Max and the Millions

by Ross Montgomery

  And standing in the Doorway was…

  Max opened the door and stepped inside.

  He was speechless.

  The first thing he noticed was that Mr. Darrow’s bedroom had changed. Lots of things were the same: the bulb was still on, the bed was still unmade…

  But the entire floor was covered in sand.

  It didn’t make any sense. When Max had left, there’d only been a handful of sand beside the castle, but that was…

  Max stopped. He had just seen the castle.

  There was a flag sticking out of the top of it.

  The flag was tiny—no bigger than a stamp. That wasn’t the only thing that was different about the castle. It also had wooden walls around it, with gates and guard posts and watchtowers.

  And inside the walls were…

  Max grabbed the microscope goggles from Mr. Darrow’s desk and marched over to the castle. He crouched down, pulled the goggles over his head and focused on the floor beneath him. His breath caught in his throat.

  The castle was surrounded by hundreds of miniature wooden huts. Thousands, in fact. The huts had doorways and windows and roofs made of microscopic palm leaves, and chimneys with actual smoke coming out of them. Max could even see furniture and fireplaces and unmade beds through their minuscule hand-carved windows.

  And standing in the streets, staring up at him, were thousands upon thousands of tiny blue-haired people.

  Max laughed in disbelief. The people were no bigger than ants, and there was every kind of person you could imagine: young people and old people and dukes and duchesses and babies and beggars, all staring back up at him. They were so realistic that Max could swear some of them were actually pointing at him too.

  Mr. Darrow hadn’t just come back—he’d turned Max’s castle into a kingdom. It was the most beautiful, perfect, intricate model Max had seen in his entire life. Who else but Mr. Darrow could have made it? Who else could have created an entire city filled with thousands of handmade people, who really did look like they were pointing up at Max and screaming and running away and…

  Max stopped. He took the goggles off, blinked a few times and looked back down. This time, he really couldn’t believe his eyes.

  He wasn’t imagining it. This wasn’t like the time he accidentally inhaled too many model glue fumes and thought his bedroom ceiling was made of toast. The tiny people were running away from him. All of them.

  It all happened in the blink of an eye, like watching a sped-up film. The people scattered through the city at superfast speed, making whisper-quiet squeaks of terror. Max could see parents pulling their children into huts and slamming the doors, and soldiers leaping onto the backs of fleas and riding away, and crowds pouring down side streets like trickles of bright-blue rainwater…

  This wasn’t a model. These weren’t handmade people. They were alive.

  And then Max saw a tiny movement on the sand in front of him.

  It was a boy. He was standing on his own outside the city, just in front of Max’s right foot. If Max had moved another centimeter forward, he’d have crushed the boy like a bug without realizing it.

  Max stared at the boy. The boy stared back. He had bright-blue hair, and bright-blue eyes, and bright-blue robes that were far too big for him.

  And balanced on his head was a tiny wooden crown.

  Luke stared at the giant, and the giant stared back.

  It had cleared the desert between the Doorway and Blue Castle in five enormous strides, each footstep shuddering through the sand like an earthquake. It moved with unbelievable slowness—Luke should have taken the chance to run, but he couldn’t. He had stayed frozen to the spot, right until the giant had slammed an enormous white trainer onto the sand directly in front of him. Excelsior had given a terrified squeak and instantly fled.

  “Excelsior, you coward! Come back here!”

  But it was no use—Luke was alone with the giant. He had watched in speechless terror as it leaned toward him like a mountain falling to earth, until it was so close that Luke could feel its breath pounding on the sand like a hurricane….

  And then he had seen its face.

  Luke knew at once that it wasn’t the Great One. It was a monster. Luke had never seen anything so terrifying before. It had eyes that stuck out of its head on great glass stalks, and vast machines where its ears should be. Behind him, he could hear thousands of screams from Blue Castle. His people were terrified too—they needed protecting.

  They needed a king.

  “Oh crud,” Luke whimpered.

  He reached down and picked up the crown and the sword with shaking hands. He could already hear his father’s voice inside his head.

  Luke, what are you doing?

  I’m going to kill the giant.

  That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.

  I have to. I’m king.

  Not yet, actually.

  Shut up.

  Luke gripped the sword with both hands, took a deep breath…and looked up.

  He was shocked by what he saw. The giant had changed. Its long stalk eyes were gone—in fact, its eyes were now just like Luke’s.

  The giant didn’t look scary anymore. It was even smiling at him. It looked…well, he looked nice.

  Luke was stuck. Was he still supposed to kill the giant, even if the giant was smiling? That didn’t seem very friendly. But what if the giant changed again? What if he suddenly crushed the kingdom with one hand and swallowed Luke whole? What if—

  Luke stopped. The giant was opening his mouth.

  Like everything the giant did, it happened slowly—millimeter by millimeter. Luke saw the lips part, and the teeth separate, and the back of its throat flicker into life….

  And then the sound came.

  It was like planets crashing into each other. Volcanoes erupting. It blasted against Luke like an explosion, pounding across the desert like the end of the world, until Luke was running away as fast as he could.

