A MESSAGE FROM MARCEL!!!

Hello everyone!!

Marcel apologises for the delay in further adventures. A lot has been happening to him as you will soon learn. He's expecting that more tales of his wandering should be posted in August. For now he wants to share with you a photo from his travels and the news that he will be featuring as a companion to top Bear Journo De Vere, in the forthcoming Mouse of Commons novel: GLADSTONE McWHISKERS AND THE MOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.

Until next month...

*waves* and pie crumbs from Marcel!! xxx

PS We are also pleased to announce that some of Marcel's photos from recent trips to Stockholm and Salzburg can be found in Paul Chandler's new book: POEMS TO MAKE BEARS GROWL available from www.lulu.com

MARCEL'S ADVENTURES IN EDINBURGH - PART THREE

Hi,

Last time I was telling you what became of Marcel when he explored the big hill in Edinburgh and smelt the smells of pies coming from inside the barrel of a cannon. When he'd climbed inside he'd heard a voice deep in the darkness warning him to go away...

"Just stay where you are..." growled the voice. "Don't come any closer - in fact back right off! The pies are fine - I'm managing them perfectly well - I don't need any help whatsoever from you!"

"Oh!" exclaimed Marcel, because - to be honest - he wasn't used to being talked to in quite such a rude manner - especially not by voices skulking in the shadows of the barrels of cannons. "Oh..." he repeated. "I'm ever so sorry... I didn't know - I just smelt the pie and I thought it might have been in distress..."

"Yeah... Well, it's doing fine thankyou... You can go... As I say - if you stay much longer I may have to fire you out of here..."

"Oh - well I don't think it need come to that..." protested Marcel.

"Yeah - well - should it come to it I'll just claim self-defence - you realise that - so don't go thinking you'll be able to sue me or something stupid..."

Marcel was beginning to get a little uncomfortable with his head pointing down into the darkness of the cannon's mouth - but for a moment he thought he recognised the voice. "Charlie..." he mused. "Charlie, is that you?"

Charlie was a bear too - a good friend of Marcel's and a bit of a famous one at that and he was pretty much obsessed with a great big love for pies.

"Charlie?" replied the voice. "Who's Charlie?"

"Charlie Grrr..." Marcel explained. "World famous superbear and pie lover..."

"Never heard of him..." snapped the voice. "I'm giving you a count of ten and then I'm firing you out over Edinburgh and into the sea..."

Marcel was feeling a trifle panicked by now - his belly had become jammed in the cannon and it was taking him quite some effort to find a way out. "I'm sorry..." he apologised. "I'm doing my best- I think I may have become a little stuck, that's all! I realise now that you couldn't possibly been my friend Charlie - he's much too big to get inside a cannon... Please - don't fire me out - I haven't got my waterwings on and I can't swim..."

The voice inside the cannon sighed. "Very well..." he said. "Don't get upset - just breath in a little and just back yourself out..."

Marcel did just that - breathing in and then he shuffled his belly back up the inside of the barrel of the cannon and within a minute or two he was free and standing back safe and sound on top of the hill overlooking Edinburgh - standing right beside the cannon. "Sorry about that!" he apologised. "That really shouldn't have happened - I really must cut back on cup cakes..."

"Ooohhh..." cooed the voice inside the cannon. "Cup cakes? Do you still have any on you - I love cup cakes!!"

Marcel grinned. "Well, I always buy the best - they're from Mr Buster Bunn the Baker in Muswell Hill - I'm sure they must make nice cakes up here in Scotland, but these ones are from London..."

"Yeah, yeah..." the cannon voice sounded a little bored again and gave a little yawn. "What I want to know is whether you have any with you... I've finished my pie and I'm still hungry..."

Marcel took a look in his bag and sure enough - he did have one frosted honeynut cup cake and so he offered it to the voice inside the cannon. "Here you go... Have this one - it's still fresh!"

