The Case of the Vanished Sea Dragon (9 page)

‘Look,' said Holly desperately, ‘Dad used to be an MP. He worked for the Ministry of Defence. Now Brant Buchanan wants Dad to tell him the whereabouts of a secret weapon.'

‘Brilliant!' Archie clapped his hands.

‘So you'll help me?' said Holly hopefully.

‘Holly, what you're talking about is called breaking and entering.'

‘No it's not.'

‘Yes it is,' exclaimed Archie angrily. ‘I should know, my dad's in prison for it.'

Holly was stunned. ‘Your dad's in prison?' she said.

‘Yes.' The grin that lived on Archie's face disappeared.

‘I'm sorry,' said Holly.

‘I'm not. He's an idiot,' spat Archie.

Holly didn't know what to say. ‘Maybe he'll have changed when he gets out,' she said.

‘I don't think so. The last three times haven't stopped him,' he said bitterly. He pushed his dirty blond hair away from his eyes and stared defiantly at Holly.

Holly understood being angry with a parent. She had been angry with her dad ever since Mum had died. She had been angry at him when he married Big Hair so soon after her death. Every time he forgot her birthday or just gave her cash for Christmas she was angry at him. And now she was angry with him for accepting Brant Buchanan's offer.

‘It isn't exactly breaking and entering,' she said at last. ‘It's just entering.'

‘If your dad is doing something dodgy, call the police.'

‘The police don't arrest people like Brant Buchanan. They protect him. You saw them outside the gates, holding back the crowds,' said Holly.

‘Look, Holly, I enjoy a good game as much as
anyone. Secret weapons and all, it's fun, but this isn't a game.'

Holly needed to persuade him to help her. She couldn't tell him the whole truth. He would never have believed her. But she remembered again the art of telling a good lie. Tell as much truth as possible, with one or two details altered.

‘The truth is I work as a detective's assistant,' she said.

‘What detective?' asked Archie, sounding sceptical.

‘It's called the Dragon Detective Agency,' she replied.

‘Cool name,' said Archie.

‘It's my uncle's agency. His name's Dirk Dilly and he lets me help sometimes. That's how I know about the secret weapon. I know it sounds unbelievable but I swear it's true and I need to get into that building to find out what my dad's up to.'

Archie's smile returned to his face. ‘Is that true? That's really cool,' he said.

‘So you'll help me get in?' said Holly.

‘Can I meet your uncle?'

‘Yeah, I'll introduce you some time,' lied Holly.

‘All right,' he said, at last, ‘what's the plan?'

Holly told him what she had in mind and got into
position, along the wall by the door, out of view of the camera.

Archie watched as the colour drained from Holly's face and her whole body, including her clothes and shoes, turned the colour of the wall behind her, until all that was left were her brown eyes staring back at him.

He approached the door, pressed the buttons on the buzzer and pulled silly faces at the screen. Eventually the door opened and a burly uniformed security guard with a thick black moustache appeared.

‘Get away,' he said.

‘Can't I come in?' asked Archie.

‘Noh a chance,' replied the security guard, in a thick Scottish accent.

‘But I live here,' he protested.

‘Right, and Ah'm Princess Margaret.'

‘Your Majesty,' said Archie, bowing.

The security guard stepped forward threateningly. Archie saw Holly reappear and slip behind the man's legs.

‘Ah'll set the dogs on you if you don't clear off,' said the large man.

‘Sorry for wasting your time,' said Archie, turning around and walking away.

‘I did not trust that Cave Dweller. He had a funny look. He had been locked away a long time. He cannot have spoken to anyone for many years. Imagine that, no one to talk to for all that time, just you and your thinking. Can you imagine it? Thinking this and that and that and this with no one to talk to?'

Dirk imagined it. It sounded nice. There was something about travelling by rock that made Alba talk incessantly.

‘But one thing I am not understanding,' she continued. ‘If a Sky Dragon is so weak when it materialises, how could one be kidnapping my sister? Delfina is a strong dragon.'

‘We don't know much about them,' replied Dirk. ‘I've never seen one. Not in the flesh, at least. What bothers me is why a Sky Dragon would want to kidnap a Sea Dragon at all.'

‘I cannot say, but I have heard that the Sky Dragons do not like other dragons. They think they are above us. Some say they can make a firewall. I have never seen what that is.'

While Alba whittered on, Dirk's mind wandered. He found himself thinking about Holly. He had got so wrapped up in this case that he had forgotten about her. He hoped she wasn't getting herself into too much trouble. He would make it up to her when he got back and take her for a trip over London.

As they neared their destination the pocket of shifting rock that surrounded them grew brighter and hotter, making Alba jumpy.

‘This does not seem right to me. The banks of the Outer Core are only for pregnant dragons,' she said.

‘And convicted criminals,' said Dirk, ‘but they don't stop at the banks.'

Only a handful of dragons had ever been banished to the earth's Inner Core but of those who had, none had returned.

‘What do you think it is like down there?' asked Alba.

‘I can't imagine,' said Dirk, ‘and I don't plan on finding out.'

Dirk thought about it. The blinding light and incessant heat would be unbearable.

‘Do you think it is possible to be surviving down there?' asked Alba

‘It's probably better if you can't,' said Dirk grimly.

Even this far down the air was stifling and Dirk had to squint at Alba in the dazzling earthlight.

‘Brace yourself. I think we're there,' he said, feeling the rock pull away from under his feet.

