Dragons of the Watch (6 page)

Birds and butterflies flew among the gardens and, on the commercial streets, among the flower boxes and planters. The streets at one time had been well cared for, but now an air of neglect marred their beauty. Dry leaves filled the street gutters. The wind occasionally picked up dirt and swirled it around in dust devils. No one had trimmed the bushes or cut off wilted flower heads. Ellie put aside a fearful thought of a perished city with dead people decaying in these many buildings.

The road ended at a paved circle. Streets branched out from this center like six spokes on a wheel. In the middle, water splashed in a fountain. Seven statues of women in flowing gowns poured water from elegant pitchers into the base they stood in.

Tak leaped up on the side of the pool and drank from one of the streams of falling water from a stone lady’s urn. Ellie climbed the carved rim and eagerly quenched her thirst too. Wiping dribbles of water from
her chin, she sat with her legs dangling over the outside of the fountain’s containment wall.

Somehow this area of the city impressed her as different. She studied her surroundings, trying to discern just what made her feel more at ease in the wide-open circle. A slight wind picked up an abandoned scarf, and like a marionette responding to the puppet master’s strings, the thin cloth performed an aerial dance. Tiny brown dowdy birds fluttered about like scraps of paper just as they had along the route to the center of town. But the flower boxes looked beaten, as if someone had whipped the puny plants with a stick.

Tak bumped her as he hopped down, and she almost fell.

Her complaint against him died in her throat as she saw the plate of food up ahead of them. She jumped and tried to reach it before him. She lost, but the pile of oversize muffins would satisfy them both. Dark muffins, white muffins with nuts, yellow muffins with fruit, and a blue muffin that didn’t look like anything she had ever seen before.

After eating a half dozen, the odd blue muffin attracted her attention. This one didn’t smell as rich as the others, and it was half the size. Cautiously, she nibbled at the edge. Flavor burst in her mouth, something tart like lemon but balanced with just enough honey. She slowed down to enjoy the chewy texture and the wonderful tang.

Tak went back for another drink. Ellie returned to her carpetbag and opened it, trying to find a clean handkerchief to wrap up the leftover muffins. A child’s loud shout brought her head up with a snap. Into the circle, a huge child, taller than Ellie, barreled from one side, snatched the muffin plate, and tore down another street.

As he passed between the corner buildings, he shouted, “There’s another one. She’s got a dog. Catch her!”

A chorus arose from all around. “Catch her! Catch her! Catch her!”

Tak took off the way they’d come.

Ellie had pulled her things out as she’d searched for the handkerchief. Now she stuffed clothing in as fast as she could, but the mess stubbornly refused to be crammed inside. She tried to close and fasten the latch. A primal scream from somewhere behind Ellie sent her after Tak, leaving her belongings behind.

More childlike voices echoed the first yell. Even the cry of a mountain cat couldn’t compare to the war shrieks of the child savages.

Tak slipped between two buildings, and Ellie hurried to keep him in sight. The thought of being alone in this strange land, in this huge city, with monstrous children scared her. Tak was just a goat, but he was her only ally.

They came upon an alley, and the goat cut to the left. Ellie followed. Tak pushed his body behind a pile of rough pine boxes, and Ellie shoved on his backside to make room for herself. They waited, panting. The wild calls scattered and came from all different directions.

Tak’s tail flicked and slapped Ellie in the face. She ignored the goat and leaned toward the opening of their box cave. Were the shouts congregating in one direction? They were. A few minutes passed, then the fanatical screeches resumed.

“I think they’re coming this way, Tak.”

She scrunched in as far as she could and pulled a pine flap out of one box, shielding the hole to their cave. A splinter impaled her thumb, and she stuck the wound in her mouth.

The horde charged past them. Some still chanted, “Catch her!” but most put their energy into bloodcurdling yells. Their pursuers’ feet pounded on the pavement, and the boxes rattled as they went past. Hearing a
whop, whop, whop, thud
against the top of the pile from one end to the other, Ellie imagined one child wielding a club.

