The Runaway Dragon (11 page)

“The other men drank from a stream, and they turned into squirrels,” Nort said soberly. He gestured to the bag that Crobbs had set down. “We were only able to capture two of them.” As they watched, the bag lurched sideways.

“Really? Because we drank from a stream, and nothing happened,” Cam said.

“Then you were very lucky,” said Nort. “Who’s she?”

Dilly introduced Spinach, who immediately asked
Nort what it looked like when somebody turned into a squirrel, and whether the squirrels seemed people-smart or just squirrel-smart, and did he think that if the squirrels drank the water a second time, they would turn back to people, or into something new, like beetles?

Nort looked alarmed by the onslaught, but he tried to answer her questions. Dilly noticed that Crobbs carefully moved around the others so that he was as far away from Spinach as possible. Cam just listened, smiling. Nobody said anything more about the stream, but nobody took a drink from it, either. Soon enough, the little group of travelers began walking south, looking for Meg and Lex, along with a way out of the enchanted forest.

The scarf had been no help whatsoever in leading Meg and Lex back to camp, and neither had a couple of finding spells Lex had cautiously tried. Those had resulted in a series of darting red lights and a small storm, also the unnerving sound of what seemed to be trees conversing with each other in irritable tones. Lex and Meg had kept still until it all died down, eventually taking shelter under a non-talking tree to sleep for the rest of the night. When morning came, neither of them felt very hopeful about retracing their steps. “Let’s just follow your Laddy spell,” Meg suggested. “It’s been working this whole time.”

“What about the others?” Lex asked, brushing off his black tunic as best he could.

“By now they’ll be up and looking for us.”

Lex thought this over. “So maybe they’ll find us before we find them?”

“Maybe. At least we’ll be going
somewhere.”

“Besides in circles, like last night.”

“Exactly.”

They hadn’t gone far, though, before Meg told Lex, “My feet hurt.”

“Mine, too,” Lex said as they walked along in companionable misfortune. Meg was tempted to sit down and rest, but staying in one place, lost in the middle of this crazy forest, was unthinkable. So they trudged onward. The morning dragged like their feet. Meg managed to recall that when they had entered the enchanted forest yesterday, it had been a wonderful place. Today it wasn’t.

“Don’t you know any transportation spells?” Meg asked. “A little spell, one that wouldn’t upset the forest?”

“I could try to call something.” Lex didn’t look very enthusiastic.

Meg stopped. “Why don’t you?”

“Because you never know what might turn up.”

Meg put her hands on her hips. At this point, she was willing to take a chance. “My feet
really, really
hurt!”

“All right, all right.” Lex begrudgingly performed a
spell, not a very big one. Then he and Meg kept walking, unsure whether anything would happen.

The sun was high overhead when they heard a swishing noise and flinched. It was only Lex’s magic carpet, accompanied by Meg’s magic scarf. “Did your spell do this, or is it a coincidence?” Meg asked.

“Hard to tell.” Lex eyed the rebellious rug. “I don’t suppose you’d help us,” he said. To Lex and Meg’s surprise, the carpet slipped down toward them and hovered a few inches off the ground, as if inviting them along for a ride.

“Should we try it?” Lex asked Meg. His bones probably still ached from his last encounter with the magic carpet.

“Why not?” At the moment, Meg would have done anything to be able to travel without using her feet.

Meg and Lex climbed onto the carpet gingerly. “Dear most beauteous and magical Carpet,” Lex said, attempting to sound sincere rather than distrustful, “please take us out of this forest.”

“Southward,” Meg put in.

“Southward.”

“Your carpet
is
very pretty,” Meg said, stroking the carpet’s green-and-gold-and-rose back. The carpet arched a little beneath her touch as they lifted slowly into the air. Higher and higher they sailed, with Meg’s scarf flying beside them like a lost piece of storm cloud. From
Meg’s new vantage point, the forest resembled a deep green meadow.

The carpet was heading south. Lex let his breath out, still worried. If the carpet were to turn on them and tip them off at this height, their quest would end before they found Laddy
or
their lost friends. Lex spoke to Meg, trying to think of something else. “What is that up ahead?”

Meg squinted, shielding her eyes from the sun. “A really big tree?”

“It’s moving,” Lex said.

