Dragon Keepers #3: The Dragon in the Library (2 page)

14

Emmy was silent.
"Something?"
she said after a bit.

Jesse counted to ten very slowly.

Daisy clapped her hands. "I've got it! How about a Snowy Woods?" It was their name for cream cheese smeared on raw broccoli stalks, a frequent snack request from Emmy.

Emmy shook her head.

"A Double Swiss Delight?" Jesse suggested. This, surely, was her all-time favorite brunch food: Swiss cheese melted on crunchy leaves of Swiss chard.

Emmy got an ornery glint in her eye. "You mean Double Swiss Doo-doo Pie? I am not a baby anymore, you two."

"No, you're not," said Jesse. Out of the corner of his mouth, he said to Daisy, "What she is, is a junkyard dog."

"Junkyard dog" was what Jesse's mother called anyone who got up on the wrong side of the bed, or, in this case, crate.

Daisy was about to offer up another snack suggestion when Jesse said, "Never mind, Em. We'll fix you something really yummy and surprise you."

Grabbing the backpack, Daisy followed Jesse out of the garage. They locked the door behind them, as always.

15

Daisy banged her head softly and repeatedly against the door. "What. Exactly. Is. Her. Basic.
Problem?"

Jesse shook his head wearily. "Is it me, or has she been like this for
weeks
?"

Daisy dug her wildflower notebook out of the pack. She had marked off a section in the back for keeping track of Emmy's size, food preferences, and moods. She counted ten frowny faces in a row and said, "A week and a half, to be exact. Ten days straight of serious attitude," she said. "But it feels more like ten
years
. That yummy surprise better be good."

"Well," Jesse said, "I was thinking we did have brussels sprouts for dinner last night."

Daisy perked up. "Right! A Brussels Sprouts Smoothie. Her favorite beverage! If that doesn't cheer her up, nothing will. What in the world's gotten into her?"

Jesse stopped at the foot of the back steps. "I don't know," he said, "but I sure hope it doesn't have anything to do with her getting bigger."

"You mean, like, the bigger she gets, the grumpier she gets?" Daisy shuddered. "Let's hope not."

On that rather ominous note, Jesse and Daisy walked through the mudroom into the kitchen.

16

They were surprised to find Uncle Joe sorting rocks on the table instead of in the Rock Shop, the garden shed he had converted into a geology lab. Daisy was even more surprised to find that the small portable TV was switched on in the middle of the day.

"Hi, guys," he said. "Don't turn on the light. It's hotter than Hades in here, but not half as hot as it was out in my shop."

The house did not have air-conditioning, but it did have fans buzzing away in every room. A ceiling fan wheeled slowly overhead, casting long, slow shadows around the room. Uncle Joe wore a tank shirt and shorts, and his long, graying ponytail was bunched into a messy bun.

"What's with the TV?" Daisy asked.

"There was a special on about the North Pole," he said with an embarrassed shrug. "I thought it might cool me off."

Jesse got the container of leftover brussels sprouts and some sour cream out of the refrigerator. Daisy set the ice dispenser on the freezer door to Crush and filled a bowl with ice chips. Jesse dumped the ingredients into the blender and Daisy added the ice. Daisy went to the refrigerator to get the secret ingredient: applesauce. She set it on the counter next to the blender. Then she

17

climbed onto the back rungs of her father's chair.

"So what's on now, Poppy?" she asked.

"One of those trendy dog-trainer shows," said Uncle Joe, sliding a sparkly blue-black rock from one pile to the next. "It's called
Top Dog
. Our dynamic hostess, Ms. Sadie Huffington, says 'Bring me your vicious dogs and I'll train them to be meek as lambs.' She's something else."

