Book 2: Chapter 12 "The Case of the Missing Hibiscus Clan"

Tumbarumba, The Old Wise One and Hibiscus drove to school early one morning and Tumba was very excited. The window was down, the wind blew him around and he eagerly anticipated catching up with his friends in the classroom. As they got closer, he suddenly had an idea and asked Hibiscus, “Would it be OK if I stayed near the car today, please? I just want to sit out here and enjoy the sunshine. It’s been such a long time and I feel like I’ve been stuck inside forever!” 
Hibiscus acquiesced and assured him she would say hi to the others for him and bring back photos of what they were all doing at school.

As Hibiscus entered the classroom with The Old Wise One, she had a sense of foreboding. Something wasn’t right! She looked around and the classroom seemed to be missing something. As she neared the tractor stool at the front, she noticed that all the other members of the Hibiscus clan were not where she had left them. She looked at The Old Wise One and his face mirrored her own. Both were shocked and a bit worried. She saw a note on the stool and picked it up, “Good morning Hibiscus” she read out loud and she turned it over, but nothing was written on the other side.

She placed The Old Wise One on the stool and they were both quiet. “What should we do?” wondered The Old Wise One who had never heard or seen anything like this before. Hibiscus reassured him, reminding him that it would all turn out and opened her IPad to the Showbie app and sent a message to her class. She did not want to frighten them, but she needed their help.

She wrote, “Members of the Hibiscus clan have gone missing. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find them, take a photograph of them and tell us where you found them, what they were doing there and how they got there. Write a short story so that it can be included in the next and final chapter of "The Adventures of Dovic".

The class were all astir when they heard the news. They knew they would find Gazza in the library with Ms Lauren and Aiden was reassured to know that Tumbarumba was safely sunning himself on the red car, just like his family do in Tumbarumba. The Old Wise One stayed on the stool as he was getting too old to be playing hide and seek and he needed to be loved and taken care of. Over the next few days, the students unravelled the mystery of the missing Hibiscus clan.

Xavier was the first one to report about the missing Lulu. He stated, “Lulu was dancing and prancing around when she tripped and landed on a tub on the shelf. She thought it was cosy and decided to stay for awhile and fell asleep.” Lulu was so happy to be found she immediately got up on her toes and did a pirouette and a twirl.

It didn’t take long to find Ronnie. He had climbed up to the ceiling and was standing on his head. When a few of the students commented that if he didn’t go upright, the blood would run to his head, Hibiscus reminded them that he’s full of stuffing, not blood and guts. After a while it was time for him to come down but he froze and didn’t know how to get back down. Hibiscus waited until all the students had left and retrieved him. How she did it, was never revealed but the observant students may have noticed the ruler was not where it usually was kept.

When Owen went to get his Maths book out, he was not surprised to find Bruiser amongst his books and pencils. He let him stay there for awhile but later was concerned Bruiser might get lost and brought him out to sit with The Old Wise One.

In Period 3, the students headed off to library expecting to find Gazza somewhere amongst the books. They took The Old Wise One with them, not willing to leave him behind in case he went missing too. He was much too old to be going on an unexpected adventure. When Gazza was found reading a book, Lincoln gave them a chance to talk before the class headed over to the computer lab and Miss Michelle showed them how to access good research sites that would help them learn about the country they had chosen for Geography. Later on, when it was time for reading, Josh shared a part of his book with the Old Wise One and Oscar also made sure he was comfortable in the library.

When Amelie went over to talk to Gazza, she was disappointed to find that he was “very busy reading and he couldn’t talk to me.” She was happy to see him a few days later, reading another book with a group of the wild creatures milling about around him. It was decided he would stay there for as long as the library needed him. He looked like he really belonged there.

Richo had tried to hide amongst the coloured paper shelves. He thought if he hid in the yellow sheets, he would be camouflaged but alas, the eagle eyes of students spotted him there and pointed him out to the others. 

When Abby saw Ellie, her eyes lit up because Ellie was one of her favourites. She immediately got on to the task of reporting her find to the Showbie newspaper. “Ellie is hanging on the curtains. She looks like she is enjoying it and is relieved that she won’t get in trouble this time for climbing on them.” Hibiscus raised an eyebrow at this and asked why Ellie shouldn’t get in trouble. Abby smiled and gave Ellie a reassuring hug.

