by Alex Bell
Ethan gave her a worried look. “We should press on,” he said. “It sounds like they’re already suspicious. President Fogg must have remembered Buster and put two and two together.”
Stella nodded glumly. She needed to find her dinosaur before they could leave, and he could be causing havoc just about anywhere. She and Ethan hurried down the corridor, turned the corner, and immediately found themselves face-to-face with an enormous wolf. Far bigger than any ordinary creature, she had black fur and intelligent silver eyes that regarded them with obvious recognition.
“Koa!” Ethan and Stella both exclaimed.
Stella was so pleased to see the wolf that she would’ve loved to throw her arms around her neck, but Koa was a shadow wolf and therefore didn’t have any physical substance.
“If she’s here, then Shay must be here somewhere too,” Ethan said. All whisperers had their own shadow animal, and Koa was never too far from Shay.
“Can you take us to him?” Stella asked the shadow wolf eagerly.
Koa immediately turned and padded off down the corridor, the two junior explorers close at her heels. She quickly led them to the trophy room, which was filled to bursting with glass cabinets displaying the many wonders and curiosities that the explorers had brought back from their adventures. A magnificent stuffed snow shark hung suspended above them from the ceiling, and all manner of objects filled the cabinets, from eternal snowballs to fossilized mammoth tusks to yeti teeth.
Stella didn’t have much time to study the cabinets, though, because there in the center of the room, peering into a glass case, were their explorer friends Shay Silverton Kipling and Benjamin Sampson Smith (or Beanie to his friends—due to his great love of jelly beans).
“It’s locked tight,” Beanie was saying, scrutinizing the case. Beanie had a tendency to get attached to comfortable old things, and today he was wearing a knitted sweater that Stella recognized as one of his mother’s creations, with a narwhal—Beanie’s favorite animal—on the front. His uncle must have managed to bribe him with jelly beans to persuade him to get his hair cut because it was a little shorter than the last time Stella had seen him. This meant you could clearly see that Beanie’s ears were slightly pointed at the tips. Beanie was part elf, as shown by his slender build and pointed ears.
“I wonder where they keep the keys for these things,” Shay replied. The wolf whisperer wore his blue explorers’ club cloak but had rolled up the sleeves, exposing the chocolate-colored leather bracelets adorned with silver wolf beads on one wrist.
Stella was delighted to see them both and ran over, Ethan and Koa close behind her. She threw her arms around Shay in a hug and then waved at Beanie because, although she would have loved to hug him, too, he wasn’t a fan of physical contact.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” Stella said. “Thank you for coming!”
“We came as soon as we got your message,” Shay told her.
“Here, I think this is yours,” Beanie said.
Stella realized that Beanie was holding a struggling, squirming T. rex in his hand. “Oh, you found him!” she exclaimed.
“He was in the library,” Beanie offered. “Ripping up Captain Filibuster’s leather-bound travel almanacs. Luckily there were only two adult explorers in there and they were both asleep in their armchairs.”
“Never run off like that again, you naughty beast,” Stella scolded the dinosaur. “You caused me a huge amount of worry, you know.”
The T. rex responded by rubbing his scaly head affectionately against her hand. Stella gave him a kiss and figured she couldn’t really be too angry with him, since his biting of the pipes had allowed them to gain access to the club through the tunnels.
“Stella, did you know that they stuffed Pepe?” Beanie said indignantly, pointing to a nearby case.
Stella peered in and saw that the carnivorous cabbage that had attacked them on their last expedition had indeed been stuffed and put on display, its mouth open wide to reveal its hideous long teeth.
She couldn’t help a shudder. “Well, at least it won’t be biting anyone anymore,” she said.
“It’s not right,” Beanie said. “I was fond of that cabbage. You wouldn’t like it if they’d stuffed Dora, would you?”
Stella sighed. “It’s hardly the same thing, Beanie. Look, now that we’re all here, there’s no time to lose. We’ve just got to snatch this tiara and then we’ll be on our way.”
“The case is locked,” Shay said. “And we have no idea where they keep the keys.”
