By the time her sisters turned up, Sally had probably been in Wallfruit Cove for a few hours.  She’d had three milkshakes (lemon, strawberry and grape).  She’d used the toilet once, and found out that they’d had one specially installed for people who visited from Dovecote Gardens and didn’t want to use the “gutter-streams,” whatever those were.  And, after listening for long enough, she was pretty sure she understood most of what Sleet and Comet were trying to tell her.

It was actually quite lucky- Sally turned her head at exactly the right moment to see Rube and Jeanette come round the corner near the treeline and freeze, as if they’d hit an invisible wall in the air.  It took Sally a moment or two to realise that they must have seen the people in the pool.  The grey and green people.  And if that shocked them, just wait until they saw them close-up.

Sally raised her hand and waved to Rube and Jeanette, before they could start to worry about not being able to see her.  “My sisters,” she explained to Sleet and Comet, “We should go over and say hi.”

“Good idea,” said Kai, glancing around the pool.  He’d probably noticed them freeze as well.

As they made their way across the rocky path, Kai perched on Sally’s shoulder, Sleet and Comet hung back a bit.  That meant that Sally was the first to get to Rube and Jeanette.  It also meant that there was enough room for Jeanette to shove Sally behind her and step in between her and Sleet and Comet, glaring daggers at them.  “What do you think you’re playing at?” she roared.

“It wasn’t their fault!” said Kai, “I was the one who called the piper!”

“I don’t think they know what a piper is,” Sally told him.  Rube and Jeanette seemed to be trying to keep an eye on both Kai and the other two at the same time, twitching between one and the other like they were getting electric shocks.  “He means he was the one who brought me here.  But he only did it because he needed our help- he wasn’t trying to cause any trouble.”

Jeanette, still standing across the path as menacingly as she could, glanced back at Rube, who took a deep breath.  “Alright, Sally.  How about you go right back to the start, and talk us through everything that’s happened this morning.”

Sleet leaned around to look at her properly.  “We could sit in the pool if you…”

Rube held up a hand.  “I’d… rather not.  If that’s OK.”  Her voice sounded a bit like a robot’s, but it was firm enough to get Sleet to drop it.

Sally thought through everything that had happened and everything she’d been told.  “Well… do you remember I said I rescued a moth last night?” she asked, pointing at Kai.

“Yes,” said Rube dully.

“Well, he hasn’t always been a moth.  His name’s Kai, and he says he got lost near Dovecote Gardens when he was younger.”  Sally noticed a few of the people back at the pool turn around to stare at them.  Sleet seemed to be trying to wave them off- like, nothing to see here.  “You know the paths around Dovecote Gardens?  The ones with the little white walls?”

“Yes,” said Rube.

“Well, they lead to other places.  Like this one.  And you can only get there by going to Dovecote Gardens in the first place.  I think Sleet and Comet called it a hub?”  She looked round, and they nodded.  “So Kai, when he was little, wandered off down one of the paths, and someone kidnapped him.”  Sally wasn’t sure how to tell the next bit- her first thought had been to say, And turned him into a moth, but that would probably sound a bit silly if she said it out loud.  She didn’t want to sound as if she was making fun of something upsetting.

“And turned me into a moth,” said Kai, and Sally relaxed.

Jeanette had relaxed a little by now, and Sleet managed to edge around her (Comet stayed put, looking at bit intimidated.)  “They’re called the Iridescence family,” said Sleet, “They’ve done this sort of thing before.  The council down in Opal Hill don’t…”

“Could you explain why any of that means you get to take our little sister off without telling us?” snapped Rube.

Sally shook her head.  “I told you- it wasn’t them!  It was Kai!  And he only did it because he was worried about some of those Iridescence people coming to the house while Colwyn wasn’t there!”

“And what if they’d come by while me and Jeanette were there?”

“They wouldn’t have,” said Kai, “They were just after me.  And they can’t come here because…”

“Why did you take Sally?”  Rube was shouting by now.  There were definitely people in the pool turning round to stare.

“Because he thought I might be able to help!” Sally shouted back.

“How?”

Sally thought about it, and glanced round at Kai, who shrugged.  “You’re Colwyn’s niece,” he said apologetically, “I kind of thought we’d figure it out from there.”

(To be continued)