Stella nodded. The last thing she wanted was for Felix to regret bringing her, and she would hate herself forever if she somehow got him thrown out of the club that he loved so much. ‘Yes, Felix. I promise I’ll be good, and do as you say and not let you down.’
‘Excellent. And in fact, whilst we’re on the subject, there’s one particular thing you can agree to do for me right now.’
‘Anything,’ Stella said. ‘I’ll do anything you want.’
‘I want you to be nice to Ethan Edward Rook during our voyage to the Icelands.’
Stella couldn’t help herself – she immediately pulled a face. ‘He doesn’t seem like a very nice person to me,’ she said.
‘Well,’ Felix replied, ‘you hardly know him. And we don’t always show people our true selves on first meeting them, do we?’
‘He’s got a cold way of talking, and a sneering sort of face, and this nasty way of looking at you like he thinks you’re less than him,’ Stella said.
‘Give him a chance,’ Felix insisted. ‘It doesn’t do to judge others too hastily. And sometimes people are fighting battles we know nothing about. What does it cost us to be kind?’
‘Nothing,’ Stella dutifully supplied, although it seemed to her that it did cost something to be kind sometimes. Patience, for a start, and pride, and willpower. ‘But what did you mean about fighting battles? What battle is Ethan fighting?’
‘How should I know?’ Felix asked. ‘I only just met the boy.’
‘You do know something about it,’ Stella said, narrowing her eyes at him. ‘I can tell.’
‘Really, Stella, don’t be such a nosy-boots,’ Felix replied mildly. ‘All you have to worry about is being kind to Ethan. It’s not at all necessary for you to know his life story in order to do that.’
‘All right,’ Stella said, trying not to sigh. ‘Next time I see him I’ll try to be nice.’
‘Good girl.’ Felix squeezed her shoulder and then carried on walking down the corridor.
When they reached the president’s office, Felix knocked firmly on the door and a voice called for them to enter. They walked into a large room dominated by a gigantic wooden desk at one end. Stella saw that it was intricately carved, with figures of snarling yetis serving as legs and holding up the large table top. Bookcases ran around the walls, filled with atlases and almanacs and travel journals, and a fire crackled and spat in a grand fireplace. Above it hung a huge painting of a polar bear, sat on its haunches, with its head thrown back, roaring into the frozen air and snow that swirled all around it.
‘Ah, Mister Pearl,’ boomed a deep voice from the end of the room. ‘You found the girl, I see.’
The president of the Polar Bear Explorers’ Club stood and walked around from behind his desk. Algernon Augustus Fogg was a large man with the most impressive moustache Stella had ever seen. It was twirled, curled and waxed at the ends, and instantly made Stella think of walruses.
‘Child, this is most irregular,’ the president barked. He even sounded a little bit like a walrus. ‘We have never had any lady explorers at the Polar Bear Explorers’ Club, let alone girl ones. Goodness knows what the other clubs will make of us. Think us all a bunch of deranged mavericks, I don’t doubt. Most irregular. Quite unheard of.’ He sighed, reached into his waistcoat pocket and withdrew a circular tin of moustache wax, with which he proceeded to wax the ends of his impressive facial hair. Giving a final, twisting flourish to its already pointy tips, he said, ‘But your, ah …’ He hesitated and glanced at Felix, apparently unsure how to refer to him. ‘Your guardian—’
‘Father,’ Felix said at once, slipping his hands into his pockets and developing a sudden interest in the polar bear painting above the fireplace.
‘Yes, your father,’ President Fogg amended. ‘Your father has been most persuasive. Most persuasive.’ He scowled. ‘And since he is providing the lion’s share of the funding for this expedition, I have decided to allow his request as a special favour – on this one occasion. You shall be admitted as a junior member of the Polar Bear Explorers’ Club on a temporary basis. After that, we’ll see.’ He beckoned Stella forwards. ‘I know you have a ship to catch so let’s not waste any more time.’
Stella walked up to the desk and stared at a huge, glittering yeti paperweight cut entirely out of one massive piece of crystal, and which was holding down a pile of travel documents. She thought she had never seen such a magnificent paperweight in her life, and wondered whether she might be able to persuade Felix to get her one for her next birthday.
The president picked up a large, leather-bound atlas, held it out towards Stella and said, ‘Place your right hand over the atlas and repeat after me.’
She dutifully did as he said, and proceeded to recite the explorers’ pledge, which went like this:
‘I, Stella Starflake Pearl, do solemnly swear that I will explore faraway lands, strange seas, exotic jungles and forbidden deserts. That I will bravely face fierce monsters, bloodthirsty pirates, savage beasts and ferocious weather. I will seek to extend the limits of human understanding, discover new wonders, and commit astonishing acts of derring-do. All my discoveries, scientific or otherwise, shall be made in the name of queen, country and the esteemed honour of the Polar Bear Explorers’ Club. In wind, hail, sleet or snow I shall keep a stiff upper lip, keep calm and carry on regardless. I shall conduct myself in a gentlemanly manner at all times, ensuring that my collar is cleanly pressed and my moustache is well maintained, even when experiencing those narrow escapes and close shaves that are the unavoidable experience of intrepid gentlemen explorers across the globe.’
Stella thought he might have left out that last sentence on account of her being
