Mully sounded just like an ordinary mom, but Nicola noticed her eyes sharply darting back and forth, looking for possible escape routes, just like a soldier.
Mully's voice popped into Nicola's head. Don't worry, Nicola.There's always hope. Even when it seems hopeless. Oh! And my sincere apologies for so rudely talking in your head like this.
"Right," said the king. "Handcuff them all together, please. Hurry up! We must get them tortured and jailed lickety-split, so the queen and I can get back to our vacation!"
A huge guard seized Nicola's wrist and cuffed her.
Meanwhile the princess was having a tantrum. Sand flew as she stomped her feet. "I was having FUN! For the first time ever in my WHOLE life I was having fun and now you have to RUIN it, just because they kidnapped me! Who cares if they kidnapped me?"
Suddenly Nicola had an idea. "But remember, Princess Petronella, we didn't actually kidnap you, did we?"
Sean caught on fast. "That's right. I was innocently dropping off a friendly invitation to a pool party when you woke up and asked if you could come to Earth with us! We said, sure, why not?!"
The princess stopped crying and stomping and looked at them carefully.
"Ah! A perfectly understandable misunderstanding,Your Most Royal Highnesses!" cried Georgio. "Kids, eh?!"
The king and queen didn't look impressed.
"Is that true, Nelly?" he said. "Because if it is, you'll have to be punished quite severely!"
"Yes, that's right," the queen put her hands on her hips. "You can't go running off with strange Earthlings in the middle of the night whenever it suits you! If this is true, you're in very BIG trouble, young lady! You'll have to ... you'll have to ..."
The queen seemed to be casting about her mind for a suitable punishment. She finished triumphantly, "You'll have to make your own bed for an entire YEAR!"
"Make my own bed? Myself? For a whole year?"The princess looked quite faint.
"So, which is it?" snapped the king. "Did they kidnap you or not? Because if they did, we're taking them off right now for torture."
Everybody looked at the princess.
Nicola spun the handcuff--which was sized for a Globagaskarian adult, not an Earthling child--back and forth like a bracelet.Would the princess make such a big sacrifice for her new friends? It was a real test of friendship and Nicola suspected that the princess would fail it.
Finally the princess spoke up. "I'll tell you the truth."
CHAPTER 37
"They didn't kidnap me," said the princess. "As if they could kidnap me! Look at them! They're so tiny, they barely reach my knees! Even Shimlara is short! I was bored and lonely and I felt like going with them on a trip to Earth. Actually, I ran straight into their helicopter."
Well, that part is true, thought Nicola, even though we were tickling her at the time. In fact, it was easier getting her on to the helicopter than they'd expected. Maybe it really was true?
There was silence.
"Uncuff the prisoners," ordered the king.
Nicola slid off her handcuff and handed it back to the guard.
"You were lonely," the queen pressed a hand dramatically to her heart. "Our Nelly was lonely! Oh, dear, that's a tragedy! Darling, you must come with us right now on the rest of our vacations!"
"She can't have a vacation! She's being punished!" boomed the king.
"Actually, I'd rather stay here on the beach for the night," said the princess.
"We'll make sure Nelly makes her bed in the morning," said Sean. "We'll even give her some extra chores if you like. Make her work extra hard."
"Well, I guess you can stay here for one night, Nelly," said the queen, looking around the beach doubtfully. "Shall we arrange for a few dozen servants to stay with you?"
"That's okay," said Nicola firmly. "We don't need servants here."