book and read the page she was up to before shouting with laughter as he tossed it down.
‘What rubbish,’ he scoffed. ‘You surely don’t think that real life is like this.’
‘Well, life can be pretty incredible,’ mumbled Ellen through a mouthful of sticky bun.
‘Yes, but what about this hero,’ said Jake scornfully. He picked up the book again and read out;
‘Danyr caressed the proud head of the golden dragon. “It’s going to be all right, my beauty, he murmured.” I’d worry about a man who had that close a relationship with an animal. It’s not normal and certainly not healthy. Probably needs a good cold bath and a decent bit of exercise instead of mooning around gazing into dragons eyes.’
Ellen was indignant. ‘He’s a caring person, that’s all. He loves his dragon.’
‘Yeah, it’s a worry, isn’t it?’ said Jake, then ducked as she threw the book at him.
‘Anyway,’ said Ellen, ‘you can’t talk about being normal. You wear tights.’
There was a sudden silence and Jake blushed slightly.
‘Yes, well, there’s a reason for that,’ he mumbled, ‘but I can’t tell you. You’ll have to take me as you find me. And,’ he went on more forcefully, ‘there are much better things to think about than dragons, believe me!’ Jake gave her a wry grin and plucked a flower from a nearby bush. ‘To remember me by, fair lady,’ he said with a mocking look as he strolled off through the trees.
Ellen spent the rest of the day finishing her DragonRyder book, but was brought down to earth with a shock that evening when the Vice-Chancellor’s wife rang to say that her little Charles was over the chicken pox, and could Ellen start her babysitting job the next day please?
Charles turned out to be a very appealing three-year-old with an ‘inquiring mind.’ This was his fond mother’s description of his constant cry of ‘why?’ Apart from his insatiable curiosity about the world around him, he was a very easy child to look after. Ellen found her day planned for her with strict times for meals, walks, rest times and play times. Plenty of money was provided for any necessities such as the taxi fare to the local parks or museum. When she first saw the weeks ‘timetable’, Ellen despaired of ever seeing her Dragonkeeper again, but by the end of the first week her employer was so pleased with her she allowed Ellen to make suggestions for the following week. Ellen planned a lunchtime picnic in the university grounds, an idea that found favour with young Charles, and Ellen crossed her fingers and hoped that Jake would be there.
Her relaxing spot under the trees was not as relaxing with Charles there. Ellen tried to keep him from throwing himself recklessly into the river and compromised by letting him have a paddle at the edge. After this he consented to sit under a tree to eat his lunch.
‘Story now,’ he announced.
‘What would you like a story about?’ asked Ellen.
‘A long story,’ said Charles as he carefully ate around the edge of his peanut butter sandwich.
‘Okay then I’ll tell you a story about a dinosaur.’
‘What’s a dinosaur?’ asked Charles.
‘A dinosaur, my lad, is a great, big, smelly animal with bad breath, who just loves eating little boys for dinner.’ And there was Jake with a big grin as he calmly sat down beside Ellen, pulled Charles onto his lap and took a bite of the proffered remains of the peanut butter sandwich.
‘How are you, Charlie boy?’ he asked, tickling Charles in the middle of his tummy. Charles gave a squeal of laughter.
‘Stop that, Jake.’
‘Do you know Jake,’ said Ellen incredulously.
‘Sure. He’s the Dragonkeeper,’ answered Charles matter-of-factly, licking peanut butter from his fingers. Ellen felt her mouth hanging open and closed it with a snap. Things were getting that Alice in Wonderland feeling again. She supposed it was logical if you thought about it. Jake only seemed to appear in the university grounds, which was where Charles lived. Perhaps there was some kind of parallel universe that touched at this point, or some sort of vibrations from the past.
‘Tell me a story,’ insisted Charles and Jake added, ‘Yes go on, Ellen, tell us a story.’
Ellen gathered her scattered wits and launched into a story about a dinosaur. It was loosely based on the story of the three little pigs with a bit of Goldilocks thrown in for good measure. Jake obligingly put in the actions at the appropriate places, and by the end of the story both Charles and Ellen were helpless with laughter.
