The Witch of the Western Gate: Dragon's Gift (22 page)

Blue thought about how to tell Ivy that dragons existed, in such a way as to lighten the blow.

"Oh heck, if you can deal with being a wolven and everything else that's happened today, you can deal with this… I have to return a baby dragon to his nest and banish a family of dragons, before the Paranormal Council finds out and exterminates them. This is my initiation task, one I must do to prove that I'm ready to be a voting member in the adult arm of the Paranormal Council. Plus the deadline to have it done is coming soon."

"Oh, OK," replied Ivy. "Dragons can exist if werewolves, I mean wolven, exist. Yesterday I would have thought you were crazy, but today it makes perfect sense. I've heard about this Paranormal Council already too. Brando told me about them."

Spoken like a true wolven, thought Blue, dealing with problems effectively.

"So this evening we're banishing the dragons, right?" asked Stella.

"Yes," replied Blue. “Early evening we meet at Taboo and eat some burgers and look around. If there's no sign of Quantrill and company, we'll banish the dragons, as soon as it’s dark enough."

"Where are the dragons?" asked Ivy.

"Hiding in the basement ruins of the old Birdsill Holly factor," replied Blue.

"Does Took feel up to it after Quantrill kidnapped him last night? Do you and Stella feel up to it after everything that went on last night and then dealing with Raveen today?"

"I feel like I could sleep for a week," said Stella.

"Me too," agreed Blue. "But we have to banish the dragons tonight. After Quantrill attacked me last night, he said that he plans to tell his Aunt Zerelda all about Took, and how I have not yet exterminated the dragons, and instead turned Took into a housepet. He's sure to rile up his Aunt and the Witch Council with this information. I cannot risk the dragons."

"True," said Stella. "Plus the longer we wait the more time the Paranormal Council has to locate the dragon nest. If they find it, they will exterminate the mother dragon and all the babies."

"But you haven't missed the deadline yet," protested Ivy. "Zerelda Reynard shouldn't be snooping around yet."

"You don't know Zerelda Reynard," Blue and Stella said in unison.

"Yes, once Quantrill tells her that I have a little dragon, she'll be mad. Also, he'll tell her how Took flew out of the house and flew all around the yard, and could have gotten away. He'll make it sound like I endangered the cover of all paranormals, even though there was no risk at all of anyone seeing Took. Took stayed in the yard and he was under cover of darkness and trees the entire time."

"Well, Quantrill caused the problem because he was lurking around your house and upset both Took and LeRoy. They were just protecting you and their territory. What was he doing outside your house anyway?"

"I think he was checking the windows and looking for weak spots in our security. That vampire can leap and climb like a squirrel. I bet he was checking all the windows on the second, and third floors, and the attic. My father felt a ward go off and that's why Cormac came back here in such a hurry. Quantrill must have set it off."

"You must mean magical security," said Ivy. I'm still trying to catch up, so I don't really understand all this."

"Exactly right," agreed Blue. "My father and I have both put our best security spells all over the house. It's hard to break through the shields and if the wards detect an intruder they set off an alarm. If ever Quantrill tried to break a window or door, the shields would bounce him clear off the roof. Quantrill says he was there to warn me against the wolven, but I don't believe him. He could have done that at any time. He was not waiting on the porch for me either. He was in back of the house, so he was up to something."

"Well, look on the bright side," said Stella. "At least now you know for sure that Took's wing is strong again, after the way he went after Quantrill."

"I'm so worried," said Blue. I keep thinking that if Quantrill and the Witch Council get to the dragons first, they will be destroyed. The only thing I can count on is that Zerelda and Quantrill won't act during the daytime for fear of being seen. They'll do it in the middle of the night. So I need to banish the dragons as soon as it gets dark tonight."

"How on earth are you going to sneak a dragon across town?" asked Ivy.

"We need to pick up Took now from my house, then meet Brando across the street in Stella's meditation garden. He'll drive us into town.

"I've looked at the Birdsill Holly factory with my telescope" said Ivy. "That entire area is posted 'no trespassing.'"

"I'm afraid we'll be trespassing, said Blue. It's the only way. That's where the family of dragons is hiding."

