The Shobble Secret (The Shocking Trouble on the Planet of Shobble)

  'Shobgobby!' Nicola looked up from Horatio's note to see Shimlara running out from the cave.

  She was followed by Tyler calling out fondly, 'Fleet-foot!' and Sean hollering, 'Lethal Weapon!' Even Greta hurried out and said, 'Hey, you!' to her ShobGobble.

  Topaz, Serena and Joshua were busy opening the boxes that Horatio had sent.

  'Buttons!' called out Joshua. He lifted up a handful of chunky brightly coloured buttons and let them fall through his fingers.

  'Thousands and thousands of extremely SCARY buttons!' cried Topaz and Serena, plunging their hands deep into the boxes.

  'Well, you folks seem pretty happy with your delivery,' said the courier. 'I'll be on my way.'

  As he went to climb on to his ShobGobble he said casually, 'Let's hope tomorrow is a nice day.' He winked and pushed back his hair so they could see the tiny 't' on his forehead. 'A very nice day.'

  37

  'There's nobody here,' said Topaz frantically. 'Do you think -'

  Nicola interrupted her. 'It's only nine-thirty. They'll be here.' She tried to sound as if she really believed it.

  It was the following morning and the Space Brigade, Topaz, Serena and Joshua were all sitting astride their ShobGobbles at the deserted Honey Sea Wharf. They had left Topaz's cave at dawn and made their way down the Cloud-Capped Mountain. It was a beautiful morning, and as their ShobGobbles crunched through the snow (quite slowly, because they were laden down with supplies for the day ahead), their moods had been upbeat. Sean and Joshua had made up a stupid song that they all chanted over and over again:

  Enrico, Enrico, your day has come!

  Enrico, Enrico, get ready to run!

  We know all your phobias, every single one!

  Enrico, Enrico, your day has come!

  'The rhyme could be improved,' Greta had commented, but even she had joined in. But their moods had become serious as they all looked silently out at the Honey Sea, which was frozen, like all of Shobble's seas at this time of year, according to Serena. There was a huge frozen wave just near the wharf. It must have been just about to crash down when the temperatures plummeted and the sea froze. Now it was an incredible, translucent-green ice sculpture.

  Sean squinted at something in the distance. 'What's that over there?'

  There was a cloud of bobbing black dots on the horizon.

  'They're Enrico's flags,' said Topaz. Her face was pale. 'They're coming.'

  Joshua looked at his watch. 'I estimate it will take them about two hours to get here.'

  'We'd better get everything ready for the protest march,' said Nicola.

  'Nobody is coming,' said Greta emphatically.

  'Of course they're coming!' said Katie, but Nicola could tell by the way she was clenching her hands that she was trying hard not to chew at her nails.

  'If nobody comes,' said Greta, 'we've got no chance of -'

  'Here comes somebody!' cried Tyler.

  They all turned and saw a lone figure walking towards them. The person was struggling under the weight of a gigantic scroll of rose-coloured parchment.

  'It must be that reporter,' said Topaz. 'She promised she'd bring the parchment for the petition.'

  They all climbed down from their ShobGobbles and hurried over to help her.

  Jenny Jenkins beamed at them. She had pinned her hair back from her forehead so her 't' tattoo was clearly visible and she looked ready for action.

  'We've got a perfect day for it,' she said. She looked around. 'Um, where is everybody?'

  'We don't know,' said Nicola. 'We're just starting to feel a bit nervous.'

  'Oh, no need to be nervous,' said Jenny nervously. 'People will come. You saw my article, right? I mean everybody on the planet reads the Shobble Times. We must surely get some people to turn up.'

  'Well, we've brought along this table for people to line up at to sign the petition,' said Topaz. 'So I guess we should set it up.'

  'And we'll organise the music,' said Sean.

  'I guess we can get the yellow dye ready for people's clothes,' said Greta. 'Even though I'm sure nobody is coming.'

  Jenny took a pen out from behind her ear and began to take notes. 'So you're dyeing everyone's clothes yellow because you believe Enrico is frightened of the colour yellow?'

  'Yes, he has xanthophobia,' said Nicola.

  'Gosh. How do you spell that?' asked Jenny, and without waiting for an answer she said, 'And aren't everyone's clothes going to be wet after you dye them?'

