The Case of the Stolen Film

by Gareth P. Jones

  ‘No, their history has been one of domination,’ interrupted Vainclaw. ‘The strong control the weak. Well, we are strong. And you say they cannot be slaves, and yet they have enslaved one another for centuries.’

  ‘The only way to restore harmony to the world is to wipe out humanity,’ said Fairfax.

  ‘Killing all humans would be like trying to stamp out every ant or to squash every fly. Impossible,’ said Vainclaw.

  ‘So you really are your father’s son,’ said Fairfax.

  ‘My father is dead,’ replied Vainclaw. ‘It is I, Vainclaw Grandin, the first up-airer, who will lead all dragons to victory now.’

  Fairfax’s eyes narrowed. He took a breath then opened his mouth and sent black flames at Vainclaw. Dirk could feel the intense heat even from where he was standing. Vainclaw staggered back, his face blackened by the fire.

  ‘You dare to steal my title,’ snarled Fairfax. ‘You were a mere youngling then. I was the leader of the Kinghorns, the leader of the One-Worlders. I am the true first up-airer. Only Minertia stood in my way.’

  ‘And yet it was I who got rid of her in the end, after she broke the forbidden divide in this very spot,’ said Vainclaw.

  ‘Hold on,’ said Dirk. ‘If you saw Minertia breach the forbidden divide, you would have seen what she did with the Turning Stone.’

  Vainclaw kept his eyes focused on Fairfax but he replied to Dirk. ‘I may not have actually seen Minertia breach the forbidden divide but I had it on good authority from one who did. Isn’t that right, Sorrentino?’

  ‘I got nothing to say. I respect client confidentiality,’ said Sorrentino.

  Dirk turned on the Desert Dragon. ‘And you took the gold that Vainclaw paid you and used it to set up your business,’ he said.

  ‘Everyone’s got a right to earn a livin’, haven’t they?’

  ‘You lowlife,’ said Dirk, diving at Sorrentino, catching him off guard, knocking him over and clamping his jaw shut with his forearm.

  ‘Get off him. He’s working for me now,’ said Fairfax, breathing black flames at Dirk, which seemed to rip through his skin and burn his bones. Dirk cried out and released Sorrentino.

  ‘Now you’re going to get it,’ said Sorrentino threateningly.

  ‘What’s that behind you?’ said Dirk.

  ‘I’ve seen too many films to fall for that,’ said Sorrentino.

  ‘Eh, there’s someone coming,’ said Mali.

  The other dragons had stopped fighting. In the darkness, two bright white lights were approaching, sending long spiky shadows from the twisted Joshua trees across the desert landscape.

  ‘Humans,’ said Flotsam.

  ‘Shouldn’t we leg it?’ said Jegsy.

  ‘Kinghorns, hold your ground,’ said Vainclaw and Fairfax as one, then snarled at each other.

  ‘The detective must have led them here,’ said Sorrentino.

  ‘More like you sold the information just like you sold the film,’ said Dirk.

  ‘It’s of little consequence,’ said Fairfax. ‘We’ll kill these humans and then settle our differences.’

  ‘On that, at least, we are agreed,’ replied Vainclaw.

  ‘In the place where Minertia sealed her own fate we will seal the fate of the world,’ said Fairfax. ‘We will destroy these humans as a symbol of our intentions to take back this world for all of dragonkind.’

  The car came to a standstill directly in front of them. The engine cut out but the lights remained on. In their dazzling glare it was impossible to make out the figure who stepped out of the right side door and made its way to the front, standing in front of the beam.

  ‘Prepare to die, human,’ said Vainclaw, skulking forward.

  ‘Oh, when you get to my age that’s one thing you have to be prepared for,’ said an elderly lady’s voice. ‘My Ivor used to say that being scared of death is like being scared of cheesecake, because there’s really no point. Mind you, he was a silly man.’

  ‘Mrs Klingerflim?’ said Dirk.

  ‘Hello, Mr Dilly,’ she said. ‘Don’t worry. I’m not here about the rent.’

  Chapter 30

  Dirk stared at his elderly landlady in disbelief. ‘What are you doing here?’ he asked.

  ‘Skull Rock,’ she sighed, looking up at the rock behind them. ‘Do you know, I haven’t been here since I came with Ivor thirty-odd years ago.’

