The Secret Dragon

by Ed Clarke

  Her rude awakening had been caused by the tiny dragon, its tail coiled round her ear, claws hooked into her hair. She could feel its miniature tongue flicking above her eye like a lizard trying to catch flies. She pulled it off her face with a wince as it took a tuft of her hair with it. She placed it on her bedside table and shuffled up into a sitting position.

  ‘We mustn’t get distracted,’ she said. ‘We have an important job to do today.’

  The dragon cocked its head on one side as if it were listening.

  ‘Mari!’ It was her mother shouting from downstairs. ‘Now, please!’

  It was another school day, and there was one bus that stopped at the end of the long track to Dimland Cross Farm. There wasn’t another for a whole hour, and Rhian certainly wouldn’t be taking Mari to school if she missed it. Not when there were animals to feed.

  Mari had worked out that if she went to school, got marked as present, and sneaked away at lunchtime, she could catch the train to Cardiff, see Dr Griff before his talk, and be home at the time she would normally be back from school. The problem was what to do with the gwiber. Could she keep it in her school bag the whole morning? After the mess it had made of her cardigan, Mari knew she needed something secure to keep the dragon in.

  She leaped out of bed and pulled on her school uniform faster than her mum would ever have thought possible, repeated her slipping-out-of-the-door manoeuvre, and ran downstairs. The radio was on in the kitchen, the kettle was boiling, and Rhian was making some toast with her back to the door, so Mari had to speak quite loudly to be heard.

  ‘Can I have a container, please?’ she asked.

  ‘Can you have a what?’ replied Rhian without turning round.

  ‘Can I have some sort of container, please!’

  Rhian flicked off the kettle and looked over at Mari. ‘Are you all right, love?’ she asked.

  ‘Everything’s fine,’ said Mari, trying to speed things along. ‘I just have a school project and I need to take a … thing into school. In a container.’

  ‘What kind of a thing?’ said Rhian.

  ‘An insect. From the garden,’ floundered Mari. ‘A big one.’

  ‘Are you sure that’s a good idea?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Just that,’ said Rhian, choosing her words carefully, ‘I mean, you’re better with fossils, aren’t you? Than living things.’

  Mari pulled a face. ‘Fine, I knew I shouldn’t have asked you.’

  She pushed past her mum, and started rooting through cupboards by her feet. At the back of one she found an old ice-cream tub that looked roughly the right size. She peeled open the lid. It had one lonely-looking mince pie in it.

  ‘Look,’ said Rhian. ‘I didn’t mean –’

  ‘Insects are different from farm animals, you know,’ said Mari without looking up. She thrust the container into the air. ‘Can I use this?’

  ‘I think the mince pie is past its best, yes,’ said Rhian.

  Mari stood up. ‘An insect’s biology is completely different to a mammal’s. You’d know that if you’d gone to university.’

  Mari instantly regretted what she’d said. Unlike her dad, Mari’s mum had left school at sixteen, and had always been sensitive about not being the ‘clever one’ in the family.

  ‘I didn’t need to go to college to learn about animals, thank you very much.’

  ‘I know, Mum. You went to the University of …’

  ‘Life. Yes I did.’

  ‘Lucky you didn’t have to travel too far though,’ added Mari under her breath.

  ‘Pardon?’ Rhian bristled suspiciously.

  ‘Nothing,’ said Mari quickly, heading for the door.

  ‘You’ll need to punch some holes in it,’ Rhian called after her. ‘So it can breathe.’

  ‘I knew that,’ said Mari. ‘That’s basic science.’

  ‘And maybe some water,’ added Rhian.

  ‘OK!’

  Mari stomped back upstairs. There was no way she was going to the University of Life if it meant never leaving Llanwerydd. She threw open her bedroom door, only to find that the gwiber had disappeared. Again. She looked behind the curtain, but it wasn’t there. She regretted not keeping her bedroom tidier. There were a hundred hiding places for a small reptilian creature beneath discarded clothes and scrunched-up pieces of paper.

  Mari yanked the duvet off the bed, giving it a good shake, but the only thing that fell out was a careworn teddy that no one was supposed to know she still kept in her bed at night. There was nothing beneath her pillow or under her bed. She threw socks, knickers and shirts into the laundry basket in the corner of the room, but no dragons were revealed.

