“Max has a secret. An incredible, mysterious, overwhelming secret. When he discovered a cache of old wooden soldiers in his family’s new attic, he thought they were fun and all but nothing particularly special.
″ They were once the property of the Bronte children, years and years ago. Their exploits have been well recorded in “History of the Young Men” (by Branwell Bronte) and their names and personalities established therein.”
“But is there a link between this old house and the Bronte museum nearby? His find becomes a rare treasure when he realizes that The Twelves are alive!”
“The Twelves are alive, having been endowed by their four genii (the literary Bronte children)
with incredible abilities: to think, speak, behave and regenerate their lives at will! ”
“His dad said that may be over a hundred years old, but that still wasn’t too shocking. No, it was the fact that the soldiers were alive. Magnificently alive. Finding himself now a benevolent deity to a crew of twelve lively individuals, Max befriends his tiny pals and discovers their secrets.
“His eyes were wide open, his eye-brows high up, and one cheek was swollen into a great bulge by the candy. He looked like a deformed, surprised dwarf. Of course they would say it was rats.”
“What is he up to, Jane?′ ‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘When I came up, he either saying his prayers, or being beheaded, outside the attic. I don’t know which. Keeling down.”
“The wooden soldiers stood exactly as he had seen them when Jane interrupted. They had not moved a tenth of an inch. They were as dead as ninepins. They had frozen again. Max sighed, enraged. ”