  Dirk remembered the photograph he had seen of Mrs Klingerflim and her late husband in front of the rock.

  ‘Eh, boss, can we kill her?’ said Leon.

  ‘Yeah, let’s rip her head off,’ said Mali.

  ‘What a way to speak in front of a lady,’ said Mrs Klingerflim, as the Scavengers approached.

  Dirk needed to distract them somehow. Mrs Klingerflim may not have been scared but he didn’t like the idea of watching the sweet old lady being torn apart.

  ‘But if you were out here dragon-spotting with Ivor, who took the photo?’ he asked, skirting around the two Kinghorns, putting himself in a position where, if need be, he could throw himself in front of Mrs Klingerflim.

  Mrs Klingerflim smiled warmly. ‘You are clever, Mr Dilly. You’ve guessed, haven’t you?’

  ‘And that scratch on the lens?’ said Dirk.

  ‘Well, she had very big claws. It’s a wonder she could operate the camera at all.’

  ‘Who? What are you talking about?’ said Vainclaw.

  ‘Minertia Tidfell,’ said Mrs Klingerflim, her eyes widening behind her thick glasses. ‘She was the biggest, oldest and wisest dragon of them all. We were out here to watch these lovely Desert Dragons. I used to love watching you play-fighting,’ she said, waving at Putz and Kitelsky.

  ‘Watchin’ us?’ said Kitelsky.

  ‘Play-fightin’?’ said Putz.

  ‘Then on the third day we heard a voice. She spoke in our heads, I remember. We turned round and there she was, as big as a mountain. I shall never forget it.’ Mrs Klingerflim wiped a tear from her eye.

  ‘So she approached you?’ said Dirk.

  ‘Yes, it turned out she’d been watching us for some time,’ she said, ‘checking we were the right sort of people.’

  ‘The right sort of people for what?’ said Vainclaw.

  ‘A reconciliation,’ replied Mrs Klingerflim. ‘She believed that the time had come for dragons to come out of hiding. She told us she thought she had made a mistake at the conference only giving dragonkind a choice between hiding and fighting. She dreamt of a world where humans and dragons could live side by side.’

  ‘Impossible,’ said Vainclaw.

  ‘We thought that was a splendid idea. We were young then, well, younger than now, at least. It was the early seventies. We thought we could change the world, help dragons come out of hiding and live in harmony with humans.’

  The dragons stood captivated, listening to the old lady.

  ‘The Summit of Skull Rock,’ said Dirk.

  ‘That’s what Ivor called it in some silly article he wrote. He did like to make things sound grand. It was just the three of us having a natter, really.’

  ‘What happened to the Turning Stone?’ asked Sorrentino.

  Mrs Klingerflim took her glasses off, wiped them and put them back on. ‘I remember you,’ she said, peering at the Desert Dragon. ‘You saw us. Minertia called out to you to join us but you ran away.’

  ‘She had the Turning Stone when she arrived but not when she left. Where did she hide it?’ Sorrentino said.

  ‘I’m afraid it’s not anywhere any more,’ said Mrs Klingerflim.

  ‘What do you mean?’ asked Vainclaw.

  ‘She destroyed it,’ replied the old lady.

  ‘She destroyed it?’ said Fairfax Nordstrum, speaking for the first time since Mrs Klingerflim had stepped out of the car, the yellow smoke from his nostrils darkening.

  ‘Oh, you’re a coal-black, yellow-bellied Cave Dweller, aren’t you, dear?’ she said, turning to look at him. ‘You’re the first one I’ve ever seen.’

  ‘And
I’ll be the last. Why did she destroy it?’ said Fairfax in a measured tone.

  ‘She said that it could too easily end up with the wrong sort of dragon,’ said Mrs Klingerflim. ‘So she put it between her teeth and split it into pieces. I took one of the bits as a souvenir. It makes a lovely paperweight.’

  ‘And now we shall put you between our teeth and split you into pieces,’ said Vainclaw.

  ‘Eh, boss, the old girl’s not alone,’ said Mali, who had noticed something else in the darkness. Dirk turned to see that another set of headlights was approaching from across the desert.

  After discovering the library empty, Brant Buchanan ordered Weaver to take Holly, Archie and Callum back to the car.

  ‘I wonder how he got out,’ whispered Holly.

  ‘Do you think Weaver will take us home now?’ said Archie.

