The Boy Who Dreamed of Dragons Page 4

  Just as I took a step forward to peer through some giant leaves, something rocketed down in front of me. I jumped back, imagining some bat had decided to start dive-bombing me. But then I caught a flash of bright blue and silver. I spun round in time to see the threads flaring along Zing’s back.

  ‘Hey!’ I said, grinning. ‘I thought I’d lost you there. Where did you disappear to? And how did you even get in here?’

  I looked around but couldn’t see any windows left ajar.

  Zing flew down, circled me and then zipped out of sight behind a bush.

  I laughed. ‘I guess I’m not the only one who’s been tracking things. You know, you’d be an amazing spy. I had no idea you were following me.’

  He fluttered down and did a little somersault in front of me, and I could almost feel the air crackling around him, like static. He seemed to be enjoying his game of stealth and surprise as much as I was.

  ‘Come on then,’ I whispered. ‘Time to get serious.’ Dropping my machete, I braced myself for the harder task of looking for more seedlings.

  ‘Let’s see just how good your tracking skills are, shall we?’ I said, leading him towards the cooler part of the greenhouse where the dragon-fruit tree grew.

  He tilted his head and looked at me quizzically. Hopefully if he saw me find one of the seedlings, he’d cotton on and sniff some more out, like giving something to a tracker dog.

  But as I continued on, scanning the ground, I found nothing. And either Zing wasn’t getting the idea or he wasn’t having any luck either.

  Checking no one was nearby, I stepped off the path and headed deeper into the undergrowth, crawling on all fours through the densest parts.

  I couldn’t see Zing now, but I hoped he still had an eye on me. I was about to call it a day when I finally spotted one lone seedling peeping out of the dirt. It looked like it was healthy and I wondered if I should just leave it there rather than uprooting it. I could always mark where it was and keep watch over it. But then a khaki boot landed two inches from my hand, almost squashing the seedling.

  ‘What are you doing, may I ask?’ came a voice.

  I looked up and saw a woman peering down at me over the rim of her glasses, not looking terribly pleased.

  ‘I know I have terrible eyesight, but I’m pretty sure you’re not one of my exotic specimens.’

  I slowly stood up, keeping my feet either side of the seedling to protect it, wondering exactly how much trouble I was going to be in and hoping more than anything that Zing would stay hidden.

  ‘Visitors are expected to stay on the paths,’ she said.

  ‘Yes, I’m really sorry, I got a little lost,’ I stuttered.

  She looked me up and down and said, ‘Explorer, are you?’

  It was the kind of thing someone might say as a joke, but there was no smile or raised eyebrow so I wasn’t sure how to take it.

  Then a butterfly flew past and her face suddenly lit up. She watched it land on a nearby leaf. As she studied it she kept making little contented humming noises. She was totally absorbed by it, and, remembering how close her boot had come to squashing the tiny fledgling dragon-fruit tree, I quickly decided it might be safer with me after all and took the opportunity to grab a pot from my pocket and scoop the little seedling into it.

  ‘Did you know,’ she said, turning back to me, ‘there is a butterfly in the rainforests of New Guinea that has a wingspan that is more than twenty centimetres across. Largest in the world. And the Atlas moth, the white witch moth and the Hercules moth have wingspans of up to thirty centimetres.’

  I didn’t know, but I did think she’d probably get on well with Ted, who also has a head full of these sorts of facts.

  ‘Wow!’ I said. And then deciding to be brave, I added tentatively: ‘Do you think I could ask you a few questions?’

  ‘School project?’ she asked. ‘Rainforest topic?’

  I nodded. ‘Doing some research,’ I replied, not wanting to fib outright.

  ‘Well, I’ve been studying botany for nearly twenty-five years,’ she said. ‘I’ve worked here since I was a student. I always have time for a fellow researcher.’

  She extended a hand.

  ‘Chouko,’ she said. ‘Chouko Sato. And you are?’

  ‘Tomas Liffy.’

  ‘Delighted to meet you,’ Chouko said, smiling.

  My eyes flicked to the dense undergrowth and Chouko followed my gaze, obviously curious. I quickly looked away and smiled, hoping Zing would keep well out of sight.