It took a lot longer for Dovic to be found. Reminiscent of his days back at Teddy Bear Treasures, he had managed to find a small box at the back of the room. He climbed in, closed the lid over him and fell into his deep, hibernating sleep. Unaware of all that was going on in the classroom, he dreamed about the time he had first met the Hibiscus clan, the adventures he had had and the friends he had made. He stirred a little and, in his sleep, gave a little snort of laughter. Evan noticed there was something weird about the box and opened it up. “Hey look everyone! It’s Dovic!” Dovic opened his eyes and sat up for them all to see.

“Oh boy, oh boy!” he exclaimed and Lulu said, “That’s Gazza’s line, not yours!” When The Old Wise One saw Dovic looking around for Gazza, he said quietly, “Gazza is in the library reading.”

As the year comes to a close, the Hibiscus clan know that their time with the class of 2020 is also coming to a close. “But can’t they come back next year?” complained the students but to no avail. It has been a challenging year, one that was unprecedented, unexpected and unusual. It’s been a tough time having to be in iso and learn from home via zoom and it’s been good to be back for this term. As restrictions are continuing to ease, and as the school year finishes up, it is good to look back on what we have been through together, what we have learned, what we have achieved and to be thankful for our homes, our families, our friends, our school, our teachers, being able to learn, being safe and for so many other reasons.

Dovic adds, “Thank you for letting me be a part of your class. It was good that I got to meet you all and that we were able to have adventures together. Thank you.” And with that, he takes the paws of the other Hibiscus clan members and raises it as a cheer to the class of 2020.

 

The End…. Or is it?

Book 2: Chapter 11 On the Farm

It was Tuesday morning and after a relaxing weekend, Dovic waited for Hibiscus to gather her things up for school. Tumbarumba came over to him and explained that it was Melbourne Cup Day which was a public holiday so there would be no school. Dovic wondered what having a cup day was about and looked puzzled.

“There are horses racing this afternoon and so people dress up and go and see them. It’s been going on for years and years and is on the first Tuesday in November” explained Tumba.

“Are we going to see the horses race? Is Boston in the race?” asked Dovic and Tumbarumba laughed and explained a bit more. “No, Boston isn’t in the race. It’s for special, fast horses who are trained and raced and are very important. Boston is Hibiscus’ horse, but she doesn’t race him.” Ronnie heard the two talking about horses and piped up, “Remember that time that I pretended Milly was a horse and got to ride her for a bit?” and they all chuckled at that memory.

Tumbarumba, Ronnie and Dovic were put in the back seat with Milly and they went for a drive to Lyrebird Park where Boston was agisted by Uncle. The sun was out shining, the sky was blue and it was a perfect day to spend at the farm. When they first arrived, they sat down and had some morning tea with Uncle. They ate their vanilla slice and licked the icing off their fingers while cows in the paddock mooed loudly, kookaburras laughed, and the sheep grazed in the front paddock.

When Boston came to greet them, Hibiscus handed him a carrot and he ate it quickly and tried to look through her pockets in case there were any more. She patted him and spoke quietly in to his ear and then Uncle gave them a seat to watch the horses play. Tumba was delighted when Uncle put him on Boston’s back and gave him a ride. He gave out a “Whoop, whoop” and cheered. Ever since he had seen the brumbies on the snowy mountains, he had wanted to ride a horse.

After Dovic and Ronnie had had their turn, they went down to the dam and climbed into the tree. Uncle would throw a stick into the dam and the dogs would dive in, retrieve the stick and swim back to the bank and drop the stick so it could be thrown again. When Milly shook her water out all over Hibiscus, she squealed and Dovic, Ronnie and Tumba were glad they were safely up in the tree where they couldn’t get wet.

During the morning on the farm, they went for a walk, climbed over the rocks, played hide and seek in the long grass and used up a lot of their energy. The dogs tried to help Hibiscus find Dovic, Tumba and Ronnie. (Can you find them?) When they were in the haystack, they rolled all over it and Ronnie did a headstand, accidentally burying his head in the hay. At the next dam, they sat watching the dogs go for a swim and shrieked when Milly shook herself all over them. Hibiscus laughed but because it was a warm day, they dried out in no time.

