The Adventures of Button (19 page)

“Wow,” was all Iggy could say as he abruptly sat.

Biff’s gruff but humor-filled voice came from the bottom of the hill. “That’ll take care of you, you little twit.”

Princess Vintrix Sarandra went on, arching an eyebrow as she did so, “And,” she sniffed haughtily once again, “all lower life forms.” She couldn’t help adding, “of course,” as she glared balefully from Iggy to Biff.

Both Buttons and Sally were grinning broadly. That the small creature’s eyes were beginning to twinkle had not escaped their keen inspection.

Of course, Iggy had seen the exchange between Princess Sarandra and his two best friends. Boldly surveying the new creature, he lifted himself to his full, and rather insignificant, height, and snorted. “Come on, get real. We’ll just call you Sara.” Then, he had to add as he ducked her swinging head, “just for short.”

Before matters could out of hand, Buttons intervened. “Uh, if you approve, your highness. How about it, Princess Sarandra?”

“Oh, gosh, yes, I’ve never had such a name, or friends like you.” She turned and surveyed the clearing and all of the birds in the trees.

She lowered her head to whisper in Buttons’s ears. “Gosh, aren’t they beautiful, the small ones? And, of course, the hawks are so stately.” Her whisper carried clearly to all parts of the clearing and the trees, causing much ruffling of plumage and pirouettes by the hummingbirds. Her words were most appreciated.

Sally smiled as she inquired, “And, you will tell us something about yourself?”

Sara sighed deeply as painful memory after painful memory raced across her mind. She began slowly at first, but then, raising her head proudly, continued with only brief pauses between her words.

“I’m a dragon, of course.” She raised herself on her hind legs, fanning her beautiful wings. “Of course, I’m not very big yet, but we’re a long-lived race. Though there’s not many of us anymore.” She looked about her, the longing and hurt clearly etched in her youthful features.

She glanced around at her newfound friends. “There’s so many of each of you. It must be nice.” She sighed once again.

The irrepressible Iggy nudged her, his eyes large in his sharp features. “Gee whiz, I thought dragons were huge and ferocious.”

“Do you breathe fire too?”

Sara smiled wanly. “We do get pretty big. In time. But I’m still young.”

Iggy was not to be denied. “Yeah, but what about the fire-breathing?” He grinned smugly at Buttons.

Sara drooped, her shoulders sagging as she looked at her small inquisitor. Her voice was almost imperceptible even to the keen ears of the dogs and other woodland creatures.

“I can’t.”

“What?” Iggy was indignant.

He would have continued, but Biff, the bear had closed up behind at a glance from Sally. The bear placed both broad paws around the small squirrel and gently squeezed, effectively muffling all protests as he carried Iggy unceremoniously down the hill.

When Iggy could breathe again, he harshly demanded of Biff, “Hey, you big lummox, what’s the idea? Gosh, I wouldn’t hurt her feelings for anything.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Just be quiet for a while, will ya?”

Buttons grinned at Sara, who had watched the proceedings with increasing interest. “Do you know what you have to do to begin breathing fire?”

Sara raised her shoulders and let them drop as she shook her head negatively. “I didn’t get that far in my lessons before I got lost.” She dropped her head conspiratorially. “The world’s a lot bigger than I thought. I’ve been wandering for a long time.”

“So tell us about it . . .”

And Sara began to tell her new friends how she came to be in their forest.

“You see the world is very large, as I had been taught, but I forgot that and wandered away from the great mountains which the very few dragons in the world inhabit. My lessons were very complete, of course, and I thought I knew it all.” She sighed, “But, I didn’t.

She went on as the creatures of the forest and field listened. Sara continued, “I started out heading east. Well, anyway, so I thought, but . . .” She looked at Buttons, who smiled encouragingly. Sara smiled back, and taking a deep breath, went on. “I got out over water, sooner than I should have if I were truly heading east.”

Buttons stepped forward. “And of course, you weren’t. Right?”

Sara giggled a little, blushing as she nodded. “I’m not very good at directions, you see. I went on for a very long time, getting very tired before I sighted land.”

“Ours, right?” Iggy interposed.

“Well, yes and no. You see I still had ways to go, long ways before I landed here. Not many open areas at first, and I was frightened.”

As Sara went on to tell of her trip across the eastern part of the United States, Buttons looked at Sally, who in turn, glanced at Iggy and Biff. The latter pair slowly approached Sara once again. Respectfully this time. Iggy gently placed one very small paw on one of Sara’s forelegs, as Buttons whispered something into Biff’s ear.

“Don’t you worry. Buttons will figure it out.”

Iggy placed himself between Buttons and the small dragon as Biff turned away and scurried into the forest, rapidly disappearing into its depths. Iggy fastened his keen eyes on the black dog. “So, what’s wrong, huh?”

“Look, it’s simple. You can’t have fire on demand without something to set it off. Right?”

“Yeah, if you say so,” muttered Iggy.

“And, you’ve got to have something that burns. Right?”

“Well, sure,” said Iggy, beginning to brighten up. “Boy, that’s pretty good, Buttons. Always thinking.”

Sara suddenly fanned her wings as a crashing sound came clearly to those crowded around the hill. Clearly agitated, she began to rise to her tallest when Iggy grabbed at one forepaw.

“Easy, Sara, easy. It’s just Biff, the bear. Never did learn to go around when he could smash straight through.”

Buttons and Sally quickly reaffirmed Iggy’s impression, and Sara was settling down when Biff came crashing into the clearing, dragging a blackened bag behind. Plopping the bag at Buttons’s feet, he had to stop for a moment as he was panting hard. “Got it,” grinned Biff. I brought the whole bag. Easier that way.”

