Read Double Dragon Trouble Online
Authors: Kate McMullan
Double Dragon Trouble (6 page)
Wiglaf and Angus ran down the mountain path, calling, “Yorick! Yorick!”
“Bless my stockings!” Yorick exclaimed when they reached him. “What in the name of mildew pudding are you lads doing up here?”
“'Tis a long story,” said Wiglaf. He saw that Yorick was wearing his rock disguise: a gray hooded tunic, gray leggings, and gray boots. In this outfit he could hide in plain sight by crouching down by the side of the road. Passersby would see only a big, gray rock.
“Come meet the dragons, Yorick,” said Angus.
Yorick stopped on the spot. “My ears must be clogged,” he said. “I thought you said meet the dragons.”
“I did.” Angus nodded.
“They are very kind dragon ladies,” Wiglaf put in.
“Oh, by my itchy feet, I won't be meeting any dragons,” said Yorick.
“Yoo-hoo!” called Ethelred. “Are you Mordred's messenger?”
Yorick took one look at the huge, red-scaled dragon trotting down the mountain toward him, and hit the dirt. He doubled himself up small, pretending to be a rock.
“Where is the messenger?” Ethelred asked when she reached them. “Where is our reply?”
An arm holding a parchment scroll sprang from the rock. Ethelred plucked the scroll out of Yorick's hand.
“Message delivered, my dragoness!” Yorick said, his voice muffled by his head being tucked under his belly.
Lucinda joined her sister on the path. Ethelred stuck a claw under the sealing wax on the scroll and popped it open. She read the message out loud:
Honored Dragons:
I will take Bilge and Maggot off your hands. But one wheelbarrow piled high with gold? Ladies, ladies! The lads are twins. It is only fair that you send me twin wheelbarrows piled high with goldânothing less will do.
If you agree, send word with my scout, and I shall meet you midnight tonight by the Stunted Oak on Huntsman's Path. (It would not do for the headmaster of DSA to be seen consorting with dragons on campus.) You bring the gold. I'll bring the wheelbarrows.
Eagerly awaiting,
Mordred de Marvelous,
Headmaster, DSA
P.S. They are extremely large wheelbarrows.
Mordred de Marvelous,
Headmaster, DSA
P.S. They are extremely large wheelbarrows.
Â
“Good heavens!” exclaimed Lucinda. “He is greedy!” She turned to Ethelred.
“He wants double the gold.”
A crash sounded from deep inside the cave.
“Let's do it, Lucy,” said Ethelred. “Peace and quiet are priceless.”
“Scout?” Lucinda nudged Yorick the Rock with her foot. “Are you in there?”
“I am, my dragoness!” came the muffled reply.
“Tell Mordred we'll be at the Stunted Oak at midnight,” said Lucinda. “With the gold.”
“I shall, my dragoness!” said Yorick.
“Farewell!”
Wiglaf watched, amazed, as Yorick the Rock teetered back and forth, then began to roll. Down the mountain he went, picking up speed as he rolled. Soon he rolled out of sight.
“Alas, poor Yorick,” said Wiglaf.
Angus shook his head. “Who knew he was so scared of dragons?”
Lucinda beamed at Wiglaf and Angus. “Your idea is working!”
“Come, sister,” Ethelred said. “We must hurry to our storage cave to fetch our gold. We haven't much time.”
“Be right back, lads,” Lucinda said. She and her sister disappeared over a hill.
Angus glanced at Wiglaf's half-eaten cookie. “Are you going to eat that?”
Wiglaf shoved the cookie toward him.
Angus took a big bite. “Mmmm. I wonder if Lucinda will give me the recipe.”
When Lucinda and Ethelred returned, each was carrying a bulging sack.
“We'll fly you lads to Huntsman's Path,” offered Lucinda.
“We get to ride on your backs?” cried Angus. “Oh, boy! Whoopie!”
Wiglaf smiled weakly. He wasn't fond of flying. Heights made him feel dizzy.
“I'll take you, Angus,” said Ethelred.
“Hop on, Wiglaf,” said Lucinda. She squatted down beside him.
Wiglaf stretched up and grabbed hold of Lucinda's knobby spine. He was about to pull himself onto her back when he heard shouting coming from inside the cave.
