangling Sainsbury before her face like a fish on a hook.  ‘It looks like a hairy baby.  And you all know how much I hate babies!  You,’ she said, poking him hard in the tummy, ‘are going to the dungeons!’

                 ‘I can’t believe it,’ said Sainsbury, ‘I really can’t believe it!’

Having been carried all the way to the dungeons by Madam Harshwhip, he had then been thrown to a giant of a guard who had chained him up against a wall.

If this was not bad enough, being a bear Sainsbury was so short that his little legs did not reach the ground and he was forced to just hang there like a pair of trousers flapping on a washing line.

                ‘Oh,’ he groaned, so sad that he felt that he could just cry in despair.

Suddenly he heard a voice.

                ‘Hello?’ it said.

Sainsbury peered around in the darkness.

                ‘Hello,’ came the voice again, ‘are you okay?  I’m over here.’

Sainsbury stared hard to his left and could just make out someone chained up close by.

                ‘Hello?  Who’s that?’ he said.

                ‘I’m Fayette; I am a music fairy.  I am chained up too. That horrid Madam Harshwhip put me here for flying around her bedroom ceiling.’

                ‘I’m sorry to hear that, Fayette.  My name’s Sainsbury the Bear; I was sent here for trying to help Katie catch the wizard’s spell book.’

He looked at the fairy as she stood with her feet just reaching the floor; she didn’t look like any fairy that he had ever seen in story books.

                ‘What’s a music fairy?  I have to say that you look just like a little girl to me.’

                ‘Music fairies become very small and grow wings whenever they hear music,’ replied Fayette.

                ‘That’s amazing!’ said Sainsbury.

The guard, who was asleep in a chair, gave a loud snore, which startled Sainsbury and Fayette.

                ‘How are we ever going to get out of here?’ said the fairy girl, sadly.

                ‘I don’t know,’ replied Sainsbury.  ‘If only we could get to the guard’s keys.’

                ‘But we can’t,’ moaned Fayette, starting to get upset.  ‘Neither of us can reach!’

                ‘Don’t worry,’ said Sainsbury, trying to comfort the fairy, ‘I’m sure there’s a way.’

But Sainsbury was not sure it was true.  He too started to feel sad.  If only he had not stopped at the adventure isle, but had just kept singing his way past.

                ‘Wait!’ he shouted suddenly.  ‘That’s it!’

                ‘What?  Tell me, Sainsbury!’ cried Fayette.

                ‘You said that you turn into a little fairy when you hear music; would singing work?’

                ‘Yes, of course!’ said Fayette.  ‘Although, it cannot be my singing.  You would have to do it, Sainsbury.  Can you?  Can you sing for me?’

                ‘Oh, I…I don’t know… I’m really not that good.’

                ‘Go on.   I’m sure you’ll be great!’

There was nothing for it, it was their only chance.  Taking a deep breath, he started to sing a lullaby.  At first he stuttered a little, but as he continued, he got much more confident.

                ‘It’s working!’ declared Fayette, her outline starting to glow.  ‘Carry on!’

Then, with a puff of glittering fairy dust, Fayette became as small as a robin, her little wings taking her up to the roof, where she circled with glee!

                ‘You did it!’ said Sainsbury.

                ‘No,’ said Fayette, who turned suddenly back into a little girl, ‘you did it!’

Tiptoeing over to the guard, Fayette carefully took the ring of keys and unlocked Sainsbury’s chains.  He dropped to the floor with a bump.

                ‘That’s much better!’ he said, rubbing his wrists.  ‘Right, let’s find Katie, before it’s too late!’

                ‘You’re back!’ said Katie.

Sainsbury and Fayette had just run into the kitchen.  Katie gave Sainsbury a big hug.

                ‘I thought I’d never see you again!’

                ‘Well,’ said Sainsbury, ‘with a little help from Fayette the music fairy, I escaped the dungeons!’

Katie tried to smile at Fayette but she was just too tired and upset.

                ‘I don’t know what to do, Sainsbury,’ she said, sniffling.  ‘The book’s gone and Madam Harshwhip has given me just ten minutes to get the food out or it’s the dungeon for me too, and I don’t suppose I’d ever escape!’

                ‘What’s all this about catching a spell book?’ said Fayette.

Sainsbury explained.

                ‘It’s hopeless,’ sobbed Katie, ‘we can’t even get close to it!’

Sainsbury rubbed his chin in deep thought, watching a fly zipping around above them.  His eyes widened.

                ‘Ooh, I think I’ve an idea!’

                ‘What?’ said the others.

                ‘Katie, you say that the book came to life when you put the food menu between the pages?’

Katie nodded.

                ‘Do you think it would return to normal if we pull it back out?’ asked Sainsbury.

                ‘Maybe,’ said Katie, ‘but how’re we going to get close enough?’

                ‘If you and I distract the book, Fayette can turn into a fairy, swoop down and grab the menu!’

                ‘Great idea!’ exclaimed Fayette, ‘but how do we find it?’

At that moment, a bundle of clothes, a pillow and a large candle were thrown out of a room above, falling past the kitchen window and into the garden.

                ‘Look,’ said Sainsbury, ‘the food is on the rampage upstairs.  What room is above us?’

                ‘Madam Harshwhip’s,’ said Fayette, who knew very well as she had been caught flying around it by her.

                ‘Let’s go!’ said Sainsbury.

With Katie leading the way, they stole down dark corridors and up twisty steps until they found themselves outside of Madam Harshwhip’s door.  There was rather a lot of noise coming from within the room.

