The Search for the Red Dragon

by James A. Owen

  For his part, Jamie was mostly interested in their academic careers. He had spent enough of his life as a novelist and playwright that academia was fascinating to him.

  “You really worked on the Oxford English Dictionary?” Jamie remarked to John. “Extraordinary.”

  “I was only there for about a year,” John admitted. “The problem was, having been trained to read the Geographica, I had a better than average knack for going right to the root definitions of words, and they started to get suspicious.”

  “Oh, that’s rich,” Charles said, chortling. “You were actually too qualified for the job. If they’d kept you on, they might be finished by now.”

  “Craigie’s close enough, I think,” said John. “But messing about in the Scriptorium with all those little notes crammed into cubbyholes…Not for me, I’m afraid.”

  “One of the researchers on the OED was briefly considered as a Caretaker back before Bert’s time,” said Jamie. “Murray. His impediment was that while he was a stellar researcher, he lacked imagination. Just didn’t have the spark. Affable enough, but just not cut out for the job.”

  “Lucky bastard,” murmured Charles.

  “What was that?” John said.

  “Who’s for a bite?” said Charles. “I’m getting a bit peckish.”

  “As am I,” Jamie agreed. “Charles, why don’t you give me a hand, and we’ll see if we can assemble some sandwiches to keep up our vigor.”

  As the two went down the hallway to the kitchen, Laura Glue stretched and yawned. “Hey,” she exclaimed, patting herself. “Where’s my flower?”

  “Over here on the desk,” said Jack.

  “You changed it,” she said appraisingly. “But I like it. It looks like a circle with feet.”

  “Indeed it does,” concurred Jack, noting that since they’d erased the pi symbol and added the omega, the glowing had ceased. “But I don’t know if it made it prettier to look at.”

  Jamie and Charles returned with a silver tray laden with ham, cheese, and thick cuts of dark rye bread.

  “Sorry there’s no milder bread in the house,” said Jamie. “You can take the boy out of Scotland, but you can’t make him give up his rye.”

  “Not a problem, I assure you,” John said as he started slathering a piece of bread with a grainy mustard. “In fact, I think I prefer—”

  He stopped speaking when he realized that none of the others were listening. Instead, they were all looking at Laura Glue, who was still holding the Compass Rose.

  It was faint, and indistinct—but the parchment flower had begun to glow.

  “Well,” Jamie said wryly, rubbing his dog’s head, “I think we may be in for more company.”

  “Do we need to be down by the river?” asked Charles. “If Bert is coming, won’t he be piloting the White Dragon?”

  “Or one of the other ships,” Jack agreed. “Perhaps we should be waiting for him there.”

  “It’s a pleasant night out,” said John. “There’s no storm, there’s been no murder, no one is chasing us, we have a comfortable study to relax in, a delicious pile of food in front of us, and for company, James Barrie—with whom we can also talk about the Geographica and the Archipelago. And you seriously want me to consider leaving all this to go tromping alongside the Thames in the middle of the night, just in case it’ll be easier for Bert to find us? I don’t think so.”

  And with that, he plopped down on one of the chairs and began to happily devour a huge ham sandwich.

  “See?” Charles said to Jamie. “That’s why he’s the Caretaker Principia.”

  After having consumed three sandwiches of her own, Laura Glue declared herself to be the Caretaker of the Compass Rose. Carefully monitoring it for any change, she nestled back into the haunches of the huge, still sleeping Saint Bernard, Aramis.

  “His predecessors were Porthos and Athos,” said Jamie. “If I myself make it to a D’Artagnan, I’ll be very contented.”

  “There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you,” said Jack as he licked mustard off his fingers. “When we found Laura Glue, she told us that she’d been sent to find you, specifically, not just because you were the Caretaker, but also because you were her grandfather’s greatest enemy. And then, in the park, you said something about an adventure with your best friend—”

  “Whom she said later became my enemy. And you’ve surmised they were the same person. Well done, Jack.

