‘He’s my husband.’ Joy’s eyes darted about nervously as if she didn’t want anyone to hear. ‘I hope you don’t mind me asking, but did you notice if he was coughing? He gets such a bad cough this time of year and he refuses to take his vitamins!’

‘He didn’t cough once,’ Nicola assured her.

As they reached the top of the staircase, Shimlara said, ‘Has Silent Fred always been, um, silent?’

‘Oh!’ Joy suddenly looked flustered. ‘I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t be wasting your time talking about such trivial matters! Now if you’ll just step this way, you’ll see there is a room for each of you.’

It seemed Silent Fred’s silence was going to remain a mystery.

Joy led them along a corridor with a series of opened doors. Their bags had been carefully placed just inside each door.

‘Dinner will be served at 6 pm. You’ll hear the bells,’ said Joy. ‘So that gives you plenty of time to have a warm bubble bath if you choose. Would any of you like me to run your bath?’

They all stared at her. They were perfectly capable of running their own baths.

‘Oh, that’s okay,’ said Nicola uncomfortably. She wondered whether this was the sort of thing servants usually did.

‘I should tell you that the Commander and his family normally dress for dinner,’ said Joy.

‘Doesn’t everybody?’ chortled Sean.

Now it was Joy’s turn to stare. ‘Oh, I’m sorry, sir, I mean, they dress up for dinner. Quite formal clothes. If you don’t have anything appropriate you’ll find a well-stocked wardrobe in your room. The Commander wishes you to help yourself to any of the clothes with his compliments. They’re all new, of course.’

‘Goodness,’ murmured Katie.

‘Naturally, there is a bowl of ShobbleChoc in each room, which we will keep filled for you,’ said Joy. ‘If there is anything else you need, just dial nine on your phone and a staff member will attend to you in exactly 4.5763 seconds. Please feel free to time us.’

‘I’m sure that won’t be necessary,’ said Nicola, giving Sean a warning look. It was the sort of thing he’d take pleasure in trying.

‘Then I’ll leave you to relax,’ said Joy. ‘I’ll meet you at the bottom of the stairs at six o’clock so I can lead you to the dining room. It’s an honour to welcome you to Shobble.’

She bowed slightly and turned to go. The Space Brigade looked at each other solemnly for a few seconds until Joy was safely down the stairs, then they all said at the same time, ‘ShobbleChoc!’ and went running in different directions down the corridor, bumping into each other as they looked for their rooms.

Nicola found her bag in a room right at the end of the corridor.