Dragon Keepers #3: The Dragon in the Library (19 page)

212

Jesse smiled. Then Daisy smiled. At that moment, those were the exact words they both needed to hear.

Later that night, while Aunt Maggie and Uncle Joe were having their green tea ice cream at the Japanese restaurant, an airborne caravan took off from the new landing strip near the gazing globe. Miss Alodie, hugging Balthazaar's coat to herself while she rode on the Book of Leandra, let out a whoop of delight as they swooped through the air over the rooftops of the little houses below.

When the twinkling lights of the village of Goldmine City came into view, Daisy--sitting by Jesse's side on Emerald's broad back--pointed out the peaked roof of the public library. "What's that?" she asked as they drew closer.

There was a curious dark, rectangular groove cut into the ridge of the library's roof. It looked just like a slot in a giant mailbox, except that it wavered slightly, as if the roof were in the process of melting away.

Jesse called out to Miss Alodie, "What's that?"

Miss Alodie threw back her head and chortled. "I believe the Scriptorium is offering us a giant Chicken Box!"

From Emmy's back, the cousins watched as the

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Book of Leandra swooped down into the slot. As the tip of Miss Alodie's beanie disappeared into the darkness, her voice echoed merrily back at them: "And now for a little nocturnal browsing!"

Emmy plunged in after Miss Alodie. Perhaps it was their double-dragon escort, or maybe it was the entryway, but that night's trip went much more smoothly than it had the night before. For one thing, they did not appear to need the Sorcerer's Sphere, even though they had remembered at the last minute to pack it. What was more, not a hair on Daisy's head was out of place. And no one felt the slightest need to scream.

As Emmy dived down through the bank of spicy-smelling fog, the aisles of the Scriptorium once more came into view, stretched out beneath them like a vast grid of streets, the stacks like rows of skyscrapers. But where were the shelf elves? Jesse expected to see the shelves swarming with elves, but there were none in sight. The next moment, he saw why.

Emmy sailed over the tops of the stacks toward the Recovery Laboratory, where a crowd of shelf elves, bibliotechnicians, and bibliotherapists had gathered in one great throng. The sound of their helium-high voices all cheering made Jesse want to cry (because he was touched) and laugh

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uproariously (because it was the funniest sound he had ever heard). He turned to Daisy and saw that she was feeling the same weird jumble of emotions. She squeezed his hand in excitement.

Emmy and Leandra landed on two adjacent worktables. The cousins climbed off their dragon and onto the floor. On a third tabletop sat the heap of parchment that was Balthazaar of Belvedere, his pages as tattered as ever and completely inert. Gradually, the cheering died away and the Scriptorium fell silent.

Miss Alodie hopped down from Leandra and bustled over to Jesse and Daisy. She thrust the black coat at them. "I think I'll let you two make the official presentation," she whispered, her blue eyes dancing.

The cousins each held one side of the rolled-up coat and were wondering exactly what to do, when a familiar figure elbowed its way through the crowd and stepped forward. He bowed deeply and then seemed unable to straighten himself up.

"Watch the back now, Mr. Wink," he said to himself as two smaller shelf elves hurried over. He smiled with blissful relief as they pulled him back up. "Forgive me. It seems my skeletal system is in need of a little elfiniotherapy. (Isn't it? It is!) Willum Wink, Chief Steward of the Shelf Elves,

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welcoming you back to the Scriptorium, Emerald of Leandra and her stalwart Keepers. And who else have we here? We are graced by your presence, Alodie the Elder. And Leandra of Tourmaline, you gave us all a terrible fright. I suppose you are aware that you are
eons
overdue? Techs! Techs!" he called out with a sharp clap of his hands.

A crew of eager blue-clad elves assembled themselves before him. "Give the Book of Leandra a thorough going-over, will you, and make sure every page is pristine and intact," said the Chief Steward.

The bibliotechnicians set to work, swarming over every inch of the Book of Leandra.

Mr. Wink turned to Jesse and Daisy. Eyeing their bundle, he said, "Is that what I think it is?" Without waiting for an answer, he turned and tapped the pile of parchment on the table at his back. "Oh, Balthazaar! Balthazaar of Belvedere! Yoo-hoo! Come out and see what these wonderful Keepers have delivered."

