Deciding that his alarm clock must have gone wrong, Rupert goes to reset it by the kitchen clock. Out on the landing he meets Mr. Bear, who has been woken by the clock’s ringing and come to see what’s happening. “I’ll come with you,” says his father. “That’s odd,” murmurs Mr. Bear as he looks at the kitchen clock. “It says nine o’clock, but I’m sure it was later than that when I went to bed!” By the time Rupert and his father come upstairs again, Mrs Bear has woken up and comes to see what all the fuss is about. “How strange”, she says when Rupert explains. “My kitchen clock is normally so reliable!” “I wonder what the time really is?” asks Rupert. “Time you were back to bed!” smiles Mrs. Bear. “I’ll leave the curtains open so the sunshine will wake you in the morning. We can sort everything out after a good night’s sleep. Next morning, Rupert and his parents are woken by birds singing. “At least they know what time it is!” laughs Mr. Bear as he settles down to breakfast. Rupert decides to have cornflakes but finds the milk jug is still empty. “Sorry, dear,” says Mrs. Bear “the milk man hasn’t been yet. Normally he’s so early!” After breakfast, Mr. Bear stares at his watch with a puzzled frown. “How odd!” he gasps. “It’s ticking but the hands have stopped!” Mr. Bear asks Rupert to take his watch to be mended. On the way there he meets the Milkman, hurrying to finish his round. “I overslept!” he tells Rupert. “Something went wrong with my alarm clock…” “Everyone seems to be late today,” thinks Rupert. “I wonder why?” Outside the clock maker’s shop, he is surprised to find a long queue of people, including his pal, Algy Pig. “Hello,” says Algy. “Isn’t it strange how many clocks have gone wrong?”

Rupert waits patiently outside the busy shop. It seems that everyone in Nutwood has a clock to be repaired! As Rupert reaches the door, the clock maker announces he is closing early to cope with all the extra work. “Only Father Time could mend as many clocks as this!” he declares. “I’ve never known anything like it…You’ll have to come back tomorrow.” On the way home Rupert spots a familiar figure striding towards Nutwood. “The Sage of Um!” he cries. The Sage of Um is a wise old man, who lives on a Far-away island, together with a herd of unicorns, and travels the world in a wonderful flying umbrella. Rupert hurries to greet his friend, who asks why everyone in Nutwood seems to be so late. “Dear me!” he murmurs, as Rupert tells him all about the broken clocks. “So that explains it! The conjurer’s invited me to lunch, but when I arrived at his house they hadn’t even started breakfast!” “I wonder why everyone’s clocks have gone wrong?” asks the Sage. “Perhaps Father Time might know?” suggests Rupert. “The clock maker said he was the only person who would be able to mend them all…” “Of course!” cries the sage. “He’s the one we need to sort thing out.” As Rupert looks on, his friend reaches into the pouch on his belt and produces a little book. “My travelling atlas!” he declares. “It might show us where Father Time lives…” The Sage turns the pages of his atlas to a map with an hourglass on it.

“Listen to this,” he says, reading aloud. “You’ll find me where the hour glass stands, but first you have to cross time’s sands.” What does it mean?” asks Rupert. “He lives on the far side of a vast desert,” explains the Sage. “Too far away for me to visit him, I’m afraid.” “Can’t we fly there?” asks Rupert. “We could,” agrees his friend but I have to go home soon. One of the unicorns has just had a foal.” What are Rupert and the Sage to do? “I know!” cries Rupert. “If I come with you to Um Island, I can borrow the Brella and fly on to see Father Time by myself.” The sage looks doubtful, but has to admit there seems no other way of sorting out Nutwood’s clocks. Unfolding the Brella, he holds it open for Rupert to climb aboard, then speaks a rhyme that sends it soaring up into the sky. “There’s Willie!” cries Rupert as they fly over the roof-tops. Leaving Nutwood far behind them, the pair fly over forests and hills until they find themselves heading out to sea towards a distant speck on the horizon. “Um Island!” cries Rupert. “That’s right,” smiles the Sage. “Look how the unicorns are coming to greet us…” The moment the Brella lands, Rupert hears a whinnying sound and sees a mother unicorn leading her little foal towards them. “Pleased to meet you,” smiles Rupert, and strokes it very gently. As soon as the sage has fed the unicorns, he goes to his cave to get Rupert some provisions. You’ll need plenty of water,” he says. “Take this compass too. You can use it if you ever get lost. Remember to make sure you’re travelling in the right direction…” When everything is ready, the sage sits Rupert in the Brella, then sends it on its way. “Take care!” he cries. “And good luck!” As Rupert holds on tight, the Brella rises higher and higher, then spins round and speeds out to sea. Leaving Um Island behind, Rupert finds himself flying over a vast ocean, with no sign of land in any directions. He peers down and spots a little ship, but it’s to far away for anyone to see. Then Rupert sees a great jet of water shoot up into the air. “It’s a whale!” he cries and waves to the mighty creature, who seems to wave back by splashing the water with its tail…