                ‘Is everyone ready?’ asked Sainsbury, nervously.

                ‘Yes,’ replied Katie and Fayette.  Katie flung open the door.

Inside was total chaos; there were carrots cutting curtains, bananas breaking books, marrows mashing mirrors and radishes ruining rugs.  Everywhere items of food were being mischievous.

                 ‘The book!’ yelled Sainsbury over the noise.  He pointed to where the spell book sat on a dresser, throwing bottles of perfume at the walls.

They ran toward it.  As they went, they were dive-bombed by what Sainsbury had thought were birds, but turned out to be large sausages with slices of bread for wings.

When they were only half way down the long room, the book saw them coming and sped off toward a high window.

                ‘Don’t let it escape!’ cried Sainsbury, as the book climbed up the rags of the curtains toward a gap at the top of the window.

Then there was a loud bang as the door flew open.  Sainsbury turned and to his shock, saw the angry figure of Madam Harshwhip standing in the doorway.  He let out a yelp and turned to warn the others, but a ball of spaghetti rolled across the room and wrapped itself around his legs.

Down he went, knocking over a small table with a crash.  Brushes, books and a wooden box fell on him.  The box tinkled as it fell and Sainsbury gazed at it.

                ‘WHO IS DOING THIS?’ demanded Harshwhip from the doorway.  ‘GET HERE NOW, WHOEVER YOU ARE!’

Katie tried to untie Sainsbury’s feet but she was knocked sideways by a large round of cheese, which laughed wickedly as the little girl became wedged under the bed.

                ‘It’s too high, Sainsbury,’ shouted Fayette, by the window.  ‘I can’t get it without my wings!  What’ll we do?’

Sainsbury looked at the book; it was trying to squeeze out of the window and would soon be gone.  From the doorway, there were loud thuds as Madam Harshwhip came striding toward them, as cross as a bull with toothache.

                ‘Oh no,’ moaned Sainsbury, who knew he would not be able to sing well enough to change Fayette this time.  He looked all around desperately.  His eyes came across the box.

                ‘Yes!’ he cried, suddenly realising what it was.  ‘Here, Fayette, catch!’

He threw the box and Fayette just caught it with her fingertips.  Puzzled, she opened the lid.  A little ballerina popped up, spinning to the sound of music – it was a musical box!

                ‘Oh, well done, Sainsbury!’ said Fayette.  She tingled, glowed and with a puff, turned into a tiny flying fairy!

Up she flew, speeding toward the book – it was nearly through the window.

Madam Harshwhip had almost reached Sainsbury and Katie; she was making a noise like a kettle boiling.

                ‘Quick!’ shouted Sainsbury to Fayette, ‘she’s almost found us!’

Fayette dived.  The book was almost through, it was wriggling and wriggling.  Fayette gave a cry, stretched out her tiny hand and grabbed the menu as it poked out of the book’s pages.

                ‘Yes!’ she cried and gave it a hard pull – it came free.

In an instant, all the food fell lifeless to the ground.

                ‘Now we will see who’s responsible for all this!’ shrieked Madam Harshwhip.  She reached down, grabbed the back of Sainsbury’s fur and pulled him up.

However, before she could turn him around, a flying sausage fell from the sky; its bread wings clamped themselves over her eyes with a splat, and the sausage lodged itself into her mouth.

                ‘Urrrrrnnnkkk!’ she yelped.

                ‘Quick,’ yelled Sainsbury, ‘out!’

With that, Katie, Sainsbury and Fayette (who had turned back into a little girl) ran out of the room as Madam Harshwhip staggered around, unable to see a thing.

                ‘Oh, Sainsbury,’ beamed Katie with the book safely back in her possession.  ‘I don’t know how to thank you!’

                ‘I didn’t do anything!’ said Sainsbury, happy that the book was back to normal.

                ‘It was your idea to get the menu out!’ said Katie.

                ‘Well, that was nothing…’ mumbled Sainsbury, staring at his furry feet.

                ‘And it was you that really got us out of the dungeons and thought of the music box!’ pointed out Fayette.

                ‘Like I said…nothing…’ said Sainsbury, but the girls were having none of it and decided to give Sainsbury a huge hug anyway.

                ‘What will you do about finishing the banquet?’ said Sainsbury.

                ‘Wobblywand is back,’ said Fayette, looking down through a window to the courtyard, ‘he will sort it out!’

                ‘There you go,’ said Katie.  ‘It’ll all be fine now!’

Then with a pop, Sainsbury’s supermarket trolley appeared from the glowing tunnel.

                ‘Oh, right.  Time for me to leave,’ said Sainsbury.  ‘I shall be sad to go.’

                ‘Won’t you come back and visit?’ asked Katie.

                ‘I’m not sure if I can,’ admitted the little bear, ‘but I will try!’

He jumped into the trolley, waved at Fayette and Katie and zoomed off down the tunnel.

                ‘Ah, Sainsbury,’ said Fred Bear, as the trolley leapt out of the tunnel and back into the Adventure Isle.  ‘Did you have a good adventure?’

                ‘Oh, I certainly did!’ exclaimed Sainsbury.

                ‘Excellent.  I suspect that you are rather enjoying these little expeditions.  Same again next week, Sainsbury?’

                ‘Next week?’ said Sainsbury.  ‘I’ll be back tomorrow!’

Fred Bear let out a little chuckle.

                ‘Bravo, Sainsbury.’

And with that, Sainsbury the Bear skipped off down the aisle, singing a song about wizards and fairies that he made up as he went.

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