‘That’s really creepy the way you do that,’ said Joshua.

At that moment there was a thud of something falling.

‘Someone’s sent us a message through the underground chute,’ said Serena. She walked over to the side of the cave, moved aside a rock and picked up a tube with a rolled-up parchment inside it.

‘Wow. I wish we had a way of contacting each other like that on Earth,’ said Sean.

‘We do,’ said Tyler patiently. ‘It’s called the postal system.’

Serena looked at the parchment and brought it over to Topaz. ‘It’s from that newspaper reporter,’ she said.

Topaz took the letter. She read a few lines then looked up and smiled. ‘She’s going to run a story about the protest march for us!’ She went back to reading and her smile disappeared.

‘What is it?’ asked Nicola anxiously.

Topaz looked up again. ‘Enrico has found out that Katie escaped. He’s not happy.’

‘What do you mean by “not happy”?’

Topaz said, ‘He’s on his way to find us.’

35

‘Everyone who helped Katie has gone into hiding,’ said Topaz. ‘Joy, Silent Fred, the nice Security Thugs and all of the Katie Hobbs Fan Club.’

Katie looked devastated. ‘I shouldn’t have escaped,’ she said. ‘I’ve put them all in danger!’

‘It gets worse,’ said Topaz. ‘Everyone in this cave has been put on trial for a whole list of crimes. We’ve all been found guilty.’

‘What sort of crimes?’ asked Nicola.

‘Let’s see.’ Topaz looked again at the reporter’s letter. ‘Disobeying a direct order of the Commander-in-Chief, Impersonating a Hairity, Stealing a Hot-Air Balloon.’

‘That’s an outrage! A travesty!’ said Nicola. She thought for a few seconds. ‘Although, I guess we are guilty of all those things.’

‘But we should have a chance to defend ourselves!’ said Greta. ‘How can they have a trial without us even being there?’

‘The judge was a hairity,’ said Topaz. ‘We’ve all been sentenced to a lifetime in jail. The Security Thugs are under orders to capture us, dead or alive. They’re on their way here with Enrico. We’ve got twenty-four hours at the most. And the worst part is, they’ll all be armed with Despair Gas.’

‘What’s Despair Gas?’ asked Katie.

‘It’s terrible, terrible stuff,’ said Topaz, which wasn’t exactly helpful.

Serena said, ‘You know how in the Valley of High Hopes you felt filled with hope? Like you could do anything in the world?’

They all nodded.

‘Well, Despair Gas has the opposite effect. One whiff of Despair Gas and you feel so miserable you want to lie down and give up. It’s like how Topaz felt with her cold but far, far worse.’

‘Can’t you just wear masks,’ asked Sean, ‘so you don’t breathe it in?’

‘It’s strong enough to get through any material,’ said Joshua.