My tour week wasn’t just important for me. It was the week of the US general election, which Donald Trump won. I spoke to enough of you that week – and since – to know that it’s something you are thinking about and worrying about, and I’d like to say two things to all Detective Society members who have been wondering exactly what they should do now.

1. Be kind. Donald Trump won because he and his supporters have forgotten how to be kind to anyone who does not look or think like them. We can’t make Donald Trump be kind, but we can help balance out the universe by being kind ourselves. And that doesn’t just mean being nice to your friends and family. It means being properly, thoughtfully good to everyone you meet. My detectives know that where you are from, or what you look like, has nothing to do with how much you deserve to be protected. So I want you to go out into the world and be as brave, smart and questioning as the Detective Society and the Junior Pinkertons. If someone tells you something, think hard about it to make sure it is true. If someone is being cruel to someone else, speak up and stop them. It’s important to keep yourself safe – this is something that Hazel, in particular, understands well – so if you’re not sure what to do, speak to an adult that you trust. But you are all Detective Society Members, and Detective Society members are kind to everyone above all else.

2. But remember that it’s not all down to you. If you are Daisy and Hazel’s age, or younger, you are already capable of great things. I do not doubt that for a moment. But what you don’t have yet (which is immensely frustrating) is much power. You can make the world a better place, and you are already doing that, but you can’t completely fix it yet. Remember that sometimes the Detective Society and the Junior Pinkertons need to ask for help to apprehend the criminals, and there’s no shame in that. And remember that for every Donald Trump out there, there is an Uncle Felix and a Miss Livedon and an Inspector Priestley and a me. Our main job is to protect you, and we are going to do that until the day that you are grown up, when you really can begin to fix this world of ours.

You have every right to be upset – you should be upset, because Donald Trump is an extremely unkind person – but most people are not like him. Life is an incredible adventure, and all adventures have difficult parts as well as good ones. And we really are all very lucky to be alive in 2016. Hazel and Daisy would love it here. Now it’s up to us to make sure that the future gets even better.