An hour later, some little girls got weary of sitting on their seats and decided to stand up, and Mr Carter made his way towards them.
"It looks like some little ladies doesn't like sitting for long." He said with a smile when he neared them. "Hold on tightly to your seats while standing up. Or you might lose your balance."
"Okay, Sir Mr Carter!" Claire said politely with a beam as she gripped the seat ahead of her. "Where are we now, Mr Carter?"
"We are passing Rathnapura now, Miss Claire Simpson," He said as he glanced out at a passing name board. "We'll reach Kandy within three hours from now. Shall I tell you an interesting fact about Rathnapura town?"
"Yes please, Sir," Claire said with a smile and Mr Carter admired her respectful response to his question. He had always known Claire's father, Dr David Simpson as a very decent man and he appreciated the way he had brought up his very young daughter.
"Rathnapura means the city of gems." He said with raised brows. "Do you know what a gem means?"
"No, Sir." She shook her head.
"Gem is a very precious stone which is very shiny and beautiful." He explained with raised brows. "People use gemstones to make jewellery and ornaments. And those magnificent gemstones can be found in this town."
"Woah! That's incredible!" Little Pavithra exclaimed with an excited grin. "I want to find a gemstone in this town someday!"
"Of course, that could be possible, Miss Liyanage!" Mr Carter said with a chuckle. "I wish you good luck with your pursuit!"
At that moment, Mrs Anjali Kumaran who had been sitting at the last row of the bus received a phone call from Mrs Jane Miller, the headmistress of the Silver Stars nursery. "Hello!" Mrs Kumaran said as she answered the call. "How do you do, Ma'am? I was expecting a call from you."
"I'm fine, Anjali." Mrs Miller replied. "Where are you now? How are things with you?"
"We've passed Rathnapura town, Ma'am." Mrs Kumaran said with a smile on her lips. "Everything's fine here. We didn't have any issues except for the time when one of the back tires in the girls' bus got punctured and the drivers had to replace it."
"Really?" Mrs Miller inquired. "When did this happen?"
"We are not sure when that tire got punctured, Ma'am." Mrs Kumaran said with concern. "One of the bus drivers noticed it and informed us when we were about to leave from Belihuloya river. Both drivers replaced the tire immediately and we left Belihuloya at five-thirty pm as we had already scheduled."
"Thank God, nothing terrible happened because of the punctured tire!" Mrs Miller exclaimed with a sigh. "Who knows how long you had been travelling with that bad tire? How would have we answered the parents if anything had happened to those little girls? I already told James to check if everything's alright with the buses every time they stop in a place."
"He did, Ma'am." Mrs Kumaran replied quickly. "I think, it got punctured while we were travelling from Haputale viewpoint. That's where we stopped lastly before we toured Belihuloya river, Ma'am. That's why we didn't notice it before."
"Hmm... I see." She heard Mrs Miller's thoughtful voice from the other end. "And you and James were travelling on the other bus, weren't you?"
"Yes, Ma'am." Mrs Kumaran replied. "We were travelling with the boys then. We decided to join the girls while returning from the journey. Rose, Olivia and Jayanthi are with the boys now."
"Okay, this is rather a long trip to the kids." Mrs Miller said in a worried manner. "Are all of them doing well? Did anyone have any trouble during the journey? Did someone get sick or nauseous?"
"All of them seems to be fine, Mrs Miller." Mrs Kumaran assured her with a contented smile. "They all looked energetic and excited in the morning. You'd be surprised if I told you how much they admired the beautiful roses and orchids at Hakgala gardens! They appreciated the magnificent view of St. Claire's Major falls and they loved watching cattle and wandering in the green meadows at Ambewela farms! They had a great time today! And most of the children are sleepy and dozing off now. So they won't feel much tired of the journey while returning home, Ma'am."
"It feels good to hear this from you, Anjali!" Mrs Miller appreciated. "Did you check if all the children are there, safe on the bus while returning? Did you take count of them? Are you sure you didn't miss anything or anyone during the tour? I'm sorry if I'm being too inquisitive Anjali, but I must ensure the safety of our young pupils as the headmistress of the academy. And I know that you are the most accountable person when it comes to responsibilities. That's why I'm asking you all this."
"It is alright, Mrs Miller!" Mrs Anjali Kumaran said hastily with a smile. "There's nothing wrong with that. We are responsible for these children and we should do everything we can to assure that they are fine during the tour. I took count of the boys and marked their names when they finally got inside the bus after viewing the Belihuloya river and Olivia did the same with the girls. We're quite sure that we didn't miss anyone_"
"Mrs Kumaran!" Mr Carter called her in a rush, interrupting her phone conversation "Can you get here for a minute?"
"James, I'm talking to Mrs Miller!" She told him. "She wants to_"
"This is an emergency!" He informed her.
"Okay, I'm coming!" She said and made an excuse to Mrs Miller before ending the conversation with her.
"What is it, James?" She asked as she looked around the bus, trying to figure out the reason for his sudden alertness. But she failed to notice any difference except, some more of the children had fallen asleep on their seats. She looked at Mr Carter with confusion and she saw the terror that reflected in his brown eyes and the sweat that dripped from his forehead which confirmed her that something must have gone wrong.
"Is everything alright, James?" She asked as she neared him and he hesitated for a moment before replying to her.
"Where is that girl with pretty brown hair and brown eyes?" He asked her. "And the other girl who's always hanging out with her?"
"Do you mean, Maryam and Thasneem Sulaiman from Miss Woods' classroom?"
"Exactly!" He replied with widened eyes. "Where are they? Do you see them on the bus?"
Mrs Kumaran looked very carefully at each of the child's faces to see if she could find both of them amongst some of the sleeping children, but to her dismay, she failed to see them in the bus. "I don't see them anywhere on the bus, Mr Carter!" She said anxiously when she had searched for them in every corner of the bus. "Where do you think they could be? What do you reckon we should do now?"
"Wait, I'll talk to the driver and tell him to stop the bus." Mr Carter said as he hurried towards the front of the bus and the bus driver immediately stopped the bus at the side of the street as he instructed him. And then he called Miss Woods and informed her of the missing girls.
"What are you talking about?" Miss Woods exclaimed with disbelief when she heard the news. "It can't be possible, because I saw them both on the bus and marked both of their names before I finally got down from it! They both had been seated in the middle row of the bus. You better check again, Mr Cater!"
"Mrs Kumaran and I searched for both of them all over the bus before informing you, Miss Woods." He confirmed her. "But they can't be found anywhere inside the bus. I'm sorry, we are worried about them too."
"What do we do now?" She asked him with distress.
"Tell the bus driver to stop the bus and mark the names and counts of the children on your bus to confirm that all the boys are there."
"Okay, I'll get back to you in a while, Mr Carter." She said before she kept the phone.
His phone began to ring a few minutes later and he immediately answered the call when he saw that it was from Miss Woods.
"Mr Carter!" She said in a voice which suggested emergency. "Three of the boys are missing from our bus!!"
"Three?" He asked, thinking that he had heard her wrong.
"Yes, three of them are missing, Mr Carter!" He heard her fear coated voice from the other end.