"I saw you both! You were fantastic!" Katie was swimming up to them. "You did it perfectly!"The princess and Shimlara beamed and Nicola understood that they both had wanted to be praised. It must have been Katie's experience with her little brothers that helped her know the right thing to say.
"You were both great!" she agreed.
"Yep, I think you're ready to try catching a wave now." Sean and Tyler appeared next to them, paddling on the boogie boards they'd picked up from the trailer.
"Catch one?" said Shimlara. "How could we catch one? And what would we do with it when we caught it?"
"I don't think they're ready to try boogie boarding yet," said Nicola, giving Sean a warning look. No need to rush things.
"Why? Is boogie boarding just for boys?" asked Shimlara.
"No!" cried Nicola, Katie, and Greta all at the same time, in the same horrified tone of voice.
"Then I shall try it," said the princess. "I was very good at wave-ducking. I expect I will be outstanding at boogie boarding. Demonstrate it to me, Earthling Boy."
"Actually, you can call me Sean, Alien Girl," said Sean.
"Oh!" Nicola spoke quickly, hoping that the princess hadn't heard the Alien Girl part over the crashing of the waves. "You don't even know our names! We were so busy kidnapping you, we forgot to introduce ourselves. How rude!"
"I'm Katie," shouted Katie as they all jumped over a wave. "I'd curtsy, but it's a bit hard while we're swimming."
"You may kiss my hand instead."The princess graciously held out her hand.
"Come off it!" exploded Sean. "I'm not kissing any girl's hand, even if you are a princess. I'm Sean, that's Tyler, Greta, Shimlara, Katie, and Nic-the-boss.We're pleased to meet you and we're pleased to kidnap you. Now do you want to try boogie boarding or not?"
Nicola was going to murder Sean. She hoped he suffocated under a huge pile of garbage, because if this mission failed it would be his fault.
The princess narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Yes, I do want to try it, Sean."
"Good! Tyler can show you what to do. On you go." Sean slid off the board and helped the princess lie down on the board and adjust the ankle strap.
"Nicola, you should put a stop to this," hissed Greta. "She'll fall off and she'll be mad and the mission will fail."
"Do you think?" said Nicola vaguely, but she knew there was nothing she could do to stop them. It didn't matter how much she yelled at them, the princess and Sean were both too stubborn to listen.
Tyler showed the princess how to paddle with her hands and kick with her legs. "You're not wearing flippers, so you'll have to kick really hard."
"You!" The princess pointed at Greta. "Get me some of those flipper things immediately!"
Greta frowned. "On this planet we say please."
"We don't have any flippers in your size, Princess." Sean swung her board around so it was facing the shore. "Anyway, I'm going to give you a push, so just enjoy the ride.Whatever you do, don't look behind you!"
A beautiful, smooth, curling wave was heading toward them. It was perfect for boogie boarding but it was very big.
"Not that one, Sean!" called out Nicola. "At least try a smaller one."
Sean cupped his hand behind his ear and frowned, shrugging his shoulders and pretending that he couldn't hear what she was saying. Oh, for goodness sake.
"Ooh, I don't want to watch!" Katie covered her eyes.
"Is he trying to kill her?" asked Shimlara with interest.
The wave was nearly upon them.The princess paddled her hands and kicked her legs, imitating Tyler. She looked very determined. Nicola had to admire her.
"Now hold on tight!" Sean gave the boogie board an almighty shove.
Clinging on to the sides of the board, the princess plunged headfirst over the crest of the wave. "WHOOOEEEEEEE!" she shrieked as her tiara flew straight off her head and the board streaked toward the shore.