As they explored the bush, they came across a skull. “Oooh,” said Dovic, “What is it? Is it a wombat, is it a kangaroo, is it a possum or is it a rabbit?”

“Look at it’s teeth!” exclaimed Ronnie as he turned it over.

“It looks like a ghost when you turn it this way,” commented Tumbarumba and when he looked at Dovic, he added, “You look like a ghost! You’ve gone pale. Are you ok?”

“I’m fine,” replied Dovic and he did not want to admit to being scared of the skull.

Up ahead, they climbed the fence and sat looking out over the paddocks. Uncle pointed out the direction of the school to them, although they couldn’t see it as it was over the hills and far away. All too soon, it was time to head back and they chased the dogs down the hill, although Ronnie mostly tumbled and rolled down the hill.

At one of the parts of the rope course, Uncle gave Dovic a swing on the rope. Ronnie and Tumbarumba looked on and wished they could have a turn but they ran out of time. Before they left, they picked a few lemons, some lettuce and snowpeas and looked at the aquaponics system Uncle had installed to help the vegetable garden grow.

On the way home, Dovic, Ronnie and Tumbarumba curled up next to Milly and the four fell asleep for the trip home. They couldn’t wait to tell the others about their adventure at the farm.

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Thanks to Warren Williams from Lyrebird Park for the use of his property and his assistance in the photography for this chapter. https://lyrebirdpark.com.au/ 

Book 2: Chapter 10 Taking Care at School

Hibiscus picked up Gazza and Lulu and shrieked with dismay. “You’re so wet!” She looked into the bag she had brought them to school in and saw the bottom of it was full of water. Poor Gazza had been swimming in the water, unintentionally, and she wrung him out over the basin. He shivered and let out a sigh, “Oh boy, oh boy! The lid wasn’t on the bottle tightly enough.” Hibiscus took out a paper towel or two and wrapped it over them both, trying to soak up the water. Lulu looked up at Hibiscus and didn’t complain at all, although her leg was being squeezed out.

After much of the excess water had been soaked up by the towel, she marched them off to the bathroom and turned on the hand-dryer. When it automatically shut off, she came up with another idea. The sun was shining brightly, so she sat Dovic, Gazza and Lulu on the stool, outside in the sunshine. They soaked up the sun, which partly dried out the water although for poor Gazza, he was still pretty wet as it had seeped through to his stuffing.

While outside, they looked around the courtyard and noticed the staff and students walking past them. Miss Emma asked if they were enjoying the sunshine and a girl from another grade, saw them and left her group of friends to say hi. A group of Year 8 students walked past but they were busily chatting to each other and didn’t notice the three sitting on the stool watching them. “Wow!” said Lulu, “This is a busy place and school hasn’t even started yet.” 

Suddenly, the music started up and the class of Hibiscus lined up outside the classroom. Some stopped to say hi and have their photo taken with them. Xavier taught them how to 'dab'. When everyone was ready to go inside, a few of the students helped Hibiscus take the stool with Dovic, Lulu and Gazza into the classroom so they could listen to what the class were learning.

After recess, the students had library and Dovic, Lulu and Gazza went with the class for their reading session. Although Gazza looked for Miss Lauren, he couldn’t see her. He didn’t think too much about it though, because he sat close to Abbie who wanted to read with him. Indi and Amelie decided to choose a special book for Dovic. First, Indi picked up one about polar bears but it was too hard for Dovic to hold so they chose another one for him, which was just right. Meanwhile, Imogen had tucked Lulu under her arm to read with her.  Gazza sighed quietly, “Oh boy, oh boy. I love being read to.”

During library time, Jacob found a book that was just right for Hibiscus. It was all about words and phrases and where they all began. She opened up the book to a random page and was immediately interested to read its contents. When she went home, she went online and found a second-hand one for sale, so ordered it and is now impatiently waiting for it to arrive.

At the end of the library lesson, the students went off to PE and Hibiscus picked up Gazza and noticed he was still a bit damp. His fur was ruffled and she could still squeeze a little bit out. She allowed the three of them to climb up to the rafters, so they could sit up there to dry out some more and have some fun.

Lulu spoke up, “Wouldn’t Ronnie be jealous if he saw us now?” and Gazza replied, “Oh boy, oh boy! I can’t wait to tell him!” Dovic smiled and said that it was fun hanging out with his friends.