They tumbled on to a stony shoreline. Dirk felt disorientated. It was an odd sensation, like he wasn't sure which way up he was. An acute burning feeling in his belly made him cry, ‘Yee-ouch!' and jump to his feet. The scorching pebbles were painful on the tough skin of his feet but they had been agony on his soft green underbelly.

At the edge of the shoreline was an ocean of liquid fire, bubbling and popping like it had a life of its own. It seemed to go on for ever, steam rising up, obscuring the horizon.

‘Welcome to the banks of the Outer Core, dudes.'

The greeting came from a Firedrake, sitting on the edge of the shore. Firedrakes were relatives of the
drab-nosed Drakes and had the same large bellies and tough skin, but their noses were upturned and their backs were covered in tiny holes. This one wore what looked like a pair of crudely carved sunglasses and held a long black ladle. By his side were rows of black metal flasks. He dipped the ladle into the sizzling liquid, scooped some up and poured it into a flask. He then lifted it to his mouth, gulping it down greedily, licking his lips and burping, sending blasts of steam shooting from his mouth, nostrils and all the holes on his back.

‘Wow, that tickles,' said the Firedrake, leaning back and laughing.

‘I think this one is peculiar in the head,' said Alba, tapping the side of her head.

‘Let's go say hello,' replied Dirk, approaching.

The Firedrake turned to look at them. ‘Hey, dragon dudes, what's happening?'

‘The name's Dirk Dilly,' he replied. ‘Why are you drinking that stuff, Firedrake?'

‘It's my job, dude ... but I tell you what, after a while you develop a taste for it. The name's Shute.' The Firedrake extended a paw.

Dirk shook it. ‘Shute?'

‘Shute Hobcraft, Firedrake, at your service,' he said,
taking another sip of liquid fire, shooting out steam and bursting into hysterics.

‘How can you drink something so hot?' said Alba.

‘You wanna try some? I've got some vintage stuff here,' he said, holding up a flask. ‘It really clears out your passages.'

‘We're looking for a dragon,' said Dirk, already growing tired of the idiotic creature.

‘There's one next to you,' giggled Shute, pointing at Alba.

‘We're looking for a Sky Dragon,' said Dirk firmly.

‘A Sky Dragon. Woo, dude. I haven't seen one of those for years.'

‘Come on, Alba,' said Dirk. ‘Let's check further along the bank.'

‘There's no point,' said Shute. ‘I can tell you, no Sky Dragon has been down this far in a long time.'

Dirk turned to face him. ‘How can you be so sure?'

‘I'll tell you if you have a swig,' he replied, holding out the flask, sniggering.

‘I'm losing my patience,' said Dirk.

‘Come on, I know you're going to like it,' insisted Shute.

‘All right, just one,' said Dirk, taking the flask and looking warily at the bubbling liquid. He lifted it to
his lips and took the tiniest of sips. The pain was immense. Dirk enjoyed a vegetarian vindaloo as much as the next dragon, but this was seriously scorching. Dragons needed fairly hardy insides to breathe fire but they didn't have the same kind of internal insulation as Firedrakes.

‘Yeaahhhhhouch!' Dirk screamed out in agony.

Shute found this hilarious and fell about laughing. ‘It's good, isn't it?'

‘How can you be sure that no Sky Dragon has been this far down?' said Dirk in a measured tone.

‘Because when any dragon goes into the liquid fire of the Outer Core the temperature drops, Sky Dragons, doubly so,' said Shute. ‘My job is to test it. If it's one degree cooler I alert the authorities.'

‘Why? asked Dirk.

‘Because it probably means that a dragon has tried to escape the Inner Core. The bigger the dragon, the bigger the temperature drop. You should have tried it when Minertia went down. It was, like, coool, dude. She was one big dragon. The same would happen if a Sky Dragon took a dip.'

‘You were here when Minertia was convicted thirty years ago?'

‘Old Shute's been here for coming up to two
hundred years now. Still, I don't mind. As I say I've got to like the stuff,' said Shute taking another ladleful, pouring it into a flask and taking a swig. After reappearing from the cloud of steam in a fit of giggles, he said, ‘All I know is that no Sky Dragon has been down here for a long time.'

‘Thanks for your help,' said Dirk.

‘No problem,' said Shute. ‘Here, take one if you like.' He held up a flask with a top on.

‘No thanks,' said Dirk, his mouth still burning.

Alba grabbed the flask and said, ‘I will take it as a souvenir. Thank you.'

‘Keep up the good work,' said Dirk, turning away.

‘Hey, thanks, dragon,' said Shute. ‘It's been a blast talking to you. Good luck finding that Sky Dragon.'

‘I told you he was peculiar in the head,' said Alba, as they left.

‘None of this makes sense,' said Dirk. He was beginning to feel frustrated.

‘If only we knew more about the Sky Dragons,' said Alba.

Dirk looked at Alba. ‘Great rats of Grimsby!' he exclaimed. ‘That's it.'

‘What is what?' she replied.

He didn't answer. He couldn't believe he hadn't
thought of it earlier. The book,
Dragonlore
. Ivor Klingerflim had written an entire chapter on Sky Dragons. He felt behind his wing but it wasn't there. He must have left it in his office, which meant one thing. He was going back to London.

Holly slipped behind the security man's large legs, through the doorway and pushed herself against the inside wall, turning the same colour white.