  “HHHHHHHHHIIIII­IIIII­…”

  “Hi,” said Max.

  It felt like a stupid thing to say, but Max had never spoken to a tiny king before. He thought being friendly was a good start.

  Nope. The boy shot across the sand like a gunshot. In less than a second, he was back inside the kingdom walls.

  Max stayed crouched on the floor, his eyes shining and his pulse racing. Maybe he should have felt worse for scaring the boy—but he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.

  “It’s a living model—a living, breathing model kingdom!”

  This was it—this was Mr. Darrow’s secret project, the one he had been preparing Max for all along. And Mr. Darrow had been right—it was more than a model. It was the greatest invention in the history of mankind.

  Max was so excited that it took him a while to realize someone behind him was tapping him on the shoulder.

  He spun round. Standing behind him, still wearing the unicorn onesie, was Sasha.

  Max’s stomach dropped. He suddenly remembered where he was, and what he was supposed to be doing. He leapt to his feet, trying to block the castle from view.

  “S-Sasha! What are you doing here?”

  “Er…I came to find you,” said Sasha. “Mr. Pitt got a call from the builders and had to leave. Apparently the revolving dance floor in the new staff room isn’t working.”

  Max nodded, sweat breaking out across his forehead. He had to get Sasha away from here. If his roommate caught so much as a glimpse of the tiny kingdom, Mr. Darrow’s creation would be discovered and it would all be over. Max strode toward the door.

  “I see! Well, let’s get back downstairs before—”

  He made it halfway to the door before Sasha grabbed him.

  “Don’t tell anyone! Please!”

  Max was completely thrown. “Huh?”r />
  “Everyone thinks I’m back in the States!” Sasha cried. “If they find out I’ve been here the whole time, running the Sparkle Pony Summer Club…Don’t you get it, Max? I’ll be the laughingstock of the whole school!”

  “Sasha, calm down….”

  But Sasha wouldn’t calm down—and he wouldn’t move either. Max kept trying to push him out the door, but it was no use.

  “Sasha, come on—I’m not going to tell anyone!”

  Sasha was shocked. “You’re not?”

  “Of course not! If you don’t want me to say anything, I won’t! Now—let’s—go!”

  Max kept trying to bundle Sasha out the door, but it was like trying to fight a golden retriever. Now Sasha was beaming from ear to ear and shaking Max’s hand.

  “Max, thank you! I knew you were a good guy! What can I do to repay you?”

  “You can get out the door!” Max shoved harder. “Quick, before—”

  “Is that a castle?”

  Max froze.

  “Er…pardon?”

  Sasha was staring over Max’s shoulder.

  “There’s…there’s a little castle. On the floor, behind you.”

  Max had to come up with a lie, quick. “Yes! It is! A model castle! Mr. Darrow made models, remember? Now let’s—”

  “Max?”

  “Yes?”

  “It’s, er…moving.”

  Max almost couldn’t bring himself to look, but he knew he had to.

  The walls of the kingdom were covered in hundreds of tiny knights. They were all wearing wooden armor and clambering up the watchtowers at superfast speed, filling the guard posts and gateways. They stood in position, facing Max and Sasha with spears no bigger than splinters…and uttered a tiny, furious battle squeak.

  There was a long pause.

  “Max?”

  “Yes?”

  “Are those people alive?”

  Max gulped. He knew what he had to do now. If he wanted to protect Mr. Darrow’s creation, then he was going to have to blackmail Sasha. He was going to have to say that if Sasha didn’t keep quiet, then Max would make sure everyone in school knew about the Sparkle Pony Summer Club. There was no way that Sasha would understand how important this was, how precious and unique and—

  “That’s incredible!”

  Max stopped midthought. Sasha was staring at the kingdom in complete amazement, his mouth hanging open.

  “Can you believe it? It’s a living, breathing model kingdom! With little knights and everything! It’s like something out of Dragon Rider!”

  Max blinked. “You’ve read Dragon Rider?”

  Sasha shrugged. “Er…well, I read your copy when you weren’t in the room. I thought you wouldn’t mind.” He turned back to the castle. “But this…this is for real! Look at it! It must be the most incredible invention in the history of the world!”

  Suddenly Sasha didn’t look like the coolest boy in school. He looked like—well, he looked even more excited than Max felt. Max had always thought they had nothing in common, nothing to talk about. But it looked like he’d been wrong.

  “What’s it doing here?”

  Max had always preferred working on models to talking with people. Models were easy to understand. They stayed the same—at least, they usually did. People talked too fast, and changed their minds without warning, and veered off on different subjects just as Max was able to grasp what they were talking about. With models, you always knew where you were. They never surprised you.

  But sometimes, Max realized, being surprised by someone was really nice.

  “Sasha,” he said, “can you keep a secret?”

  Luke ran through the city gates, gasping for breath.

  He could barely think—the giant’s bellow had rattled his brains to thought-paste. The shout had the same effect on the rest of the kingdom. Every hut door was shut; every family peeked out their windows while clutching their loved ones close. Only soldiers were in the streets, and they looked as frightened as Luke did.

  “Your Majesty!”

