"I want one, and I want one NOW!'

Hanley Bear and I are still at Polar and Grizzly's house, hoping either for proper snow we can play in or bright, sunny days suitable for more boat journeys.  Hanley wants to go to Stoke City's stadium by boat and moor near Mrs Kay and Mr Steve's B'Oatcake Boat, but Grizzly won't let Hanley go at all for the time being, with his current record as a lucky mascot, or at least not until the team are well clear of the relegation zone and could cope with losing a game! 

Poor Hanley says he doesn't feel like a proper boat bear, because he's only travelled a few miles in Uppie, whereas I travelled hundreds of miles during the summer.  I was very surprised, once we got onto the Grand Union Canal, how much green space and nice countryside there was to the north and west of London.  As Grizzly and Polar worked Uppie up the locks, I sat on my pile of painted tins in the cratch and watched the pretty lock cottages and fields go by.  I could see more than when we were on the river, as there were no high banks in the way and, because the towpath always ran right beside us, I could watch people walking, cycling and jogging.  I liked to wave to any human cubs I saw as it made them happy to see me.  There were people fishing too, but they almost always looked grumpy.  Perhaps they were very hungry because they never seemed to catch any fish using their funny sticks and strings.  I wondered whether I should show them how to fish properly, like wild bears do using their paws, but I decided not to because they were so unfriendly when Polar and Grizzly said 'hello' to them, and I thought the fish seemed friendlier.  

One afternoon, we stopped at a town called Rickmansworth.  Polar took the shopping bags and went ashore, Grizzly settled down for a nap and I sat on my tins, wearing my boat bear clothes, watching the boats on the canal and the people on the towpath.  There was a lock just ahead of us and a little trip boat which whizzed up and down the canal and spun round very neatly to drop its passengers off by the lock and pick up new people.  Polar told me later that it was run by the local canal society who had a nice little shop and information centre next to the locks ahead of us.  I always waved when the boat went by and, sometimes, a little human cub would see me and wave back. 

I was so busy watching out for the trip boat that I didn't notice a small girl and her mother walking by on the towpath, until the girl called out, 'Mummy!  There's a teddy bear on that boat!'

I looked round and was going to wave 'hello' until I saw that she had quite a fierce look on her face.

'I want one, and I want one NOW!' she shouted, still staring at me.  

I was afraid she would unzip the cratch cover and grab me.  I didn't want to be bearnapped, especially by such a bad-tempered human cub, so I was very relieved to see that Grizzly had woken up and was reading his Guardian newspaper, which I think is a special paper for kind people who have become guardians of small, rescued animals, like me.  I was quite certain he would save me if necessary.

The little girl's mother stopped her stamping and shouting by promising to take her to a shop where she would buy her a new bear, which made me sad as I felt very sorry for that bear.  I was sure the bad-tempered girl wouldn't take care of it.  Then it occurred to me that she might drop her new bear on the towpath, when she got bored with it, a boat crew might rescue it and then there would be another boat bear having adventures on the canal, just like me!  I hoped so.  

A little while later, Polar came back with the shopping and we set off again.  We passed lots of houseboats but I didn't see any boat bears living on them.  I sat on the roof, in the lifebelt, and kept a sharp look-out for the little bad-tempered girl in case she was walking along the towpath.  I asked Grizzly whether, if we saw her, we could bring Uppie close to the bank and use our boathook to rescue any bear she was carrying and lift it onto our boat, but he said she would probably have forgotten all about wanting a new bear by the time she got to the shops, as little human cubs don't remember things for very long. 

Soon we found a nice place to moor for the night and we had our tea.  Polar and Grizzly explained that they would soon have to go back to their house for a few days but Polar had bought me lots of bear food that would keep while they were away, so I wouldn't be hungry or have to hibernate.  I promised to be a good bear and to look after Uppie while they were away, but I decided I would stay well away from the zips on the cratch cover, just in case the bad-tempered girl who wanted a new bear came by.