The dragons and lads stared as the boulder rolled back slightly from the entrance. Bilge and Maggot darted out of the cave, their armor clattering loudly.
“We want a ride on a dragon's back!” shouted Bilge.
“Yeah!” shouted Maggot. “Take us for a ride! We want to go flying!”
Ethelred and Lucinda exchanged glances.
“Do you promise to stay out of our cave?” asked Lucinda.
“Forever?” said Ethelred.
“Promise!” shouted Bilge. “We're sick of that old cave.”
“Yeah!” said Maggot. “Just take us on a ride!”
“Hop on!” said Ethelred. She lowered herself so they could.
The twins dug their grubby fingers in between Ethelred's scales and climbed up onto her back.
“Giddyap!” cried Bilge.
“Yeah!” cried Maggot. “Give us a crazy ride!”
“You asked for it,” said Ethelred.
Safe on the ground below, Wiglaf watched Ethelred soar up into the air. She arched her back and turned a midair backward somersault.
“Aaaaaahhhh!” screamed the twins, who were dangling from her back.
Next, Ethelred did a perfect forward layout loop-the-loop. Then she tucked her head for a triple-lutz spin, followed by a double flip with a half twist.
“Aaaaaahhhh!” screamed the twins, twice as loud as before.
“I'm gonna be sick!” screamed a twin. But they were too far up in the air now for Wiglaf to tell which twin was screaming.
“You two can ride with me,” Lucinda said, waggling a claw at Wiglaf and Angus.
Wiglaf's heart beat fast as he climbed onto Lucinda's back. He threw his arms around her red scaly neck. Angus climbed up behind Wiglaf and held on to Wiglaf's waist.
“Ready?” said Lucinda. She unfurled her great red wings and began flapping. She rose quickly into the air. Wiglaf tightened his grip on her neck.
Lucinda tilted midair, turning away from Keep Away Mountain and toward the valley below.
Wiglaf slowly relaxed. He began to enjoy the feeling of soaring through the full-moon night on the back of a dragon. The only sounds he heard were the flapping of wings. And somewhere high above in the black sky, the twins shrieking their heads off.
Chapter 10
F
rom high upon the dragon's back, Wiglaf spotted the Stunted Oak below. Mordred leaned against the twisted tree trunk. The headmaster wore his red velvet cloak and cap. Beside him on the path stood two giant wheelbarrows.
rom high upon the dragon's back, Wiglaf spotted the Stunted Oak below. Mordred leaned against the twisted tree trunk. The headmaster wore his red velvet cloak and cap. Beside him on the path stood two giant wheelbarrows.
“Halloooo!” Mordred called. He waved up at Lucinda. “Try for a nice soft landing. No bump! We wouldn't want any of the you-know-what to spill out!”
Wiglaf felt only a small jolt as Lucinda touched down. He and Angus slid off her back.
“Egad!” exclaimed Mordred, eyeing them. “Nephew! Wiglaf! What are you two doing here? The dragons didn't give
you
any of my gold, did they?”
you
any of my gold, did they?”
“Fear not, Uncle,” said Angus. “Your gold is safe.”
“Here it is, Mordred,” said Lucinda. She swung the sack off her back, opened it, and poured. Gold coins clattered into a waiting wheelbarrow.
“Oh! Oh!” cried Mordred. “Music to my ears!” He quickly snatched a coin and bit down on it. “Ow! Nearly cracked a molar.” He grinned. “It's real gold, all right! What? Is the bag empty already? You call that heaping?”
“I do,” said Lucinda, eyeing Mordred firmly. “This wheelbarrow is full.”
“Well, how about the other one?” Mordred said. “We made a deal for two, you know.”
Lucinda glanced up. “Here comes my sister now,” she said, pointing a claw at a tiny speck in the night sky. “She has the other bag of gold.”
Wiglaf heard the twins shrieking as Ethelred circled twice overhead. Flying in low, she did a last quadruple flip.
“Noooooo!” screamed the twins.
Ethelred landed with a bump on Huntsman's Path. “Ride over,” she said.
Bilge and Maggot melted off the dragon's back. They staggered a few dizzy steps and fell to the ground. In the moonlight Wiglaf saw that their faces had turned a sickly green.
