“So where can we find one?” Will asked eagerly.
“Well, dragons are supposed to feed in special fields set aside for them, with beasts not needed for milking, work, or breeding.”
“So we need to find one of those fields?”
His mom sighed and ran her hand over her eyes. “Even if we found a dragon rider, we don’t have anything to pay them with. And we might lose our jobs if we run off without permission. We’d lose any chance at making enough money to pay them. We can’t do anything yet.” She sighed again. “We need money, only I’m not sure how we can make enough.”
Will suddenly thought of what Tavin said about dragon eggs. If Will found one, wouldn’t that solve all their problems? Elder Madoc would have to let him go to the hatching ground, wherever that was. He’d be sure to meet dragon riders there. If he explained his family’s situation to them, surely he could find someone who’d help.
It was a long shot, though. He would probably never get a chance to look for an egg, let alone find one. Tavin had been looking for a long time with his “team,” and they still didn’t have one. It was probably a lot harder finding a dragon egg than finding Easter eggs.
He decided against bringing the idea up with his mom. It would only get her hopes up for nothing. Or, worse, she might think it was a horrible idea and forbid him from even looking. Riding on flying dragons sounded like the sort of wild thing his mom wouldn’t let him do because it was “too dangerous.”
“Maybe there’s a way we can do extra work to earn more money,” he said.
His mom groaned. “Extra work? Will, I don’t know what your days are like, but for the people I work with, there is nothing but back-breaking, finger-blistering work from the moment we wake up to the moment we crawl into bed. I don’t think it’s possible to do any more work than I already am.”
“There is a lot of work for everyone,” his dad said. “But country life here does have a certain charm, don’t you think? Long days in the sunshine, fresh air, good exercise, good food . . .”
Will’s mom aimed a withering look at him. His dad grimaced and chuckled nervously, running a hand through his hair. “Elder Madoc rode out into the fields the other day. I asked him if we were free to go and whether there might be a way for us to get home.”
“And what did he say?” Will’s mom asked.
His dad shrugged and shook his head. “He said we could leave whenever we like, but we’ll have to return our work clothes and reimburse him for the medicine he used on Will’s foot.”
“But how are we supposed to pay him for that?” Will asked. “And what are we supposed to wear? Didn’t they destroy our old clothes?”
“That’s a fair point, son. And that might be what he was planning all along. The other field hands tell me it’s possible to work off debt. But, like your mom says, it isn’t easy.”
After that night, Will’s days became so busy he started losing track of them. He always began work early in the morning and didn’t finish until well after sunset. His parents seemed wearier and wearier as the days passed as well. His dad’s skin darkened into a deep tan and his brown hair started getting streaks of sun-bleached blonde. His dad tried to keep his beard trimmed short to beat the hot summer sun, but without his shaving kit, the best he could do was chop it to an uneven short bristle.
His mom’s hands were red and raw from washing dishes, scrubbing hearths, and preparing food all day. And when she talked about her days, it was usually to complain about how hard the scullery workers were forced to work.
Gellan taught Will more skills in the stable every day, from how to mix grains to put weight on a skinny cormant to repairing broken tack and administering medicine for common respiratory illnesses.
He still had to pay special attention to Slash every day to make amends for insulting and punching Tavin. Will thought the creep deserved what he got, and if he was in the same situation again, he wouldn’t do things any differently. Unfortunately, now that Will was waiting hand and foot on the obnoxious kid, Tavin took every opportunity to rub Will’s nose in it.
Whenever Gellan was away from the stable, Tavin would come around to torment him, knowing that Will couldn’t defend himself without serious repercussions. All he could do was grind his teeth and keep silent while Tavin got in his way, hurled insults at him, interfered with his cleaning, and did anything else he could think of to annoy him.
Will told himself it was better that way, anyway. If he showed his anger to Tavin, it would only encourage the pest.
