Jonah and the Last Great Dragon

Winchester, UK
Washington, USA

FIRST PUBLISHED BY OUR STREET BOOKS, 2012
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Text copyright: M E Holley 2012

ISBN: 978 1 78099 541 0

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publishers.

The rights of M E Holley as author have been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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Design: Stuart Davies

Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY

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1 WATCHERS ON THE HILL
2 GILFACH FARM
3 LUNCH AT GILFACH
4 SMOKE IN THE FOREST
5 MEETING MR GOLDING
6 DANGEROUS CREATURES
7 ATTACKED
8 CRISIS
9 AN UNBELIEVABLE STORY
10 WHO IS MIKE?
11 THE MEETING
12 LEGENDS OF RADNOR FOREST
13 ABRACADABRA
14 THE AWAKENING
15 ALPHA MALE
16 TALKING TO A DRAGON
17 DRAGONS AND MASTERS
18 MY NAME IS JONAH DRAKE
19 FEEDING FFYRNIG
20 TROUBLE IN HEREFORD
21 HELP FROM CREDENHILL
22 FLYING TO BATTLE
23 FIREPOWER
24 THE DEMON ON THE ROOF
25 TO THE ABYSS
26 JONAH SETS A CONDITION

TO TOBY WARREN
BECAUSE HE'S SPECIAL

CHAPTER 1

As the sun began to rise, a hooded figure slipped through the trees to the edge of the wood. For a few moments it looked up and down the little valley, then turned and beckoned. The undergrowth rustled as a large, shaggy animal slunk through and came to stand beside the silent form. It sniffed the air, staring down at two farms nestled near the crooked little lane. There was a faint sound from the farmyard directly below. The watchers turned their heads sharply. A boy was opening the yard gate and coming into the field. The being in the hooded robe nodded.

Jonah Drake shivered in the cool air as he looked around the steep meadow. The land felt mysterious in the early morning light, as if the woods were hiding secrets. He gazed up at the line of trees crowning the ridge. The lower branches of the beeches above him trembled. Idly, he wondered why they were moving, when the rest of the woodland trees were as still as cardboard cut-outs.

In fact, the stillness was somehow alarming. It felt as if the misty valley was holding its breath, waiting for something to happen. Jonah had the oddest feeling that he was being watched. The hair rose on the back of his neck and he looked round sharply. There seemed to be a sudden movement at the top of the hill but when he stared at the woods, the trees were motionless. Jonah took a deep breath, shook his head and told himself not to be such an idiot. What could possibly hurt him here?

The long meadow grass had soaked the bottoms of his jeans. He bent down to roll them up and saw, out of the corner of his eye, another flicker of movement up in the trees to his right. Jonah straightened up and gazed at the ridge above him. There was no breeze; the branches were absolutely still. For a moment or two, nothing stirred. And then, yes. Something was slipping through the beeches. Jonah stiffened, and then remembered his uncle telling him there were deer in the valley. He grinned with relief. There must be a few in the woods! Perhaps they would come down to feed.

A bird called and another answered from the other side of the lane. The sun was getting higher now. Jonah noticed a buzzard hovering above the ridge on the other side and strained to hear its thin, mewing cry. He paused, listening intently. And then, apart from the buzzard's call, he realised he could hear another sound coming from the direction of the woods.

He stopped and turned, puzzled by the noise. There it was again. He wasn't sure what he was hearing. It was a bit like a low growl. Jonah stood still, hardly breathing, and strained his ears. For a moment, he couldn't hear anything and then it came again, nearer this time. A low, menacing rumble. Jonah turned cautiously to look back the way he had come. The noise stopped.

The silence held for a long moment while Jonah looked wildly around. Then, behind and above him, something crashed in the undergrowth. The bushes rustled, and an animal leaped out of the tree-cover some distance away and stood staring down at him. Jonah froze. The huge creature standing stiffly on the hillside was no deer. He supposed it was a dog but he'd never seen one like it before. It was nearly as big as a pony, with a very pointed muzzle and a rough, dark coat. Its forefoot was lifted slightly, ready to spring. As Jonah stared at it, the dog turned back its upper lip and snarled ferociously. The rumbling growl from deep in its throat carried down the valley. Jonah could feel his legs shaking. It seemed obvious that as soon as he moved, it would go for him.

He swallowed hard and tried to think. He wasn't sure he could get back to the farmyard before the brute caught up with him. The slope was steep just here. If he sprinted, it would be easy to trip and lose his footing. Then the dog would be on him in seconds. Cautiously, he turned his head a fraction to estimate the distance and instantly realised he had made a mistake. The dog launched itself down the hill.

Jonah turned and fled. He pelted diagonally across the gentler slope, making towards the lane. He didn't dare look round to see how quickly the animal was gaining on him. He knew he was going away from the farm but he could run faster in this direction. His foot caught on a tussock of grass. He stumbled, flailing his arms, but managed to right himself. He pounded on, slipping and sliding on the wet grass. His heart hammered against his ribs.

He had a stitch in his side and he was gasping for breath, but he pushed himself on. It wasn't far to the next farm up the valley now. He could see the roofs of the farm buildings over the top of the long hedge bordering the meadow. At first, he couldn't see how to get through. His eyes darted wildly along the hedge and then, as he ran down the slope towards the valley lane, he saw a stile.

