A while later, back at the party, the koalas had danced away the greater part of the evening, and night had fallen on Koalaland. Contrary to the pessimistic expectations of the policekoalas, no big fights had erupted. The minor disputes that had broken out here and there were quickly and efficiently quelled by Duffy, Mabo, Doefoo, or their strategically-placed deputies. Nonetheless, the several medical specialists on the scene had to treat a number of victims of alcohol intoxication, as well as two cases of fainting due to unknown causes. But these insignificant events were hardly noticed by the multitude that was enjoying itself royally. Milly, however, was a notable exception.
Humpy was engaged in intimate conversation with Meppy, his multi-colored date, when Milly came up and tapped him on the shoulder.
'Oh, Humpy,' she said, and he turned around to face her. 'I am so worried about Bumpy.
It's been almost four hours now. Something must be wrong. His meeting couldn't be lasting this long.'
'Mmm, I see what you mean,' Humpy replied. Of course, he didn't share her nervous concern. He simply thought that his friend had decided to spend the evening, and maybe longer, with the mysterious beauty who had written him the note. 'But you never know, maybe something else important came up.'
'No, I just feel that something is wrong. What shall we do?' Milly asked.
'Well, the truth is, I don't know.' Humpy didn't want to have to leave Meppy, nor did he want to bother Bumpy and his new-found friend, yet Milly insisted:
'Oh, please, Humpy! Why don't you and Dumpy go look for him? I'd really appreciate it,' she pleaded with him.
'Uuh, well,' he hesitated, turning to look at Meppy, who also seemed to think it was a good idea.
'Yes, Humpy, maybe you should be worried, too. Look, you and Dumpy can go find him and see what's going on. We'll wait for you here. We still have most of the night ahead of us!'
Humpy saw little sense in leaving the party now, but knew he had little choice if he wanted to keep the girls happy.
'Okay, no problem. I'll go get Dumpy now, and we'll find Bumpy, but don't let any other koalas conquer your hearts while we're gone!' he added with a charming smile.
'Oh, of course not!' Meppy giggled. 'We won't even dance with anybody until you get back.'
Humpy pushed through the crowd, walking over to where he had last seen Dumpy. He found him, and was quite astonished to see him with his back up against a tree, holding Silly tightly and giving her an unusually long kiss. This wasn't at all like Dumpy, who was very shy by nature.
'Heh hmm,' Humpy cleared his throat to get their attention.
'Hee hee hee, it's Humpy! Hee hee hee!' Silly tittered as she turned her head towards Humpy. 'Are you and Meppy having a good time, too? Hee hee hee!'
'Well, uh, we were, but now Dumpy and I have something to attend to.'
'Uh, gee Humpy, huh uh huh,' Dumpy stammered, in a voice even slower than was his usual, 'I don't wanna leave Silly now, huh uh huh…'
Humpy could see that his friend had had much more than his share of eucalyptus liquor.
This explained his unusually extraverted behavior with his date.
'I know, I know,' Humpy replied, 'but we gotta go find Bumpy. He's been gone for four hours.'
'Four hours? Huh uh huh. It only seems like about thirty minutes to me,' Dumpy responded.
'Well, I guess time flies when you're havin' fun. Now come on,' Humpy said, gently pulling Dumpy by the arm, and away from Silly. 'We gotta go. Silly, I'll bring him back to you as soon as we find Bumpy. Hey, why don't you go over and chat with Milly and Meppy till we get back?'
'Oh, that's a great idea, hee hee hee,' Silly opined. 'We girls have got a lot of gossiping to do, hee hee hee!'
Humpy led Dumpy away from the crowd, almost having to hold him up so that he wouldn't fall over while they walked.
'Gee Humpy, huh uh huh, I didn't wanna leave Silly like that. Bumpy knows what he's doin', he always does.'
'Yeah, well, this time he might have gone too far. He told Milly he'd only be gone for a short while, and now it's been four hours. He must be havin' a really good time with that girl who wrote him the message.'
'Well, gee, we don't wanna bother him, do we? Huh uh huh.'
'No, of course not, but we gotta make up some excuse for him. Here, let's sit down behind this tree,' Humpy suggested, after they had gotten far enough away from the crowd. 'Let's see, what can we tell Milly?'
'Uh, I dunno, huh uh huh,' Dumpy mumbled as he leaned his head back against the tree, closed his eyes, and looked as if he were about to doze off.
