Me: Oh Nell, are you safe?
Nell: Yes, I’m at an undisclosed location.
Me: Are you in the little house on the river?
Nell: I just said undisclosed. Good grief.
Me: But I know where that is, Nell. Let me come and get you.
Nell: No. Rupert wants us to lie low for a little longer. Lionel is on the run.
Me: The villain.
Nell: Don’t worry Beauregard is on his trail.
Me: Good for him.
Nell: He has Lionel’s scent. He’ll track him down. Sally and her team are his back up.
Me: What happened?
Nell: Rupert and the pirate ship arrived alongside.
Me: Did you pretend to be scared?
Nell: I was scared to be honest, although seeing Harriet waving secretly from the ship helped.
Me: What about Poppy?
Nell: She drew her sword and said ‘Let the wolf on board.’
Me: It wasn’t her decision to make.
Nell: She gets carried away. Anyway, Rupert jumped on to the deck and said, ‘Well, Mistress Nelly, we meet again.‘
Me: How romantic.
Nell: I was haughty and distant of course.
Me: You’re good at that.
Nell: He demanded to see the jewels and when Lionel went below to get them he swept me up in his arms.
Me: And carried you over to his ship?
Nell: Yes. David leapt across with Poppy and Henry. He had to wear my hat, but he didn’t mind.
Me: Darling Big Brave Beautiful Boy.
Nell: Lionel roared in fury and the Beefies started throwing mackerel.
Me: The hooligans.
Nell: They were no match for SLOP but during the kerfuffle Lionel jumped overboard and swam away.
Me: Oh no.
Nell: He was spotted near the river but he won’t get far. Beauregard will find him. The main thing is we’re safe.
Me: Yes. Sorry.
