Chapter 12 - Who has the last laugh...
Abigail and I walk slowly to the front of the library, we are not sure of what we will find.
“Surprise! surprise!” – we get such a fright! The noise is coming from the library monitors who are preparing for the end of year library party.
I turn to Abs and say in a hushed whisper, “Whew Abs, I was so worried about that noise. I thought something terrible may be happening. I was thinking that perhaps Uncle Ru knew we had rescued Gazania and he is taking revenge. Thank goodness it is just the furniture being moved for the party!” I sigh with relief again.
“Yes, thank goodness Sam,” whispers Abs.
We had both forgotten the party and the presentations for the library awards. We have just got enough time to run home and get changed for the evening.
“Come on Sam, hurry up!” I can hear Abs is excited about the library party.
I don’t feel very thrilled about the party, but I know I need to get back. Abs is sure to win the chess trophy. We rush out the door before anyone can call us to help. I race home to change for the evening. Suddenly I remember mom and dad and Uncle Bert were invited too. All the normal school stuff has gone out of my head.
When I get to my room I have a quick look at the storyboard. I can’t resist making a few changes as we have rescued Gazania. I am sure when we get news from her...she will tell us that peace has returned to Gardinia and the King and Queen are happy again. There are some unanswered questions but we can meet after the library party and see how to wrap up the investigation.
What a great help Uncle Bert was with so many of the clues.
We need a symbol to represent Princess Gazania, a crown I think. We can put her crown in the picture with the King and Queen. I start to remove Uncle Ru aka Miss Sorrel from the storyboard. I have his symbol, a magician’s hat in my hand, but don’t know where to put it.
“Ummm...” I say to myself, “we have rescued Gazania but what has happened to Uncle Ru?”
This is a key element of the storyboard that we have not worked out. As I look around for a place to stick the villain, I notice a little figure in the right hand corner of the board. A man in a chair, holding a magnifying glass. Abs and I did not put that figure onto the storyboard. Who could that be? Who else has access to my room? There is no time to think about that so I scrunch Uncle Ru up and throw him in the bin. Then dash out of my room to rush across the road to catch the bus and get to the library party. My parents are coming straight from their work places and meeting me there.
Normally I would have been excited about the awards at the end of the year but this year my Read-athon marker did not move off Zero. Thanks to Miss Sorrel aka Uncle Rumex! I try not to get too disappointed, after all, I had a far greater honor given to me in the library by the Princess of Gardinia.
Fortunately, the bus is a bit early and I see Abs standing at the door waiting for me. She signals for to me to follow her to the Botany section of the library. I watch her stand on tip-toes as she reaches for a scroll pushed between the books. News from Gardinia! Wow that was quick. Perhaps their time zone is not the same as ours. I can’t wait to read what Gazania has to say about her return to Gardinia.
Abs and I unroll the scroll. Gazania thanks us again for rescuing her and returning her to the Kingdom of Gardinia. We nod and smile. Then she tells us how wonderful the country is now. Firstly she says her parents, King Costus and Queen Rosemary, were delighted to have their daughter return. They declared a holiday of celebrations to welcome her home. They added their thanks to the letter and enclosed a medal for Sir Samuel the knighted hero and a beautiful necklace for Abs. Abs wrinkled up her nose as she is a bit of a tomboy, but I saw her slip the necklace into a safe place in her pocket. I proudly put the medal around my neck.
There was also a gift from the gnomes addressed to me.
A note said ‘Gnomaste’ – herbs for peace in the home. The gnomes were packing their best herb seeds and preparing to sell them to raise funds for an animal hospital. Gnomaste, I think that is a wonderful name for a herb collection.
The letter went on to say that Bella Donna had made a complete change to her life. The little gnomes Basil and Chervil had changed her mind about the potions she was making and now she works for good and not evil. Bella Donna has converted her castle into an aviary for birds and changed its name to “Trillingsgate Castle” in honor of all the beautiful bird calls every one hears every day.
She has painted the castle pink and replaced the ugly Gympie trees with beautiful oak trees. She works side by side with the gnomes sharing ideas of medicines and cures for all sorts of ailments. The grey wolves have become her messengers. They deliver medicines all over Gardinia.
Basil organised a group of gnomes to come and seal up the cave of hawk moths so their life cycle would no longer be complete. They would not be able to fly out into the night and cause more damage in Gardinia.
Many bees were rescued and taken back to the gnome’s greenhouse to join the Queen bee and start their hives over again. Chervil made a special sweet syrup for the bees to feed on during the winter so they would be ready to fly out and get nectar in the spring. Everything was getting back to normal in Gardinia.
Abs and I looked at each other as we tried to take in all these wonderful things that were happening.
This seems like the perfect happy ending but…where is Uncle Ru? We have forgotten in the excitement of rescuing the Princess that we do not have an answer to that very important question.
Where is Uncle Ru?
He is not in Gardina and we have not seen him in the library…yet.
The sound of clapping in the background reminds us that it is time to get back to the library and the presentations.
Will Miss Sorrel aka Uncle Ru be there disguised as the librarian?
Will we have to play along with his wicked game?
What will we do when we see him face to face?
There are so many unanswered questions. A shiver goes down my spine. The words from Uncle Bert echo in my head – know your enemy.
We feel we know so much about Uncle Ru but at the same time, we know nothing! We don’t even know where he is!
Imagine our surprise when we walk round the corner into the library entrance to see Miss Jones standing in front of the parents. Miss Jones, our favorite library teacher is back. She looks beautiful in a bright lime green dress, it flows around her like spectacular butterfly wings. She smiles at everyone and we can see she is glad to be back in the library again.