  ‘Your toast is getting cold!’ came a shout from the kitchen.

  Mari looked to the heavens in exasperation, and finally her eyes fell on the gwiber, hanging on to the top of her bedroom curtain like a kitten that had climbed a tree without knowing how to get down. It was too high for Mari to reach without standing on something, so she put a chair next to the window and clambered up, but it was still out of her grasp.

  ‘Did you fly up there, little reptile?’ Mari said, stretching out her hand and trying to sound as soothing as she could.

  The dragon seemed distinctly unsoothed. It scrabbled further up the curtain, ripping the material as it went.

  ‘Come down now, please!’ Rhian shouted from downstairs, echoing Mari’s own thoughts perfectly. Mari wanted to shout back a response, but she was afraid of scaring the dragon any further.

  ‘Come to Mari,’ she cajoled, balancing one foot precariously on her bedside table to edge a little higher. She strained her arms as far as they would go, but the gwiber was still out of reach and the chair was starting to tip.

  ‘It would make things so much easier if you were a fossil,’ Mari muttered as she heard her mother’s footsteps on the stairs. ‘Please,’ she implored.

  The chair wobbled again, and Mari started to lose her balance just as the dragon leaped off the curtain and plummeted towards the bed.

  Jumping off the chair as it fell to the floor with a clatter, Mari snatched the falling creature out of the air and stuffed it into her pocket.

  ‘What on earth is going on in there?’ Rhian asked, opening the door just as Mari sat down on her bed looking as innocent as she could manage.

  ‘Sorry, Mum,’ she said. ‘Did you call?’

  ‘The bus will be here any minute,’ said Rhian, looking around the room suspiciously. ‘You’ll have to eat your toast as you go. Come on, Mari!’

  And with that she turned on her heel and was gone.

  Mari reached into the pocket of her school cardigan and pulled out the gwiber. It looked up to meet her gaze, and if she hadn’t been a serious scientist who knew better than to believe animals felt human emotions, she might almost have sworn that it was laughing at her.

  She narrowed her eyes disapprovingly. ‘It’s going to be like that then, is it?’ she said.

  The tiny dragon nestled contentedly into her palm.

  Clearly, it was.

  The schoolyard of Llanwerydd Primary was perhaps the one place Mari liked even less than the farmyard. It wasn’t that she minded if no one wanted to sit next to her. It wasn’t even that Ffion thought it was funny to pretend she was being electrocuted every time Mari brushed past her. It was more that no one seemed to care about anything that really mattered, yet they all seemed to care about everything that didn’t. So Mari didn’t think there was much point in trying to fit in.

  Today, however, Mari had a secret that would keep her company all day. She strode confidently into the playground, safe in the knowledge that the second half of the day would more than make up for anything bad the first half could throw at her.

  Her daydream was interrupted by the sound of a slamming car door and a stifled argument. It was the boy from the beach. His dad was dropping him off in a bright yellow estate, and seemed insistent on kissing him goodbye.

  ‘Have a good day,
Dylan!’

  Dylan was obviously too mortified to respond. Fortunately for him, though, Mari was the sole witness to the scene.

  She took her usual seat, next to no one, and began happily doodling a fossil on the cover of her workbook.

  ‘Nice bug. Is someone sitting here?’

  Inevitably, it was Dylan.

  ‘It’s a trilobite,’ replied Mari. ‘And no, it’s not a seat that someone sits in.’

  He looked confused. ‘You mean it’s broken?’

  ‘No – it’s just not a seat people seem to like,’ Mari clarified. ‘But I like that it’s empty.’

  ‘Does that mean I can or I can’t?’

  ‘Suit yourself,’ she replied.

  Dylan looked around the class, but there were no other free places. He lowered himself down gingerly, like he half expected the chair to give way beneath him.

  ‘I’m pretty sure it’s safe,’ said Mari as he settled in. ‘Though I’ve never tested it.’

  She glanced up to see Ffion and her friends casually turning round to look the new boy up and down.

