Free Mr Badger and the Big Surprise by Leigh Hobbs Page A

whispered Mr Badger to Miss Pims.
    â€˜Stunning,’ replied Miss Pims with a little nod and a big grin.
    Mr Badger watched as the guests arrived. They came up the stairs and through the swishing doors at the grand entrance.

    Sylvia’s guests gazed in amazement at the high ceilings held up by pink-and-green marble columns.

    And everyone stopped to look at Algernon, the ancient-looking ape standing in a glass case in the foyer. Algernon had lived to a ripe old age. He had been a close friend of Sir Cecil Smothers-Carruthers, whose family had founded the Boubles Grand Hotel a long time ago. But that’s another story.

    It was beginning to look like the children had ignored one of Sylvia’s important instructions. The girls were all in their finest party frocks, and the boys, too, had gone to a lot of trouble with their appearance.
    Of course this was completely understandable. After all, the party was in the Boubles Grand Hotel Ballroom.
    Every guest was carrying a gift. Some gifts were so large that only a small pair of legs could be seen staggering towards the table set up especially for Sylvia’s birthday presents.
    Soon 205 little guests and nearly as many parents stood excitedly on either side of a long red carpet, ready to welcome in the birthday girl. All eyes were facing the big double doors at the front of the ballroom, through which, very soon, Sylvia Smothers-Carruthers would be making her great big entrance.

CHAPTER 5
    The Big Entrance
    Part of Mr Badger’s job was to make announcements at special occasions, and Sylvia’s birthday party was definitely one of those.
    He rang a little bell, cleared his throat and waited for silence.
    â€˜Ladies, gentlemen and birthday guests all. On behalf of Sir Cecil and Lady Celia Smothers-Carruthers and the Boubles Grand Hotel, I wish to welcome you to the celebration of Sylvia Smothers-Carruthers’ seventh birthday.’

    Mr Badger liked to welcome the hotel guests.
    Mr Badger was good at this sort of thing. He’d learnt a lot about making announcements from his father. Actually, his father had taught him almost everything he knew about the Boubles Grand Hotel and how it worked.
    With a swish and a flourish, in came Sylvia Smothers-Carruthers, escorted by her loving grandparents.
    Sylvia made quite an entrance. She was wearing a very frilly pink dress with lots of bows and feathers.

    Sylvia thought she was special, very special.
    It was obvious by the way she walked that Sylvia thought of herself as a little princess.

    Suddenly there was a crash and a loud bang. All eyes turned to the back of the ballroom. Someone, no doubt momentarily dazzled by the blinding sparkles in Sylvia’s costume, had tripped and knocked over the table laden with Sylvia’s birthday presents.
    Sylvia was furious.
    Of course it was an accident and of course they hadn’t meant it, but that made no difference to Sylvia Smothers-Carruthers.
    As far as she was concerned, her big birthday entrance was ruined.
    Sylvia shrieked and stamped and threw herself on the shiny parquet floor.
    She looked a little – in fact, she looked a lot – like a badly behaved tangle of bright-pink fairy floss.

    Without any fuss, Mr Badger calmly motioned to Miss Pims, and in no time at all everything was back in its place and Sylvia’s presents were once more carefully arranged on the table ready for her to open.
    The party was about to begin.

CHAPTER 6
    Mr Badger
Saves the Day
    W ith a click of his paws, Mr Badger signalled for the orchestra to start playing. Soon the noise of Sylvia’s tantrum was completely drowned out by music, laughter and merry chatter.

    All these happy sounds prompted Mr Badger to look around the room, past the guests, until his eyes caught a reflection – his own – in one of the many ornate mirrors.

    Many years ago he had gazed into that very same mirror, but the reflection back then had been of a much younger, smaller Mr