Finally, the noise diminished. The mob had moved on.

The goat’s stubby tail whipped across her face, and he began backing up. When she wouldn’t budge, he kicked her. Not too hard, but enough to make her move out of his way. Once in the alley, the goat stared steadily in one direction and then the other.

“Maa!” He ran back the way they had come and away from the pack of giant children. To Ellie’s confusion and dismay, the city became a maze of alleys and streets that reminded her of the labyrinth she’d read about. Several times she and Tak caught sight of child gangs some distance down the way. Tak found places to hide when they couldn’t outrun the children.

The chase lasted all morning. Ellie tried to direct Tak to a path that would take them out of the city altogether, but the stubborn goat turned back toward the center over and over. Again, they heard the clamoring of the pack, and Ellie chose the turn they’d take to escape. The alley looked promising, but she soon saw she had led them into a dead end. A huge door into the building stood open, so she ducked inside with Tak at her heels.

The door slammed shut, and Ellie whirled with a start. Before her stood a gentleman tumanhofer. Definitely a city dweller by his fine, though a bit torn and dirty, clothing.

He clicked his heels together. “Allow me to introduce myself. Graddapotmorphit Bealomondore of Greeston at your service.” He bowed. “You and I are presently the only tumanhofers in Rumbard City.”

Ellie returned a bobbing curtsy, realized it was a very country form of the pleasantry, and switched in the middle to a deeper dip. She lost her balance and steadied herself by grabbing a barrel, which tipped over with a bang.

All three stood still for a moment, listening to see if she’d revealed their whereabouts.

After a moment, Ellie curtsied again. “Ellicinderpart Clarenbessipawl from, well, not anywhere in particular. Outside of the village, Glenbrooken Village.” She’d done that badly. Embarrassment warmed her cheeks.

“Maa.”

She glanced at her goat. “And this is Tak.”

A noise from the alley caught their attention. The knob on the door turned. Graddapotmorphit Bealomondore grabbed Ellicinderpart Clarenbessipawl’s hand. “Run!”

He guided them between giant hanging clothes, and Ellie realized they were in a store. She panted as she tried to keep up. “Where do all these ready-made clothes come from?”

“Cottage industry, and it would seem the urohm ladies believe in stiff competition. I’ll show you the fancy labels inside the clothing some other time. Right now, I hear the stomping of enemy forces.”

The children swarmed through the shop. Bealomondore led Ellie and the goat to a counter and ducked under the edge. They followed him into the empty space behind the counter front.

Dust tickled her nose. Ellie rubbed it. “It’s stuffy in here,” she whispered.

“Don’t sneeze,” Bealomondore ordered. He climbed a stack of boxes arranged like a staircase. Darkness covered him from the waist up. “Come on up. We’re going to hide in this locked drawer.”

Tak quickly scaled the makeshift steps. Ellie followed more carefully. At the top she could see the narrow opening along the side of the drawer. The distance from the highest step to the underside of the
counter provided a bit of a challenge in wiggling into the safe haven. The tumanhofer gentleman helped Ellie climb into the deep drawer and then lifted Tak in.

Scarcely any light filtered into their hiding place, but she recognized huge coins and paper money. Ellie heard scraping noises below, then Bealomondore’s hands gripped the side of the drawer, and he soon maneuvered himself in beside her and the goat.

“This drawer is locked,” he explained. “The only way to get in or out is the way we just used. And that way can only be used by people our size.”

“What is this place?”

“A money depository, like a safe.” He put a finger to his lips.

“They won’t find us?” Ellie whispered back.

He shook his head. “They’ll give up soon. It’s almost time for noonmeal, and they know better than to be late.”

“What happens if they’re late?”

“The food will be gone, eaten by those who got there first.”

With his face turned toward the light filtering in through the crack running between the lip of the drawer and the underside of the countertop, Ellie could see the tumanhofer’s frown.