  ‘Hi there,’ Ffion said to him. ‘I wouldn’t sit too close to her,’ she continued, nodding at Mari. ‘Could be dangerous. You know what happened to her dad?’

  Ffion opened her eyes wide, and started to shake as if she’d stuck her finger in an electric socket. Her cronies all laughed as they turned back, but Mari was unmoved. She’d seen this routine before.

  Dylan threw her a puzzled look.

  Mari sighed. ‘My dad died when he got struck by lightning. And Ffion thinks she’s being so clever.’

  ‘I’m sorry to hear –’ he began.

  ‘But then she’s also the only vegan who believes pork sausages are meat-free because that’s what her dad told her.’

  ‘I heard that, Mari Jones,’ said Ffion. ‘He is the butcher and he would know.’

  Mari raised an eyebrow at Dylan before Mr Pugh, their form teacher, broke in.

  ‘Listen up, everyone! I’d like you to say hello to Dylan Moss, who’s just moved here from Cardiff.’

  ‘Hel-lo, Dy-lan,’ droned the class.

  Dylan offered a sheepish wave in return.

  ‘I’m sure Year Six will make you feel very welcome,’ concluded Mr Pugh.

  ‘Oh, you can be sure they will,’ murmured Mari under her breath.

  Dylan turned to her for a second, but Mari wasn’t about to elaborate. So instead he took out a pair of reading glasses and started to put them on.

  ‘For the stray chips,’ he said, turning back to face the front and pushing the spectacles up the bridge of his nose.

  Mari wasn’t sure if he was teasing her again, but it didn’t matter. She had more important things on her mind.

  When the bell rang for lunch, it was an even more blessed relief than usual. Mari raced out of the school gates and ran full pelt for the train station. The 12:56 to Cardiff was just about to close its doors as she arrived, and she jumped through the gap and straight into a seat.

  Mari put her bag on her lap and hurriedly unzipped it. She hadn’t been able to check on the dragon all morning for fear of someone seeing her. She quickly glanced around the carriage to make sure no one was watching before carefully lifting out the ice-cream container and peeling back the lid.

  The little dragon looked up at her a little drowsily, and stretched out a wing. Mari checked the little bit of sponge she had soaked with water for it to drink. It was untouched, as were the leaves she had put in there too, in case it got hungry. Mari eyed the tiny creature nervously. Had she given it the things it needed? Was it getting enough air?

  To be on the safe side, she grabbed a pen from her pencil case, stuck down the lid of the box again, and began stabbing at the top to make some more holes.

  That’s better, she thought, unpeeling the lid to check if the dragon seemed any perkier. Instead, it was cowering in fear in the corner of the box.

  ‘I’m so sorry!’ she hissed, suddenly realizing how scared it must have been watching a giant spike breaking repeatedly through its roof. Mari sighed. She wasn’t a natural at this at all. To make matters worse, she realized that a woman sitting slightly further down the carriage had been watching her. When Mari turned round, she hastily buried her face in her book, but Mari couldn’t help wondering if she had caught a glimpse of the dragon. The sooner she got to Dr Griff, the better.

  Thirty nervous minutes later, the train was pulling into Cardiff Central station. The doors weren’t even properly open before Mari was out. It was twenty to two, and somehow she had to get to the hotel where the conference was taking place, find the room where Dr Griff was making his speech, and share the discovery of a lifetime with him before he started at two o’clock. She skidded out of the station on to the streets of Cardiff, having asked a gruff ticket inspector for directions. The city was bursting with people, and she had to dodge and weave to get past them all.

  Mari finally found the hotel. It was an enormous, modern high-rise building that loomed over her like an angry teacher, just waiting for her to get something wrong. She felt a sudden anxiety that this was a really stupid idea. But she took a deep breath, pushed her worries aside and pressed on.

  Inside, the hotel was even more imposing than its exterior had suggested. A smartly dressed young man stood behind a white wood desk in the middle of the lobby, gazing into a silver laptop like it was a crystal ball. Mari coughed, trying to get his attention. He didn’t look up.

  ‘I’m looking for the Progressive Palaeontology Conference,’ she said, in as deep and confident a voice as she could muster.

