Dragon Gold (2 page)

CHAPTER TWO

When Ben told his mum he had decided to become a wizard, she thought it a very good idea.

‘I could do with some magical help round here,' she said. ‘Maybe you could enchant the broom so it'll sweep up all the mess you boys make.'

Ben thought this was a stupid thing to waste wizardly powers on. He spent quite a bit of time daydreaming about what he would do with his magic once he worked out how to be a wizard, including turning one of the boys at school into a cane toad.

Dreaming about it didn't help him learn how to be a wizard, though.

Nor did the wizard's cloak and hat his mum bought him at the school fete, nor the piles of books he borrowed from the library. All his potions ended up smelly messes that his mum threw down the sink, and all his spells were useless. As the weather got hotter and hotter, Ben nearly gave up trying to learn magic. Except when he saw another boy playing with a dog in the park.

There was an old witch's house round the corner from Ben's place. All you could see of it was a tall tower with a pointed roof rising up behind a high sandstone wall covered in ivy. Ugly gargoyles held up the roof, and there was a dirty diamond-paned window grown over with leaves.

No-one knew who lived there. Sometimes, when Ben and Tim walked past with their mum, they could hear someone playing the piano, but they never saw anyone. Everyone called it the witch's house, even Ben's grandma, who had grown up in the house where Ben and Tim now lived. Ever since Grandma had been a little girl, the witch's house had been a place of mystery and rumour. So, naturally, Ben thought it was the perfect place to go looking for magical help.

One day he asked his mum if they could walk past it on their way to meet James, even though it was not the quickest route. Mum liked walking past the witch's house too, so she didn't mind. She told them about the White Lady, the ghost that was meant to haunt the witch's house, and how men had once met in the tower for secret rituals at midnight. It was always hard to know if Ben's mum was telling the truth as she liked telling stories, but Ben didn't mind because her stories were almost always interesting.

As Mum and Tim walked on ahead, hand-in-hand, Ben lagged behind, looking up at the big green doorway set into the wall. He wondered if he dared knock, or put a note for the witch under the door.

A cat was sitting on the hollowed step, washing its tail. It was a smoky-grey colour and had orange eyes. Ben liked cats as well as dogs, and so he bent and rubbed its fur. It arched its back under his hand and purred.

‘I bet you know a spell or two,' Ben said to the cat. ‘I wish you could talk. Then you'd be able to help me.'

‘If I wanted to,' the cat answered.

CHAPTER THREE

Ben stared. ‘Did you just say something?'

‘Your powers of understanding astound me,' the cat answered.

‘Wow!'

The cat resumed washing its tail.

‘So you really are a witch's cat!'

‘Depending upon your definition of witch.'

‘So can you tell me a magic spell?' Ben asked, hopping up and down in excitement.

‘I could. Whether I will is another matter entirely.'

‘Oh, please?'

The cat examined its claws.

‘I've been trying and trying to learn magic, so I can become a wizard and cast spells, but even though I've read every book in the library, none has been any use at all.'

‘Humans like to make things so complicated,' the cat sighed. ‘Magic is really very simple.'

‘Really?'

‘Of course.'

‘So what do I do? Do I need a magic wand? A book of spells?'

‘If it makes you feel better,' the cat said. ‘Tell me, what do you want so badly that you are willing to meddle with magic?'

‘Dragon's gold,' Ben answered. ‘Or pirates' treasure. Either would do.'

‘Humans are so mercenary,' the cat sighed. ‘Very well. What shall be my reward for helping you?'

‘I don't know,' Ben answered blankly.

‘Pilchards,' the cat told him. ‘And a bowl of cream. The elderly woman with whom I reside has an unfortunate tendency to forget the luxuries of life. Not to mention the simple necessities, like food and fresh water. She grows more absentminded with every passing year.'

‘Are you talking about the witch?'

The cat yawned. ‘In a manner of speaking.'

Ben was puzzled.

‘Pilchards,' the cat said. ‘And cream. Every night.'

Ben hesitated, then said, ‘All right,' thinking he'd worry about how to manage that later.

‘Excellent. Now, you desired a magic wand. Let me think. If you rummage around in that pile of fallen leaves over there, I think you may find a suitable stick . . . I mean, wand.'

