Raising Dragons (20 page)

Billy’s mother poked Billy playfully in the side. “Mr. Hamilton offered his services to Mr. Foley, and we’re sharing the expenses. How could we say no?”

Walter’s father walked in, his large frame making his shoes squeak across the vinyl floor as he entered. He placed his hand on Billy’s shoulder. “And you and your mother are both welcome to stay here indefinitely. We have plenty of room.” He turned to the teacher and extended his hand. “I look forward to seeing you in action again, Professor.”

“Indeed!” the teacher replied. “I trust that I shall not disappoint you.”

“Professor?” Billy asked. “Why did you call him Professor?”

Mr. Foley pushed his glasses up higher on his nose and slid a business card in front of Billy. “Because, I studied under him at Oxford as a Rhodes scholar. He’s the most—how shall I say it?—the most ‘interesting’ professor I’ve ever had.”

Billy picked up the card. It read, “Dr. Charles Hamilton, Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents, Oxford University.”

Mr. Foley put his finger on the department name. “That’s where he worked right before he moved here. When I studied at Oxford, he was a professor in the department of anthropology.”

Billy looked up at his teacher. “Why would you ever want to come to a hick town like Castlewood?”

“William,” the professor replied, shaking his head, “we must all have a few secrets we’re allowed to keep to ourselves. Mustn’t we?”

Billy smiled and nodded. “I can’t argue with that.”

Walter picked up the stack of dishes and walked toward the sink. “Sounds cool to me.”

The professor looked around the house. “Have you decided on an appropriate room?”

Mr. Foley gestured for everyone to follow. “Yes, I cleaned out the back den last night and set up a table.” The professor grabbed his briefcase again and followed along with the two new pupils. After passing through a short hallway, they stopped at a room at the end.

Mr. Foley stood at the doorway and pushed his hand through his thinning hair. “We can get a marker board later today, and I have chairs for the table already set up.”

Walter and Billy stood by the square, Formica table and gazed around at their new schoolroom. Billy slid one of the chairs out from under the table. “I see four chairs. Is Bonnie coming, too?”

Mr. Foley laughed. “We couldn’t leave her out, especially after we acquired a master intellect to be the house tutor.”

“Where is Miss Silver?” the professor asked. “Will she be joining us later?”

Mr. Foley glanced out the room’s solitary window. “My wife went to pick her up. Don’t worry, though. A police car will escort them here.” He turned to leave and gave them a comical salute, clicking his heels together and raising a ramrod straight arm to his forehead. “Learn well, men! I have to get ready for work. My clients will be waiting.”

Billy walked to the window, and Professor Hamilton followed, stooping to look over Billy’s shoulder. “I assume Miss Silver will be here shortly, so we’ll wait for her arrival before we begin.”

“I can’t believe her foster parents never reported her missing,” Billy grumbled. “How could anyone not care where someone like Bonnie is?”

Walter’s expression brightened and he nudged his friend with an elbow. “Are you getting the hots for her, Billy?” Billy’s glare made Walter put his hands up in surrender, and he backed away. “Whoa! Touchy subject!”

Billy reached for Walter’s shirt and tugged him back to the table. “That’s not it. I like Bonnie . . . as a friend. She’s the coolest girl I’ve ever met, but when you say things like that, you make her sound so . . . so—”

“Common?” Professor Hamilton suggested.

“Yeah, common. Like she’s one of the popular girls at school, you know, playing their stupid games like they do.”

“And your willingness to discuss it,” Professor Hamilton added, “proves that you have a pure and honest relationship with her, as one does with a close sister.”

“I have a sister,” Walter snorted. “I think she must be one of those ‘common’ ones.”

“Oh, come on,” Billy countered. “Shelley’s not so bad. But when you get to know Bonnie, I think you’ll find out what I mean.”

All three heads turned when they heard the front door open and then the sound of Walter’s mom giving directions to the schoolroom. Several seconds later, Bonnie appeared at the door to the den. At first she just peeked in, her wide eyes revealing their ivory white borders and her thick braids framing her elegant neck. She leaned on crutches, but her beaming face belied her injury. Her eyes shone with an inner joy that captivated the three males in the room, and her infectious smile spread to every face.

