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Then slowly they began to enjoy the music of his talking and the fact that he seemed pleased to see them, and it dawned on them slowly that anyone who spoke with his relaxed, sing-song voice was very possibly not going to destroy the world after all. And as he waved again and they waved back again, they began to recognize certain words, because he said them a lot. Kuri, for instance, was his name. And Wollongong was where he was from. And aeroplane seemed to be the thing that took him into the air. He kept slapping it proudly.

While Kuri was talking, Mungo worked it out. This was not their god. This was not Tekutizcatetal, the destroyer of worlds. This was obviously his God. Obviously. He was even riding on a cross. Knowing that God was good, Mungo grabbed Monkey8 by the hand and dragged her over to the plane.

There was a gasp from the crowd. Was this it? Was the little ghost lad going to sacrifice her?

– All right, mate. Need a lift? said God.

Mungo did not understand the words, but he could see by looking into his eyes that this God really was good. And Kuri could see by looking into Mungo’s eyes that Mungo was good. And the girl – she was digging her nails into the boy’s hand and looking back at the crowd. They wanted to be together, that was clear too. The crowd. They were scared of the crowd. For some reason these kids had to get out of there.

– No worries, Kuri said. – Jump aboard. I’ll sort you out.

He pushed back the glass bubble and pointed inside. They climbed in. It was cramped but Kuri pulled out some bags to make room for them.

– Don’t worry. I’ll dump this stuff. I’ll miss it, but it’s not the end of the world.

At first the crowd too somehow felt it wasn’t the end of the world, as they watched their god – or some god, anyway – chugging up into the air on a tail of oily smoke, taking the two players with them. They waved and waved, but the more they waved the more they had the feeling that something really had ended; that they were saying goodbye not just to the players and the plane and the god, but to a world; that maybe they were saying goodbye to an old world and waving hello to a new one.

THE AUTHORS

Philip Ardagh

Roald Dahl Funny Prize winner Philip Ardagh has written over 100 books, both fiction and non-fiction, including Grubtown Tales, Henry’s House and the Eddie Dickens adventures, which have been translated into over 30 languages. He collaborated with Sir Paul McCartney on the ex-Beatle’s first children’s book, High in the Clouds, and writes for radio and TV, as well as being a regular reviewer of children’s books for the Guardian.

Frank Cottrell Boyce

Frank Cottrell Boyce won the 2004 Carnegie Medal for his first children’s book, Millions. His screenplay of the same name was made into a film by Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle in the same year. He has since written three novels for children, including Framed, which was shortlisted for the 2005 Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Children’s Book of the Year Award.

Anthony McGowan

Anthony McGowan’s novels for young adults include Hellbent, Henry Tumour, which won the 2006 Booktrust Teenage Prize and the 2007 Catalyst Award, and The Knife That Killed Me, which was shortlisted for the 2008 Booktrust Teenage Prize and longlisted for the 2008 Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. His latest book is Einstein’s Underpants – And How They Saved the World. Anthony was born in Manchester, brought up in Leeds and lives in London.

Linda Newbery

Linda Newbery has published more than thirty titles, ranging from a picture book, Posy, to young adult novels, including The Shell House and Sisterland. She has twice been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, and won the 2006 Costa Children’s Book Prize for her novel Set in Stone. The Sandfather was UK IBBY’s nomination to the international Honour List for 2010.

Mal Peet

Mal Peet is the author of the critically acclaimed young adult novels Tamar, which won the 2005 Carnegie Medal, Keeper, winner of the 2003 Branford Boase Award, and The Penalty. His latest novel, Exposure, won the 2009 Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. He lives in Devon with his wife and fellow-writer Elspeth Graham.

Marcus Sedgwick

Marcus Sedgwick has written numerous award-winning books, including Floodland, winner of the 2000 Branford Boase Award, My Swordhand is Singing, which won the 2007 Booktrust Teenage Prize, and Revolver, which was nominated for the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. His latest young adult novel, White Crow, was published in July 2010. He lives near Cambridge and has a teenage daughter, Alice.

Eleanor Updale

Having worked as a BBC TV and radio producer for many years, Eleanor Updale now writes fiction for all the family. Her Montmorency series has won international prizes, including the Blue Peter Award for “The Book I Couldn’t Put Down”. Her most recent book, Johnny Swanson, is a tale of murder and deception, set in 1929. She lives in London.

Matt Whyman

Bestselling author Matt Whyman is also well-known for his work as an advice columnist for numerous teenage magazines. His young adult novels include Boy Kills Man, which was shortlisted for the 2004 Booktrust Teenage Prize, as well as Inside the Cage and Goldstrike.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the authors’ imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously.

This collection first published 2010 by Walker Books Ltd

87 Vauxhall Walk, London, SE11 5HJ

The moral rights of the contributors has been asserted

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, taping and recording, without prior written permission from the publisher.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data:

a catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978-1-4063-3944-4 (ePub)