  ‘I don’t know. Where are we going, Weaver?’ asked Holly, as they reached the car.

  Weaver, who had his back to them, ignored her question and said, ‘Get in.’

  ‘The monsters will destroy us all,’ said Callum.

  They waited in the car until Buchanan returned. He sat in the passenger seat next to Weaver and addressed them through the plasma TV screen.

  ‘We’re going on a little outing,’ he said.

  ‘It’s late,’ said Holly. ‘My parents will be worried if you don’t take us home.’

  ‘I own your father,’ said Mr Buchanan sharply. ‘I pay his wages. I tell him what to do. I tell him where to go and I’ll tell him what time to expect his daughter home.’

  The screen went blank and Weaver started the engine.

  ‘Try the doors,’ said Archie.

  They turned the handles but they were all locked. The car headed down the driveway, through the gates and turned left on to a road where they stopped at a set of traffic lights. A black and white police car stopped alongside them.

  ‘Try to get their attention,’ said Holly.

  Holly and Archie banged on the window. ‘Help, we’re being kidnapped!’ they screamed, but the two cops didn’t seem to hear them.

  Brant Buchanan’s face reappeared on the screen. ‘Kidnapping is rather melodramatic,’ he said. ‘Anyway, I’m afraid the car is completely soundproofed.’

  Holly and Archie sat back in their seats.

  ‘He knows about monsters,’ said Callum, smoothing down his hair.

  The car headed south down a fast-moving motor-way, past rows of white wind-turbines that moved in a strangely hypnotic way. Out of the city they took a left and drove up a quieter, darker road, with empty landscape on either side, so dark that it made the night sky look pale in comparison. Holly and Archie tried pressing every button in the high-tech car but nothing worked. Callum remained huddled in a corner, with a look of wild mania in his eyes. The car turned right on to a bumpy track then cut across the desert itself. A glass panel above the TV screen allowed them to see ahead. Strangely shaped trees were silhouetted against the sky. As they passed a huge clump of rocks, they saw something else. It was another light.

  ‘I can’t make out what I’m looking at,’ said Archie.

  They got closer and it became clearer.

  ‘Dragons,’ said Holly.

  ‘See anyone you recognise?’ said Buchanan.

  Holly didn’t respond but Callum said, ‘My master.’

  ‘Isn’t that Mrs Klin–’ Archie was cut short by Holly putting her hand over his mouth, not wanting Brant Buchanan to learn any more than he already knew.

  The car stopped in front of the incredible scene and, after a moment, Mr Buchanan and Weaver got out and walked forward. Buchanan spoke to the dragons but, locked in the soundproofed car, neither Holly nor Archie could hear what he was saying.

  Chapter 31

  Weaver shifted his gaze from the scene outside the car and turned to look at his boss.

  ‘Are you sure about this?’ he said.

  Brant Buchanan’s eyes remained fixed on the dragons. ‘There’s always a little risk in business,’ he replied.

  ‘Yes, sir, but still.’

  Working for a man like Buchanan, Weaver was accustomed to hostile environments. You didn’t get to Buchanan’s position without making a few enemies on the way. In the past Weaver had dealt with bitter former employees, angry competitors put out of business by Global Sands, and even the occasional crook with a plan to kidnap his employer for the ransom. In every one of these instances Weaver had assessed the risk and executed the necessary measures to keep Mr Buchanan from harm.

  In the current situation, being in the middle of the desert with an unidentified car, ten rather vicious-looking dragons and an elderly lady, he had already established that the safest thing to do would be to turn the car around and drive quickly away. Unfortunately, Buchanan had already ruled out that option.

  Weaver reached into the panel in the door and pulled out a large black gun.

  ‘Just to be on the safe side,’ he said, checking the cartridge.

  ‘Remember to aim for the stomachs. They have soft bellies,’ said Buchanan.

  ‘And lethal claws, razor-sharp teeth and the ability to breathe fire,’ added Weaver.

  Buchanan smiled and said, ‘That too.’

  They both stepped out of the car and slammed the doors behind them. Weaver walked in front of the headlights, making sure everyone could see the gun he was holding.

  ‘Greetings,’ said Mr Buchanan. ‘Before we begin, I’d like to point out that Weaver here is carrying the very latest in our new range of machine pistols. It’s capable of shooting up to nine hundred rounds of ammunition per minute. It has a range of fifty metres. It’s loaded with armour-piercing steel bullets. And he’s not afraid to use it.’

