Mr Badger and the Missing Ape by Leigh Hobbs

CHAPTER 1
Busy Mr Badger
    M r Badger wasn’t just the Special Events Manager at the Boubles Grand Hotel (pronounced Boublay ). Because he had been there for so long and knew everyone, as well as just about every thing about the hotel, Mr Badger had all sorts of other important responsibilities. And one of the most important was keeping an eye on Algernon.

    Algernon stood in the foyer of the hotel. For years, every morning when Mr Badger arrived at work, he would give Algernon a smile. ‘How do you do, Algernon!’ he would say as he walked past.

    Mr Badger knew better than to expect an answer, of course, as Algernon was an ape. A very big ape. And he stood in a glass case.
    Algernon had guarded the Boubles Grand Hotel foyer for years and years. Well, not really guarded; he was just there… peering out from his window on the world as if inspecting everyone who arrived at the hotel.
    And maybe he was.
    Children absolutely adored him, and whether they came to stay in the Boubles Grand Hotel or were just visiting for morning or afternoon tea, saying hello to Algernon was the first thing that every boy and girl wanted to do.
    Sometimes there was such a crowd in the foyer that Mr Badger needed to gently organise the children into a queue, so that everyone got to have their own moment or two with Algernon.

    Algernon was extremely popular.
    Unfortunately, not every child was well behaved.

    Sylvia Smothers-Carruthers would often cause trouble. Sometimes even a scene. Just because her grandparents, Sir Cecil and Lady Celia Smothers-Carruthers, owned the Boubles Grand Hotel, she would often try to push into the line.

    Or, worse still, when no one was looking, Sylvia would open the glass door of Algernon’s case and give him a kick.
    â€˜I tell you, Grandma, that thing poked its tongue out at me!’ Sylvia would cry.
    â€˜Don’t be ridiculous,’ Lady Celia would snap. ‘It’s stuffed. I wish your grandfather would throw it out.’

CHAPTER 2
An Alarming
Disappearance
    N o one, guest or employee, seemed to remember a time when Algernon hadn’t been there in the foyer.
    This made Mr Badger’s discovery early one morning all the more alarming. For when he arrived at the hotel, walked up the stairs and turned to say hello to Algernon, he saw that there was no Algernon.
    Algernon was…GONE!

    Algernon was gone, but where?

    At this stage, Miss Pims did not want to ask questions.
    It was a dreadful shock. Mr Badger knew that everyone would be upset by Algernon’s disappearance. In particular the children. Algernon would have to be found as soon as possible, so Mr Badger began looking straight away.
    When his assistant, Miss Pims, arrived at work soon after, she found Mr Badger searching for clues on the floor with a magnifying glass.
    â€˜Good morning, Mr Badger,’ she said, as if Mr Badger was always on the floor of the foyer peering through his magnifying glass.
    â€˜Hello there, Miss Pims,’ said Mr Badger. ‘I am afraid we have a problem. A serious one. It’s Algernon – he’s gone!’
    Naturally Miss Pims was startled by the news. However, like Mr Badger, she knew better than to panic. She too leapt straight into action.
    For a start, she checked Mr Badger’s diary. Obviously he would need to be completely free of engagements that day so they could focus on finding Algernon, the missing ape.

CHAPTER 3
The Big Disappointment
    B y mid-morning a small crowd had gathered in the foyer, and it was a very sorry sight. Disappointed children were arriving and forming a queue, pressing their faces up against Algernon’s empty case and fogging up the glass.

    Algernon was sorely missed.
    Mr Badger and Miss Pims decided that the feelings of the Boubles Grand Hotel’s little guests and visitors were of the utmost importance. So, after asking everyone to step back, they covered Algernon’s big case with a curtain and hung up a sign that