Stuffed Bear Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner Page A

a red house with a white porch all around. A few sheep munching on the front lawn looked up when the Aldens pulled in. Then they went right back to snacking on the grass.
    A cheery woman with curly silver hair came out carrying a fluffy white-haired lamb. “Hello, Aldens!” the woman said when she saw the family. “I’m Peggy.” She handed the lamb to Benny so she could give Mr. Alden a hug. “I’m so glad you brought the children to stay with us,” she said to Grandfather.

    A smiling bearded man in farmer’s overalls greeted the Aldens. “Welcome to Woolly Farm. I’m Raymond Firman, but everybody calls me Doc. I take care of live animals like that lamb you’re holding and stuffed animals like this fellow.” He nodded at Mister B., who was sticking out of Benny’s backpack. “Mind if I take a look at him?”
    Benny could hardly take his eyes off the lamb in his arms. “Sure, go ahead. His name is Mister B. Hey, you,” he crooned to the warm fuzzy creature with the long black eyelashes.
    “Baa!” the lamb cried back.
    Grandfather looked around at all the animals scurrying about. “You seem to have more animals than people here.”
    Nearby, a yellow cat chased a squawky, but very quick, rooster.
    “Don’t worry about Rudy, our rooster,” Peggy said. “Buttercup is too slow to catch him.”
    Two friendly dogs came around to sniff the Aldens one by one.
    “The collie is Taf,” Peggy told the Aldens. “The black mutt is Midnight,” Peggy said. “We found him wandering around Woolly Farm one day, and he never left.”
    “That’s how we got our dog, Watch,” Violet told Peggy. “He wandered in from the woods to the boxcar we lived in after our parents died. Before Grandfather found us, Watch found us.”
    “And I’m certainly glad he did,” Grandfather said. “Well, I’ll take the suitcases from the car, children. After that, I’ll be heading north for a couple days on business. So I’ll say good-bye now.”
    The children each gave Grandfather a good-bye hug.
    “Are we the only guests at Woolly Farm?” Jessie asked after Grandfather left.
    “Oh, we’ll have a full house by the time the Teddy Bear Jamboree opens,” Peggy answered.
    “Don’t forget you-know-who,” Doc whispered when a woman rushed toward everyone. “Hello, Miss Sayer. Meet the Aldens. They’ve come for the Teddy Bear Jamboree as well.”
    “Hi,” Jessie said when she recognized the woman. “We saw you and your bear when we were stuck in traffic just a little while ago.”
    The woman, whose red and white polka-dotted hat seemed about to blow away, paid no mind to the Aldens. “I’ve been searching for you all morning, Doctor Firman. You keep disappearing on me. Well, never mind. I need you to check Chatter Bear right away.”
    The Aldens saw Peggy and Doc exchange looks as if this had happened before.
    “Now, now, Miss Sayer,” Peggy said. “I’m sure you’ll want Doc to check Chatter Bear at the toy hospital so he can be examined properly.”
    The woman clamped down her hat, squashing the bow on top. “Well, I suppose so. But I will expect Chatter Bear to be your first patient when you open the hospital in the morning.” With that, Miss Sayer stomped off in her green mud boots, carrying her orange plastic tote bag.
    Doc smiled. “Miss Sayer is one of my regulars. She comes to the jamboree every year with some new bear she’s designed or copied from old bears. She can’t quite make a go of her bear business, though. Now she’s hoping to interest a toy factory in making a talking bear.”
    Peggy sighed. “Every time we turn around, there’s Miss Sayer and Chatter Bear. Yesterday I found her in my studio looking at fabrics. I think her bear has more outfits than I do.”
    Doc examined the Aldens’ bear. He didn’t have any kind of outfit at all. “Mister B. here is quite a different fellow than Chatter Bear. We’ll have him on the mend soon. Bring him by in the morning, children. I have a soft spot