“We brought you the gold and the twins, too,” said Ethelred.
“Hallo, Uncle,” said Bilge from where he lay on the ground. “We rode here on the back of a dragon.”
“The dragon did flips in the air,” said Maggot as he rose to a wobbly stand. “Can we do it again, dragon? Can we? Can we?”
“You mean you
liked
it?” exclaimed Wiglaf.
liked
it?” exclaimed Wiglaf.
“Yeah,” said Maggot. “It was awesome.”
“Enough!” said Mordred. “Back to business.”
“Back to business!” Bilge mimicked.
“Button it up!” Mordred boomed.
“Button it up!” taunted the twins.
The twins burst out laughing.
Mordred glared at the pair. He turned to the dragons. “What about my second wheelbarrow of gold?”
“Here you go,” said Ethelred. She poured her bag of gold into the empty wheelbarrow.
Mordred sank his arms into the huge pile of gold coins and hugged them tightly. “My gold,” he crooned. “All mine.”
“Only,” said Lucinda, “if you keep Bilge and Maggot away from our cave.”
“Don't worry about them,” said Mordred. “My school is known for turning worthless lads into fine young dragon slaâI mean, fine young men. Bilge and Maggot won't be bothering you again. I'll whip them into shape in no time.”
“Wanna bet?” said Angus softly.
“Farewell, Wiglaf,” said Lucinda. “Farewell, Angus. I wish you could visit us again. But I'm going to booby-trap the path up to our cave.” She shrugged. “Sorry, but no one without wings will ever pop in on us unexpectedly again.”
“Thanks for the cookies,” said Angus.
“We want another ride, dragon!” demanded Bilge.
“Yeah!” said Maggot. “Give us another crazy ride!”
But the dragon twins ignored them. They spread their wings and flew off toward their cave on Keep Away Mountain.
“Well!” Mordred rubbed his hands together. “Let's get my loot back to DSA. Nephew? You push that wheelbarrow. Wiglaf? You push this one. Nice and smooth now. Can't have coins dropping out. Hmm. I wonder if I'm going to need a bigger safe.”
Angus and Wiglaf grabbed the wheelbarrow handles. By gritting their teeth and pushing with all their might, they made the wheels turn. They pushed the giant wheelbarrows down Huntsman's Path.
“Bilge?” called Mordred. “Maggot? You walk behind. Pick up any spillage. I have my eye on you. If I see you slipping coins into your pockets, I'll turn you upside down and shake them out.”
The twins skipped along behind the huge wheelbarrows.
“We must get back to DSA before dawn,” said Mordred, bringing up the rear. “Won't do to have students and teachers waking up and seeing all this gold.” He cupped his hands to his mouth and called, “Put on a little speed, nephew! You too, Wiglaf. Pick up the pace.”
It wasn't easy to push the wobbly, fully loaded wheelbarrows at any speed. But Wiglaf and Angus did their best to go faster.
The sky was pink with dawn when Wiglaf spotted DSA in the distance.
Not far from the drawbridge, Angus stopped. “I...can't...push...more,” he panted.
Wiglaf stopped, too. He had never been so tired.
“We'll help you!” called Bilge. He grabbed the handles of the wheelbarrow Angus had been pushing.
“Yeah,” said Maggot, grabbing the handles of Wiglaf's barrow. “We'll help!”
Angus and Wiglaf dropped onto the grass, exhausted.
The little lads shoved hard and managed to get the wheels rolling. Bilge pushed his wheelbarrow up onto the drawbridge. Maggot was right behind.
“They are strong for such little lads,” said Wiglaf, watching them.
“Careful now, lads,” Mordred called, hurrying toward the drawbridge. “Keep 'em steady. Don't want any coins spilling into the moat.”
Hearing this, the twins looked at each other and grinned. Then they started wobbling the wheelbarrows from side to side on the bridge.
“Ooooh!” cried Bilge. “This is heavy!”
“Yeah!” cried Maggot. “It's gonna tip over!”
Wiglaf gasped. “They're doing it on purpose!”
“Careful!” shrieked Mordred, galloping toward the bridge. “Stop! Stop!”
But the twins did not stop. They wobbled the giant barrows crazily from one side of the bridge to the other.
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