They ate packed lunches. Nory had leftover pizza and two tangerines. The bus wound its way through Angel Canyon. The rugged two-lane mountain highway was the last leg of their journey. Majestic cliffs rose on either side of them. Wow, it was beautiful. Nory felt small.
The mountain highway topped out at last. Grand script was chiseled into an impressive stone arch. It read: DRAGON HAVEN. It was the entrance of the dragon rescue, protection, and preservation center. The forest stretched out in front of them, the fall leaves shining in the sunlight.
“We’re here!” cried Ms. Starr. Everyone piled out of the bus except for Andres and Rock-Bax, who stayed in their seats while Nurse Riley tended to them.
Outside, excited chatter flew back and forth. Sebastian unwrapped Nurse Riley’s sweater from over his eyes and put back on his head cone. Elliott helped him adjust it. The bus driver unloaded backpacks, duffels, and sleeping bags, piling them in front of the Welcome Center.
“Hello, campers!” someone called out.
Nory turned and saw a regal woman flying toward them. She stopped and hovered a couple of feet in the air. She was thin and had a long neck. Shiny black hair hung like a bolt of silk down her back. She wore blue scrubs, like a doctor. “My name is Dr. Miriam Cho,” the woman continued, “but you may call me Mo. I am the chief dragonologist at Dragon Haven. I’m honored to welcome you to our center.”
“Hi!” blurted Nory. “I’m Nory!” Andres shot her a look, but Nory didn’t care. There was a real dragonologist, right in front of her! Wearing actual ugly blue pants!
Nory had thought all dragonologists worked in dense, uninhabited forests, wild wetlands, and vast sandy plains, riding around in safari cars with teams of photographers. She’d thought all of them were Fuzzies, too. That’s what it seemed like in the educational film on dragons that Ms. Starr had made them watch. But here was Mo, a real live Flyer dragonologist with glamorous hair!
“You Dunwiddle students are one of two school groups we have with us right now,” Mo continued, “and there will be plenty of time for introductions later. We’ll wait for the other group to arrive.”
The other group? Nory thought. What other group?
Nory’s eyes flew to Elliott, then to Ms. Starr. Both looked as confused as Nory.
One of the reasons Nory had been so excited about this overnight trip was that it was going to be just Ms. Starr’s Upside-Down Magic class. No other kids from Dunwiddle would be there. No mean Flares, no cliquey Fuzzies, no intimidating older kids. Nory didn’t want another group of students at Dragon Haven. The idea made her nervous.
“Come along,” said Mo. “I’ll give you a brief tour of our facility.” She gestured behind her. “That, of course, is the Welcome Center. Pamphlets, photo opportunities, a gift store with books and postcards.” She sniffed. “It’s the sort of nonsense our rescue center has to have in order to remain funded. The more interesting artifacts are in the Great Hall, where we have exhibits and a reference library.”
She headed across a grassy field. Nory and the others followed. The air was chilly. The silence of the dragon reserve felt very different to the bustle of town life.
Nory peeked at Sebastian. The sounds of the forest were so quiet and pretty that he had taken off his head cone.
Then a shriek pierced the air. It was high and wild and terrifying, but also glorious.
“That’s a Bramble Dragon,” Mo said. “What a noise, eh? She was caught by hunters and sold to people who thought they wanted a baby dragon for a pet. Can you imagine? Wild animals should never be pets. Foolish, foolish people. They called us after she burned their house down.” Mo sighed. “She’s rehabilitating nicely, though.”
The dragonologist picked up her pace and pointed to the right. “Several miles to the east is a facility for the study and rehabilitation of river dragons. All the dragons here are sick, injured, or orphaned. They’re unable to live in the wild. Our goal is to help them get better and then release them to natural habitats. And while they’re here, students and scientists can study them.”
Mo then showed them the most important areas of the preserve: a veterinary clinic, a fireproof room for injured fire-breathing dragons, and a building she said was a hatchery. When a clutch of eggs was found abandoned, she explained, dragon whelps could be hatched in an incubator.
Next came wooded areas with clearly marked paths that were safe for students to explore, a Great Hall full of exhibits, and the cafeteria.
“Now I’ll show you your lodgings,” said Mo. “The girls will share one cabin, along with Ms. Starr. The boys will bunk with—?”
