The Boy Who Dreamed of Dragons, page 10
Lolli gave me a double thumbs up with extra waggling.
‘Thanks, Lolli, you’re a star.’
When I came back with Aura in tow, I knew something was wrong as soon as I opened the front door. We were met by a cacophony of sound, throbbing music from the radio, blaring voices from the TV, the hoover revving up, a whirring food mixer squealing from the kitchen and Dad’s recording equipment making a very strange whistling noise.
Dad was standing in the hall, looking alarmed, holding his buzzing electric razor at arm’s length, as though he thought it might leap out of his hand and start attacking his face. Meanwhile Mum was running round switching all the lights off.
‘Quick, Tomas, before any more blow,’ she said. ‘The electrics have gone haywire!’
Aura and I hurried round flicking switches on sockets. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a nervous-looking Lolli on the stairs.
Her hair was sticking up at an outrageous angle. And she wasn’t the only one. She was cradling Mr Floppybobbington, the fluffy bunny she’d been helping Mum look after, and he now looked like a giant white pompom with a tiny pink nose.
I raced over. ‘Lolli,’ I hissed. ‘What’s happening?’
‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘Zing woke up really, really hungry. He rolled in my dressing gown, and then he got all happy and zingy at the lemons.’
She held up a bag full of the remains of about a dozen lemons that had been sucked dry. She looked at them, obviously confused.
‘Citric acid,’ I muttered, remembering a science experiment I’d done once with Grandad where we’d made a battery out of a lemon. Of course he’d love lemons.
‘And then …’ Lolli went on. ‘He got in the big drawer of batteries. And got really extra twirly.’
I looked at Aura. ‘I need to find Zing. Before my super-charged dragon blows up our whole house,’ I said. ‘Can you go up to my room and see what you can do with the seedlings?’
I’d told Aura about them on our way back and she didn’t need asking twice. She raced up the stairs while I followed Lolli into the kitchen, leaving Mum and Dad to wrestle the household appliances in the lounge.
‘I opened the door,’ Lolli said, peering outside. ‘Will Zing be OK?’
Her bottom lip had started to go all wibbly-wobbly and tears were rolling down her cheeks, splashing onto Mr Floppybobbington’s fluffed-up fur.
I gave her a squeeze and my best ‘everything’s going to be OK’ smile.
‘He’ll be fine, Lollibob. You did the right thing. I’m sure he’ll zoom it off and soon calm down.’
To be honest I wasn’t sure at all, but I gave her another hopeful smile.
‘Am I still the bestest vetninarin in the whole wide world?’
‘The very bestest,’ I said. ‘A veterinarian extraordinaire,’ I replied, stumbling a bit over the word myself.
She sniffed and wiped her nose on Mr Floppy-bobbington, who didn’t seem to mind, which probably went to show just what a good vet she actually was.
Aura ran into the kitchen and skidded on a lemon rind.
‘I’m sorry, Tomas,’ she said as she slid towards us.
I grabbed hold of her arm and steadied her.
‘They’re too far gone,’ she said breathlessly. ‘I don’t think there’s anything we can do to bring them back.’
This was the worst news.
‘Are you sure?’ I asked.
Aura nodded sadly.
‘I can’t believe I’ve killed them all,’ I moaned. ‘What are the others going to say? They trusted me to look after them.’
‘It’s OK,’ Aura said.
But it really wasn’t.
Thoughts started whizzing like exploding popcorn in my head. One of the popcorn grains – the one that contained the ‘What if Flicker doesn’t come back?’ question – had sizzled and burnt into a hard black kernel. Despite all the excitement with Zing and Aura, that one had been lying in the pan smouldering for the last week.
‘If the big dragons never come back, there’ll be no Maxi to breathe on any more seeds. These could have been the last active trees. The dragons need them – they needed me to keep them safe,’ I said miserably.
‘We can go and look for some more,’ Aura said. ‘It’ll be easier with two of us.’
I emitted a strange squeak in an attempt to hold back some of Lolli’s wibbly-wobbliness that had attached itself to me, and she hastily added, ‘Right now if you like.’
