The Case of the Stolen Film (13 page)

‘You know what I mean, Hunter.'

The two men walked to the end of the road, where there was a bookshop called Unknown Worlds. Outside, a man in a mushroom hat strummed a guitar underneath some wind chimes. As Hunter and Frank entered the shop, Dirk caught a whiff of burning incense. Dirk knew the sort of place. Inside would be material on every conspiracy theory known to man. There would be books on angels, fairies, aliens and dragons and not one word of fact in any of them.

When they came out, Frank was carrying a large pile of books.

‘I don't know why you waste your time on this, man,' said Hunter. ‘When it comes to dragons, there's only one book you need.' He pulled out a battered copy of
Dragonlore
from his pocket and waved it in Frank's face.

‘Yeah, but what about …' Frank lowered his voice,
‘the Turning Stone, man. Imagine the sort of money Buchanan would pay for that! We could move out of our mums' houses, and set up the business properly, man. A proper office, rather than the back room of a laundrette.'

‘We got to give him something solid,' said Hunter.

Frank stopped. ‘Well, you know what I think? I think Minertia had it. I think she buried it with the rest of her treasure.'

‘Hidden treasure. Man, I worry about you sometimes. How are we going to ever get taken seriously with you going on about hidden treasure and alien cats?'

‘I believe what I believe, man. Find Minertia's treasure, you find the Turning Stone, man.'

Hunter picked up the top book from the pile that Frank was carrying. ‘And you're going to find it in
Men are from Mars, Dragons are from Pluto
, man? You're hopping down mad alley in crazy town, Frank.'

The two men reached the car and Hunter opened the door so Frank could climb in with his books.

Dirk's mind was racing. He knew the Turning Stone was real. It was said that whoever possessed it would have power over all dragonkind. So was Frank's theory so crazy? It made sense that Minertia would have had
it. That would explain why Vainclaw and Karnataka were desperate to get their hands on Minertia's treasure. Karnataka's words came back to him. ‘
If you knew what I know, knowing you, you'd be looking for it too …
' and, ‘
If you knew what I know, you wouldn't help me find it.
' Of course! Karnataka knew about the Turning Stone and he knew that Dirk wouldn't trust him with something so powerful any more than he would trust Vainclaw with it.

‘Hey, Hunter, that cat's looking at me.'

A tabby cat was scratching itself against a nearby wall.

‘Don't act wacko, man,' said Hunter.

‘It's got alien eyes, man, alien eyes,' said Frank, slamming the door shut.

‘You know, you got to get past the cat thing,' said Hunter, getting into the driver's seat. ‘It's holding you back, man.'

When Holly and Archie arrived back at the house, they ran upstairs to Holly's room, shut the door and went out on to the balcony.

‘Dirk?' said Holly.

‘I'm blended on the roof above you,' said Dirk. ‘We need to be quick. I don't want to take any unnecessary
risks. What news?'

‘It's in the round building surrounded by scaffolding,' said Holly. ‘There are cameras all around but none inside. We guess Buchanan doesn't want anyone seeing what happens in there.'

‘Any indication that he suspects you?' asked Dirk.

‘No. He let us run around wherever we wanted,' said Holly. ‘If he knew about you and me, he'd be more cautious, wouldn't he?'

‘Unless he wanted you to find the film,' said Dirk.

‘But it was you that discovered he had the film, not us,' said Archie.

‘True, but still be careful, both of you,' said Dirk. ‘We shouldn't meet again. It's too risky.'

‘I've got the book for you,' said Archie, pulling out the history of Sands Mansion.

‘Hold it up,' said Dirk.

Archie did so and Dirk's red tail dropped into view, wrapped itself around the book and took it. ‘Thanks,' he said.

‘Will you go and get it tonight?' said Holly.

‘No. I'll need time to study the book and work out a way around the cameras,' said Dirk. ‘My guess is that a man like Buchanan won't go public with this straight away. Besides, something else has come up. I'm going
to be out of town for a couple of days.'

‘Isn't that a bit of a gamble?' said Archie.

‘Maybe, but my gut tells me that anyone as wealthy as Buchanan is going to want to keep a secret like this to himself for a while.'

‘Where are you going?' asked Archie.

‘I'm going underground,' said Dirk.

Just outside the city, in a quiet spot, Dirk came to a standstill on a suitable rock and politely asked it to take him down. The rock, being rock, obliged unquestioningly.

He travelled for a while in darkness and then the orange glow of earthlight filled the sphere of shifting stone, making it possible to read the book Archie had given him. Past the lithosphere tunnel it grew lighter and the heat became uncomfortable. The pages of the book turned brown as the heat cooked them. As Dirk turned the last page, the whole book crumbled to ash. Still, he had read enough.

Eventually, Dirk felt the rock beneath him pull
away. He braced himself, remembering how hot the banks of the Outer Core had been the last time he visited. As he felt himself tumble down, he curled up into a ball, protecting his soft underbelly from the scorching pebbles by the fiery lake that hissed and bubbled angrily. He sprang to his feet and headed along the beach.

The Outer Core wasn't exactly a popular tourist retreat and for some time Dirk walked without seeing a soul. Eventually he found the wingless Firedrake sitting by the lakeside, using a long-handled ladle to fill a line of flasks with the contents of the lake. The Firedrake had tough skin, with rows of tiny holes on its back. A pair of crudely fashioned sunglasses, made from the same black metal as the ladle and flasks, rested on his upturned nose.

