Dragon White Read online

  She felt responsible for the pair of them. Sometimes, she wished she had never made Tân. She’d so needed someone to believe in her magic powers and Harri was so willing to help her. Tân was just a small present she’d given him on the spur of the moment. She hadn’t really thought of the consequences of a young boy owning a dragon in the modern world.

  But then her life had changed so much because of her gift. It was wonderful to have Harri and his mum in her life, to feel wanted and needed again.

  Harri and Tân were inseparable. After Harri had caught dragon fever, a special bond had been created between the pair.

  The crowd was caught up in the celebrations. No one was expecting a real dragon so nobody saw one, just a fabulous radio-controlled model. So she didn’t need to worry too much.

  ‘It’s amazing what they can do with technology these days, isn’t it?’ The lady behind her said to her partner.

  But then Imelda sensed that someone was watching Harri. A man that didn’t fit in the crowd. He hadn’t come for a fun day out.

  She saw it all. She saw Harri slip a worm to Tân who snapped it up in that playful way of his.

  Then she felt the man’s eyes on her and she could see that he knew. She could tell that the knowledge would eat away at him, that he would have to find out more about Tân, that he wouldn’t let go until he did. She knew that she would see him again … very soon.

  It was time to disappear — to really disappear, the full invisibility kind of disappear. She pulled her cloak around her and … she just melted away. The crowd flowed in to take up the space where she’d been standing.

  ‘What the…?’ Ryan’s dad shook his head and nearly swore.

  The man next to him frowned.

  Confused, perplexed, but excited that he knew something special that no one else knew, Ryan’s dad pushed his way out of the crowd and walked home briskly, thinking, planning.

  ‘That blooming dragon is real!’ he told himself for the umpteenth time, as he put the key in the front door.

  Chapter Seven

  The parade wound its way down the hill to St Gertrude’s Well. There were drum majorettes with a kazoo band, sounding like a hive of angry bees, a drumming group making an almighty din and dancing wildly, lots of people dressed up in colourful costumes, shaking tins and buckets at people, asking for charity donations.

  All the different churches marched with their banners fluttering. An ambulance and a fire engine flashed their dazzling blue lights. A fire rescue control vehicle whooped its siren every now and then. A steel band swayed and jived on the back of the truck. It was followed by St Gertrude’s Carnival Queen, who was dressed up as St Gertrude herself. She and her lovely attendants were joined by Mister St Gertrude’s, the bodybuilding champion, who wore a very skimpy knight-in-tiny-pieces-of-shining-armour outfit, that showed off his huge, rippling muscles.

  When the parade reached St Gertrude’s Well, a choir sang an anthem, as all the civic dignitaries lined up.

  The mayor, in his golden chain, made a speech.

  ‘What a wonderful day and wonderful celebration of our town’s Patron Saint,’ he began. ‘Even more wonderful was to have our procession led by a dragon that looked so real we could almost be back in the fifteenth century!’

  Harri froze. The mayor seemed to be looking directly at him. His shining cheeks glowed with enthusiasm. Harri didn’t want anyone drawing attention to Tân. People would start asking questions!

  So far, no one had said anything other than what an amazing model it was and how clever Harri was to have built it. Tân had done his job and Harri had made sure he was settled quietly in his box, feeding on the rest of the worms.

  ‘As I revealed in my latest book,’ the mayor continued, ‘St Gertrude was also responsible for saving the town from the ravages of a marauding dragon. Legend tells that she tamed the dragon and had it live with her in Castle Gertrude, until the day she died. Copies of my book are on sale now in shops around the town.’

  Phew! The mayor was just trying to sell his book. Harri had got away with it. No one suspected the truth. After all, if you saw a red dragon flying in the street, you’d think it was an advertising stunt or something, wouldn’t you? At least you’d think there were strings holding it up or it had propellers attached.

  As the clock struck midday, the crowd hushed and bowed their heads. The bishop, in all her fine robes, said prayers and flicked water from the Holy Well all over the crowd.

  And then it was all over. People broke up into groups, chatting and laughing.

  Harri and Ryan stood next to Mr Davies, patiently waiting for him to stop talking to the mayor. At last he noticed them.

