Sky High!

by Gareth P. Jones

  “No, this is Mr Dirk Dilly,” said Alba. “He is a famous detective. I am Alba Longs. Mr Dirk is helping me to find my sister.”

  “Keep quiet, Alba,” snarled Dirk.

  “Famous detective, eh?” said Pappy. “Well, I’m a bit of a detective myself and I detect the blood of a couple of Kinghorns.”

  Dirk sighed. He had learned from previous experience that for all their self-importance, Dragnet officers were almost always looking for what they could get out of a situation. He was yet to meet one who couldn’t be bribed.

  “OK,” he said. “What will it take to persuade you to let us go?”

  Junior pulled hard on the chain, bringing Dirk’s face close. “You can’t bribe Pappy,” he said. “My pappy is the most honestest officer in the Dragnet. He ain’t never taken a back-hander. Ain’t that right, Pappy?”

  “Er … sure thing, son,” said Pappy, although Dirk could see from the look on his face that if his son hadn’t been there it would have been a different story.

  “Rats,” muttered Dirk. “Of all the Drakes in the world we had to meet these two prize specimens.”

  “What was that, Mountain Dragon?” said Pappy.

  “I said, we’ll come quietly.”

  “You see, Junior. Now he’s showing some respect. All these dragons understand is a firm cuff.”

  The two Drakes set off down the tunnel, pulling Alba and Dirk behind them.

  “How can we find Delfina now?” said Alba.

  “Never mind her,” replied Dirk. “How are we going to get out of this?”

  “Surely they will let us go when they realize we are innocent,” she said.

  “You two Kinghorns keep quiet!” yelled Junior.

  “You tell them no good traitors, Junior,” said Pappy.

  “Oh yes,” said Dirk under his breath. “They seem like a very open-minded pair.”

  Holly had been so intent on spying on the crooks that she hadn’t checked whether anyone else was watching. She could have kicked herself for being so careless but that wouldn’t have got her anywhere. Instead, she let her face relax into a smile and laughed.

  “So this is how you spend your holidays, is it? Following people?”

  “I was in the area when I saw you cross the road then … er, well, you vanished. How did you do that?” Archie jumped down from the fence into the alleyway.

  “Do what?” replied Holly, a picture of wide-eyed innocence.

  “Turn invisible,” said Archie. “Don’t deny it. I saw it with my own eyes.”

  “Good luck getting anyone else to believe that,” she retorted.

  “Why would I tell anyone else?” Archie grinned, reached into his pocket and pulled out a jelly baby. He brushed off the pocket fluff and threw it into his mouth. “Can you show me how to do it?”

  “No,” said Holly. “We’re not friends. All you’ve done is tease me since I came to the school.”

  “I tease everyone.”

  “You said I was posh.”

  “I’ve seen your house,” countered Archie.

  “And then you went on about my stepmum losing her stupid job as an MP. Like I even care about politics.”

  Archie smiled. “I’m sorry about all that. I was just teasing. And maybe I was following you, but only because I thought you were interesting. And you really are. Interesting, I mean. So can you show me how to turn invisible now?”

  “No, we’re not friends.”

  “Yes but we could be,” said Archie.

  “I’m not sure I want to be,” said Holly.

  “Allies then,” said Archie.

  “Allies against who?”

  “Against the world,” said Archie, gesticulating wildly. “What do you say? I mean, you don’t exactly seem to have a lot of friends and none of mine are as interesting as you.”

  Archie held out a hand. His nails were dirty, his T-shirt was stained, but there was something about the way his smile showed in his eyes at that moment that made Holly want to trust him.

  Dirk had once told her that the art of telling a good lie was to tell as much of the truth as possible and change only one or two key details.

  “It isn’t exactly turning invisible,” she replied. “It’s called blending and it’s easy, you just have to stay very still and think like whatever it is you’re trying to blend with.”

  The only thing she failed to mention was the minor detail that first you needed to swallow Mountain Dragon blood.

  Pappy locked the cell door, securing Alba and Dirk inside.

