The resultant blast not only took out a generous and entirely innocent section of park hedge, incinerating it, but also seemed to take the fight out of the dragon. He yowled and hopped and tried to pat out the lingering smoulder coming from his bottom, and then he saw a deep puddle and plopped himself down in it. Steam hissed up and obscured the creature for a second and when it cleared, the dragon’s face was slack and dopey with happy relief.
Guy knuckled over and stood in front of it again, leaning ominously on his hands. The dragon’s ears remained back and submissive. He even managed a sickly attempt at an ingratiating grin.
‘Don’t see that every day,’ said Will.
Jo was looking at something in the gutter.
‘Mum’s wallet,’ she said, scooting forwards and picking it up. She opened it and handed him the scarab on the key ring.
She nodded at the dragon cooling his backside in the puddle.
‘Want to try your theory?’
Will didn’t need a second invitation. He walked past Guy and steeled himself to touch the dragon. His blue eyes looked at Will in consternation, and he raised a claw as if to ward him off. As if he, the boy, was the stronger one.
Guy growled. The dragon didn’t move any more.
Will put the looped key ring carefully over the dragon’s talon.
He shuddered. And blinked. And sneezed. And scrunched his eyes shut. And when his eyes opened they were red.
Normal for dragons.
Not blue.
He looked puzzled.
‘Guy,’ said Will. ‘If it moves, punch it, please.’
This was the scariest bit. The scarab kept you safe from Bast’s spells. For humans, as he knew from painful experience, it only worked while you were wearing it. He wanted to see if it worked the same way for the statues. Or if it lifted the curse. After all, the magic that froze people was different to the magic that enslaved the statues. Maybe the rules were different.
He removed the scarab and stepped back.
The dragon blinked.
His eyes stayed red.
‘Jo,’ said Will. ‘We just got a break.’
‘We just lost our mum,’ she replied. She was holding the shoe and the wallet.
‘I know,’ he said. ‘But like Soho Sal said, the universe likes to even things out. So we got a break too.’
He looked at Ariel. ‘Can you speak to it?’
She nodded.
‘Ask if it took our mother.’
The dragon nodded.
‘Where?’
The dragon coughed something at Ariel.
‘The museum,’ she said.
Will nodded slowly. Then he raised his head and stared into the dragon’s eyes.
The dragon coughed and rasped some more.
‘He’s sorry,’ said Ariel.
‘That’s because he’s frightened of the gorilla,’ said Jo. ‘I don’t trust him.’
‘Quite right,’ said Ariel. ‘Never trust a taint. But that’s not why he’s sorry. He’s sorry because when he took your mother to Bast he saw something. Something that frightened him more than Guy or the cheetahs or anything we could do to him. He saw Bast had imprisoned the Temple Bar dragon in a dome of its own fire.’
Tragedy gasped.
‘Them silver dragons like him. See, to them the Temple Bar Dragon’s special, like your mum or your dad is to you.’
The dragon rasped some more.
‘He says Bast is truly, terrifyingly mighty to be able to do this. He says she has an army of animal statues that no one can fight.’
Will stared into the dragon’s eyes again, trying to find the core intelligence, trying to make a connection.
‘If you help us, I will give you your shield back,’ he said.
The dragon croaked.
‘He says, do you mean you’ll exchange your mother for the shield?’ said Ariel.
‘No,’ said Will. ‘I mean, yes, of course I’d like to, but I don’t think that’d solve the bigger problem. And I think that’s what we’ve got to do.’
Tragedy looked uncomfortable.
‘But you ‘eard the scaly bugger here. Bast’s got an army! What have we got?’
Will looked at Jo. She nodded and came to stand next to him.
‘We’ve got us,’ she said, pointing at Tragedy, and Ariel, and the mountainous gorilla, and the two cheetahs sitting calmly next to Filax. ‘We’re the Resistance.’
‘A guerrilla force,’ said Will, looking at Guy. ‘No offence.’
Guy grunted, his face as unreadable as ever.
‘Bast might have a big army of slaves, but size isn’t everything. Nor’s fighting. You know what slaves are really bad at?’
There was silence.
‘Crosswords?’ said Tragedy.
‘Shut up,’ said Ariel. ‘She’s being serious.’
‘Thinking,’ said Will. ‘Thinking for themselves. Slaves are good at obeying but bad at thinking. So we’re not going to beat them by fighting. We’re going to outthink them.’
He tossed the third scarab up in the air and caught it. Then he put his arm round Jo’s shoulder and squeezed it as they looked at their motley resistance force.
‘And I’ve got a really wild idea for what we do next …’
For Joe and Alfie Ions, heroes in training
Text copyright © 2015 Charlie Fletcher
Illustrations copyright © 2015 Nick Tankard
First published in Great Britain in 2015
by Hodder Children’s Books
This ebook edition published in 2015
The rights of Charlie Fletcher and Nick Tankard to be identified as the Author and Illustrator of the Work have respectively been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
All rights reserved. Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form, or by any means with prior permission in writing from the publishers or in the case of reprographic production in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency and may not be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
A Catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
E-pub conversion by PDQ Digital Media Solutions Ltd, Bungay, Suffolk
ISBN 978 1 444 91736 9
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Contents
The story so far …
1 Running scared
2 Bast the Mighty
3 To the rescue
4 Four dragons
5 Dunkirk by chariot
6 Bathed in blue
7 Soho Sal
8 A dragon calls
9 Safe haven
10 The London Pride
11 Death-By-Chocolate
12 False dawn
13 Up and out
14 Dog gone
15 Going Underground – part 1
16 Will, herded and hunted
17 Going Underground – part 2
18 Going sideways, fast
19 Emergency exit
20 Wolfie’s weapon
21 Rat run
22 Herded
23 The black tide
24 Last chance
Dedication
Copyright<
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If you liked this, you’ll love…
Table of Contents
Title
The Story so Far …
1 Running Scared
2 Bast the Mighty
3 To the Rescue
4 Four Dragons
5 Dunkirk by Chariot
6 Bathed in Blue
7 Soho Sal
8 A Dragon Calls
9 Safe Haven
10 The London Pride
11 Death-By-Chocolate
12 False Dawn
13 Up and Out
14 Dog Gone
15 Going Underground – Part 1
16 Will, Herded and Hunted
17 Going Underground – Part 2
18 Going Sideways, Fast
19 Emergency Exit
20 Wolfie’s Weapon
21 Rat Run
22 Herded
23 The Black Tide
24 Last Chance
Dedication
Copyright
If you liked this, you’ll love…
The London Pride Page 13