  'I've got an Instant Clothes Dryer,' said Shimlara.

  'I've never heard of such a thing.'

  'It's from the planet of Globagaskar,' said Shimlara. 'That's where I'm from.'

  'Oh this is such a scoop,' sighed Jenny happily.

  'So let's dye your clothes first, Jenny,' said Greta. She and Katie were busy pouring Nicola's jar of turmeric into a big pot of boiling water. 'We've set up this change room here for you.' She pointed to a small tent.

  'Oh.' Jenny looked down at her navy blue jacket sadly. 'Yellow really isn't my colour. Although I guess I shouldn't be worried about having a pasty complexion when we're in the middle of a revolution.'

  'No, that would be selfish,' agreed Greta.

  'Nicola!' shouted a man's voice.

  Nicola saw a sleigh pull up beside her. It was Horatio. He held the sleigh's reins in one hand and had his other arm around a tiny, rather stern-faced old woman. Horatio had changed a lot since they'd seen him in the forest. He could no longer be mistaken for a shrub. His face was rounder, his hair washed and he was wearing clean clothes.

  'This is the young Earthling who brought us back together,' said Horatio. 'Nicola, I'd like you to meet my wife, Bertha Banks.'

  Bertha's wrinkled face was transformed as she smiled at Nicola. 'Thank you so much for tracking down my foolish husband.' She cuffed Horatio on the back of his head and Horatio gave her a kiss on the cheek.

  'Did you get my delivery, Nicola?' asked Horatio.

  'Oh, yes, thank you!' said Nicola. 'Wait till you see what we've got planned for the buttons!'

  'I can't wait,' said Horatio. He looked around at all the activity approvingly. 'And I see we're all going to be wearing yellow. Naughty Enrico is going to be in a terrible state! He'll be sobbing and calling for his mother!'

  'Well, let's hope so,' said Nicola doubtfully. Horatio couldn't seem to get it into his head that Enrico had grown up.

  'Excuse me, Mr Banks, sir!' called out Serena. She was sitting at the table with the rose-coloured scroll of parchment. 'Would you like to be the first to sign the petition?'

  'It would be my honour,' said Horatio. He read the petition silently. Nicola knew what it said, because she and Serena had been up late the night before trying to work out the exact wording. They had finally decided upon:

  We the undersigned, representing the people of Shobble, respectfully call for the immediate resignation of the Commander-in-Chief, Enrico Aloisio, as is our right under clause 367-AAB-38479 579034554 of Shobble's Constitution. We do this because of his cruelty, his selfishness, his vanity and his general lack of good leadership qualities.

  'Perfect,' said Horatio. He wrote his name with a flourish at the top of the petition and his wife did the same.

  'We're going to need a few more people to show up today if we're going to get a petition as long as a rainbow,' observed Serena.

  'Oh, they'll come,' said Horatio. 'The people of Shobble know when enough is enough. In fact, here comes my granddaughter now.'

  Barbie arrived with the siren around her forehead blaring. 'Sorry I'm late!' she shouted over the siren. She turned it off. 'Let me have a quick look at that Biter wound, Nicola. Oh, good, it's healing nicely. Um, is this all of us? Not that I'm complaining or anything.'

  'We're hoping for a few more people,' admitted Nicola.

  There was another jangle of sleigh bells and Nicola looked up to see two familiar, smiling faces. It was Joy and Silent Fred.

  They ran over.

  'Oh, I'm so
proud of both you girls,' said Joy, with one arm around Katie and another around Nicola. Silent Fred wrote This is the best day of my life on his blackboard, and kept jabbing at it with his finger to reinforce the point.

  Next came a sleigh with a banner reading THE KATIE HOBBS FAN CLUB. A group of people got out and came running over to Katie. Nicola recognised at least two of the Security Thugs from Enrico's house, except that they were now wearing jolly sweaters with pictures of reindeers instead of black T-shirts, and one of them was calling out, 'Guess what, Katie? I'm starting Shobble's first Scrabble tournament!'

  Right behind the Katie Hobbs Fan Club was another sleigh with a plump pink-faced woman and a tall gentle-looking man. Nicola realised they were Topaz and Joshua's parents when she heard the woman say, 'Topaz and Joshua Silverbell - what are you children wearing? You will freeze to death.'

