34 Times Square

34 Times Square 'Ooh, I've always wanted to go to New York,' said Rockwell, whose face was slowly returning to its normal colour. 'Right. Put this on,' said Peanut, pointing to her drawing. 'Really?' he said, frowning. 'I think it suits you,' said Little-Bit. A small crowd was starting to gather around them. 'You see that?' yelled a man holding some pizza and wearing a hi-vis vest. 'They came flying down through the steam and landed right here on the sidewalk. I almost dropped my slice!' 'I saw it too,' shouted a blonde woman in a pinstripe suit. 'Is this a stunt for a

TV show or something? Are we on Conan?' 'Yeah, what's poppin', kids?' said a young man whose camouflage trousers were just about covering his bottom. 'They was some crazy moves, yo!' 'I think we should make ourselves scarce before Mr White and Alan manage to open that steel door and get the next lift down,' said Peanut quietly to the others. 'More attention is the last thing we need. Let's disappear into the crowd.' The three children ran around the corner and started to weave between the masses of people, doing their best to lose their newfound admirers amid the bustle of the city. As they walked past the luggage outlets, sports stores and souvenir shops, they looked up. The sheer height of the buildings around them was quietly blowing their minds. 'I feel as if we're in a film,' said a gawping Rockwell. 'I've never seen so many flags in my life,' said Little-Bit, looking up at the multitude of Star-Spangled Banners fluttering in the breeze. The gang turned right, on to Broadway, passing a huge department store claiming to be the biggest in the world, and headed, like moths drawn to a flame, towards the distant neon glow of Times Square. After a few minutes, they arrived at a large, incredibly busy pedestrianised area, surrounded on all sides by more unbelievably tall buildings. This time, however, they were

completely covered by a host of huge video screens, each one trying to shout more loudly than the next about the product they were advertising. On a four-storey screen to their right, directly below a hamburger advertisment, a twenty-four-hour news channel

was playing. They appeared to be running a story about the recent disintegration of the Mona Lisa. ' Ooh, look!' shouted Little-Bit. 'There's the security guard we saw in the Louvre.' Sure enough, the man they had so recently watched asking Mr White to leave the gallery was

standing next to the wall on which the Mona Lisa had been hanging, now looking forlornly at a pile of silvery grey dust on the floor. 'We need to get back,' said Peanut suddenly. 'The Resistance needs our help.' It was as if she had been woken from a dream. She pulled Little Tail from her bandolier. 'I'm going to draw a door.' 'Er, don't you think we should go somewhere a bit more... private?' said Rockwell, looking around at the busiest part of one of the world's busiest cities. Actually,' said Peanut, looking at the various buskers, mime artists and acrobats who were scattered across the square, 'I think this is the perfect place to do it. She started to draw. As usual, the graphite flowed smoothly from the pencil's tip, leaving a thick, dark line, perfectly suspended in mid-air, in its wake. Almost immediately, a crowd formed in a horseshoe shape around them. With each pencil stroke, the 'oohs' and 'ahhs' got louder. By the time Peanut had drawn the door's handle, they were applauding enthusiastically and throwing coins and dollar bills at Peanut's feet. Rockwell scooped up a handful of money and ran over to a food cart a few metres away. He came back two minutes later carrying three of the biggest hot dogs the girls had ever seen. 'Do you want one?' he said, just as Peanut was putting the finishing touches to the panelling on the door.

After adding the hinges while eating her hot dog, Peanut turned around and bowed deeply as the growing crowd whooped their appreciation, before turning back to face the door. She took a deep breath, grabbed the handle and opened it. More gasps from the crowd. She turned and bowed again, before grabbing Little-Bit's hand, and leading her through the open door. Rockwell, standing in the crowd munching on his hot dog, happily joined in the applause. Then, suddenly remembering what was going on, he threw the food in the nearest bin, wiped the mustard from the corner of his mouth, and darted through the open door, pulling it shut behind him. The cheers of the crowd could be heard across the dimensions.