check, David.
I’ve just seen the fair-haired doctor in the parking lot. I know he’s kind of old, but he’s not a pickled wreck, which he’d have to be if —”
“Zanna, this isn’t a joke. There’s something weird going on here, believe me. We
need
to talk. Do you know the library gardens in the middle of town?”
“Course.”
“Meet me there in twenty minutes.”
“Rain, I’ve got a lecture. So have you, come to think of it. And it’s miserable outside — Zannas don’t like wet.”
“Fine. Bring an umbrella.”
“Rain!”
“This is urgent. Liz is sort of … pregnant. She’s going to have a dragon child!”
There was a gulp at Zanna’s end.
“Twenty minutes,” said David. And he put down the phone.
They sat in David’s favorite location: a small wooden bench along the narrow paved path where David,Lucy, Liz, and Sophie had once fed a host of gray squirrels by hand. No squirrels were there to greet them today, just the rain, misting through the leafless trees, casting a gray sheet over the gardens. Zanna, dressed in her usual black with only a fishnet cardigan around her shoulders, shuddered and couldn’t stop her teeth from chattering.
“We need help,” she said.
David nodded. A droplet of rain ran down his forehead and splashed off the middle button of his overcoat. “Sure you don’t want to wear this?”
Zanna bunched up close. “A cuddle will do.”
David swung out a hesitant arm and Zanna shuffled up closer again. She felt surprisingly frail in the wrap of his shoulder. He squeezed her unintentionally as she nestled.
“Thank you,” she whispered, pushing her hand inside his coat. “How’s Zookie doing?”
David, who’d been holding Gadzooks in his lap, brought him up to chest height. “Better than us.” Heran a thumb down the dragon’s snout, smearing water off the smooth green glaze.
“Aunty Gwyneth scares me,” Zanna said, shivering. “We shouldn’t mess with her. She’s … I don’t know what she is; more than a dragon midwife, that’s for sure.”
David lowered Gadzooks again and blew a cloud of breath into the air. “I want to know why she’s really here. She didn’t come to the crescent because of the egg; finding it quickened surprised her, I think.”
“If you ask me, it’s obvious why she’s here,” said Zanna, her warm breath flowing over his neck. “You’ve drawn everyone into this space because you made a wish to know about the tear. Somehow you’re going to get an answer — and when you do, Aunty Spooky will be right on the scene.”
“But no one knows where the fire tear’s hidden.”
Zanna flexed her fingers. “Lorel does.”
“A ghost bear? He’s hardly going to tell me his closely guarded secrets.”
“He told you that nine bears ruled the ice.”
“Yeah, and what’s that s’posed to mean?”
“Exactly what it says. Once, nine bears ruled the Arctic.”
“Yeah, I know that,” David said impatiently. “But what’s it got to do with the tear?”
Zanna lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know — yet. But Lorel wouldn’t say it without good reason. Don’t look now, but there’s a squirrel on the fence.”
David turned his head. A pepper-gray squirrel was balancing neatly on the flat bar between two railing hoops. “Oh, wow. It’s Snigger — I think.”
Chuk!
went the squirrel, flagging its tail. It lifted one paw and appeared to smile.
“Cute,” said Zanna. “Hello, Snigger.” She wiggled her fingers and smiled right back. “He’s probably come to ask you for ten percent of whatever you earn when you publish his story. Did you call that editor yet?”
“She was in a meeting; I left a message.”
Zanna raised herself to a sitting position, looked at Snigger, and shook out her hair. “I’ll see that he pays you — in nuts,” she told him.
Snigger, who was either terribly excited at the prospect of nuts or somewhat put off by his Gothic agent, jerked back slightly, then scrabbled down the fence.
I’ve just seen the fair-haired doctor in the parking lot. I know he’s kind of old, but he’s not a pickled wreck, which he’d have to be if —”
“Zanna, this isn’t a joke. There’s something weird going on here, believe me. We
need
to talk. Do you know the library gardens in the middle of town?”
“Course.”
“Meet me there in twenty minutes.”
“Rain, I’ve got a lecture. So have you, come to think of it. And it’s miserable outside — Zannas don’t like wet.”
“Fine. Bring an umbrella.”
“Rain!”
“This is urgent. Liz is sort of … pregnant. She’s going to have a dragon child!”
There was a gulp at Zanna’s end.
“Twenty minutes,” said David. And he put down the phone.
They sat in David’s favorite location: a small wooden bench along the narrow paved path where David,Lucy, Liz, and Sophie had once fed a host of gray squirrels by hand. No squirrels were there to greet them today, just the rain, misting through the leafless trees, casting a gray sheet over the gardens. Zanna, dressed in her usual black with only a fishnet cardigan around her shoulders, shuddered and couldn’t stop her teeth from chattering.
“We need help,” she said.
David nodded. A droplet of rain ran down his forehead and splashed off the middle button of his overcoat. “Sure you don’t want to wear this?”
Zanna bunched up close. “A cuddle will do.”
David swung out a hesitant arm and Zanna shuffled up closer again. She felt surprisingly frail in the wrap of his shoulder. He squeezed her unintentionally as she nestled.
“Thank you,” she whispered, pushing her hand inside his coat. “How’s Zookie doing?”
David, who’d been holding Gadzooks in his lap, brought him up to chest height. “Better than us.” Heran a thumb down the dragon’s snout, smearing water off the smooth green glaze.
“Aunty Gwyneth scares me,” Zanna said, shivering. “We shouldn’t mess with her. She’s … I don’t know what she is; more than a dragon midwife, that’s for sure.”
David lowered Gadzooks again and blew a cloud of breath into the air. “I want to know why she’s really here. She didn’t come to the crescent because of the egg; finding it quickened surprised her, I think.”
“If you ask me, it’s obvious why she’s here,” said Zanna, her warm breath flowing over his neck. “You’ve drawn everyone into this space because you made a wish to know about the tear. Somehow you’re going to get an answer — and when you do, Aunty Spooky will be right on the scene.”
“But no one knows where the fire tear’s hidden.”
Zanna flexed her fingers. “Lorel does.”
“A ghost bear? He’s hardly going to tell me his closely guarded secrets.”
“He told you that nine bears ruled the ice.”
“Yeah, and what’s that s’posed to mean?”
“Exactly what it says. Once, nine bears ruled the Arctic.”
“Yeah, I know that,” David said impatiently. “But what’s it got to do with the tear?”
Zanna lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know — yet. But Lorel wouldn’t say it without good reason. Don’t look now, but there’s a squirrel on the fence.”
David turned his head. A pepper-gray squirrel was balancing neatly on the flat bar between two railing hoops. “Oh, wow. It’s Snigger — I think.”
Chuk!
went the squirrel, flagging its tail. It lifted one paw and appeared to smile.
“Cute,” said Zanna. “Hello, Snigger.” She wiggled her fingers and smiled right back. “He’s probably come to ask you for ten percent of whatever you earn when you publish his story. Did you call that editor yet?”
“She was in a meeting; I left a message.”
Zanna raised herself to a sitting position, looked at Snigger, and shook out her hair. “I’ll see that he pays you — in nuts,” she told him.
Snigger, who was either terribly excited at the prospect of nuts or somewhat put off by his Gothic agent, jerked back slightly, then scrabbled down the fence.
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