‘But –’ Fibber chewed his lip – ‘Jungledrop doesn’t sound like the right sort of destination for us at all.’
Tedious Niggle cocked his head at the children. ‘You certainly haven’t dressed appropriately. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone attempt a jungle quest in a business suit before. I’m not suggesting a loincloth for saving the world, although I can recommend them for comfort, but perhaps something a bit more flexible across the chest would have been wise. Not much use running away from Morg if you can’t pump your arms. And maybe shoes with a bit more grip? After all, if you’re searching for the Forever Fern to restore rain to the Faraway, you’re going to want to scale gobblequick trees and the like quickly and efficiently.’
Fox looked down at her leather-buckle shoes, then shook herself for even considering that Tedious Niggle might be speaking the truth. And yet his words were a worrying echo of Casper Tock’s… Going on an adventure to rid the Unmapped Kingdoms of this Morg creature and restore rain to the earth.
Tedious Niggle stood up. ‘So, a few more notices before your arrival in Jungledrop.’ He cleared his throat. ‘Please do make yourself comfortable in the snugglers; they’ll adapt to suit your personality soon enough. Keep your fingers and toes away from the trunklets; they’re not normally too much bother, just the odd prank here and there, but they’re almost always hungry and their teeth are so sharp they can chew through stone.’
Fox baulked as the creature with pointed ears and green skin emerged from a vine and flashed her a toothy grin.
‘And do apply suncream liberally when you arrive,’ the junglespook concluded. ‘It would be somewhat of a disgrace if, rather than saving the world, you got sunburnt instead.’
He laughed. The twins did not.
‘The plants aboard the Here and There Express are used to Faraway folk such as yourselves; now and again, the train winds up in your world by mistake, you see, and, although it usually vanishes before anyone can clamber on board, it does give the plants here a brief moment to familiarise themselves with the way you look and dress. The plants in Jungledrop, however… Just make sure you treat them with respect; that way you’re far less likely to get eaten or trampled on.’
Fibber let out a little whimper, then quickly covered it up by growling, unconvincingly, at the ghost and the plants and his sister instead.
Fox’s mind spun with visions of man-eating shrubs. ‘The plants are alive?’
‘Every plant is alive,’ the junglespook replied, ‘but magical ones have more – how should I put it? – personality.’ He pointed to a cluster of tall flowers with yellow petals that looked a lot like sunflowers. ‘Take the timekeepers, for example. Silent types but ever so reliable.’
The yellow petals jiggled in delight at the attention and, as Fox peered closer, she saw that in the centre of the petals there were, in fact, clock faces.
‘Timekeepers only grow in Jungledrop. It’s a stroke of luck, if you’ll pardon the pun, that they sprouted up on the Here and There Express, too. But they have been telling the time for centuries. And, considering one year in the Faraway is almost thirty years in the Unmapped Kingdoms, it helps to have a plant that can keep track of both magical and non-magical time.’
Again, Fox thought of her parents. If she and Fibber were stuck in the Unmapped Kingdoms for several days, weeks or even months – Fox shivered at the thought – perhaps no one back home would even notice they’d gone because hardly any time would have passed there at all…
Fibber, who was evidently thinking the same thing, piped up: ‘I demand that you stop the train!’
Fox stamped her foot for good measure. ‘Immediately!’
Tedious Niggle raised a ghostly eyebrow. ‘This is, as I have expressly told you, a non-stop service, so I suggest you come to terms with that. You do, after all, have a great deal of work ahead of you.’ He straightened his loincloth. ‘Therefore, if I were you, I would conserve your energy; I cannot think of a single instance in history where stamping one’s foot has made a difference to the outcome of a situation.’
He drifted back out of the carriage. ‘Do not disturb me from my nap again, please,’ he called, ‘otherwise I shall come back, wielding all sorts of terrifying weapons: swords, axes and maybe even a sledgehammer if I’m feeling particularly grumpy.’
As soon as the junglespook was gone, Fibber whirled round to face Fox. ‘This is all your fault.’
‘My fault?’ Fox cried. ‘I didn’t ask you to follow me! I assumed you’d be running back to the hotel to announce you’d saved Petty Pampering! I have no idea what you’re doing on this train with me!’
Fibber adjusted his tie, took a deep breath, then glanced at his briefcase. ‘I don’t have a plan for Petty Pampering in here.’
Fox started. Her suspicion earlier had been right. Her brother had been lying to their parents.
‘But,’ Fibber continued, ‘it does contain a fortune-making scheme in regards to something else. All I needed was a little more time to complete it and I had thought that a local train trip might just buy me those extra hours. But instead it seems I’m hurtling towards these Unmapped Kingdoms, whatever they might be!’
Fox scoured her brother’s face for the trace of a lie. She’d missed it back in the penthouse suite and now she was determined to look closely for Fibber’s telltale sign: the way the corners of his mouth tightened when he was saying something untrue. But she saw nothing. Fox wondered jealously what ingenious idea Fibber had come up with that was even better than saving Petty Pampering.
‘My plan will be the making of me,’ Fibber said casually. Then the corners of his mouth tightened, just a fraction.
Ha! Fox