  “I want to be getting out!” cried Alba through the small barred window in the door.

  “Now, Junior,” said Pappy. “You stay here and guard the convicts while I go and alert the Petty Patrol Officer.”

  “What will he do, Pappy?”

  “He’ll inform the Chief Area Patrol Officer, who will tell the local magistrate, who will bring up the matter with the Dragnet Regional Manager at the next bi-millennial meeting. The Regional Manager reports directly to Captain Karnataka.”

  “Couldn’t you just tell Captain Karnataka yourself?” interjected Dirk. “I’m an old friend of his.”

  Pappy turned to look at him. “This is Dragnet procedure. Tell them why we have procedure, Junior.”

  “Because procedure is all that stands between Dragnet order and dragon chaos,” replied his son.

  “Very good. Now, I won’t be too long. You keep this door shut tight.”

  “Yes, Pappy.”

  “Remember, dragons can be tricksy. No matter what they say to you, do not open this door.”

  “Yes, Pappy.”

  “That’s my boy.”

  Pappy waddled away down the corridor.

  “What are we to do now?” asked Alba.

  “There’s not much we can do,” replied Dirk. “Black metal was used to build these cells. It runs through the rock. The only way out is through that locked door. And the thing about that locked door is that it’s locked.”

  “But you said Captain Karnataka was your friend. He will let us out.”

  “You heard them. It could be months before news gets to Karny.”

  “Years,” said a low voice, which made them both jump. It came from the back of the cell. “I’ve been here for six hundred and twenty-two years, four months and three days and my case hasn’t even got as far as the magistrate yet.”

  Dirk could just about make out two eyes set in a head as black as coal. “Who are you?” he demanded.

  “I’ll exchange my name for yours,” said the dragon, standing to reveal a yellow underbelly.

  “The name’s Dirk Dilly. This is Alba Longs. And if I’m not mistaken, you’re a yellow-bellied, coal-black Cave Dweller,” said Dirk.

  The dragon nodded. “They call me Fairfax Nordstrum,” he said. “Well, they used to call me that when anyone called me anything.” He spoke slowly, as though carefully considering every word before speaking it. “I’ve counted the days of my imprisonment on the wall.”

  Dirk saw that the cell wall was covered in small lines scratched into the rock.

  “What did they put you in for?” he asked.

  “That’s the funny thing, I can’t actually remember. When my trial comes up I won’t know whether to plead guilty or innocent.” He smiled wryly. “And what brings you to my little home?”

  “Mr Dilly is a detective,” said Alba. “He is helping me to finding my sister. But in the cave where I was to be meeting my sister, Mr Dilly found an outline of ash and this means that a Sky Dragon materialized there and I always thought Sky Dragons were just stories but then we met two Drakes and they threw us in this cell and now we are being on the wrong side of a locked door and we still haven’t found my sis—”

  “You talk too much,” Dirk growled at Alba.

  “I can help you find your sister,” said Fairfax.

  “You can?” asked Alba. “How? Do you know her? Have you seen her?”

  “No, but I know where Sky Dragons go after materializing.”
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  “Where?” asked Dirk.

  “I’ll tell you if you help me,” he replied.

  “Help you do what?”

  “Get out,” spoke Fairfax. “Get me out of this cell and I will tell you where you can find this Sky Dragon you seek.”

  Junior was feeling mightily pleased with himself. He had assisted his pappy in capturing two traitors and now he had the very important job of guarding the cell until Pappy got back.

  “But if we cannot be getting out, we will not be able to attend the meeting of secrets,” said one of the prisoners.

  Junior’s ears pricked up. It was the Sea Dragon, Alba Longs.

  “You mean the secret meeting,” replied the Mountain Dragon called Dirk Dilly. “When all the Kinghorns in the world will be gathering in one place?”

  “That is what I am meaning, yes, the secret Kinghorn meeting when all the Kinghorns in the world will be gathering in one place.”

  “Will you keep your voice down about the secret Kinghorn meeting?” hushed Dirk.