  ‘You had our attention at “machine pistol”,’ said a red and green dragon that Weaver recognised from the film of the laboratory.

  ‘Dirk Dilly,’ said Mr Buchanan. ‘At last we meet in the flesh.’ He turned to the darker Mountain Dragon. ‘And would I be right in thinking that this is Callum’s play pal, Vainclaw Grandin?’

  Vainclaw rose up on to his hind legs angrily but, hearing a click from Weaver’s gun, landed back on all fours and remained where he was. ‘Soon you will only speak my name when begging for mercy, human,’ he snarled.

  ‘I dare say you’re right,’ said Buchanan. ‘But while Weaver’s holding the firearm, I ask that you listen to me.’

  ‘You got firearms. We got fire mouths,’ said Jegsy, stepping forward and opening his mouth.

  Weaver swung his gun to point at him.

  ‘Don’t hurt them,’ said Mrs Klingerflim, but Weaver didn’t hear her. He just felt her touch and instinctively raised his elbow sharply, knocking the old lady flying. She landed face down between the two cars.

  ‘Mrs K!’ said Dirk, diving forward to help her.

  There was no response.

  ‘Stand back!’ shouted Weaver, nervously pointing the gun at Dirk now.

  ‘She’s an old woman,’ said Dirk.

  ‘I said stand back,’ repeated Weaver.

  ‘And I said no,’ said Dirk, moving towards where Mrs Klingerflim was lying.

  Weaver squeezed the trigger and opened fire. The sound filled the air and smoke rose up from the gun.

  Weaver released the trigger and the smoke cleared.

  Dirk Dilly lay slumped on the ground. Green blood seeped out, forming a pool on the dusty desert floor around where his body lay.

  ‘Now, do I have your attention?’ said Brant Buchanan.

  ‘What have you got to say to us?’ said Vainclaw, in his deep baritone.

  ‘I’ve come to make a deal,’ Buchanan replied.

  ‘What sort of deal?’ said Vainclaw.

  Fairfax shook his head. ‘Just like your father,’ he said. ‘True Kinghorns do not make deals with humans. They destroy them.’

  ‘We will make them our slaves,’ said Vainclaw.

  The two dragons snarled at each other.

  ‘Destroy, enslave,’ said Buchanan. ‘
I offer a third option.’

  ‘Speak,’ said Vainclaw.

  ‘The ultimate war is coming,’ said Buchanan, ‘but I say, why divide the world between dragons and humans when we can divide it between the strong and the weak, regardless of species?’

  Much to Weaver’s agitation his boss had walked up to the two dragons and was standing between them, as they listened to what he was saying. Weaver felt his finger itch on the trigger.

  ‘And believe me,’ continued Buchanan, ‘I am strong. I have technology and weaponry that will ensure our victory. Together, having conquered all those who stand in our way, we will rule this planet, dragon and man united in strength.’

  The two dragons looked at each other, sending clouds of black and yellow smoke into Buchanan’s face.

  ‘It’s an interesting proposition,’ said Vainclaw.

  ‘Your father would have said the same thing,’ scoffed Fairfax.

  The two dragons pulled away to face each other, Buchanan still between them.

  ‘Sir,’ said Weaver worriedly.

  ‘Don’t worry, Weaver,’ said Buchanan. ‘We are in the process of negotiation.’

  But Weaver was looking at the claws that both dragons had extended. He was watching the other dragons as they gathered round.

  ‘You have been most persuasive,’ said Vainclaw, edging nearer to Buchanan.

  ‘Dragons have methods of persuasion too,’ said Fairfax, moving his fearsome face close to Buchanan’s.

  ‘Both of you, stand back,’ shouted Weaver.

  ‘Relax, Weaver,’ said Buchanan.

  The dragons were too close to his boss to risk firing at them. The recoil on the gun made it difficult to be completely accurate. Stray bullets could easily hit Buchanan. So instead Weaver raised the gun and aimed above their heads. He pulled the trigger and, for a second time, streams of bullets shot into the air.

  The idea was to scare them off, so he could grab his boss and get out of there but, as the smoke cleared for a second time, Weaver found that no one had moved. In fact, no one was moving at all. Every one of the dragons, and Brant Buchanan, were standing exactly as they had been, frozen, with a faraway look in their eyes.