One day, Gellan tasked Will with washing the winter blankets for the cormants. While their feathers were warm enough to keep them alive through the snowy months, Gellan explained that tying special blankets on them prevented them from losing too much weight and reduced stress in the cold. Now that winter was over, they had to wash all the blankets and store them for the summer.
Will stood at a tub of slightly soapy water with a mound of blankets piled next to him, dunking the colorfully woven fabric in and gently working the soapy water into the dirty parts before setting them aside for a lanolin rinse.
“Look at that, Gellan has you doing women’s work now!” Tavin chortled as he sauntered up.
Will sighed and gritted his teeth.
“I didn’t know washing laundry was something a great cormant trainer would be doing. Maybe that old man finally realized this is all you’re good for.”
Will was used to this kind of abuse. He knew saying anything would only encourage Tavin, so he kept quiet.
Tavin leaned against the tub of water. “Yech, it stinks! But maybe it’s you I’m smelling.”
Will almost laughed at the childish insult. A six-year-old could probably come up with better.
Tavin scowled at him. “What’s the matter? Can’t think of anything to say?”
Will pulled a waterlogged wool blanket out of the tub, let the water drain out of it for a moment, then draped it on the fence with the others without looking up.
This seemed to irritate Tavin. He wrinkled his nose in disgust, scoffed, and turned as though walking away.
Will sighed in relief.
“Whoops!” Tavin suddenly turned back and heaved against the washtub.
Will jumped back in surprise.
The tub of water, with the carefully mixed amount of soap that wouldn’t damage the blankets, gushed out all over the white gravel road.
“Golly, I hope that doesn’t set you back too much,” Tavin said, putting his hands to his cheeks, eyes wide in mock astonishment.
Will watched the still-spreading water, grinding his teeth and balling his fists in frustration. He felt tears pricking his eyes and clenched his jaw even harder.
He couldn’t let Tavin know he’d gotten to him. He took a deep breath and looked at him with as blank an expression as he could manage. “That’s all right. I get clumsy sometimes, too. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
Tavin’s face shifted from a look of haughty smugness to red with fury. “What did you say to me?”
Will casually wiped the sudsy water off his hands and crouched to pick the sopping wet cormant blankets off the muddy gravel. “Oh, I didn’t realize you were hard of hearing, too. I said that you shouldn’t be too embarrassed about being so clumsy!” He flashed a small, understanding smile at Tavin, enjoying the look of disgusted rage on the bully’s face maybe a little too much.
Without another word, Tavin threw a swing at Will, aiming right for his nose.
Will saw the punch coming just in time. He was smaller and lighter on his feet than Tavin. Despite the still-healing cut on his foot, he dodged to the side in time and let Tavin’s fist fly past.
With the other boy off balance, all Will had to do was give his back a quick nudge to make him stumble forward and trip over the overturned washtub. Tavin landed in the muddy gravel with a groan.
Footsteps crunching over the road made Will look up in time to see Stable Master Gellan returning.
“What are you boys up to?” th
e old man asked, folding his arms.
“It’s this boy, again!” Tavin wailed, aiming a finger at Will. “He attacked me! He dumped out the wash water and wants to blame it on me!”
Will stepped forward and took a breath, ready to shout accusations back at him.
“That’s enough, Tavin,” Gellan said. “I was around the corner the whole time. I saw and heard everything.”
Still sprawled on the wet gravel, Tavin fumed darkly at Gellan.
“Don’t you think it’s about time you headed home, boy?”
Tavin huffed, slowly got to his feet, and started shambling away.
Will grinned at Gellan, but the old stable master was all business. “It’s about time for lunch. Rinse the mud out of these, and you can finish the job after we eat. Make sure you give Dancer her midday supplement before you leave.”
“Yes, Stable Master.”
While Will gathered up the dirty, waterlogged wool blankets, Tavin glared at him before turning the corner and sulking out of sight.
Will didn’t pay any attention to him. If Tavin went home and never returned to the stable again, that would suit him just fine.
