Marina Golomidova - Max’s Adventures with His Loyal Friends

To visit Max, our dearest friend

And a gift is no great sacrifice

If it helps to get him on the mend!”

They might not have sung perfectly in time – there’d been no time to practise, and their voices were all as different as could be – but they put so much heart into it that Max thought the funny little ditty was better than any other song in the world! Hunter pulled out a big cracker and presented it to Max with a bow. Max pulled both ends of the cracker until it went bang – and out flew a whole world of treasures! There were little caramels, stamps of every colour, stickers with his favourite story-book characters, even a few tiny blue butterflies! Max was so happy that he jumped up onto his feet – though he had to sit straight back down again, as his bad leg simply couldn’t take the weight.

“Hunter, Matilda, Sienna, Tom, you’re incredible! You’ve cheered me up no end, thank you. Of all the mice I’ve ever seen, in picture books or anywhere, none have been as funny as you!”

The cats shook off their paper costumes, jumped up on top of the big trunk next to Max and started to rub themselves against him – and purr like they’d never purred before. Max threw his arms around them all and smothered them with kisses. Then Auntie Jane and the cats helped him up to his room and put him to bed. That night Auntie Jane let the cats sleep on Max’s bed – and what a picture they all made! Matilda was above Max’s head, snuggled up against him, Tom and Sienna were rolled up into balls at his shoulders, while Hunter stretched out alongside his bad leg, guarding it.

And Max’s bad leg really did get better quite fast: in two weeks’ time he was back at school – though he had to use crutches – and a month later he was skipping around as if nothing had happened. But back at the house there was no more running up and down the stairs – when you’ve broken your leg once, you don’t want to try it again!

Spring had arrived. In Auntie Jane’s garden the new grass was a rich emerald green and the crocuses were in bloom. This year, they’d come through in numbers untold and formed a beautiful carpet of violet and yellow on the ground. Whenever the cats were playing in the garden, they had to take extra care not to tread on the flowers – one sudden move and those fragile stalks could break! Auntie Jane would walk out through the tall glass doors to the garden to watch Max and the cats playing – and would get very cross indeed if she caught them spoiling her garden’s perfect order!

One day Jane went out into the garden as usual – and was horrified by what she saw. Nearly all her beloved crocuses had been broken, the grass had been trampled and several ugly holes had been dug out on the lawn.

“All of you come here at once! Who’s responsible for this?!” Auntie Jane was quite beside herself. Her face was flushed with anger, her hands trembling.

Max and the cats had only just woken up, but came running as soon as they heard her voice – and they looked at the garden with such astonishment that anyone could tell they were seeing the damage for the first time. Deep down Auntie Jane knew they’d had nothing to do with it, but she was still struggling to come to terms with the destruction – and decided to ask Max and Hunter a few questions just in case.

“Who was out in the garden last night and left this disgraceful scene? Was it you playing hide-and-seek? Or playing soldiers?”

Max was hurt. “Of course not! How could you even think we’d do something like this? Hunter, Matilda, Tom, Sienna – tell Auntie it wasn’t us!”

The cats lifted their tails in unison, then shook the tips ever so slightly to confirm what Max had said.

Feeling terribly upset, Auntie Jane started to collect the flowers that were scattered on the ground – while Max, along with his team of furry helpers, brought fresh earth to fill the holes and spread seeds to grow new grass.

Sadly, despite all their efforts the garden didn’t really look much better – the dark bare patches glaring in the bright green lawn made it a sorry sight.

“Well, we can’t let ourselves get downhearted – we’ll just have to wait until the new grass comes through. And we mustn’t forget to water, that’s crucial – we can’t let the seeds dry out.”

After a few days the first tiny blades of grass started to show, and the crocuses bloomed thicker and brighter than before, as if to make up for the ones that were lost. The garden’s old beauty and harmony returned. But one morning the house woke up to find the flowers broken and trampled again, and in the middle of their beautiful lawn… an enormous black hole.

This time Auntie Jane couldn’t hold back the tears. She ran into the house in despair and threw herself onto her bed, stricken with a terrible migraine.

“Poor Auntie Jane!” said Hunter. “That does it, we have to help her – and that means catching the louts who’ve been wrecking our garden! Well, I’ve got a plan, and I’d like to hear what you think of it.”

Gathered by the fire in the sitting room, the friends had a meeting.

“We need to set up a rota,” said Hunter. “We’ll take turns watching the garden.”

And Max had an idea: “We can build a treehouse – that will make the perfect observation post! We’ll be hidden by the leaves, so nobody will know we’re there.”

Right at the end of the garden, beyond the strawberry beds, there was a grand old tree with a thick trunk. It wasn’t that tall but it was very wide, with big strong branches that were thick with foliage. The tree had an unusual name – it was a eucalyptus . They said it was planted by one of Auntie Jane’s ancestors some three hundred years ago.

That was the tree where Max planned to build their hideout.

“It’s going to be quite the job,” he said. “Let’s sketch out a plan first, then get building. I say we lay down a deck on the thickest branch to make the floor, then make the walls out of rope and tie them to the branches up above.”

Max took a piece of paper and drew a sketch of the treehouse. It looked so good that the friends couldn’t wait to get started.

“Hunter, if you can find boards for the floor, I’ll put them together. Sienna and Matilda, you can make the walls – just don’t forget to leave holes for the windows. And Tom, climb the tree and find the thickest branch that’s suitable – so the treehouse is stable, but out of sight.”

They set to work without delay. Hunter found a pile of sturdy wooden boards in the shed. Max joined them together with wooden slats and tied on the rope walls on three sides. Then he fixed his new deck to two of the tree’s main boughs, tying the tops of the walls to the overhanging branches. And just for himself, Max strung together a rope ladder – just what you need if you haven’t got sharp claws for scaling tree trunks.

Max and the cats climbed up into their hideout. It was dark up there, and only snatches of light – broken rays which managed to steal through the leaves – played across their happy faces.

“I’ve got some biscuits and a flask of milk,” said Max. “Let’s have a treehouse-warming party!”