Shania runs up to me, grabs hold of my hand, and hangs off it. “We came to look at the shark boat and then we made a fire and now we’re having a BARBECUE!” she yells, before shooting off to join the other Lost Girls now jumping over the waves.

“Crowky’s gone! Crowky’s gone!” shouts Hansini, spinning around and around in circles before throwing herself into the foaming sea.

For now, I think.

“What’s this all about?” says Stella, nodding toward the boat.

“We discovered that it’s too cold for dragons to fly to the End,” says Rose. “They freeze.”

“So Rose made that boat with powerful magic!” cries Win.

“Magic?” Stella narrows her eyes. “If I’d known you could magic stuff up I wouldn’t have spent weeks building a flipping massive bridge.”

“I can’t do magic in Roar,” says Rose, quickly, “and I can only do it under very special circumstances. You know, life-and-death situations, when there’s a vital need for something.”

“Huh,” says Stella, followed by “Hang on . . . What’s that?”

A dark shape has slipped away from the side of the Bowt and is moving toward us. It’s a rowboat and sitting hunched inside it, driving the oars through the water, are two furry figures.

“That is two honey badgers in a boat,” I say.

“Right,” says Stella, accepting this as easily as she accepted the news that Rose made a ship using magic.

“What’s a honey badger?” asks Win.

The boat is getting closer. The badgers’ tiny eyes gleam in the darkness and their muscles bulge. Running down their foreheads is a single fat white stripe.

“A badger who likes honey,” says Rose. “They’re cute.”

It soon becomes clear that they’re not cute. When the boat is close to the shore they leap into the sea and start dragging it toward us, snarling as they go. The Lost Girls run behind Stella, and Win pulls out his wooden sword. I’m fairly certain I saw honey badgers on a nature documentary once, and they were about the size of a fox, but these ones look more like bears. Stripy bears. The honey badgers don’t speak. They just stand there glaring at us as the sea foams around their stubby legs.

After a moment’s awkward silence Rose says, “Hello . . . I’m your captain.”

Their heads swivel toward her and their mouths snap open, revealing vicious teeth. Then they grunt. I guess this is how they say hello.

Rose looks at me. “So . . . do we just get in?”

“You’re the captain,” I say.

The slightly smaller honey badger barks and Rose wades forward and pulls herself into the rowboat. Win and I follow. One of the Lost Girls, Nell, tries to get in after us, but Stella yanks her back. “Oh no you don’t. You’re staying right here.”