  ‘So you know all about the things that grow in the rainforest?’ I asked.

  She gave a little laugh. ‘I take it you know how big an area rainforests cover? And what a wealth of flora and fauna they contain? Even after all these years, I only know some things. But I will try my best to help.’

  ‘I’ve been trying to grow something, you see, some seedlings. But they keep dying. I just want to know what I’m doing wrong.’

  ‘It’s difficult to answer that without knowing exactly what you are growing. Plants can be very fussy. What is it that you have?’

  ‘A … a … cactus,’ I said, hoping that would be enough.

  She nodded.

  ‘Well, cacti like a well-drained soil. How often are you watering your little friends?’

  ‘I’m not overwatering,’ I said quickly, remembering how Grandad and I had read in Elvi’s book about the dangers of this.

  ‘That’s good. But do your containers have holes in the bottom just in case?’

  I shook my head.

  ‘Cacti really do not like to get their feet wet. I would suggest making some small holes in the bottom. Also, use a mister, not a watering can. And finally, get yourself some earthworm castings. Very natural fertiliser.’ She chuckled and added, ‘Worm poo.’

  Once I’d thanked Chouko and said goodbye, I spent a few minutes loitering by the glasshouses. After that final glimpse I’d caught of Zing heading into the trees, he’d disappeared again. Now I didn’t know whether to wait for him or make my way home. How responsible was I for this little dragon?

  I took a tentative step towards the gate, and suddenly he zipped out from a bush, his tail flashing silver.

  I grinned. ‘I can’t help feeling you’re playing a bit of a game with me.’ He swished his tail and did three somersaults in a row. Yup, definitely playing a game.

  The first thing I did when I got home, after opening the window for Zing, was poke holes in the bottom of the pots containing the seedlings. Despite being careful about not overwatering I found a couple of them did have wet feet, so I carefully lifted out their straggly roots and repotted them. I also decided to ask Grandad about getting some worm poo. He could add it to his order of ladybirds, the little army of bug helpers who protected his garden from an invasion of pests.

  The next thing I did was pull out my dragon costume. It was now only a few days until the dress-up day at school and I had loads more to do on it. Apart from still needing to make the head, quite a few of the scales along the body had already peeled off and needed repairing, and thanks to Zing I was one wing short. I wanted to look epic. A majestic dragon. And I was definitely going to put the time in to make that happen.

  By the time Lolli came in to declare – with her kazoo – that it was teatime, I had cramp in both legs and aching arms from sitting cross-legged, sticking on all the scales I had painstakingly coloured in.

  ‘Ooh, pretty,’ Lolli said, her eyes wide.

  That was the reaction I was going for.

  ‘Thanks, Lollibob.’ I grinned. ‘Should make quite an entrance.’

  After tea I came back to my room to find Zing wrestling one of my jumpers. He’d wriggled inside and got all tangled up. I unhooked him and he hopped out, one of my socks clutched in his claws. I watched as he disappeared under my bed into the nest he’d made, which I noticed had grown a lot bigger. It certainly looked like he was making himself at home.

  I dug out my old dressing gown that had a black mark from where
Flicker had scorched it, and pushed it towards Zing.

  ‘Maybe you can use this instead,’ I whispered. ‘Otherwise I might not have any clothes left to wear.’

  When I crawled into bed later I could hear him scratching away and my thoughts returned to Flicker. I pictured my shimmering friend and the times we’d spent together when he was small. The way he had settled on my shoulder, his tail curling round my neck, his warm breath tickling my ear. His scales that shone, flickering through every colour. His endless sneezes, shooting out sparks I had to race to snuff out. The quiet rumble as he slept, tucked in beside me. And the dreams we shared.

  On so many nights, I had flown over the forest with the Hidden City below us, feeling the fiery heat in my belly as I roared out a brilliant burst of blue flame. I had soared above a volcano, a blaze of dragons erupting from its crater, colours illuminating the sky. And then I had swooped and dived and finally landed to greet them.

  As I wriggled down under the covers, I conjured Flicker in my mind, screwing my eyes tight shut so no detail would escape.

