"GUARDS, you incompetent nincompoops! I order you to come and save me RIGHT NOW!"
Everybody tried their best to tie up the princess, running around her in circles as she swatted at them like flies and jumped up and down on the spot.
"Keep still!" cried Shimlara in frustration.
"Why should I keep still? You're trying to KIDNAP me!"
"Hypnotize her, Katie!" said Sean.
Looking terrified, Katie pulled off her necklace and began swinging it slowly back and forth. "Ummm . . . watch the necklace, please. Okay, now you're beginning to feel very sleepy."
The princess grimaced down at her. "I am NOT feeling sleepy, you tiny twerp! I am very awake and very ANGRY! Gshe-ghd-ash!"
Greta had pulled a roll of masking tape from her backpack, ripped off a piece, jumped up on top of an emerald tower, and stuck the tape firmly over the princess's mouth.
"Good one, Greta," said Sean.
The princess's eyes bulged.
"Got her hands!" said Tyler. He'd managed to tie the princess's hands together behind her back.
"Okay, let's get her to the helicopter," said Nicola. They surrounded the princess and began pushing, shoving, and pulling her toward the helicopter. It was hard work because she was so much taller than all of them, apart from Shimlara.The princess didn't help matters by deciding on a new strategy of becoming limp and heavy like a bag of potatoes.
"We need to get her to move faster," said Sean. "Look."
They looked up to see dozens of helicopters circling above them.
"Lay down your weapons!" boomed a fierce voice.
"Ha ha! We can't--we don't have any!" Shimlara yelled back.
"No need to mention that," said Tyler.
Sean sighed. "I knew we should have brought weaponry."
They redoubled their efforts, frantically pushing the princess toward the helicopter.
"I wonder if she's ticklish," said Tyler.
Nicola looked up at the princess and caught a tiny spark of fear in her eyes.
"TICKLE HER!" she shouted.
Everybody obeyed and the princess tried desperately to escape from all the tickling fingers. She ducked and weaved as if she were trying to win a dance competition.
"Tickle HARDER!" shouted Nicola. "Go get the helicopter started, Shimlara!"
Shimlara ran off, while Nicola, Tyler, Sean, Katie, and Greta vigorously tickled the princess. In her panic to evade their tickling, the princess actually ran straight to Shimlara's helicopter and threw herself in the door.The rest of them tumbled in behind her and Nicola shouted, "GO, GO, GO!" just as the first guard ran across the palace roof and grabbed hold of Greta's foot.
CHAPTER 23
The helicopter took off straight and smooth into the dark sky
. Below them they could see the guard holding Greta's school shoe, shaking his fist ferociously.
"He's got my shoe!" said Greta as if that were the most important thing to worry about at the moment.The guard tossed the shoe away and Greta yelled, "Excuse me! That shoe is part of the Honeyville Primary School uniform!"
"Shgished ugggh idddy Ed Ed Ed!" The princess was making strange garbled sounds through her taped-up mouth.