‘I want my songs’, said Maisie. ‘I want my songs!’ shouted Roddy. ‘Stop squabbling’, said Mum. Mum turned the radio on. It was a news story. Thieves had stolen treasure from the museum.

‘Boring’, said Roddy.

‘Interesting’, thought Maisie.

They reached the Maize Maze. Mum parked the car.

‘Wait for me’ Maisie shouted as loud as she could. ‘Please.’ Her brother  Roddy didn’t wait. Roddy never waited for her. He ran into the maze She wished she had the big giant’s voice from her voice machine. Roddy would listen to her then. 

Her own voice was round and bubbly. It made people talk to her in silly voices. They would look sad and ask her questions like.

‘Does she want a drink?’, and ‘Is she sad?’

Yuck

She wanted to answer those questions with the giant voice. But Mum wouldn’t let her use it.

‘Don’t use that one. It sounds like Billy Connolly.’

It was a nice voice.

The voice Mum liked was a little girl voice. It was a sweet voice. The voice of a girl who liked pink, and fluff, and playing quietly.

Maisie liked orange, and robots, and noisy games.

Maisie thought the maize maze would be fun. She imagined a maze built from giant corn cobs. Or great big tins of sweet corn.

Maisie liked sweetcorn. It was a happy colour. If Mum wasn’t near they called sweet corn ‘poo peas’. If you’ve ever eaten it you’ll know why.

This maze was just big green leaves. No yellow at all. Maisie couldn’t see Roddy. He had run deep into the maze. She stomped on after him. The path was a dead end.

She could hear voices deeper in the maze and tried to follow them. She came to another dead end. The voices seemed further and further away.

Maisie began to feel sad and lonely. She heard a noise behind her. 

She turned around to look.

There was someone standing in the middle of the path. Someone with a straw hat, raggedy clothes, and a carrot for a nose.

It was a scarecrow, and he was waving at Maisie. 

‘Hello,’ said Maisie.  ‘I’m Maisie’.

The scarecrow didn’t speak. Something moved in the scarecrow’s shirt. A little mouse popped its head out of the pocket. A little brown mouse. The mouse had brown fur. Big brown eyes. And long brown whiskers. It was very pretty.

The little mouse winked.

‘Mice can’t wink,’ thought Maisie. The Mouse winked again.

‘Hello,’ said Maisie. The mouse winked again.

‘Can you talk?’ Said Maisie. The little mouse blinked twice. Two blinks meant ‘No’

‘Do you live here?’ Asked Maisie. The mouse blinked once. One blink meant ‘Yes.’

‘I’m lost, said Maisie.

The little mouse climbed right out of the pocket. He ran up the scarecrow and sat on his shoulder. He sat up on two legs. And began to nibble the scarecrow’s chin.

The scarecrow began to shake. He began to sway. He began to walk.

‘Shall I follow you?’ Asked Maisie. The mouse turned his head to face her. He blinked once.

Maisie followed the scarecrow.

The scarecrow had a wobbly walk. His legs were straw. Maisie had a wobbly walk too. Her legs were skin, and bone, and muscle. Sometimes the muscles didn’t listen to her head. Just like Maisie didn’t listen to her Mum, or her teacher.

Maisie hoped the scarecrow knew the way out of the maze. The scarecrow turned this way, and that way. Maisie followed close behind him. He never came to a dead end. Maisie felt happier.

Suddenly the scarecrow stopped. Maisie bumped into him. He wobbled but he didn’t fall over. The little mouse turned back to look at Maisie. He put his paw to his mouth. Maisie knew that meant to be quiet. She tried to be as quiet as the mouse.

Maisie could hear voices. Big voices. Like monster voices. Big scary monsters.

‘No-one will think to look here’ said one of the monsters.

‘We’ll come back and get them tonight,’ said the other one.

‘What if someone sees us?’ said the first monster.

‘There’s no-one here. I checked’, said the other one.

There was a rumble of thunder. A big plop of rain fell onto Maisie’s head.

‘Let’s get out of here.’ Said the first monster.

Maisie didn’t like thunder.

A bell rang.

Far away a voice called, ‘Please leave the maze. There is danger of lightning. Everyone leave the maze please.’

Maisie didn’t like lightning. She wanted to leave. But the scarecrow stood still. She didn’t know which way to go.

Maisie heard the sound of heavy boots.   The sound became quieter and further away. The scarecrow started to move.

He led Maisie around the corner.

‘I hope the monsters aren’t here’ thought Maisie.

Around the corner was a dead end. 

‘Oh no! ’ thought Maisie.

The little mouse jumped off the scarecrow’s shoulder. He ran down the scarecrow’s arm. And onto the floor. 

Maisie watched the mouse. He snuffled into the hedge. Only his tail stuck out.

Then a king appeared from the hedge. But it wasn’t a king. It was the mouse. He was wearing a ring on his head. It looked just like a crown.

Maisie looked into the hedge. It was full of treasure. There were diamonds, and rubies, and gold. There were rings, and bangles, and beads.

The monsters were thieves. This was their loot.

‘Excuse me,’ said Maisie to the scarecrow.

She took his scarf. She tied it to a branch at the bottom of the hedge. Right next to the hidden treasure. The scarf marked where the treasure was hidden.

‘Excuse me’ said Maisie to the little mouse. She took the ring from his head. She put it back into the bush with the rest of the treasure.

‘Can we go now?’ Maisie asked the little mouse. The mouse blinked once. He ran up the scarecrow’s leg. He ran right up the scarecrow’s jacket. He sat on the scarecrow’s shoulder again.

The scarecrow turned around and started to walk his wobbly walk.

The rain was very heavy. Maisie was getting wet.  She didn’t mind. She liked the rain. She pretended she was an explorer in the rainforest. Or a pirate in a ship on the sea. Or a detective. 

She was a detective. 

The scarecrow began to walk more quickly. Maisie had to run to keep up with him. She turned a corner. The scarecrow and the little mouse were nowhere to be seen. She had reached the exit of the maze. 

She was Maisie again.

‘Where have you been?’ said Mum. Mum had a cross face. ‘Roddy has been back for ages.’

Roddy always came first. He had been born first. He was first in races.

He had never solved a crime. Maisie was the first detective.

Maisie was wriggly at tea time. As soon as she finished her tea, she rushed to her bedroom. She typed a message into her voice machine

Later, when Roddy and Mum were watching telly. Maisie crept to the phone. She dialled 999. She called the police.

‘It’s Billy Connolly!’ said the Policeman. ‘He knows where the stolen jewels are.’

The police rushed to the maze. They ran into the maze. They turned this way and that way. At the centre of the maze they found the scarecrow’s scarf. They found the jewels hidden in the hedge.

The police hid in the hedge. They sat and waited. They waited and waited. At midnight when it was very dark, the police heard a noise.

It was the thieves.

The police jumped out.

‘Stop thieves!’ they shouted.

They caught the thieves. And took them off to jail.

The jewels went back to their owners.

Thanks to Maisie, and the scarecrow. 

And the little harvest mouse.