“They go hungry?” she asked.

“If they are horribly late, the leftovers, if there are any, dry up and blow away.”

“So there
are
adults someplace who care for these wild things?”

“There’s only one adult left, and he lives in the library. They call him Old One. He has the doors locked and won’t let them in.”

“But …”

“I know. It boggles the mind.”

“Who are they?”

“As far as I have been able to ascertain, they are the last of the urohms living in Chiril.”

Ellie let out a loud sigh of relief and then froze. A child’s steps neared their hideout. The drawer rattled but didn’t open.

“Whatcha doing, Phee?”

“I heard a noise.”

“How d’ya think they’d get in a locked drawer?”

“I forgot it was locked.”

“It’s locked every time we come in here.”

“I know. I just forgot. I want to see that dog. Tolly says the wee one has a dog. I’ve never seen a dog.”

“Neither have I. Come on, Phee. I’m hungry. Let’s go to the circle.”

“It was fun though. I had fun. We almost got ’em, didn’t we? I hope we snatch ’em next time.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“What are we going to do when we catch her and the dog?”

“Same thing we’ll do when we catch that wee man.”

“Eat ’em?”

“Yeah, eat ’em.”

“Let’s go.” Bealomondore started to climb out of the drawer.

Ellie grabbed his coat sleeve. “Is it safe?”

“Yes, they’ve gone for noonmeal.” He went over the edge and disappeared. She heard a thud and then his voice. “Hand me the goat.”

Ellie hoisted Tak over the side and into Bealomondore’s waiting arms, then climbed out with a little assistance from the tumanhofer.

“I left my belongings in the fountain circle. Can we go get them?”

Bealomondore gave a humorless laugh and shook his head. “We may be able to gather your things as time goes by, but the hordes claim everything they find. And they’re all in the circle now eating.”

Tak stamped his hoofs on the wooden floor.

“He wants to go out,” said Ellie.

Bealomondore led the way. “You mindspeak with the goat?”

His back didn’t tell whether the tumanhofer joked or asked a legitimate question. She liked it better when she could see his face while he spoke. On the other hand, his sincere expression had her believing everything he said. Perhaps it was better not to see his kind eyes while she debated whether he was trustworthy.

His comment was odd. No one she knew had ever claimed to mindspeak. Maybe he meant something else.

“Talk without words, in your mind?” she asked.

He nodded without looking back.

Mindspeaking! Ellie had learned over the past day and a half that the rules of Chiril didn’t seem to apply to Rumbard City. Of course, she’d heard of mindspeaking, but only in stories. Those tales arose out of wizards and dragons, rarely sighted even in Chiril. This tumanhofer had answers. He had experience in this strange place. She wouldn’t scoff at the things she found absurd. She was going to remain respectful to get as much information from him as she could.

Cautiously, she phrased her question and chose a neutral tone of voice. “Mindspeak with an animal?”

He paused at a place in the wall where a crack let in sunbeams. Nudging a loose board to the side, he peeked out.

“All clear.” He removed two boards, stepped through, then handed Ellie out. “Don’t trip on that baseboard.”

Tak hopped through the hole. Ellie waited, glancing up and down the alley, while Bealomondore returned the boards.

When he finished and brushed his hands on his pant legs, she asked again. “Do you mindspeak with animals?”

“Only dragons.”

Ellie pulled in a breath, but it did nothing to tamp down the sudden anger that surged through her. All her good intentions scattered before the familiar feeling of being teased by rascally brothers. “That’s enough!”

Bealomondore’s eyes widened as he spun around to face her. “What?”

“I know it’s obvious that I’m a country girl, but I’m educated. I don’t know what pleasure you derive from throwing ridiculous statements at me, but I don’t appreciate it. I’m lost and scared and late.” She struggled to keep her tears at bay. “I was supposed to meet my aunt
and uncle in Bellsawyer. We were going to the coronation and the royal wedding reception.”