“Me,” Nurse Riley said, lifting a meaty hand. “Felix.”
Felix! Nory grinned. She hadn’t known Nurse Riley even had a first name. She’d kind of thought his first name was Nurse.
In the girls’ cabin were three bunk beds. Nory claimed the bunk closest to the window. She scrambled to the top and wished suddenly for Pepper. Marigold and Willa would, of course, be together. Ms. Starr was taking the third bunk for herself. Pepper would have been Nory’s friend for the bottom bunk, but she wasn’t here.
“Check it out!” Willa cried, looking through a screened window.
“Nory, come!” Marigold said, joining Willa. “It’s the other student group. They’re here.”
Ugh. Nory hid her face in the pillow of her top bunk and tried not to think about these strangers who were arriving. They might be mean about upside-down magic. She didn’t want them to ruin her wonderful dragon overnight.
“They look the same age as us,” reported Marigold.
“They’re wearing uniforms,” said Willa.
“Skirts for the girls,” said Marigold.
“And ties for the boys.”
“There are, like, nearly fifty kids! The girls are going into five cabins. And one of them is a—wow, she’s a really good Fluxer. She just turned into an elephant.”
“No fifth grader can do elephant,” said Nory into her pillow. “She must be an eighth grader.”
“She has a patch on her duffel bag that says ‘Fifth-Grade Squad Goals,’ ” said Marigold.
“Well, she’s a show-off, then,” said Nory.
“You can do elephant,” said Willa encouragingly.
“No,” said Nory. “I can add a bit of elephant to other animals. Skunkephant. Bluebird-elephant. Neither’s the same as a proper elephant, though. Proper elephant needs sustained trunk and jumbo size. It’s harder than it seems.”
“I think fluxing into a skunkephant is harder than it seems,” Marigold said loyally. “Anyway, since when have you been afraid of hard things?”
Marigold had a good point. Nory pushed herself up from her pillow and sat back on her heels. “Since never.”
And to prove it, she jumped from the top bunk to the floor, landing on both feet.
Nurse Riley had left Andres’s brickpack in the parking lot back at Dunwiddle.
Really.
The nurse had been over-the-top apologetic. And he’d offered Andres his own backpack to use. But there were no bricks to put in it. Elliott, Sebastian, and Bax (who’d turned back into a boy, with Nurse Riley’s help) had gone out searching for small but heavy stones.
They hadn’t found anything that would work.
Now Andres floated above the UDM boys as they trekked to the Great Hall for orientation. Nurse Riley held the leash. He had promised to, as a way of making it up to Andres. But Andres felt like he was back in preschool, the rowdy kid forced to hold the teacher’s hand on walks while the rest of the kids skipped ahead on their own.
When they reached the Great Hall, the girls were already there. The space felt like a brand-new barn that had been decorated like a library. The room had extremely high ceilings and wood walls. At the center of the ceiling was a dome painted with an ornate mural of a Barnacle Dragon. There were huge, overlapping carpets, and shelves and shelves of books. Andres spotted Nory flipping through an illustrated tome that lived on a special bookstand.
“Sea dragons!” Nory exclaimed, bouncing on her toes. “Look, Willa! There are so many kinds of sea dragons! I only knew about Seaweed Dragons and Barnacle Dragons. You know, the ones that are always in storybooks. But there are like fifteen different species! Havoline-Dex, Freddo, Reef, Icebreath …”
“I know about Icebreath!” said Andres. “I did a report on them in fourth grade, actually.”
No one heard him.
“They only live near volcanoes,” he continued. “The ice breathing is actually an adaptation that kept them alive during a period of big volcanic eruptions.”
Still, no one heard him. Nory, Willa, and Elliott weren’t even talking about sea dragons anymore. Now they were looking at the dragons of the wilderness.
Mo, the dragonologist, flew to the top of the room, hovering above the group. She arced easily past the sturdy wooden beams that crisscrossed the high ceiling. She counted the students, waved at Andres on his leash, and lowered herself to the floor. Then she sat down on the carpet, crossing her legs. She called for the others to gather around her. They did. Andres floated above.