Jonah's legs felt like lead weights but fear forced him across the last few yards of the field. At any moment he expected the dog's awful snarl, as it snapped at his back. He threw himself over the stile, flew up the lane and swerved through the farm gate, making for the house at the end of the drive. The gravel crunched underfoot as he ran, heaving for breath. A barn stood on the left of the track. Just as he realised that his legs wouldn't go much farther, there was a shout.

‘Hey! Over here!' A girl was standing at the open door of the barn. Jonah lurched towards her but then his energy seemed to drain away. He leaned over, one hand on the barn wall, gasping. A woman came to the door.

‘Erin?'

‘Quick, Mam, help me get him inside.'

The woman took one look at Jonah and reached for his elbow.

Together they half-lifted, half-dragged him into the barn. Jonah, his fair hair flopping over his eyes, bent double and clutched at his side. His chest was heaving and he couldn't swallow because his mouth was so dry.

The girl's words tumbled out in a rush. ‘It was awful, Mam. I haven't seen it round here before. It just really went for him and…'

‘Tell me in a minute, love.' The woman looked at Jonah with concern. ‘Let's get you up to the house, cariad. We'll finish in here later. You need a drink.'

CHAPTER 2

Jonah walked up to the farmhouse on wobbly legs that still seemed as if they didn't quite belong to him. The girl kept craning her head to look for the dog on the hillside. In the big kitchen Jonah dropped into a chair thankfully, while her mother poured him a glass of water.

‘Would you like a cup of tea? Or some juice?' the woman asked kindly.

‘No, this is fine. Thank you.' His voice came out in a croak.

She turned to her daughter. ‘Whatever happened, Erin? Was someone after him?'

‘Not someone, no. It was an animal. I saw it up on the hill, right over behind Maesglas, and then it went for him. But I don't know where it's gone now. I couldn't see. The hedge is too high.'

Her mother looked puzzled. ‘What do you mean – an animal? A dog, is it?'

Erin shook her head and shuddered. ‘Not an ordinary dog. It was awful. It was so big! A real brute.' She looked at Jonah. ‘Do you know what it was?'

‘No,' Jonah said. ‘I've never seen one like that before.' He screwed up his face. ‘If it lives round here, I'm going to have a great summer. Not.' He flushed, feeling slightly embarrassed. ‘I won't want to go out!'

‘Nor me.' Erin shuddered.

‘We're going to have to find out who that thing belongs to,' said her mother. ‘We can't have a dog like that running loose, attacking livestock, let alone people. Think of the damage it could do. You could have been badly hurt.'

Erin sat down at the table too, her dark eyes alight with curiosity. Her mother had been firm: ‘Let the boy recover, Erin, before you swamp him with questions.'

Erin grinned at Jonah conspiratorially but all she said was, ‘I'm Erin Morgan. This is my mam, Gwen.'

Jonah felt much better. He got up and put the empty glass on the draining board. ‘Thanks, Mrs Morgan. I'm OK now. Thanks for helping me. I'd better be getting back.' He tried not to show how scared he was of walking along the lane to the farm. ‘My aunt's going to start worrying when she finds my room empty. She didn't know I got up so early.'

‘Your aunt? Oh, I know who you are!' Erin's face lit up. ‘You're Jonah, aren't you?' She turned to her mother. ‘You know who he is, don't you?'

‘Well, I don't think I've seen—'

‘Oh, Mam! This is Jonah.' Her mother looked puzzled. ‘Mam, he's Claire Parry's nephew. He's staying at Maesglas. Aren't you?'

He nodded, smiling. ‘Yes, that's right.'

Mrs Morgan's face cleared. ‘Oh, of course. I remember now. Your Uncle Bryn told my husband you were coming down this summer. But he said you weren't coming until mid-August.'

Jonah smiled. ‘Well, I wasn't, at first. And my parents were supposed to be coming to stay for a couple of weeks, as well. But they were offered this contract. It's for seven weeks, running training programmes in a big company in Saudi Arabia. It was just too good to miss. They didn't think I'd have much of a summer if I went with them – you know, just stuck in a compound with no one to hang out with – so I've come down to spend the whole summer with Claire and Bryn.'

‘Well, that is nice,' said Mrs Morgan. ‘We should have met you and your parents in January, you know, if we could have found someone to look after the farm. Bryn asked us to the wedding. We were so sorry we couldn't come up to Lancaster.'

Erin had a huge smile. ‘Are you really here all summer? Oh, that'll be just great! I couldn't believe it when Dad said you were going to be at Maesglas for a bit in August. And he said you were my age, too. At least he thought you were. You are about my age, aren't you?' A torrent of words poured out. ‘There's hardly ever anyone around to do things with. Do you ride? You can borrow one of our ponies, if you do, and Dad's got an old bike you can borrow. Jonah can have it, can't he, Mam?'

Mrs Morgan threw up her hands. ‘Heavens, Erin, let the poor boy alone, can't you? He might be looking forward to a nice quiet time on the farm with the Parrys. Not racketing round the valley with a girl who can't ever stop talking!'