‘Old Ted’ in The Toy Chest Anthology

My story ‘Old Ted’ is published in a new (2017) Prints Charming Anthology called The Toy Chest. My grandson Jude (who lives in Cambridge, UK) is the main character and hero of this story. He used to be obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine and this gave me the idea for the story.

‘Old Ted’

Old Ted lived in Jude’s bed. Every night he waited patiently for Jude to put on his pajamas, pull back the covers and say, ‘Move over Ted. Make room for me.’ And every morning, when Jude woke up, he would wriggle around under the bedclothes to find his teddy bear.

Old Ted was a present from Jude’s cousin Sally. When she gave it to him she said, ‘I’m nearly a teenager so I’m too old for teddy bears now.’ Sally had obviously given Ted a lot of baths because he wasn’t fluffy like the bears in the toyshop. They had sparkly yellow fur but Ted’s was a dull brown and it stuck close to his body. One of his button eyes was missing so he looked like he was winking all the time.

Jude’s bedroom floor was covered with train tracks. During the day, he loved to sit in the middle of them and play with Thomas the Tank Engine and all his friends.

‘Watch this, Ted,’ he called. ‘Here comes Thomas pulling Annie and Clarabel’. Off they went, under one bridge and over another, blowing the whistle as they approached the station.

‘See how fast Thomas goes when Gordon is right behind him,’ Jude said and Ted winked to show he was watching the engines racing around the track.

One morning when Jude woke and dived under the covers to find Ted, he told him what had happened in the night.

‘Thomas took me for a ride last night. We pulled out of the station and chugged out of town. I recognised the churches and office towers that we see from Dad’s car and when we got to the edge of town there were cows and sheep in the fields. I was waving to them when I noticed that Thomas was speeding up. He was going much too fast and soon we were heading downhill on rickety tracks. I thought we’d fly off and overturn. Just as we reached the bottom of the hill, the signal changed and we had to brake really fast.’

Jude lowered his voice to a whisper and admitted to Ted that he’d been frightened. The bear understood and nuzzled into Jude to make him feel better.

Mum appeared at the door and said, ‘It’s breakfast time.’ While Jude ate his cereal he told her about the scary train ride but she laughed and said, ‘That was only a dream.’

After breakfast Jude sat in the middle of his train tracks and talked seriously to Thomas. ‘That was very dangerous!’ he said. Thomas just smiled and the next night he took Jude on an even scarier journey.

They pulled out of the train yard with Annie and Clarabel behind and chug-chugged towards the edge of town. Again, as soon as Thomas reached the fields he sped up. Jude furiously shovelled coal into the tender and shouted, ‘Slow down, we’re going to crash.’ Thomas took no notice and went faster and faster. The carriages clickety-clacked behind, calling out ‘Slow down, we can’t keep up, we’re going to crash.’ Jude didn’t recognise this part of the countryside and there was a mountain up ahead of them. As they slid into the tunnel through the mountain, it got dark. Only then did Thomas slow down. He went so slowly that they stopped in the tunnel where it was really quiet and spooky. Jude shuddered as a whoosh of steam echoed all around in the darkness.

‘Come on, Thomas, let’s get out of here,’ he cried and they sped off again, getting faster and faster on the other side of the tunnel. Just when Jude thought they would fall off the tracks, they came to a signal and braked really hard. It woke Jude up and he dived down into the bed to find Ted to tell him what had happened. He whispered, ‘I was really frightened,’ and Ted nuzzled into his neck to make him feel safe.

‘Thanks, Ted. You’re my best friend,’ Jude said and Old Ted smiled with the curved line that was his mouth.

When Mum put her head around the door, she asked, ‘What’s the matter, Jude? You look scared.’ He told her about the train journey and she said, ‘That was only a dream. Get up now. It’s time for breakfast and today we’re going shopping.’

Jude asked if he could bring Ted along. ‘I’ll keep him safe in my pocket,’ he told his mum.

Jude loved going shopping. He peered at all the colours and shapes on the shelves and tried to guess from the pictures what might be inside the packages. When Mum wasn’t looking he patted the fruit and squeezed the vegetables. At the teller he helped stack everything they were buying and watched it slide towards the cash desk. Then he carried one big bag to the car, being very careful not to drop anything.

‘Thank you for helping me, Jude,’ Mum said. ‘Let’s go and get some ice-cream.’ Jude chose chocolate and Mum had strawberry and they ate them right down to the last drop. Then they drove home and unloaded all the shopping into the house. Jude fished in his pocket to ask Ted if he’d had a good time and – oh no – he wasn’t there.

‘Mum, we have to go back to the supermarket! Old Ted is still there!’ he cried. But Mum said it was late and he’d have to wait until the next day.

‘Please, Mum, I can’t leave him there,’ Jude pleaded. Mum made a phone call and asked the manager to look out for a very old teddy bear with one eye.

That night Jude tossed and turned in his bed, missing Ted. He worried about the bear being all alone in the supermarket. He imagined him creeping out from under a shelf and trying to push the door open to escape. But it would be shut tight. Perhaps Ted would look for some pillows to sleep on but the shop only had lumpy tins and boxes with sharp corners.

When he woke the next morning Jude gobbled down his cereal and stood at the door waiting for Mum to take him to the supermarket. The manager brought Ted to them and said, ‘Here you go young man, the cleaner found your bear under a shelf.’ Ted was a bit dusty but still winking and happy to be stuffed back in Jude’s pocket for the drive home. Jude put his bear back in the bed and whispered, ‘You were so brave last night, Ted. I wish I could be brave like you.’

That night, Jude asked Old Ted to come with him on his journey in Thomas. He thought the bear might give him confidence if the trip was scary. And it was! That cheeky engine took them along the side of a fast-flowing river. The wheels clickety-clacked on the track and when Clarabel called out ‘Look at the fish’, Jude leaned too far out of the cab window. He saw the fish all right! He was so close to the river he could watch their mouths opening and shutting as they swallowed water and plants. Suddenly, he heard a roaring sound and saw a look of shock on Annie’s face. There was a waterfall tumbling down the rocks. If Jude couldn’t hang on to Thomas he knew he would go headfirst into it. Clinging on to the side of the cab, he yelled, ‘Thomas, slow down, I want to get back inside.’

Just when he thought he couldn’t hold on any longer, Thomas slowed down to take a bend and Jude managed to climb back into the cab where Old Ted was waiting. The bear winked and nuzzled into Jude’s neck to let him know he was safe now.

In the morning, Ted was right there beside Jude and he didn’t have to dive under the covers. ‘Hey, Ted, that was a scary journey. Thanks for being with me,’ he whispered.

When Mum came into the bedroom to say that breakfast was ready she asked, ‘Did you have a dream last night, Jude?’

‘No I didn’t but Ted and I went on an adventure together,’ he answered and winked at his bear. Old Ted winked back and smiled with the curved line of his mouth.