‘I hate this, Blue,’ she said. ‘I hate it, I hate it, I bloody hate it.’

Blue sat next to her and put his arm round her shoulders.

‘I know, babe.’

‘I pretend to be together.’ Maxie’s voice was wobbly, verging on hysteria. ‘I pretend everything’s all right. But it isn’t. Nothing’s right, and I sometimes think it never will be again.’

‘Maybe the kids here ain’t so crazy,’ said Blue. ‘We can’t go on like this. Maybe we should be trying to cure them rather than kill them.’

‘Yeah.’ Maxie sniffed and dried her face. ‘Something’s got to give. Is gonna be dangerous, but this expedition of theirs has got to be a success.’

‘You know it.’

Big Mick poked his head through the hole.

‘You aren’t half made a mess in there,’ he said. ‘I thought it was going home time. We gonna need bare more bin bags.’

‘This is it for today,’ said Maxie. ‘I don’t have the energy.’

‘Yeah,’ said Blue. ‘I’m getting too old for this shit.’

Chapter 18

18

‘You gotta get yourself a better spear, Akkie. That one’s good for poking and stabbing, but it’s got no cutting edge on it. Anyone gets past the point and you’re in trouble.’

‘Nobody does get past the point.’

Achilleus tested the spear, spinning it around in the air, feinting at other kids, who swore and jumped out of the way. He simply laughed at them and accused them of being wimps when they complained. Finally he gripped the spear with two hands and thrust it at Paddy, the point just grazing his throat.

‘That’s not funny, Akkie,’ said Paddy, backing away. ‘You might of cut me.’

‘I’ll tattoo my name on your neck, bogtrotter.’

The expedition party was coming together under the diplodocus in the main hall. They were noisy and excited. Those who’d been working downstairs were looking forward to fresh air and open skies. The kids from the museum who were going were looking forward to seeing some more of the outside world. The hubbub of voices was making them sound like a much larger group than they actually were.