  As everyone arrived Katie and Greta efficiently organised for their clothes to be dyed yellow. Shimlara ran them through her Instant Clothes Dryer and the people dressed in the change-tent, emerging minutes later in their bright yellow clothes. Meanwhile, Sean and Joshua were rigging up loudspeakers (or loudtalkers or loudshouters, depending on which planet you're from) for the music, and Tyler was busy making the final arrangements for the plan they'd come up with for the buttons.

  Nicola went over to Serena's table to see how the petition was coming along.

  'It's about the length of my arm,' said Serena, holding it up. 'Not quite the length of a rainbow.'

  Topaz came and stood beside them.

  'This is great,' she began. 'But . . .'

  'But we need more people,' finished Nicola. She looked around. They now had enough people for quite a good party but it wasn't enough for a protest march and it certainly wasn't enough to intimidate Enrico.

  'The Security Thugs will just round us all up and take us to jail,' fretted Topaz. 'If more people don't show up soon I'm wondering if we should cancel the whole thing and just - run . . . run for our lives!'

  'Oh my goodness,' said Serena.

  'Well, I'm serious,' said Topaz.

  'No - oh my goodness, look!" Serena pointed over their shoulders. Topaz and Nicola turned around. Topaz made a sound that was somewhere between a sob, a laugh and a hiccup. Nicola pressed both her hands to her cheeks.

  There was a great swarming mass coming across the foothills of the Cloud-Capped Mountain.

  It was the people of Shobble.

  There were families crammed into slow-moving sleighs. There were young people riding ShobGobbles and old people being pushed in wheelchairs. There were mothers with babies in prams and fathers with children on their shoulders. There were marshmallow miners and chocolate drillers with their tools still in their hands and determined expressions on their grimy faces. There were even hairities - their long brown hair flying glamorously behind them as they marched towards the Honey Sea Wharf.

  As Nicola looked towards the horizon she could see even more people.

  'It must be the whole planet,' whispered Topaz. Her eyes were like saucers.

  It seemed that the people of Shobble were ready to have their say.

  38

  It was madness. It was mayhem. There were far too many people. Far too many helpful, chatty, overexcited people. Too many people with questions. Too many people with opinions.

  A jostling crowd surrounded Nicola and Topaz.

  'Are you sure Enrico has a phobia about the colour yellow? Because I heard it was the colour red.'

  'My son signed the petition but he forgot to put his middle name. Should he sign it again?'

  'Is Katie Hobbs really here?'

  'Are you really Topaz Silverbell? Can I touch you?'

  'Are you really an Earthling? Can I touch you?'

  'Is it true that the tall girl comes from Globagaskar?'

  'Where are the toilets?'

  'Have you seen my daughter?'

  'Have you seen my son?'

  'Where am I meant to go after I've signed the petition?'

  'Is morning tea provided?'

  'Is it true Enrico is on his way?'

  Topaz and Nicola did their best to answer everyone's questions but it was impossible.

  'This is out of control,' said Topaz, helplessly.

  Nicola felt like they were in the middle of some sort of crazy funfair. Children had converted their shoes into ice skates and were playing on the frozen sea shouting 'Whoopeee!' as they skated dangerously off the crests of the waves. Some teenagers had started a game of Head Crunch in the snow. Adults were standing around in groups, deep in conversation. Mothers swapped recipes. Fathers compared sleigh models. Babies cried. ShobGobbles chirruped.

  Greta was screeching at people like a demented teacher. 'No! I said line up here, not there! No, we do not offer any other colour options! I don't care if pink is your favourite colour - it's got to be yellow!'

  It was pandemonium.

  Joshua pushed his way through the crowd to where Nicola and Topaz were standing. He pointed across the Honey Sea to the bobbing black flags that marked Enrico's progress. 'They're making good time. We've got to get organised!'

  Horatio was nearby, sitting on a foldout chair next to his wife. He pulled on Nicola's sleeve and she bent down to listen to him. 'You two girls have got to take control,' he said. 'Now.'

  Nicola stood up feeling helpless. But how? She thought of her school principal, Mr Nix, nervously adjusting his tie on school assembly days, when teachers, parents and students would all be milling about, cheerfully ignoring him as he pleaded into the microphone, 'Could I have a bit of quiet, ladies and gents?' For the first time in her life Nicola actually felt sorry for him.

