Chapter 1

The dark and unfriendly tunnel seemed to go on forever. Max and Emily suddenly realised that two blinding headlamps were rushing towards them, their flashing beams cutting through the darkness. The inseparable pair looked at each other with sheer horror and immediately zoomed as fast as a lightning bolt trying to outrun the train which was now fast approaching. Nowhere to hide, there was nowhere to hide…

The rumble grew to a roar. At the moment of impact, the noise stopped abruptly. Although the silence was complete, there was a new, different sound, softly at first ‘bang, bang, boom!’ It was increasing as time went by. Max was trapped yelling for Emily because all of a sudden he found himself striking the side of the train. He was pinned down as his rucksack was viciously dragged under the train.

“So this is death, then,” he thought.

“Where are you?” shouted Emily in a frantic and desperate voice.

Max could not believe his eyes: he had been magically teleported to a field during World War 1. While he was trying to figure out where that time-travelling train had transported him to, a man in a smart and impressive uniform was giving out some instructions in a different language. He then heard a loud roar of an engine over his head.

Given that it was early morning, in March, before his eyes, some snowdrops…

Chapter 2

…drifted slowly down towards the battlefield.

Dark smoke clouds filled the air. People were shouting madly, pushing each other to move through the sticky mud. Max could see their grey helmets moving slowly towards him like turtles moving towards the sea. Soldiers dying and falling to the ground. Bodies everywhere! He rubbed his eyes because he thought it was a dream but it wasn’t. Suddenly Max heard an explosion and saw a plane dancing through the air. Machine guns began to fire hundreds of bullets. The pounding of the bullets sounded like the pounding of his heart. Max was terrified! He grabbed a gun and held it in a tight grip. Somehow it reassured him.
All of a sudden a plane swooped down towards Max, he could see that the pilot was dead. Quickly he tried to move but his legs were stuck in the hideous mud. Max knew that there was no escape so he covered his eyes and waited for death. Out of nowhere he saw a lightning bolt and felt himself being transported to another time and place.

 

Chapter 3

Max gasped as he realised he was no longer pinned by the plane. He was alive. Looking up from the ground Max eyed his surroundings. The jungle was thick. Vines hung from tree trunks and shrubbery covered the jungle floor. Max wiped his forehead with his sleeve. He was already overheating from the humidity.  An unfamiliar squawk filled Max’s ears. He looked into the sky and saw a bird like creature. Its wings looked like those belonging to a bat and its head was pointy like a lizard. Distracted by the bird like creature, Max did not notice the two legged animals scurrying at his feet, until one nipped at his big toe.

“Ouch” screamed Max as he automatically kicked the creature off his foot. The other creatures hissed and ran to safety in a bush close by.

“When did I lose my shoe” he thought. Then Max realised where he was. He had been teleported to prehistoric times. In the distance Max heard a scream. A human scream, a dinosaur? He ran towards the sound. The screams continued and got louder as Max kept running. Finally, he saw what was making the sound. It was Emily but she wasn’t alone.

Emily’s pace slowed as the two legged dinosaur continued to chase her through the jungle. Her legs ached from running. From the corner of her eye she saw him, Max. Relief filled Emily’s heart as she saw Max safe in a tree.

Grabbing a vine, Max flew into the air. With all his might he flung himself at the dinosaur. He stretched out his leg, tensed his muscles and imagined he was Wayne Rooney shooting the winning goal. He connected with the two- legged dinosaur’s head. Pain jolted through his leg as the unknown dinosaur roared with disgust. It fell, with a thud. Emily ran towards Max and hugged him, thanking him for saving her life.

“No need to thank me now” breathed Max, adrenalin still pumping through his veins. “We need to get out of here before it wakes up”.

Suddenly the ground began to shake, the trees began to rustle and then through the darkness of the jungle appeared….

 

Chapter 4

….a herd of animals including 20 huge horses, roaring lions and snapping salt water crocodiles! A mighty cloud of dust rose up around them and Emily could not see Max.