“I’m glad to have you here,” Mo began. “The rest of the staff asked me to welcome you on their behalf. They can’t be here because caring for our dragons takes a lot of work. Dragons are not pets. They’re wild animals, and you must all remember that, at all times.”
“Has anyone ever been eaten?” Elliott blurted.
Mo regarded him coolly. “Most dragons are omnivorous. They eat meat, but they don’t seek out humans for food any more than bears do. To be safe, we make sure that other food is always available.”
She shifted her gaze to include the others. “Some of you will be given the chance to help with the feeding of the dragons. Other activities include river dragon research, dragon hatchery, and care of whelps—”
“What’s a whelp?” Willa asked.
“A whelp is a baby dragon. Most breeds are very small at first. They don’t have a big growth spurt until six months or so, which means that even the ferocious ones are pretty cute,” said Mo, smiling. “We also offer rehabilitation work with flying dragons, a tour of the hatchery, and a chance to feed the Bubble Dragons who live in our lake.”
Andres looked at his friends. Sebastian’s face was bright and interested. Elliott was chewing on his thumbnail like he was nervous. Bax’s face was blank, as usual, but he was drumming his fingertips rapidly on his forearms. Maybe he was secretly excited.
“Dragon Haven is a unique place,” Mo said in a wrapping-up tone. “You’ll see dragons in a way you’d never see them in a zoo—up close and in as natural a habitat as we can provide.” She rose to her feet, a pretzel unfolding with grace and balance.
“Dinner will be in one hour,” she announced. She swept her arm to indicate the exhibits and displays that filled the Great Hall. “Until then, enjoy.” She left the room.
Andres watched as the UDM kids milled around the hall again.
Nurse Riley looked up. “Is there something you’d like to see? I can take you.”
“No. That’s okay.” Andres felt awkward.
“I’d love to check out the display of dragon skeletons,” said Nurse Riley. “Would it be all right if I tied your leash to this chair?”
“Go ahead.”
“Just for a minute or two,” said Nurse Riley. “I’ll be right back.”
“Take your time.”
Nurse Riley jogged off and tapped Bax on the shoulder. The two of them went over to look at skeletons of tiny dragons of different breeds, lined up in a glass case.
Andres was alone in the air.
Again.
There was an hour till dinner and Nory couldn’t wait to move. She tapped Elliott on the shoulder. “Want to explore?”
“Of course!”
They told Ms. Starr they’d be at the cafeteria for dinner and stepped outside into a bright, autumn-scented afternoon. In Dragon Haven, there were no paved roads. The fallen leaves crunched beneath their feet.
“I wonder when we’ll see dragons,” said Elliott. “I’m kind of scared, to tell you the truth.”
“Why?”
“Teeth, fangs, claws. Teeth, fire breath, enormous jaws. Oh, and also teeth,” said Elliott. “Isn’t it obvious?”
“I’m not scared,” said Nory. “I’m kind of thrilled.”
They started on a trail through the woods. The trees stretched taller and the shadows loomed darker.
Thud!
Hisssss.
“Um, what was that?” Elliott asked.
“I don’t know,” said Nory.
“Do you think it was a dragon?”
“No.”
“But this is Dragon Haven!”
“Yeah, but they won’t be loose in the forest, Elliott. Mo said the paths were safe for students to walk on.”
“Then do you think it’s a fox?”
“Foxes don’t hiss.”
“A snake?”
“Maybe.”
“Should I be ready to freeze it?”
Nory nodded. “Be ready to freeze it.”
Hisss! The sound came again.
Hisssssssss!
And then …
Meow! Mrwowow? Meow!
Nory and Elliott stepped into a clearing. There were seven kittens, hissing and meowing at each other. Plus two yarnballs, and a nice little kittenball court, with wooden railings around a green field and a tower with a basket in the center. They had stumbled onto a kittenball game.
Kittenball was a sport Nory played at Dunwiddle. It was for Fluxers, and when they played it, they fluxed into kittens. The goal was to work together to pass and climb your yarnball up the tower and drop it in the basket. But meanwhile, the opposing team tries to stop you from scoring by unspooling your yarn.
Nory loved kittenball, but she knew the kittens here had to be the strangers from the other school.
As she and Elliot approached, the kittens stopped meowing and tail-whacking. They turned up their cute little faces to look at the new arrivals.
