“Oh, Zanna,” Liz cried, and threw her arms around her. “When did you know?”
“This morning,” she sniffed, and gave a quick shrug. “Come on, guys. It’s just a baby.”
“It’s David’s child,” Arthur said, smiling.
“And Gwendolen’s,” Liz whispered, touching Zanna’s cheek.
Zanna sniffed again and looked down at her feet. “We gonna let this squirrel go or what?”
Liz took her hands and rocked them proudly. “You’re going to need help. I want you to come and live with us, OK?”
Zanna’s pale face twitched into a frown. “Kinda crowded,” she said, struggling to talk. “Us four, the dragons, and a crazy leopard — or whatever he’s trans-moggified into this morning.”
“We’ll talk about this later,” Liz said happily. She squeezed Zanna’s hands and turned back to Lucy.
“Oh, there’s one other thing,” Zanna said.
Liz and Lucy gave her their attention again.
“Gadzooks gave me a note this morning.” She pulled a tissue from her sleeve and clamped it in her fists. “It said G’lant. It’s the name of my Valentine dragon. He said the name would come to me. He wrote to me, Liz.”
Liz took her in her arms and hugged her tight. “It’s not over,” she whispered. “Not by a long way.” And she glanced at Arthur and signaled to Lucy.
And Lucy let the squirrel go.
… until the stars have blinked their last,
wherever on this Earth you walk,
he will arouse, excite, inspire,
my Valentine, my one dark fire …
Acknowledgments
Thank you to everyone who has helped to produce and support this book: Team Orchard (thank you, Penny, for stepping in so late), Kathy Hector, Derek & Susan, LWC, Sandy and her staff at Browsers Bookshop, Shelley at Harborough, Merel Reinink, and Marshall — they still love the Web site, mate.
About the Author
Chris d’ Lacey is the author of several highly acclaimed books for children and young adults, including The Fire Within, Icefire, and A Hole at the Pole.
Chris works as a research scientist for Leicester University and lives in Leicester, England, with his wife.
Copyright
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
This book was published in hardcover in the United States by Orchard Books in 2007 and in Great Britain by Hachette Publishing Group, Ltd., in 2005.
Copyright © 2005 by Chris d’Lacey.
Cover art © 2005 by Angelo Rinaldi
Cover design by Alison Klapthor
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc. SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc. ORCHARD BOOKS and design are registered trademarks of Watts Publishing Group, Ltd., used under license.
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e-ISBN 978-0-545-36545-1
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