Chris D'Lacey [Last Dragon Ch The Fire Within (epub)

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."That's right," Lucy added."Gadzooks does it all.""No, he doesn't," the tenant snapped back.Sophie looked puzzled."Who's Gadzooks?""David's dragon," said Lucy."Mom made him a special story-writing one."Liz caught Sophie's eye in the mirror."I'm a potter; I make clay dragons.""Pennykettle Pots and Crafts," said David.Sophie thought for a moment, then her face lit up."Not those spiky-winged dragons at Scrubbley Market?"249"Yes," said David and Lucy together."Oh, but they're lovely.I keep meaning to buy one, but I never have the money.Do you have a shop somewhere?""Just a studio, at home.""The Dragons' Den," said Lucy."Entrance by invitation only," muttered David."I'll show you around later, if you like," said Liz.Sophie glowed with delight."Oh, yes, please.The Dragons' Den.Raar!""Actually, it's more like hrrr!" said David.Liz flashed him a look in the rearview mirror.For no apparent reason, David jerked in his seat as if he'd been stung.The carrier bounced on his knee, bringing forth a chatter of annoyance from within."What's the matter?" asked Sophie, looking him up and down.David shook his head."Nothing.I'm fine." He peered at the rearview mirror again.Liz's eyes were back on the road.But in that moment he'd held250her gaze, there was no mistaking what he'd seen.Her normally vivid pale green eyes had sparkled a very different color.Violet.Just like the dragon he had seen in his dream.251Bye-Bye, ConkerIwo minutes later the car was parked and the talk had turned to squirrels again."Come on, Mom," Lucy was saying."We need to find a good place to let them out." She grabbed Liz's hand and pulled her along the library path.Sophie laughed softly, watching them go."They're a funny pair, aren't they?""You can say that again," David muttered, switching the carrier to his other hand; two active squirrels were surprisingly heavy.Sophie turned and walked backward a step."Don't you like being their tenant?""Yeah, they're great.They're just.weird --252especially when it comes to dragons.When we were in the car just now, did you see Liz's eyes change color?"Sophie gave him a questioning look."Honest.I saw it in the mirror.They're normally green, but I saw them go violet."Sophie sighed wistfully and tightened her scarf."Lucky Liz.Wish mine did that; they do go bluer, in the right light.""This was different," said David, shaking his head."She went all 'dragony' for a moment.""Hrrr," breathed Sophie, laughing as she blew warm air into her hands."I'm serious.There's something odd about those two.When we get home, ask Lucy to show you Gwendolen -- that's one of her special dragons.If you stare at it closely, you can see Lucy in it.""So?""Well.sometimes, when I look at Lucy, I think I see it the other way around.It's just as if --""Stop, there!" Lucy reappeared ten yards ahead, at a hairpin bend in the path."Go closer," she shouted.253"And don't make a face." She brought her birthday camera to her eye."Oh no, not photos," Sophie winced."I always make a face." She slipped her arm inside David's and smiled painfully.There was a click.Lucy immediately shouted, "Mom, I took a picture of David and Sophie snuggling up!"Liz's voice floated back."I'm sure they'll treasure it all their lives.Come on, I found a good place."David and Sophie "unsnuggled" themselves and followed Lucy along the path.They found Liz sitting on an ivy-covered wall, looking through a gap in the cluster of trees.The pond, with the bandstand away to its left, was framed at the bottom like a picture postcard.In the distance, just visible, was the wishing fountain."This is good," said Sophie, sitting down beside Liz."Scrubby and woodsy.Lots of places to bury acorns.""Speaking of which," David popped the carrier down on the path and took a bagful of acorns from his pocket."Here, you can be nut monitor," he said, dumping them into Lucy's hands.254"Brilliant," said Lucy."These are the ones he stole," she told Sophie.David half knelt beside the carrier."Well, now it's time to give them back -- and to let Conker see his new home."For the first time, Lucy looked a little glum."Do we really have to let him go?"David nodded at the carrier door.Snigger was clinging tightly to the mesh, doing his best to gnaw through the catch.Lucy's bottom lip began to buckle.She stepped forward into David's arms and let her head fall against his shoulder."Thank you for saving him."David gave her a squeezy hug."We all saved him, silly.You, me, your mom, Bonnington.""Sophie," said Liz."Snigger," said Sophie."Gadzooks," sniffed Lucy."He helped a lot.""We'll have mentioned everyone in Scrubbley in a minute," muttered Liz.She raised an eyebrow in the hope of moving things along.255"Come on," said David, steering Lucy to the box, "you do the honors, just like before."Lucy paused and looked at Sophie."Conker won't die today, will he?"Sophie tugged on the ends of her scarf."No.""OK," said Lucy.She bent down and quickly released the catch.With one light bounce, Snigger was out.Two flicks of his pepper-colored tail took him to the opposite side of the path.He skipped through the black hooped railings and bounced a little way down the muddy embankment, pausing, feet splayed, to peer at the trees.His tail flicked out like a puff of gray smoke.Conker, meanwhile, was still huddled up at the back of the carrier, showing no visible sign of emerging."Should I tip him out?" David asked Sophie."Throw in a nut," she suggested.Lucy rolled one in front of the carrier.Conker twitched as the acorn clacked against the plastic, but he still refused to budge.To make matters worse, competition had arrived.An inquisitive squirrel256had just scrambled down the trunk of a tree and was edging up the path toward the group.It hopped fearlessly over David's foot, poked its nose briefly into the carrier, twitched with surprise at the sight of Conker, found the acorn, twirled it, and ate it on the spot."Try again," said David.Lucy dipped into the bag."Mom, that might be Shooter," she whispered, nodding at the eating squirrel."It might be Snigger's Aunt Mabel, for all we know," said Liz."Come on, throw some nuts." Lucy let a handful tumble down the path.Within minutes, she was handing out more.Snigger and "Shooter" both took acorns.While they were busy burying them, two more squirrels arrived.One appeared at Liz's back, sniffing at the fur of her sheepskin coat [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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