Beneath her feet, metal cobbles mixed with stone. Prue watched the flurry of activity. Everyone was dressed so smartly: tailored jackets, straight trousers, big skirts, puffed shoulders, satin bows, patterned velvet, high collars, silk cravats pinned with jewelled brooches, tall hats, flat hats, nipped waists, shiny buttons and polished shoes. It made her head spin. She looked down at her patched-up dungarees. But like Francis had told her before her very first tree climb: do one brave thing and the next one will be easier, and before you know it, you’re climbing mountains. He was right, of course, and she’d never looked back, scaling the highest oaks she could find in all of North Owlcot – being rather a nuisance to all manner of birds and squirrels. Now she was with the city people, and she had to act like a city girl: be confident and blend in.

Bells clanged in a distant street as she marched on through the crowd. She passed a store called Everade Easylife – Makers of Steam-Driven Pantry Appliances and paused for a moment to marvel at the strange contraptions in the window – there was some kind of self-mixing pudding bowl whirring and a belt circulating bubbling pots. She carried on towards the sculpture. Cross at the statue, Burlington West, left into Pickwick then Smithy Door, she repeated to herself. She hurried across the road past the sculpture and towards the other side. Opposite was a sign – Burlington West. She smiled; she could do this. Then a bell rang again, but this time it was loud and jarring. She frowned to herself. At that moment she realized she was the only person standing in the middle of the street. Glancing over her shoulder she saw a towering mechanical tram heading straight for her!

Suddenly, there was a cry, and her body was thrust forward. She tumbled on to the pavement on the other side. There was a rush of air and a loud clatter as the tram whizzed by, metal sparks nipping through the air. Prue lay stunned on the cobbles. Beside her was a girl, about her own age, with bright blonde hair and thick, dark eyebrows. The girl stood and brushed down her smart trousers and neat violet jacket. Prue felt too stunned to move.

The girl stared down at Prue with large, wide eyes. “Have you got a death wish? You’d be flatter than sheet metal if I hadn’t just pushed you out of the way. Are you all right?”

Prue stared back, still trying to figure out what had happened.

“I said, are you all right?” the girl said more slowly.

“Err, I think I am.”

A small crowd had gathered. “That was a close call!” said a young gentleman.

“Lucky the girl acted fast!” said a lady.

“Are you injured?” said a personifate goshawk, swooping to land beside Prue and peering into her face.