  ‘Oh! Are you off now, lads?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes, sir … I mean Chief,’ Harri said.

  ‘Well, thank you, Harri. That dragon of yours was the star of the show!’

  ‘It was amazing!’ the mayor agreed.

  ‘It’s just a model,’ Harri said, nervously.

  ‘I know!’ Mr Davies laughed. ‘But it looks so real and you fly it so well, I could almost believe it was alive!’

  Harri didn’t like the way the conversation was going. ‘Thank you, sir, er, Chief!’ he put his head down and made his escape. ‘Come on, Ry!’

  They had only gone a few paces when Mr Davies called out. ‘Oh Harri?’

  Harri froze. He could feel his heart thumping in his chest. This was it. Mr Davies had worked it out and knew the truth. Slowly he turned round and looked at Mr Davies.

  ‘Sir?’

  Mr Davies smiled and winked. ‘See you in school on Monday, there’ll be class credits for both of you!’

  ‘Phew!’ Harri breathed again. ‘Come on, Ry. Let’s go!’

  Chapter Eight

  ‘See ya tomorrow then, Ry?’ The boys stood by the postbox on the corner of the street, by the library. ‘I’ll have to help in the shop this afternoon. It’ll be busy today.’

  ‘Yeah!’ Ry laughed. ‘See ya then. I’m going to change into some normal clothes.’

  ‘You should wash your face too!’ Harri giggled. ‘It’s covered in Ancient British dirt.’

  ‘You can talk!’ Ryan jeered, jogging backwards down the side road that led to his house.

  The Red Dragons liked to look authentic, which meant that everyone had to rub their faces with a dirty brown, greasy cream to make it look as if they hadn’t washed for months.

  I wonder if they ever wash those great big hairy beards? Harri thought as he pushed open the old, heavy door of Merlin’s Cave.

  Merlin’s Cave was busy. The town was full of tourists who all wanted souvenir bottles of water from St Gertude’s Well. Imelda was helping out in the shop, answering questions about her magic potions and spells.

  An American lady was studying a packet of herbs. ‘And you say this helps you to concentrate in exams?’ she asked in her twangy voice.

  ‘Oh, definitely,’ Imelda said. ‘Brew it up and drink it like tea before an exam, and you’ll remember everything you ever revised.’

  ‘That’s so quaint!’ The lady laughed like a donkey. ‘I’d get arrested if I told them that at customs at the airport back home!’

  Imelda smiled patiently. Some people just didn’t believe in magic. It was pointless trying to explain it to them.

  She kept glancing nervously out of the window and down the street. Her mind was distracted. Where was Harri? He should be back by now. She wouldn’t be happy until he and Tân were safely home again.

  ‘There you are!’ Imelda smiled and sighed with relief. ‘Go and put Tân out in the back and clean yourself up. We don’t want anyone asking questions about the dragon at the parade.’

  ‘It’s okay,’ Harri said cheerfully. ‘We were very careful. Everyone thinks Tân is a model.’

  Imelda’s face crinkled up. ‘Let’s hope so,’ she said.

  But deep down, in her heart, she knew there was going to be trouble ahead, and it was all her fault!

  Chapter Nine

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nbsp; ‘Hi, Ry! Had a good morning?’ Ryan’s dad was busy laying the table for lunch.

  ‘Yeah, great, thanks!’ Ryan put his head under the kitchen tap and began scrubbing his face with washing-up liquid.

  ‘You and Harri were on the TV.’

  ‘Did you see us? Did you record it?’ Ryan spluttered.

  ‘No, but it’ll be on the internet.’

  Ryan patted his face with a towel and clambered upstairs to his room where he dumped his Ancient British costume and got back into sensible jeans and T-shirt.

  As Ryan sat down at the kitchen table, his dad slid a plate in front of him with an exaggerated flourish. ‘Compliments of the chef!’ he announced.

  ‘Yum!’ Ryan’s eyes lit up. ‘Ikea meatballs and microwave chips! My favourite!’

  Ryan’s dad waited until his son had eaten a few mouthfuls then, all sweetness and innocence, just sort of making gentle conversation, he said, ‘Harri’s trained that dragon really well, hasn’t he?’