He finished rinsing the mud out of the blankets and hung them to dry. Then he poured Dancer’s special midday grain into her feeding trough. Dancer sat in her corner, watching him calmly as he walked through her stall but didn’t seem interested in eating.
He checked the gates to make sure they were secure, then headed to lunch.
When he got into the dining hall, several of the house staff were in an excited discussion about Dancer and the egg they expected her to lay any time now.
“Dancer has nice feathers, but will her chick inherit Dashclaw’s racing ability?” Jerrol asked.
“Don’t forget that Lightfeather is Dancer’s mother. She has a long line of racing blood in her,” another footman said.
“I hope she lays soon,” one cook said. “All this waiting and anticipation isn’t good for my nerves! Oh, what if she lays two eggs! I’ve heard they do that sometimes!”
“Yes, but then the chicks hatch small. It would be better if she lays one, if Lord Alrec is looking for a racer. One healthy chick to grow up big and strong.”
Will filled his plate with meat pasties and sliced vegetables, and he helped himself to a big mug of water while he listened to their conversation.
“With the number of races Dashclaw has won, any chick of his is bound to be fast,” Elder Madoc’s driver said. “And Dancer herself has always had a smooth gait. Her lovely feathers aren’t her only asset.”
“Too true,” Gellan said, taking a seat at the table. “The chick is sure to be a point of pride for our stable.”
“Do you think Dancer will lay today?” Will asked. All this talk of chicks and racing had his curiosity spinning. Maybe he’d get to see a cormant race someday.
“It remains to be seen. Perhaps not today, but surely soon.”
The door burst open with a bang. Everyone turned to look. Some who were standing dropped their plates of food in shock.
“Come quick!” Tavin hollered into the dining hall. “Dancer got out! Someone must have left her gate open! I saw her running down the road!”
Chapter Nine
Everyone jumped to their feet and scrambled for the door.
“I’ll call up Elder Madoc!” the housekeeper’s voice rang out.
Will struggled and pushed his way through the crowd and raced to the stable as fast as he could, making his sore foot ache from the strain.
Sure enough, Dancer’s stall was wide open, and the cormant had vanished. A few downy feathers fluttered here and there in the straw nest she’d made in the corner of her stall.
Gellan and some other house staff came into the stable behind him, murmuring in shock. Will could hear more people outside, running up and down the roads and out in the fields, calling and whistling for Dancer.
Will stared into the empty stall, horrified. What could have made her leave? She barely even got up from her nest anymore, not even when he offered her treats. The grain mix he’d put in her trough was still there, untouched.
“Why didn’t you lock her gate?” Gellan demanded.
Will flinched. “But . . . I did! I always do. I checked the gate before I left!” Then the truth hit him. Tavin! That jerk must have been waiting for Will to leave, then forced Dancer out of her stall to get Will in trouble.
“Laying blame won’t help right now,” someone said behind him.
“We have to find her,” Will muttered.
“She isn’t anywhere around the stable!” a footman shouted, bursting through the stable door.
The other cormants squawked and scurried in their stalls at the disturbance. Gellan was too distraught to scold the footman for yelling. His face was pasty white and his hands trembled. He seemed beyond speaking.
From the last stall by the door, Strider poked his head out and blinked curiously at the crowd, turning his head to the side to look at Will with one big yellow eye.
Will got an idea.
He turned to Gellan. “I know what I have to do,” he said.
Before the stable master could respond, Will dashed to Strider’s stall and grabbed his halter and lead off the rack.
It wasn’t until he’d fastened the halter on the bird and was leading him out to the barn that Gellan and a crowd of other staff caught up to him.
“What are you doing with that cormant?” Gellan asked.
“I have to go after Dancer and bring her back. Strider trusts me more than the others do, so I’m taking him. Where are the carts?”
“In the barn, of course. What do you want a cart for?” Gellan asked.
