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Sorrel had found good pickings. She sat down between Firedrake’s paws and sniffed at a whitish mushroom hardly any bigger than a cherry. ‘Stone,’ she muttered to herself. ‘They all smell of stone. We need rain!’
‘And when you had rain, you said it made the mushrooms watery.’ Firedrake sat up. ‘Maybe you’ll like the mushrooms in Vietnam better. You can soon find out.’
Barnabas was searching for the phoenix in Vietnam, wasn’t he? Well, wherever he was, the scale would tell him the way.
‘Vietnam? Oh no! Wait a moment!’
Of course, Sorrel came after him when he made for the mouth of the cave.
‘It’s the boy, isn’t it?’
She jumped into his way, and pointed accusingly at the dark patch where his scale was missing. ‘I knew it was a daft idea! Daft, daft, daft! We’ve only just arrived back here. After flying halfway around the world twice!’
‘You’re welcome to stay here. Maia thought I might take Tattoo with me.’
‘Tattoo?’
That deprived Sorrel of her powers of speech, something as unusual as if she had lost her appetite.
Outside the cave, the sun was very low in the sky over the mountains. It would soon be dark. The best time to start flying.
‘Wait, Firedrake! You don’t mean that seriously, do you?’ Sorrel could talk again after all. ‘He doesn’t even have a brownie!’ she stammered as she hurried to Firedrake’s side. ‘And he doesn’t know anything about the world! He doesn’t know a single thing! He’s been inside a stone coat for ever!’
‘Well, what did we know about the world before we made our way here? A misty valley and the walls of a cave! It will do him good to see a few other places.’
Tattoo was standing on a rocky ledge, looking at the distant mountains as they disappeared into the evening haze. Oh yes, he had certainly heard Maia’s suggestion.
‘Okay, okay, I’m coming with you!’ Sorrel clung to one of Firedrake’s legs to make sure he was listening to her. ‘But Tattoo stays here! He’ll only get in our way. And I’m not looking after him! My paws are more than full enough being your brownie!’
‘Yes, I always forget how much work I make for you,’ replied Firedrake as he walked towards Tattoo. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll explain that you’re not going to search his scales or sing him lullabies.’
Tattoo turned to them.
He was trying as hard as he could to look nonchalant, but Firedrake was sure his heart was racing with expectation. He remembered the feeling so well: a wish to fly away, towards the horizon that he had stared at so often, until his eyes hurt and his wings longed to fly on and on, not just in a few circles above familiar valleys and mountains. No, he’d wanted to cross strange seas, landscapes he had never seen before, carried by winds that smelled of unknown flowers and fruits…
Firedrake stopped in front of the young dragon.
‘I have to go in search of a friend,’ he said, ignoring Sorrel’s sigh of disapproval. ‘I’m afraid he needs help. The others here are needed to guard the nests, but…’
He got no further.
‘Yes,’ cried Tattoo. ‘Yes, of course I’ll go with you. I’ll go wherever you’re flying.’
Sorrel heaved an even deeper sigh.
‘Good. I’m setting off tonight,’ said Firedrake. ‘As soon as I’ve told the others. But I must warn you, it may be dangerous!’
‘As if that would be anything new!’ murmured Sorrel, but neither of the dragons took any notice of her.
‘I’ll go wherever you’re flying,’ Tattoo repeated.
Yes, Firedrake liked him a lot.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Gone!
Gone – flitted away,
