Dragons of the Watch (37 page)

Ellie held tight to the side of the cart. One rough spot in the pavement and the wagon would tilt. Too much of an upset would send it over. She knew she couldn’t hold it up, of course, but she’d try. As soon as she had the children, Tak, and the cart carrying Porky hidden at the back of the library, she’d return to Bealomondore and try to help.

A rock caught Tak on the hindquarters. He jerked and sprang forward. Ellie saw the cart tip away from her. The wheels on her side left the pavement. She lunged to hang her body on the edge and grabbed hold of Porky as he rolled toward the lower side. Her weight pulled the wagon back and the wooden rim jarred against her stomach as two wheels bounced on the street.

Ellie jumped, landing on her feet. She ran beside the cart with her hand on the rough side, aware that any minute the wagon could tip again and Porky might topple out.

Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Bealomondore surrounded by the gang of boys. The minor dragons flying above looked totally helpless to deter Yawn’s forces. She stumbled and used the cart to keep from falling.

The pitch of child-shrill hysteria rose. The children racing in front of her now screamed and howled as they ran. Their outcry changed to even higher shrieks. Ellie focused on the library ahead and saw red-faced and snarly Old One standing at the top of the deep steps between two tall white columns.

“Oh,” was all she managed to get out before he came charging down the steps, a huge unfurled umbrella in his hands.

The fleeing children screeched, and their swarm split in the middle, some veering off to the left and the others zooming to the right.

“Go to the back of the library!” she yelled. The rescue plan was turning topsy-turvy. The scattering children escaped in two directions, getting away from her. Would she be able to herd them back together? Gasping for breath, Ellie charged on.

Old One hurtled down the library steps, coming directly at her with his umbrella raised. Tak bleated a complaint, the attacking children behind her whooped and hollered like wild heathens, the children fleeing in front of her yowled like injured pups, and the dragons made noises she couldn’t identify. Were those shrill wails a war cry?

As Old One approached, she heard his deep, ominous growl. She flinched and desperately looked around for a way to retreat. Ignoring her, he passed on the opposite side of the cart.

Ellie let go of Porky’s wagon and slowed enough to be able to safely look back. Old One charged into the melee that centered on Bealomondore. With his umbrella closed now, he bopped the children around their middles, hitting sides, stomachs, rumps, and arms. When close enough, he yanked the wooden helmets off their heads. He threw the boxes away.

Most of these young warriors froze when exposed. Old One took advantage of their fright, leaned over, and growled in their faces.

Ellie smiled, glad that ferocious Old One had no more intention of hurting these wayward children with his umbrella than Bealomondore did with the flat of his sword. She let a giggle escape as she watched two terrorized hoodlums take off for the alleys. Amee and Maree chased them for good measure, then returned to find another victim whose armor had been jerked off by Old One.

Confident that Bealomondore was no longer in danger, Ellie followed the trail Tak had taken to the back of the library. She found her rescued children gathered around the wagon. Porky sat, staring at his surroundings.

“He woke up,” Soo-tie announced.

Cinder snorted. “She can see that.”

Soo-tie delivered a slug to his arm. Cinder raised a fist.

Ellie pushed through the pack of overexcited youngsters, trying to reach the combatants before a free-for-all broke out. “Stop that!”

The children stared at her. Exasperation welled up in her chest. Didn’t these monsters have any idea of civility?

She leaned into the wagon and put her arms around Porky. “You’re going to be all right. We’re safe here.”

Eying the mob around her, she took a calming breath, but still her tone sounded harsh in her ears. “You’re not supposed to fight all the time.”

“What are we supposed to do?” asked Soo-tie.

“Speak kindly, encourage each other with words, help one another, and do things that make your life better, not worse.” She sighed, remembering all the times she’d heard Gramps utter similar words. She pulled out of her memory the edict most often quoted. “Construct, do not destruct.”

“I’m hungry,” whined one of the children.

A murmur of similar complaints rose from the gang surrounding her. Obviously her lecture had not registered.

“Help me get Tak into the park and Porky into the library. Then I’ll see what I can find for a snack.” She released Porky from her hug, giving him a kiss on the cheek as she did so.

A scuffle erupted over unhitching the goat.

“Stop!” Ellie shouted.

Their movement ceased abruptly, but Ellie sensed the squabble would explode again if she didn’t think of some incentive to thwart them.

“There will be no food for anyone who hits, pinches, or pushes.” She looked at their confused faces. “Or anything else mean and hateful.”

They waited. What did she expect them to do? She’d have to teach them how to cooperate. Otherwise, they’d stand there and glare at her until sundown.

“Cinder and Grim, unstrap Tak. Toady, open the gate and let him in, then close the gate behind him. Soo-tie, you and some of the girls help Porky walk to that opening over there. That’s where we’ll go into the library.”

She placed a hand on Porky’s shoulder. “Do you think you can walk with their help?”

His eyes were big in his pale face. “Into the library? We’re going into the library?” His lower lip trembled, matching the quiver in his voice.

“It’s all right. Old One is a friend of mine. He likes Bealomondore and me.” Ellie thought that might be a bit of a stretch, but Old One had shown up to help battle against the militant troops under Yawn’s control. “We’ll be safe inside the library. Yawn and his gang won’t come in.”

Det, Airon, and Maree swooped out of the sky and landed on the cart. The children emitted squeals of pleasure. One lurched to grab Airon. She hissed and flew up, avoiding capture.

“Don’t touch the dragons,” Ellie ordered.

She heard running feet, and Bealomondore appeared from around the corner of the stately white building. The rest of the dragons arrived and took perches in the trees.

