The Wild Things

CHAPTER XLI

The morning sky was paper-white and low. Max was inside the fort, pacing out dimensions, drawing an outline on the floor. Carol approached and immediately took notice of Max’s markings. “What’s that?”

Max hadn’t expected to have to tell Carol about this idea so soon. He knew it might upset Carol, but there was no going back, and he didn’t want to lie.

“Well …” Max said, “I was thinking that we need to put a … a place inside where the king is secret. Like a secret chamber for the king.”

Carol looked at the fort, tilting his head.

“A secret what? I don’t understand.”

“Well,” Max said, adopting the air of an experienced architect of castles and kingdoms, “all kingdoms have a special place for the king, where there’s a door and a key … Like a small place.” Max indicated a space just big enough for himself.

“So just big enough for you?” Carol said, as if the notion was beyond preposterous.

“Exactly,” Max said, “the king needs some time to be alone, in a little place … All kings have something like that. It’s … It’s where they come up with their best plans to make everything good for everyone.”

Carol thought about this for a second. “A small place … Okay, okay. Interesting. But how would we get in?”

“Well, I’d let you in.”

“But the door you drew is too small.”

“Yeah, that’s the best part. The door will be secret. And very small. Just big enough for me.”

As Carol began to understand the implications of the secret door, his expression clouded over. “I don’t know,” he said, studying the fort, “I didn’t picture it with secret doors. Secret doors don’t belong in this fort.”

“But it’s my fort, isn’t it?” Max said. “I mean, I’m the king, right?”

“Yeah, of course,” Carol said, deflated. “I just need a second to wrap my head around the idea.” He turned from the doors, then turned back again. “And you’ll let us in …” He thought more about it, staring at the wall as if his eyes might bore straight through. “But what if it’s a big place with a secret door?”

“No, no. That’s not how it would be done,” Max insisted. “It should be—”

Carol punched a hole in the wall, leaving a fist-sized gap.

“About that big?” Carol seethed.

“Yeah.”

“Fine.”

His shoulders tense with rage, Carol walked outside and found Douglas.

“Hey Douglas, we’re gonna need a new room in the middle here, a small one with a secret door. The main doors are the same but the doors here are gonna be secret.”

Douglas studied the structure for a moment. He was not pleased with having to redo his work, and he knew that Max’s directive was not pleasing to Carol.

With a sigh, Douglas made his announcement to everyone. “Okay everyone — there’s a little room in the middle and the door’s gonna be secret!”

There were murmurs of confusion throughout the site. Douglas repeated the directive, now louder: “The door’s gonna be secret! The door’s gonna be secret!”