"Really?"The princess seemed quite dazed.
"Okay!" said Tyler briskly. "I think the sausages are nearly ready. How are those rolls going?"
The princess bent her head obediently. "Nearly done."
As Nicola looked around, she saw that every member of the Space Brigade, even Greta, was trying to suppress a giant grin.Things were looking up.
She sneaked a look at her countdown watch. It said:
Tomorrow is the day--Are you nearly done? If not . . . PANIC NOW!!!
For once, Nicola didn't feel like throwing the watch on the ground and smashing it into a million pieces.There was actually no need to panic.Things were progressing well. After they'd eaten dinner, she would very politely but firmly ask the princess if she would please change her mind about destroying Earth.
The princess would say "sure, no problem" and apologize profusely for even considering such a thing. After that they would all go to sleep on the beach in their sleeping bags, and the next morning after a delicious celebratory breakfast, they would fly the princess back to Globagaskar.
Then Nicola could relax and enjoy her birthday. She would probably receive particularly excellent presents because everybody would be so pleased with her.
Of course, on the other hand, the palace guards could be about to track them down on Earth any second now, the princess could refuse to change her mind (after all, she'd never changed her mind about anything before), and Nicola and the rest of the Space Brigade could be spending her birthday being tortured while Earth was being destroyed.
Tomorrow was either going to be Nicola's very best birthday ever--or her very worst.
CHAPTER 35
ASK NOW! HURRY UP AND ASK HER!
Nicola wasn't saying a word out loud, but inside her head she was yelling and screaming at herself like Mrs. Zucchini on the hottest day of the year.
They'd eaten the sausages and Princess Petronella had called them "strangely delicious." She had also gotten a bad attack of the hiccups after drinking a can of Coke and had actually giggled when Sean had teased her about it.Then she'd said the stars in the sky reminded her of the diamonds on the Rainbow Palace back home and had commented on the fact that even though the "yellow dirt" had burned her earlier, it had quite an "unusual texture." Now they were all toasting marshmallows on sticks in the fire, and the princess was asking lots of interested, polite questions.
She hadn't said one nasty thing about Earth, or in fact one nasty thing at all, for ages. Nicola was almost starting to like her, for heaven's sakes! Now was the absolutely perfect time to ask, but she was suffering from a terrible attac
k of nerves. She couldn't bear to see the princess turn back into her bossy, hard, princessy self, and if she said no, what then? Nicola was all out of ideas.
She shouted silently at herself: STOP BEING SUCH A COWARDLY CUSTARD!
It's okay, Nicola, just relax and take your time.You've done a great job so far.
It was Shimlara's voice inside her head. Nicola looked around for her and saw that she was lying on her stomach on the opposite side of the fire, not even looking at Nicola.
Nicola responded, I thought it was bad manners to read people's minds without their permission!
Ooops! Sorry! It's just that you were yelling so loud in your head, I couldn't help but overhear it!
The princess held up her stick and said, "Can I eat my mershmullow yet?"
"Marshmallow," corrected Katie gently. She examined the princess's marshmallow. "A perfect golden color! Go ahead."
The princess opened her mouth to swallow it whole and everybody yelled out at the same time, "CAREFUL, IT'S HOT!"
The princess stopped with her mouth still open and stared at them.
"Thank you." She smiled, and nibbled at the side of the marshmallow. "Mmmm, yum! It's all soft and sticky on the inside!"
"Whenever we go camping," commented Sean, "Mom always burns her marshmallows black. Every single time. She starts talking and forgets what she's doing."
Nicola laughed. "Yes, and she gets so angry and surprised each time it happens!"
"Do you get to go on vacations with your parents?" asked the princess.