  Malcolm was racing toward him, flanked by a dozen soldiers.

  “Thank the Great One you’re alive! We’ve been looking for you everywhere—we thought they’d got you!”

  Luke frowned. “They? What do you—”

  Luke stopped dead. There was another giant in the Doorway now, standing behind the first one. But this second giant was different—bright purple, with a huge spike sticking out of its head. It was also taller, and cooler, and had a better haircut.

  “Malcolm,” Luke whispered, “what are those things?”

  Malcolm shuddered with fear.

  “Monsters from beyond the Bedroom Door—the ones the Wise Man warned us about! They must have found a way inside! Now there is nothing to protect us from the might of…Demon!”

  Malcolm pointed to the first of the two giants with a trembling hand. Luke was confused—the giant still didn’t look like a monster to him. Sure, it had bellowed into his face like a bomb going off, but that was it. Apart from that, it seemed…well, friendly.

  “Malcolm, are you sure that’s Demon?”

  “There’s no time for questions, Your Majesty!” Malcolm grabbed Luke’s arm. “The kingdom is under attack! We have to get you out of here!”

  A plain black carriage pulled up beside them. Six fleas were harnessed to the front, bucking against their reins and screeching in fear.

  “I’m sending you to a secret hideout on the other side of the Floor, with your two best guards,” Malcolm said breathlessly. “Your father used it many times when traveling in the desert. Stay hidden and stay safe, Luke—your people need their leader! I’ll come to find you when this is all over!”

  Luke gawped. “The desert? But I can’t…”

  Malcolm wasn’t listening. He tied a cape round Luke’s shoulders.

  “We all have one moment in our life that matters, Your Majesty. One single moment. You must save yourself for when it’s your time, and make that moment count.”

  “Look out!”

  Soldiers were pouring from every corner of the city, their sights fixed on the two giants in the Doorway. The giants stood side by side, gazing down at the kingdom. They were looking right at Luke.

  And they were—

  “They’ve seen the prince!” screamed Malcolm. “Get him out of here!”

  Two burly guards shoved Luke into the carriage and jumped in, one on either side of him. With that, the fleas sped out of the city walls and away from the Door. The kingdom disappeared, and soon there was nothing but desert as far as the eye could see.

  Luke sat wedged between the guards, his mind reeling. He had asked for something—anything—to stop the coronation, and he had gotten exactly what he wished for. Who knew what was going to happen now? Why were the giants here? What did they want?

  But all Luke could think about was what he had seen the giants doing.

  They’d been looking at him. They’d been holding up their hands and moving them very, very slowly from side to side.

  Had they been waving at him?

  Max and Sasha waved at the tiny king. They watched as he was bundled into a carriage and carried to the other side of the room in a flash.

  “Wow!” said Sasha. “They’re fast.”

  Max nodded. “They must live at a higher speed than we do.”

  The two boys looked at the kingdom in silence. The knights still manned the walls, and the ten thousand other blue-haired people continued to cower inside their huts. Every now and then, one of them would peek out, give an almost inaudible squeak of terror and slam the hut door again. Sasha rubbed his head.

  “So…let me get this straight. Mr. Darrow made this?”

  Max nodded. “The sand, the huts, the walls around the castle: none of it was here las
t term. The people weren’t, either.”

  Sasha was amazed. “Mr. Darrow made them, too?”

  Max nodded. Sasha opened and closed his mouth a few times before sound came out.

  “How?”

  Max held up his hands hopelessly. “I haven’t got a clue! He never told me what he was making, just that he’d need my help when it was ready. He must have been sneaking back in here over the holidays to build it!”

  “Back from where?”

  Max sighed. “I don’t know that, either. He used to take these weird holidays sometimes. He’d tell Mr. Pitt that he was ill and needed a few days off, but he was secretly traveling all over the world. He never told me where he was going, just that he was looking for something important. Something for the project. Maybe he finally found something to make the model come to life—and now he has to keep going back there to get more!”

  Max gazed down at the tiny kingdom.

  “Which means that until Mr. Darrow gets back, this is my responsibility. I have to make sure Mr. Pitt doesn’t find out about it.”

  Sasha frowned. “Why?”

  “Pitt hates Mr. Darrow!” said Max. “If he comes up here and finds the castle, then he’ll make sure Mr. Darrow never sees it again. He’ll probably even try to get Mr. Darrow arrested for breaking back into the school.” Max shook his head. “I can’t let that happen. I can’t let Mr. Darrow down after everything he’s done for me.”

  “So what are we going to do?” said Sasha.

  Max sighed. “I do have one idea, but—”

  He stopped midsentence.

  “Hang on…did you say we?”

  Sasha nodded. “Of course! I’m going to help you!”

  Max was dumbstruck. “But, Sasha, Mr. Pitt said he’d expel anyone who set foot in the staff corridor, remember? If he finds out you’re involved—”

  Sasha put a hand on Max’s shoulder and cut him off. “Max, you said you wouldn’t tell anyone about the Sparkle Pony Summer Club. That’s the first nice thing anyone’s done for me since I moved here. Friends help each other out—and when I make friends with someone, I mean it.”