Chapter 3: Where is Dovic?

Throughout the day, Hibiscus wondered when Dovic would arrive and as she shared stories with her class they wondered, too. “When do you think Dovic might come?” they asked and one concerned boy wondered, “Will Dovic ever meet Lulu again?” As she taught from home, via zoom and other apps, she kept an eye out for the postman. When nothing materialised at all during the day, she considered sending an email to Teddy Bear Treasures to ask if they knew but on the news that night, it was reported that Australian Post was being inundated with so much mail, one could not expect anything too soon.

Meanwhile, back at the shop, Lulu had been watching the envelope that Dovic had been put in. She saw other envelopes going in but Dovic’s envelope had been tucked to the side. She wondered if she could get it out but the more she thought about it, the more discouraged she became. The Elf, seeing the look of disappointment on Lulu’s face carefully moved closer to her so that no one would notice. “Why the glum face, pretty Lulu?” and after she told him everything, she said, “I just can’t see how to get him out!”

The Elf furrowed his brow and thought about it. He looked around the room, did some calculations in his head and formulated a plan. As he whispered it into her ear, her face lit up and she almost got up and danced. Seeing this, the Elf touched her shoulder and said, “Not yet!” Gazza, the fuddlewuddle elephant watched the Elf and Lulu closely. He knew they were up to something.

When Angela and the man in large workboots left the room, the Elf nudged Lulu and they put their plan into action. They moved nimbly across the shelf trying not to draw attention to themselves. The Elf took hold of Lulu’s hand and counted, “One, Two, Three… Now” and they leaped gracefully from the shelf, catching hold of the curtain rope. They waited for it to stop swinging and then lowered themselves to the ground and headed for the box of envelopes and packages.

Seeing their movements, Gazza decided to follow them. He jumped at the end of the shelf and caught hold of the rope with his trunk. The rope swung like a pendulum, back and forth, and did not appear to be stopping. “Help!” he called out, “Help me Lulu! Help me Elf! I’m stuck!”

Lulu and The Elf froze and then looked around. Gazza was holding on to the rope with his trunk, dangling precariously, as the rope swayed under his weight. The Elf was clearly frustrated and told Lulu to go help Gazza while he rescued Dovic. She went over, grabbed the rope and held it still while Gazza clambered down to the floor. “Thank you, lovely Lulu” he said quietly. They turned around and there was The Elf and Dovic standing beside them.

“You’re here!” cried Lulu, “I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to you and then Elf came up with this plan and now Gazza has followed us and …..” Just then, the door at the other end opened and the four could hear Angela chatting about getting the post out. They hid behind the doll’s house and held their breath. Elf saw another door opening and signalled to them to follow him. With their backs against the wall, watching Angela, they crept out through the door and hid behind a large cardboard box.

“Whew! That was close!” muttered Gazza.

“Shhhh!” said the other three in unison.

As they tried to catch their breath, they heard footsteps coming into the room and someone singing, “We’re going on a bear hunt. We’re going to catch Dovic. It’s a beautiful day!” and they saw Angela come in, turning boxes over, looking behind couches and curtains, obviously looking for something or someone. She continued to hum as she searched the room.

“I’m not scared!” declared Dovic.

“But what if she finds you?” Lulu asked pitifully.

“If she finds me, she finds me. She must be looking for me for a reason. Maybe she has some lemon meringue pie for me! That’s my favourite pie!” he said.

Just then Angela’s shadow fell over them and they all froze. “There you are, Dovic. I’ve been looking for you everywhere! We’ve found a forever home for you with Hibiscus. She’s been looking for a cuddly bear like you for her class of 2020 and you are going to be the first one to fly over to that State. It’s so exciting! You’re going to love her and her class and I think there will be other bears to be friends with, too!” Dovic looked over her shoulder and saw Lulu, The Elf and Gaza all looking miserably up at him. He gave them a wave and tried to hide the gleam of excitement in his eyes, then slid back down into Angela’s arms.

The man in the workboots saw them both and said, “Better send Dovic express post now that he’s taken so long to find” and he handed Angela a yellow envelope. She gave him a quick brush and a little kiss on his nose then tucked him into the envelope. As he went in, Dovic once again, fell into hibernation and didn’t feel another thing.

Angela emailed Hibiscus and let her know that Dovic had been hiding but was now on his way. He was going to come express post and should be there by the end of next week. When Hibiscus read the email, she sighed with relief. She looked at all the other bears in her clan, smiled and wiped some pie off Ronnie's face before going to clean up the mess in the kitchen. Making a lemon meringue pie can be a bit messy.