by Angie Sage
“No,” Andronicus says, but then he thinks the better of it. “Yes. To stop her from cutting our cord.”
We free two more wretched people but some twenty minutes later the thing we are dreading happens—we smell smoke. We speed up, with Tomas throwing open the doors faster and faster and Parminter rushing into each cell yelling, “Ma!” We are in the very last corridor when we open a door and Parminter races in. “Ma! Oh, Ma! Ma, Ma!” she screams.
It is good scream. A scream of joy.
The Sneaks’ Hall is full of choking smoke, but Tomas guides us safely through it and into yet more corridors until at last we stagger out into Sneak Snoop, where Andronicus is waiting for us. “I followed her out,” he tells us. “I don’t know where she’s gone now, and I don’t care.” He hands Parminter’s mama a cup of water, which she drinks down in one long gulp. She has had nothing for three days.
And then arm in arm, Roach and Wingless together, supporting Parminter’s mama, we walk slowly back to the farm, all the while looking up at the beautiful blue sky, which now has wisps of dark smoke drifting across it.
Behind us the Bartizan burns and ahead of us our freedom awaits.
Chapter 37
Our House
M
Like a beacon of freedom, the Bartizan burned all night. The smoke obscured the stars and it was not until the next day dawned, with the Bartizan reduced to a smoldering stump and, to people’s amazement, the sky still blue, that the city began to relax. Hope is a small place full of gossip and rumor and word soon got around that Outside was safe and the Contagion long gone. I was surprised that people believed this so readily. It was as if the collapse of the Bartizan tower had brought the teetering stack of lies down with it.
That first morning of freedom found us at Parminter’s house putting it to rights. Then we all walked down the Long Field, past the Astro-shaped crater that Tomas made, past the feet of the skylon, down into the perimeter ditch, up the other side again and out into the long, luxuriant grasses of what was, only the day before, the Outside. I think it was only then that we truly understood we were free. Parminter led the way up the sunken track into the hills and down to a small settlement of cottages where her grandmama lives.
People came running to meet us, laughing, welcoming us like long-lost family. There, for the first time, but certainly not the last, we told our story. And then Tomas and Kaitlin—and Tedward of course—took the two white horses and set off for our camp at the beach with the wonderful news of our freedom.
When Parminter’s mama was well enough to travel, Papa, Parminter and I made the same journey, along with the parents and relations of all the young SilverSeeds. It was such a joyful time.
We spent three happy months at the camp beneath the sky. We swam in the ocean and gazed at the moon, the sun and the stars. We walked and flew wherever we wished, we caught fish and picked fruit from the trees and took vegetables from the earth in the deserted settlements along the river. We never tired of feeling the wind on our faces and the rain too. But eventually the days grew colder and the nights longer and at last we decided to return to the city of Hope where we belonged. By then, even my little brother Jonno wanted to come back.
And now it is the depths of the very first true winter we have ever known. We are living in my house and it is a happy place full of noise and laughter. Parminter and I share the top floor; Papa, Kaitlin and Jonno have a room each below us—they took all Mama’s stuff out and gave it away—and Mattie and Tomas have the floor below them.
Today is a special day, because for the first time we have snow. Right now we are all sitting around the fire in the big room by the front door and Papa and Parminter’s mama have arrived with a basket of flax cakes—Papa helps out on the farm now—and we are toasting the cakes over the flames. Open fires were forbidden beneath the Orb but now we can keep as warm as we please. And as I sit by the fire holding my toasting fork with a flax cake balanced precariously upon its prongs and my little brother Jonno tells us for the umpteenth time how fast he and Tedward went on their sled, I can hardly believe it is possible to feel so happy.
I hardly ever think of Mama now. When I broke the teapot I broke her hold over me. I have no idea if she survived the Bartizan blaze. Some say they have seen her wandering the streets and that she lives with a small group of diehards in the Underground. But it matters no more. The Bartizan’s power went up in smoke and it cannot return now that we who live in Hope have the light of the sun shining freely upon us and the whole wide world is open.
And as for you, my young Wingless watcher, I’ve not seen much of you lately, have I? You have been with me through some strange times and I sometimes wonder whether, had it not been for you watching me on that extraordinary evening, any of this would have happened. Indeed, I think not. For if I had not wanted to prove my goodness to you I would never have let two Wingless fugitives into my house. And so I would never have found my brothers and sister and my own dear papa. And Hope would still be trapped in its nightmare beneath the Orb.
So I’d like to thank you from us all. And to tell you that you are welcome to drop by any time for toasted flax cakes beside the fire—with Parminter and I, Maximillian Fly.
Acknowledgments
Writing Maximillian Fly has been a fascinating journey with many twists and turns, and I’d like to thank all those who traveled the way with me. It takes so many people to make a book and there are many whose names I don’t know who worked to help Maximillian Fly emerge from its cocoon. Thank you, all.
In particular I’d like to say a massive thank-you to my wonderful editor and publisher, Katherine Tegen, who helped me to step out from Max’s world and take a look from the outside in. And to Eunice, my lovely agent, whose enthusiasm always brightens up the day. Also huge thanks to Mabel Hsu at HarperCollins who, with her subtle insights, steered me safely through rocky waters.
Also to the fabulous art editors Amy Ryan and David Curtis, who found Red Nose studio for the stupendous cover, thank you so much! And to Chris Sickels at Red Nose Studio for capturing Maximillian so perfectly.
Thanks too to production editor Kathryn Silsand and copy editor Jacqueline Hornburger for their attention to detail and their understanding of Max’s world that helped put the delicate finishing touches to the manuscript. And to Lisa Lester Kelly for those oh-so-important last-minute tweaks for which I am very grateful.
To Rhodri, who was and is always here to read, talk, make cups of coffee and talk some more, thank you for your endless patience and scientific insights about weird insect stuff. And to Thomasin for her powers of brainstorming—thank you too. And lastly to Maximillian Fly himself, who appeared out of nowhere one day and just would not go away—thank you, Max.
About the Author
Courtesy Angie Sage
ANGIE SAGE loves the sea, spooky old houses, and time traveling (the easy way, by reading history books). Angie has created many books for children, including the New York Times bestselling series Septimus Heap and Araminta Spookie. She lives in England. Visit her online at www.angiesage.com and on Twitter @AngieSageAuthor.
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Copyright
Katherine Tegen Books is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
MAXIMILLIAN FLY. Copyright © 2019 by Angie Sage. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
Cover art © 2019 by Red Nose Studio
Cover design by Davi
d Curtis
* * *
Names: Sage, Angie, author.
Title: Maximillian Fly / Angie Sage.
Description: First edition. | New York, NY : Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2019] | Summary: “Maximillian Fly, a roach-human hybrid, helps two young humans escape from the Bartizan’s eye, only to find himself a key player in a deadly war between roaches and humans”— Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018034247 | ISBN 9780062571168 (hardback)
Subjects: | CYAC: Cockroaches—Fiction. | Brothers and sisters—Fiction. | Survival—Fiction. | Science fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.S13035 Mf 2019 | DDC [Fic]—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018034247
* * *
Digital Edition JUNE 2019 ISBN: 978-0-06-257118-2
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-257116-8
1920212223PC/LSCH10987654321
FIRST EDITION
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