'To thwart someone means to stop them from doing something,' explained Nicola, trying hard not to sound like she was showing off. (Although on the inside she was giving herself a high five and thinking, YES! My way is better!) 'Okay, so we go Nicola's way,' said Shimlara impatiently.
Joy was still studying Nicola's map. 'Yes, it will probably take you about two days. Tonight you can stay at the Why Not Drop Inn. It's just a few kilometres past the Safe Hands Bridge. You'll be very comfortable there.'
She seemed as if she badly wanted to say something else but the Security Thugs were hovering.
Suddenly there was a commotion from inside the mansion. The doors opened and a flustered servant appea
red, wringing her hands.
'There's a crisis!' she called. 'Enrico says his cornflakes aren't crunchy enough! He says they're disgustingly . . . SOGGY!'
The two Thugs immediately ran up the steps towards the mansion doors speaking urgently into their radios. 'Code Soggy. Code Soggy. I repeat, we have a Code Soggy. This is not a drill.'
As soon as they were gone Joy dropped her formal tone and spoke urgently. 'Enrico's spies will be everywhere,' she told them. 'They'll be sending back information to Enrico. So watch what you say.'
Silent Fred grabbed Joy's arm and pointed at something on his forehead.
'Oh, yes,' said Joy. 'One more thing. We don't know how many people support Topaz. Some people think that because Enrico is our Commander-in-Chief he can do no wrong. Others are just so nice they think it's bad manners to complain. And of course, everyone is frightened of the Thugs. So, if you want to know if someone is a Topaz supporter you can recognise them by this secret mark.'
She pushed back her frizzy hair. High on her forehead was a tiny speck like a freckle, but when Nicola looked closer she saw it was actually a tiny letter 't'.
The door to the mansion opened again, and another servant yelled, 'All hands on deck! Enrico's toast is . . . lukewarm!'
Joy and Silent Fred rolled their eyes at each other.
'You'd better get going,' said Joy. Silent Fred helped each of them climb up on to the saddles of their ShobGobbles.
'Good luck,' said Joy fervently.
Silent Fred held up his board. It said, We'll keep an eye on Katie for you.
Nicola felt like she was very high up off the ground. She clung to her ShobGobble's back with her knees and grasped her reins tightly. She noticed that the rest of the Space Brigade were all watching her expectantly.
Whenever you don't feel confident, just pretend you are, her mum had told her once when she was nervous about a speech she had to give.
Nicola lifted her chin. 'Follow me,' she said, and tapped her feather-whip against her ShobGobble's back.
17
'WHOA!'
The ShobGobble shot off like a firecracker exploding. Nicola's head snapped back and her legs gripped the saddle in panic. Her feather-whip nearly slipped from her grasp as her ShobGobble pounded down Enrico's long driveway, splattering snow with its hooves.
Cold wind rushed against her face, tearing the breath from her throat and blurring her eyes. She could hear cries and shouts from the other members of the Space Brigade behind her. It seemed they were all having the same trouble. A ShobGobble streaked past hers with someone clinging desperately to its back. She recognised Sean's voice yelling, 'WHAT'S YOUR HURRY?'
Up ahead, Nicola could just make out the huge brick wall that surrounded Enrico's property. Her ShobGobble seemed to pick up pace.
'WHOA!' shrieked Nicola again, pulling on her reins. 'OH PLEASE, PLEASE WHOA!'
It seemed her ShobGobble was determined to slam them both straight into the wall. She tried to sit up so she could use her feather-whip to guide him towards the gates but it was all she could do to keep her balance. Should she just throw herself off? Which would hurt more, hitting the ground or hitting the wall?
The wall loomed up in front of them. The ShobGobble lifted his head and stretched out his long neck. Suddenly Nicola knew what he was planning to do. He was going to try to jump over the wall.
'No!' she cried. There was no way they could make it!
Her ShobGobble ignored her. In one powerful movement he leapt into the air. Nicola closed her eyes, leaned forward and buried her face into the animal's strange-smelling feathery neck.
Suddenly, the roaring sound in her ears vanished. All she could hear was the sweet chirping of a bird. Nicola opened her eyes and laughed with delight.