“Ouch!” Stella exclaimed. Buster was squirming about and digging his claws into her hand. “Stop being such a fidget,” she told him as she set him down on the glass case, where he proceeded to walk up and down looking grand and important.
“We can’t mess around looking for keys,” Stella said. “Felix has probably arrived at Witch Mountain by now. We need to go after him, and quickly.”
“Sir Rex Tiddlywinks Smith,” Beanie said at once. “Murdered by black magic at Witch Mountain in—”
“I don’t want any murderous witch facts!” Stella said, holding up her hand to stop him. “Please. Not until we’ve rescued Felix.”
Unfortunately, Beanie had an excellent memory for the various ways that explorers had met sticky ends over the years and didn’t always appreciate that there was a time and a place for sharing such information.
“Was his name really Rex Tiddlywinks Smith?” Ethan asked. “I bet he was a Jungle Cat explorer, wasn’t he?”
“How did you know?” Beanie asked.
“They’re buffoons,” Ethan said. “Only a Jungle Cat explorer would have such a ridiculous name.”
“Never mind that, now,” Stella said. “We have to work out how we’re going to get this out.”
She pointed at the tiara, and everyone looked at it, including Buster. It sat sparkling in the glass case on a white velvet cushion decorated with purple woolly mammoths. Buster immediately began roaring at them through the case, and Stella had to tap him on the head to get him to stop.
“Shush, you,” she said. “We’re trying to think here.”
The tiara itself was an incredibly beautiful object, sparkling with ice-white gems and frosted diamonds—although Stella couldn’t help finding its beauty slightly marred by the fact that it would freeze her heart if she used its magic too much.
“Dad says that all the locked cases in the trophy room are alarmed,” Shay said. “And we can’t risk setting it off or we’ll never make it out of the club.” He glanced at Stella. “I know it’s frustrating, Sparky, but we’re just going to have to find the key. We can’t rescue Felix if we’re locked up.”
Stella sighed. He was right—setting off alarms and having guards and explorers bearing down on them was the last thing they needed.
“Okay,” she said. “I think we should start with the secretary’s office. That seems like the kind of place where they might keep—”
She didn’t get any further, however, because Buster chose that exact moment to roar at the mammoths once again before suddenly lunging down toward the glass case. His teeth went straight through the glass, and dozens of cracks instantly spiderwebbed out from the points where his teeth made contact.
“Oh no.” Stella gasped, plucking the dinosaur up in her hand.
But the damage was already done. The next second the entire case collapsed in on itself, shattering into a multitude of broken pieces.
The loud wail of an alarm instantly filled the room.
CHAPTER EIGHT
FOR A MOMENT THE junior explorers just stared at one another in dismay. Then Shay cried, “Stella, the door!”
They all turned to look and saw that an iron gate was rapidly coming down from the ceiling. As soon as it made it to the floor, it would cut off their only means of escape and they would be trapped in the room.
Stella snatched up the tiara in her free hand, thrust it onto her head, and shot a blast of ice magic at the gate, freezing it solid before it could come al
l the way down. Just like before, she felt an icy chill run down her back and couldn’t help shivering.
“Guards will probably be here any minute!” She gasped. “We’re going to have to be quick!”
There was just about enough room for them to roll under the gate and out into the corridor—only to find two large guards running straight toward them.
“Drat!” Stella exclaimed. She hadn’t expected the Polar Bear Explorers’ Club to be quite so efficient. She’d hoped for foolish, bumbling guards who were snoozing on the job somewhere comfortable, but these two looked alert, and cross, and ready to do damage with the heavy truncheons they were carrying.
“Stay right where you are!” one of them yelled.
Naturally, the junior explorers did no such thing; instead they turned and fled down the corridor as fast as they could. Stella had no idea where she was going—she just ran blindly, the guards close behind them, until they came to a door. Shay threw it open, and they all tumbled out into the snow, blinking in the sudden bright sunlight.
“They’re going to catch us!” Ethan gasped.