Miss Jones asks everyone to sit down and thanks the parents for coming to this evening’s presentation. She gives out a few awards and gifts to the library assistants for their help. Then she calls out my name and a great cheer goes up from everyone. I am the winner of the Read-athon competition! I stumble up to the front to receive my prize. Miss Jones shakes my hand and whispers in my ear.
“I found your tokens under the library counter, sorry Sam but somehow they were not put on the chart. I sorted that out today and got rid of all the mess under the library counter including a strange looking glass jar full of sand and dried leaves.”
I froze at the mention of the jar and leaves. That was the home of Uncle Ru’s caterpillar. What had happened to the contents of the jar? Had Miss Jones thrown it away...but where?
I accept my prize and watch Abs receive hers too. She was the chess champ for the year.
There was a lot of cheering and clapping for all the various winners. I am very proud of my award and go across to my parents to share the honor with them. Uncle Bert shakes my hand too.
“Well done, young Sam,” he says and gives me a wink.
“How did your project go?” he asks. “Did you finish it?”
I look at Uncle Bert sideways and then I realize the figure at the bottom of the storyboard is UNCLE BERT! Oh I should have guessed that an experienced forensic entomologist would do more than just give advice from the comfort of an armchair. Uncle Bert knew much mo
re than I realized about the search and rescue mission.
“Uncle Bert, have you been peaking in my room?” I ask pretending to be furious.
He nods and I can see from the smile on his lips and twinkle in his eyes, that he does not regret sneaking into my room and taking a look at the board. After all he is a retired detective.
“I have seen all the very good forensic detective work you have done. I know you are the real hero of the day but you have underestimated your enemy.”
I wonder what Uncle Bert means by that and I want to ask him...but I am called over to the library counter by Abs and Miss Jones. They want to congratulate me again on winning the Read-athon. Mom and Dad come over too and add how proud they are of me.
This is all great but I know I have to find out where Miss Jones took the glass jar and more importantly the contents. She would not have known that the caterpillar in that jar was going to become a Death’s Head Hawk moth.
What was Uncle Ru, the master of disguises, planning to do before he disappeared?
Miss Jones is clearly happy to be back in the library. I find the right moment to speak to her and ask her about the jar and its contents. She draws a deep breath and tells me that she threw it outside in the herb garden behind the school kitchen.
“Strange thing happened as I did that, Sam,” she adds softly. “There was a funny sort of lumpy, brown thing in the jar. It wriggled into the sand and disappeared before I could find it. I don’t know what it was...but I am sure it was alive at the time.”
Miss Jones leaves to speak to some parents and I make my way over to Uncle Bert.
Without asking, I know Uncle Bert wants to hear what I have to say. He is already thinking like a forensic entomologist.
I don’t want to include Abs in this conversation because I fear it is not what we want to hear.
“Uncle Bert, what does a detective do when the rescue mission is complete. The victim is saved but the key suspect is missing?”
“Well, young Sam,” says Uncle Bert. “There is good news and bad news about that kind of situation.”
Uncle Bert pauses dramatically and I can see he is enjoying this moment.
“Do you want the good news or the bad news?”
Uncle Bert can see I am in no mood for jokes so he continues. “Well, the good news is that your suspect could have run away and disappeared forever.”
I nod and wait for the bad news.
“The bad news is your suspect could have gone into hiding. He will most likely reappear sometime in the future. In the wonderful world of moths, the pupa or chrysalis can bury itself underground and hibernate for a long time. Probably for a year or so and then return to the scene of the crime ready to cause harm on new unsuspecting victims or seek revenge on his enemies.”
I am left wondering about Uncle Ru. Did he escape and disappear or is he just in hiding like a wriggly dried-up moth pupa. A Death’s Head Hawk moth, bearing the skull tattoo to show off his connection to the insect criminal world. When I get home I will have to get Uncle Ru’s symbol out of the bin and put it somewhere until I know the answer to that question.
Everyone is enjoying the library awards party. Abs comes over to me. I can see she wants to share something special with me so I wait at the library counter just in front of the Read-athon board.
“Congratulations Sam,” she says very sincerely.
“You really were a hero today! From Zero to hero! Well done Sir Samuel Greene!”
“Thank you Abs, you were an amazing partner. I would not have managed any of this without your help. We are a good team!”
Abs gives me a big smile and skips off to join the party and I am left with my own thoughts.
Yes, it’s great to be called a hero. The library can return to normal and after the party we will go home for the holidays. I will pack the storyboard away with all the important little figures and symbols used to solve the mystery.
I realize at this moment that it hasn’t really finished. Fear runs like a chill down my spine! Uncle Ru has not disappeared. He is disguised somewhere between here and the land of Gardinia. I gave him the connection he needed to our world through the library. Now what will he be up to next?
I am about to leave the library when Miss Jones calls me over to the library counter. She hands me a card and shrugs her shoulders.
“I don’t know what this means,” she says, “but it has your initials on it, so maybe you know what it is about?”
S.P.R.O.G. is printed on the outside of the card. On the inside there is the symbol of a skull and four little words…
Find out what happens next in
Zero to Hero
Book 2
AVAILABLE NOW!
Thank so much for reading Zero to Hero!
If you enjoyed the story, could you please leave a review?
My sincere appreciation.
Katrina x
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This book is dedicated to Christina Withers.
A very special and talented lady.
Diary of a 6th Grade Spy - Book 1 - Zero to Hero Page 14
