Maddigan's Fantasia by Margaret Mahy

Author:Margaret Mahy [Margaret Mahy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780571317301
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Published: 2014-09-04T04:00:00+00:00

Garland was one of the people bowled over by the earthquake. She sprawled on the ground for a second time, bruised and blinking, then bit by bit, a leg here, an arm there stood up, wobbling, though she wasn’t quite sure if the wobble was a wobble in the world or a wobble in her own bones.

‘Look! Look!’ screamed Boomer.

Billowing out of the ground, forcing its way out through the crack that had run down to the ground, came a cloud of greenish smoke like a blurred monster anxious to devour anything in its path. Rosalind screamed, and she was not the only one. As the cloud rolled towards them, many of the Fantasia people fled before it.

‘Don’t breathe it in,’ Doppler was calling, but it was hard not to, as it flooded the air around them. ‘Stand back! Stand back!’

‘Kaana!’ Rosalind was sobbing.

A voice came from somewhere above them – from the balcony, thought Garland.

‘Dad! Dad!’ Lilith was calling.

‘Mum!’ called Kaana. ‘The stair’s broken. Get us down!’

His confident voice had changed. The great green serpent of smoke could not be ordered back into the ground and anyone could hear that bold, determined Kaana was frightened.

‘Lilith,’ muttered Yves, taking no notice of Kaana. ‘We’ll never get in at that main door now. We’ll need to bring them down from above.’

‘Logical. Yes, logical,’ said Scrimshaw. ‘Perhaps the helicopter …’

‘You have a helicopter?’ cried Maddie.

‘We have plans to build one,’ said Scrimshaw rather complacently.

‘We won’t be able to wait for you to fit one together …’ yelled Yves. We need to do something now!’

Green smoke billowed out of the door, but the balcony was still clear … easy to see up there above them.

‘Human pyramid!’ Garland yelled. ‘Human pyramid!’

‘Good idea,’ Maddie said in a quiet but commanding voice. ‘Human pyramid!’ she shouted.

Bannister, Yves, Byrna and Nye ran forward and dropped onto their hands and knees directly under the balcony. Tane, along with two shy young acrobats – Lattin and Moira – leapt up onto them and knelt on their backs, Maddie and old Shell leapt first onto Bannister then up onto Tane then up yet again to kneel partly on Tane and Lattin, partly on Lattin and Moira, while Garland leapt from Bannister to Tane to Maddie and stood there holding out her hands to Lilith, who was already lowering herself over the balcony rail and down into Garland’s arms. It was easy with Lilith. She had had practice with human pyramids, but Kaana, who was to come down after her, was much more difficult. For one thing he was bigger and heavier. For another he was desperately afraid.

‘I’ll fall!’ he was screaming. ‘I’ll fall! I’ll fall!’

‘Quickly!’ said Garland. ‘I’ll catch you. I can. I know how to.’

‘If you stay there you’ll be poisoned!’ yelled Boomer.

‘We’re here to catch you!’ shouted Timon and he and Eden stood on either side of the pyramid, arms raised.

‘For heaven’s sake hurry!’ yelled Yves.

Kaana was hanging, terrified, from the balcony. A line of green mist lazily curved out and over his head.

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