Authors: Chris D'Lacey
Tags: #Children's Books, #Animals, #Fairy Tales; Folk Tales & Myths, #Dragons, #Growing Up & Facts of Life, #Friendship; Social Skills & School Life, #Friendship, #Science Fiction & Fantasy, #Fantasy & Magic, #Children's eBooks, #Science Fiction; Fantasy & Scary Stories, #Action & Adventure, #General, #Juvenile Fiction
C
ome on,” said Liz. “We’ve been through all this once before. And it’s even colder now than it was last time. Just open the cage and let him go.”
“That is one well-traveled squirrel,” said Zanna. “Why didn’t you just let him loose in your garden?”
“I did,” said Lucy. “But he wanted to come here — when
you
were ready. Mom, did you bring the food?”
“Yes-ss.” She sighed. “Here’s his commission for helping David with the nutbeast story.” She threw Lucy a plastic bag filled with peanuts.
Zanna blew into a tissue and laughed.
“You OK?” Liz asked her, stroking her shoulder.
Zanna closed her eyes and nodded.
“It’s fitting,” said a voice, “that the story should return to the place it began.”
Liz patted Zanna’s arm and walked the short distance along the path to where Arthur was sitting on a low stone wall, listening to the rustle of the leafless trees. He reached for Liz’s hand. She took his, knelt with it, and kissed his fingers.
“David is with us in spirit,” he said.
“He’s with us in a bit more than that,” said Zanna.
Liz threw her a questioning look.
“I’m having his baby,” she said.
“Oh my goodness,” said Liz, drawing in such a gulp of air that birds deserted the surrounding trees.
“His baby?” gasped Lucy, standing up at once. “You’re going to have —?” She stared in awe at Zanna’s tummy.
“Oh, Zanna,” Liz cried, and threw her arms around her. “When did you know?”
“This morning,” she sniffed, and gave a quick shrug. “Come on, guys. It’s just a baby.”
“It’s David’s child,” Arthur said, smiling.
“And Gwendolen’s,” Liz whispered, touching Zanna’s cheek.
Zanna sniffed again and looked down at her feet. “We gonna let this squirrel go or what?”
Liz took her hands and rocked them proudly. “You’re going to need help. I want you to come and live with us, OK?”
Zanna’s pale face twitched into a frown. “Kinda crowded,” she said, struggling to talk. “Us four, the dragons, and a crazy leopard — or whatever he’s trans-moggified into this morning.”
“We’ll talk about this later,” Liz said happily. She squeezed Zanna’s hands and turned back to Lucy.
“Oh, there’s one other thing,” Zanna said.
Liz and Lucy gave her their attention again.
“Gadzooks gave me a note this morning.” She pulled a tissue from her sleeve and clamped it in her fists. “It said
G’lant.
It’s the name of my Valentine dragon. He said the name would come to me. He wrote to me, Liz.”
Liz took her in her arms and hugged her tight. “It’s
not over,” she whispered. “Not by a long way.” And she glanced at Arthur and signaled to Lucy.
And Lucy let the squirrel go.
… until the stars have blinked their last,
wherever on this Earth you walk,
he will arouse, excite, inspire,
my Valentine, my one dark fire …
Thank you to everyone who has helped to produce and support this book: Team Orchard (thank you, Penny, for stepping in so late), Kathy Hector, Derek & Susan, LWC, Sandy and her staff at Browsers Bookshop, Shelley at Harborough, Merel Reinink, and Marshall — they still love the Web site, mate.
Chris d’ Lacey
is the author of several highly acclaimed books for children and young adults, including
The Fire Within, Icefire,
and
A Hole at the Pole.
Chris works as a research scientist for Leicester University and lives in Leicester, England, with his wife.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
This book was published in hardcover in the United States by Orchard Books in 2007 and in Great Britain by Hachette Publishing Group, Ltd., in 2005.
Copyright © 2005 by Chris d’Lacey.
Cover art © 2005 by Angelo Rinaldi
Cover design by Alison Klapthor
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e-ISBN 978-0-545-36545-1