The Dragons' Call. Judy Hayman

explained that they had to fly all together above the trees, space out and drop all at once into the mass of birds in the treetops, taking them by surprise. “Swipe as many as you can with your tails as they take off in fright,” he added. “Dead or stunned, they’ll tumble to the ground and we can collect them up when the flock’s gone. Should manage a fair few before they escape. OK? Ready?”

      “You’ve done this once before, remember Ollie?” said Oliver. “You haven’t, have you Emily? Sure you want to have a try?”

      “Course I do!” said Emily. Duncan looked pleased. “Just don’t get your tail tangled in the branches,” he said.

      “We’ll come and rescue you if you do!” added Ollie, and Emily gave him a friendly punch as Oliver gave the signal to take off. She had quite forgotten about Alice!

      They took off as quietly as possible, with Duncan bringing up the rear, and headed into the mist away from the trees. They soon lost sight of the ground, and then even the tops of the trees disappeared into the blanketing mist. Oliver wheeled round and headed for the wood. Emily could see nothing, but gradually the raucous chattering of the rooks could be heard below them. When Duncan had reached the spot, he signalled to Emily and the others to space out. They all hovered silently, then dived together.

      Taken by surprise, and calling in alarm, the rooks rose in a mass, and the four dragons dived into the flock, tails swinging. Emily had no idea how many birds she hit, but she closed her eyes tightly and felt her tail connect with battering wings. It felt as though she was lost inside a whirling black cloud, but it actually only took a couple of minutes before the flock had departed, still shrieking furiously, and she realised she was in danger of tangling herself in the higher branches. Just before that happened, her father loomed out of the mist and beckoned her to follow him. The dragons regrouped in the air, and Oliver led them safely through the trees to the ground below.

      Ollie and Emily were breathless but beaming and excited, especially when they found the place where the rooks had fallen and realised how many were lying on the ground beneath the trees. “Well done, you two!” said Duncan. “Looks like a good number.”

      “You collect the ones here, and I’ll check for any lodged in the branches,” said Oliver. “No point risking your wing, Duncan.” A few minutes later they gathered together and inspected their haul. They each took two or three rooks in each claw and prepared to fly back.

      “D’you think they’ll come back?” asked Ollie, obviously longing to repeat the experience.

      “Not for a while,” said his father. “But we might make the most of this mist while it lasts.” The fence loomed in front of them, and they flew over and landed at the top of the steps. “Leave them in a pile,” Duncan said. “In you go!”

      Emily and Ollie gave a triumphant High Four before scrambling back into the house. Emily felt fantastic. She couldn’t wait to tell Alice. Then she remembered their quarrel and her excitement died. She should have waited and told Alice, so that she could go rook-hunting too. Now she felt guilty. Perhaps she should keep quiet. But it was too late. Ollie crashed into the kitchen.

      “Guess what we’ve been doing!” he yelled triumphantly.

      Chapter 6

      Alice in a Huff

      The grown-ups in the kitchen seemed to be delighted with the pile of rooks, even though it meant a lot of plucking and a great mess of feathers. They were working fast through their food stocks. Predictably, Angelica failed to appear, but Oliver came down from George’s room to say that his father would be happy to pluck rooks in his room, and he would keep the feathers to make his bed softer. He headed upstairs with a large armful.

      Emily decided she could put it off no longer, and went to look for Alice. Tom had already rushed into the kitchen to hear the news. Lily and Georgie were tail-swiping marbles and scampering after them at the other end of the room, but Alice was sitting on her aunt’s splendid couch with her arms and wings folded, and a scowl on her face. Emily sighed. “I’m sorry we went without you,” she said. “It all happened so fast. The Dads said we had to hurry before the rooks flew away. There was no time to come and look for you....” Her voice trailed away.

      “You left me out on purpose!” said Alice, coldly. “You went off with Ollie...” her voice was full of scorn, but before Emily could think of an answer that wouldn’t make the quarrel worse, Ellen appeared in the doorway.

      “I don’t want to know what this is all about,” she said, “but Oliver and Duncan have an idea. They want you in the kitchen; BOTH of you – now!” She vanished again, and a relieved Emily rushed after her. Alice hesitated, then followed more slowly. Annoyed though she was, she did not want to be left out again!

      She found everyone gathered in the kitchen listening to Oliver. “....need to make the most of this mist. It’s not lifting at all – getting thicker, if anything. We don’t reckon it would be too risky for a lot of us to go out foraging. There’s the field where the pigeons gather for a start. Maybe pheasants - Duncan and I saw quite a few wandering about yesterday morning. They’re never around at night, when Des and I go out. Pheasant would make a nice change!”

      “There’s the tattie field too. And snails might be coming out,” Duncan added. “We’ll be lucky to find any berries, but no harm keeping an eye out.”

      “Do you want to take the children?” Gwen asked.

      “I think you should ALL go,” said Maggie. “Do you good. You’re not used to being cooped up inside. I can see to these rooks if George gives me a hand, and the wee ones seem happy enough. I’ll feed them when they get hungry, and you can take some food with you. Harold’s out the back breaking firewood. He said he’d leave some sticks for Tom to jump in the cellar.”