‘What about Zing?’ I said. ‘I can’t leave him charged up like this.’
Aura pointed through the door to the garden. And I was relieved to see the little sky-blue dragon, whizzing back and forth, skimming across the grass.
‘I’m sure he’ll follow,’ she said.
As we hurried down the road, Zing did follow, speeding from tree to tree above us, darting ahead and then shooting back. Every so often he would pause on a street light. When that happened there was a burst of orange that got brighter and brighter until the bulb shattered and Zing zoomed off again. He wouldn’t be calming down at this rate.
Once at the botanic garden, we raced through the gates, me holding out my entrance pass and Aura waving a Top Trumps card with a baby hippo on it. Thankfully, as usual, the girl had her head in a book and didn’t even register we were there. Feet skidding on the gravel, we ran on along the path.
‘Do you think he’ll be OK out here?’ I said, motioning to Zing, who was zipping around madly between the trees.
‘Better off out here than in there,’ Aura said, nodding at the glasshouse. ‘And there are no more street lamps, so hopefully he’ll wear himself out a bit.’
She looked about as convinced as I had when I’d said the same thing to Lolli. But we didn’t have any choice. There was no way we’d catch him at the speed he was flying, and as usual my little handful of ash was doing nothing to entice him. Luckily Rosebud was happy to curl up inside Aura’s jacket, with her wings folded over and her head tucked away.
‘Right, let’s start this end and work our way down,’ I said when we were safely inside the glasshouse. ‘Be careful no one sees you sneaking off the path.’
Aura nodded and gave me a rallying smile and we set to it. But after an hour of crawling through the undergrowth, I had to admit defeat.
‘Come on, Tomas. I’m not giving up and neither are you,’ Aura declared. ‘We just need a Plan B.’
She reminded me of Kat and Kai, who were always coming up with plans. Sometimes we went through so many plans we ended up with a Plan F and once even a Plan P!
As Aura bundled me along the path and out of the automatic doors, I saw Zing zooming over the roof of the glasshouse, heading in the opposite direction. He still hadn’t slowed down.
‘I can’t leave him here all supercharged up,’ I said. ‘We’d better try to see where he’s gone.’
Hurrying around the front of the glasshouse, we spotted him flying through a copse of trees. We followed, winding our way through, trying to keep the little dragon in sight. Eventually we stumbled out onto a path. To the right it led through a bamboo arch, where I spied the ornamental pond beyond. And to the left, a gate and the courtyard garden of an old cottage. It was a bit like something out of a fairy tale, with timbers on the outside and old diamond-shaped window panes. I’d seen it before when I’d been exploring with Lolli. Dad said it was probably used by the head gardener once upon a time, but he didn’t think anyone lived there now. Running alongside one wall I could see two long greenhouses nestled side by side, their pitched roofs glinting in the sunshine. But Zing was nowhere in sight.
Ahead of us on the path a family huddled together, filling in one of the botanic garden quiz sheets.
‘Where did he disappear to?’ Aura whispered, looking around frantically.
A little boy in a pushchair was jiggling madly and pointing in the direction of the house.
‘Daga daga daga,’ he babbled.
‘This way,’ I said, and gave the boy a thumbs up.
Racing towards the house, we both skidded to a halt as someone stepped out of the trees onto the path.
‘Hello, Tomas. Exploring again? Nice to see you keeping to the paths this time. And with a friend, I see.’ Chouko smiled at Aura.
I opened my mouth to reply, but at that moment I saw what Chouko was cradling under her arm. Instead of actual words, what came out sounded like a baby goat stepping on a drawing pin.
Aura looked as surprised as Chouko at my bleat, especially when I started trying to tell her what I’d seen using some bizarre eyebrow-based semaphore. Luckily Aura could read eyebrow, and her gaze shot to the little pot. And the dragon-fruit seedling it contained!
‘I’m Aura,’ she said quickly, stepping in. ‘Tomas is showing me around, because I love plants and growing things and I’m interested in tropical plants especially and it’s so cool here because you have all sorts of things from all over the world and I wish I had a glasshouse like this but I’ve just got a balcony although it’s crammed full and it’s great because I get bees and butterflies …’ Aura finally ran out of breath.
