Stella shook her head. ‘It’s not the same if you get bitten on purpose,’ she said. ‘That’s just plain weird.’
‘So is wanting to be bitten by a cabbage in the first place!’
It wasn’t that Stella wanted to be bitten by a cabbage really, it was just that it would have made such an interesting story to tell once she got home – the kind of interesting story that explorers were supposed to return from expeditions with. But poking about on the ship hadn’t been a total loss. She may not have been bitten by a cabbage but at least she’d been attacked by a vine and dangled from a ceiling for a little while.
‘Let’s not argue any more about who’s going to be savaged by a cabbage in a hat box,’ Shay said, rolling his eyes. ‘It’s ridiculous. The pair of you are ridiculous. We need to deal with this problem next.’ He pointed to the fangs still sticking out of Ethan’s foot.
‘They’ll have to come out,’ Beanie said. ‘The foot’ll get infected otherwise.’
‘I guess we’re just going to have to pull them out one by one,’ Stella sighed.
There were three teeth left embedded and Shay, Beanie and Stella each gripped one – whilst Ethan gritted his teeth and grabbed onto the side of the sled. They had to pull the teeth out slowly and carefully, so as to avoid any of them snapping off and getting stuck like gigantic splinters. The teeth were much longer than they had imagined – several inches long from root to tip, glistening and needle sharp – so Stella really couldn’t blame Ethan for whimpering a bit as they were removed.
‘These will make excellent specimens for the club too,’ Stella said, examining them with satisfaction.
‘Goodness knows what kind of a mess it’s made of my foot,’ Ethan groaned. He unlaced his boot, yanked it off, and blood immediately poured out of it. His sock was dark and wet and sticky with it too.
‘Oh,’ Ethan said, dropping the boot in the snow. He’d instantly gone pale.
‘Oh dear, you’re not going to faint again, are you?’ Stella said, rushing forwards to support him.
‘Of course not.’ Ethan batted her away. Then he swayed on his feet and said, ‘I don’t know. Maybe. I don’t … I really don’t like the sight of blood.’
Stella wasn’t too keen on it herself. And the fact that it stained the snow pink made it worse somehow. Or perhaps it was simply that it brought back memories of her nightmare – the tiara, the blood on the snow, the burnt feet …
‘I don’t mind blood,’ Beanie said. ‘I’ve seen much worse at the hospital. I’ll sort it out for you, if you like.’
‘I’m going to sit down,’ Ethan said, before abruptly half-sitting, half-falling in the snow.
Beanie knelt beside him and peeled Ethan’s sock from his foot. ‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘It looks worse than it is.’
He held his hand out and healing magic shimmered from his fingers. They all went quiet, and watched in fascination. Afterwards, Beanie washed the blood off with snow, and took the packet of plasters out of his bag. He was about to stick the first one on Ethan’s foot, but the magician waved it away. ‘I don’t want a unicorn plaster!’ he said indignantly. ‘Unicorns are for girls.’
‘What do you want then?’ Beanie replied. ‘I’ve got polar bears, penguins, yaks and—’
‘I want a penguin one.’
After Beanie had patched up Ethan’s foot, Stella and Shay clapped, and even Ethan looked impressed. Beanie blushed and tried to wave their praise away, but Stella could tell he was pleased.
They decided to have lunch before continuing. They’d spent longer than they’d thought inside the ship and although they were eager to be on their way and discover whatever might lie ahead, they were also very hungry. Unfortunately, they had to make do with some Spam and mint cake since Dora – as Stella had decided to name the goose – hadn’t yet laid any more eggs for them. Stella was starting to regret not snatching up two of the geese when she had had the chance.
Beanie suggested naming the carnivorous cabbage Pepé and feeding it little scraps of Spam – a notion that was quietly ignored by the others, who thought it best to pretend he had never spoken at all – although Ethan did come fairly close to taking off his glove and slapping Beanie with it.
After a quick consultation of the map and Stella’s compass, which she’d set to the Cold heading, they were ready to continue on towards the coldest part of the Icelands. Stella and Beanie piled into the sled, Shay hopped on the back, and Ethan rode Glacier the unicorn. Stella didn’t think she’d ever get tired of the magical feeling of not knowing what might be in front of them. It was a bit disappointing, therefore, when they travelled all afternoon without making a single interesting find, or a single scientific discovery. She told herself she was being greedy – after all, they had discovered the cabbage just that morning.
After a few hours, they decided they ought to start looking for a place to spend the night. They still only had the one tent, and all of the landscape they’d passed so far had been flat and white and filled with snow. They paused to consult the compass, set it in the direction of Shelter, and then changed course in the hopes of finding somewhere to make camp.
Thankfully, Stella’s compass didn’t let them down, and just as it was getting dark, they emerged from a heavy snowfall to find a mountain looming up before them. Cut into the side of the rock were some caves that would at least provide shelter from the ice and wind. They piled into the largest one – a gigantic circular space with impressive stalactites reaching down from the ceiling.
After hours spent travelling in the sled it
