Elodia's Dragon (7 page)

"No. I will not leave you, Aunt Myrtle," Elodia wept.

Elodia went to have lunch after feeding Myrtle and waited for her to sleep. She sat on the bench close to the hearth. She had tears streaming from her eyes as she ate. She could not leave Myrtle. Then Davida broke into her thoughts, "Let me fly her home."

Elodia finished her meal. She went to the trading post and purchased a length of thick rope and assisted Myrtle to dress. "Can you walk as far as the courtyard?"

"To ride a dragon again I would crawl to the courtyard."

They dressed in several layers against the cold, then with Myrtle hanging on to Elodia they walked to the courtyard. All activity stopped when Davida landed. Everyone watched in awe. Elodia tied the rope around Davida's neck then assisted Myrtle to sit on the Dragon's neck as she climbed behind her on Davida's shoulder. Then taking the rope, she tied herself and Myrtle about the waist and attached it to the rope that encircled the dragon. Davida jumped into the air as they flew out over the lake.

"Where are we going?" Davida asked.

"Myrtle knows," Elodia replied. Myrtle closed her eyes and thought of her home remembering a dragon's flight taken in her youth. Davida, seeing the thoughts of the elder dragon rider, moved through time and space. They made a popping sound as they passed through an airless frozen void then with a second pop were flying high, circling Bell Isle and the city of Bountiful.

"How?" Elodia asked.

"Dragon magic!" Myrtle whispered. They continued to circle lower and lower as cheering crowds gathered to welcome the dragon. "Land there," Myrtle said as they very gently touched down. Several hands took hold of Myrtle.

"Take her inside, Ruth is waiting."

Elodia was intimidated by the sudden rush of eager hands all gently guiding her into a stone house.

"Come this way Dragon Rider," a woman said and Elodia was taken to a room on the second floor. "You can stay here for the present. Mother Ruth will call for you, rest for now." Elodia was left alone. She took off her red coat and shed her layers of clothing until she was down to her petticoat and red dress. Then she folded and put her other clothes on the bed along with her backpack, and she waited.

Elodia waited about four hours when an elderly woman knocked on the door. Elodia opened the door.

"I'm Mother Ruth, Myrtle's cousin."

"She told me about you, you're the coven leader. How's Aunt Myrtle"

"She passed child, shortly after arriving."

No, no, she," Elodia wept. Ruth held her.

"She was very grateful you brought her home Elody. Would you like to see her?" Elodia nodded and was taken to where Myrtle lay. "We'll have her funeral tomorrow. She told us all about you and your dragon, Davida?"

Elodia nodded unable to find words. She heard a loud argument going on in another room. "WHY do I have to mentor HER?" the young woman shouted angrily. "She just arrived and she already has the medallion. I'm almost through, I've worked hard. It’s not fair to me to be her DAMN BABYSITTER!" The young woman stormed past Elodia glaring at her.

"We need to talk Elodia, privately." She led Elodia to a small room. It had a desk and two chairs. "Please sit." Elodia sat after Ruth did.

"I have nothing, Aunt Myrtle was hoping I could continue my apprenticeship with you."

"You arrived, Elodia, with uncounted wealth," Ruth said as she smiled at her. Elodia looked puzzled. "Did you know your name means foreign riches?" Ruth continued smiling.

"Oh yes, my dragon. I've always liked my name, it sounds kind of musical."

"And Myrtle has left you all her belongings."

"What about her sons."

"She took care of them before she left on her mission. She has left you with five thousand pounds." Elodia's mouth dropped.

"My entire village never had that much."

"You need to be cautious. Jealousy can turn a good woman. Say little to anyone. Maryann Lehmandotter will be your mentor. She really does have a good heart. Try and see it through her jealousy. She is also an excellent teacher.

"Is she the one that passed us?" Ruth nodded. The next few days passed in a blur as Myrtle's funeral was held and she was laid to rest. Elodia was scheduled to meet with her mentor. She was apprehensive as she stood in front of Maryann as she sat, not looking at her face.

"OK, Elody is it?"

"Elodia actually but everyone calls me Elody."

"OK Elo-dia, recite the rubrics."