‘My name means butterfly,’ Chouko said softly, a warm smile spreading across her face. ‘And I am just like you. I love plants and I love this place. But you’ll have to excuse me for a moment as I need to get this little one tucked up in the warm.’ She looked down at the pot with the dragon-fruit seedling and smiled at it as if it was a little kitten asleep in her arms.
Then she turned and unlatched the gate to the cottage, making the sign that read ‘Private’ wobble and rattle.
‘We have to get it back,’ I hissed.
‘I know,’ Aura replied. ‘But we need to be careful. We don’t want to get banned from the botanic garden. We need to pause and think.’
‘We don’t have time to pause and think,’ I groaned. ‘Look where Zing is!’
Aura followed the line of my finger. Her hand shot to her mouth and her eyes widened in alarm. Somehow Zing had got into the outer greenhouse and was whizzing back and forth inside. I could see Chouko in the one that adjoined the house, leaning over a bench to tend to some pots. If she turned to look into the other greenhouse, she would see him.
‘What if she goes in there next?’ Aura squeaked.
‘Then Chouko might see her very first dragon,’ I said, ‘and that would not be good.’
‘We have to get him out. How did he even get in there?’
‘Look,’ I said pointing up to the roof. ‘There’s a skylight open – he must have flown in there. I just need to get in and guide him out. There are doors at the back. You’ll have to distract Chouko so I can get round unseen.’
‘OK,’ Aura said. ‘Let’s go.’
While Chouko was poring over some plants with her back to us, Aura pushed open the gate and we hurried down the path. Luckily the greenhouses had a low brick base below the glass panels. So I was able to crawl on my hands and knees to the back door, while Aura creaked open the door to the first greenhouse.
‘Excuse me,’ I heard her say.
I didn’t wait to hear what elaborate ruse Aura had come up with. As I pushed open the back door of the greenhouse, I winced. Zing had knocked so many pots flying that there was soil and uprooted plants littering the floor everywhere. He was crashing around under the counters and then he began swiping his tail across a pile of felt-like material, the sort Grandad used to protect plants from frost.
‘Don’t start charging up now,’ I pleaded.
Seeing me, the little dragon just swiped harder. The air crackled and then he let out a lightning bolt that scorched a gardening glove.
‘Why are you making things worse?’ I said, exasperated.
Flicker had always helped when we’d got into sticky situations. But Zing was just adding frenzy to the chaos.
More mini lightning bolts zapped out of his mouth in every direction. And I could see the threads across his wings sparking brilliant silver. I glanced into the other greenhouse and saw Aura and Chouko laughing. It looked as if Aura had had some help from one of Rosebud’s giggly green farts. But then my heart plummeted as I saw Chouko stepping out of the greenhouse.
A confused look passed over Chouko’s face as she turned the handle of the door and saw me through the glass. She looked back at Aura, who attempted to smile, but it just crumbled into pieces on her face.
Desperately my eyes shot to Zing, who was hovering up by the skylight. I willed him to fly out through the open window. But he looked straight back at me and then rocketed downwards just as Chouko stepped inside. I sprang forward, convinced he was going to crash into her head.
But then the strangest thing happened. A blinding flash of light. So bright my eyes instinctively shut tight. As I opened them again I saw Chouko and Aura making the same screwed-up expressions.
‘What’s going on in here?’ Chouko demanded.
Then her face properly fell as she lowered her hand. ‘What have you done to all my specimens, and what is that terrible smell?’
I sniffed and caught a metallic tang in the air. It smelt like the time Dad had burned the wires in an old radio he was trying to fix.
Before I could answer, smoke started rising up, billowing from a climate-control unit beside me.
‘I’m sorry,’ I coughed through the smoke.
Without hesitating, Chouko dashed forward, pulled me to my feet and dragged me out of the greenhouse.
‘Both of you, wait there,’ she said quickly. ‘I don’t know what’s going on, but I need to get a fire extinguisher before I lose everything, including my house.’