Under her new backpack, she wore an ankle-length dress that sported a simple flower design, mostly pale blue over bright white, and its newness made her sparkle. The crutches added an aura of helplessness, of deprivation, the image of a lost orphan. Billy knew better. He knew the heart of a lioness beat within her delicate frame, fearless and confident.

Walter’s chin dropped an inch or two. He stared, and his voice shook. “I think I already know what you mean.”

“What?” Bonnie asked. She crutched fully into the room and looked around at everyone. “What do you mean?”

“Never mind,” Billy replied, stifling a laugh. “Is that a new dress?”

She leaned on her right crutch and spread out one side of the dress with her left hand. “Yes. Your mother picked it out, and Walter’s mom bought it for me. It wasn’t a perfect fit, but your mom altered it when we got home.”

Billy tried to tell her with his eyes that he knew what she meant.
Mom must have cut holes for her wings.

“I really like the dress,” she went on. “It even has pockets. Speaking of which—” She reached into her left pocket and pulled out a ring. “I found this on the welcome mat outside.” She held it up for Walter to see. “Your mom didn’t recognize it. Do you?”

Walter shook his head, and they both turned to Billy. She held it right in front of his eyes. “How about you, Billy?”

Billy dropped to his seat and stared at the ring with his mouth wide open. With the color in his face quickly draining, he looked as though he would faint at any second.

Bonnie put the ring down on the table. “Billy! What is it?”

“It’s my dad’s ring! It’s his rubellite!”

Professor Hamilton reached over and snatched up the ring. He looked it over closely. “William is absolutely correct. It is definitely a rubellite, a red tourmaline.”

“Mom!” Billy yelled at the top of his lungs. “Mom, come quick!”

Within seconds Billy’s mother and Walter’s parents ran into the room, and Professor Hamilton presented the ring to Billy’s mother. “Discovered on the mat outside, madam.”

When she saw the ring, her face contorted, tears forming in her eyes. “It’s Jared’s!” She held her hands over her face and cried. “What does it mean? What does it all mean?” Mrs. Foley put an arm around her and hugged her close.

Bonnie dug her hand into her pocket again. “There was something else right next to it, but it’s just a dirty old rock.” She placed a large, crusted pebble on the table. Professor Hamilton reached for it first and brought it up close to his eyes. He brushed the dirt off with his fingers, letting the sand fall to the floor, and then looked apologetically at Walter’s mother. “I’m so sorry, Mrs. Foley. I will be sure to clean it up.” He reached for his handkerchief and wiped the stone clean. After several more seconds of eyeing it closely, he cleared his throat and gazed at everyone in a formal manner. “It is a ruby,” he concluded. He waited for the surprised gasps to subside before continuing. “Not the finest quality,” he went on, “but with its size, I estimate it would fetch six or seven hundred American dollars.”

Billy watched the professor’s hands fingering the gem. “Then what does it mean? Devin wouldn’t leave a ring or a ruby here, would he?”

“Let’s think about this logically,” the professor replied. “What benefit would Devin gain in delivering the ring?”

“Scaring us?” Billy offered. “Letting us know he’s around?”

The professor shook his head. “Scaring you? I don’t think so. He wants to kill you and Miss Silver, although his desire to kill the fair maiden rather squashes my theories as to why he is persecuting you. Anyway, giving away his knowledge of where you are would only injure his strategy. It would be more expedient for him at this point if you thought he was dead.”

Billy cocked his head doubtfully, but he was ready to hear more. “Okay, go on.”

The professor held up his hand. “The conclusion is quite simple, really. Since Devin has no logical reason to leave a valuable gift, that leaves only one possibility.”

Everyone in the room froze, waiting for the professor’s explanation. Even Mr. Foley stopped still, right in the middle of pulling up a knot in his necktie. The professor kept waiting, bouncing lightly on his toes.

Billy looked up at his mother. She knew. Her eyes told him so; they were confused but delighted at the same time. Billy picked up the ring and slid it onto his right index finger. With everyone watching, he closed his fist and gazed at it, not knowing whether to jump for joy or cry out in confusion.

“Dad left it,” he finally said.

Chapter 16

The Gift

It’s obvious, isn’t it?”

