Jonah and the Last Great Dragon (3 page)

‘Jonah, don't! If you slip, you could get killed.' Erin was panicking.

‘It's OK. I'm being careful.'

‘But if you can't see properly because of this smoke—' She broke off, coughing.

The smoke made Jonah's eyes water. ‘All right. I'm coming back now.' As he moved away, he felt something suddenly catch his leg. He tried to pull away but a creeper, or something like it, tightened round his ankle. He yelled in alarm as his foot was jerked from under him and he felt himself being pulled over the rough ground towards the smoking pit. Erin screamed and then threw herself flat on the ground, crawling towards him.

Jonah scrabbled at the earth to try to get a hold on something. He kicked out in terror with his free foot, as he felt himself slipping towards the edge of the chasm. The intense heat began to sear his skin. He grabbed at a tree root protruding from the hard earth and hung on. He felt Erin beside him and then her hands were round his arm. She hung on fiercely, her fingers digging into his flesh; Jonah felt as if he was being ripped in two. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, his foot was free, and he was able to scramble backwards. He fell against Erin and they both lay on the bare earth, trembling. After a moment or two, they shakily got to their feet.

Erin was leaning with one hand against a tree trunk, coughing in the smoke and struggling to get her breath. Jonah patted her shoulder.

‘Thanks,' he said. ‘If it hadn't been for you—' He faltered and felt a lump grow in his throat. I might have been killed, he thought. He took a deep breath, which made him start coughing, and went on. ‘What happened? I just couldn't get my foot free. It felt like something grabbing me. Did I get caught up in some ivy?'

Erin was staring at him. She looked afraid. ‘No,' she said in a wobbly voice. ‘But – you won't believe me.' She was gazing at him, almost pleadingly.

‘I will,' he said.

‘Promise you won't say I'm mad.'

‘I won't. Really. Cross my heart and all that.'

‘Jonah,' her voice dropped to a frightened whisper, ‘I think it was a hand. I do! Honestly.'

He stared at her. A cold prickling feeling crept up his spine.

‘I saw fingers,' she said. ‘All long and greyish, with horrible horny fingernails. I swear I did. I know people would say you got your foot tangled in brambles or something. But you didn't. You were being pulled along! Oh, please say you believe me.' She looked anxious. ‘Please don't think I'm a freak!'

Jonah shook his head. ‘I don't,' he said. ‘To be honest, it didn't feel much like ivy. What I felt round my leg – well – it actually could have been fingers!'

They gazed at each other in horror and then, yelling, ‘Let's get out of here!' they plunged through the undergrowth towards the little stream.

CHAPTER 5

They scrambled up the bank into the meadow. There were bleeding scratches on their arms and necks, where twigs had scraped them as they ran. Erin's shirt had ripped on a thorn and Jonah had smears of red-brown earth all down his back. Panting and exhausted, they looked at each other and then Jonah began to grin. ‘Do you think we might get A for Imagination?'

Erin took a deep breath and looked around the sunny, perfectly normal meadow. She smiled ruefully. ‘Perhaps B plus.'

Jonah gave her a sideways grin. ‘Oh! Oh! The Ivy-man cometh with his horrible horny hands. Waaah!'

Erin started to giggle. Jonah, waggling his fingers, made a grab for her and chased her across the slope. She gave up, out of breath, and they flung themselves down on the grass, laughing. But another column of smoke shot upwards, making them feel anxious again, and they started up the hill towards the lane.

‘Do you think we ought to go and get your father? Or shall we go to one of the cottages to tell someone about the fire? That would be quicker,' Jonah was saying, when Erin exclaimed, ‘Look, there is someone coming already.'

At the far edge of the meadow, a man had just come through the gate by the church and was coming down the grassy slope towards them. He was tall and young-looking, wearing khaki chinos and a dark green polo shirt, and the sun lit his blond, curly hair. He gave them a wave as he came nearer.

‘Who's that?' Jonah whispered.

‘I don't know,' Erin replied, puzzled. ‘He's not from round here.'

The man smiled as he came down the slope towards them.

‘Hello,' he said. ‘I thought I saw movement in the woods. Did you see the smoke?'

Jonah nodded. ‘Yes, we were up on the hill behind the church,' he began, but Erin cut in.

