Little Giant--Big Trouble (2 page)

The jousting match ended. Wiglaf tallied up the final score:

“Art thou all present?” Brother Dave asked from the driver’s seat as the DSA team climbed onto the donkey cart. “Then off we goest!”

He clicked his tongue. Lumpen began plodding back to DSA.

As the cart rolled over the drawbridge, Erica turned to look back at KNC.

“They sure have a beautiful castle.” She sighed. “If DSA had all the fancy things KNC has, think how much we could learn! Maybe we’d even beat them at jousting.”

“KNC lads go dragon hunting way more than we do,” Dudwin said. “I heard them say they’re going to slay a dragon tomorrow!”

“Class I will go a-slaying, Dud,” Erica told him. “Be patient.”

“Ha!” said Dudwin. “The KNC lads shall slay all the dragons. There won’t be any left for us.”

“No danger of that,” said Angus. “Thousands of dragons live in the Dark Forest alone. New ones are hatching every day. Right, Wiggie?”

Wiglaf nodded. He thought back to the time when he and Angus had found a purple dragon’s egg. They took it back to their dorm room, and it hatched. When the little dragon pipling first opened his eyes, he saw Wiglaf. So he called Wiglaf “Mommy.” He called Angus “Sir.” Wiglaf and Angus called him Worm. He was half-grown now and lived in the forest. But sometimes he flew back to DSA and stayed in the library, where Brother Dave kept him hidden from Headmaster Mordred. Wiglaf hadn’t seen Worm in weeks. He hoped no harm had come to him.

“Let’s sing that song we learned at Camp Dragononka!” Janice said. And she burst out singing:

The rest of the team joined in.

Slimy eel ade trickled into Wiglaf’s left ear. He sighed. It was going to be a long, sticky ride back to DSA.

 

 

 

 

L
ater that evening, Wiglaf ran down the steps to the Class I dorm to say good night to Dudwin. He peeked in at the door.

“The KNC lads are going dragon-questing,” Dudwin was telling his friends.

“Lucky them!” said Bilge, Angus’s cousin who was in Class I.

“Yeah, lucky them,” said Maggot, Bilge’s twin brother.

“I wish we could fight a dragon!” said a burly Class I lad.

“Me too,” said Dudwin. “The KNC lads are going after a small dragon. It has a huge hoard of gold. Mountains of it!”

Dudwin did not see Wiglaf standing in the doorway. He was having too much fun telling his story.

“It has pink ears,” Dudwin continued. “So it’s a boy dragon. And it has yellow eyes with cherry red centers.”

Wiglaf gasped. Worm had yellow eyes with cherry red centers!

“They are going to slay this dragon tomorrow,” Dudwin said.

What if the KNC lads are after Worm!
thought Wiglaf. He didn’t wait to hear any more. He raced back upstairs to the Class II dorm.

“Angus, wake up!” he cried, shaking his friend.

He told Angus what he had heard.

“This dragon sounds exactly like Worm!” Wiglaf said. “We must save him!”

Angus sat up. “You’re right,” he said. “But there are lots of KNC lads. Let’s get Erica and Janice to help us.”

“Good idea,” said Wiglaf. “We can sneak over to the lasses’ dorm and tell them to pack up. We’ll leave at dawn.”

“What if Frypot catches us?” asked Angus. “He’ll throw us in the dungeon for time-out, and we’ll never save Worm.”

Wiglaf frowned, thinking. At last he said, “I still have the Cap of Invisibility that Zelnoc gave Dudwin. If we stick very close together, I think it will turn both of us invisible.”

Angus shook his head. “Zelnoc is the world’s worst wizard. His spells always go wrong. If we put on that helmet, we could end up with five feet. Or nothing but arms!”

Wiglaf shrugged. “It’s worth a try.”

He reached under his cot and pulled out a bright blue cap covered with silver lightning bolts. He put it on his head, closed his eyes, and chanted: “Zippity zap!”

“Gadzooks!” cried Angus. “You vanished!”

