Silent Fred wrote, Explosion.
'Well, we know that,' said Greta. 'What caused it?'
He shrugged and wrote, Don't know, but Nicola, who was watching him closely, saw a curious look in Silent Fred's pale blue eyes. It seemed to her that he did know, he just didn't want to say.
He turned to face the front and brought the feather down twice on the backs of the ShobGobbles. The sleigh moved ahead at a quicker pace, leaving the mine behind them.
'I hope nobody was hurt,' said Katie.
'Maybe it was some sort of electrical fault,' said Tyler.
'They'll have to change their slogan,' said Sean. 'It could be: Just the occasional moment's trouble on our pretty planet of Shobble.'
'I wonder,' said Shimlara thoughtfully, 'if that explosion had anything to do with our mission.'
Suddenly everybody looked serious. They were all remembering that this trip wasn't just about hot chocolate and rainbows.
Their journey continued on with the Space Brigade lost in their own thoughts. After a while they passed another marshmallow mine but this time there were no explosions.
Gradually the countryside became hillier and they began to pass small, humble villages. The homes were pretty and neat, but most looked to be in bad repair. It didn't seem like the people of Shobble had much money. If it wasn't for the permanent rainbows splashing everything with colour, the villages might have looked quite depressing. The villagers seemed to be mostly bent old women and tiny children in ragged clothes, who came running when they heard the sleigh bells, their cheeks pink and glowing in the cold.
They passed a giant barn-like building with a sign reading, DEPARTMENT OF FREE GOODS AND SERVICES. There was a huge CLOSED sticker stamped over the sign.
'Guess they couldn't afford to keep running that department,' joked Sean.
Nicola saw Silent Fred's shoulders move as if he were about to comment but he didn't turn around.
As they came to the top of a hill, they caught their first glimpse of an ocean stretching out to the horizon.
There was something strange about it.
'Oh!' Nicola suddenly realised what it was. 'It's frozen.'
As the sleigh crested the hill, they could see huge blue-silver waves snap-frozen just before they crashed on the shore. It was extraordinary.
Dotted along the horizon, far out to sea, were large black structures.
'I wonder what they are,' said Tyler.
Silent Fred passed back his board. It said: Chocolate rigs. They're drilling for chocolate. At that moment they saw what looked like a fountain of chocolate spurt up into the sky near one of the rigs.
'We must be nearly there.' Shimlara pointed at a small sign with an arrow. It said: COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF'S COTTAGE.
Nicola sat up straighter, wondering if she was going to make the right impression on Enrico. It was almost a pity Mully had said he was so charming. It was sometimes easier to be confident and friendly when you met very shy people.
They could see a big brick wall in the distance. It seemed to stretch on for ages in either direction.
'It's like the Great Wall of China,' commented Greta, sounding so knowledgeable you would think she'd built the Great Wall herself.
Straight ahead of them was a set of tall iron gates. There was a cluster of people in front of it. Some of them were obviously miners or drillers, while others were dressed in more ordinary patched clothes. They all carried little notebooks and pens. As the sleigh got closer, they jostled about, craning their necks to see who was in the sleigh. Suddenly they began pointing and jumping about excitedly.
'I think they're pointing at Katie,' said Shimlara.
Katie, who was removing her hat, looked up in surprise. 'Me? Why me?'
Silent Fred turned around to look at them. His eyes widened when he saw Katie.