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numbers. He gets them wrong all the time.’
    â€˜I almost forgot that Count Karnht can’t count,’ Dr Trifle said. ‘I was surprised that he wanted Selby to come along. I thought he was terrified of dogs.’
    â€˜The Count is a bit strange. He told me that Selby saved his life — and that Selby actually talked as well,’ Mrs Trifle said with a chuckle. ‘He was hoping that Selby would help him get over his fear of dogs.’
    â€˜Not a chance,’ thought Selby. ‘This guy is a total fruit-loop.’
    Suddenly the drawbridge lowered and the iron gate lifted.
    â€˜Welcome to the Kingdom of Tallstoria, Dr and Mrs Trifle,’ the Countess said, coming out to greet them.
    â€˜Greetings to the nine of you,’ Count Karnht said.
    â€˜I believe he means the three of you,’ the Countess whispered.
    â€˜Forgive me for not inviting you later,’ CountKarnht added. ‘I hope you can stay for two whiles.’
    â€˜He means, “Forgive me for not inviting you
earlier.
I hope you can stay for a while,”’ the Countess said.
    â€˜Oh, and I see that you’ve brought your dogs, Selby,’ the Count said. ‘We shall get to know two another better a little l-niner.’
    â€˜I think he means “We shall get to know
one
another a little later,”’ the Countess said. ‘Do come in and see our castle.’
    â€˜Yes, our castles,’ the Count said. ‘We’ve spent the past twelve minutes of our life here.’
    â€˜We no longer have servants or guards here in the castle,’ the Countess said, ignoring her husband. ‘We lost all our money when my husband made himself the country’s treasurer.’
    â€˜We used to have one guard to protect me,’ the Count said, ‘but we had to let them all go.’
    â€˜There were fifty-seven guards,’ the Countess explained wearily. ‘We now have a burglar alarm. It’s one of those things where you put in a number to set the alarm when you go out and the same number to turn it off when we come home.’‘That could be a problem,’ Mrs Trifle said, ‘especially with you-know-who.’
    â€˜Who are they?’ the Count asked.
    â€˜It’s all right, darling,’ the Countess said. Then, turning to the Trifles, she said, ‘The secret code is the simplest one I could think of: 1—2—3—4. I was hoping that the Count could learn it but, so far, he hasn’t been able to.’
    Selby thought the Countess looked sad when she said this but maybe she was just tired of all the confusion.
    The Trifles and Selby had a lovely meal of takeaway pizza with the Count and Countess, but Selby had to eat his at the far end of the room so as not to frighten the Count.
    â€˜I want to get used to your four dogs,’ Count Karnht said, pointing to Selby. ‘But it’s not easy. Sorry, Selby,’ he called out.
    â€˜My husband really thinks that Selby can talk,’ the Countess said. ‘I have no idea where he got that notion.’
    â€˜He got it from me,’ Selby thought. ‘And it’s a good thing that nobody believes him.’
    â€˜Excuse me, dear,’ the Countess said to herhusband when everyone had finished eating. ‘Would you like to show the Trifles our crowns?’
    â€˜The crown!’ the Count cried. ‘All ten of you, please follow us.’
    Selby and the Trifles followed Count Karnht down a long corridor to the Crown Room. Selby could see that the Count was eyeing him nervously.
    â€˜I’ll keep my distance,’ he thought. ‘I don’t want to freak him out.’
    Looking into the room with the treasure, Selby could see a glass case with two jewel-covered crowns.
    â€˜Don’t go through that doorway until I turn off the alarm,’ the Countess said as she punched the numbers 1—2—3—4 into the keypad.
    â€˜What would happen if we did?’