‘Larry’s come a long way since we bought him that machine.’ Ben nuzzled Larry’s cheek. ‘They’ll be booking him for the Opera House soon.’
‘We’ve got something else inside.’ Max’s mum was like an excited little girl as she grabbed Max’s hand and led her up the stairs to the kitchen.
The whole room was strung with streamers, balloons and a giant sign that said ‘Happy Birthday Max’. The table was bulging with pastizzis, lasagna, golden roasted potatoes, a baked chicken, chocolate éclairs, chunks of rockmelon, water-melon and mango. In the centre, on a platter raised above it all, was a triple-decker white-and-dark chocolate mousse cake laced with cherries, cream and generous shavings of chocolate. And on the sidebench was a mound of presents.
‘This is what I call a party.’ Ben rubbed his hands.
‘There’s just one more surprise in the lounge room I need to show Max. Close your eyes.’
Max closed her eyes as her mother held her shoulders and directed her down the hall. She kissed her on the cheek and said, ‘Count to three and open your eyes. I’ll be in the kitchen.’
Max counted.
‘Happy birthday, beautiful girl.’
‘Dad!’ Max threw herself at her father and squeezed him tight. Beside him was a woman holding a small baby. ‘And Mee Lin! What are you doing here?’
‘We wanted to say happy birthday, and we thought it was time you met your little sister, Lily.’
Max stared at the small gurgling bundle in Mee Lin’s arms. ‘She’s so little.’
‘Would you like to hold her?’ Mee Lin asked.
‘She’s so small – what if I break her?’
‘She’s pretty tough.’
Mee Lin held out the baby. Max sat on the lounge and held her stiffly. ‘What do I do now?’
‘She sleeps a lot, so you don’t really need to do anything.’
At that moment, Lily opened her eyes. She stretched her arms and hands before falling back to sleep and curling her fingers around Max’s pinky.
‘I’ll be in the kitchen.’ Mee Lin kissed Max’s dad and left the room.
‘Thanks for coming, Dad. I’ve missed you so much.’
‘Me too,’ his voice cracked. ‘How do you like you new sister?’
‘She’s cute,’ Max said. ‘In a squishy, small kind of way.’
‘Did you get my letter and the photos?’
‘Yeah,’ Max said. ‘I was planning to write back to you, but I’ve been busy.’
‘You know she’ll never replace you.’
‘I know.’ Max smiled.
‘When you were this small, I couldn’t take my eyes off you. I used to sit and watch you for hours. I thought you were the most beautiful little girl I’d ever seen.’ His eyes became teary. ‘I still do.’
Max smiled and looked down at Lily. ‘She’s got a good grip.’
‘Might be a mountain climber or a champion waterskier. It’ll come in handy to keep the boys in check.’ He looked at Max. ‘And what about you? Any boys I should know about?’
‘Nah. That stuff’s not for me.’
‘It will be. One day.’
Max’s mum’s laughter floated above the room.
‘What’s this with Linden’s dad and your mum?’
‘Not sure.’ Max shrugged. ‘All I know is that since she’s been coming out to the farm she’s a lot more normal to live with.’
‘I have something else for you,’ Max’s dad said.
‘What is it?’ Max felt Lily’s hand squeeze her finger even tighter.
‘I’ve been asked to direct a new film. It’s a really exciting project that’s going to have lots of big names in it.’
‘So you can’t stay very long, I understand.’
‘That’s not it,’ he said. ‘We’re filming it in Australia. So for at least the next year, Mee Lin, Lily and I are moving back here.’
Max said nothing.
‘Are you happy?’
‘If I wasn’t holding Lily I’d have screamed and jumped all over you by now.’
Max’s dad breathed a heavy sigh. ‘The scream I can let you off, but the hug I want later. So how do you feel about being a babysitter?’
Max looked down at Lily. ‘You know, I never thought I’d say this, but I think I might have a knack for it.’
Lily let out a smiling squeal.
‘Even Lily thinks it’ll be nice to come home.’
Max smiled. ‘I haven’t heard you call Australia “home” in years.’
