War on Whimsy by Liane Moriarty Read Free Book Online Page B

air, arms and legs in every direction.
    Okay, pull your rip cord now, thought Nicola.
    Katie kept falling.
    Nicola could hear a faint, eerie sound that she thought might have been Katie’s scream.
    Pull your rip cord. Katie, please, please pull your rip cord.
    Katie continued to fall like someone pushed from the side of the cliff. She flew past Nicola. Nicola saw only a flash of gaping mouth and bulging eyes.
    â€œKatie, pull your rip cord, you silly, silly . . . !” screamed Nicola and she’d never heard her own voice sound like that: violent with terror.
    She could hear the rest of the Space Brigade screaming at Katie, too, and just when she thought she was about to see her best friend die right in front of her, Katie’s parachute burst open like a blossoming flower. It was quite possibly the most beautiful thing Nicola had ever seen.
    Nicola’s eyes filled with tears. She was going to be very angry with Katie when they landed.
    Landing. Right. That was the next thing to accomplish.
    XYZ40 had told them that the Royal Spaceship would drop them as close as possible to a red hut with 3A on the roof that would be easy to spot from the air.
    â€œThe Volcomanians color-code everything,” she’d said. “It makes it quite convenient to get around. Of course, you’ll find it’s quite a different story when you get to the Planet of Whimsy.”
    Nicola looked down beneath her. It didn’t matter that it was the middle of the night because the constant explosions from the volcanoes lit up the landscape like daylight. Everywhere she looked she could see erupting volcanoes.
    It was quite beautiful in a frightening sort of way.
    Goodness! Was that a city perched on the side of that volcano? Nicola tried to imagine living her daily life on the side of an active volcano.
    She suddenly remembered her teacher, Mrs. Zucchini, telling them about an ancient city in Italy that had been buried under ash after a volcano erupted. The city was called Pompeii, and when Mount Vesuvius erupted, the ash preserved everything—even the bodies. The city was frozen forever like a time capsule. Apparently you could still see the terrified expressions on some of the dead victims’ faces.
    Why wasn’t the entire planet of Volcomania buried in ash? Nicola wished she’d remembered Pompeii when XYZ40 was briefing them. She could have asked her.
    As her parachute sank lower, she could feel the heat radiating from the volcanoes like a million summer days. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead.
    Was the lava screen waterproof? What if she sweated it all away? What if her skin became as red and scaly as a Volcomanian? What if . . .
    â€œI can see the hut!”
    It was Katie’s voice.
    Oh! Nicola had forgotten all about the hut. She’d just been letting her parachute and mind drift.
    Nicola looked down and saw a small, squat, red hut with 3A clearly marked on the top.
    She reached for the toggles that Tyler had told them would steer the parachute. (“How do you know this?” Greta had asked. “I don’t know,” Tyler had answered. “I just do.”)
    Nicola pulled the left toggle and the parachute gently floated down to the left. She pulled right and it floated down to the right. It was quite fun. Maybe she’d take up parachuting as a hobby when she got back to Earth.
    She zigzagged through the air toward the hut and saw with horror that it seemed to be right next to the crater of a permanently erupting volcano. It was like a pot of milk boiling over on the stove. Except it wasn’t milk—it was lava.
    Couldn’t XYZ40 have picked a landing spot that wasn’t quite so close to a volcano crater? They would have to parachute straight through a fountain of lava.
    â€œIt’s going to burn us!” screamed Greta.
    â€œWe’re wearing lava screen!” Nicola shouted back. “We’ll be fine!” She hoped. Her parachute sank lower and