On and on the Brella files, until Rupert finally spots land on the horizon. “Hurray”! he cries. “I must be nearly there…” There are tall trees all along the shore, with thick green leaves that look very different from anything he has ever seen growing in Nutwood. He speeds over the treetops towards so sandy dunes which stretch far away into the distance. “This must be the start of the desert!” thinks Rupert, for all he can see is mile after mile of sand… As the Brella flies on across the desert, the sun beats down more and more intensely. “It’s lucky the sage gave me a flask full of water,” thinks Rupert and raises it to his lips for I a nice cool drink. All of a sudden he hears a strange rushing sound and feels a hot wind blowing against his cloud swirls up into the sky. With a sinking feeling, Rupert realises he is flying straight towards the storm… The next moment, the sandstorm is raging all around, blotting out the light and buffeting the Brella from side to side as it carries Rupert along. The air is full of swirling grains of sand. Which sting Rupert’s face and force him to cover his mouth with a scarf. As the wind howls louder and louder, the Brella gives a sudden lurch to one side and Rupert looses his grip on its handle. Before he can stop himself, he is sent tumbling over the side, head over heels through the air… Luckily, the Brella is so full of sand that it isn’t flying very high above the ground when Rupert topples out. He closes his eyes and prepares for the worst, but, to his surprise, lands with a gentle bump on a soft pile of sand. “Thank goodness for that!” he gasps as he picks himself up and watches the sandstorm disappear into the distance. Seeing the Brella has crash-landed quite near by, Rupert shakes the sand from his clothes and hurries over to see if it still all right. When he reaches the Brella, Rupert is delighted to find that it hasn’t been damaged by the storm. He turns it the right way round and climbs inside. “Up and away!” he cries eagerly, but the Brella doesn’t move. “Oh dear,” sighs Rupert. “There must be something wrong with it after all…” Forced to continue the journey on foot, he folds up the Brella and takes out the compass. Lifting the Brella onto his shoulder he sets off across the sand.

“I hope this is still the right way!” thinks Rupert. “Everywhere in the desert seems to look the same…” Just then he catches sight of a fabulous palace, shimmering in the distance. “That must be where Father Time lives!” he cries and hurries towards it. After a while, Rupert notices that the towers seem to be fading away… The next moment it suddenly vanishes altogether and he realises his mistake – it was only a mirage! “Fancy walking all that way for nothing!” sighs Rupert. The journey has made him so thirsty he decides to have a drink of water before he continues to search. “Oh no!” he groans as he opens the flask. “There are only a few drops of water left. It must have sprung a leak…” The sun is stronger then ever now and beats down as Rupert sets off once more. Before long, he is forced to crouch in the shade of the Brella to wait until it grows a little cooler. As Rupert shelters from the sun, he suddenly spots something moving in the distance. “It looks like a group of men on camels!” he gasps, but are they only another mirage? Springing to his feet, Rupert hurries towards the men, but soon realises that they are further away then he had first thought…”Oh, no” he groans. “Ill never reach them. Stop!” calls Rupert, waving his scarf in the air. “Wait!” he shouts. “Please don’t go without me!” To Rupert’s relief, the camels changed direction and soon the leading figure dismounts and bows in a friendly greeting. By his side stands a little boy, who smiles and says: “You must be thirsty I will ask my father to give you a drink.” The man produces a bag full of water, with a spout at one end, which he holds up for Rupert to reach. “It is our custom to offer refreshment to strangers in need…” When Rupert has finished drinking, the little boy says, “I am Yassuf. My people are nomads who travel the desert. You are welcome to join us if you wish to cross the sands…” Yes, please!” smiles Rupert and is soon riding along on Yassuf’s camel. “We are on our way to an oasis,” declares Yassuf. As Rupert peers ahead he spots a cluster of tree, surrounded by lush vegetation. “It’s just like the Sage’s map!” he gasps. “I wonder if Father Time lives somewhere nearby?” When they reach the oasis everyone gets down to let the camels drink. Rupert asks Yassuf if he has ever heard of Father Time and is told that he lives directly to the East. “I have never been there,” Yassuf admits. “So I cannot tell you what to expect…” Thanking him for his help, Rupert takes the Brella and sets off towards the distant building. As he gets nearer he sees a giant clock tower, surrounded by swirling stars…

The strange tower stands on a rocky outcrop and has a steep flight of steps leading to its only door. As Rupert climbs up them, he notices a peculiar inscription above the doorway. “Tempus fugit,” he reads. “I wonder what that means?” Reaching up, Rupert raps on the heavy wooden door and is surprised to find that it swings open, all by it’s self…He steps forward to enter the building and is met by the deafening sounds of a hundred ticking clocks.