AM AND THE OTHERS EMERGED FROM THE EN
chanted forest into full sunlight and let out a ragged cheer. A broad field of weeds and wild-flowers spread out before them, flat at first before sloping downward as if it were rushing to meet the hills they could see in the distance. The three travelers tramped across the field, feeling more hopeful than they had all day. Dilly thought they should try to find the road again. Cam said he figured it must be off to the left somewhere. Then the earth shook, and everyone fell down. A moment later, the sun was gone and they were covered in darkness.

“It’s a giant!” Meg cried a heartbeat later.

“A giant,”
Lex breathed. He and Meg stared, awestruck by their first look at an actual giant. The towering trees of the forest just reached the giant’s chest. He was
dressed in a green shirt and brown trousers and he wore great leather boots, which made Meg wonder for an instant about giant cows. Except for its size, the giant’s face looked like an ordinary man’s. Of course, his red beard was the size and texture of a bramble hedge.

The giant crouched down, his face disappearing from sight. Only the vast arch of his back showed as he bent toward the ground. “What’s he doing?” Meg asked. She wanted to fly away, but she couldn’t bear to—not without knowing more about this immense and terrible person.

“Carpet,” Lex said, “take us closer, but not too close.”

The magic carpet must have been as curious as they were. It flew over the last stretch of forest and hovered next to the tree line, keeping to a respectable height.

Now they could see that the giant had dropped his hat on the ground, a hat as wide and round as the frog pond at home. At first Meg thought he’d done it by accident, but then she remembered seeing Cam trap a bird under his hat once. “I think he’s caught something,” she told Lex.

“That’s a funny way of hunting,” Lex said. “Maybe it’s the white stag.”

“Not outside the forest.”

The giant slid one hand under the hat and flipped it over. Then he scrambled to pick up whatever he hadn’t been able to flip into his hat.

Meg caught the smallest glimpse of what he was grabbing. “Lex!” she shrieked, practically diving off the carpet. “He has Dilly!” Meg banged Lex on the shoulder. “Do a spell! Stop him! Kill him! Do something, Lex!” Meg was shouting so loudly even the giant should be able to hear her.

The giant straightened, looking pleased with his catch.

Lex turned white. “We have to save them!”

“You
have to save them!”

“Me?”

Meg nodded. “The wizard. My bodyguard. Remember? We have to help them. You have to help them.”

Lex mimicked her nod. “All right. I could … I could … Maybe we can talk to him.”

Meg knotted her hands into fists. “Lex,” she hissed. “Can you or can’t you conquer a giant with your magic?”

“I guess I could trip him,” Lex said, troubled.

“Trip
him?” Meg couldn’t believe her ears. “How about slay him? He’s a monstrous Dilly-stealer! He’s probably taking her and Cam back to his castle to cook them for dinner! They’ll be meatballs in his supper soup, and you won’t even—”

“Meg,” Lex said nervously. “Meg!”

Meg froze and looked over her shoulder. The giant’s face was right beside them. “MORE THIEVES,” the giant boomed in a voice so large it almost knocked Lex and Meg off the carpet.

“We’re not thieves, we’re wizards!” Lex shouted.

“WIZARDS?” the giant said. He didn’t seem very impressed.

Meg leaned precariously over the edge of the carpet, trying to see into the giant’s upturned hat, which rode in one of his huge hands, but the angle was all wrong.

With his other hand, the giant reached for the magic carpet, but it veered away. To Meg’s astonishment, Lex convinced it to float up in front of the giant’s face. “Wait!” Lex yelled. “Why are you taking those people in your hat?”

“I’M CATCHING HUMANS,” the giant announced. “I’M GOING TO FIND THE ONE WHO STOLE MY GOLDEN FROBBLE.” The giant reached for them again, but the carpet neatly avoided his grasp.

“Those people in your hat aren’t thieves,” Lex explained, still shouting. “They’re our friends. They haven’t stolen anything.”

“MY DAUGHTER WILL LIKE THEM,” the giant said, reluctantly lowering his hand. “I WILL KEEP CATCHING HUMANS TILL I FIND THE RIGHT ONE.”

“What if we can find the thief for you?” Lex asked. “Will you give our friends back?”

Meg poked Lex. “Don’t negotiate with him!” she ordered.