Billy sat with the Foleys at the dinner table and addressed his mother who sat across from him. A marvelous meal graced the table once again. A big roast of beef rested near the center with a gravy boat to one side. A huge bowl of mashed potatoes sat next to the roast, with broccoli, carrots, and warm bread on various platters spread from one end to the other. Billy wondered if this kind of meal was normal here, or if the Foleys were showing a little extra hospitality for their guests.

Billy’s voice came alive with new hope, and he chattered like an over-caffeinated parrot. “We don’t have to worry that they called off the search today. You see, Dad’s alive, but he’s not showing his face. He’s worried that Devin will find out where we are, so he’s trying to protect us. He used the ring to tell us he’s still alive, and he gave us the ruby to make sure we had some money.”

“But how could he get it?” his mother asked. “There can’t be rubies just lying around on the ground out there in the mountains. How did he get back to Castlewood? And where is he staying?”

Mr. Foley reached into his shirt pocket. “Here, Marilyn, before I forget.” He pushed a folded sheet of paper across the table. “It’s an appraisal from the gemologist. He says the ruby’s worth six hundred bucks.”

Billy’s mother picked up the sheet and unfolded it slowly, her brow wrinkling as her eyes scanned the numbers. She then refolded the paper and made a fist around it. “I—I’m not selling it.” Her trembling lips forced a smile. “At least not yet. We’ll be all right, and besides, the ruby might hold a clue we haven’t figured out yet.”

Mrs. Foley placed a comforting hand on her knuckles. “Of course you don’t want to sell it.” She turned to her husband. “But isn’t six hundred what Dr. Hamilton said it would be worth?”

Mr. Foley nodded while finishing a mouthful of potatoes. “The old professor knows a lot about everything. He’s going to be great to have around!”

“Yeah,” Walter agreed. “What a setup! Learning everything from the professor and staying at home to do it. It’s perfect!”

Billy stirred gravy into his potatoes, turning it into thick brown soup. “Perfect except for one thing.”

“What’s that?” Walter and his father said at the same time.

Billy let his fork fall to his plate, making a loud clank. “Bonnie. She has to keep going back to her foster home every night.”

Mrs. Foley sighed and her lips turned downward. “I’m not sure there’s anything we can do about that.” She glanced at her husband and intertwined her fingers with his before turning back to Billy’s mother. “So what’s the next step, Marilyn? How do we contact Jared?”

“We can bet that Devin knows Billy and I are here. So I don’t know if it’s safe to leave a note on the mat, but that’s our only point of contact so far.”

“Or just let Dad give us more clues,” Billy offered.

Mr. Foley pulled his napkin from his lap and wiped his lips. “Billy’s right. If Jared’s alive, he’s smart enough to tell us what we need to know. For now he just wants us to know he’s alive and he’s thinking about his family. At least it seems that way.”

“We have to trust him,” Billy’s mother agreed.

Everyone at the table nodded and then continued eating quietly. Billy swirled his fork through his potatoes again and wondered about the silence. Did everyone have pet theories they were pondering? Were they trying to answer the same questions that gnawed away at his mind? How did his dad survive? How could he have disappeared? Why hadn’t he called?

Those were the easy questions, the ones Billy dared ask himself over and over. But there were other questions that he hid deep within. He was scared to peer into that dark portion of his soul. He knew the questions were there, and every time they broke through to his conscious mind, it became easier and easier to dwell on them.

Could he really trust a man who had hidden his secret dragon identity for so long? What other dark secrets was he hiding? A few short days ago these questions would have been absurd, but a few short days ago he didn’t know he had a former dragon for a father.

And last, but not least, what was the slayer up to?

Billy lay awake in the darkness of late evening reliving Monday’s events in his mind. School was really a blast now, and the second day promised to be even better than the first. They had been distracted from their lessons, preoccupied with the rubellite ring, but now Billy felt sure his dad was still alive, so he stopped worrying about that.

Professor Hamilton had given a sneak preview of what learning would be like. The professor arrived with masks from Africa for social studies; he had them act out parts of “Julius Caesar” for reading appreciation, including the stabbing scenes; he brought an ancient abacus for math; and he even taught a Bible class from the book of Matthew. “Couldn’t do that at Castlewood,” the professor said. And that was all on the first day! Best of all, his only classmates were Walter and Bonnie, the two best friends he had in the world. With these thoughts in mind, he was able to drift off to sleep.

