1 Something Is Wrong My best friend Max and I are playing a game called Life and Death on the High Seas Max came up with both the game and the name He gets all the good ideas I’m more of a go-along type of guy It’s our summer holidays In three weeks we’ll be back in school which means homework teachers including unfortunately Mrs Bubu waking up early and our entire lives charted out like a multiplication table For now though we’re as free as the wind Max jumps up on the big crate we’ve been sitting on The crate is our ship We’re headed for Montreal Canada where my relatives live Hold on to the mast hold on to the mast Max cries out wobbling from side to side His round glasses flash and flicker in the sun and his orange-red hair glows as if it’s on fire The waves are getting higher and higher I shout back Grab a raft before we drown Watch out for pirates Boys boys a voice calls from behind us It’s Max’s mother standing in the middle of the stormy sea Except that it’s not the sea of course It’s Max’s front garden The chickens are pecking at the ground looking for seeds Near the shed Max’s older brother Michael is chopping wood You’d better head on home Natt Max’s mother says She
always speaks in a soft voice so soft that her friends call her Kitten But she sounds a little wild suddenly and there’s a strange look in her eyes as if she’s trying to hide something Your mother will be worrying I’m confused Why would Mama worry She knows where I am But I take the hint Max’s mother wants me to leave Maybe there’s a medical emergency somewhere and Max’s dad needs him Max’s father is a doctor and when he pays a visit to a poor person who has small children he asks Max to come along and keep an eye on the kids while he attends to the patient Only if it’s a broken arm or something like that Max said with his usual wide grin when he first told me about these trips Not if it’s that bug that turns you into a werewolf The first symptom is sudden drooling Max may be on the small side but he does a pretty convincing imitation of a drooling lupine monster I remember my manners and thank Max’s mother for having me I even give a little bow because it usually makes her laugh But today Mrs Zwecker barely notices Be careful it’s a full moon tonight Max calls out as I let myself through the gate I would have liked to spend more time with Max but there are plenty of fun things to do at home As a reward for my good grades last year my parents bought me a magnifying glass a telescope and a kaleidoscope I can now spend hours in my room looking at small things getting bigger faraway things getting nearer and geometric shapes expanding and contracting As well as being a go-along type of boy I’m also the stay-at-home type I’m not crazy about sports partly because I have asthma and partly because I’m a bit on the chubby side According to my mother some kids don’t lose their childhood chubbiness until they’re twelve One year to go