Bealomondore panted. “Well, that’s taken care of.” He leaned over, his hands on his knees. “We made it, thanks to the unexpected help from Old One.” He stood and grinned at the crowd around him. “The old man swings a wicked umbrella.”

Reminded of their nemesis, the pack of nervous children seemed to shrink as they scooted into a closer knot. Bealomondore ignored their apprehension and moved to help the girls maneuver Porky out of the back of the wagon.

Ellie made sure Tak entered the park, looking him over for injuries from the hurled rocks. She checked to see that he had water before following Bealomondore and the young refugees through the vent opening.

The children remained subdued as they entered the library. She even saw several holding hands, which both surprised and pleased her. They weren’t as callous toward each other as they would have her think.

Ellie clambered in after the last child, Red Curls. She had to shove a bit to get in. They had all stopped just inside the opening.

“Excuse me. Move a little, please. Excuse me.”

She got her feet under her and stood. “What’s going on?”

Red Curls leaned close and whispered in her ear. “I gotta go.”

That didn’t explain why the group had stalled just inside the library.
She took Red Curls’s hand and plowed through the bodies wedged in the small space in front of her.

“Coming through. Excuse me. Move aside. Excuse me.”

She dragged Red Curls to the front and looked around in amazement. “There’s nothing here. Why are you standing around in this back room instead of moving into the children’s area?”

Bealomondore’s expression showed that he was as perplexed as she was. Through their bond, she felt his irritation rising. Her annoyance fed on his. Her eyes widened as their gaze met.

We’ll have to be careful
, she mindspoke.
I feel like I could wring their necks without an ounce of remorse
.

Bealomondore’s brow furrowed, then cleared.
“Yes, I felt my anger surging in a manner that is totally out of proportion to the situation.”

Doubled!
Ellie smiled her understanding.

“And then doubled again.”

She nodded.
Twice the emotion for half the cause
.

Cinder cleared his throat. “Are you two just going to stare at each other? You look silly.”

Ellie broke out of her private communication with Bealomondore and surveyed the frightened children.

Toady’s anxious voice barely reached her. “He’s in there.”

For a moment, the identity of “he” eluded her.

“Oh, you mean Old One.”

Red Curls jerked on Ellie’s arm. “I gotta go.”

“Right,” said Ellie. “We’ll go to the children’s area. I’ve never seen Old One there. After we get settled in, I’ll introduce you to him. He might even read to you. He is a librarian, not a grawlig, you know.”

Bealomondore’s thought interrupted her.
“I believe he said he was a guardian.”

A communal gasp turned Ellie’s attention from Bealomondore to the place where they focused all eyes. Old One stood in the doorway to the main library area.

“You will obey all the rules,” he bellowed, and the children cowered.

“You will not shout, yell, or scream. You will maintain a quiet attitude. You will not run, skip, or dance. You will move sedately through the book stacks. You will treat the books with respect. No chewing, throwing, or stepping on. You will sit in chairs and on the floor. No climbing is allowed in the library. No running.”

Cinder spoke up. “You said that one already.”

The glare Old One pinned on the unfortunate boy scared even Ellie.

“No running,” Old One repeated.

Tense faces stared at Old One as he sat beside the desk in the children’s area. He scowled at one in particular, and that child shrunk and wiggled to the back of the group. Bealomondore thought Old One was doing an admirable job of keeping order.

Ellie didn’t. “He’s scaring them. There’s no need to scare them.”

“Then you should explain to the children that they’re not allowed to scare me. Being attacked by that mob in the street took ten years off my life.”

“These are the peaceful children, not the hooligans.”

“I recognize some of these innocent-looking cherubs as wranglers in a few scuffles I’ve seen,” he said.

Ellie looked at Bealomondore. “What are we going to do? We can’t let the children and Old One stare darts at each other.”

Bealomondore thought better of the sarcastic remark that sprang to his mind. The sad thing was that before he could shut it off, Ellie heard it.

“Humph!” She squinted at him sternly.

He thought she looked adorable, and she heard that too. She blushed. He laughed.

“The first order of the first day in your new abode,” said Bealomondore, “is to have noonmeal.”

Ellie turned her hands up and shrugged. “Where do you suppose the food is?”

Bealomondore didn’t sound worried. “The wizard that provides our sustenance seems to know what we’re doing and when. He always puts the correct amount of food where we can find it.”

At the mention of food, the children’s attention had shifted from the grouchy librarian to the tumanhofer. Some of them nodded to his statement, some stood with their mouths hanging open, and some wagged their heads, indicating they didn’t have a clue what he was talking about.

Bealomondore debated revealing his sighting of the wizard at work. The children evidently were unaware that a wizard watched over them. Then he’d need to explain the history of the city. How much could this young audience absorb in one sitting? He decided against getting into anything too complicated.

He took a deep breath and let it out. “So”—he examined the grimy faces suddenly attentive to his every word—“I suggest we have a scavenger hunt. Holler loud if you’re the first one to find the stash of food, and we’ll all come to help cart it back to the children’s area.”

He lifted his hand to count on his fingers the rules he wanted them to follow, but the children dispersed with wild whoops and cheers before he said another word. The dragons of the watch took off from their various perches and joined in the riotous hunt. They flew above the children’s heads, chirring lively tunes and doing aerial acrobatics as if caught up in the children’s exuberance.

Ellie grinned, but Old One growled, muttering under his breath. “No loud voices. No running. No rough-and-tumble play allowed within the library walls.” His eyes widened, and he turned his head abruptly in the direction most of the children had taken. He bellowed,
“You aren’t allowed to go up the steps. Never go up the steps. Off-limits to the likes of you.”

A squeal resounded through the hallowed halls of Old One’s literary institute. “I found it! I found it! Come see. There’s buckets of food here. Buckets!”