The Dragons' Call. Judy Hayman

one.”

      Ollie beamed. “A short trip. Just us two! Sounds perfect for a start. Where shall we go?”

      “I haven’t said yes! It’ll be hard on Tom if you take off.”

      Ollie scowled. “He’s OK, but he’s just a kid. I can’t be expected to stay and look after him. You’ll be expecting me to babysit Georgie and Lily next!”

      Des laughed at the thought, and clapped Ollie with one wing. “OK, I will think about it, I promise. But only if your parents agree. I’m not having you sneaking off again, even with me. Once was enough!”

      A call from below brought the discussion to an end, and they headed down for food. As far as Ollie was concerned, the matter was decided. He couldn’t wait to tell the others!

      Chapter 2

      A Hint of Trouble

      Whenever the dragons gathered together, the kitchen felt very crowded. Angelica often took her meals up to her room when the children were particularly noisy. But today the young dragons found a serious mood prevailing. Strangely, everyone seemed to be worried about Gwen, Tom and Emily’s mother. Since their arrival some weeks before, concern had centred on their father, Duncan, with his broken wing. Now that he was feeling better, it was a major problem for him to remember to be careful of it, and not risk a second break. But this time, Duncan was not the chief worry.

      Gwen had eaten very little, and was sitting with drooping wings looking miserable and close to tears. When they had finished supper, the grown-ups gathered round and persuaded her to say what was troubling her. Emily, pretending she was telling her little sister a bedtime story, hid in a dark corner with Lily so that she could listen, while Alice joined Ollie and Tom down in their cellar.

      “It’s Nan and Edward,” Gwen said in a shaky voice, sounding tearful. She was talking about her Welsh parents. “I’ve been wondering for a while how they’ve coped in this hard winter, but this morning I woke up with an awful feeling that they’re in trouble. I can’t get Nan out of my mind. It’s as if she’s calling to me. I just know there’s something wrong.” She stopped and sniffed, and two big tears rolled down her nose. Emily, who was very fond of her Gran, was horrified.

      “What sort of place do they live in? Would they have enough shelter in the snow?” asked Alice’s mother, Ellen. She had liked Nan and Edward when they had visited their family in the summer.

      “It’s a good place they’ve got,” answered Des; he had known them when he was growing up in Wales. “A really deep cave halfway up a cliff on the coast. Humans can’t easily reach it, and it goes back a long way. It wouldn’t get snowed up like yours in the glen. I’m sure they’ll be all right, Gwen. They’ve lived there a long time. They know all the dangers.”

      “They’re getting old!” Gwen refused to be comforted.

      “They seemed pretty fit to me,” said Oliver. “Look how far they flew in the summer.”

      “Pity they’re not in Huff range,” Duncan said. “We’re nearer here than when we’re at home. Could we try Huffing them, Des?”

      Des shook his head. “No. There are mountains in the way.” They all fell silent, wondering how best to comfort Gwen.

      Old George, Alice and Ollie’s grandad, had so far said nothing. He seemed to be almost in a dream, thought Emily, peering cautiously from her corner. He was a wise old dragon, and she wondered what he was thinking. When he spoke into the silence, everyone listened intently. His voice was low, and sounded somehow far away. “She calls to me too,” he said.

      There was a shocked silence. Emily held her breath. Unfortunately Lily, who was getting bored, chose that moment to prod her sharply with her tail, and that made her let out a shocked, “Ow!” Duncan turned and peered into the gloom.

      “Emily! I thought you were downstairs with the others. Come on, Lily – bedtime.” He scooped the protesting Lily from her hiding place with his good wing and Emily followed reluctantly. She looked at the still figure of Old George and then at her mum, who managed a watery smile.

      “I’m probably imagining things!” she said. “I’m sure the Gramps are fine. Don’t worry, Emily. Tell Tom not to be too late in bed when you go down.”

      Emily realised that she would learn nothing more from the circle of grown-ups. She said goodnight, gave her mother an extra hug and made her way down the steep steps to the cellars, where she and the others slept. She needed to talk to them right away!

      The four young dragons gathered in a huddle in the girls’ room and listened in silence while Emily related all she had heard. When she had finished, Ollie and Alice looked at one another.

      “Grandad’s said things like that before,” Alice said seriously. “He seems to sense things that nobody else can.”

      “And he’s usually right,” Ollie added. “I don’t understand it. I never feel things that way. Perhaps it’s some power you get when you’re old.”

      “Mum’s not that old!” Tom objected.

      “I don’t think it’s old age. I think it’s the kind of person you are,” said Alice thoughtfully. “I don’t get these feelings either. Do you, Emily?”

      “I don’t think so,” Emily said doubtfully. She was remembering the way she and Gran could sometimes read each others’ thoughts, but that was when they were together. She had never picked up a message from miles away. She decided she needed to think about this before she said anything, even to Alice.

      “Anyway, the obvious thing is to fly to Wales to check on them,” Ollie declared. “I bet Des is planning that right now. And he’s agreed that I can travel with him when he goes off again, so I’ll be going too. We can sort everything out between us, no problem. Don’t worry, Em!”

      The other three stared at him, open-mouthed.

      “You never said!”

      “I bet you haven’t asked the parents!”

      “That’s not fair! Why can’t we all go?” Tom’s voice rose in outrage.

      Ollie held up a wing for silence. “Shut up, you’ll have them all down here! Des and I only fixed it this afternoon. Obviously we’ll tell the parents, but they can’t possibly object if I’m with Des. And it’ll be better to have two of us if we’re going all the way to your Gramps’ place.”

      “Mum might want Des to take HER!” Emily interrupted, but Ollie waved this suggestion away.

      “Nah, he’d prefer me to go with him, obviously,” he said.

      Alice scowled at him. This was the boastful brother that got on her nerves. “I don’t see why,” she argued. “It was ME he chose to be the leader when we were at the seaside in the summer, not you. He said you were too reckless and I was more sensible. I bet he hasn’t REALLY said he’d take you. I’d prefer Gwen any day.”

      “Mum was great when Dad had his accident and we were waiting for Des to get back,” Emily remembered. “She took charge and knew just what to do, didn’t she, Tom?” Tom decided not to take sides. He was too horrified at the thought of being left behind with the girls to think about anything else.

      “I’ll go and find Des and we can get things organised.” Ollie got up, ignoring Alice, and set off up the stairs. Alice had just time to whisper, “Honestly, he’s such a....” when they all heard one word, “OUT!” shouted from upstairs. The girls collapsed in giggles, to Tom’s surprise. Ollie came back down.

      “They’re still sitting round gassing in there. I need to talk to Des on his own,” he said casually, without looking at them. “Think I’ll get to bed. We might be starting early. Coming, Tom?”

      “’Night!”