through the hedge and gasped. âMy goodness, itâs Saffron!â
The kids nodded to one another. Thought so!
Inside the Yeohsâ mansion, mayhem had broken out. There were swarms of guests milling about looking concerned. The paramedics had Jasmine on a stretcher and were taking her straight to the hospital. Photographers were snapping pictures as Bindi and Robert waded through the crowds, looking for their mum.
Mrs. Yeoh was nowhere to be seen, but the kids passed by the gruff man whoâd been rude to Karl earlier. He was chatting to a group of women, who seemed to hang on his every word.
âYes, darlings, this season I will be introducing a brand new skin into my range. Crocodile and snake are so last season. This will wow the fashion world like nothing youâve ever known before!â
âPlease put me on the wait list for it right this instant, Claudio. I can hardly wait!â
âSweetie, this is so exclusive there wonât even be a wait list,â he chortled.
All of a sudden Bindi figured out why Mrs. Yeoh would want to steal a Komodo dragon, and she felt sick to her stomach. She moved over to the designer and glared at him. He ignored her, so she stamped on his foot as hard as she could.
He squealed and hopped around, holding his foot. âOwwww!â
Bindi shouted at him, âI donât know how important you think you are, but if you think for an instant you will be able to kill a Komodo dragon just to make a stupid handbagâ¦â
There were a few gasps from the surrounding guests. Terri had made her way over to Robert and was all ready to launch into a lecture about not disappearing during a gala dinner, when she heard Bindiâs outburst and stopped, concerned.
The designer glanced around guiltily and saw the guests looking accusingly at him. âWhat? Whatâs wrong with trying something new? It is fashion, after all.â
âYouâre talking about a beautiful living creature that deserves to wear the skin she was born in. And she is an endangered reptile, which makes it illegal! Whatâs more, this is supposed to be a dinner to celebrate the opening of a reptile park, which has been set up to protect these extraordinary creatures!â Bindi shook her head in disgust.
The designer realized the crowd had turned against him. âLook, I didnât even want to do it. It was Cynthia. She wanted a new handbag in a skin that no one else had so everyone would be jealous of her.â
At that moment the police entered the building, holding on to a struggling Mrs. Yeoh, with Dr. Timothy following closely behind.
The policeman spoke to Karl. âWe caught her sneaking out the back door.â
âHow dare you treat me like this in my own home?â she howled. âIâve done nothing wrong. When my husband hears about thisâ¦â
Camera flashes were going off constantly now, but Mrs. Yeoh seemed oblivious. She was livid. But she stopped short when she saw Claudio. âYou keep your trap shut!â she hissed.
Robert couldnât help himself. âToo late. You can hold your press conferenceâ¦from prison.â
Glaring at Dr. Timothy as she was led away by the police, she screeched, âIf you hadnât brought those meddlesome Irwins here, everything would have been fine!â
The sun shone early the next morning as the three Irwins scrambled off the bumboat and raced toward the entrance of the Pulau Ubin Reptile Park.
âMum, I canât believe you forgot to set the alarm,â Bindi said as she raced ahead of her family.
Robert was trying to eat a bagel and run at the same time. âI canât believe we didnât get a chance to eat breakfast sitting down again!â he groaned as he followed his sister.
A huge crowd was gathered outside the entrance of the park, and Dr. Timothy was already there. A beautiful, big red ribbon had been placed across the width of the gates. When Dr. Timothy