Through the night, Billy floated in and out of dreams, strange visions that reflected his jumbled thoughts. In one dream he and Bonnie were walking in a dark cave filled with flickering lights and dancing shadows. A stone floor greeted their shoes with echoing clops, and a breeze wafted through, caressing their faces with cool dampness and filling their nostrils with musty odor. Suddenly the cave became completely dark, and Billy felt a strange sense that sent chills across his back. Something was watching, something large and fierce, looming in their presence like a rising shadow.

“How will we get out of here?” Bonnie asked in an unearthly voice that only dreams can create.

Billy pulled his father’s rubellite ring from his finger and held it up. With a sudden flash it emitted a blinding, radiant light, sparkling red like a crimson lantern. “My father will show us the way,” Billy replied. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

Billy woke up and glanced at the clock. Five a.m. He shuddered at the dream. Were he and Bonnie walking in the cave at the mountain? What might be happening back there? Where was his dad now? Did he leave something else on the doormat?

He arose while it was still dark and ran to the front door. After punching the buttons on the burglar alarm panel to disarm the system, he flung the door open and looked all around the porch.

“Nothing!”

With cold, bare feet, he stepped out onto the painted wood deck and scanned the yard, a span of brown grass with just a few patches of dying green here and there. At least five streetlamps illuminated this section of Cordelle Road, spilling light into the adjacent properties and painting crisscrossing shadows over land and houses.

The snowfall had confined its coverage to the mountains, but the cold sweep of the northwest wind had definitely paid a visit. Billy listened to it blow newly fallen leaves and watched the little dry imps dance across the lawn and then squat like defiant settlers, never to budge until the next rake came to persuade their exit.

Billy was ready to go back inside, but a rustling sound in front of the porch made him stiffen his body. He took a deep breath and tiptoed slowly toward the stairs, whispering, “Who’s there?”

He climbed down the steps and started poking through the hedge that bordered the house. Could it be? Dare he hope? He whispered into the thin branches. “Dad?”

Suddenly a human form burst out from the bushes and ran across the lawn. Billy knew immediately that the runner wasn’t his father; he was too short.

He didn’t have time to think. Though he was barefoot and wearing only pajamas, he dashed after the intruder. Adrenaline pumping, he ran faster than he ever had in his life. He had to solve the mystery and find his father. He did have one other thought—Old Hambone. Just like the dog, he wanted to get the chase over with, and fast. It was way too cold!

The runner, bundled up in a heavy coat, couldn’t stay ahead of Billy for very long. A hundred feet down the sidewalk, the intruder tried to cross the street, but Billy reached out for his shoulders and pulled him to the asphalt. They fell hard, tumbling on the rough pavement like two grunting football players.

The intruder tried to roll away, but Billy kept him pinned, strength flowing through him like shots of liquid muscle. He pulled down the runner’s hood and snatched his ski cap off.

“Adam!”

Adam struggled underneath Billy’s weight. Billy jammed the bully’s wrists against the pavement, and he noticed a book in Adam’s right hand. Billy moved up to sit on Adam’s chest and grabbed the book with one hand while trying to keep Adam in check with the other. “It’s a Bible!”

“So what!” Adam growled.

Billy looked at it more carefully. “I know this Bible; it’s the one I had back on the mountain.” Adam struggled again, wrapping his free arm around Billy’s waist and trying to wrestle him to the side. This time Billy pressed his knees on Adam’s upper arms and pinned his head to the road with one hand. “Talk fast, Adam. Were you delivering it or stealing it?”

Adam smirked. “Wouldn’t you like to know, Dragon Breath?”

Billy pulled on Adam’s hair and then jerked it back toward the road, slamming Adam’s head on the pavement and shouting. “Yes, I would like to know!”

Adam angrily kicked and pushed, forcing Billy to fall back. Both boys scrambled to their feet, and Adam pushed Billy backward as hard as he could, sending him flying toward the curb. He landed heavily, tearing his pajama sleeves and scraping his elbows on the pavement, and the Bible flipped out of his hand and slid across the sidewalk. Adam took off in the opposite direction, his footfalls clopping loudly on the pavement in the silence of the early morning. Billy scrambled to his feet, but Adam was already well down the road. There was no catching him now.