  “Oddly enough, the reasons we became enemies have a lot to do with Aven as well. Although I must point out a very important distinction between myself and the girl’s grandfather. Just because he no longer regards himself as my friend does not necessarily mean I am no longer his.”

  Before Jamie could elaborate, a newspaper struck the shutters, which clattered loudly against the windows of the library. “Hmm,” said Jamie. “The wind has shifted. I wonder what that means?”

  “Why?” asked John.

  “It’s March,” Charles explained. “The wind never blows in from the west this time of year.”

  Wordlessly the four men looked at one another, each of them thinking the same thing.

  “Look,” a voice said, soft with wonder. It was Laura Glue, who on speaking woke the dog and was being given an involuntary bath by Aramis’s massive tongue. “Look at my flower.”

  There on the desk the Compass Rose had begun to shine as if it were on fire, the symbols marked upon it swirling with an eldritch glow.

  Suddenly a shadow passed over the windows, momentarily blocking the light from the waxing moon above.

  Puzzled, Jamie jumped to his feet, as did John.

  “Was that a dragon, perhaps?” asked Charles.

  “Too slow,” said Jamie. “Maybe it—”

  A loud knocking from one of the upper floors interrupted him.

  “I think you have a visitor, Jamie,” said Laura Glue sleepily.

  In an instant, all four Caretakers were running to the hall and up the stairs. Jamie led the way to the fourth-floor rooms, all of which had been tastefully appointed as bedrooms, save for the last.

  “I don’t suppose this is the nursery?” Jack asked with a grin.

  “Ha,” Jamie said over his shoulder. “Funny scholar you are. No, this is just a storage room. All I keep in here is an old, ah, wardrobe full of my mother’s furs.”

  He flung the door wide, and together they entered the room. It was reasonably bare, save for the aforementioned wardrobe to the left, and an old pram on the right. Directly across from the door stood a double bay window, deep and uncurtained—so they could clearly see the silhouette of the figure, hanging from a rope ladder, who was rapping on the sill.

  The strange visitor was short, stoutish, and most tellingly, had a tattered, tall, pointy hat perched precariously on his head.

  He knocked again, then called to them through the glass. “Will someone please let me in? I’ve flown here all the way from the Archipelago, and my arms are very tired.”

  Charles raised an eyebrow and grinned as they all rushed to the window. “No question now. That’s our man Bert right enough.”

  “Someone give me a hand inside, will you?” Bert cried as he clutched at the window with one hand and clung to the ladder with the other. “Else I’ll end up a handsome stain on the cobblestones.”

  “Bert, I’m so pleased to see you!” said John as he reached out to grasp his mentor’s hands. “But what the devil are you flying? Is it an airplane of some sort?”

  “Better!” Bert said with a gleam in his eye. “It’s an old friend, all dressed up to go a-visiting.”

  The friends all leaned out the open windows and looked up at a sight both amazing and familiar. It was an airship: part blimp and part airplane. There was an air-filled balloon above an elaborate carriage that had been fitted with propellers. But what was most startling was the carriage itself, which bore a carved masthead.

  It was the Indigo Dragon.

  Jack let out a whoop, and Charles started clapping Bert on the b
ack so vigorously he nearly lost his hat.

  Once they had him safely inside and had anchored the ladder securely around the heavy wardrobe, each of the companions embraced Bert joyfully, and even Jamie gave him a warm, two-handed handshake.

  “Old sock, good on you, good on you, I say!” Charles exclaimed happily. “When you said you were hoping to repair her, I never expected anything as grand as this! Well done, Bert!”

  “In truth, it was more the craftsmen back on Paralon who did it,” said Bert. “Ordo Maas was able to salvage the dragon itself, but the ship was a loss. Jules had had plans for an airship that Nemo had always wanted to…ah…” He paused, looking hesitantly at Jamie.

  “It’s all right, old chap,” Jamie said. “They told me everything. In fact, we’ve had quite the opportunity to get acquainted, your young Caretakers and I.”

