Bears of England by Mick Jackson

Author:Mick Jackson [Mick Jackson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780571306602
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Published: 2014-11-27T05:00:00+00:00

The weeks went by. One Trader said he’d heard how much Jimmy had sold the ring for – enough to feed the bears for well over a month. Another said he had it on good authority that Jimmy had upped sticks and headed west. The other bears turned their attention back to their clearing and shovelling, but at night the cheated bear would lie on its ledge and relive every dreadful second until its whole body burned and ached.

Then one day, quite out of the blue, Jimmy was spotted over in Whitechapel, outside the old Cock and Bottle, having had an ale or two too many and been thrown out for causing a scene. The bear he’d robbed was informed and was over there in a matter of minutes. Managed to clamber up a drain and get its snout right up to street level.

The bear drew in a deep draught of the East End evening. And in among the hundred other smells, it could clearly pick out that thieving beggar, Jimmy the Hat. The bear pulled back its head, twisted itself round and got a shoulder right up into the culvert. It could hear Jimmy now, sounding off to a taxi driver, and a few moments later insulting a woman who happened to be walking by.

A boot stepped down into the gutter and was soon joined by its twin. The feet shuffled as they did their best to keep their owner upright. Jimmy was about to head off across the road, but at the last second was obliged to stop as some carriage went flying past him. The bear heard Jimmy curse the driver. Then it reached out and made a grab for him.

The carriage was gone. Jimmy had finished his shouting. He set off. But something was stopping him – something interfered. He thought perhaps he’d got his boot caught up on something, but when he looked down he saw a great paw clamped round his ankle. Jimmy had drunk many beers and several whiskies, but in that instant he became as sober as a judge.

He tried to tug his leg away, but it wasn’t moving. He tried to kick at the paw with his other foot but the bear didn’t mind a bit. Jimmy dropped down into the gutter and tried undoing his laces. It would be worth the loss of a boot, he thought. But every time he went anywhere near the laces the bear just shifted its grip, until it had a hold of his shin instead.

Jimmy began calling out to passers-by to help him – the same passers-by he’d been abusing only minutes before. Most of them just ignored him. The rest took one look at the situation and decided not to get involved.

With every minute, Jimmy was getting more and more frantic. Below, the bear could smell the bitter panic in his sweat. The other bears gathered round and offered to help – to try and get a hold of the other boot, or to take over for a minute – but all offers were refused.

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