who was plaintively playing Home on the Range. She coughed politely.
‘I’m not sure,’ she said.
Dragon frowned. ‘You’re not sure?’
The cow stuck out her tongue and traced her lips. ‘I, er, that is to say, I’m not an official stop-go cow.’
‘What are you then?’ demanded Dragon, ‘if you’re not official? Do you mean to say you’re an imposter?’
There were gasps from the onlookers and Wabbit muttered under her breath, ‘Ooh.’
At that moment the miner shone his chandelier on the cow and she blinked in the bright light and held up a hoof to shade her eyes.
‘I’m not an imposter,’ the cow retorted. ‘I just love the power.’
‘What power?’ asked Dragon.
‘The power that comes with wielding a stop-go sign,’ she replied.
‘That’s preposterous!’ Dragon exclaimed.
The woolly mammoth stopped playing and nodded his head very slowly. ‘I think I understand,’ he said. ‘As a pack mammoth I am but one of a crowd. In fact when I go home for family reunions I can hardly recognise myself, for I have my mother’s eyes, my father’s hair, my aunty’s walk and my uncle’s tail. And when I leave our family get togethers I can’t tell if I’m me or my brother.’
The cow smiled and when the woolly mammoth caught her eye she smiled coyly, just for him. He continued. ‘I might suggest it is the same for Miss Cow?’
She hung her head before she looked sideways at the woolly mammoth.
Dragon felt Wabbit rub his whither and dig her heels into his side. He rolled his eyes. Dragon tried to get his head around what the woolly mammoth had said.
‘Are you saying the only way Miss Cow can stand out in a crowd is to wield a stop-go sign?’
The woolly mammoth stuttered. ‘Er, not the only way, I’m sure.’ He batted his eyelids at the cow. ‘But you will agree it is a most ingenious way of attracting attention and having a little fun.’
‘Yes, that’s it,’ said the cow. ‘You all had fun in the rocket house didn’t you? I never know who’s going to stop when I hold up the stop-go sign and I never know if something’s going to come or not, or whether if something comes, it’s worth stopping for.’
All over the house creatures sighed and shook their heads. Dragon shuffled from foot to foot, then flew around the house.
‘It’s all clear,’ he called. ‘The wilderbeest are gone. We can all be getting on along.’
He pursed his lips. No sooner had he spoken the windows and the doors of the house slammed shut and the owl pulled the blinds down. The woolly mammoth offered to carry the cow’s stop-go sign and they wandered off without giving anyone so much as a good-bye.
The house powered up, its roaring flames rocketing out from beneath it and suddenly it was gone, careering away from Dragon and Wabbit as quickly as it had appeared.
All was quiet as Wabbit took Dragon’s reins and gently pressed her legs into his lovely lizardy sides. Dragon hovered, his translucent green wings shifting the breeze over Wabbit’s long golden hair.
‘Can you remember what it was you wanted to tell me, Wabbit?’ Dragon asked.
Wabbit shrugged. ‘Nope.’
Dragon readied himself for propulsion. ‘Then let’s get going. Which way were we headed?’
They looked about them. That way looked similar to that way and this way looked similar to this way.
‘That way,’ they said together pointing in opposite directions.
Laughing, they decided on the middle ground and followed their noses.
3. The Paleozoic Games