‘My home will always be where you are.’ Max’s dad leant in and kissed her on the forehead. ‘Oh.’ He screwed up his nose. ‘I think Lily has left me a celebratory present in her nappy. Do you want to have a go changing her?’
‘We’ve just met. Maybe I’ll leave that for another time.’
‘Don’t blame you.’ Max’s dad lifted Lily and held her out before him. ‘Better do it fast before we drive away your guests.’
After hours of feasting and telling jokes and retelling old stories – ones that Ben exaggerated and everyone else laughed about – Francis leaned into Max and whispered, ‘We did it.’ His smile curled into the corners of his mouth. ‘We now have an energy source strong enough to power the next generation of Time and Space Machine.’
Max’s smile faltered. ‘You know it is broken.’
‘If you hadn’t been wearing the Machine and belt when that electric bolt hit you, we wouldn’t have you anymore. We can make another one.’
‘But all that hard work.’
Francis shrugged. ‘Yes, but so much more exciting work still to be done.’
‘It’s ironic isn’t it? When I first met Blue he wanted the machine so badly he would have done anything to get it, and now he’s destroyed it.’
‘He destroyed a lot of things.’
‘Not us, though.’ Max smiled and looked around the table. ‘He tried to, but he never even got close.’
After the meal, Max and Linden took the leftovers to Larry, Ralph and the chickens, with the sounds of the adults singing karaoke floating out of the house behind them.
‘I think Larry could teach them a thing or two about singing.’ Linden rubbed his head. ‘Couldn’t you, fella?’
‘Did you know about this?’ Max asked.
‘It’s been planned for months.’
‘And you never said a thing?’
‘It would have ruined the surprise.’
‘Larry’s heart is looking good,’ Max said.
‘You know Larry, once he gets his mind set on something there’s no stopping him.’
Ralph helped Larry add more wildflowers to his heart while Geraldine clucked nearby, watching Amelia, who had taught herself to fly.
Another peal of laughter and applause drifted out of the house at the end of a song.
‘Do you remember when you were first here, and you marched off by yourself and got stuck in mud?’ Linden leaned against the fence post and looked out over the paddocks.
‘It wasn’t my fault the farm suddenly became a swamp.’
‘You didn’t think you’d like it here, did you?’
‘I thought the pace would be a little slower than I was used to. Guess I was wrong.’ She smiled. ‘And who knew if I stuck it out I could get happy birthday sung to me by a pig.’
Larry snorted.
‘A very good-looking pig, of course.’
The two stared out at the far paddock.
‘Are you okay with your dad’s family being here?’ Linden asked.
‘Yeah. It’s good to see them,’ Max said. ‘They’re moving here for a year while my dad directs a film.’
‘Maybe he can get us some work as extras again.’
‘After the disaster I caused on his set in Hollywood, my acting days are officially over.’15
‘Thanks for coming with me to see my mum. You were right, it was better with you there, and I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d rather introduce her to.’
‘She loved you,’ Max said. ‘You cou
ld see that in every bit of her.’
Linden looked away and bit down on his lip. ‘I was always a really happy kid, but when she died I lost my confidence. Like I was always afraid the ground was going to trip me up or swallow me whole. I know that’s silly …’
‘It’s not silly.’ Max looked into Linden’s eyes.
They stared in silence.
‘When I met you, it was like I forgot to worry about that,’ Linden said. ‘I wasn’t frightened anymore, and for the first time in years everything felt like it was going to be okay. You know, safe again. Do you know what I mean?’
‘Yeah,’ Max said. ‘I think I do.’
‘And when I’ve been sad about her, you’ve always known what to say to make me feel better.’
Linden looked down. ‘I dreamt about her a lot after she died. I’d have dreams where I would see her on buses and in cars and trains, but I could never reach her before she left. I always woke up feeling sad.’ He smiled. ‘But when I was lying in hospital, I had a dream and we were sitting together on this country bus. It was a really sunny day, and we were singing and laughing. It was like she was there with me, helping me to wake up.’
Max pulled a red envelope with a ribbon tied around it from her pocket. ‘I got you this.’