A cloud of dark gray mist bubbled up out of the pile of parchment and formed itself into the enormous ghostly black figure of the dragon. A deep voice rumbled out of the mouth of the giant apparition: "Well, well, well. I have to say, I never thought you'd pull it off."

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The cousins unfurled the coat and proudly spread it out on the table. Balthazaar let out a long, low growl and turned to hawk a fiery wad of spit over his shoulder, sending elves skittering in all directions. "Look!" he said, his eyes flaring up like red-hot coals. "Look at what they
did
to my beautiful black scales, to my magic, my essence, my soul, my identity, my pride.
How dare they?!"

"Easy, old-timer," said Willum Wink. "Don't work yourself into a lather. I've seen our recovery teams perform miracles. (And we're going to need one. Won't we? We will! It's unanimous!)"

Another hand clap from Mr. Wink brought on a troop of red-clad bibliotherapists, lined up and ready for duty. "See what you can do," Mr. Wink told them, "about restoring this defiled draconic epidermis to its former glory. I am hereby authorizing you to spare no effort, time, or expense."

"Well, now," the giant black dragon rumbled, turning to Jesse and Daisy. "Now that you have so easily produced one half of my skin, you should have no trouble getting me the other half in short order."

Jesse and Daisy turned and stared at each other in disbelief.

Daisy muttered to Jesse, "He's some piece of work, isn't he?"

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Jesse agreed. "The
original
junkyard dog."

"It makes you grateful to be Keeper of a
nice, polite
dragon, doesn't it?" Daisy said.

"That's for sure," Jesse said.

Emmy cleared her throat and said, "Excuse me, my Keepers, but your
nice, polite
dragon is hungry again. I could use a couple of those tasty little Green Eggs and Hamwiches right about now."

"I don't know about the green eggs," said Daisy, pleased that no more defenseless forest creatures were on the wish list that night, "but I think we can manage the hamwich."

"Now that you mention it, Em," said Jesse, "I'm starting to feel a little peckish myself. What I wouldn't give for a tin of those crunchy, spicy dog biscuits!" he said, licking his chops and rubbing his paws together with glee.

Hearing this, Emmy, Daisy, and Miss Alodie exchanged looks of absolute mortification.

Jesse burst out laughing and pointed at them. "If you could see your faces! It was a joke, you guys. I'm back to being a boy again, I promise. But I'm a hungry boy, that's for sure."

"Then say good night to your mom for now, Emerald," said Daisy, "and fly us home."

"Plan!" Jesse and Emmy agreed.

And an excellent plan it was.

Chapter 1

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Dear Mom and Dad, The heat wave ended, followed by a brief cold spell, and now it's just right. Aunt Maggie has stopped talking about giving Emmy a haircut. She says she feels autumn in the air. I can even smell it. It smells like rotting fruit and wet leaves. Aunt Maggie says it's the scent called Back-to-School, which I am really looking forward to. It will be my first American Halloween, too! Daisy and I have even begun to plan our costumes. She's going to be a sheepdog. I'm not sure yet, but I think I'm going to be an elf. A shelf elf. Bet you don't know what that is. Well, I'll tell you...someday, when I have a ton of time. Right now we have to get some books back to the library before it closes. Only chickens use the Chicken Box, and one thing I'm pretty sure of is we're not chickens. Are you guys gonna come visit soon? Don't worry. I'm really doing great, but I miss you!

Lots of love, your son in America,

Jesse Tiger

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Text copyright © 2010 by Kate Klimo

Illustrations copyright © 2010 by John Shroades

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Random House Children's Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Klimo, Kate.

The dragon in the library / Kate Klimo ;

with illustrations by John Shroades. -- 1st ed.

p. cm. -- (Dragon Keepers; 3)

Summary: Dragon Keepers Jesse and Daisy, along with their dragon, Emmy, must save their friend Professor Andersson from an evil witch, who happens to be St. George the Dragon Slayer's girlfriend.

eISBN: 978-0-375-89315-5

[1. Dragons--Fiction. 2. Magic--Fiction. 3. Libraries--Fiction.

4. Cousins--Fiction.] I. Shroades, John, ill. II. Title.

PZ7.K67896Dpl 2010 [Fic]--dc22 2009016592

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