  If I couldn’t keep him here, I would keep him in my dreams.

  The next day as I came bundling in through the school gates I saw the rest of the superhero squad huddled together, whispering urgently. I rushed over to them.

  ‘What’s going on?’ I asked.

  Liam turned and hissed, ‘We just heard a group of Year Three girls giggling about the dragon in the hall.’

  ‘What if one of them has got lost and found its way into school?’ said Kai.

  ‘We can’t have a rerun of the time our lot got into Mrs Battenberg’s canteen,’ Kat said. ‘That was mayhem.’

  I glanced at Ted, who was looking as worried as I felt. He was probably wondering if his advice to let Zing stay might be about to come back and bite him in the bum.

  But there wasn’t time now to tell everyone about Zing. We needed to act – and fast. Once Zing started careering around with those massive wings, he’d be hard to miss.

  ‘Come on,’ I cried. ‘We need to catch him before anyone else sees him.’

  We raced through the double doors into the hall and stopped. Seeing the kids all crowding around something, my heart sank. I looked at Ted and Liam, red-faced from running. Their wide eyes said it all. This was bad.

  ‘What do we do?’ Kai hissed.

  ‘We could wait for him to do a poo,’ Ted said. ‘That’s sure to clear the hall, once it explodes everywhere. Or maybe he’ll come if he smells ash. Has anyone got any on them?’

  ‘You keep calling it a “he”,’ Liam said, ignoring Ted’s question and looking thoughtful. ‘We don’t know it’s a he.’

  Given I was pretty sure the dragon was Zing, I was about to say that I did know, and I’d explain why later. But then I stopped. Actually Liam was right, I didn’t know. I’d just assumed Zing was a he, right from the start. Like I had with Flicker. Maybe neither of them were boys. Anyway, I didn’t have time to dwell on that now. I just had to catch him … or her.

  ‘One of the teachers might come in any minute,’ Kai said in alarm.

  ‘Then we need to be quick,’ I replied. ‘I’ll grab the dragon, if you can handle this lot.’

  They nodded and, leading the way, I ran headlong into the scrum.

  I barrelled my way through the complaining wall of people, elbows jabbing me left, right and centre, and tumbled onward. I just had to dive on Zing, scoop him up and get out of there before the army of elbows could come for me.

  I saw a flash of what might be his silver tail. Pushing past the last few onlookers, I launched myself forward. That exact same moment, Kat shrieked, ‘Tomas! No!’

  Too late. I couldn’t stop the force of my momentum now.

  Nothing clears a hall like a scream and blood. And I did scream, and there was a torrent of blood. Faces do not enjoy meeting floors at speed, I can tell you. As I lay there, blood from my nose streaming down my face, I saw Kat go up and introduce herself to the dragon.

  The dragon who was, in fact, not a dragon. But a girl in a costume – wearing a detachable dragon head, cardboard wings and a bright grin.

  She reached down to pull me up, keeping a grip on her home-made dragon head with the other.

  ‘You might think I’d be the one hoping to fly, given I’ve actually got some wings,’ she said with a grin.

  She stretched out her arms to show the wings off properly. They were sculpted from cereal boxes, cut into feathery shapes and tied together with string. They moved like layered feathers and the effect was really cool. Of course dragons don’t actually have feathery wings, but no one could deny the work that had gone into them. I thought of the peeling scales on my dragon costume, hastily scribbled in felt-tip pen. They didn’t look half as good as these.

  ‘But it’s not dress-up day today,’ I said.

  ‘I know that now!’ She laughed. ‘No one told me they’d moved it,’ she added with a shrug. ‘Never mind, it’s good to make an entrance on your first day. At least everyone will know who I am.’

  ‘Er … yeah,’ I mumbled, still holding my nose, no longer sure if I was wincing from the pain or from the fact I’d just seen how incredibly intricate and detailed her dragon’s head was.

  ‘So you’ve met Tomas,’ Kat said cheerily. ‘And that’s Ted, Liam and my brother Kai.’ The girl waved at them each in turn and they grinned and put up a hand in greeting.

  ‘That is an awesome costume,’ Liam said.

  ‘It’s amazing,’ Kai agreed.

