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The dragon looked at her thoughtfully. Then he stretched his neck and looked at the sky. “The sun’s setting,” he said. “We can start soon.”
“Thank goodness!” Sorrel folded up the map and put it in her backpack. “About time we left this city. It’s no place for a dragon and a brownie.”
Ben picked up a couple of stones and chucked them into the dark water. “I don’t suppose you’ll be coming back, will you?”
“Why on earth would we want to?” Sorrel stuffed a few extra bramble leaves into her backpack. “I certainly don’t want to see that conceited white rat again.”
Ben nodded. “Then I’ll wish you both luck,” he said, throwing a final stone into the water. “I hope you find this Rim of Heaven place.”
Firedrake looked at him. Ben returned the dragon’s glance.
“You’d like to come, too, wouldn’t you?” asked Firedrake.
Ben bit his lip. “Of course,” he muttered, hardly knowing where to look.
Raising her head, Sorrel pricked up her ears uneasily. “What?” she said. “Come with us? What are you two going on about?”
Firedrake took no notice of her but just looked at the boy. “It will be a dangerous journey,” he said. “Very long and very dangerous. You may never come back. Wouldn’t anyone here miss you?”
Ben shook his head. “I’m on my own. I always have been.” His heart beat faster. Hardly daring to believe it, he looked at the dragon. “Would you … would you really let me come, too?”
“If you like,” replied Firedrake. “But think about it carefully. Sorrel often gets very bad-tempered, you know.”
Ben felt weak at the knees. “Oh, I do know!” he said, grinning. He was feeling quite dizzy with delight.
“Hey, hang on half a sec!” Sorrel pushed her way in between them. “What’s got into you, Firedrake? He can’t possibly come.”
“Why not?” Firedrake playfully nuzzled her furry stomach. “He’s been very helpful. We can use all the help we can get, don’t you think?”
“Helpful?” Sorrel was so indignant she almost fell over. “He’s a human! A human being! Only pint-sized, but still a human being. And it’s the humans’ fault we’re not at home in our nice warm cave. It’s their fault we’re off on this crazy quest! And now you want to take one of them along?”
“Yes, I do.” Firedrake rose, shook himself, and bent his neck so low that the brownie girl had to look him in the eye. “He’s helped us, Sorrel. He’s a friend. So I don’t mind whether he’s a human being, a brownie, or a rat. What’s more,” he added, looking at Ben, who was standing there hardly daring to breathe, “what’s more, he doesn’t have a home now any more than we do. Isn’t that true?” He looked inquiringly at the boy.
“I never did have a home,” muttered Ben, looking at Sorrel.
The brownie bit her lip and dug the claws of her toes into the muddy bank. “Oh, all right, all right,” she murmured gruffly at last. “I’ll say no more. But he sits behind me. I insist on that.”
Firedrake nudged her so firmly with his nose that she fell backward into the dirty grass. “He sits behind you,” Firedrake agreed. “But he’s coming with us.”
8. Flying Off Course
When the moon had risen above the city rooftops, and a few lone stars began to appear in the sky, Firedrake came out from under the bridge. Sorrel was up on his back in an instant, but Ben didn’t find it quite so easy. Sorrel watched with a scornful grin as he laboriously clambered up Firedrake’s tail. When he finally reached the dragon’s back he looked as proud as if he had climbed the highest mountain on earth. Sorrel took his backpack, buckled it to her own, and hung them like saddlebags over Firedrake’s back.
“Hang onto the spines of his crest,” she told Ben. “And tie yourself to them with this strap, or the first gust of wind will blow you off.”
Ben nodded. Firedrake craned his neck around to look at the two of them. “Ready?”
“Ready!” said Sorrel. “Here we go. Fly south!”
“South?” asked Firedrake.
“Yes, first south, then after a while turn east. When I tell you.”
The dragon spread his shimmering wings and took off. Holding his breath, Ben clung tight to the spines of Firedrake’s crest. The dragon rose higher and higher. They left the noise of the city behind. Night enfolded them in darkness and silence, and soon the human world was no more than a glitter of lights far below.
ied the boat to a tree and shyly came closer. “Thank you,” he said to the dragon. “Thank you very much for chasing those men away.”
Firedrake bent his neck and gently nuzzled the boy. “What are you going to do now?” he asked. “You can’t go back there, can you?”