“Something had to have scared Dancer . . . or maybe something hurt her to make her leave her nest. When I find her, she might not want to walk. Maybe she laid her egg out there somewhere. You’ve seen how she just sits in her nest these days. Even when we open her gate, she barely moves.”
Several of the surrounding staff gasped in horror at the idea. Will led Strider out the door with a small crowd following him.
“We might need the cart to carry her and her egg. Also, I don’t know how to ride in a cormant saddle. I never even learned to ride a horse back home.”
They entered the barn, and Gellan, seeming in a daze, helped Will find a small cart and fastened the harness on Strider. “How can you be so sure you’ll find her?” he asked. “The whole house is out looking for her now.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Will said. “I don’t know how I’ll find her, and if someone else does, she might be dangerous right now.”
With a loud boom that made Strider jump, the door of the barn burst open wider, and they all turned to see Elder Madoc storming toward them.
“Gellan! What is the meaning of this?”
“Elder Madoc.” Gellan bowed, his hands shaking harder. “It’s most unfortunate, Elder. Somehow Dancer’s gate was unlocked and she—”
“Don’t palter with me! You are in charge of the stable! That bird is under your care! Anything that happens to her or her egg is on your head!”
“Wait, don’t blame Stable Master Gellan!” Will cried, struggling with Strider’s halter to keep the bird from jumping at the noise. “It’s not his fault!”
Elder Madoc’s eyes darted to Will and seemed to pierce through him. “Oh? Do you have something to add to this, boy?”
Will pulled his shoulders back and set his jaw. He believed completely that this was all Tavin’s doing, but he also knew that blaming the other boy probably wouldn’t go over well. Still, he couldn’t let the stable master take the blame.
He looked Elder Madoc squarely in the eye. “It was my job to lock up the gate, so this is my responsibility.”
“This is your doing, is it?” Elder Madoc growled, stepping closer. “Couldn’t stop at using up my expensive salve and taking free clothes and food? You also have to cost me my most expensive cormant and the finest egg we’ve ever hoped to hatch?”
“Listen here, boy,” Elder Madoc said. “I took your family in out of the goodness of my heart, but I can throw the lot of you on the street just as easily. If anything happens to that bird . . . are you even listening to me!” He yanked Will’s arm around, forcing him to meet his eyes.
“Look,” Will panted, yanking his arm back. “I think I can find her. She’s probably scared. Maybe even hurt. I might be the only one she’ll trust right now because of how much time I’ve spent with her lately. So if she’s really as important as you say, let me go after her!”
Elder Madoc’s eyes bulged at the impertinence of Will’s words. His face reddened. He seemed to puff up and hold his breath.
Then he let his breath out slowly and jabbed a finger at Will’s chest. “Go after her, then. But mark my words, if anything happens to that bird or her egg, I’m done with you. I’m done with your whole family!”
Will stared back at him for a moment, swallowed once, and gave a quick nod of acknowledgement. “Right.”
He tossed an extra halter and a stack of clean cormant blankets in the back of the cart, just in case he’d need them for Dancer or her egg, then hopped up to the driver’s seat.
Will had never driven a cormant cart before, but on the way to Aldlake, he’d watched Elder Madoc enough that he understood the basic idea. It seemed very similar to driving horses . . . which Will had also never done before.
With some gentle tugging and flicking of the reins, he managed to guide Strider out of the barn and onto the gravel road. All around the estate, people scattered about searching for any sign of Dancer, whistling and calling encouragement to one another.
From his higher perch in the cart, Will had almost hoped he’d be able to see the cormant’s tall neck and distinctive purple feathers right away, but he had no such luck.
After a little trial and error, and with Strider being very patient with him, Will eventually got the hang of driving the cart. He rode around the outside of the stable once to make sure she wasn’t hiding in tall grass, then decided he should check farther out. If she was scared or hurt, she might run far away.
Secret of the Dragon Egg (Dragon Riders of Avria Book 1) Page 8
