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movement threw the wooden stake through the webbing on the bird’s foot. It speared through and stuck in the ground.
    The bird screeched and tried to pull its foot away but it was pinned fast. ‘Fin!’ Max yelled. ‘The axe!’
    Finlay raced over, panting, and threw the axe at Max. Max caught it perfectly and cut straight through the bird’s neck. The head shot past him and vanished. The body slumped to the floor. He’d done it! He’d killed the final bird!
    He looked up and saw Finlay standing red-faced and panting a few metres away.
    â€˜We did it,’ Max said shakily.
    â€˜Just,’ said Finlay, swallowing.
    They looked round. After all the screeching and shrieking the centre of the maze seemed suddenly very quiet. The emus had disappeared down the exit path and they were on their own with just the few remaining skins.
    Max drew a trembling breath and examined the wound on his arm. Blood was seeping out of it. ‘That was a tough task.’
    â€˜The toughest yet,’ Fin agreed.
    Max looked at him with respect. ‘It took real guts to fight all those birds like that, Fin. You didn’t even have a superpower to help you.’
    Finlay grinned. ‘I’m just glad my guts didn’t end up splattered all over the floor!’
    Max grinned back and carefullypicked up the remaining skins. He folded them and put them in the rucksack. ‘That’s all of them,’ he said.
    â€˜We just need to get them back to Juno now,’ Finlay agreed.
    Max frowned as he saw a problem. ‘Um … Fin, how are we going to persuade Zoë to let us use her bag on the way home? She wouldn’t even let me touch it before.’
    A grin spread over Finlay’s face. ‘A-ha!’ he said, pulling the letter out of his pocket. ‘We use this.’
    â€˜Is that the soppy love letter?’ Max said.
    Finlay nodded. ‘A soppy love letter I’m betting she doesn’t want your aunt or your mum to see.’
    Max stared at him. ‘So you mean wesay to her we’ll show it to them if she doesn’t let us use her bag?’
    Finlay grinned. ‘Yep! Let’s see how she likes that!’
    Max grinned back. ‘Cool!’
    They ran out of the maze. Finlay’s mum and auntie were walking out of the courtyard with Zoë and Michelle.
    â€˜A great big bird?’ Max heard his mum saying. ‘You mean one of the emus!’
    â€˜It must have escaped from its paddock,’ Auntie Carol said. She looked across at the paddock. ‘Yes, look, the fence is broken!’ She smiled. ‘Honestly, girls, I can’t believe you two were so scared of an emu.’
    â€˜It ran towards us,’ Michelle said.
    â€˜And the boys had told us that there was a man-eating bird in the maze,’ Zoë said. ‘So … So …’
    Auntie Carol and Max’s mum burst out laughing.
    â€˜A man-eating bird!’ Max’s mum

    exclaimed. ‘Oh, Zoë! How old are you? Surely you didn’t believe a silly story like that!’
    Zoë and Michelle both looked a bit embarrassed.
    Max grinned at Finlay. ‘Cos you’d never really get a real man-eating bird in a maze, would you!’ he muttered.
    His mum noticed them. ‘I hear you two have been scaring the girls,’ she called, but from her smile Max could tell she wasn’t cross. ‘Man-eating birds! What will you think of next!’ She headed towards the maze. ‘Well, let’s see what this maze is like, then.’
    Zoë’s eyes had fallen on her bag. ‘What are you doing with that?’ she hissed, hurrying over to the boys. ‘That’s
my
bag!’
    â€˜Can we borrow it, please?’ Finlay asked.
    â€˜No way!’ Zoë said, trying to snatch it off him.
    Finlay whisked it out of her reach. ‘I think you meant to say yes,’ he told her.
    â€˜No, I didn’t,’ Zoë retorted.
    â€˜Oh yes you