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?