"Brando suggested that we park behind Taboo Restaurant in downtown Lockport and leave Took in the car while we go inside and eat an early dinner. We'll be able to see the car from the window to make sure Took is OK and can make sure no one is following us. I bought a used boy's snowsuit from the Salvation Army the other day and will zipper Took into it as best I can. Wrapped up in a blanket and on a sled he'll look like any baby, so long as they don't see his face. The hard part, really, is sneaking Took from Taboo over to the Birdsill Holly factory during daylight hours. We're going to pull him over there on a sled. Once covered with a blanket no one will be able to see Took at all."

"Fortunately he's still pretty small," said Stella. He's only about thirty pounds in weight."

Blue nodded. "Yes, he's about the size of a beagle, only with wings." She and Stella both giggled at the comparison.

"I supposed, this plan could work," said Ivy, considering it. "You might need some help pulling the sled, if the sidewalks and towpath are not cleared. Luckily, there rarely are any people around the Birdsill Holly factory ruins. When no one is looking, we can dash into the brush and then into the factory. Since it gets dark early, no one will see us."

"That's right," said Stella. "Leave it to Brando to think of a good plan. Since the Sybil fire engine carriage is under an illusion spell, no one will notice it parked behind Taboo. We don't want to park close to the factory, or people might become suspicious that kids are sneaking into the old Birdsill Holly factory. This way there's no evidence to alarm anyone."

"Yes," agreed Blue. "I'm glad Brando is going into law enforcement because the way his mind works he'd be a great criminal if he were to go the other way."

"I have to run home and check in with my parents," said Ivy. "Plus I want to shower and change. But I'll catch up with you either at Taboo or on the tow path near the dragon nest."

Chapter 24

It seemed to take forever but an hour later Blue, Stella and the wolven boys sat together in Taboo Restaurant finishing up their burgers and fries. Took remained outside in the enchanted fire engine carriage.

"OK, this is what we do next," explained Brando. "We'll get Took from the carriage. Then I'll walk with Blue and Stella along the towpath, by the canal, where Blue will pull Took along on a sled, disguised in a snowsuit. It will just look like I ran into the girls while they're babysitting and we're all taking a walk. The weather is nice today, for February, so it won't look odd.

Rafe objected, "It's too hard to pull anyone on a sled over cement sidewalks, whether they are covered in snow, slush, or are bare. That will surely look strange."

"We thought of that," chimed in Stella. "First of all, we're going to use my big purple, plastic sled with a flat bottom, not a sled with runners."

"Then," said Blue, "I put a charm on the sled so it actually is hovering an inch off the ground. No one will notice it hovering. As long as I keep the rope taught it will be fine. The hard part will be to keep Took from wriggling out of the snowsuit, but we've been practicing and he'll stay in it provided I toss him a kibble now and then."

"That's brilliant!," said Rafe.

"Oui, Elegant!" chimed in Talon.

Talon and Rafe, you two circle around behind us and make sure that no one is following us, particularly not Quantrill. So far there's been no sign of him, but vampires are stealthy. I want to make sure he isn't following us. We'll be much slower, pulling the sled, so you should be able to meet up with us by the time we get near the Birdsill Holly factory."

Brando turned to Talon. "The Birdsill Holly factory is up a hill, above the towpath and the Erie Canal. It's near the Lockport Cave. You remember us taking you through the cave, right?"

"Mais oui," replied Talon.

"The Birdsill Holly Factory is near the cave only higher up on the hill."

Stella interrupted. "That's because Birdsill Holly build his factory before electricity was used. So to make power, he pumped water up the hill then down through the Lockport Cave, which he excavated, and then it turned the gears for the factory. Ingenious solution, really."

"Very clever," replied Talon. "I never heard of Birdsill Holly before, but he must have been a great inventor."

Blue and Rafe looked at each other in dismay. "He just asked for it," grumbled Rafe.

Stella was a huge Birdsill Holly enthusiast and had written several school papers about him over the years. She loved to tell people about the forgotten inventor.