‘Excuse me,' she said, looking at the stranger with a slight frown. ‘Are you on holiday here?'

The man shook his head. ‘No, I'm working.'

‘Working? Oh. Who do you work for?' Erin was blunt to the point of rudeness. ‘I've not seen you round here before.'

Jonah stared at the ground in embarrassment, but the stranger smiled at them and did not seem to mind. Close to, he did not look so young. His pale skin was lined around the eyes. ‘No,' he said. ‘You wouldn't know me. I'm not local. I'm here to...do some research in the area. I hope I didn't alarm you, appearing in the field like that.'

Jonah smiled back. ‘No, of course not.'

He waited for Erin to speak, but she was still looking doubtfully at the man. Then she asked abruptly, ‘Is the fire something to do with you?'

‘Well, in a way. Not that I started it,' he said easily, as Erin frowned and opened her mouth to interrupt. ‘But I am here to try to make sure the fissure doesn't get any bigger.'

‘Are you with the Forestry Commission, then?' Erin demanded.

‘No,' the man replied calmly. ‘I work for another company. We have interests in this part of Radnorshire. My name is Mike Golding, by the way.'

Erin's mistrust was making Jonah feel awkward. He wanted to change the subject before she said anything else. ‘I'm Jonah Drake and this is Erin Morgan,' he said. ‘Do you know what is causing the smoke?'

The man ran a hand through his mop of fair hair and sighed. ‘I'm afraid I might do,' he said slowly.

‘But what is it?' Jonah persisted. Looking at Mr Golding, he began to suspect that something was very wrong. The stranger looked strained and Jonah felt that he was far more concerned about the fire than he was willing to say.

Erin eyed the man sternly. ‘Look, if you know something, you ought to tell us. My father and Jonah's uncle farm over there. If there's a forest fire, they've got to be warned.'

Mr Golding spoke gently. ‘You're right. And people will be told, if and when it's necessary. But if I'm wrong it would be irresponsible to alarm everybody, wouldn't it? We may find that this is just a slight volcanic incident, which will soon die down.'

The children stared at each other. ‘There!' cried Erin. ‘I told you! Oh, this is really awful!'

‘Hey, I said it might – only might – be a slight volcanic occurrence. Please don't go spreading alarm,' Mr Golding said. ‘We don't want a lot of people trampling round in the wood to investigate.'

Erin flashed a warning look at Jonah. She didn't want him to say that he had nearly got pulled into the crack in the ground. That would really stir up trouble. He nodded very slightly to show that he understood.

Mr Golding looked at them gravely. ‘You know, if you both go home and blurt this out, you could create pandemonium in the area, and all for no reason. You can see the flames aren't spreading to the trees. They are low down in the chasm. Will you keep this quiet for just a few hours? Please.'

Jonah nodded but Erin frowned.

‘What do you mean by a few hours?'

‘Till, say, ten o'clock tomorrow morning?'

‘No! That's ages,' Erin cried. ‘Tomorrow morning will be much too late. The whole forest could be alight by then!'

Mr Golding shook his head. ‘No, it won't be. Honestly. If you want to meet me then – by the churchyard, say – I should know for sure what is causing it. Then you could help with the names of the farmers I might need to contact.' He held up a placatory hand, as Erin began to protest. ‘This isn't an ordinary forest fire. The flames are deep down, like I said. There's very little danger of the trees or anything above ground catching fire.'

‘But how can you be sure? And you still haven't said why – erm – a volcanic incident might be happening.' Erin was not going to be put off.

The forester looked at her steadily. ‘No, and I'm not going to. Not till I know whether I am right and not till I am sure that I can trust you!'

Erin blushed scarlet. ‘I'm sorry,' she mumbled. ‘It's just that – well, it's not very often we see new people just walking about in this valley unless they're obviously hikers. And the smoke is, like, worrying. You know.'

‘Yes, I do, so don't feel uncomfortable,' Mr Golding said, beginning to smile. He turned round suddenly. ‘Oh, idiot! I've left my jacket in the porch. I'll walk back up to the church with you. If it's OK with you, that is?'

The children nodded and he fell into step beside them.

‘So, are you both from farming families?'