  Ted gave me a sideways look. I hadn’t told anyone apart from him I was planning to make a dragon costume. You know that expression ‘to steal someone’s thunder’? It means to spectacularly upstage someone. Jumping in and doing something just before they do, and so destroying the effect they’d worked so hard to create. Well, she had just stolen all my thunder and most of my lightning too.

  ‘I’m Aura,’ the girl said, raising her dragon head like she was tipping a hat. ‘I’m new.’

  Just then a couple of the more snooty Year Five girls approached and started sniggering when they saw Aura’s costume.

  Without even thinking, the superhero squad closed ranks around her. Hastily shaking off the mental image of me standing forlorn in my dragon costume looking embarrassed and ignored, I quickly stepped forward to join them.

  We glared at the girls, until they tutted, rolled their eyes and sauntered off, arms linked like they were one mean articulated animal.

  ‘Don’t mind them,’ Kat said.

  Suddenly a booming voice descended on us.

  ‘Could I interest you in a bit of education? If you’re not too busy larking around in here, that is.’

  We all turned to see the scowling face of our teacher Mr Firth.

  ‘Sir, this is Aura, she’s new,’ Kat said.

  ‘Yes,’ said Mr Firth. ‘New and already causing disruption, I see. Get to class now, the lot of you.’

  As we hurried out of the hall, Aura whispered, ‘Guess he’s not a fan of dragons then?’

  I shook my head, remembering the devastation caused by the dragons on our last class trip: the burning barn, the rocket-propelled bull and the ice-skating ostrich, not to mention the flying piglets.

  ‘No, he really isn’t,’ I said with a grin.

  I think Aura had been hoping to show the rest of the class her dragon costume. Mr Firth, though, was having none of it. Nothing was going to distract him from the spelling test he was giving us.

  ‘I know it’s the wrong day, but you’d think he’d be a bit interested,’ Aura said sadly.

  ‘It’s Miss Jelinski who set the costume homework,’ Kai said. ‘She’ll be back on Friday and she’ll love to see it. We only have Mr Firth for two days a week.’

  ‘Thank goodness,’ Liam said, and we all gave a collective shudder at the thought of a whole week with Mr Firth. We’d all hoped we’d have smiley Mr Peters joining Miss Jelinski in our last year of primary, not frowning Mr Firth.

  ‘I’m going to miss …
’ Kat said, but then stopped. I saw Kai give her a funny look and she added, ‘Er … yeah, Miss will love it.’

  Thanks to Mr Firth keeping us late at lunchtime to work on more spellings, I didn’t get a chance to tell the rest of the superhero squad about Zing. But I did manage to pass a secret note around, asking if they could come to mine after school.

  When I got home I found Dad quacking at the sofa. These days very little surprises me, but this was a bit weird, even for Dad. He was wearing his big headphones and leaning over the back of the sofa, one hand stretched out, holding what looked like a large mouse on a stick. I realised the mouse was actually one of those big fluffy microphones, at exactly the same moment I recognised that he was quacking the Superman theme tune.

  ‘All right, Dad?’ I said. ‘How’s the radio jingle for Mum’s show coming on?’

  He looked up and grinned. ‘You know, it’s harder than you’d think to record animal noises. For a start, the rabbits, hamster and corn snake your mum’s looking after at the moment, don’t say much at all. I’m hoping I’ll have better luck with Daisy.’

  ‘The duck behind the sofa?’ I said.

  ‘What? No, Daisy’s a bearded lizard. I’m just not sure what sound they make.’

  I opened my mouth to reply and realised I didn’t know what to say to that, so left him to it.

  I popped into the kitchen to grab a snack. Everywhere I looked there was more evidence of Dad’s failed attempts to talk to the animals. He was definitely no Doctor Dolittle. Still, at least it meant any other unexplained mess was unlikely to be noticed!

  I couldn’t help groaning when I went upstairs though and saw the state of my room. Added to the mess Zing had made and which I still had to clear up, Mum’s animal house guests had obviously got in there too. Maybe trying to escape Dad and his hairy microphone. Luckily the little pots of seedlings on the windowsill seemed to have been spared.