Page 52 of Claws and Contrivances
Wait. She came to an abrupt halt as the sound finally penetrated her distracted brain. She had heard that kind of chortle once before, hadn’t she? When she’d first met Griff, and he had been so frightened ...
This chortle had come from behind a faded blue velvet settee in the back corner of the room. Putting one finger to her lips to alert Mr Aubrey, Rose crept slowly back towards the settee on tiptoe and stretched with painstaking care to look silently over its arched back ...
Only to find quite a different small creature curled up behind it. “You found me, you found me!” Her youngest cousin, Rupert, stopped muffling his laughter the moment her head appeared above him. “No one else guessed I was here! I’m so clever!”
Rose let out a rueful laugh as she shook her head down at him. “You rascal! How long have you been hiding here? Does your poor nurse have any idea where you are?”
“I’m playing hide-and-seek with my friend,” he said cheerfully. “I think Nurse gave up hours ago.”
“I wouldn’t blame her if she’s taken the opportunity for a well-earned nap.” Rose reached down to affectionately ruffle his already mussed brown hair, then frowned with sudden, sharp concern as her palm met damp strands. “But how did your hair get wet? You didn’t leave the house and wander down to the river by yourself, did you? You know you’re not allowed—”
“Of course I didn’t! That was my friend.”
“Nurse wetted your hair?” Rose blinked, noting all the tangles that remained. “Why would she only do it in those patches?”
He rolled his eyes up at her. “Not Nurse, Rose, my friend. He liked the taste of the jam in my hair. And on my cheeks! It tickled.”
“Ohhh.” Rose’s shoulders sagged with relief. “I understand. So, Cwtch licked your hair and face, did he?”
“Oh, no. Cwtch isn’t allowed jam,” Rupert told her righteously. “Mama says it’s not for dogs. That’s why I can’t share my toast with him any longer, even when he looks so sad.”
It was true that Cwtch had long ago mastered the art of looking tragically starved, no matter how many meals he had consumed. But the family had no other pets, so ...
“Aha.” Rose turned the corner of the settee and sank down to crouch beside her cousin. “Does your friend happen to be a dragon, by any chance?”
Rupert didn’t answer, but his grin was positively diabolical.
“Do you know where he’s hiding now?”
He nodded, beaming.
“And ...?”
“We’re hiding together,” Rupert whispered gleefully, “but he doesn’t like other people seeing him!”
Rose’s eyes widened. She glanced up at Mr Aubrey, who stood attentively waiting on the other side of the settee. He nodded in silent confirmation.
I should have known. It wasn’t that she hadn’t believed her uncle in the first place; it was only difficult, at first, to wrap her mind around this new draconic ability.
Not really magic, she reminded herself ... but it still felt like magic, now more than ever.
She took a deep breath as she prepared a new plan. “Rupert,” she whispered, “let’s play hunt the thimble, shall we? With your new friend?”
“Ooh.” His eyes lit up. “You’re very warm.”
“Am I?” Holding her breath, she reached slowly across the space between them.
“Now you’re hotter ... and hotter ... and—oh!” Rupert burst into laughter as he fell backwards on his heels. “He’s jumped on top of me!”
“Have I frightened him? I’m sorry.” Sinking all the way to the floor, Rose withdrew her hand. “It’s all right, Llewellyn,” she cooed. “You’re not in any danger from me, darling. My uncle sent me to find you because he was worried about you. I’ll wager you’ve been yearning for ages to explore this nice, big house, haven’t you? There’s so much to sniff and taste and discover ...”
As she crooned the words, she carefully laid her right hand, palm up, on the floor before Rupert.
Hot breath huffed against her skin a moment later, sending goosepimples racing up her arm. She swallowed a gasp but didn’t allow herself to stop speaking for long. “Do you smell any other dragons on me? I’ve been looking after two of your friends. They’ll be happy to see you. You know my other friend, Mr Aubrey, too, don’t you? So you can tell that you’re perfectly safe now, and ... ahhhh.”
Her breath rushed out in a sigh of pure wonder as colours and textures formed before her eyes. Finally, a small blue dragon, solid, whole and perfect, sat before her, filling and overflowing Rupert’s lap.
“Aren’t you beautiful?” Rose breathed. Tears shimmered in her eyes as she met that wild, golden gaze. Llewellyn looked up at her alertly from his perch on Rupert’s crossed legs, his small blue head cocking from one side to another to take her in from every angle. Rupert stroked his gleaming scales, and Llewellyn wrapped his long tail gently around Rupert’s waist.