  ‘Mmmmm!’ Ryan spluttered through a mouthful of chips. ‘You should see it when Harri calls him and he flies right to Harri’s glove and…’

  The clock ticked in the silence as the penny dropped and Ryan realised that he’d been tricked.

  ‘…er-er, I mean when Harri presses the home button on the remote control, then Tân comes straight…’

  Oh no! He’d used Tân’s name like he was real. There was no way he could talk himself out of this. His dad said nothing, but slowly popped a meatball into his mouth, letting Ryan tie himself up in knots of confusion and shame. Shame, because he had given away Harri’s secret, probably the biggest secret he would ever be trusted with in his life.

  Harri was his best friend. When Harri finds out, he’ll never talk to me again, Ryan thought. Dad was never going to forget that Tân had blasted his model Chinese J-20 Mighty Dragon Stealth Fighter Aircraft out of the sky, or that he had been beaten by a mere boy.

  Dad loved winning. But more than he loved winning, he hated losing. Luckily, because he was always careful to make sure he never started something he couldn’t win, he rarely lost at anything.

  But when he did lose, well… He never gave up until he had got his own back, until he got what he like to call, ‘Justice!’

  Ryan’s dad waited until his son’s shoulders slumped in defeat. There was no way out — no going back.

  ‘So tell me,’ Ryan’s dad smiled in that thoughtful, really wanting to know because he was really interested way of his. ‘Where did Harri get his dragon from? Tân, was it? Did you say his name was Tân? I mean, a dragon’s not something you just go out and buy at a pet shop, is it?’

  Ryan stared at his plate. Three meatballs remained. He’d lost his appetite. His mouthful of half-chewed chips tasted like dry cardboard. What could he do?

  ‘I’d really like to know…’ Ryan’s dad let the silence do the work. The clock ticked on. The sound of racing cars drifted in from the grand prix on the living room TV. Birds sang, a lawn mower started up in the distance, a bee buzzed lazily past the open window.

  A thought drifted through Ryan’s head. This is what people mean when they say that silence is deafening.

  Ryan reached for his glass of water. He thought he would explode if he kept his silence a moment longer.

  Chapter Ten

  It was Monday morning and the playground was pandemonium as usual. Kids were running about, shouting, screaming, waving goodbye to their mums and dads.

  Harri bounced up to Ryan and tapped him on the opposite shoulder.

  Ryan fell for the simple trick and looked the wrong way.

  ‘Hi, Ry. I thought you were coming round to the shop yesterday?’ Harri chirped.

  ‘Uh, yeah. I—I—I had to do something with my dad,’ Ryan stammered.

  ‘That’s okay,’ Harri laughed. ‘The town was full of tourists and the shop was so busy. Mum had me helping out, packing bags. If I see another bottle of St Gertude’s water…’

  Mr Davies appeared in front of them. ‘Hello, boys! That was great work you did on Saturday. People have been talking about your dragon all weekend, Harri!’

  ‘See you in class,’ Ryan mumbled, breaking up the trio and melting into the throng of children that were waiting for the bell that would let them into school for the day.

  ‘Oh, yeah. Thank you, sir,’ Harri said, distractedly. That was odd. Why hadn’t Ryan stayed to talk with Mr Davies? He’d worked just as hard as Harri to fly Tân at the parade on Saturday. He deserved half the praise.

  ‘It was amazing!’ Mr Davies beamed. ‘In fact,’ he continued, ‘we were wondering if your dragon could be our mascot at our big meeting in August, for the Battle of St Gertrude’s. We’re really going to whoop those Saxons and make them wish they’d never heard of the Red Dragons!’

  August? That was years away! ‘Oh, yes, sir,’ Harri said, hoping Mr Davies would have forgotten by then.

  ‘Oh, magic!’ Mr Davies grinned. ‘There’s the bell! See you in class, Harri!’

  Magic? Did Mr Davies know? It was so hard keeping Tân a secret.

  Chapter Eleven

  ‘I almost feel like shutting up the shop for the day,’ Harri’s mum sighed, as she threaded a new roll of till receipt paper into the cash register. ‘That was such a busy weekend.’

