When the Aldens arrived, the Old Mills Town Hall was buzzing with bear people. They carried big bears, little bears, and in-between bears. Some were unpacking bear music boxes; others bear T-shirts, bear books, and every kind of bear knick-knack.
The Teddy Bear Jamboree was nearly under way.
“Let’s get our badges,” Jessie said. She soon found the blue badges Peggy had arranged for them ahead of time.
“We belong to Peggy Bears,” Benny said when a security guard stopped the Aldens at the entrance.
The man winked at the older children. “You can go in, young man, but no growling.”
“Only my stomach growls at lunch time,” Benny said.
The man laughed, then waved them in.
People were swarming all over. The children looked for the row where Peggy told them she had left her things.
“Eleven E. Oh, good,” Henry said when he found the right row. “Peggy has one of the best spots. It’s right near the entrance. That way everyone will see it.”
The shelves, lights, signs—and boxes of Peggy Bears, of course—were piled up, ready for the Alden touch.
Jessie took an envelope from her backpack. “Peggy put in a note saying we can fix up the booth any way we want. Here are photographs from last year’s booth. See how great it looked?”
“Oh, they’re so cute,” Violet said when she saw pictures of fuzzy Peggy Bears lined up on shelves the year before. “I love her bears best. Most of them are the same color as the sheep—not dyed red or purple or strange colors that animals don’t have. I wish we could open her bear boxes right now.”
“Not yet,” Jessie advised. “We need to put the shelves and tables together first. Here’s Doc’s toolbox.”
Soon the Aldens were busy hammering in nails and putting up shelves for the display. A couple rows away, they heard a recording of “The Teddy Bears’ Picnic,” so they hummed along as they worked. It didn’t feel like work at all.
A few minutes later, loud voices nearby interrupted these happy sounds. One of the voices belonged to the woman they’d seen at Doc’s.
“I must switch my location immediately,” the woman was saying. “I cannot have a successful booth with all these children running about.”
“Now, now, Mrs. Keppel,” the security guard said to the woman. “These children are good friends of Peggy Firman. She told me herself they are quite responsible. Why, just look at the job they’ve done on the booth already.”
The woman pushed back a loose strand of hair from the old-fashioned braid on her head. Staring at the guard, she didn’t seem about to give in. “How will there be room for my customers with these children nearby? After all, my Woodland Bears are very delicate.”
Violet put down her hammer and went over to the woman. “Hello, I’m Violet Alden. We met at Doctor Firman’s Toy Hospital. I love Woodland Bears. My aunt Jane sends me one for every birthday. Now I have a whole collection. I haven’t broken a single one. I even take them down from the shelf to dust them once a week. I think they’re wonderful.”
Violet’s voice seemed to calm down the woman. “Well, then. Do you wash them regularly with baby soap and dry them with soft flannel?” the woman asked.
“Yes,” Violet answered. “Once a month, I give them a bath in warm, soapy water, just like it says on your little booklets. Do you need help unpacking all your boxes? It probably takes longer to set up little china bears than Peggy Bears.”
The woman seemed about to say yes, then changed her mind. “No. I … I can’t have anyone else handling my bears. Especially not children.”
By this time, the security guard came by again. “Everything okay now, Mrs. Keppel?”
“Ja,” Mrs. Keppel answered.
Benny took his head out of a box of Peggy Bears. He whispered in Violet’s ear, “Mrs. Keppel sounded just like Mr. Walder, down the street near Grandfather’s house.”
“I know,” Violet whispered back. “I think she’s from Europe, just like Mr. Walder. That’s where Woodland Bears are made.”
When the Peggy Bear booth was done, other bear sellers came by to admire the Aldens’ work.
Soon Benny’s stomach began to growl, just like he’d told the security man. “It must be time for lunch.”
Jessie checked her watch. “Almost. Oh, there’s Peggy. She’s taking us to lunch, remember?”
Peggy lit up with smiles when she saw the way the Aldens had fixed up her booth. “You children certainly have the right touch,” she said, looking around. “I never thought to put the little bears in the laps of the bigger bears. I might even sell them as a set. What a clever idea. I love it!”
“Thanks.” Henry folded the stepladder and placed it behind the display. “With four of us working, we got a lot done.” He lowered his voice and nodded toward Mrs. Keppel in the next booth. “At first that lady didn’t want us here. Then she was nice after she found out Violet has a Woodland Bear collection.”
Peggy’s eyes widened. “Oh, how lucky that my booth is next to hers.” Peggy walked over to Mrs. Keppel. “Hello. I’m Peggy Firman of Peggy Bears. I’m delighted our booths are side by side. We’ve never had Woodland Bears at the jamboree. Did you bring them all the way from Europe?”
“Ja,” Mrs. Keppel said. “I mean, no. Well, I must finish my work. Farewell.” Mrs. Keppel turned away.
The Aldens bundled up a few boxes, dusted shelves, and swept the booth. They put up the velvet rope so no one would come inside the booth while they were gone.
An announcement came over the loudspeakers: “The delivery truck has just arrived. Would the following people please come to the back of the auditorium to pick up your shipments? Benson, Davis, Firman, Hudson, Keppel, Laramie, Richman, and Sayer. Please pick up your deliveries at the back of the room.”
“Don’t you want to come with me?” Peggy asked Mrs. Keppel.
“Nein,” Mrs. Keppel answered. “I mean, no.”
After Peggy left, Mrs. Keppel looked at the Aldens.
“Do not touch anything here,” Mrs. Keppel said. “I know how children are. It is very tempting to take things that don’t belong to you.”
Jessie felt her heart thump. “We wouldn’t ever do that, Mrs. Keppel. You don’t have to worry.”
Mrs. Keppel’s pale skin reddened with shame. She almost seemed about to apologize to the Aldens. Instead, she turned on the heels of her old-fashioned shoes and went off to get her packages.
“I wish I could figure her out,” Violet said. “Sometimes she starts to like us, then she doesn’t.”
Benny moved over to the farthest side of Peggy’s booth, then stretched his neck over to Mrs. Keppel’s booth. “I don’t even like china stuff.” He hoped she had something he did like. “Hey, come here. Look at those furry brown ears sticking out from a bag under one of the shelves. See?”
The other children came over for a look.
They were careful not to put one finger or toe into Mrs. Keppel’s booth.
“Good eyes, Benny,” Henry said. “But I can’t see enough of the rest of it to tell what kind of bear that is.”
“The furry old kind,” Benny said. |