Ben did as he was told and found an old stick, about thirty centimetres long and very knobbly. A few old, dried-up leaves still hung along its length. ‘Do you mean this?' he asked, holding it up uncertainly.

‘Yes. Excellent.'

‘This is a magic wand?'

‘A perfectly acceptable magic wand. It's oak, the most ancient and powerful of woods.'

‘Oh. OK.'

‘Rub it all over, saying, “I hereby charge you, wand, with the powers of wind, water, flame and rock”.' Ben did as he was told. ‘Then, when it's exactly noon, point your wand up at the sun and say:

“With these magic words, I begin my spell.

Hear me, first star, hear me well.

Send me dragon's gold, from the days of old.

The spell has been cast, let the magic last.”'

Ben repeated the spell over and over until he felt sure he had learnt it by heart. ‘All right!' he said then, excited. ‘I'll go and do it now.'

‘Don't forget the pilchards and cream,' the cat said, curling its tail around its paws.

‘I won't,' Ben promised and ran off to join Tim and his mum. Behind him, the cat yawned and washed its face.

CHAPTER FOUR

‘That's not really a magic wand,' James said. ‘It's just an old stick.'

He and Ben were sitting under a tree in the park, while Tim and Sarah dug up the dirt nearby. Sarah was James's little sister, and she had freckles and long red-gold hair, with a very short, crooked fringe which she had chopped herself with her mother's kitchen scissors. Sarah always wore pink. Today she was dressed as a fairy princess, with a pink tutu, a shiny silver plastic tiara, and high-heeled fluffy pink slippers. She was getting rather grubby in the dirt. Ben's mum and James's mum were sitting on a picnic rug nearby, looking at the sparkling water of the bay and talking.

‘It
is
a wand,' Ben said stubbornly. ‘It's oak, the most ancient and powerful wood in the world.'

‘Says who?'

‘Says the witch's cat.'

‘Yeah, sure,' James said. ‘Cats can't talk.'

‘This is a witch's cat and it talked,' Ben said. ‘It told me a spell to say.' He squinted up at the sun, which was a hot white ball in the middle of a very blue sky.

‘So say the spell then.'

‘I will when it's exactly noon,' Ben said.

‘I bet it doesn't work.'

‘I bet it does.'

‘I bet it doesn't.'

‘I bet you a pile of dragon's gold that it does!'

‘OK,' James said. ‘That'd be good.'

At last the sun was directly overhead. Ben took a deep breath, stood up and pointed his wand straight up. ‘With these magic words, I begin my spell,' he said. ‘Hear me, first star, hear me well. Send me dragon gold, from the days of old. The spell has been cast, let the magic last.'

Then, out of the blazing heat of the sun, a dragon came plunging towards them. It came so fast that Ben only had time to gasp and drop his wand, throwing his arms over his head. Then the dragon's leathery golden wings snapped open, blotting out the sun. With a triumphant scream, it snatched Sarah up in its claws and soared away.

‘Gracious!' Mum cried. ‘What a noise! Was that you, Ben? I wish you wouldn't screech like that.'

Ben couldn't speak. She glanced over at him, then frowned a little, looking around. ‘Where's Sarah?' she asked.

No-one answered. James was so white all his freckles stood out as if they'd been splodged on with an orange crayon.

Then Tim pointed to the sky. ‘Up dere,' he said.

‘Where, darling?'

‘Up dere.'

‘A dragon took her,' Ben said. His voice sounded funny.

‘Ben!' she said. ‘This isn't the time for making up stories. Where did she go?'

‘It's true, a dragon did take her,' Ben said.

‘Oh, Ben!' Mum said in exasperation and called to James's mum. The two mothers began to look everywhere, shouting Sarah's name, their voices getting higher and shriller.

‘What are we going to do?' James whispered.

‘We'll have to get her back . . . somehow,' Ben answered, feeling quite sick.

‘Me too?' Tim asked.

‘But how? Where?' James asked.

‘I'll go and ask the cat,' Ben said.

‘OK,' James said.

‘You've got to admit dragons really do exist,' Ben said. ‘And that my wand is magic.'

‘Yeah, I suppose so,' James said. ‘I wish it wasn't though.'

So did Ben.