That day set the pattern for the rest of the week, as Ellen and Charles took their picnic out to the riverbank each lunchtime. Jake joined them and they indulged in hilarious story telling sessions, where Ellen and Jake tried to outdo each other with more and more outrageous stories. The only cloud on Ellen’s horizon during those happy days was the threat of Cedric hanging over her as her mother nagged her every night to set up a meeting with him. Ellen pleaded exhaustion after her day minding Charles, but worried about the holidays coming to an end. The time when she would have to meet this spotty nerd was not far off.
However that left two glorious weeks when the summer weather continued fine. Ellen made the most of it. She and Jake chattered together happily, while Charles was busy digging for treasure in the flower gardens, or building interesting structures with empty yoghurt pots and twigs.
The university grounds were not deserted for long as enrolment day approached. More and more students of all ages came to buy books or check on courses, and Ellen found she met quite a few girls her own age in her daily walks with Charles. The university was set in the middle of Herberton and a number of people walked or biked through it as a short cut each day. Several of the girls were working as lifeguards and swimming instructors at the local swimming pool and Ellen was pleased to find she would be in the same class at school when it began again for the year. Another girl, Sarah, was minding her little brother each day and she stopped to talk with Ellen while the two little boys played together.
Ellen realized one day with a slight shock, that she had hardly touched her ‘DragonRyder’ books. Somehow they had lost their magic, and the fantasy world they promised was seen to be just that, a fantasy. Real life was much more interesting. Even the pesky Malaysian student had stopped bothering her after she showed up at the library one day with Charles in tow.
‘He probably thinks I’m a solo mother,’ thought Ellen indignantly, when the student gasped in horror then promptly avoided her.
At last the end of the holidays came and Charles went happily off with his mother for a ‘last day’ treat before kindergarten started. Ellen was horrified to find that her mother had organised a date for her with the dreaded Cedric.
‘I won’t go,’ she exploded.
‘But it’s only for a play, then supper afterwards with the performers,’ her mother pleaded. ‘You know you love the theatre and Cedric’s mother told me he is really looking forward to seeing you there.’
Ellen muttered, yelled and sulked but all to no avail. That night she gloomily trudged along behind her parents and brothers.
‘This is the worst moment of my life,’ she thought. ‘Not only do I get to have supper with the nerd of the century, but my little brothers and parents will be there. Now I know how the Christians felt when they were fed to the lions.’
Mutinously she slouched into the university theatre and scowled at the stage. The play started and she discovered it was a comedy set in medieval times, involving mischief and mishaps. Ellen found herself laughing at the antics of the characters and started to enjoy herself.
‘Look Ellen, Act Two is set in a dragon’s cave,’ said Wayne, poking her in the ribs.
‘Oh, I’ve outgrown dragons,’ replied Ellen crossly, although she couldn’t help feeling a tingle of excitement as the lights dimmed for the second act.
The curtains opened to show a craggy cave with the head of a magnificent scarlet and gold dragon filling the entrance. Roars of flame and puffs of smoke were met with gasps of delight and spontaneous applause from the aud
ience. Ellen’s heart nearly stopped in shock as the next actor came out and started saying his lines. It was Jake, her dragonkeeper, in tights and tunic. He leapt around the dragon’s head and tried to persuade the rather dim princess that he wasn’t the prince come to rescue her.
‘So that’s it,’ thought Ellen. ‘He is a real Dragonkeeper, but it’s not a real dragon. He must have been rehearsing here at the university theatre, and visited me in his lunch breaks.’ She watched him with pride. He was definitely the best actor there and by far the best looking. By the end of the play her applause was the loudest of anyone’s, and she blushed when Jake looked in her direction to give her a cheeky grin and a wink.
‘Now,’ she thought firmly, ‘I’ll ditch this Cedric character and find Jake.’ But her mother was making sure Ellen didn’t slip off and firmly escorted her to the large room next to the theatre where the supper was being laid out.
‘There are the Jacobsons by the table in the corner,’ she said. ‘Now come along and meet their son Cedric.’
With a despairing look, Ellen walked over and the young man standing beside the Jacobson’s turned around.
‘Hi Ellen. Want a sausage roll?’ asked Jake.
‘Jake!’ gasped Ellen.
‘This is our son Cedric,’ gushed Mrs Jacobson, ‘only he will insist on calling himself Jake.’
‘Well, wouldn’t you, with a name like mine?’ said Jake comically