'Hey, wake up!' Humpy shook him. 'This is no time to fall asleep. We need a good story!' Humpy urged.
'Uuh, okay. Once upon a time, there was a lil' scrill, who was takin' a walk through the forest...' Dumpy muttered, only half conscious.
'No, no, I don't mean that kind of story. I mean one about Bumpy,' Humpy said.
'Uuuh, gee, okay. Once upon a time, there was a lil' scrill named Bumpy takin' a walk through the forest… huh uh huh,' Dumpy continued.
'Oh, you're no good! Let's see, lemme think,' Humpy pondered, now not caring if his friend fell asleep or not. 'Hmmm,' he muttered to himself, 'how about… hmmm… Bumpy went to his business meeting up in the north, and… Eureka! I got it! Come on, Dumpy, wake up. I'm takin' you back to Silly.'
Hearing her name jolted Dumpy awake: 'Silly! Where? Oh Silly, here I am, huh uh huh…'
'Come on, get up,' Humpy said as he lifted his drunken pal to his feet and pushed him forward. 'We're goin' back to the party.'
They arrived back at the celebration about fifteen minutes afterwards, made their way through the rollicking crowd, and approached the stands where Milly, Silly and Meppy were waiting.
'Oh, that didn't take so long,' Milly was glad to see them, until she noticed that her date was nowhere in sight. 'But where is Bumpy?'
'Yes, Bumpy, well, we found out what happened,' Humpy began to explain. 'You see, we met the koala that Bumpy had his business meeting with, and he told us what happened.'
'Please, tell me! He didn't get hurt, did he?' Milly was most concerned.
'No, I mean, yes, well, a little,' Humpy stuttered.
'Oh, no! I just knew it! I felt it in my bones! The poor dear! Where is he? What happened to him?' Milly was getting frantic.
'Now, don't worry, it isn't as bad as it sounds. Here's what happened,' Humpy began to tell the tall tale he had made up. 'Bumpy went to the business meeting on schedule…'
'What was the name of the koala that he met? Hee hee hee!' Silly was curious.
'Uh, I didn't catch his name,' Humpy replied, since he had forgotten to think up a name.
'Anyway, he went to the meeting, that was up north, near the path to the forest, and right next to the anteater corral.'
'Oh yes, I know just where that is,' Milly said.
'Well, Bumpy was leaning up against the fence of the corral as the two talked business, and wouldn't you know it? One of those anteaters stuck his snoot through two of the boards of the fence, and bit Bumpy right on the leg!'
'Oh, that must have hurt! I hope it isn't serious,' Milly worried.
'No, I'm sure it isn't. The koala said that it was a small wound, but he advised Bumpy to get back to Koalaville at once to see Doctor Koala. Bumpy didn't want to leave. He kept saying that he had to get back here to the party. He was so anxious to see you again, Milly,'
Humpy lied.
'Oh, that poor, sweet dear!' Milly responded, her eyes showing her compassion, as well as her delight that Bumpy thought so highly of her.
'But the other koala insisted he go right to Doctor Koala, saying that that anteater could've had rabies, or some other strange anteater disease of the type that anteaters are prone to getting, and that – who knows? – they might be able to pass on to unsuspecting koalas that they bite in the leg,' Humpy was now lying so convincingly that he himself almost believed his story.
'That's true, I guess. And of course, it was best for him to go back to your grove to see the doctor. After all, the doctors here have their hands full tonight,' Milly thought everything made sense now.
'Well, before leaving, Bumpy told that koala to let you know that he is very sorry for not being able to come back, but that he'd return here to Koalatown within the next few days to apologize to you personally, and … and to give you a kiss to make up for it.'
'Oh, isn't that sweet! But why didn't the koala come to tell me?' Milly wanted to know.
'Oh, well, uuuh...' Humpy wasn't expecting that question. 'Uuuh, well, you see, once Bumpy left, the koala realized that he didn't even know you, so he didn't know how to find you. I guess he was so worried about Bumpy's leg that he didn't think of asking Bumpy where you lived, or anything.'
'Yes, I suppose in a situation like that, you can't think of everything,' Milly responded.
'Right. So anyway, I'm sure he'll be fine, and you'll be hearing from him as soon as Doctor Koala says he can come over here again,' Humpy was quite pleased that she had swallowed his story, lock, stock and barrel.