THE DRAGONFLY
Early September
“Don’t trip,” Trevor’s mother said as she waited by the door.
Trevor came slowly down the stairs. In his arms he carried a bundle covered with a white cloth. His mother held the door and followed him outside.
“Don’t be long,” his dad called from the side yard. “I’ll just get the telescope lined up.”
Trevor and his mom headed for the woods with Brownie following them.
“Are you sure you want to put it back in the water?” she said.
“Yes. It doesn’t belong to me. You don’t mind not taking the pin off?”
She shook her head. “It was a night much like this one,” she said softly. “I was only a year or two older than you. That’s when I stood on the footbridge and saw the ship coming down the stream. It came in and out of focus. Sometimes looking like a log and other times almost like a ship.”
“They have a way of cloaking their ships so we can’t recognize them.”
“It wasn’t working very well that evening. When the branch reached the bridge, I pulled it out. A cloud of sparkles flew up in the air and one little creature hovered in front of my face. He was very angry.”
“The captain,” Trevor said.
“Yes, well he scolded me quite vehemently. I felt so bad about his ship that I gave him the salamander pin. I drove it into the front of the ship. By then it was quite obviously a ship. Then I put it back in the water and it looked like just a log again. As it floated away, sparkles came from all around and descended on it.”
They threaded their way through the pumpkin patch and entered the woods.
“What happened to the ship?” Trevor asked.
“It floated under the roots of that old tree and I never saw it again. My mother was quite annoyed when she found that I didn’t have the pin any more. She thought me quite careless to have lost it.”
“Didn’t you ever come back to try to find them?”
“I wasn’t sure who they were. I was afraid what else might be there and I never felt comfortable at twilight after that. As the years passed, I convinced myself that it had just been my imagination. Until I found the ship under your bed.”
They reached the footbridge and Trevor set the bundle into the water. The breeze billowed the cloth. Trevor let go and the wind pushed the bundle toward the tree root opening. In a minute it slipped underneath and was gone.
As they watched, something white drifted back toward them. She pulled it out of the water. It was the cloth that had covered the ship. She wrung it out. “It will be safe now,” she said.
She put her arm around his shoulder and they walked out of the woods.
Brownie sat on the bridge and watched a log detach from the bank and float toward him. The breeze blew against the log and pushed it along. He twitched one ear and heard soft voices.
“We’ll have to catch the Salamander before the current drags it back from the gate,” Ragnar said.
“You could just fly over and pilot it out,” Electrum said.
“You should be able to steer the Dragonfly right up to her and save me the effort. If you’re going to be the captain of this little ship you need to learn her ways.”
The ship moved across the water until the breeze caught the branches and it picked up speed. As it reached the bridge, it veered a little close to the posts.
“Straighten it out,” Ragnar shouted. “Back to starboard.”
Brownie reached down with a paw and pushed it back into the center of the stream.
“I was getting it,” Electrum said.
“Don’t suppose you have any catnip with you,” Brownie asked.
Electrum laughed and shook his head. “No, I’m sorry.”
“That’s okay. There’s a new patch growing under the bridge.” He jumped onto the bank and slipped under the bridge. The Dragonfly headed toward the opening under the tree roots.
“You might make a decent captain with some practice. At least it’s better than spending all your time in a pine tree.”
“I like my pine tree. It’s a nice break to get away from the apartment. Gilder is okay company, but he always has his nose in an old scroll. The place is littered with them. He’s found some interesting writings about thought dust.”
“Well then, what say we check out the basket that Mirta sent,” Ragnar said. “I could use some home cooking.”
“She sent that basket for Amber. I’m not taking any chances on getting on the wrong side of Mirta just to satisfy your appetite for delicacies. She’s been sending over meals on a regular basis and her cooking is much superior to Gilder’s.”
“With what Silverthorn left you in that trunk of his, you could afford a cook.”
Thin mist swirled around them as they entered the gate. They could see the Salamander just ahead of them.
“Mirta and I plan on starting a tidy little business with Silverthorn’s dowry. With a merchant princess who will someday be queen, Sterling is mostly just a nuisance now. But it might be convenient to have someone with a little cloaking ability, if you have a mind to be an unseen partner with us.”
“A little cloaking ability!” Ragnar said pretending indignation. “Is that how you treat an experienced captain who’s teaching you everything you need to know? Pull up alongside the Salamander.”
By the time they emerged from the gate, Ragnar had the sails up and was outdistancing the Dragonfly. The wind blew sparkles off Electrum’s hat. He smiled as his thought dust, now cloaked and unreadable, drifted harmlessly on the breeze. Who knew what other secrets Gilder might find in the gold scrolls.
He turned the Dragonfly toward the Ship Growers Pond and his pine tree.
###
CHILDREN’S FANTASY BOOKS
Murky Manor
Cave of Discovery
Worlds Within
The World Beyond the Door
A COLLECTION OF WRITINGS
Thoughts on the Wind
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