“Help! Max, where are you?!” screamed Emily. Suddenly, a sparkling strike of lightning came down from the sky, Emily knew it was too late – Max had been teleported to the vicious Tudor times. Would she ever see her friend again?

Max found himself in a dark, gloomy dungeon, all around him were cobwebs and skeletons hundreds of years old.

“I hope I don’t die here, will Emily ever find me and be able to save my life?” he thought.

Before he could answer his own question, he heard heavy footsteps on the dungeon stairs…a huge shadow emerged through the door and it looked as though the shadow held an axe in his hand.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” boomed the shadow.

“I am Max and I have been teleported here from the jungle, please d…d….d…don’t hurt me,” he trembled.

“I am Henry, the richest Tudor in the whole of England and I seek to find my despised, disgusting wife Anne Boleyn, she needs to be beheaded, she has too many other boyfriends!” replied Henry horridly.

“If you befriend me Henry, then I will help you to find your wife,” said Max.

“Alright then, you have until sunset to help me,” said Henry nodding his head.

“Perhaps you could help me find my friend Emily too? She was left behind in the jungle,” asked Max hesitantly.

“A fair deal,” replied Henry and they began to walk up the stairs.

Around him, Max could see golden statues and enormous walls rising up to an elegant ceiling. On the walls hung portraits of all the Kings and Queens that had lived at Henry’s palace in the past. Max darted his eyes around the room hoping to see either Anne Boleyn or a way of finding Emily. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the eyes of one of the statues move to look at him. He walked towards this statue and caught a glimpse of a shiny button on the back of its head. Max wondered if Henry had seen him but when he turned around he realised Henry was too distracted by a pile of precious gold that he was counting slowly and happily. He reached for the button, wondering what it might do…would it take him to his friend and grant his wish or place him in the face of danger yet again?

 

Chapter 5

He pressed the sparkling, ruby red button quickly and suddenly a passage came up.  Max followed the dark, gloomy passage with dirty, dusty cobwebs that looked very old.  He felt a massive force pulling him towards a castle.  Max walked around feeling confused and scared.  The castle was like a spooky pool of haunted creatures.  Looking around he saw his parents as ghosts.  Worried and scared, he ran into a huge wooden door pushing it open.  He looked into the huge bedroom and feeling tired, wanted to go sleep but there was no bed!  So he slept on the cold but shiny, marble floor.  As his head touched the floor he drifted off and had a nightmare about being turned into a ghost too.

When he woke up, he was in a different place yet again.  “Where am I?” shouted Max.  Max heard a scream…it was Emily.

“Help, help, help!” she bellowed.

“I’m coming for you,” answered Max. In his sleep Max had been teleported back to ancient Egypt.

Following Emily’s cries he stumbled across a grand staircase leading to the palace doors.  He pushed them open and rushed into the middle of the room.  It was full of shiny, precious sculptures.  At that moment he discovered a passageway which he thought would lead him to the dungeon.  As he made his way down the steep passageway Emily’s cries got louder.  At the end of the passage he could see that Emily was handcuffed to a skeleton.  Quickly, Max ran to Emily and tried to free her.  He pulled and he tugged but he still could not free her.  As he was moving he felt a metal key in the skeleton’s hand.  He tried it on Emily, and it worked!

As they paused to plan their escape, two blinding headlamps suddenly came rushing towards them from the far end of the dungeon.  Feeling frightened, they jumped onto the time travelling train, hoping that it would take them home.

With a whistle the train sped off and through the window they could see all the places they had been teleported to…the beautiful Egyptian palace, Henry’s Tudor castle, the thick green dinosaur jungle and the dark, muddy World War One battlefields.

Max and Emily wondered where the train would take them to next.

by Year 3 pupils from  Stanley, Heathfield Junior, Lowther, Holy Trinity and Bishop Perrin primary schools