Lex ignored her, still talking to the giant. “Tell us what happened, and we’ll bring the thief to you.”

The giant looked thoughtful. “VERY WELL. MY NAME IS LORGLEY COMPROST, AND I AM OF THE SKY KINGDOM. A FORTNIGHT AGO, ONE OF YOUR KIND CAME KNOCKING ON MY DOOR. HE WAS PROPERLY RESPECTFUL, AND HE TOLD VERY GOOD JOKES. HE ATE MY BREAD AND SAT AT—WELL, ON—MY TABLE. MY WIFE AND I EVEN LET HIM SLEEP IN OUR HOME, IN MY DAUGHTER’S DOLLHOUSE. THE NEXT MORNING HE WAS GONE, WITHOUT THANKING US OR SAYING FAREWELL.”

“What did he steal?” Meg yelled.

The giant continued. “TODAY WHEN I FINALLY UNLOCKED THE CUPBOARD WHERE I KEEP MY TREASURES, I SAW THAT THE GOLDEN FROBBLE WAS GONE. AND I KNEW THAT THE HORRIBLE LITTLE MAN MUST HAVE TAKEN IT.”

“We’ll find the horrible little man,” Lex promised.

“AND THE FROBBLE,” the giant prompted.

“And the frobble,” Meg said. “What did the thief look like?”

“SMALL.” Lorgley Comprost looked down into his hat. “I WILL TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOUR FRIENDS FOR FIVE DAYS. AFTER THAT …” He shrugged largely. “I WILL NO LONGER BELIEVE YOU MEANT WHAT YOU SAID.”

“How many do you have in there?” Meg asked.

The giant counted swiftly. “FIVE.”

“May we see them?” Lex asked.

The giant lifted the hat nearer to the magic carpet. Lex and Meg could see Dilly and Nort sprawled in the hat’s crown. Spinach was sitting up rubbing her head, her braid tangled all around her, and Crobbs was crouched next to her clutching a leather bag—he seemed to be talking to it. As for Cam, he was climbing up the side of the hat. He was nearly to the top, too, but the giant flicked him with one massive finger, and he tumbled back down again.

“Cam!” Meg called.

Cam got to his feet. “Meg?”

“We’ve made a deal with the giant to help you,” Lex cried. “We’ll come back soon!”

Cam looked baffled and still stunned from his fall, but he managed to yell up at them, “Be careful!”

“We will!” Meg shouted back. Then she and Lex reluctantly settled themselves on the carpet again and watched the giant stride back up into the sky with their friends.

Meg could hardly bear to fly away, not knowing if Dilly was hurt, let alone leaving her and Cam and the others in the hands of a giant, but at least Lex had bought them a little time. Still. “Why couldn’t you have done something to that giant and saved everybody?” she groused.

“Meg,” Lex said pleadingly, looking younger than ever despite his bushy brows. “I don’t like hurting people.”

Meg wanted to say that the giant wasn’t people, but she knew it wasn’t true. Lorgley Comprost was a person, and he had been wronged by a human. It was just old-fashioned bad luck that had sent Meg’s friends running right into an irate giant and his hat. “So you made a deal,” Meg said.

“I made a deal.” Lex folded his arms. “A promise, actually. Do you want them back or not?”

Meg was too frustrated to be sensible. “What about Laddy? You promised to help me find Laddy, too!”

“While we’re looking for Laddy, we’ll keep an eye out for villages,” Lex said. “The thief had to come from somewhere. Besides, if I buy a few ingredients, I might be able to come up with a spell for tracking him down.”

Meg gave him a look. “Like the ones you used to find our friends this morning?”

“It’s different now that we’re out of the forest,” Lex said defensively.

Meg fell silent because she couldn’t think of anything else to say. She and Lex flew southward without speaking. The world streamed by below them as they strained their eyes to catch a glimpse of a village, or better yet, a thief with a golden frobble slung over his shoulder.

“If we find Laddy, maybe he can help us with his dragon magic,” Lex said at last.

“Dragon magic?”

“All dragons are magical. It’ll show more when he’s older, I suppose.”

As Lex took out the shining scale to check their direction, Meg wondered how much magic a dragon usually learned from his mother and father. She felt a pang for Laddy, remembering the huge dragon bones in one corner of the cave where she had found him.