The End of the Beginning (3 page)

"No bother at all," she said. "But, boys, promise me one thing. If you know you are going to be lost again, do let me know ahead of time. Then I'll have a proper supper prepared for you."

"Madam," said Avon, "believe me, the next time we don't know where we are, we shall come right here."

"Edward," said Avon, "do you think we'll meet up with a dragon one of these days? Our travels won't be much of an adventure if we don't."

"I must warn you," said Edward, "nowadays dragons are rather shy. They disguise themselves to look like other creatures. You'll see when we meet one. They deny it every time. As a rule, though, I would say that good dragons disguise themselves as nice creatures, and bad dragons as nasty ones."

"It's a good thing you told me that," said Avon. "I've been looking for dragons. Now I'll look for something else, since I do indeed want to see one."

Edward nodded. "My father used to say, 'Edward, it's better to look for nothing and find something than to look for something and find nothing.'"

"I'll keep a sharp lookout," said Avon.

"A look
in
might be useful, too," said Edward.

Avon suddenly stopped. "Look!" he cried. 'That may be a dragon!"

Curled up by a leaf was a young, sleeping mouse.

"He certainly doesn't look like a dragon, does he?" asked Avon.

"That means he probably is one," said Edward.

The two friends crept cautiously toward the mouse.

"What a wonderful disguise!" exclaimed Avon. "I never would have guessed he was a dragon."

The mouse began to stir.

"Now, be careful," warned Edward. "We don't know yet if he's a good dragon or a bad one."

The mouse opened his eyes and saw Avon and Edward looking at him. "I beg your pardon," he said.

"We didn't mean to wake you," said Avon. "We're on our adventures, and we wanted to see a dragon."

"A dragon?" said the mouse shyly. "I'm afraid you won't find one here."

Edward nudged Avon. Avon nodded.

"You can't fool us," said Edward. "You're a dragon."

The mouse looked himself over.

"We won't tell anyone your secret," Avon said gently.

"I do hate to disappoint you, sirs," said the mouse, "but really, I am not a dragon."

"You have a tail, don't you?" asked Edward.

The mouse had to admit that.

"There," said Avon triumphantly. "Dragons have tails."

"And four feet," said Edward. "You do have four feet."

"Same as dragons," put in Avon.

"And a nose, a mouth, and two eyes!" cried Edward. "All just like a dragon. No sir, Mister Dragon, you can fool some creatures, but you can't fool Avon and Edward."

"Do you know," whispered the astonished mouse, "my father never told me I was a dragon."

"Ask your mother," suggested Edward.

"You'll have to excuse me," said the mouse, who was by then quite excited. "This is all very sudden to me. I need to go home and tell my friends who I am." And off he ran.

"Oh dear," said Avon as the mouse scampered away. "We forgot to find out if he was a good or a bad dragon."

"He was young," said Edward, "so he probably hasn't made up his mind."

"I do hope he decides to become a good dragon," said Avon. "The world needs more good dragons."

"It would certainly be a comfort," said Edward.

Edward and Avon came to a fork in their branch.

"It seems to me," said Edward, "that you won't have had a proper series of adventures unless you've gone through thick and thin."

"Thick and thin what?" asked Avon.

"Branches," replied Edward. "We've been on a thick branch; it's time we tried a thin one."

So, very carefully, the two creatures moved out along the thin branch. Suddenly, Edward halted.

"Avon! Look!"

From the opposite end of the very branch they were traveling on, another snail was coming toward them. What's more, there was not enough room for them to pass each other by. One of the snails would surely get knocked off.

Edward was very excited. He ran up and down and around in circles. "Avon," he said, "this is the adventure you have been waiting for. That snail is coming our direction. We are going his. One of you has to give way. You're going to fight a famous battle and win!"

"What if I lose?" asked Avon.

"Avon, if you win this battle, you will be the most famous snail in the world. This is what going on adventures is all about!"

"The truth is, Edward, I've never fought a famous battle before. How do you do it?"

"Hurry down the branch and push him out of the way. He will push you back. Push him again. That's a battle."

No matter how Avon tried to explain that snails were not pushy creatures, Edward urged him on. So, with much reluctance, Avon set off down the branch. From the far end, the other snail kept coming.

Edward scrambled back to watch from a safe distance.

The two snails moved along the long branch a little bit at a time.

"Faster, faster!" urged Edward.

The two snails moved forward slowly.

"Don't take so long!" cried Edward.

The snails moved on, coming closer and closer.

"It's been two hours since you began!" shouted Edward, who, in spite of himself, was becoming a little bored.

"I'm going at top speed," said Avon.

By lunchtime the two snails had covered half the distance that had separated them.

"Can I stop for something to eat?" asked Avon.

"No, no, the matter is urgent," Edward insisted. "Keep going!"

By four o'clock in the afternoon, the snails had covered three-quarters of the distance.

Edward was exhausted with watching.

"Can't you go any faster?" he called.

"I'm running," replied Avon.

By suppertime the two snails were almost close.

"Remember, now," said Edward from his perch, "this is a fight to the finish." He yawned.

The two snails were almost touching when the sun went down.

"I can't see you anymore, Avon!" Edward called out. "Keep me informed."

When it had become completely dark, there was a long silence.

"What's happening?" asked Edward.

"I'm not sure," replied Avon.

"I can't hear anything."

"Neither can I," said Avon.

A few more hours passed.

"Avon?"

"Yes, Edward?"

"Are you ... winning?"

"Can't ... tell."

In the middle of the night, Edward called out across the darkness, "How is it going?"

"Pretty well."

"Are you winning now?"

"Won't know till daylight," Avon replied.

In the morning Edward strained to have a look. To his astonishment the two snails had passed each other, and each was continuing on his way.

Edward hurriedly caught up with Avon.

"Avon! What happened? Did you win your famous battle?"

Avon considered thoughtfully. "Edward," he said, "I don't know. It all happened so quickly."

Two mornings later, Avon woke before Edward. While Edward continued to sleep, Avon looked around the place where they had stopped for the night. He had to admit that it was rather like his own neighborhood, even though they had traveled more than half the length of the branch. When Edward woke, Avon asked him about it.

Edward explained. "You see, Avon, it all depends on you. If you want it to be different, it will be different. Don't look at the world with your eyes but with your heart."

"But Edward," said Avon, suddenly alarmed, "I don't have eyes on my heart."

"I was speaking as a poet might speak. You can't have adventures without poetry."

"Oh, I do love poems, Edward. I remember my mother telling me a poem. It went this way: 'Jack Snail and Jill Snail went up a hill to fetch a pail; they took one step, and then another, and—'"

Edward interrupted. "That's not the kind of poetry I mean. What I mean is that you take a lot of words, put them together, and they tell you something. The whole point is that if you don't know where you are, the best thing to do is write a poem. All adventurers do that sort of thing. It's part of the job."