Once upon a time there was little bear who lived in a deep dark wood. He knew that it was a deep dark wood, because whenever he ventured outside he saw Only Darkness.

His names were Edward Peter and Rew de Lait. Edward, because all bears are called Teddy, Peter because when he had been named the minister had become very annoyed with someone making a lot of noise, as result of which he had not been careful about what he said, and Rew because it was his real name. de Lait was his family name, which was French, but his English friends simply could not say de Lait properly which was a source of continual tension for him.

He lived in a little house that he had constructed himself out of branches, which he had gathered in the wood, and thatches which had been brought into the wood with Great Care.

Now it must be said that the deep dark wood was difficult place in which to live, but he was not alone, the little bear lived there by Faith. Now Faith shared a little house very near to the little bear with Only, that is when Only chose to live in the house. He seemed to prefer to stand outside, which is where the little bear always saw him. Only was part of the great line of Darkness, which stretched to the very edge of the wood. It was this line which guided the little bear out of the wood from time to time.

And of course with Great Care he could go anywhere in the wood and be sure of getting back home. Great Care had arrived, as we noted earlier at the same time as the thatches which made up the roof of the little bear’s house. She was a wonderful friend who seemed to know the wood like the back of his hand, and always found her way back home.

When he went out of the wood, which he did from time to time by following Only’s line, he would meet with some friends outside and play in the fields, and hedgerows and ditches that surrounded the roads which they sometimes crossed with Trepidation. Now Trepidation, or Trep as they liked to shorten his name, was not often with them, so they did not always do this. He often had to deal with Business Elsewhere so could not join them in the fields, hedgerows and ditches. They had never met Business, but understood from Trep that he lived a long way away, and he did seem to cause Trep an awful lot of bother.

Sometimes the little bear’s friends would plan an expedition. During the planning it all sounded so wonderful to the little bear, and he would have loved to go along with them, but it was just not possible. They would spend so very little time planning, and no sooner had they started than someone would say:

Right let’s go right now, without Delay.

And off they all went.

Poor little de Lait, he was always left behind by this group of friends. He so longed to be with them, especially when he heard what marvellous adventures they had had when they got back. That puzzled him a little, but if he did not think too hard about it it did not trouble him, but now and again he would ask himself why it was they only had marvellous adventures when they got back. But that was another matter. Our little bear had learned by long and bitter experience with another group of friends, who were not so impetuous as the first group we met, and who always took him along, that nothing ever happened on the adventures. They spent so long planning, then at every turning they hummed and haahed about which way to go, that they were always too late for everything, so they had no stories to tell at the end of it.

Poor little bear, he could not understand it. It seemed so much better to go without delay, but then he was left behind, than with. But he had learned with Difficulty to live with it.

Difficulty also faced such problems. He too lived in the deep, dark wood, but he knew his way around, and lived a little way off, from Rew de Lait, our little bear. He often heard people saying:

If I have to do it with Difficulty, then I shall not do it. Someone else will have to do it.

They did not realise how much that hurt Difficulty, so he really preferred to keep out of the way. It was what a lot of people said to each other. He longed to be able to do things with others. But sometimes, only sometimes, he found someone who really appreciated him. It was so hard for them to do something, that he was able to get right in there and help them. So his ears were always open for someone saying:

I can only do it with Difficulty,

and no sooner had it been said then he was there alongside them to help them do it.

It was never the same for our poor little bear Rew. Whenever they found Delay, it only meant something bad had happened. So he supposed that he should just have to live with Miss Fortune.

Which is exactly what he did. No sooner had he met Miss Fortune, than he proposed and they were married.

And just like every furry tail we know, it lived happily ever afterwards. I mean, you have never seen a furry tail forwards, have you?

Dear reader, if you have not already read part one, it may be found here