  “What does it matter? We are stuck in this cell.”

  “Someone might overhear.” The Mountain Dragon had lowered his voice but Junior put his ear to the door so he could still hear. “If that Dragnet Officer out there overheard – and if he was smart – he would cook up a devious plan.”

  What sort of plan? thought Junior.

  “What sort of plan?” asked the Sea Dragon.

  “He could unlock the door, wait for us to escape, then follow us to the secret location.”

  Junior listened intently.

  “Why would he do that?”

  “Because then he could bring more officers and arrest every single Kinghorn in one go,” said Dirk.

  “Wow, that would be bad for us but good for him. They would probably be giving him a medal,” replied Alba.

  “They’d cover him in medals. So you’d better keep your voice down about the you know what.”

  “You mean, the secret meeting of all the Kinghorns?”

  “Exactly.”

  Junior’s mind was working overtime. This was big. Really big. Pappy had told him to keep the door locked no matter what the traitors said to him, but they hadn’t said anything to him. What they had said, he had overheard and how could they trick him if they didn’t know he was listening?

  Junior resolved to follow his instincts. He unlocked the door and crept back into the shadows.

  It didn’t take long for the door to open and the Mountain Dragon’s head to appear.

  “The door’s open,” he said. “Come on, the coast is clear.”

  Junior held his paw to his mouth to stop himself from chuckling at their foolishness.

  The door opened wider and the two other dragons stepped out.

  “Does this mean we can go to the secret meeting after all?” asked the Sea Dragon.

  “Be quiet about the secret meeting,” scolded the Mountain Dragon. “You never know who might be listening. Come on. Let’s go.”

  Junior removed the chain and cuff from his tail so that he could follow them without clinking. However, the feeling of immense pride that was growing in his large belly suddenly vanished when something whacked him on the head. He stumbled forwards and landed face first, pinned to the ground by an unseen assailant.

  The two dragons turned around.

  “I order you to release me. I am an officer of the Dragnet,” he protested.

  Junior couldn’t see who was restraining him, but he could feel the weight on his back and the claws digging into his skin.

  “This is for all those years in that cell,” whispered Fairfax Nordstrum.

  “Don’t hurt him,” said Dirk. “Just take him back to the cell.”

  Junior was hauled backwards, struggling and thrashing but outnumbered and outwitted. The Mountain Dragon attached the cuff around his neck before throwing him into the cell and locking the door.

  “You’re being awful silly. Locking a Dragnet officer in a cell is against the law, you no good traitors,” Junior said through the grate in the door.

  “I’ll leave you the key then,” replied Dirk, dropping it within sight but out of reach. “And don’t call me silly,” he snarled.

  Junior had been tricked. “Don’t leave me here!” he begged.

  “Your imprisonment will be a blink of an eye compared to mine,” said the Cave Dweller bitterly.

  Junior groaned. “But you can’t leave me like this,” he said.

  “Your pappy will be back soon enough,” said Dirk.

  “That’s what I’m worried about,” replied Junior.

  Upstairs on the bus home, Archie spent the whole journey trying unsuccessfully to blend with the grubby chequered seat.

  “You’re not sitting still enough,” said Holly, smiling to herself.

  “The bus is too bumpy,” complained Archie.

  “Try it later, when you’re at home.”

  The thought of Archie spending hours trying to think like a sofa, without moving a muscle, was sweet revenge for his behaviour in school.

  Holly pressed the bell and stood up. “This is my stop.”

  “Can I come with you?” pleaded Archie, following her downstairs and off the bus.

  “No, you can’t.” Holly still had Mrs Klingerflim’s book in her bag and she wanted to get home and read it. “You can come and call for me tomorrow if you want,” she suggested, striding off.

  “Can’t I come round now?” asked Archie, catching up with her.

  “Why?”

  “I want to see how the other half live,” replied Archie, winking.

  “I’m not the other half,” insisted Holly.

  But Archie didn’t give up easily. He was still there when Holly reached her door, so she relented. “You can come in but only for a minute.”

