‘It doesn’t look like you’d be in especially safe hands crossing that,’ commented Shimlara as she and Sean pulled up on either side of Nicola.

‘Let’s just fly the ShobGobbles across,’ said Sean.

Nicola noticed Quicksilver tense up and flatten his ears.

‘I think it’s too far for them,’ she said, and Quicksilver relaxed.

Tyler arrived next. ‘You wouldn’t want to fall in,’ he said, looking at the river nervously. He wasn’t a confident swimmer and always stayed at the shallow end of the pool.

They all turned around to look for Greta. She pulled up beside them a minute later, her face bright red. ‘I’m sure we didn’t really need to go that fast,’ she said.

As they headed towards the bridge they came across a bearded, toothless man sitting in a picnic chair with his feet up on a long table in front of him.

‘Shock-Sticks! Shock-Sticks! We’ve got the best-quality Shock-Sticks on Shobble!’ chanted the man when he saw them.

‘What are Shock-Sticks?’ asked Sean.

‘Well, they’re to protect yourselves from the Biters, of course, young fella,’ said the man. ‘The river is full of them.’

‘What’s a Biter?’ asked Nicola.

The man chuckled. ‘Oh, come on now, don’t you be pretending a smart-looking girl like you has never heard of a Biter. I won’t be falling for that.’

‘We really don’t know,’ said Nicola. ‘We come from another planet.’

‘Well, if you really want to know, go and read that sign over there.’ The man gestured at a small wooden sign near the bridge. He peered up at her. ‘Hey, do I know you from somewhere?’

‘I don’t think so,’ said Nicola.

‘Biters,’ said Sean, as they rode their ShobGobbles towards the sign. ‘I wonder if they’re like mosquitoes.’

When they got to the sign, they all read it silently together.

WARNING!

THIS RIVER IS HOME TO THE NATIVE BITER. BITERS ARE RIVER-DWELLING CREATURES ABLE TO GROW TO SIX METRES IN LENGTH. AN ADULT BITER HAS OVER TWO THOUSAND RAZOR-SHARP TEETH AND IS ABLE TO LEAP OVER THIRTY METRES IN THE AIR. ALTHOUGH THEY ARE HERBIVORES, BITERS ENJOY ATTACKING HUMANS OF ALL SHAPES AND SIZES. THEY TAKE LARGE BITES AND THEN IMMEDIATELY SPIT OUT THE BLOODY FLESH (ALMOST WITH DISGUST). AS THE NORMAL HABITAT OF THE BITER IS DARK, MURKY AND UNDERWATER, THEY ARE EXTREMELY SURPRISED WHEN A WHITE LIGHT IS SHONE IN THEIR EYES. THIS HAS LED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ‘SHOCK-STICK’ – AN EFFECTIVE FORM OF PROTECTION AGAINST THE BITER. TO AVOID UPSETTING FATALITIES, ANYONE CROSSING THE SAFE HANDS BRIDGE SHOULD CARRY A SHOCK-STICK AT ALL TIMES.

‘They don’t sound much like mosquitoes,’ said Sean.

21

‘We don’t have any money to buy Shock-Sticks,’ said Nicola.