  She said to Joshua, 'Topaz and I will need microphones.'

  Joshua looked at her blankly.

  'So people can hear us.'

  'Oh, you mean macrophones,' said Joshua. 'Right. No problem.'

  'We really need some sort of a stage,' said Topaz.

  Sean, who was standing near Joshua, said, 'Maybe you could fly up on your ShobGobbles over people's heads.'

  Minutes later, Topaz and Nicola were hovering over the crowd on their ShobGobbles.

  Topaz spoke into her macrophone. 'Can I have your attention please?'

  No one took the slightest notice.

  'Ladies and gentlemen,' tried Nicola.

  The crowd ignored her.

  Nicola and Topaz looked at each other and nodded.

  'STOP TALKING AND LISTEN UP!' they shouted simultaneously.

  There was silence. Even the babies stopped crying.

  Topaz said, 'My name is Topaz Silverbell and this is Nicola Berry from the planet Earth and we want to thank you for coming today.'

  There was thunderous applause and calls of 'Topaz! Topaz!' and 'Hey there, Earthling!' A miner with a bandage across his nose called out, 'I forgive you for the fizz bomb, Topaz!'

  'Thank you,' said Topaz. 'But this is serious. We need to be ready for Enrico and the Security Thugs. We believe they will be armed with Despair Gas.'

  This was met with a ripple of dismay. Nicola could hear people saying things like, 'We can't win against Despair Gas' and 'Maybe we should go home'.

  Topaz looked a little despairing herself so Nicola took over.

  'Despair is just a feeling,' she said.

  'A pretty bad feeling,' called out a rough-looking chocolate driller.

  'Yes, but just because you feel something doesn't mean you have to give in to that feeling. We've got to stay strong! Besides which, we've got people power!' Nicola punched a fist in the air. There was silence, apart from someone saying clearly, 'What's she doing with her fist in the air like that?'

  Nicola dropped her arm and said, 'We've got weapons to fight Enrico!'

  That cheered everyone up considerably. 'YEAH!' shouted a group of teenage boys.

  Nicola decided not to mention that their only weapons were yellow clothes, music, buttons and a jar of peanut butter.

  'So if this is going to work we need you to
follow our orders exactly,' said Topaz. 'We need you to first join the clothes-dyeing queue and then move on to the petition-signing queue. After that, we need you to line up in rows with your arms linked.'

  'And be quiet,' added Nicola.

  'Are there any questions?' asked Topaz.

  A portly miner put his hand up. 'When is lunch?'

  'Straight after we've overthrown Enrico,' said Nicola quickly. 'Any more questions?'

  There was silence. Nicola saw Topaz's father discreetly trying to take their photo, while Topaz's mother called out, 'Oh well done, darlings!' It was lucky Nicola's own parents were safely on Earth where they couldn't embarrass her.

  'Right,' said Topaz. 'Let's do it!'

  It was a miracle: people actually did as they were told. Without fuss, they queued up in front of Katie and Greta to have their clothes dyed and then stood in line to sign the petition. A short time later rows of Shobblings, dressed from head to toe in yellow (quite a few had obligingly offered to dye their hair yellow as well, to help make themselves scarier to Enrico), began to form, their arms linked, quietly chatting to each other. Meanwhile, Serena rolled out more and more of the scroll of parchment for the petition.

  An hour later, only a few stragglers stood before the signing table.

  'Do you think it's as long as a rainbow yet?' asked Nicola.

  'I think so,' said Serena. 'I hope so.'

  And that's when Joshua spoke the chilling words: 'They're here.'

  39

  Nicola's heart was pumping like some sort of out-of-control machine. She could feel Quicksilver's muscles tense beneath her and she caressed his mane, trying to calm both the animal and herself.

  This was it. If they failed today, they would all be stuck in a Shobble jail forever. She would never see Earth or her bedroom or her parents again.

  She and the Space Brigade, together with Topaz, Serena and Joshua, were all astride their ShobGobbles, their feather-whips held in front of them. Behind them the yellow-dressed people of Shobble stood, arms linked. When Nicola looked back over her shoulder, it was like looking at a massive field of yellow corn.