‘I thought this was your birthday.’
‘It’s not for your birthday. Open it.’
Linden slipped his finger underneath the seal and pulled out a photo. He stared at the picture of himself at five in his pool, with his house in the background and his mother laughing beside him. He ran his finger over his mother’s hair. ‘It’s just as I remembered it.’
Max smiled. ‘Me too.’
‘Do you know anything about growing flowers?’
‘Not much.’
‘I think I might plant some roses near the house.’
‘I’ll help you look after them,’ Max said.
‘I’d like that.’
‘When is your birthday?’ Max asked.
‘Next month.’
‘Next month? You never told me that!’
‘Mum used to make a big fuss about my birthday. It hasn’t felt right to celebrate without her, but I think for my next one I might have a party. Want to come?’
Max nodded.
Larry snorted a few more bars and pushed his snout into the ever-enlarging heart.
‘He is getting better,’ Max said.
‘Told you,’ Linden laughed and Max joined in.
‘You know what I love about this place?’ Max asked.
‘Apart from me being here?’ Linden asked.
Max nodded. ‘Apart from that.’
‘What?’
‘There may be karaoke-singing pigs and dogs dressed in tuxedos, psychotic chickens and their kamikaze flying chicks, and it’s always chaotic and I don’t think Ben and Eleanor will ever have a neat house or lab or stop kissing in front of people, but this place makes more sense than anywhere I’ve ever been.’
Linden looked around him before his eyes rested on Max.
The sounds of the party swelled behind them. Whooping and laughing. It was Ben’s turn to sing, and he was doing his off-key best. It swirled around them, lifting into the air. Max felt light and, there by the fence with Linden looking at her, she felt caught in a whorl of her own.
‘Max?’
‘What?’
‘Just this.’
Linden leant in and kissed her and, like in her dream in Malta, it was soft and quiet and made her feel a little dizzy. She caught hold of the fence. The sky hadn’t fallen in, the world didn’t fall apart, she hadn’t fallen over, slipped, bit Linden on the lip or hit him in the head. It was one small, perfect moment. And everything felt completely normal.
‘Where do you think we’ll go next?’ Linden asked.
‘Not sure.’ Max took a deep breath and loosened her grip on the fence. ‘Maybe Japan. I’ve always wanted to go to Japan.’
‘Mind if I come too?’
‘I’m not going anywhere without you,’ Max said.
‘Good. That suits me just fine.’
* * *
When Deborah Abela was a small child, she spent most of her time imagining she was on great adventures all over the world. When she grew older, she bought a backpack and a plane ticket and went on them for real. After three years she came home and then worked at Cheez TV for seven years, before leaving to write novels about a small girl who goes on lots of adventures all over the world.
Deborah grew up in Merrylands, a western suburb of Sydney, but now lives in inner-city Glebe with her partner Todd, who is almost as nice as Linden.
You can read more about Deborah Abela and the Max Remy Superspy series at www.maxremy.com.au
* * *
Photograph by Todd Decker
Collect the other Max Remy books
Don’t miss Deborah Abela and soccer legend Johnny Warren’s exciting series about soccer, friendship, and kids who want to be their own legends!
1 From Max Remy Part 8: Mission in Malta
2 See Max Remy Part 6: Blue’s Revenge
3 See Max Remy Part 1: In Search of the Time and Space Machine
4 See Max Remy Superspy Part 5: The Amazon Experiment
5 See Max Remy Superspy Part 8: Mission in Malta
6 See Max Remy Superspy Part 7: The Venice Job
7 See Max Remy Superspy Part 6: Blue’s Revenge
8 See Max Remy Part 9: The French Code
9 See Max Remy Part 5: The Amazon Experiment
10 See Max Remy Part 1: In Search of the Time and Space Machine
11 See Max Remy Part 3: The Nightmare Vortex
12 See Max Remy Part 6: Blue’s Revenge
13 See Max Remy Part 3: The Nightmare Vortex
14 See Max Remy Superspy Part 4: The Hollywood Mission
15 See Max Remy Superspy Part 4: The Hollywood Mission
The Final Curtain Page 15