"Birdsill Holly was a famous local inventor, a friend to Thomas Edison. Birdsill Holly invented fire hydrants, which of course we still use today. He made the first set of plans for a fire engine carriage. The Sybil we're restoring now, is based off Birdsill Holly's plans. Also whenever you turn on a faucet you're turning valves originally invented by Birdsill Holly. He also pioneered central heating, using steam. To top it off he invented a system for laying pipes under sidewalks and running steam through them to melt the snow above. Brilliant man! An inventor far ahead of his time. Birdsill Holly is the king of steam and water inventions. Unfortunately, he is lost to history. Very few people have ever heard of him."

"Very impressive," replied Talon, nodding. "I hope you can tell me more about him when we have more time. Talon looked genuinely interested, and Stella flushed with pleasure, giving him a look of gratitude. Rarely did anyone appreciate her interest in Birdsill Holly, and usually her lectures on him were met with glazed looks.

Stella continued. "It's dangerous inside the old Birdsill Holly factory. It's been abandoned for nearly a century and a half. Wandering around inside an abandoned one hundred fifty year old factory is not a great idea. The floors are rotting and pieces are always falling down from the roof. Very dangerous. The 'no trespassing' signs are there for a reason."

"I know," replied Blue. "But that's where the dragons are, so there's no choice. If we're quick and careful, hopefully we can get in, do the banishing, and be out before anyone sees us."

"And without anyone getting hurt," added Stella.

"None of us are happy about the danger and even less so about trespassing," agreed Brando. He had the most to lose since he was the oldest and he was pursuing the career in law enforcement. Being arrested for trespassing would be a huge embarrassment for him. "I just don't see any other way. We can't let the water dragons be slaughtered by the council. They're a rare and magical species." Although wolven were devoted carnivores, they were concerned about the environment, and about exterminating rare species.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" said Rafe, heading toward the door. Talon bowed toward Stella then followed Rafe. By the time Brando and the girls reached the door, Rafe and Talon were out of sight already. The three headed toward the car where Blue fumbled with the used snowsuit that she had picked up from the Salvation Army earlier. It was a bit of a struggle to get Took stuffed into the suit and propped up on the sled, wrapped in a blanket, but they had practiced so Took was cooperating. Blue had cut a hole in the seat of the suit, and Took's tail stuck out, but the blanket covered it. The hood was pulled low and a scarf wrapped around his face, so that it would take a big effort to see his features. Blue walked in the middle, pulling the sled, with Brando and Stella on either side. They walked quickly down the street toward the bridge and locks. There was no sign of trouble. Lockport looked like any other peaceful small town. When they were close to the locks there were stairs going down to canal level.

"We're pretty safe now," said Brando. "In the winter there rarely are any tourists and even fewer dog walkers. If anyone comes by, Took's hood is so low and there's so much scarf, that they won't be able to see his face."

Rafe and Talon were at the bottom of the stairs waiting. Rafe was in human form, and Talon had turned into a wolf in order to gain enhanced sense of hearing and smell. Since he was the smallest of the weres it simply looked like Rafe was taking a large dog for a walk. "We've run all over and all around," said Rafe. "No sign of Quantrill or any trouble."

"Excellent!," replied Brando. "This is going to be a lot easier than we had expected. Talon began to growl and looked warily at the bridge.

"There's trouble coming for sure," said a voice, echoing from under the bridge. They all stiffened then relaxed when Ivy emerged from under the bridge. She must have crossed under it by balancing along a precarious stone ledge that wrapped it's way along the underside of the bridge, just above water level. An ordinary person couldn't do this, but it was easy for a wolven.

"Ivy! You scared us! Said Blue,. "Your voice sounded so different echoing under the bridge."

"They're here!" exclaimed Ivy.

"What? How?" asked Rafe. "There was no sign of them."

"Before leaving the house, I checked the downtown Lockport streets with my telescope. I saw all of you leave Taboo. Then I saw Quantrill and about a dozen other people, all dressed in black, on the roof above Taboo. Don't turn around but they've been following you across the roofs! Leaping is no problem for Vampires. You have an entire pack of them at your heels. They are in back of you even now, on top of the Great Lakes Credit Union building."