The Dragons of Blueland (6 page)

Elmer grabbed the dragon's neck and held on as hard as he could. He didn't dare open his eyes, but he could hear men shouting on the ship.

"Right, move it to the right! Faster, faster!"

"Left, now! Hey! I think something's riding whatever it is!"

"Looks like a boy!" shouted another man.

And then the moon slipped behind a cloudbank. The dragon escaped the beam of light, and flew frantically through the darkness while the lightdanced over the sky still looking for them.

"Good work!" said Elmer, feeling very dizzy and quite sick.

"But they saw us, both of us," moaned the dragon.

"That's all right. They don't know where we're going, and we'll have your whole family rescued by the time they decide what we are," said Elmer, wondering if it would be wiser to finish eating his chocolate bar then or later. He was still feeling sickish.

"I hope you're right," muttered the dragon doubtfully.

On and on they flew until at dawn they were over Seaweed Bay and Due East Lookout. The dragon swung westward over Seaweed City and landed in a forest on Spiky Mountain Range. He was so tired that he fell asleep before he had time for a drink of water. Elmer finished his chocolate bar, ate another, and a whole box of Fig Newtons. Then he drank from the mountain stream and curled up beside the sleeping dragon.

Luckily, they didn't know who had seen them over Seaweed City. Ever since Mr. Wagonwheel had glimpsed the dragon Thursday he had been trying to persuade his neighbors that he really had seen a Blue Demon. No one believed a word of his story, but he had bothered the whole town so much that they told him to report it to the Seaweed City police. He had planned to go on Sunday, but changed his mind in the middle of Saturday night. He woke Mrs. Wagonwheel. "You take care of the morning milking, and I'll be back in time for dinner. I'm taking the horse and wagon."

"But..." said Mrs. Wagonwheel.

"I'm off!" said Mr. Wagonwheel, and Mrs. Wagonwheel heard the kitchen door slam behind him.

So, at dawn, just as he was trotting through the outskirts of Seaweed City, Mr. Wagonwheel lookedup into the sky to see what sort of a day it was going to be. And he nearly fell out of his seat.

"The Blue Demon!" he screamed. "With a boy or something riding on its back!" He looked around wildly for someone to show it to, but nobody was in sight. And by the time he reached the police station and had found someone to listen to him, Elmer and the dragon were safely hidden in the forests of Spiky Mountain Range.

Chapter Nine

BLUELAND

Elmer and the dragon dozed on until late afternoon. They were both impatient to be off, but as Elmer said, "We'd only spoil everything by getting there before it's dark enough."

So they waited and rested and drank cool mountain water. The dragon munched ferns while Elmer ate his third chocolate bar.

"I can't stand it any longer," said the dragon,jumping up and shaking out his wings.

"All right," said Elmer. "Let's go!" He put on his knapsack and climbed onto the dragon's back. They walked to a clearing in the woods, and the dragon took off across Awful Desert.

It was hot over the sands even in the late afternoon, and Elmer crouched over to hide from the burning winds. The dragon panted for air, but flew faster and faster, hardly daring to think what might have happened since he left. He kept muttering, "If only the sandstorms would start up! Where are the sandstorms? That would make the men leave us alone."

When they came to the dry rocky slopes of Blueland the sun was low on the horizon, and they knew it would soon be dark inside the circle of mountains.

"Keep a sharp lookout," warned the dragon as they picked their way through the boulders. "They may have men most anywhere."

Up, up they went, slowly, quietly. At last theyreached the gap between the peaks and Elmer gasped at the sight below him. The beautiful meadows of Blueland shone bright green, dotted with patches of snapdragons glowing white in the dimming light. And at the center the lake water reflected the pink of the sky. Suddenly it was gone into darkness as the sun set.

But the dragon had been straining to see across the lake and suddenly he grabbed Elmer for joy. "The men, I saw the men, and they were still standing outside the cave with the net. Maybe we're not too late!"

He hurried Elmer down to the giant snapdragon bush which hid the entrance to the little tunnel. "I don't think they found it," he whispered happily as he pulled aside the roots and rocks.

"Neither do I," agreed Elmer, looking all around to be sure he'd remember the spot. Then he took off his knapsack and unpacked one whistle, one horn, the flashlight and the ball of string.

"Lower your neck so I can measure the strings for your whistle and horn," he said, getting out his jack- knife.

"Why do I have to have them on strings?" asked the dragon.

"I don't want you to drop them. If the men never see them, maybe they'll never guess what happened."

The dragon laughed, and tried out the strings to make sure he could reach the horn and whistle easily. "They're fine," he said. "Now I'll wait here until you tell me it's time. Look, the men are building a campfire. They must be having supper."

"So much the better," said Elmer as he started down into the tunnel with his knapsack. "But how will your family know I'm your friend?"

"Tell them Boris sent you."

"Boris! Is that your name?"

"Yes," said Boris uncomfortably. "I was embarrassed to tell you before."

"It's no worse than Elmer," said Elmer.

"I suppose not, and it's certainly not so bad as some in my family. I might as well tell you the rest. My sisters are Ingeborg, Eustacia, Gertrude, Bertha, Mildred and Hildegarde. And my brothers are Emil, Horatio, Conrad, Jerome, Wilhelm, Dagobert and Egmont. Can you imagine! But hurry! I can't wait to hear what's been happening to them all."

Once inside the tunnel Elmer snapped on his flashlight and shot it over the damp walls. The ceiling was high enough so he could walk easily. Down, down he went, around curves, through small rooms and then more narrow tunnels until at last he came to the place where the dragon had got stuck. He heard scratching and scraping noises and he knew he must be very close to the dragon family.

"It's Elmer Elevator, Boris's friend," he whispered as bravely as he could.

"Who?"

"Elmer Elevator, Boris's friend. Boris is out at the entrance to the tunnel, and I've come to rescue you."

"Turn off your light and come in," whispered another voice, and Elmer walked slowly into the darkness. He stopped, and felt himself surrounded by huge forms breathing excitedly.

"We can't tell you how grateful we are," said the gigantic dragon mother.

"Never mind that," whispered the father. "What's your plan and how can we help? We're almost starved to death."

"Oh, have some chocolate bars," said Elmer, generously giving away his last three. "Here, I'll open them up for you, and divide each one into five pieces. I'm afraid it's not much, but it ought to help a little." He held his flashlight inside the knapsack and divided up the chocolate as he explained his plan. They all chuckled low dragon chuckles and began to feel much better.

Then Elmer made string necklaces for horns and whistles for all the dragons and carefully tied them on. He wanted to take a really good look at the tremendous family, but they were near the entrance to the cave and he had to keep the flashlight in the knapsack. As he took out his cap pistol he asked, "Do you know how heavy the net is, and how it's fastened across the entrance?"

"No," answered the dragon father.

"Well, I'd better look," said Elmer. He quietly crept up toward the net, but the men were sitting close by and he didn't dare get near enough to see it well.

"We'll have to trust to luck," he told the dragons as he started back through the tunnel to Boris.

Chapter Ten

ESCAPE

"Boris! Boris!" whispered Elmer from under the snapdragon bush.

"Are they all right? What's happened?"

"Nothing's happened. Everyone's all right, and we're ready to go. I couldn't see the net, but we'll hope for the best. Did you say one of the men is called Frank?"