Silent Fred waved his feather-whip gently at the crowd of people and they obediently stepped away from the sleigh.

As the sleigh moved ahead through the gates, the crowd called out mournful goodbyes to Katie. ‘Come back soon, Katie!’ ‘We’ll never forget you, Katie!’

‘Oh, Katie,’ mimicked Sean, as the gates closed behind them, ‘can I have your signograph? Can I touch your long brown hair?’

Katie kicked him in the shin, and then said guiltily, ‘Sorry, did that hurt?’

Sean bent over, pretending to be in agony, but then something caught his eye and he sat up straight.

‘Wow!’

9

‘I thought the sign said the Commander-in-Chief’s cottage,’ murmured Sean.

Everyone twisted around in their seats to look.

The sleigh was heading up a winding driveway towards a grand mansion. It was lit up by thousands of tiny sparkling fairy lights, and Nicola could see flickering fireplaces through large windows. After the ramshackle wooden houses in the villages they’d passed, this three-storey building looked especially warm and comfortable.

The word ‘opulent’ popped into Nicola’s head. It was the perfect plump, sleek sort of word to describe this place.

‘I wonder,’ said Katie, who had hidden her hair beneath her hat once more, ‘if they deliberately describe it as a cottage so the people of Shobble won’t feel jealous.’

The sleigh came to a stop at an imposing entrance, with wide red-carpeted stairs leading up to huge oak doors. Instantly the doors were flung open and a man appeared, followed by three smiling fluffy-haired Shobblings.

The man was wearing a long, royal blue velvet jacket with gold trimming. He had a thin, white face and his hair was long, straight and shining brown, falling to his waist in a thick ponytail. It was like a beautiful horse’s tail.

Shimlara nudged Katie. ‘Another “hairity” like you.’

‘The wonderful . . . the extraordinary . . . Space Brigade!’ cried the man, and Nicola immediately recognised his deep, honeyed voice. ‘What a pleasure! What an honour!’

Silent Fred passed his board to Nicola. It said, Enrico Aloisio, our wonderful, extraordinary Commander-in-Chief. Nicola noticed he’d carefully drawn a little box and smiley faces around Katie’s signograph.

As Enrico hurried forward to meet them, Silent Fred helped them out of the sleigh. Nicola’s feet had pins and needles from the long journey. She tried to get rid of them by discreetly stamping her feet.

Enrico stopped and stamped his own feet in imitation of Nicola. ‘This is the way you greet people on your planet, is it? How charming!’

‘Um,’ began Nicola, but Sean – grinning widely – was already enthusiastically stomping his feet, so all the other members of the Space Brigade had no choice but to do the same. ‘For heaven’s sake!’ muttered Greta.

As Enrico neared them his smile faded slightly. ‘My goodness. You’re all a lot more . . . youthful . . . than I expected.’