  “But how did you get here so quickly?” John asked. “It hasn’t been more than a couple of hours since we summoned you.”

  “Quickly?” exclaimed Bert. “I’m only sorry it took so long. I was already on the edge of the Frontier, on my way to Oxford to consult with John about a crisis in the Archipelago, when the sextant aboard the Indigo Dragon began to point toward London. That’s when I realized someone had used a Compass Rose. But I scarcely expected to find you at Jamie’s house.”

  “That’s a story in and of itself,” said John. “Let’s go downstairs. There’s someone you ought to meet.”

  Laura Glue was rolling around on the floor with Aramis when the group came downstairs. Introductions were made, and when she shook hands with Bert, her eyes became the size of saucers.

  “The Far Traveler? For really and truly?” She exclaimed. “No one will believe I actually met you.”

  “Really?” said Bert, flattered. “And why is that, my dear?”

  “Because—whenever you’ve been mentioned, my grandfather shakes his head an’ says your wick isn’t lit. But you don’t look anything like a candle at all.”

  John and Jamie let out a burst of laughter, and even Jack chuckled. Charles just smiled grimly and patted Bert on the back. “Look at it this way—at least you didn’t have to share the backseat of a car with her all day.”

  “All day?” said John. “It only took us a few hours to get to London.”

  “That’s what it seemed like to you, maybe,” Charles shot back.

  “She’d come from the Archipelago seeking me,” said Jamie. “Her grandfather sent her, apparently.”

  They quickly told Bert what had taken place during the day, including Laura Glue’s mysterious message, and his features grew very dark. “That’s troubling news indeed,” Bert mused. “I’m as clueless as Jamie about the message—although it was clearly meant for a Caretaker to interpret, and obviously something greater than we know is going on in the Archipelago.”

  “The children,” came a small voice. “Someone’s taking all the children.”

  It was Laura Glue.

  Bert knelt down in front of her. “What do you mean, darling girl? Is that why your grandfather sent you here?”

  She nodded, and a single tear fell down her cheek. “Grandfather knew. He knew. He saw them coming in the big boats and knew what was going to happen, so he made me put on Uncle Daedalus’s wings, gave me the flower, and sent me to find Jamie. He said he would know what to do.”

  “Who was coming, Laura Glue?” asked John. “Who was your grandfather protecting you from?”

  “The men with the clocks in their bellies,” replied Laura Glue, beginning to sob openly.

  “Shh, shh, there, there,” Bert told her gently. “It will be all right, my girl. But tell me, these men—how did you know they had clocks in their bellies?”

  “Cuz you could hear it,” she said. “When they was coming to get us, you could hear the sound—tick-tock, tick-tock—over and over and over. And they makes noises when they moves, like a principle.”

  “Like a car, you mean?” asked Charles.

  “I don’t know what that is,” said Laura Glue. “But Grandfather called them the clock men, so…”

  “Clockwork men,” said Bert. “This grows worse and worse. They’ve been outlawed in the Archipelago for nearly a decade.”

  “You mentioned that you were already headed to see me because of a crisis in the Archipelago,” said John. “That’s not mere coincidence, is it?”

  “No, I’m afraid it isn’t,” Bert said somberly. “A great catastrophe has befallen the Archipelago.”

  “Is Aven all right?” Jack asked quickly, recalling his recent dreams. “Has she—uh, the queen—been hurt?”

  “You’re three steps ahead of me, young Jack,” answered Bert. “She’s fine, mostly—but she’s smack in the center of the crisis. Crises. One of the crises, anyway.”

  “Just how many, um, crises are we dealing with, Bert?” Charles asked.

  “All in one and one in all, it seems,” said Bert, “and what the child has just told me only confirms my worst fears—that the crisis that began it all, and happened slowly enough that no one knew it was happening until it was over, may not be over after all.”

  “What crisis, Bert?” asked John.

  “Someone has stolen all the Dragonships,” said Bert. “They’re all gone, and no one knows where.”