Elodia had recited them daily before a gentler instructor and knew them cold. She recited them word perfect.

"Now the nosodes." Again Elodia recited them word perfect. Maryann continued to fire questions at her regarding remedy choices, confirming symptoms and antidotes. The questioning went on for over three hours. Elodia knew she was doing well, but Maryann seemed unhappy. Then finally looking into Elodia's face she said, "Your knowledge base is marginally acceptable. I'll let Mother Ruth know. Being a healer is much more than simple recitation Elo-dia."

Elodia felt drained as she sat for lunch. She was starving and took good helping as the food was passed. Then she noticed everyone was watching her eat. She knew her table manners were exemplary, and 'I'm hungry,' she thought. So ignoring everyone she simply ate. Several days passed and no one spoke to her. The male students smiled at her, the girls just walked by. She had never in her life felt so alone. Eli had a sister who was in training but Elodia was afraid to inquire about her.

Three days later Elodia needed to simply get away. She summoned Davida. The dragon met her in an open field by a pond.

"I need to get away for a while Davida. Can you fly me somewhere?"

"Anywhere you like little one." Elodia climbed onto the dragon.

"Take me home."

T
he Wing, as every called her, was old. She had two doors on either side of her bow. These were used to load cargo. Eli and the crew spent two days loading lumber into the hold. Then the doors were closed and caulked tight. Deck cargo was then loaded with the stacked lumber reaching the height of six feet on the deck. Then they were off across the lake.

One man stayed at the great wheel while a second stood on the deck cargo giving locations of other ships also underway. The captain stood silently by the wheelman. They ate in two shifts. Each man keeping a four-hour watch. After the watch, they would check the cargo and take a turn at the pumps. Then they had eight hours off unless needed for pumping.

To say the Wing leaked was an understatement. Every four hours they needed to spend an hour pumping. The winds were from the north as the wing sailed slowly. They had fully reefed the sails to have room for the deck cargo. The sails were fully hoisted to the gaff head. This shortened the sails and kept the boom clear of the cargo. The Wing had three masts. Her ends were hogged and her paint chipped and peeling. But Captain Bruce paid well and the food was good. Eli felt lucky to find work.

"She once was the pride of the lake," Captain Bruce said as they sat for lunch. "She doesn’t have many voyages left in her. I will hate to see her broken up. Tell me about this woman of yours."

Eli described Elodia told his story of her rescue, their parting and his quest to find her.

"I do hope you find her!" Captain Bruce said.

Crossing the lake usually took five days. But the Wing moved at a snail's pace through the water. On the second day, the skies to the north darkened and the crew seemed agitated. "We're in for a blow," a crew member said. They managed to get all the sails down before the wind struck and they let two hundred feet of cable out the bow as they drifted, bow first, in the current with her stern facing the wind.

The gale struck with sudden ferocity and the ship was tossed about like a toy. They had the hatches closed tight and sequestered themselves in the cabin. They had put out the stove fire as a precaution. Hour after hour the storm raged. They were helpless. During the storm as they were pumping from within the cabin when the pump lost pressure.

"The pump’s gone Captain!" the first mate said.

The wind slackened at last, the fury of the storm passed. The heavy waves continued another twelve hours before they too calmed. They climbed out of the cabin and saw the Wing was very low in the water. Her gunwales barely out of the water. Land was nowhere to be seen.

E
lodia was overdressed as she walked to Davida. She wore her red hooded coat. Spring came early to Bountiful and daffodils and tulips were breaking out everywhere. Elodia knew that the air was colder with altitude and she would need her coat. She climbed onto the dragon as Davida leapt into the air.

"Can we remain unseen?" Elodia asked.

"Running away are we?" Davida laughed.

"I really don’t know."

"Your tears will freeze if you keep that up," Davida said softly. Elodia wiped her tears on her coat sleeve when she heard the pop. Suddenly she was thrust into the airless void, the coldness painful. Then a second pop and she was over the coast. She loved flying. The air in her face. The clouds the passing landscape in miniature. They circled over the semaphore station Eli had spent the last two years at and the villages that dotted the coast. She flew over the little pond that was a source of many happy memories. Then they landed.