‘I am. Jonah isn't, though.'

‘No, I'm just here for the summer holidays.' He smiled at Mr Golding

Erin was pacing along beside Jonah, biting her lip. ‘It's strange to see fire coming up from the earth like that, isn't it?' she said, still anxious about the danger.

Mr Golding nodded. ‘It is strange. And rather alarming.'

Jonah was reminded of the morning and suddenly felt that he could confide in this man. ‘That's not the only strange thing round here,' he blurted out. ‘This morning, just after it got light, I saw an animal.' Mike listened as Jonah explained what had happened. ‘I thought it was going to kill me.' He stopped as they reached the wall into the churchyard. ‘I was so scared!' he admitted.

‘But that's terrible. A dog like that shouldn't be running loose,' said Mr Golding. ‘Look, I can't say for sure what is causing the fire, and until I am sure, it would be irresponsible of me to talk about my suspicions. I might well be wrong. So go home now and try not to worry. I'll see you here at ten o'clock and then I hope I will know about the fire. All right?'

They nodded, both feeling now that they could trust him.

‘Good. And by the way, you can stop the Mr Golding stuff. Call me Mike. OK?'

He smiled goodbye, vaulted over the wall into the churchyard and went towards the porch to retrieve his jacket. Erin and Jonah were walking back down the lane, when they heard him shouting and turned round to see him waving at them, frantically. They exchanged puzzled glances and ran back to the church gate.

‘Sorry, you two,' Mike said, ‘but I feel a bit worried about you going home alone.'

Jonah was looking hard at him. ‘Because of the dog?'

‘Yes,' Mike answered quietly. ‘It may be perfectly harmless but if a large fierce-looking dog is running loose on the hills, I think I ought to walk along with you.'

‘Oh, no,' Erin exclaimed. She felt embarrassed in case Mike thought she and Jonah were too young to look after themselves. ‘You don't need to do that. It's kind of you but you don't have to worry. I've got my phone. Look. And I'm used to dealing with farm dogs. We'll be careful.'

‘Well, if you are sure.' Mike looked doubtful but said goodbye, raising a hand as he went through the field gate opposite. Jonah sensed that he was still uneasy about letting them go home by themselves.

‘He's nice, isn't he?' he said to Erin.

‘Yes, he is. Sorry about earlier.' She glanced at Jonah apologetically. ‘It's just that it was so unusual to see a perfect stranger down there. I mean, we get tourists occasionally. They come to see the church. But they come up the lane by bike or car; they don't just appear in the valley. And I knew he wasn't a walker, because he wasn't wearing walking boots or anything.'

Jonah stopped in his tracks.

‘What?' Erin said, turning round.

‘What you just said – it made me think. Erin, where did he come from? And where's he going now? Like you said, there wasn't a car or a bike outside the church gate.'

‘No, there wasn't! And if he's walking to wherever he is staying, why did he go across the field? There's nothing up there.' They stared at each other. ‘Jonah, there's something odd about Mike. Don't you think so? He's really nice but you must admit that there's something a bit – well, a bit strange about him. Honestly, do you think he is a forester?'

Jonah shook his head. ‘Well, to be fair, he didn't actually say that he's a forester. When you mentioned the Forestry Commission, he just said he worked for another company.' He grimaced. ‘Perhaps we're making something out of nothing. Perhaps he is just a forestry manager working in the area. Anyway, we shan't know today, so we might as well go home.'

CHAPTER 6

Jonah suddenly remembered that he had wanted to look at the small grey church and the old graves under the trees.

‘Hey, can we go back to the churchyard?' He was fascinated by the thought of the spell on the wall inside the little church.

‘Oh, yes. I forgot that's what we came for!'

Erin pushed open the gate and Jonah followed her up the path.

‘It's nice,' he said, looking around at the small, round, hillocky churchyard, with its great yew tree and ancient gravestones. ‘It feels friendly.'

‘Dad says some people think this might have been a pagan site before Christianity arrived.'

‘How do they know?'

‘Because the ground is quite rounded, as if it might have been a circle once. Apparently that's a sign of a pagan holy place.' Erin grinned at him. ‘And, of course, that would have been the perfect spot to build another church as “Defence Against the Dragon”!'