Dragon's Egg by Sarah L. Thomson

mother, the heartless thing that she is.”
    Mella choked as Alain held out his bandaged hand. Dangling from it was a necklace with five coral beads. When she’d last seen it, he had tossed it aside as worthless. With all that had happened that night, she’d completely forgotten to pick it up out of the grass.
    â€œThat’s mine !” she said with fury. “He stole it from me!”
    Frowning, Rhil picked up Mella’s sack.
    â€œThat’s mine!” Mella cried out again. But Gwyn’s hand fell heavily on her shoulder.
    â€œHush a moment, child.”
    â€œBut he—”
    â€œYou’ll have your say. I warrant it.”
    Rhil’s fingers looked thick and clumsy, butthey were surprisingly deft as he sorted through Mella’s possessions and found the bracelet easily.
    â€œThere now,” Alain said with satisfaction. “Didn’t I say so?”
    â€œWell enough.” Rhil frowned at the trinket. “There’s proof, of a sort.”
    â€œIt’s not !” Mella shouted.
    â€œLet the child tell her side, Rhil.” Gwyn’s voice was sober, his hand firm on Mella’s shoulder.
    â€œTell them, Mella.” Roger nodded at her.
    â€œHe’s not—” Mella caught her breath and tried to order her thoughts. “He’s not my uncle. He stole that necklace from me. He’s the thief!” Awkwardly, the story of their encounter with Alain came out, Roger nodding eagerly to confirm everything she said. There was silence in the little croft after she had finished.
    â€œDragons?” Rhil looked dubious. “Never heard of wild dragons attacking a man.”
    â€œKidnapped you?” another villager, leaning in the doorway, asked. “Why, then?”
    â€œWell, because…Roger’s father…he’s rich,” Mella explained.
    Alain laughed shortly. “Rich? That one?”
    Roger—torn shirt, unwashed hair, dirty face, scratched hands—looked helplessly at Mella.
    â€œYou see?” Alain sighed. “What my sister’s had to endure from this one, I can’t tell you. Enough of this storytelling now. You’re both to come home with me.”
    Roger, with two quick strides, crossed the room to stand by Mella’s side.
    â€œBut it’s not true !” Mella shouted.
    â€œWhy were you wandering the hills then?” Rhil asked fiercely, turning a sharp look on her. “Two children, alone in the mountains? If you weren’t fleeing home for a good reason, what were you doing there?”
    â€œWe were…” Mella’s voice faltered.
    â€œWe needed to—” Roger said at the same time.
    â€œAnd what’s this, then?” Rhil, still holding Mella’s sack, was looking at something inside it. He reached in and drew out the metal box that held the Egg.
    â€œDon’t touch that!”
    â€œMella, don’t—”
    â€œWhat have you stolen this time, girl?”
    â€œThat’s mine, that’s mine —”
    But the babble of voices hushed when Rhil flipped open the catch and lifted the lid.
    â€œWhat is it?” Fascinated, Rhil tilted the box so that firelight flowed silkily across the glossy surface of the Egg.
    â€œWhat have you stolen now, the pair of you?” Deftly, Alain lifted the box from Rhil’s hands.
    â€œDon’t you touch that!”
    Roger clutched at Mella’s arm. “It’s just a rock,” he said sharply. “It’s nothing valuable. Mella liked the color, that’s all.”
    Alain shut the lid on the Egg smartly. “Enough of this. I must take these children home. Then they’ll be no more trouble to you.”
    Rhil turned to Mella and Roger, his face serious. “Can you give me a better account of yourselves than you have so far?”
    Roger looked steadily at Mella. Mella openedher mouth and shut it again. What could she say that would be believed? She twisted to look