Dragon Gold (4 page)

CHAPTER SEVEN

The rug came down to the ground with a thump, and the boys were all flung off. Ben rolled over something hard and knobbly, like pebbles and rocks, and banged up against a wall. Cautiously he opened his eyes.

It was pitch-black, and stinking hot. Slowly a smoky-red light flared up, along with a low rumbling roaring sound. Ben looked about him anxiously. They were in a huge cave, so enormous he could not see the far walls. Above him was a great vault of shadows. Gradually the red light and the rumbling sound faded away again. It was hard not to feel scared as the darkness fell down like a hot, heavy blanket. He sat really still, then slowly the light came back again, the air smelling smokier than ever, stinging his eyes.

He gasped in surprise. He was sitting on a simply gigantic mound of treasure. Gold cups and crowns, jewelled sceptres, sparkling bracelets, necklaces of rubies and emeralds and opals and sapphires, shining golden plates and jugs, and trillions and zillions of coins and jewels rolled away in golden hills and mountains as far as the eye could see.

Ben scrambled to his feet, leaning his hand against the wall to balance himself. It was burning hot to touch. He snatched his hand away, almost overbalancing as the treasure slid from under his feet. Then the light faded again and he could see nothing but fizzling darkness, no matter how wide-open he stretched his eyes. So, tentatively, Ben groped out and touched the hot wall. It throbbed under his hand. Ben felt very uneasy. The roaring sounds, which rose and fell so steadily, suddenly sounded a lot like snoring.

‘Don't be silly,' Ben said to himself.

The smoky-red light brightened the cave again. Ben was able to see the wall, which curved away from him on either side. Towering over him, it was the same golden colour as the treasure, and made of hundreds of huge overlapping scales, like a snake's skin. Ben's heart beat hard and fast. He took a shaky step away, craning his neck to get a better look. The wall was topped with huge spikes that grew smaller as they curved down and round into a long snaky neck. At the end of the neck was a huge dragon's head, with slitted eyes, gaping nostrils and three horns.

Ben screeched and jumped away.

He had been leaning up against the dragon's back!

As big as a jumbo jet, the dragon was as comfortably asleep as if it lay on pillows instead of hard, knobbly treasure. Every time it snored, flames flickered out from between its spear-like teeth, and tendrils of smoke curled up from the black pits of its nostrils. A grey cloud of smoke hung over its head like a fuzzy halo.

Ben looked across at James and Tim, who were staring at the dragon like hypnotised mice.

‘Sshh! Don't wake it up,' Ben whispered. ‘Let's find Sarah and get out of here.'

‘I hope the dragon hasn't eaten her,' James whispered back.

‘Me too,' Tim and Ben said together.

The dragon stirred and sighed, sending out a big gust of flame. The shadowy stretches of the cavern were lit up with that eye-smarting red light. To his amazement, Ben saw an old wooden ship lying wrecked on a great hill of treasure on the far side of the dragon.

‘A pirate ship,' he whispered in delight.

The ship looked as if it was sailing away on waves glittering with the last rays of the setting sun. Except its mast was broken, its boards were rotten, and the shining ocean was made of gold and jewels.

Then the dragon breathed in and the darkness fell again, hiding the pirate ship once more. The boys all froze, too scared to move. They waited until the dragon snored out its gust of flames and they could see again before slowly scrabbling towards the ship. Coins and jewels tumbled away at every step, ringing out like dropped bells.

Then Ben saw the bones, gleaming palely through the haze of smoke. His heart shrank and grew cold.

CHAPTER EIGHT

A long table set with golden plates and goblets and candelabras stood near the dragon's snaky tail. Skeletons sat all round it, grinning into the darkness.

Ben had never seen a real skeleton before. He stared at them, feeling rather peculiar in the tummy. He had not realised how scary they were. He glanced at James, who looked as sick as he felt.

‘None of them are Sarah,' Ben said comfortingly.

‘You sure?'

Ben nodded. ‘They're the pirates, I bet. I wonder how they ended up here.'

‘Maybe the dragon ate them all?'

‘They wouldn't be skeletons then, they'd just be a pile of bones.'

‘Yuk,' James said.

The red light sank away into darkness again, unnerving them all. No-one wanted to be near the skeletons in the dark. They scrambled away hurriedly, sending treasure tumbling down, rattling and banging.

‘Sshh!' Ben shushed.

The dragon breathed out a great gust of flames and Ben glanced at it nervously. Then he grabbed James's arm and pointed. Something rather odd stood in the curve of the dragon's body, protected by its sharp hind claws. It was a little white bed with a pink patchwork quilt.

‘Do you think . . . ?' he whispered.

They began to slip and slide across the mounds of treasure, keeping as quiet as they could. The flying carpet floated along behind them, undulating slightly in every gust of the dragon's fiery breath.

Tim scrambled after it, laughing and pointing, and sending gold plates and cups clattering down.

‘Be quiet, Timmy, please!' Ben begged.

Tim opened his blue eyes very wide and nodded, trying to tiptoe. More treasure crashed and rolled away under his feet.

The bed was piled high with pink flowered cushions and pillows. Fast asleep in the midst of all this pink was Sarah, a real diamond tiara on her head. Her arms and fingers were crammed with rings and bracelets, and necklaces hung about her throat. It was a wonder she could sleep so deeply.

For some reason the sight of her made Ben and James feel quite cross. They woke her up none too gently. She sat up, all her necklaces and bracelets clinking. ‘What are you doing here?' she asked sleepily.

‘We've come to rescue you!' James said angrily.

‘What from?' she said, stretching and yawning.

‘From the dragon!' Ben said.

‘Oh, I don't need rescuing,' Sarah said. ‘There's no need to be scared of the dragon. He's a great big pussycat. Look at all the presents he's given me.' Sarah waved her jewelled hands around, showing them an array of golden-haired dolls, and a number of pink and white silk dresses hanging in a gilded white wardrobe. Beside the bed was a silver table with a plate of little pink iced cakes and a crystal jug of strawberry milk on it. Sarah loved strawberry milk.

‘He thinks I'm a real princess,' Sarah went on. ‘He wants to adopt me and keep me here. He's lonely, poor darling.'

‘He can't adopt you, you've already got a family,' James cried indignantly.

‘Oh, I know,' Sarah said. ‘But it's been rather fun pretending I really am a princess, at least until I convince him to take me home. If I hadn't, he might have eaten me, you know. I'm sure he wouldn't have been so nice to me if I had told him I was just an ordinary girl, and not a princess at all.'

‘You mean you are not a princess?' a huge, deep, gruff voice suddenly boomed out, fiery light blooming all around them. ‘You have been deceiving me?'