'Good idea, Your Highness,' muttered Greta.
They all waited outside while Shimlara swept into the shop. A moment later she was back again, holding five tickets fanned out in her hand.
'No problemo,' she said. 'We leave in twenty minutes. We meet the balloon and the pilot down at the edge of the Sweet Dream Swamplands. Our pilot's name is Philippe.'
'Did they mind taking non-hairities?' asked Nicola.
'They thought it was unusual,' said Shimlara. 'But I just acted like an eccentric celebrity. Actually, I could get used to this.'
Luckily the Swamplands were within walking distance. On the way there, Shimlara was stopped every five minutes to sign another signograph or pose for a photograph. Her saunter became a swagger.
The others lagged behind.
'Look at the back of Shimlara's head,' whispered Tyler. 'The curls are coming back.'
'It must be the humidity. At least that's what my mum says whenever her straightened hair begins to curl. Let's hope she doesn't have curly hair by the time we get to the balloon,' said Nicola, 'or the pilot won't let us on.'
'That would take her down a peg or two,' grumbled Greta.
'Speaking of the pilot,' said Sean. 'Don't you think it would be a good idea if we got rid of him?'
'What do you mean?' said Nicola. 'You don't mean kill him?'
'Yeah, and I've changed my name to Enrico,' said Sean. 'No! I mean it might be a good idea if we somehow took off without him. Otherwise we're going to have to convince him to wait around while we talk to Topaz. It might be useful to have the hot-air balloon to fly back to Enrico's mansion.'
'So we'd be stealing it,' said Nicola.
'No, we'd be borrowing it,' said Sean. 'Just for a little while. For an excellent cause.'
'So how would we get rid of the pilot?'
'I don't know. We'd have to wait and see if there was an opportunity. Do you think you could fly it, Tyler?'
There was no question Tyler was the only one who would have a hope of flying a hot-air balloon.
Tyler adjusted his glasses nervously. 'We took my sister on a hot-air balloon ride for her birthday,' he said. 'So I was asking the pilot lots of questions. All my sister did was take photos and scream. Typical. Anyway, you can't actually steer a balloon. You only control whether the balloon goes up or down by adjusting the heat in the burner. So you have to find the layer of wind going where you want to go. I guess I could give it a try.'
Nicola saw that Tyler had that same half-exhilarated, half-petrified expression on his face as when he'd first flown a spaceship.
'Okay,' said Nicola. 'Well, if we get a chance I guess we should try and take off without him.'
Shimlara called out, 'The swamplands are just ahead!' A group of eager fans were now trotting along beside her, hanging on her every word.
They came to a soggy swamp that stretched as far as the eye could see. Even with the rainbows overhead, it was depressing. Nicola was glad that Quicksilver was sleeping peacefully. She wouldn't have liked making him trudge through all that mud.
'Look!' Tyler said. They're about to inflate the balloon! That's the best part!'
Nicola could see a big brown wicker basket lying on its side. It was attached to a massive piece of shiny fabric that was obviously the balloon. As they got closer there was a whoosh sound and a flame burst alight in the basket.
'They've turned the burner on,' explained Tyler. 'They're going to fill the balloon with hot air.'
'Because hot air rises, right?' asked Sean.
'Exactly.'
Slowly the huge balloon began to puff out with air until it hovered above them, as tall as a building. The basket was anchored to the ground with a series of ropes and pegs.
A man with red hair and a matching moustache approached Shimlara. Nicola glanced over at Shimlara and saw more curls popping up at the back of her head. None of her fans seemed to have noticed yet. They were too busy gazing at her adoringly.