There were no houses. Just burnt ruins everywhere she looked. The pungent smell of rotting fish no longer apparent. She walked slowly toward the village cemetery. She was startled to see a man standing there apparently waiting.

"I know you," Elodia said. "Master Abner."

"And you?"

"Elodia."

"Eli's Elodia?" She nodded.

"Why are you here?"

"I'm not sure, I was directed here."

"I did that," Davida said sheepishly.

"So you're the new dragon rider?"

"Please tell no one. I don’t want to overwhelm Eli when he finds me. You can talk to Dragons?"

"My grandmother was a dragon rider. Yes, I can talk to dragons. You're running away aren’t you? I will keep your secret Elodia. I take it Eli has not yet caught up with you?"

"I don’t know. I'm so very lonely. Thought I would come home."

They walked to the cemetery and Elodia knelt by her mother's grave, "Who buried her?"

"Eli organized everyone, we all did. These whose name we knew have stones."

Elodia saw on her mother's stone the name Davey. She broke into tears and Master Abner put his arm around her. "Eli brought Davey home. He buried him with his mother."

"Why?"

"You don’t know? He loves you, that's why. Your home is not here, it's with Eli, wherever he is." Master Abner took Elodia to the station and fed her lunch. Then he walked her back to her dragon, "Eli will find you Elodia."

Mounting her dragon Elodia flew back to Bountiful.

"W
e're floating on our cargo. As long as we have no additional storms we will make it. Eli you and John see if you can rig a pump. The rest of you let's make sail."

They busied themselves, grateful to still be afloat. It took fourteen hours before Eli and John managed to get the pump working. They both spent time in the water in the bilge to work on the pump. They then started the long process of pumping out. With all the added weight from the flooded bilge they only made about two knots.

The ship had taken quite a beating and leaked even more than before the storm. The pump needed continuous manning as they took turns pumping. Early the next day they met another schooner. They borrowed a second pump and continued on.

On the fourteenth day after the storm, land was sighted. Captain Bruce adjusted his course and late that day they sailed into a snug little harbor. Captain Bruce easily sold the cargo and they began the task of offloading. He then hired two more men to run the pumps while they discharged the cargo.

The Wing was towed out to deep water and allowed to settle to the bottom. Captain Bruce paid off the crew.

"What are your plans now?" Eli asked.

"I'll build a new boat, Wing II. If you ever need work look me up. Go find that woman of yours and Godspeed Eli."

Eli spent the next night at a local inn, then booked passage on a canal barge for Laketown. He arrived there twenty-five days later, then crossed Bear Lake to his home in Riverdale. He walked home and greeted his mother and younger brother.

"Eli, it's so good to see you!" his mother said. "Your Dad is still at sea but he will retire soon, he made admiral at last."

Eli was happy to be home. He spent the next few days inquiring about Elodia and Aunt Myrtle. He learned that Myrtle had died but could discover nothing about Elodia. He spent a lot of time talking to his mother, describing Elodia, his feelings for her, and their separation and his journey to find her.

Eli's mother sent a letter to her daughter Maryann telling of Eli's return and his search. She convinced Eli to spend a few days just resting. Eli needed just to sleep. He’d had so little sleep while on his quest. Convinced he would find Elodia in Bountiful he rested.

D
avida circled, slowly descending into the courtyard of the clinic. Elodia saw a lone figure run out to them. It was late in the day and everyone was at dinner. Elodia recognized the lone figure, it was Maryann. She toyed briefly with the idea of simply taking off, but taking a deep breath she landed and dismounted her dragon.

"Can you ever forgive me Elodia?" Maryann whispered. Elodia could see the girl was in distress. "I've been so mean and cruel to you. I've been so jealous. I was angry and did not know why."

"Please call me Elody, and I forgive you with all my heart." Elodia touched her shoulder as she spoke.

"Thank you. I thought I drove you off. I've been so worried. I'm usually a nice person. Jealousy is so ugly."

"Are you still jealous?"

"Yes," Maryann blushed. "But knowing it, and accepting it will keep it from poisoning me."

"If it were in my power I would give you a dragon ... I would," Elodia said.

"I believe you. Would you sit with me for dinner?"