“Cool!” said Elliott, squatting down on his heels to talk to them. “Are you playing kittenball?” He laughed awkwardly. “Um, duh. Of course you’re playing kittenball. I love kittenball! I’m Elliott, and this is Nory. I’m a—well, I’m not a Fluxer. Heh heh. But Nory is. Can she play with you? It looks like you need an extra kitten. What’s the score? Who’s on the blue team? Did I say I’m Elliott? Have you seen any dragons yet? Do you know if there are any dragons in the woods? Like, running loose? Oh, sorry. I guess I’m interrupting your scrimmage. Sorry.”
The kittens didn’t answer … because they were kittens. They couldn’t talk until they switched back to human form.
Nory felt embarrassed that Elliott was babbling, but she did kind of want to play. She had been working with a fluxing tutor and taking kittenball classes since the start of the school year. She was able to hold the shape of an ordinary black kitten for fifteen or twenty minutes before things started to get unusual. And her tail-whacking was getting pretty strong.
One of the kittens—a calico—popped back into human form. She straightened up, pushed her sweaty bangs off her forehead, and grinned.
“I’m Mitali,” she said. She had bright eyes, a big smile, light brown skin, and dark brown hair cut in a swingy bob. She was wearing green sweats and a big white T-shirt. Nory could tell from her ragged cuticles that she bit her fingernails.
“Hi,” Nory said. “I’m Nory. Which you already know, because Elliott told you.”
“Wanna join?” Mitali asked. “We really could use an eighth.”
Nory liked the girl immediately, but she still felt awkward. Was Mitali the Fluxer who could do elephant? It seemed likely. Calico was the hardest of all kitten colors to master, so she was obviously a strong Fluxer.
“I can referee,” Elliott volunteered.
Mitali swept her hand toward her friends. There were three black kittens, a butterscotch, a fluffy white, and a gray tabby. “That’s Fuchsia, Suki, Theresa-Ma
y, Anemone, Yarrow, and Fred. Black cats with the white yarnball and patterned cats with the blue. You in for the black cat team?”
Nory hesitated. She was pretty sure she could hold her kitten shape, but she felt strange with these new kids. Should she say right away that her magic was upside down? And Elliott’s? Or was there no need to talk about it unless it came up?
“Come on, we won’t bite,” Mitali said. “Except for Fuchsia.” She shot Fuchsia a teasing look. “The black kittens really do need a fourth.”
With a shiver and jolt, Nory fluxed before she could change her mind. Mitali fluxed back into a calico, and the game was on! Kitten-Nory pounced and caught the blue yarn between her paws. The white fluffy one—Kitten-Fuchsia—bounded after her and tried to wrestle the ball away.
Kitten-Mitali snagged the loose end of the white yarn and pulled, unraveling almost the whole thing. No! Kitten-Nory bit down on the snippet of white yarn. Kitten-Mitali yanked it free, and was about to tail-whack it so it unrolled toward Kitten-Fuchsia, but Kitten-Nory pounced onto what was left of the white yarn ball and rolled over and over, wrapping the yarn around her furry belly. It was a move called a Yaggle, and Nory’s coach had taught it to her just the previous week.
Kitten-Mitali was not happy about the Yaggle. She mewed in frustration, and a short burst of fire came out of her kitten mouth.
What?!
A kitten who breathed fire?
Pop!
Girl-Nory found herself sitting on her bottom in the field. She was so astonished, she’d fluxed back into human form.
She had never seen a kitten breathe fire. She herself breathed fire when she mixed up kitten and dragon to become a dritten, but then she had wings and fangs and claws. The fire and the fangs and the wings came from the dragon. What Mitali had done was just a regular kitten with fire breath.
Did that mean Mitali’s magic was upside down?
Mitali fluxed back. So did Fuchsia, who revealed herself to be tall and redheaded, with super-pale skin and a hawklike face. “Mitali!” she scolded. “No flaring. We all agreed.”
“It’s not against the kittenball rules!” Mitali argued.
“That’s because kittenball is for Fluxers,” snapped Fuchsia. “They didn’t think to put it in the rules. You practically singed my fur off. There’s not even a fire extinguisher out here.” She rolled her eyes and stalked off.
Dragon Overnight Page 2
