Once upon a time, there was a little girl called Janet. She was the only child of her parents, and everyone in the family spoilt her. She had a big nursery full of nice toys. She had a clockwork Tom Cat and Jerry Mouse set which went round in circles with the cat chasing the mouse, if you wound them up. There was a furry brown bear, which growled when you pressed a small button stitched inside his left hand and a sweet looking doll that she had named Mary Anne. There were several bright colored balls, a kitchen set, spade and pail for building sand castles, lots of books, puzzles and soft toys. Janet took good care of her toys, she never broke them or stamped on them like some of her friends, and she always remembered to put them away carefully when she had finished playing with them. Every year, her mother gave away the toys she no longer played with to the poor children at the orphanage. That made them extremely happy, especially because Janet's toys were always almost as good as new.
One night when Janet was asleep, Mary Anne the doll was passing around some sweets that she had bought at the toy sweetshop. She held out the bottle to Teddy, and asked him if he would like one. Teddy did not reply and just kept looking at her.
She again asked him, 'Do you want one too, Teddy?’
Teddy looked miserable and nodded his head.
‘Well if you don't want one, just say so,’ and she walked off in a huff. Just then Jerry, the clockwork mouse, came running by and realized what had happened.
‘Teddy has lost his voice!’ he exclaimed. Teddy nodded his head vigorously and looked sad again.
‘Don't look so sad, Teddy, we can always find your voice at the Lost and Found market in Goblin Land,’ said Clockwork Mouse. Teddy's eyes widened with surprise.
‘Yes,’ continued clockwork mouse, to all the toys who had gathered to hear what the excitement was about. ‘Usually one of the goblin shops in Lost and Found Land has whatever we lose anywhere.’
'Do you know how to get there?’ asked Mary Anne.
‘Of course, I do,’ said Clockwork Mouse.
‘I lost my bounce,’ said the red and blue ball, ‘may I come with you too?’
‘Ok, anyone who needs to find something they have lost can come with us. Come along Teddy, let’s go.’
So Jerry Mouse took all the toys down to the foot of the garden, and all of them squeezed through a small gap in the hibiscus bush. It was a funny group, including the red and blue ball looking for its bounce, the clockwork train that had lost its key and was looking very peculiar chugging along without any tracks and Mary Anne who had joined them out of curiosity. Suddenly, a mole popped out of a nearby hole and asked them where they wanted to go. Clockwork Mouse politely requested for five tickets to Goblin Land. Without blinking, the mole handed them five round polished stones and pointed to his right.
They saw a train coming their way, smoke billowing from it as it rounded a corner. Several fairies, elves and squirrels also seemed to be waiting for the train, and started jumping in as soon as it came to a stop. With great difficulty, all the toys managed to squeeze themselves into one compartment, after handing over their tickets to a pelican, who put the stones in his big beak. They all managed to find seats to sit on, though part of the clockwork train was hanging out of the door as the carriage was not long enough.
Soon, the train started on its journey, again stopping at a number of stations on the way‐ Magic Lane, Toyland, Invisible Cottage and finally Goblin Land. All the toys got out of the small carriage, glad to be out of the stuffy train and in the fresh air again. Clockwork Mouse asked Mary Anne to wind him up and then scurried across the town towards a small market at the edge of the forest. The market place was very noisy, with goblins shouting to customers to come and buy their wares. There were fairies looking for their lost wings, wizards for lost magic powers and giants for lost kindness.
‘Come, get the gold you lost while moving castles. Find your lost parents. Find your lost voice,’ shouted one goblin, and all the toys made a beeline for his shop. Clockwork Mouse spoke to the goblin politely and asked him if he could find Teddy's voice.
‘Sure,’ said the goblin, and took out several small glass jars with colored screw‐on lids. He opened one, and the melodious voice of an opera singer could be heard.
‘Oops, wrong jar,’ he said, and shut it quickly before the voice could escape. The next few jars also contained the meow of a cat, the wind’s whistle and the strumming of a guitar but no bear growl. When he had checked all the jars, the toys looked very disappointed.
‘Don't look so sad,’ said the goblin, ‘Try my brother, the blue goblin's shop across the street?’ So the toys all walked in a straight line to the blue goblin’s shop.
Along the way, the engine found a shop selling keys, and bought one that fit him. The red and blue ball found and bought his bounce from a goblin’s cauldron which had a steam of all colors and shapes issuing from it. The steam was dancing around the shop almost as if it was bouncing too. He said it was even better than the bounce he had before. The blue goblin's shop was all blue like his name. The walls were blue, the jars were blue, even his beard was blue. Clockwork Mouse once again asked him if he could find Teddy the bear's voice for him.
’Sure I can,’ boomed the goblin, and went to a room at the back of the shop. ‘This bear's voice was brought to me by two butterflies just yesterday. It sounds just like I expect yours would.’ He opened the jar near the bear's face and breathed the small spiral of smoke down his throat, muttering a few magic sounding words. ‘Ooh, what a nice peppermint taste,’ said the bear.
‘Your voice is back,’ shrieked Mary Anne, jumping up and down with joy.
’My voice is back! My voice is back!’ Teddy could not stop jumping, he was so happy.
All the toys turned to leave so they could give the good news to all their friends waiting back at the nursery, when the goblin called to them.
‘Ahem! There is a small matter of my payment, you know.’
‘What, money? ’ exclaimed Mary Anne indignantly. ‘It was his voice and he is simply taking that back.’
‘Sorry, rules are rules, finders keepers and losers weepers, as they say. You will have to pay three gold coins.’
The mouse turned over his purse and found 2 gold coins. None of the other toys had any money left, except the fare for the train ride back to the nursery. The goblin looked very upset, but reluctantly agreed to take two gold coins in exchange for the voice, and the toys came happily back to the nursery. How tired they all were the next day when Janet came to play with them. They could barely keep their eyes open.