While Jesse worked the blender, Daisy watched the TV. A tall, beautiful woman with flowing red hair and high black boots held a long switch in her hand. She looked more like a lion tamer than a dog trainer. The camera closed in on a Doberman pinscher. It lunged at the camera, saliva dripping from its jaws. Then the camera pulled back to Sadie Huffington, who stood over the big dog, snapping the switch smartly against her boot. The ferocious-looking Doberman sank to the floor and whimpered. She snapped the switch again and the dog rolled over onto its back and practically mewed like a kitten.

"How'd she do that?" Daisy asked.

"Just look him dead in the eye and never let your steady gaze waver," said Sadie Huffington into the camera, as if in direct reply to Daisy. "It's easy!" She smiled. Her lipstick was gleaming red, her teeth were large and white, and her eyes were an

18

eerie yellowish green. "So long as they know who's Top Dog!"

"Hmm," said Daisy as an ad for flea powder came on.

"It's the patented
Top Dog
Ten-Yard Stare that does it," Uncle Joe said. "Too bad I didn't have one of those to keep you and your big brothers in line, eh?" He grinned.

"Oh, Poppy!" Daisy said with a roll of her eyes.

"All set," Jesse said as he rinsed out the blender jar and set it to drain on the rack.

"See you later," Daisy told her father.

"What about lunch?" he called after them.

"Too hot to eat," Daisy said over her shoulder.

"I know what you mean," her father said.

Daisy opened the garage door and Jesse made a dramatic entrance. "Ta-da!" he said, holding the tall frosted glass up high. He had garnished it with a sprig of mint and had even stuck two straws in it. He carried the glass over to Emmy and held it to her lips. The cousins watched as Emmy opened her bright pink mouth, fastened her lips around the straw, and nearly emptied the glass in one long, noisy slurp.

"Ptoooie!" Emmy spat out the smoothie--and both straws, too--all over the garage floor.

Daisy and Jesse looked down at themselves.

19

They were spattered with smelly green goo. It was just like the first day of Emmy's life, when they had tried to feed her all sorts of food from the refrigerator and she had spat everything out. It had been cute then. It was not cute now.

"I'll get the mop," Daisy said. "You get the hose, Jess."

"You hate me," Emmy said in a dull voice when they had finished hosing down themselves and the garage floor.

"We don't hate you," Daisy said between clenched teeth. "We just wish we knew what was the
matter
with you."

"Does anything hurt?" Jesse asked.

"Yes," Emmy said with a firm little nod.

"What hurts?" Daisy asked eagerly.

Emmy was silent.

"I know," said Jesse with a mirthless smile.
"Something
, right?"

Emmy nodded.

"I've got a great idea," said Daisy under her breath to Jesse. "Let's ask the professor."

"Plan," said Jesse.

After locking Emmy in with her book, they went back into the house and upstairs. They changed out of their wet clothes and met in Jesse's bedroom. Jesse switched on his computer and

20

logged on to
www.foundadragon.org
. Daisy pulled up a chair next to Jesse as the face of their white-haired dragon consultant appeared on the screen.

Since Professor Andersson had upgraded his site only a couple of weeks before, it was like watching him on a two-way color TV. Wherever his studio was, he looked cool and calm in his crisp white shirt, dapper red bow tie, and dark suit. Maybe it was as hot where he was as it was in Goldmine City, because he had trimmed his long white beard into a spiffy goatee.

"Greetings!" Professor Andersson said, hailing them with upraised arms. "I was hoping you two would come calling today. There's a matter of grave importance I need to discuss with you."

21

Chapter 2 CHAPTER TWO MR. GOOGLE GOOFS

"There's a matter of grave importance we need to discuss with you, too," said Jesse.

Daisy got right down to it. "Emmy's been just terrible lately," she said.

The professor looked mildly amused. "I wonder

22

if one of you would be so good as to define 'terrible' for me?" he asked.

"Grumpy," Daisy said.

"Gloomy," Jesse said.

"Grouchy," Daisy added.

"A junkyard dog," said Jesse.

"A regular snapdragon, in other words," said the professor, enjoying a good chuckle.

