This was a day that everyone in Horsmarlonerpool had being looking forward to for weeks.
Everyone had it in their diaries in big letters - ‘The Ball at the Palace’.
Since Helen and Jensen had returned from the Skylands with news that Prince Barnaby and Princess Agnetha had invited the whole town to a ball, everyone had been making new clothes and practicing their dancing. Nobody, aside from Lord and Lady Devonroe, had ever been to a royal palace before - let alone a proper, official ball.
At ten O’clock that morning, Horsmarlonerpool train station had never been so busy. The three engines; Shampoo, Sixwheels and Mersey, had been busy collecting every train carriage they could find until the train that stood on the platform was over twenty-three carriages long! It would, of course, be incredibly heavy to pull, so Sir Betjeman - the huge red engine from the Skylands - had happily chuffed down to help haul the enormous train back to his home town of Marbleglow.
Everyone looked at their tickets and found the correct carriage. Some had even brought their pets so they weren’t lonely at home. Zak had brought his dog Enzo, and Sarah had brought her pig Cleantoes. Everyone was there - everyone that was aside from Pebbles and Crater, the only two really naughty people in Horsmarlonerpool. They didn’t deserve to go.
Everyone else clapped as the train pulled out of the station with all four engines at the front sending huge plumes of steam into the air as they blew their whistles and chugged towards the north.
Not many people from Horsmarlonerpool had ever visited the Skylands before, and they watched from the train windows as the Albion Sea slipped past and turned to pastures, and from pastures to forests.
At Marbleglow Palace, right in the middle of Marbleglow - the main town of the Skylands - Prince Barnaby and Princess Agnetha were in a panic. In the ballroom, they were still trying to organise everything. They hadn’t had an official royal ball in years, and had forgotten all that needed to be done.
They had organised a huge chocolate fountain, but couldn’t get it to work. It just made strange noises and small puffs of smoke came from it - but certainly no chocolate.
“Oh, never mind that,” said Prince Barnaby. “Everyone will be here in an hour - let’s both get properly dressed so we can greet them.”
An hour later, the gates to the palace opened and everyone from Marbleglow, and all the visitors from Horsmarlonerpool, entered excitedly.
Everyone looked wonderful.
And after everyone had gathered in the ballroom, the orchestra started playing and everyone began to dance. Because they’d all been practicing for so long, everyone stepped in time and if you were watching from the ceiling you’d have see hundreds of people twirling like spinning tops down below you.
But there was one person not dancing, and instead just watching from the side.
Prince Barnaby.
Miss Kelvingrove, the Horsmarlonerpool librarian, went over to him nervously.
“Is anything the matter, your majesty?” she asked.
“Oh! Nothing, nothing at all! Just… a little tired,” he replied.
But Miss Kelvingrove wasn’t so sure. “Do you not enjoy dancing,” she asked?
The Prince hung his head. “I’m afraid.. I’ve never learned.”
“But you’re a prince,” said Miss Kelvingrove, sounding shocked. “Surely dancing is a big part of being a prince?”
“Oh, well, oh they tried to teach me,” moaned the Prince, “Everybody tried, of course. But I’m useless.”
Miss Kelvingrove took his hand and, despite his objections, led him onto the edge of the dance floor.
“Just like this!” she said, and moved backwards and to the right as the Prince moved forwards and to the left. Soon, he was having a wonderful time, and found to his surprise that - given the right teacher - he was actually quite a natural dancer!
As everyone moved around the floor, suddenly thousands of multi-colored balloons which had been held in a net up by the ceiling for the grand finale broke free and covered the dancers. There were far too many of them and soon they were piled as high as everyone’s heads.
“Oh, no!” said Princess Agnetha. “It’s all gone terribly wrong!”
But Zak’s dog Enzo, and Sarah’s pig Cleantoes LOVED popping balloons and the two animals ran around in a frenzy popping ten at a time until everyone could see each other again and the dancing continued.
Then, the guests from Horsmarlonerpool began dancing with their new friends from Marbleglow. Everyone was getting on brilliantly, and Princess Agnetha took to the stage and silenced the orchestra.
“It’s time, for the ceilidh!” she announced, and everyone from Marbleglow clapped excitedly. But everyone from Horsmarlonerpool looked at each other in confusion.
“What’s a ceilidh?” asked Sarah to Theo, who had been dancing together.
