Greta snorted and reached into Nicola’s bag to pull out the jar. ‘Yes, but you didn’t pick up the chilli, did you? This is turmeric. It wouldn’t hurt a fly.’ Nicola looked down at the jar in her hands and saw to her horror that she’d accidently picked up a jar filled with yellow spice.

‘Oh,’ she said. ‘Well, anyway, what useful thing did you bring, Greta?’

‘A compass,’ said Greta smugly.

Nicola had to admit that a compass probably was a sensible thing to bring. ‘What about you, Katie?’

Katie looked slightly embarrassed. ‘All I could think to bring was my Travel Scrabble set. You know, for if we get bored.’

‘I brought some really useful stuff,’ said Sean, pulling things out from his bag to show them. ‘My new Screaming Puppies CD in case we need some excellent music, and a bread knife, a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter in case there’s a hunger emergency.’

‘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 must 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.’