The Doorstop Sagas

Chapter 2 ~ In Which The Cord Teddies and Cordies Meet Each Other

It all began, as things often do ~ in fact, as things always do; one minute it seemed that Carousel had no Doorstops in the shop, whatsoever, and next minute the shop was suddenly full of them.

Just which of the Doorstop families came first remains a matter of some dispute. The local historians of Shalford are inclined to the belief that it was the Doorstop Cord Teddies but others always point to reports in the national press indicating that it was the Doorstop Cord Dogs, otherwise known as Cordies, that came first, particularly in view of the Cordie Dogs being the Queen's favourites.

Either way, they arrived, each completely unaware that their two families were closely related one to the other and, truth to tell, each with a little, if not quite hostility, then what can perhaps best be described as a certain standoffishness towards one another.

The three Cord Teddies ~ Cord-Roy, Cord-Roger, and Cord-Rose ~ whose first name, incidentally, was their surname and whose second name was their first name 'cos that's just how they do things in Doorstopland, where everyone is of one accord, so to speak, and which makes it all the more unusual that the two families should initially display any unfriendliness towards one another; it being a matter of record that rarely is there discord, at least according to the tales of cordiality we hear from Doorstopland ~ anyway, the three Cord Teddies were quite confounded when they first espied the three Cordie Dogs ~ Cord-Rover, Cord-Rex and Cord-Ruaridh (pronounced by mere mortals as Cord-Rory but spelt R-u-a-r-i-d-h because he considers himself to have somewhat dubious connections with the Emerald Isle where, for reasons best known to Emerald Islanders, it is exactly how it is spelt ~ in a manner and style that no-one could possibly remember even if they are Irish ~ quite fiendish really.

Cord-Roy made it his business to step forward and say quite directly - something which this mild mannered and polite cord teddy found rather difficult - to the three Cordies, "Excuse me, if you don't mind, I say, excuse me!"

The three Cordies stopped in their tracks, nonplussed at such a bold request.  

"Y-Yes," responded Cord-Ruaridh (pronounced Rory for reasons set out above), who, despite appearances to the contrary, had quite a good head on his shoulders for such situations and was well known for his quick repartee. "Yes, you are excused and we don't mind in the least," he answered, quick as a flash, his initial astonishment put, for the time being, to one side ~ his left side, to be precise, where he thought it wouldn't get in the way.

"Don't mind in the least what?" Cord-Roy asked, with something of a puzzled look. This wasn't going exactly as he had planned; he didn't want to get flummoxed; something that had happened previously, on occasions.

"We don't mind whatever it is that you don't want us to mind when we excuse you. Isn't that just what you asked for?" Cord-Ruaridh (pronounced Rory) replied politely and, he thought, rather cleverly even though, in thinking it, he knew that he shouldn't really pat himself on the back for being clever although, truth to tell, he couldn't really pat himself on the back because he couldn't reach his back, which was something of a relief, but it was only a relief at this very moment, because, if he was honest, there were times when he would like to be able to reach his back but enough of that.

"Whatever!" said Cord-Roy, a little dismissively, as he found himself losing all interest in the conversation, after all, he thought to himself, didn't he have a great deal of potential door stopping to engage in; he couldn't waste time bandying words in such a manner, could he? The very idea!

So it was that the two Cord families first became aware of one another. As time passed, that day, they eyed each other with some puzzlement from different parts of Carousel.

The Cord Teddies ~ Cord-Roy, Cord-Roger and Cord-Rose, grouped themselves behind the greeting card stand whilst peering intently at the Cordies. The Cord Dog Cordies ~ the Queen's favourite doorstops ~ Cord-Rover, Cord-Rex and Cord-Ruaridh (pronounced Rory, as already explained a tiresome number of times) all gathered near the marbles trying not to give the impression that they had lost any of theirs.