'Where's the bread?' asked Nicola.
'I ate it,' said Sean happily. 'There already was a hunger emergency.'
'Great,' said Nicola. 'What about you, Tyler?'
Tyler winced. 'You'll laugh at me. I was looking around for a weapon too and all I could find was my mum's hair-straightening iron. She's always burning herself on it.'
'Well, it's better than a jar of turmeric,' said Nicola. 'What about you, Shimlara? Did your mum give you some good weapons?'
Shimlara's mother had provided some great weapons for their last mission.
'Sorry,' said Shimlara. 'Mum said nothing bad ever happens on Shobble, so there was no point. All she gave me was this Instant Clothes Dryer.' She held up a tiny fan. 'Mum said that because of the snow, she was more worried about us walking around in damp clothes than anything else.'
'Well I guess that could come in handy,' said Nicola, trying not to let her disappointment show.
'I think I can hear bells,' said Katie.
There was a musical jingling sound in the distance. Then came a thudding vibration like hooves.
'Oh my goodness, what are those strange animals?' asked Greta. 'Are they dangerous?'
It looked like a pack of giant chickens was hurtling across the snow towards them. They were pulling a large silver sleigh behind them. A man wearing a top hat held the reins, and instead of a whip, he was holding what seemed to be a huge white feather above his head. Every now and then he brought it down gently on the backs of the creatures.
'I think they m
ust be ShobGobbles,' said Shimlara. 'They're native creatures on Shobble and they're very friendly. Gosh, you guys, it's hurting my brain having to remember every single thing I learned in class.'
As the sleigh drew closer, they got a closer look at the ShobGobbles. Each animal had three intelligent brown eyes fringed with long curly eyelashes under one elegantly arched eyebrow. They had tiny kitten-like ears, snub noses and luxuriously feathered wings that flapped gently by their sides. Their legs were thin and spindly, with large chunky hooves. They were making soft chirping sounds like sparrows.
'Oh, they're beautiful,' said Katie, who loved animals.
'Ugly-looking things,' shuddered Greta, who didn't.
The man in the top hat pulled on the reins. The sleigh came to a stop and he held up a small board with the words Space Brigade? written in chalk.
'Oh, yes,' said Nicola after a second. 'That's us!'
The man immediately leapt down from the sleigh, lifted his top hat and bowed. He was mostly bald except for a circle of fuzzy red hair. He was a bit like Santa Claus without the beard: short and plump, with round apple-red cheeks, a big smile and shiny deep-set eyes like raisins in a gingerbread man. To her immense surprise he walked straight up to Nicola and gave her a big warm hug.
'Oh!' Nicola patted the man on the back awkwardly. 'Hi there.'
He then proceeded to silently hug each member of the Space Brigade.
'I just remembered something else we learned,' Shimlara whispered quietly to Nicola. 'Shobblings are the nicest, kindest people in the whole galaxy.'
'Can't they talk?' Nicola whispered back.
'Um, I don't know. I might have stopped listening during that part. It's sort of remarkable that I've remembered this much.'
The man was busy writing down something else. It took ages. The members of the Space Brigade exchanged puzzled glances. Finally he held up the board.
Hi there! My name is Silent Fred. I am your driver. Welcome! You will be warm and comfy under the rug in the sleigh with a delicious hot chocolate. I will take you straight to the Commander-in-Chief's cottage. Welcome! (You are the first Earthlings I have ever met. You look very nice and normal! Do you speak Onglish? I hope so!)
'Onglish?' said Nicola to Shimlara.
'It's ninety-nine point nine per cent the same as English,' said Shimlara. 'Or ninety-nine point six. Anyway, it's almost exactly the same.'
'Oh, okay. Yes, we speak Onglish,' said Nicola. 'Thank you very much, ah, Silent Fred.'