Daisy didn't see what was so funny. She asked, "Could Emmy be teething? My nephew gets really grumpy when he's getting a new tooth."

"Dragons don't generally make a fuss when they are cutting teeth," said the professor. "And besides, she should have sufficient dentition to hold her for the next two years, I daresay."

"Is it the summer, then?" Jesse asked. "It's been pretty hot here."

"I doubt it," said the professor. "The metabolism of your dragon is such that she is capable of withstanding furnacelike temperatures."

"That's kind of what she already told us," said Daisy. "My mother wants to cut her sheepdog fur."

"DO NOT LET HER!" the professor thundered. The long white hair on his head seemed to crackle with intensity.

Daisy winced. "Don't worry. I'm just saying--"

"Eighty-seven percent of a dragon's magical

23

potency rests in its scales," the professor said, in a slightly less thunderous tone. "Since her fur correlates to her scales...well, I don't need to spell it out for you, do I?"

"No," Daisy said.

"Could it be a bug?" Jesse asked.

The professor frowned, hooking his thumbs in his suspenders and leaning back in his chair. "An infestation of some sort?"

"I mean a
germ
...like the dragon flu," Jesse said, "or a summer cold."

The professor shook his head. "Dragons don't ail the way humans do. Their bodies, as a rule, are in superb balance," he said.

"Then why is she in such a crummy mood!" Daisy nearly shouted.

The professor raised an eyebrow. "One might well ask the same question of you, young lady."

Daisy shrugged and sighed. "Point taken," she said.

The professor went on. "I'm afraid you'll just have to be patient with her. Humor her in the meantime, and hope for the best."

Jesse stared at the screen. "That's it?" he said.

"That's all the advice you can give us?" Daisy said. "Wait and hope for the best?"

The cousins turned and stared at each other.

24

Was this the way it was going to be?

Jesse said, "If you ask me, we're not Dragon Keepers, we're more like Dragon
Slaves."

"Oh, piffle," said the professor. "Forgive me, dear children, but have I ever given you to believe that being a Dragon Keeper was an unadulterated lark?"

"Whatever
that
means," Jesse muttered.

The professor went on. "Dragon Keeping isn't an amusement, my dears. You are your dragon's Keepers, in good moods and in bad. And that is the way of it, I'm afraid. There's really nothing to be done, unless--" He broke off and furrowed his brow, drumming his fingernails on the desktop.

"Unless what?" Jesse asked, leaning toward the screen.

"Unless...," the professor said. Then he shook his head quickly. "No. No matter how precocious your dragon has shown herself to be, such a thing would be utterly unheard of in the annals of early dragonhood development. Forget it."

"Thanks a bunch," Daisy said through gritted teeth.

"I
will
tell you this," said the professor, holding up a finger. "Valerian."

"What's that?" asked Jesse.

"It's an herb," said Daisy.

25

"Quite right, young lady," said the professor. "Known to be of use in the calming of fretful canines."

"But Emmy's a dragon," Jesse reminded him.

"Of course she is, my fine young fellow, but when she is in her masked state, you have but to offer her a steaming bowl of valerian tea...and her disposition will most likely improve. That is what you are looking for, isn't it? Some measure of relief?"

"I guess," said Jesse doubtfully. "So what was the grave matter you wanted to talk to us about?"

The professor snapped his fingers. "Ah, yes! I wanted to tell you..." He leaned across the desk, his dark eyes suddenly fierce beneath white bristling brows. "Beware, Dragon Keepers!"

"Huh," said Jesse, too baffled at first to feel fearful.

Daisy asked, "Beware of
what
?"

Jesse said, "Queen Hap, the hobgoblin queen, stuck St. George in amber like a bug. You said it would be almost impossible to get him out. So what's so scary?"

"St. George does not represent the sole threat to your dragon. Threats to dragons abound, and I sense impending danger," the professor said somberly.