Now Angus felt an invisible arm wrap around his shoulders. He looked down at where his feet should be. But he couldn’t see them!

“Guess what? You’re invisible, too!” said Wiglaf.

“’Tis true, I’m gone!” said invisible Angus. “But how do we walk like this?”

“We won the three-legged race on Field Day, remember?” said invisible Wiglaf. “Let’s go.”

The lads stumbled invisibly down the stone staircase and down the hall to the big wooden door. Wiglaf pushed it open. He peered into the castle yard. It looked empty.

“Egad!” whispered Angus. “What’s
that?”

Wiglaf saw it, too: a monstrous shape looming out of the dark. His heart nearly stopped.

“‘Tis a dragon,” he managed.

The dragon held very still. Wiglaf squinted into the night.

“Angus,” he said, his heart beating once more. “’Tis only Old Blodgett, the practice dragon.”

Angus sighed with relief.

The two crept invisibly across the castle yard. They tiptoed up the front steps of the Lasses’ Dorm Tower, nearly bumping into Frypot, who was standing guard at the foot of the tower.

“Who goes there?” squawked Frypot, sniffing suspiciously. “I smell eel.”

Uh-oh!
thought Wiglaf.
I still stink of eel ade! We’re goners!
He crossed his fingers and held his breath.

“But then I always smell eel,” Frypot muttered to himself. “That’s what happens when you cook eels all day long. Eels, eels, eels. Never a nice swamp rat or a juicy pile of toads. What I could cook with some nice, plump leeches!”

Frypot stomped down the steps, still muttering.

Wiglaf watched him disappear into the dark. He let out his breath. Then the two lads slipped into the tower. They hurried invisibly up the winding stone staircase to the Class II Lasses’ Dorm.

“Now to reappear,” whispered Wiglaf. He let go of Angus.

Instantly, Angus became visible.

“Zappity zip!” Wiglaf chanted.

Nothing happened.

“Zappity zip!” Wiglaf said loudly.

Suddenly the door in front of them flew open. Erica stuck her head out.

“Angus?” she said. “What are you doing here?”

“I...uh,” Angus sputtered as all the lasses jumped off their cots and ran to the doorway to see what was happening.

“Angus!” squealed Princess Gwendolyn of Gargglethorp. “Is this a raid?”

“No!” yelped Angus. “And it’s not just me. Wiglaf is here, too.”

“Where?” said Gwen. “I don’t see him.”

“Zappity zip!” shouted Wiglaf. Then he shouted, “OW!”

Angus and the lasses watched wide-eyed as Wiglaf’s hands appeared, then disappeared. His nose appeared.

The lasses giggled.

“Yikes!” Wiglaf cried as his nose vanished and his left leg appeared. He reached up, grabbed the cap, and tugged with all his might. It popped off, and suddenly, all of Wiglaf was visible again.

Janice snapped her gum excitedly. “I love DSA!” she said. “There’s always something crazy happening!”

“Shhhh!” warned Erica. “You don’t want Frypot to catch them.” She eyed Wiglaf. “So what are you doing here?”

“We need to talk to you and Janice,” said Wiglaf.

The two lasses stepped out into the hallway. Wiglaf told them about the KNC lads and how Worm might be in danger.

“Lancelot’s liver!” Janice said. “I remember Worm. He came to warn us about Snagglefahng.”

“We must rescue him!” said Wiglaf.

“You’re right, Wiggie,” Erica said. “And we will. Normally we are dragon slayers-but now we shall be dragon savers!”

 

 

 

 

T
he next morning at dawn, Wiglaf and his friends knocked on the headmaster’s door. It took some time before Mordred opened it. He glared at the four students with sleepy violet eyes.

“Wha...?” he said, clutching a teddy bear. “Oh, it’s you, nephew.”

“Good morning, Uncle Mordred,” said Angus. “We must speak with you. It’s an emergency.”

“Emergency, schmemergency.” Mordred stumbled back into bed. He pulled the covers up to his chin and closed his violet eyes. “You want me to spend my precious gold on fripperies like jousting uniforms and horses,” he growled. “That isn’t going to happen—ever. Now begone!”