Stella feared he was right. The guards were practically upon them; they didn’t have enough of a head start. Even if they made it out of the club grounds, what then? They could hardly run all the way through Coldgate without getting caught. Their attempt to rescue Felix would be over before it had even begun. Stella could feel her heart beating so hard in her chest it was almost physically painful. Then her eyes landed on the massive dirigible they had spied from outside the gates, and a plan formed perfectly in her mind.
“The dirigible!” she cried. “It’s our only chance!”
She set off at a run toward it, the others close behind her.
“You want to steal the dirigible belonging to the president of the Jungle Cat Explorers’ Club?” Ethan gasped. “You’ve got to be kidding!””
“Have you got a better idea?” she replied.
The explorers raced across the snow and reached the dirigible at the same moment that the guards caught up with them. One grabbed the back of Shay’s cloak and the other grabbed Beanie. Stella’s heart sank.
“Just go!” Shay yelled at her.
But then, all of a sudden, Koa appeared, charging toward the guards, hackles raised and snarling ferociously. The two men cried out in alarm, let go of the junior explorers, and fell back. Making the most of the momentary advantage, Shay and Beanie ran forward, and the four explorers shot up the ladder and tumbled into the dirigible.
“The ropes!” Stella cried. “We’ve got to release the anchors!”
The explorers raced toward each of the four ropes that held the dirigible down. They unhooked them and let them fall to the mooring blocks on the ground.
“Get back!” one of the guards yelled at Koa. “Get back, you devilish creature!”
He threw his truncheon at her, but of course, Koa had no physical substance, and the truncheon simply passed straight through her, landing in the snow with a thud.
The two guards stared for a moment. “It’s a blasted shadow wolf!” the first guard exclaimed. “One of those dratted kids must be a wolf whisperer!”
Realizing that the wolf couldn’t hurt them, both guards immediately started forward. Koa melted away like smoke and reappeared on the deck of the dirigible beside Shay.
“Good girl, Koa,” he said as she wagged her tail at him.
One of the guards leapt for the ladder, but the dirigible had already risen too high and his fingers only just brushed the bottom rung before he fell back down into the snow.
The four young explorers raced to the wooden side, peering over as the guards—and the Polar Bear Explorers’ Club itself—rapidly fell farther and farther away. Nobody could quite believe what had just happened.
They had managed to escape—but now, as the dirigible ascended higher and higher into the sky, an icy wind whipped around them, tugging at their explorers’ cloaks and stirring their hair. Stella wondered whether any of them had any idea how to fly a dirigible. Frost showered down from the gasbag as it rippled in the wind, and frozen ropes creaked in the background. Then it started to snow—great white flurries that swirled and drifted all around them.
In all the panic and excitement and desperation of the escape, it hadn’t really occurred to any of them that the dirigible might not be empty. So it came as rather a surprise when there was a sudden thump behind them and a shocked voice said, “Good gad, who are you people? What’s going on here?”
The four explorers spun around to see a boy of about fifteen sprawled on the wooden deck. It looked as though he had just fallen out of the hammock swinging to and fro above him. He had glossy chestnut hair, hazel eyes, and a handsome, angular face. He was wearing the green robe with the Jungle Cat insignia that marked him unmistakably as a junior member of the Jungle Cat Explorers’ Club.
“Oh, shoot!” Stella said, staring at him. “There wasn’t supposed to be anyone else on board.”
“Just toss him over the side,” Ethan suggested.
The boy scrambled to his feet and started to back away, only to end up getting tangled in the hammock behind him.
“Too late,” Shay said with a sigh, glancing back over the side. “We’re too high, and he doesn’t look like he’d bounce.”
“Worth a try, though?” Ethan suggested hopefully.
“Nope.” Shay shook his head. “Can’t do it.” He looked at the boy and said, “Sorry, mate, but it looks like you’re coming with us.”
“Who are you people?” the boy cried, finally managing to disentangle himself from the hammock. “What is this? Am I being kidnapped?”