  ‘I can look after the shop for you.’ Imelda smiled. ‘You deserve a day off.’

  ‘Really?’ Harri’s mum thought of all the things she could be doing other than restocking the shelves and waiting for customers. There never were that many customers on a Monday.

  She could be having a day out in the sunshine shopping! Ever since they had been selling Imelda’s magical potions, the shop had been making real money. Maybe she could treat herself to some new shoes? Maybe she could get a present for Imelda to say thank you?

  Imelda almost pushed her out of the door. ‘Off you go!’ she insisted. ‘You spend far too long cooped up in this shop. Go and have a few hours to yourself.’

  Harri’s mum felt she was being really naughty, like she was sneaking off school, but it was wonderful to be out in the sunshine, free, with nothing to do but go and look around the shops. She could call it research! See if she could pick up any new ideas from other shops — why, that was almost like work! That made her feel much better.

  Imelda closed the door and pottered around the shop, tidying and filling up the empty shelves. It was wonderful to be useful and wanted.

  * * *

  In the library across the road, Ryan’s dad chose a computer magazine. He got himself a cup of coffee and sat down in the window seat.

  He hadn’t been to the library for a long time. He read everything on his Kindle these days and if he needed to know anything, well, you just look it up on the internet, don’t you?

  They’d smartened up the library, though. And you didn’t used to be able to get coffee. He might come again. They had a good collection of magazines and they were lending ebooks now. He’d have to ask and see how to do that.

  But what was more important was the view outside the window. Across the street was the dry cleaners, next to that was the charity shop, and next to that was Merlin’s Cave.

  The row of shops was over a hundred years old and the red brickwork was a bit crumbly in places. Merlin’s Cave had once been a chemist’s shop. The large windows were decorated with a border of smaller panes of coloured glass.

  It was very old fashioned, but somehow it seemed suitable for a shop selling magic. He was beginning to believe in magic. How could he not? He had the evidence of his own eyes. That dragon was real!

  Harri’s mum was just coming out of the shop as he sat down. She wore a big smile as she turned her face up to the sun. She slipped up a side alley and soon reappeared, driving her car.

  Good! Ryan’s dad smirked. He watched her pull out and drive off towards the big shops on the edge of town. She’ll be on her own now!

  He finished his coffee and put the magazine back in the rack.

  As he left
the library, he picked up a leaflet in the foyer.

  ‘Download library books to your Kindle or tablet,’ it read.

  He folded it carefully and slipped it into his back pocket as he crossed the road to Merlin’s Cave.

  Chapter Twelve

  Harri unpeeled his banana and took a bite. Ryan had joined in the football kick-about at the other end of the playground. Ryan was avoiding him. He kept looking the other way in class and not answering Harri’s questions.

  Megan and Lexi mooched over to him.

  ‘Alright, Harri?’ Megan asked.

  ‘Mmmf!’ Harri said, through a mouthful of banana.

  ‘Saw you in the parade on Saturday. Your dragon was amazing — did you really make it all by yourself?’

  Quick! Change the subject! ‘You were with the Carnival Queen, weren’t you, Lexi?’

  Lexi laughed. ‘Yeah! We were soaked when that bishop lady flicked water all over us!’

  ‘I didn’t recognise Mr Davies, at first,’ said Megan. ‘He looked so weird all dressed up as that Ancient Briton thing he does.’

  Ryan had just scored a goal and was running round the playground, his shirt tail hanging out, punching the air as if he had just won the World Cup.

  ‘Not playing football with Ryan, then?’ Megan asked.

  The bell rang for the end of break. ‘No,’ Harri said quietly. He lined up at the front of his class’s row. Ryan, red-faced and out of breath lined up at the back.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The doorbell tinkled in a friendly fashion. It was easily a hundred years old. It suited the shop. It was part of its history. How many generations of customers had come tinkling through those doors over the years?

  Before Harri’s mum had opened Merlin’s Cave, as well as being a chemist, the shop had been a cobbler’s, a printer’s and a video rental shop.

  ‘Come in,’ Imelda said quietly. ‘I’ve been expecting you.’