  The man still didn’t look up. He just pointed up the grand staircase at the end of the hall, while tapping on the keyboard with his other hand. ‘Staircase. Turn right. Lift to the eighth floor. Rhossili Suite.’

  Mari waited for a second, just in case he was going to say anything else, but he wasn’t. She ran across the lobby and took the stairs two at a time. She slid to a halt by the lifts and hammered the button to call one down.

  ‘Come on, come on,’ she urged under her breath, whacking the button again for good measure. She looked at her watch. It was 13:55. It wasn’t looking good.

  ‘Going up?’ came a voice from her left.

  Mari looked round to see a smiling young woman holding open the doors to a lift she hadn’t noticed. She was wearing a black sleeveless T-shirt with a picture of two dinosaur skeletons playing the guitar, underneath which it said MONSTERS OF ROCK. Mari gratefully leaped into the lift and hit the button for the eighth floor.

  ‘You here for Griff?’ asked the woman.

  Mari nodded.

  ‘You might be waiting a while.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ asked Mari as the lift pinged open at the eighth floor to reveal a sea of people. Her heart sank. They were all queuing to get into the Rhossili Suite, half of them carrying Dinosaur Hunter books. She slumped back against the wall in defeat. What was she even doing here?

  The woman from the lift turned to her with a smile. ‘Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.’

  Mari nodded her thanks and pushed her way past the throng to the front of the queue, where another woman with a clipboard was guarding the entrance to the suite, crossing people’s names off as they came in. She was wearing a name badge that said SANDRA. She smiled down at Mari – not because she meant it, but because that was part of the job.

  ‘Can I help yourself at all?’ she asked, her fixed grin hardly moving.

  ‘Yes,’ replied Mari. ‘I have something very important to show Dr Griff.’

  ‘Do you have a ticket for the talk?’

  ‘I’m sorry, no, I don’t.’

  ‘Well, if yourself would be so kind, I’m afraid I have to look after the people that do,’ said Sandra, turning away from Mari and back to the queue.

  ‘But it’s really important,’ said Mari. ‘Like, incredibly important.’

  Sandra ignored her completely, continuing to tick people off her list. Mari tugged at the woman�
��s clipboard to get her attention. This did not go down well.

  ‘Dr Griffiths is on a very tight schedule and today is not a school visit. So if yourself would be so kind …’ Sandra wrestled her clipboard back.

  ‘But I have to tell him about something that will CHANGE HISTORY,’ insisted Mari desperately, ripping the ice-cream container out of her bag, peeling back the lid and brandishing it dramatically at the woman like she was letting loose all the demons of hell.

  Despite herself, Sandra couldn’t help but peer into the box. Mari waited for her expression to change from anger to sheer amazement, but instead her lips pursed in disgust.

  ‘You want to show him a dead newt?’

  ‘What?’

  Mari turned the box round to face her. The gwiber lay on its side, eyes closed, its wings tucked tightly into its body, and it wasn’t moving.

  At all.

  ‘No!’ urged Mari. She shook the box to try and wake up the dragon, but it just slid lifelessly from one side to the other. ‘Wake up!’ she pleaded, rubbing the reptile’s back in an attempt to massage some life back into it.

  ‘You must move yourself aside now,’ said Sandra. ‘You’re blocking a fire exit.’

  Mari started to panic. ‘But Dr Griff can help me. I need him to help me. I’m no good with living things!’

  Sandra looked down at her. ‘Lucky for you then,’ she said. ‘That animal is most definitely dead.’

  Mari stared forlornly down at the little creature huddled in the corner of the box. The dragon couldn’t be dead. It just couldn’t be.

  ‘Hey there,’ came a different voice.

  Mari looked up. It was Dr Griff! He was wearing a headset with a microphone attached to it, and the young woman in the MONSTERS OF ROCK T-shirt was standing next to him, smiling. ‘Nita here said you were looking for me. Made me come all the way out when I was just about to start, you know.’

  For an instant Mari froze, then she whipped the box behind her back to hide it. There was no way she was going to tell Dr Griff how she’d just killed the most important discovery in all of natural history.

  ‘I’m sorry, I don’t have all that long,’ said Dr Griff. ‘What can I do for you?’