“Settle down,” Shay said, doing his best to sound friendly. “No one’s being kidnapped. We’re just—”
“I knew this would happen!” the boy said. “I knew it!” He pointed a finger at Stella and said, “Don’t think I don’t know who you are, you awful witch! I told Father you’d come after us if he complained about you! I told him that—”
“Hey!” Shay said sharply, all trace of friendliness gone from his voice. “That’s quite enough. Perhaps if you’d shut up for a moment you’d get a better handle on what’s going on. First things first, no one calls Stella a witch. Not in front of me.”
“Or me,” Ethan said, glaring at the Jungle Cat explorer.
“She’s not a witch anyway,” Beanie said, looking rather confused by the whole exchange. “She’s an ice princess.”
“I know what she is,” the boy spat. He looked at Stella again and said, “You’re a villain. Dad says you’re dangerous! And a disgrace to the clubs! And that you’re probably going to end up killing us all besides!”
Normally Stella had no problem speaking up for herself, but the memory of those snow queen profiles she’d seen on Felix’s desk came flooding back to her, and her tongue seemed to get all twisted up inside her mouth so that she couldn’t say a word.
“Sounds like your dad’s got his facts a bit mixed up,” Beanie said, frowning. “Stella isn’t any of those things. Maybe he’s drunk too much fizzy tiger punch on those expedition picnics you’re all so keen on? That can make you go a little bonkers, you know. In the last ten years, twenty-three Jungle Cat explorers have gone bonkers from overindulging in tiger punch.”
“My dad is not bonkers!” the boy said. His nostrils flared alarmingly. “How dare you!”
“Or perhaps it was the jungle mosquitoes?” Beanie offered. “They can make you delusional. Captain Horatio Jordan Jones went completely delusional after suffering a mosquito bite in the Tikki Takki Jungle. He tried to make himself a suit and hat and matching parasol out of banana skins, but then his elephant got a bit confused, and unfortunately, he ended up getting—”
“My father is the president of the Jungle Cat Explorers’ Club, as you must already know. I suppose that’s why you decided to kidnap me,” the boy said, looking at Stella. “But he will never give in to your demands, whatever they are.”
“I haven’t got any demands,�
�� Stella said, finding her tongue at last. “Really, I haven’t.”
“He’ll never pay you a ransom,” the boy went on.
“Why would anyone pay a ransom for you?” Ethan asked, curling his lip in distaste. “I’d pay to be rid of you, quite frankly.”
“I knew it would be me who suffered if Dad stood up to the evil ice princess,” the boy said, running a hand through his glossy hair. “I just knew it.”
“This has got nothing whatsoever to do with you, you brat!” Shay exclaimed. “Stella isn’t evil, and for the last time, this is not a kidnapping. This is a daring escape that you’ve unfortunately managed to get mixed up in simply because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Isn’t there a magic carpet somewhere on board that you can just float away on?”
“Magic carpets belong to the Desert Jackal Explorers’ Club! At Jungle Cat, we use elephants for getting about.” The boy gave a sniff. “Far more reliable.”
“And far less easy to transport.” Ethan sighed. “Fat lot of good an elephant would be in this situation.”
“Perhaps we can set him down someplace en route?” Shay said, glancing at Stella.
She sighed. “It’ll mean a delay in getting to Felix, but I suppose it wouldn’t be fair to take him with us to Witch Mountain.” The snow had stopped, but a wisp of cloud floated past, and Stella glanced out over the side to see they’d floated up so high they were surrounded by clouds. “Speaking of which,” she said. “Does anyone know how to steer this thing?”
“I want to be dropped off somewhere civilized,” the boy said. “Not left for dead in the Icelands.”
“If you don’t want to be left for dead, then perhaps you’d better learn some manners, and quickly,” Ethan snapped. “Do you have a name, or shall we just call you Snot?”
“Ethan, don’t be rude,” Stella said, even though she didn’t particularly feel like defending the Jungle Cat boy. But perhaps they had just gotten off on the wrong foot. She hadn’t liked Ethan all that much when she’d first met him, after all. Perhaps if she was really friendly and nice to him, he would realize she wasn’t the evil villain some people seemed to think she was. Then he could report this back to his father, and he might drop his complaint against her.