‘Shute Hobcraft,' said Dirk.

‘Dirk Dilly, dude,' replied the Firedrake, looking up. ‘Watch this.'

Shute picked up one of the flasks, opened it and poured its scalding contents into his mouth. He crouched down, with a look of concentration on his face, and suddenly a jet of steam shot from a hole on the lower part of his back with such force that it propelled him forward. Dirk dodged out of the way as the
Firedrake whizzed past him, spinning over and landing upside down on the beach in fits of giggles.

‘What a rush, dude. Help me up, will you, Dirk?'

Dirk pulled Shute to his feet.

‘Still taking your job seriously, then,' said Dirk.

‘Hey, I can't help it if I make work fun,' said Shute.

Shute Hobcraft's job was to check how hot the Outer Core was. The slightest drop in temperature meant that there was a dragon in it, and that a banished dragon was trying to escape from the Inner Core. If this happened, Shute would alert the authorities, who would catch the escapee.

‘I've come to ask you about Minertia,' said Dirk.

‘Oh yeah, dude, she was one big dragon.'

‘You were the last one to see her before she was sent down. Any idea what she did with her treasure?' asked Dirk.

‘You're not the first to ask me,' said Shute. ‘Every so often, some gold-greedy dragon comes asking about it. The last time it was a Mountain Dragon, like yourself, and a Sea Dragon. I forget their names.'

‘Jegsy and Flotsam?' asked Dirk.

‘That was them,' said Shute. ‘They seemed like bad sorts to me, dude, but I didn't think looting was your bag, Dirk.'

‘It's not. I don't care about the gold,' said Dirk.

‘Well, I can't help. I've no idea what she did with it.' Shute downed the contents of the flask. Steam shot from all of the holes on his back. ‘Woo hoo, that's hot,' he said.

‘Did she say anything to you at all?'

‘She was more of a thinker than a speaker. She could read your mind, you know,' said Shute. ‘I was wondering why she didn't try to make a run for it, because she only had three Drakes holding her down and, like I say, she was a fair-sized dragon. She turned to me and I heard her speak in my head: “I helped define these laws. I will not break them.” Then she jumped straight in, not a second thought. It was pretty mad to watch.'

‘That's all she said?' said Dirk.

‘Sorry, dude.'

‘Rats!' said Dirk, wondering what to do next.

‘You could go and ask her, I guess,' said Shute.

‘What do you mean?' asked Dirk.

‘I mean, if I really wanted to know something like that I'd swim down to the Inner Core and ask her. She wouldn't tell you if you were a gold-digger but she might if you had good intentions … providing she's still alive.'

‘You're crazy. Swim down through that?' said Dirk, stepping back from the lake. ‘I'd die.'

‘Die, dude?' said Shute. ‘No way, this is the life force. Sure, it's hot. I'm not saying it won't sting a little but it won't kill you. It's where we all start life, isn't it?' Shute threw an empty flask into the lake. As it hit the surface, red boiling liquid splashed back and the flask sank, sending black smoke up.

Dirk walked to the edge of the lake and looked in. He tried to think of an option that didn't involve having to swim through it. He could simply walk away and hope that Vainclaw had no better luck finding the Turning Stone. But Vainclaw wouldn't give up so easily, and if he found it, then what? Ultimate war. And if Shute was right that Minertia could read minds, then she would know he didn't want it for himself. He looked at the scorching lake with grim determination.

‘Hey, dude, you're going to do it, aren't you? That's what I like about you, dude. You're a thrill-seeker like me,' said Shute gleefully. ‘Don't worry, I won't call the Dragnet on you. I'll allow for two heat dips, one when you go down, another when you come back up.'

Dirk dipped a claw into the lava. It wasn't too bad.

He tried a paw.

‘Grearrghouch!' he screeched. ‘Rats in grass skirts, that's hot!'

‘The trick is to just jump straight in,' said Shute.

‘See you round, Shute,' said Dirk, gritting his teeth and wading into the lake.

The scorching liquid surrounded him, scalding the skin on his legs. Dirk took a deep breath and dived in, fully submerging his body. The agony was unspeakable. He would have screamed but to open his mouth would only have increased the pain. He felt his soft underbelly blister and harden. He swam down, feeling like he was being deep-fried.
Crispy-fried dragon
, he thought.

It was too much. He turned around and tried to swim back up but he felt disorientated. He no longer knew which way was up. The more he swam the hotter he got. Even through his eyelids, the light was as intense as the heat. It was like swimming through the sun.
I'm going to die,
he thought.
Shute was wrong. This is going to kill me.

His limbs gave up. He stopped moving. He was too tired. He had no energy.
So this is how it ends,
he thought.
My life ends where it began, in the fire of the Outer Core.
Dirk felt strangely calmed by this idea.

Then a voice that was not his own grew inside his
head, saying,
IT IS NOT YOUR TIME TO DIE YET
, and something grabbed him. He was too weak to fight it as it hauled him out of the liquid fire.

At last, he gasped for breath but his lungs were only filled with stale, hot, dry air.

‘I think he's dead,' he heard a voice say.

Dirk opened his eyes to see an upside-down Sea Dragon peering at him.

‘Oh no, hang on, he's alive,' she said.

Dirk felt so hot that he would have peeled off his own skin to cool down. He had a headache of epic proportions and he was exhausted.

‘How many claws am I holding up?' said the Sea Dragon.