"Ooooh - thank you..." muttered the voice. "I tell you where they do make good pies..." Marcel's ears pricked up excitedly. "Up there on the mountains... There's a little place up there that does very nice ones... I've forgotten the name of the guy - but you'll know him when you see him - tell him I sent you... Just be careful you don't walk too far or you'll end up in Sweden..." advised the voice. "If you get to Sweden, then you've missed the mark... But if you get to America then you've really overshot!!"

"Oh..." nodded Marcel. "Okay then... What is your name by the way? Mr Bear? Mr - I don't actually know who you are in there..."

The voice inside the cannon chuckled. "I'm no bear..." he replied. "I AM the cannon... Just tell him The Cannon sent you..."

"Oh right..." Marcel replied - gave a wave and then without looking back he hurried off across the hill to take a look up at the mountains... "Blimey..." he mused. "I didn't know cannon's had their own voices..." He should have known, having met Lenny the metal lion only an hour or two earlier.

There he stood - looking out across the mountain and wondering if he could make it all the way to the top. "Oh well..." he decided. "I've seen enough of Edinburgh and I do fancy one of these pies... Maybe if I get tired I can flag up a passing sea gull to fly me to the top..."

...And so - glancing back only briefly at the hill where he'd met The Cannon - he set off in search of pies - a good mission if ever there was one...

That's all I've got time to tell now - next time I'll tell you about what Marcel found out on the Mountain top and how he decided to carry on walking into Sweden...

Happy Times,

Paul The Librarian xx

PS The photos used this time were of Marcel up on the hill in Edinburgh and the mountain that he is about to climb...

MARCEL'S ADVENTURES IN EDINBURGH - PART TWO

Hi,

Today, I'm here to tell you of how Marcel got on in Ediburgh, having been allowed to explore the city by the metal lion, Lenny. Forgetting your passport when you travel from London to Edinburgh isn't something I've ever done, but I can imagine it must be a trifle annoying and so, sure enough, Marcel was eager to get on and explore.

Out on the Streets he hailed a passing Taxi Tortoise - but it took him about an hour to get from outside the station to a statue about two metres away. "I'm sorry, Sir..." apologised the Taxi Tortoise, whose name was Labyrinth. "If you want I can call my friend Snail or Hare to help you..."

"I suppose Snail is a snail and Hare a hare..." mused Marcel. "Either way - one will be even slower than you and the other one probably too fast..."

"It's possible..." agreed Labyrinth. "Although Snail's the hare and Hare's the snail... I know it's confusing - but that's talking animals for you!"

"Don't I know it..." sighed Marcel. "Thanks all the same... But I think I'll walk..."

So walk he did, up to the Castle and around some shops - passed a pleasant looking Italian that he considered popping into, but then decided against. "The weather's too nice for restaurants..." he decided. "I'll get myself a picnic..."

...And so a picnic is exactly what he went for - fresh bread roles, ham and cheese - a danish pastry, orange juice and a large Granny Smith apple.

Up on the hill, just off Princes Street Marcel sat and looked across the city. It didn't take him long to eat his lunch and he took a few photographs too and then he sat by a seat next to what appeared to be an old fashioned cannon that looked old enough to have been used in The Great Bear War of 1837.

"...Or was it 1836..." he mused.

He couldn't remember.

It had been a while since he'd read the history books in the history section of the library, but he did like to take an interest when it was the history of his own bear kind.

It was just about now that he began to sniff the smell of pies. "Pies..." thought Marcel. "At a time like this... On a sunny day on top of a hillock in Edinburgh?"

The smell of pies seemed to be very close by - infact they seemed to be coming from the cannon itself. Could it be that somebody had stuffed an unwanted pie into the cannon or that a friendly pie on his way to work had tripped and had accidentally become wedged inside the cannon.

"Maybe it needs rescuing..." he pondered. "Maybe it needs my help and yet it can only speak "pie" and so only pies can hear it's call. "Not much use if there's someone about - a bear, say... Like me... I mean - I could help... But if I can't hear the pies calls for help then..."