Sara was rapidly glancing from one speaker to the other as the discussion went on. Her eyebrows were rising higher and higher.

The bear grinned hugely. “There. How do you like that?”

It was Buttons’s turn to grin as she said, “Knew you could do it. Any problems?”

“Nope. In and out so fast no one ever knew I was around.” He looked skyward, not mentioning the door on the old barn that he had ripped from its rusty hinges, gazing about so that Buttons couldn’t detect anything amiss.

Sally coughed, taking Buttons’s attention from the bear.

Buttons raised first one eyebrow and then the other, but said no more on that topic. “Sure, OK. So much for that.”

She turned to Sara. “How do you like coal?”

“Huh?” responded the dragon. She looked from the bag to Buttons to Iggy and back to the bear. “Well, I’ve never had any.”

As Biff began to tear at the bag, Sara poked Buttons with her muzzle. “Just what is it?”

“Fire stuff.” Buttons’s eyes were wide and innocent as she commented, “All you do is chew it up, build up some gas, and blow it out. After we’ve lit your pilot light, of course.”

Sara looked hard and long at the small black dog, but could detect no sign of doubt. However, she recognized the hushed and expectant audience were becoming increasingly restless. To her credit, she was game, and taking a very deep breath, said, “OK, but . . .”

Sally smiled broadly. “Don’t worry. All dragons have to breathe fire. You will, too.”

The hawks and hummingbirds all exchanged nervous glances. “Fire? Here?” In the Great Forest? Nothing terrified all creatures of wood and field more than fire.

Just what was the black dog up to now? Yet, for all their fears, they trusted her implicitly. They hunkered down, each in their own way, waiting. It was not easy though and some fearful mutterings could be heard within the forest.

Small black blocks spilled onto the ground as Biff finished opening the bag.

“There’s your coal. Now, chew up a couple of the briquets.” Buttons and Sally waited to see what Sara would do.

The small dragon sniffed at the coal and pushed one briquet tentatively around with her nose. She glanced at Buttons and then at Biff. Iggy pushed into the fore so that he stood directly in front of the dragon with Biff. Iggy had gone and returned. He nodded to Buttons and gave a quick grin. In his paws was a small stick with a bright red rounded tip. Sara had never seen a match before.

Sara picked picked up one briquet and slowly moved it around her mouth
.
Her words were somewhat garbled as she addrssed the crowd in general, “Not very tasty, you know.”

Sara looked to the sky as though in silent prayer. Then, doing as she was bid, she began to chew, slowly grinding the charcoal.

“Chew it up fine,” cautioned Buttons. “It’ll make gas better that way.”

Sara did as she was bade, and continued chewing the coal into smaller and smaller bits and then swallowed.

Iggy watched the lump move down her throat. “Wow, she did it,” he breathed out in hushed admiration.

Sara’s eyes seemed to cross for a moment as she savored the aftertaste. “Oh my,” she said. “It’s sort of heavy in there, you know.”

“That’s all right,” soothed Buttons. “The gas will be along shortly. Just let it perk.”

“Gosh, I don’t know about this,” burped Sara. Her eyes began to wander as she contemplated the bubbling sensations which were beginning to emanate from her innards. “Are you sure?” she burbled.

“You’re doing fine,” Buttons reassured her

As events were clearly coming to a head, all the small woodland creatures began to gather more closely around the small group. Birds vied for better perches and a better view.

Sara groaned and many were the sympathetic groans echoing her obvious discomfiture. Sara dropped to the ground and rolled around, her paws pressed to her stomach, as rumbling sounds issued from her partially open mouth. More groans came from the surrounding forest, and Biff, the bear hugged his big belly in wide-eyed empathy.

“Oh, my, my poor stomach,” Sara moaned. “I feel like I’m going to explode. Oh my, oh me.”

“Wow,” Iggy commiserated, “oh, wow!”

Buttons stepped closer. “Easy now, Sara. It will be alright. You’ll get used to it. You just have to learn to control the right amount each time.”

Iggy piped in, “Yeh, you’ll see. Nothing to it.”

Biff shook his head and smiled reassuringly at the dragon. He knew no words were going to help too much at this point in time. He waited.

As Sara burped once again, Buttons said, “OK, you’re just about there. Now, listen carefully. Just take a deep breath and we’ll light your pilot light. You concentrate on keeping it lit. Just a little flame, remember.”

Sara moaned and her eyes crossed as she gazed at her friends, who seemed to waver about her. “I’ll try.”

She did as she was told, carefully sitting erect as she took a slow and deep breath. Buttons motioned to Iggy to light the match, for that was what she had sent him for. Only the very facile squirrel could manage a match. She wouldn’t trust the raccoon twins who had just appeared at the edge of the crowd, or the river otters who would more than likely set everything aflame.

Iggy struck the match against a stone placed before Sara for that purpose. But Sara had held her breath as long as she could, and the inner rumblings were crescendoing at a faster and faster pace.

The match blazed into life, and there were many ohs and ahs from the surrounding crowd. Iggy triumphantly held it up, carefully placing it before Sara’s nose.

She belched.

There is not a word for the explosive burst which escaped Sara. The erupting gases billowed out and around Iggy. There was a tremendous blast, as gas and flame united. Iggy disappeared into a cloud of flame and smoke. Creatures cried aloud and fled in all directions. Buttons, Sally, and Biff tumbled down the hill, coming to rest on their respective backsides.

They all glanced quickly at Sara who remained where she was, but now with a marveling gaze on her face.