It was dark inside the wormhole. It was always dark inside wormholes, Boo told himself. So there was no reason for the darkness to scare him now. At least he had his nose to tell him what was happening, and the faint light shining through the joints in Mug’s armour.
Mug was at the head of the Expedition now, holding the Ghastly Otherwhen beetle in his hand. He looked startlingly sombre in his dark armour. Yesterday walked behind, holding the poodlesaurs’ pink leads.
Princess Princess’s skirts swished along the ground. She hoisted them up gracefully, her gold boots gleaming green in Mug’s fungus glow, then turned to glare at Boo. ‘Can’t you keep up—?’ she began. Her eyes widened. ‘What are you doing?’
Boo lowered his leg. ‘Widdling.’
‘You’re widdling. Actually widdling on a Heroic Expedition! Ha!’ said Princess Princess, tugging on the lead again. ‘I can’t wait to tell everyone when we get back. Boo-Boo’s boo-booed. Widdling before we’ve even got—’
‘You be quiet,’ rumbled Mug.
Boo blinked. Mug was so good-natured. But then he’d never set off for the Ghastly Otherwhen in a suit of metal armour before.
‘Widdling is werewolf Hero talent. Boo widdle for a reason. That right, Boo?’
‘Um.’ Boo tried to think. He’d never actually made the decision to widdle. His leg had just lifted of its own accord.
But it felt…right, he thought. He’d never wanted to widdle in a wormhole before. It was as though his body knew what to do before his brain.
‘I’m marking the way,’ he said at last. ‘This way we can follow the scent to get back—or I can, anyhow. And another werewolf can follow our scent if anyone wants to rescue us too.’
‘Hello? I’m so not believing this,’ said Princess Princess/Queen Splendifera sweetly. ‘You don’t have to find your way back in wormholes. They just take you back. Or haven’t you noticed?’
‘I’ve noticed,’ said Boo shortly.
He glanced behind him. Yesterday was speaking in a low voice to her dinosaurs. They stayed in a close huddle around her, as though they knew she might need protection. Or maybe, thought Boo, they were just happy to be back with her. Boo was glad they were looking after her—those teeth and claws were nice and deadly, even camouflaged in pink fuzz. But it meant he didn’t have a chance to talk to her either.
He tugged on his lead again. Princess Princess turned back.
‘What?’
‘Look,’ said Boo. ‘Now there are more of us—more than just me and Mug—’
‘Squeak,’ said the mouse.
‘—and Squeak—’
Princess Princess snorted. ‘As though a mouse is going to be much help against a universe of bogeys—’
‘We need to work out what we’re going to do when we come out of the wormhole in the Ghastly Otherwhen,’ continued Boo stubbornly.
‘It’s easy.’ Princess Princess tapped her golden foot. ‘Two things can happen. We’ll be met by a pack of sentinel bogeys who will accept our disguise. They’ll lead us to the Greedle’s fortress and we’ll rescue your mum. Or if the bogeys attack us as soon as we get there, the dinosaurs will fight them off. Then we capture a bogey, and force it to lead us to where the Greedle used to live. And if we meet any handsome princes on the way,’ she added casually, ‘they can join us. Or do you have a better Plan?
‘No,’ said Boo.
‘Then come on.’
They kept walking. It felt weird to have someone tugging on a lead attached to him. He glanced back, but the dinosaurs didn’t seem to mind it. Maybe they just wanted to stay close to Yesterday anyhow. Now and then Boo’s leg lifted automatically and he sprinkled a few drops on the wormhole walls. The drips vanished as soon as they hit the darkness, but his nose told him that some of the smell remained.
Of course Princess Princess was right, he told himself. Princess Princess always answered every question correctly in class, so she must be right about this too. There was no conceivable reason to keep lifting his leg. But somehow he was glad he’d left the sprinkles behind.
Surely they’d been walking long enough now? Even as the thought came to him they began to rise. Up, up…
Boo gulped. They were there! Any second now he’d actually see the Ghastly Otherwhen, the first Heroes to do so since Lottie’s doomed Expedition. He took a deep breath, just in case a horde of bogeys was going to—
‘Come back! Now! All of you!’
It was Yesterday.
What did the werewolf say when the beautiful Princess Princess asked him where fleas lived? Search me!
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