'They're going to be asleep for at least a week,' said Greta.
'What?' Nicola turned to look at her. 'How do you know that?'
Greta handed her a single sheet of paper. 'It was pinned to the stable wall.'
ATTENTION: SPACE BRIGADE
WE KNOW THE MISSION THAT ENRICO HAS SET FOR YOU. WE WILL DEFEND TOPAZ SILVERBELL WITH OUR LIVES! WE KINDLY SUGGEST YOU IGNORE HIS DASTARDLY REQUEST AND RETURN TO YOUR OWN PLANET. ALTERNATIVELY, FEEL FREE TO ENJOY A RELAXING CHOCOLATE-TASTING HOLIDAY - WE WELCOME TOURISTS. HOWEVER, IF YOU COME ANYWHERE NEAR TOPAZ SILVERBELL THE CONSEQUENCES WILL BE SERIOUS.
YOURS,
THE TOPAZ SUPPORTERS COMMITTEE
PS YOUR SHOBGOBBLES HAVE NOT BEEN HARMED IN ANY WAY. THEY WILL SIMPLY ENJOY A REFRESHING COMA FOR THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS. WE DO APOLOGISE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE BUT WE MUST DEFEND OUR LEADER. IN SPITE OF THE LIES ENRICO MIGHT HAVE TOLD YOU, TOPAZ IS TRYING TO DO THE BEST THING FOR THE PEOPLE OF SHOBBLE.
'Well, this is just great,' said Sean. 'Don't these stupid Topaz supporters know we're on their side? What are we meant to do? The ba
d guys hate us and the good guys hate us too!'
He turned away from them, his face red, his fists clenched. Suddenly, to Nicola's shock, he punched the stable wall. Nicola had never seen him so angry.
'Ow!' said Sean miserably, cradling his grazed knuckle in the other hand.
For some reason, Sean's anger made Nicola feel calm and mature. Punching walls wasn't going to help the situation.
'We're just going to have to find Topaz and explain what's happened,' said Nicola.
'But how?' said Tyler. 'It will take us forever to get to the Cloud-Capped Mountain on foot.'
'I don't know,' admitted Nicola.
They sat on the stable floor next to their snoring ShobGobbles. Sean sucked his knuckle and looked embarrassed.
Shimlara, meanwhile, had wandered over to a noticeboard plastered with brochures that were obviously meant to appeal to visitors to the inn. They were advertising things like 'Biter-sighting' trips on the Raging River and tours of a marshmallow mine.
'Hey!' said Shimlara. She snatched a leaflet off the board and held it out for them.
It said, HOT-AIR BALLOON TRIPS TO THE CLOUD-CAPPED MOUNTAIN.
'Perfect!' said Nicola excitedly.
'No, it's not,' said Greta. 'Look what it says at the bottom.'
'Picnic lunch provided,' read out Sean. 'What's the problem with that?'
'Further down.'
'Oh,' said everybody at the same time.
At the bottom of the brochure it said: BOOKINGS ACCEPTED FROM HAIRITIES ONLY.
'We'd be fine if we had Katie,' said Shimlara.
'Katie isn't a hairity anymore,' said Greta. 'No more special treatment for her.' She sounded far too pleased about it. Nicola wanted to slap her.
Shimlara dropped the brochure and joined the others on the ground.
Nobody said anything for a while.