  “Gone?” exclaimed John. “How can someone have simply taken them? After all, they have wills of their own—I don’t think a Dragonship would go anywhere it didn’t want to go. Not easily, anyway.”

  “That’s part of the mystery,” said Bert with a sigh. “There are no signs of struggle, or damage, or even cut anchor lines. The ships have simply disappeared. We think the Green Dragon went first, then the Violet…but there’s no way to really be sure. It didn’t take much longer to confirm the others—the Orange, Yellow, and Blue dragons—were also gone. Even the White Dragon is missing.”

  “And the Black Dragon?” queried Charles. “What of it?”

  “Ordo Maas dismantled that beast long ago,” Bert said with a shudder. “And good riddance, I say.”

  “Why was the Indigo Dragon spared?” asked Jack.

  “She’d been completely rebuilt as an airship,” Bert replied. “I think she was either just overlooked, or she no longer suited the thief’s purposes.”

  “You haven’t said how Aven is involved,” noted Jack.

  “That’s how we began to discover the missing children,” said Bert. “The prince—Aven’s son—was aboard the Yellow Dragon when it disappeared. In fact, every place a Dragonship has vanished, many of the local children have disappeared as well.”

  “Aven has a son?” said Jack, casting a glance at Jamie. “I…I didn’t know.”

  “A strapping lad, almost nine years old now,” said Bert. “I was already preparing to come and seek you out regarding the missing Dragonships when she and Artus contacted me and told me about the prince.”

  He turned and took John by the shoulders. “I know this is very sudden, John—but we need the Caretaker’s help. I don’t think we can discover the answers we need to find here. We must go back to the Archipelago.”

  “I…I…of course I’ll help,” said John. “Of course.”

  “I’m coming too,” put in Jack. “Charles? Are you with us?”

  “My poor wife will never understand,” Charles answered, “but I am loath to let the two of you go traipsing off to the Archipelago without any adult supervision at all.”

  “I beg your pardon,” Bert huffed.

  “No offense, Bert,” Charles reassured him.

  “I can send messages to your families,” offered Jamie. “I’ll give them an excuse about emergency business for the university.”

  “Thereby ensuring that we return to find ourselves in hotter water than when we left,” said John. “Best make it attending to a friend in need. That’s closer to the truth, anyway.”

  “Excellent,” said Bert. “We have a plan. Let us now put it into action.”

  John and Charles quickly wrote out messages to
their wives and children for Jamie to pass along, and Jack wrote a brief note to Warnie and one to his friend Paddy’s mother, a Mrs. Moore. It was also decided that given the unusual circumstances in the Archipelago, Laura Glue would be safer remaining in London under Jamie’s care. In fact, once the decision was made, she immediately set about building herself a nest—in the storage room upstairs, inside the great wardrobe.

  Being able to close the doors made her feel safe, she explained, as if no one would be able to reach her there.

  “And safe you will be,” Jack said gently, tucking her in amidst the furs and the blankets Jamie had provided. He also had a small electric torch, which he gave her in case she should become frightened during the night.

  “Now,” he told her, “I want you to listen to me. This isn’t just an ordinary wardrobe. It’s a magic wardrobe.”

  Laura Glue’s eyes widened and she gave him a lopsided grin. “For really and truly?”

  “For really and truly.” Jack nodded.

  She looked at Jamie, who also nodded. “More than anyone knows, my dear girl.”

  “And if you need it to be,” added Jack, “it can become another world altogether. It can take you wherever you want to go, for as long as you want, and in an instant, it can bring you back, as if no time had passed at all.”

  “Wowww…,” said the girl with a yawn. “How do I make it work, Jack?”

  “That’s easy,” Jack told her. “Just close your eyes, and dream where you want to go, and suddenly, you’re there.”

  “But I do that anyway,” Laura Glue said, leaning back and closing her eyes.

  “Yes,” Jack replied as he closed the door, all but a crack, on the drowsing girl. “But here, you’ll always come home. And here, someone will be watching over you. Always.”

  “All ready, Jack?” said John.

  “Ready. Are we all loaded?”