“Lost – Reward Given for
Recovery. On Thursday 21 October a light brown teddy bear, about 30 cm long, of
great sentimental value was lost in the East Greenwich/Peninsula area. Reward
to anyone returning it or for information leading to its recovery. Tel. 07------.” I was sure it was the teddy that I had passed lying on the cycle path
near the Millennium School less than half an hour before.
The present poor state of my
finances, coupled with my constant wish to do some good in the world, made me
turn and head back as quickly as I could. But about a hundred metres from the
crossing near the Millennium School I suddenly slowed down. For there in the
distance I saw a tall man stoop to pick up the soft toy, shake it, and then put
it into his shoulder bag.
I felt a surge of
disappointment, frustration and puzzlement. What was I to do? Without any clear
idea of what I would say when I accosted him, I quickened my steps again.
However, I hadn’t reckoned on his extraordinary pace as he strode away from me
along John Harrison Way, soon turning left into West Parkside. Fortunately, the
wide, flat, unobstructed nature of the Peninsula landscape meant that I always
had him in sight. Without actually running to catch him up, which I was rather
reluctant (and by now too tired) to do, I could only, with effort, slightly
reduce my distance from him until he turned sharp right into River Way towards
the Pilot Inn and so disappeared from view. By the time I reached the Pilot
Inn, he was nowhere to be seen.
I had never visited or stood
before The Pilot Inn before, and it struck me as rather strange – a very old
hostelry and a line of tiny cottages all by themselves in an empty space. The
old hotel and cottages seemed marooned here, like some ancient ship run aground
and beached forever. Those few, poor cottages wouldn’t have supported a large
inn. I wondered what might have happened here in past centuries – smuggling?
dealing in forbidden goods? press-ganging? Did pilots employed to guide ships
safely along the winding reaches of the Thames really use to come to The Pilot
Inn? The only inhabited buildings anywhere near now were the ultra-modern,
multicoloured apartment blocks and houses of the Greenwich Millennium Village
on one side and the ultra-modern office blocks, O2 and Underground Station on
the other, and they were all some way away from the inn and cottages. However,
behind tall black fencing, nearer tower blocks were now rising, threatening to
overshadow and dominate these human scale buildings left over from the past.
Rousing myself from my
daydreaming, I entered the public house part of the hotel. Although thirsty, I
was reluctant to spend some of my remaining few pounds on a drink - if I
managed to get hold of the lost bear and could look forward to a reward, that
might be a different matter. So I slowly explored each part of the pub, looking
for the tall stranger who had taken my bear. I was surprised at how low down
the garden was at the back of the building – quite a drop. But the man who had taken
my bear was nowhere to be seen. I guessed that he might be a guest in the hotel
and had gone up to his room.
I saw no alternative but to
buy a drink after all, so that I could ask the barman whether the hotel had any
guests at the moment, as I was anxious to meet a man who could be staying here.
I said that I had been trying to find, and return to its owner, a toy of great
sentimental value lost on the Peninsula, but had seen in the distance a tall
man with dark hair, black parka and shoulder bag pick it up and come here. He
replied that there were three guests at present, a couple, who had a child with
them, and a single man. The barman added that my description could well relate
to the single guest, and volunteered to ring his room and, if he were in, to
let him know that I wanted to see him. The barman went away, coming back a
minute or two later to say that Mr Smith would see me in his room upstairs. I
was surprised, as I had expected that Mr Smith (if that was his real name)
would come to the public bar, if prepared to see me at all. I finished the
mineral water and, with some misgivings, slowly climbed the stairs to Room 4
and knocked gently on the panelled door.