Inside the building, Rupert finds himself surrounded by clocks of every description. They line the walls of the hall-ways and continue up the stairs for as far as he can see…” No wonder the ticking sounded so loud!” he muses. Above him swings a giant pendulum, which Rupert realises must be part of a huge clock at the top of the tower. “I wonder if that’s where I’ll find Father Time?” he thinks. There is no sing of anyone to ask, so Rupert decides to climb the stairs… As he climbs the great staircase, Rupert can’t resist stopping to look more closely at some of the clocks. They are all carefully numbered and, to his surprise, each one shows a completely different time! “How, strange,” he murmurs. “If they were all working properly, they should say the same thing…” Set in the walls of the stairway are circular windows, like portholes, which show glimpses of the desert outside. “I must be nearly there now,” thinks Rupert… At the top of the stairs, Rupert reaches a door marked “Do Not Disturb”. He hesitates for a moment, then knocks firmly as he remembers the terrible muddle he has come to sort out. “Come in!” calls a loud voice. Rupert pushes open the door to reveal a cluttered room full of clocks, which look as if they are waiting to be repaired and a huge candle burning away steadily. “This must be Father Time’s workshop,” thinks Rupert. “But wherever can he be?” “Don’t dawdle!” calls a voice from behind the door. “Come inside and tell me what you want…” As Rupert steps forward, he catches sight of an old man, sitting at a workbench, surrounded by dials and cogs. “Father Time!” gasps Rupert as the old man looks up. “Correct!” snaps the old man. “Now, tell me why you’ve come here to disturb me at my work! I hope it’s something important, little bear. Time waits for no man, you know. Not even me! I haven’t got a minute to spare…” “Please sir,” stammers Rupert. “It’s about the clocks in Nutwood. They’re all broken and the Sage of Um thought you might be the person to put them right.” “The Sage of Um?” exclaims Father Time. “If he sent you here, it must be serious! Sit down and tell me everything…” As Rupert explains how every clock in Nutwood went wrong on the same night, the old man strokes his beard and looks very thoughtful. “How strange,” he murmurs. “You were quite right to come and see me,” declares Father Time, “ There must be something wrong with Time itself for so many clocks to suddenly stop working!” He goes over to the bookcase and pulls down a heavy ledger. “N,” he murmurs, running his finger down the page. “Normandy, Norway, Nottingham… Ah, here it is, Nutwood! Clock number 293…” “ I don’t understand,” blinks Rupert, “293 is Nutwood’s clock,” explains Father Time. Leading the way downstairs, Father Time shows Rupert how every clock they pass is marked with a little number. “Not much further now.” He says. “There’s 295 and 294, so this must be 293, the clock that sets the time in Nutwood…” As Rupert draws level, he sees that a porthole is wide open and grains of sand are blowing in from the desert outside. “So that’s what’s wrong!” cries father Time. “some sand must have got inside and jammed the works…”

“No wonder everyone in Nutwood got in such a muddle!” laughs Father Time as he mends the clock in the workshop. “It’s only my cocks that keep everyone else’s running to time…” “Do they go wrong very often?” asks Rupert. “Hardly ever!” smiles the old man. “It’s my job to make sure they don’t!” He cleans out the works of the broken clock and sets its hands to the proper time. “You can wind it up,” he tells Rupert, handing him a key from the ring on his belt. Now that Nutwood’s clock is working again, all that remains is for Rupert and Father Time to put it back where it belongs. “Thank goodness you came to see me,” says the old man. “There are so many clocks, it might have been ages before I realised that anything was wrong!” As they finish clearing up the last of the sand, Rupert suddenly remembers the Sage’s Brella. “I still don’t know how to make it fly,” he sighs. “Leave it to me,” says Father Time. Rupert follows Father Time up a steep flight of steps to the top of the tower. The sky is full of stars and the moon shines brightly, even though it is the middle of the day. “Time begins and ends here,” explains the old man. “Night and day are as one…” Holding the Brella open, he tells Rupert to climb aboard, then speaks a strange rhyme. “Arise and journey through the skies, to where your master’s island lies!” At this the Brella rises up and starts to speed away.

Leaving the clock tower far behind, the Brella skims back over the desert until Rupert spots a stand of tall trees down below. “It’s the oasis!” he cries excitedly. “And there’s Yassuf and his camels…” Rupert’s friend looks up, amazed to see him flying through the air. Then he smiles and waves after the speeding Brella. Before long, Rupert has crossed the desert and reaches the coast. The Brella slows for a moment, then flies steadily out across the open sea… After a while, Rupert spots a familiar looking island and is delighted to see the Sage of Um waving from a rocky headland. “Welcome back!” he calls I hope Father Time was able to help you…” When Rupert explains how Nutwood’s clock has been mended, the Sage decides to fly there at once to see how things are. “Check your Father’s watch,” he tells Rupert as they set out in the Brella. “It’s working again!” cries Rupert, “But look what time it says…” “I thought so!” chuckles the Sage. “Father Time has re-set the hands of the clock so that everything in Nutwood is back exactly as it was.” As he speaks, they spot Tigerlily and the Chinese Conjuror, who wave to the Sage to say he’s just in time for lunch… When Rupert arrives home with his Father’s watch, Mr. Bear smiles with surprise. “Goodness,” he says. “That was quick. You hardly took any time at all!”  hide this.