Wiglaf stepped forward.

“Headmaster Mordred, sir,” he said, “we overheard the KNC lads talking yesterday. They say there’s a small, weak dragon with a giant hoard of gold living in the Hermit’s Hovel—”

Mordred’s eyes flew open. “Giant hoard of gold?” he cried, sitting up. “Oh, Teddy,” he cried, squashing his bear to his chest. “This could be the jackpot we’ve been dreaming of!” He seemed to notice the students again, and stuffed the teddy bear under his pillow.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” he barked. “Go and slay this dragon at once! Go, go, GO! Get me that GOLD!”

Wiglaf, Angus, Erica, and Janice scrambled out of the office. As they ran down the hall, Mordred stuck his head out the door.

“You’d better get to that dragon before the KNC lads do!” he bellowed.

“Yes, sir!” they yelled together.

The four hurried out into the castle yard. They had packed the night before. Wiglaf had his sword, Surekill. Erica had her sword and her Sir Lancelot tool belt. Janice was carrying her jousting lance. Angus was armed with a big bag of candy from his stash.

“I have a map of the Dark Forest from the Sir Lancelot Catalog,” Erica said as they hurried toward the castle gate. “I shall lead the way.”

As Wiglaf made way for Erica to take the lead he heard someone calling, “Wiglaf, wait!”

Wiglaf turned to see Dudwin running toward them.

“Where are you going, Wiggie?” Dudwin asked.

“On a dangerous quest,” Wiglaf said. “You can’t come.”

Dudwin narrowed his eyes. “You’re going dragon slaying, aren’t you, Wiggie?”

“No, we’re not,” Wiglaf said truthfully. After all, they were going dragon
saving,
not dragon
slaying.

“Yes, you are!” Dudwin cried. “And I’m coming!”

“No, Dud,” said Wiglaf firmly. “You’ll slow us down.”

“I won’t!” Dudwin protested.

“No,” Erica said. “That is our final answer. Come on, team.”

The Class II lads and lasses set off across the drawbridge. Wiglaf looked back. Dudwin was watching them go. His arms were crossed. He looked mad. Wiglaf felt bad, but there was no way his little brother could come. They had to travel fast to beat the KNC lads to Worm, or something terrible might happen!

“We need a name for our quest,” Erica said as they walked up Huntsman’s Path. She thought for a moment. “We should call ourselves WORM,” she said at last. “The Worm Official Rescue Mission!”

Wiglaf grinned. “I like it.”

“Me too,” said Janice. “Hey, maybe that’s what our jousting team needs—a cool name. What about the DSA Donkeys?”

Angus made a face.

WORM hurried along the road as the sun rose in the sky. At last they reached the Dark Forest. The trees were so thick that the sun barely peeked through. Even at midday it was dark.

And scary. Wiglaf heard strange calls from high in the trees. Strange hissing sounds came from the bushes. Strange growling sounds came from beside the path. But Wiglaf thought that might be Angus’s stomach.

“I’m hungry,” Angus said a moment later. “Let’s stop for lunch.”

“Wait!” said Erica. “Listen!”

They stopped. Wiglaf heard the usual Dark Forest noises. Then he heard a twig snap. He nearly jumped out of his boots.

Was something creeping up on them?

“Quick!” Erica whispered. “Over there!”

They ran to the mouth of a cave. It smelled bad. Worse than Frypot’s leftover Eel Surprise. Worse than Bilge and Maggot’s dead leech collection. And it was very dark. But at least the cave seemed empty.

The four of them ran inside. They crouched down and listened.

Step
...
step
...
step...

Something was coming toward them through the bushes!

Wiglaf held his breath.

Another twig snapped.

Wiglaf shivered. And it wasn’t from the cold.

A loud
THUMP!
sounded right outside the cave.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” screamed the Worm Official Rescue Mission.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” the something screamed right back at them.

Wiglaf peeked out through his fingers, expecting to see some wild creature.