But he didn't need any further encouragement.

"I'm coming!!!" he called. "Don't worry little pie... I'll help you..."

And so Marcel climbed up onto the cannon and edged his way along it so that he could lower himself in the barrel and peer inside.

"Hello?!?" he called - he could still smell the pie, but he couldn't see it. "Hello!? Do you need any help?"

"I don't need any help..." said a voice suddenly from inside the barrel. "If you don't go away I'll fire you out of there... Do you hear me? So just buzz off..."

Goodness!! Next time I post I'll tell you exactly what the voice was inside the cannon and the story behind why exactly Marcel decided to walk to Sweden.

Bye for now...

Paul the Librarian xxx


Next Part: Marcel's Adventures In Edinburgh - Part Three

After That: Marcel's Great Walk To Sweden...

MARCEL'S ADVENTURES IN EDINBURGH - PART ONE

Hi,

I thought I'd write today to tell you a bit about Marcel's holiday in Edinburgh! He never seems to be working this bear!! Still - he escaped from the dog with the bad breath and arrived in the city only to find - guess what!! - that he had to go through customs as he went into Scotland and he'd not brought his bear passport along with him.

"There's nothing I can do about it!" said the station guard. "You''ll have to go and see, Lenny and he'll decide if you're allowed in..."

So, off he went - poor old Marcel, he'd not even had dinner yet and his tummy was rumbling - and when he got to where Lenny was he was shocked to discover three things!! A) That Lenny was a lion and that B) Lenny was made of metal and C) Lenny could talk! Blimey...

"What do you want?" asked Lenny. "You want to visit Edinburgh?"

"I would, rather..." explained Marcel. "I've come for a holiday - but I forgot my passport! I didn't know you needed a passport to get to Scotland from London..."

"I'm afraid bears do... I'll have to ask you a question... Is that okay?"

"That'll be fine..." agreed Marcel politely.

"Okay..." began Lenny. "You must guess what my favourite pie is... You only get 60 seconds and one guess!!"

"Really!" exclaimed Marcel and Lenny nodded. "Okay... I can do that..." he said and putting on his glasses he peered really close up to Lenny's metal mane. "Okay..." he said, once his minute was up. "Your favourite pie is Steel bolts and Rosemary pie..."

"CORRECT!!" grinned Lenny. "Well done, young bear - how did you know?"

Marcel beamed. "You have bits of pastry and bolts and rosemary all in your mane..."

"Really? Oh, how messy I am..." sighed Lenny. "Anyway - you may pass into Edinburgh now... Have a good trip and don't forget your passport next time!"

"I won't... I'm sorry!" Marcel apologised. "Can I just have my picture taken with you before I leave?"

"Of course!!" smiled Lenny and so they had their picture together and you can see it at the top of the page there.

Marcel is still away - we're missing him here in the library - but he won't be back for a while yet... In my next post, I'll tell you all about what happened when Marcel nearly got himself fired out of a cannon from the top of a hill in Edinburgh... You'll never believe it...

Bye for now!

Paul The Librarian x

MARCEL AND THE DOG WITH THE BAD BREATH

Hi,

This picture commemorates the day that Marcel took a few days off working in the library and decided to go on holiday.

Alas, he took one of those coach tours and had to sit next to a dog named Fik who had extremely bad breath. Fik was a very exciteable hound and was also a big fan of Kick Pie, which is a little like football, but with pies. This year is the Kick Pie World Cup and so Fik was all dressed up in his supporters gear and he wouldn't stop talking to Marcel about it. Marcel likes pies, of course! All bears do! But not Kick Pie... What a waste of a good pastry!!! Marcel just likes books really... Reading books, filing books, being the central character in books - he's a quiet bear and having Fik hang around him drinking ginger beer and not cleaning his teeth is just something that he's not used to.

Oh well. Marcel won't let it put him off pies. Just Kick Pie fanatical dogs with bad breath. Which is fair enough.

Bye for now.

Paul The Librarian x