  As they approached her front door, she felt nervous. Her whole life, she had never brought a friend home. If ‘friend’ was even the right word for Archie. Holly intended to sneak in but, as she pulled out her key, the front door swung open to reveal her stepmum on her way out.

  Mrs Bigsby looked down. “Oh, Holly. I didn’t know you’d gone out.”

  “Where are you going?” Holly noticed that her stepmum was looking suspiciously smart.

  “That’s none of your business,” she replied.

  “You’ve taken the job, haven’t you?”

  Holly’s dad stepped out of the living room. “Holly,” he said. “Oh, you’ve got a friend.”

  “Hello,” said Archie, apparently relishing the awkwardness of the moment. “I’ve never met a real-life politician before.”

  “Then you still haven’t. I am no longer a member of parliament,” said Mrs Bigsby haughtily. “Although I would not rule out the possibility of serving my country in the future, at present I am exploring other avenues.”

  “Such as working for a man who hurts animals,” said Holly angrily.

  “Now, Holly…” began her father.

  “One cannot change the world if one is not engaged with it,” said Mrs Bigsby.

  “And paid a lot for it,” added Holly.

  “We need the money,” snapped Mrs Bigsby. “Now, please get out of my way, both of you. I have a car waiting outside.”

  Reluctantly, Holly stepped aside, allowing her stepmum to leave. Holly’s dad turned to Archie.

  “So are you at school with Holly? I’m glad to see she’s made a friend.”

  “Oh, we’re really good friends,” said Archie. “We’re totally transparent with each other.”

  Holly’s dad smiled at this, apparently not picking up on what an odd thing this was to say. He left them to it.

  “So what are we going to do now?” asked Archie.

  “We’re going back out,” replied Holly.

  “Out? We’ve only just got in.”

  “We need to follow my stepmum. We can’t just sit back and let her take a job with a man who hurts animals,” said Holly.

  Archie’s grin widened. “Oh, I knew becoming your fr
iend was a good idea.”

  Once the three dragons reached a safe distance from the cell, Dirk stopped and turned to Fairfax Nordstrum. “I kept my side of the bargain. Now it’s your turn. Where will I find this Sky Dragon?”

  They were standing in the dim orange glow of the lithosphere tunnel.

  “First things first,” purred Fairfax, fixing his eyes on Dirk. “I’ve been shut up in that cell a long time. I’d like to know what’s changed since I’ve been away.”

  “We had a deal,” said Dirk. “I need to find this Sea Dragon’s sister so I can get back to work.”

  “Your detective work, yes,” said the Cave Dweller. “That does sound fascinating. What sorts of things do you…” He paused to emphasize the word, “detect?”

  “It’s none of your business,” Dirk growled, smoke billowing threateningly from both nostrils.

  “Calm down,” replied Fairfax casually. “I have no intention of going back on our bargain. I just want to know what’s been going on during the last six hundred years.”

  “Nothing much has changed. Humans still roam the earth, dragons still hide,” said Dirk.

  “And are the Kinghorns really on the rise again as those Drakes said?”

  “I am hearing they are planning to start a war,” said Alba.

  “And who is leading them in this war?”

  Alba lowered her voice. “A Mountain Dragon called Vainclaw Grandin. They call him the first up-airer.”

  “Enough,” said Dirk, whose only encounter with the Kinghorn leader had almost cut short his own life. “If you don’t tell us where to find the Sky Dragon, I’ll blacken that yellow belly of yours.”

  “No need for threats. I said I would tell you and I will,” said Fairfax. “As you know, all dragons get energy from the earthlight that emanates from the Inner Core.”

  Dirk nodded. It was the earthlight that lit these tunnels far beneath the surface of the earth. It was as important to dragons as sunlight was to humans.

  “Sky Dragons need it as much as we do,” continued Fairfax. “But when they have spent a long time as gas, floating high, far from the source of their power, they are considerably weakened. After materializing they are exhausted and faint. A small dose of sugar will revive them temporarily but what they really need is to recharge with earthlight energy.”