“A ceilidh?” said Theo, sounding very surprised. “Well, when we all do the same dancing together. You’ve never had a ceilidh where you come from?”
“No..” said Sarah.
On the stage, Princess Agnetha noticed the hum of uncertainty amongst her Horsmarlonerpool guests, but being the perfect Princess she said:
“We are very aware, of course, that some of our wonderful guests may not have been to a Ceilidh before, and so we decided to hold one as a treat. And I shall be caller. So, yes, now, let’s form two lines.”
Everyone from Marbleglow lined up along one side of the dance floor facing everyone from Horsmarlonerpool who had lined up on the another. The orchestra began playing again, this time making a very jolly tune.
“Everyone, forward!” called the Princess and the two lines moved towards each other until they met in the middle.
“And spin and continue,” called the Princess, as everyone linked arms, spun around, and then walked on to the opposite side of the room in the same formation.
“And back again!” laughed the Princess. The two lines moved towards each other again, spun, and continued walking on.
“Into a circle!” her highness called, and the two lines bent into two semi-circles to form a whole circle that danced around and around.
“And everybody bow!” she called. And everyone did, and then the circle continued to spin.
This was the most fun that anyone from Horsmarlonerpool had ever had when dancing, and soon everyone was laughing as they followed the Princess’ instructions.
But then - disaster! The broken chocolate machine, which Prince Barnaby and Princess Agnetha had completely forgotten about, exploded in a huge eruption of chocolate, covering everyone in the entire room.
Everyone stopped and looked at their smart clothes. The Prince and Princess gasped and looked at their own chocolate-covered gowns.
And then, one by one, everyone began to laugh. The laughter spread, and soon the whole room was in hysterics! Not only was this fun, now it was even better - they were covered in delicious chocolate!
They danced and danced, licking chocolate from their fingers, until both Prince Barnaby and Princess Agnetha - both sticky with chocolate - stood on the stage together and again the orchestra hushed.
“To our wonderful friends here in Marbleglow,” said the Prince, wiping chocolate from his face… “And our new friends from Horsmarlonerpool. We would both like to thank you so much for coming. It is wonderful to see everyone in this grand old room together.”
But something had been bothering Amira all night. “You’re highnesses!” she called. Everyone turned to look at her.
“Not everybody IS here,” she said.
The Prince and Princess looked concerned.
“But who isn’t here?” asked Prince Barnaby.
“Sixwheels, Shampoo, Mersey and Sir Betjeman,” said Amira. “The engines that brought our train here. You see, without them, none of us from Horsmarlonerpool would have been able to visit at all.”
Well, this was certainly true, wasn’t it? Without the engines, how would everyone have travelled so far north in the first place?
“Oh, yes! A terrible oversight of ours!” said Princess Agnetha. “We must build the tracks! Whoever wishes to help, we thank you!”
Everyone rushed out of the ball room, into the palace gardens and hurried towards the old train shed where Sixwheels, Shampoo and Mersey were listening to Sir Betjeman tell them tales of his adventures.
Opening the gate to the yard, everyone helped lift huge heavy rails that were stacked up by the side of the sidings and began linking them together with spanners to create a whole new line all the way through the palace gardens to the ballroom windows.
The four engines had to move very slowly over the new tracks, which weren’t very secure, but before long they were all in a line outside the open windows of the ballroom looking in.
Sixwheels, Mersey, Shampoo and Sir Betjeman were delighted to be part of the party and watched as the Prince and Princess, now covered in railway grime as well as chocolate, stepped back onto the stage.
“Now that we really are all here,” continued the Prince. “May I say on behalf of my sister and I, that I hope that tonight marks a very special occasion.”
“The occasion,” said the Princess, “where everyone from our town of Marbleglow and the Skylands beyond, might consider everyone from Horsmarlonerpool to be friends.”
“Three cheers for the Skylands” shouted Mayor Dubbin, and everyone from Horsmarlonerpool did so.
“And three cheers for Horsmarlonerpool!” cried the Prince, and everyone from the Skylands did so in return.
The Prince and Princess looked at one another I sheer relief - their ball had, finally, been the most wonderful success.
As everyone shook hands, Amira and Dylan went to the broken fountain and scooped up handfuls of chocolate, before walking over to the four engines looking in at the window. They smeared a small amount of chocolate on Sixwheels, Mersey, Shampoo and Sir Betjeman, who whistled happily. They knew now that they too were truly part of the party.