Billy retrieved the Bible and brushed it off. He jogged back to Walter’s house, staring at the newfound treasure all the way. He knew he ought to be cold all over, but only his bare feet complained. He burst back into the house yelling. “Mom! Come here, quick!” He ran toward the guest room, and his bleary-eyed mother met him in the hallway.

“Billy! What do you mean shouting through the house this early in the morning?”

Placing one hand on his knee and trying to breathe without coughing, he showed her the Bible. “Look!” He took two gasping breaths before continuing. “The Bible I was carrying up on the mountain!”

She took it and turned on the hall light. “You were carrying this up there? I didn’t notice.” She flipped through the pages. “So, why is it here? Did you bring it back to Castlewood with you?”

“No! Don’t you get it? I left it up on the mountain!”

Billy’s mother rubbed her eyes and finally seemed to wake up. “You mean it was out on the front porch this morning?”

“Not exactly. Adam had it. He was hiding in the bushes, but when he ran away I tackled him and took it.”

She stared at him with her head cocked to one side. “You mean he’s the one delivering things to us?”

“He wouldn’t say, but I don’t think so. I think the Bible was already there, and he was stealing it.”

The kitchen light flashed on, and Mr. and Mrs. Foley came in from the other side of the house, both in long pajamas and bedroom slippers. “Is there a problem?” Mr. Foley asked.

Billy took the Bible back from his mother and handed it to Mr. Foley. “Adam Lark was hiding in the bushes out front, and he had this. I tackled him in the street and took it from him.”

Mr. Foley looked at the Bible and then back at Billy. “Adam was carrying a Bible and you mugged him for it? Doesn’t seem like the Christian thing to do.”

Billy grabbed the Bible back and sputtered. “No, that’s not it at all, I—” He then noticed Mr. Foley’s big smirk and stopped.

“I heard what you told your mother, Billy,” Mr. Foley said. “The whole neighborhood did. Don’t have a heart attack.”

Billy felt his face turn red, but the embarrassment died quickly. He just stared at the Bible and rubbed its imitation leather cover. “What’s Dad trying to tell us now?”

“But could it be Devin this time?” his mother asked. “Adam had it. Could he be doing something for Devin, trying to confuse us maybe?”

“No! He was stealing it. He had to be!”

“Let me see it again.” She took it and opened it to the blank pages in the front and then to the rear. Her frown gave away her disappointment. “No message. Just this brownish stain on the cover.”

“Oh, yeah. I guess that’s where I threw up on it.” Billy took it again and started flipping through the pages rapidly. “But I don’t see any other marks. Whoever owned this Bible never wrote in it, so if Dad left a message in here somewhere, I should be able to find it.”

Mr. Foley pointed at the clean pages. “Don’t you think your dad would have made his message easy to find?”

“I guess so, but Devin would have, too, if he were trying to fool us.”

“Good point!” Mr. Foley conceded.

Walter finally joined the gathering. He staggered with stiff legs, hands in his bathrobe and eyes barely open, mumbling something about all the noise. When he got to the hall, he raised his head and opened and closed his eyes several times while everyone watched, snorts and chuckles filling the room. He finally kept his eyes open and focused on the Bible. After a few seconds of staring he said, “Revival meeting?” He then turned around and headed back to his room, loud laughter following him down the hall.

Expecting Professor Hamilton to arrive at any minute for class, Billy and Walter sat at the table, each one staring at the pages of the Bible. Every few seconds or so, they nodded to each other and turned the page.

Billy raised his head and rubbed his eyes. “Okay, Exodus is done,” he said, closing the Bible. “No clues yet.”

Walter looked at his watch. “The professor’s late. That’s not like him.”

“He’s picking up Bonnie this morning,” Billy explained. “She’s probably still moving kind of slow.”

Billy rolled his eyes around a couple of times to rev them up for the work ahead and then looked at Walter. “You ready?”

“I guess so.”

Billy opened the Bible again and sighed. “Leviticus chapter one.”