‘Where’s Zing?’ Aura cried as Chouko hurried off.
I looked around, hoping he’d flown out the skylight. But there was no sign of him.
‘Hold on,’ Aura said, suddenly pointing to the other greenhouse, the one she and Chouko had first gone into. ‘There he is!’
Zing was hovering at the back of the greenhouse above a small plastic polytunnel running along one counter – a polytunnel he was rapidly tearing to shreds.
‘How on earth did he get in?’ I cried.
‘I don’t know,’ Aura said. ‘But look what’s under there.’
My eyes fell on the row of little pots, and the dragon-fruit tree seedlings poking out of each and every one.
I looked at Zing. He stared back at me, a piece of the polytunnel clutched in his claws. He’d been leading us to the dragon-fruit seedlings! Not trying to cause more trouble. He might not go about it in the same way as Flicker would have, but he’d been trying to help. I just hadn’t realised. The truth was, I hadn’t stopped to listen.
‘I’m sorry,’ I mouthed. I pointed at myself and then at him, and then joined my index finger and thumb on both hands and interlocked them. Using the sign language Miss Jelinski had taught us in class, I wanted him to know we were in this together.
‘Chouko locked the greenhouse door,’ Aura wailed. ‘He can’t get out. And she’s going to come back any second and then she’ll see him. She must know they are dragon-fruit trees she’s growing. It won’t take a mastermind to put two and two together and work out why you’ve been so fascinated by strange cacti.’
‘What are we going to do?’
‘I don’t know, Tomas, I’m all out of plans. This is really bad.’ Her hands were scratching at her hair, her eyes wide. ‘I think it might be time to panic.’
Hearing Aura squeak the word ‘panic’ reminded me of her response to my own panicking in the garden centre. I took a breath. Zing needed me to stay calm.
The next second there was another brilliant flash of light. We shielded our eyes from the glare of the greenhouse.
‘There’s that weird smell again,’ Aura said. ‘Like the smell you get before a storm.’
‘Or lightning,’ I added slowly.
We turned and saw a scorch mark on the grass beside us. And then our eyes fell on Zing, hopping from foot to foot. He wasn’t sky blue with silver threads any more – he was a dazzling brilliant white, lit up and flashing, the air crackling fiercely around him.
‘Did he just do what I think he did?’ I said. ‘Did he just zap out of there?’
‘You know we said he was as fast as lightning?’ Aura said, a grin starting to spread across her face. ‘Well, I think we were wrong. I think he is lightning.’
Zing cocked his head to the side and then flew up, circling above us. And for the first time his wings didn’t flap awkwardly and he didn’t look as if he would crash into anything.
I grinned up at him. One sapphire eye shone back. And for a split second, in the swirling cloud of the other eye, I saw the flash of a lightning bolt.
He landed on my back, his silver-white wings stretching out across my shoulders. I instinctively braced myself, thinking I’d get an electric shock, but all I felt was a wonderful tingling spreading down my arms and into my fingers. Like I was quietly buzzing with magic.
Aura and I hurried away, dizzy with relief and keen to put as much distance as possible between us and Chouko – and any questions she might fire our way. Rosebud unfurled from Aura’s arm and flew up into the trees and Zing followed. They darted to and fro above us, chasing each other, Zing’s scales shining white against the autumn leaves.
As we neared the gate, they both zipped down and disappeared into our jackets and tucked themselves safely out of sight. Not wanting to draw attention to ourselves, we did our best to saunter out onto the street. But as soon as we were past the entrance we fell into giggles and raced our way homewards.
‘You look happier,’ Mum said when she tucked me in.
I nodded and smiled, aware of Zing curled beneath my bed. By the time we’d got home, he’d returned to his usual sky blue. I’d settled him in his nest of clothes, laying my hand on his head and scratching his back as he watched me, his eyes shining brightly. Thanks to him, I knew there were more seedlings, which meant we still had a chance to get things right.
‘I’m glad you’ve made a new friend,’ she continued. ‘Aura seems lovely. And you’ve got the rest of the superhero squad back tomorrow too. All is right with the world, hey?’
