‘Thanks,’ she said, and walked away through the undergrowth, looking at the trees as she went.
Trapper Watkiss was making his way back to Jake when he heard a sound. The waterfall continued to rumble away in the background and could be heard a mile away, but this was different. He picked up the pace and was soon back at Sarah’s side. He reached for the Hawken rifle he kept strapped to her back and made sure it was loaded and ready to shoot.
Jake stood alone on a stretch of open ground between the treeline and the waterfall a couple of hundred yards away. All he could hear was the rolling throb of the water cascading into the lagoon.
He held the bead bracelet in the palm of his left hand and looked at it. He had been sure it was like the one that Yellow Cloud had used to whistle at the dragons, except the beads were green or blue, and there was not a single red gem among them.
Jake shoved the bracelet into his pocket. The way things were going, with no sign of the Natives’ settlement, he was sure he’d have to spend another night in the open. He bundled Trapper Watkiss’s towel into the blanket with everything else and shrugged on the drier jacket. He was just about ready to leave when he heard a rhythmic slap, like the sound a wagon canopy made when it came loose and flapped back against itself. Then Jake felt the tingle in his arm, his head was suddenly hot, and he felt sick to his stomach.
He thought he caught a glimpse of something rising beyond the waterfall. He blinked and stared, and the slapping noise grew louder, until it was clearly audible over the water. Jake could hardly believe his eyes when the head and neck of the beast appeared through a mist of water droplets. The huge head was quickly followed by the great body and wings of the dragon, and Jake could clearly see Yellow Cloud riding the extraordinary beast.
He finally knew that what he’d seen when the wagon train was attacked was real. He had seen a dragon and they weren’t just mythical creatures in storybooks. Jake was in awe of the animal before him, but he was also horrified, for he believed that a dragon had set fire to the wagon train and tried to kill his parents and his sister.
He had spun the bracelet because he wanted to meet a dragon, to prove he was telling the truth. Now, face to face with one, he wanted nothing more than to destroy it. The mists began to clear and Jake saw Yellow Cloud gesturing to him.
From behind, he heard Trapper’s voice.
‘Don’t you dare move.’
Jake didn’t know whether the old man was talking to him or to the Native. The dragon in front of him hovered as if on a thermal wind, and the spell was broken. Jake turned to find Trapper Watkiss levelling his rifle at the dragon’s head. There was nothing for it. He rolled his body heavily into Trapper’s side, knocking the old man off balance and bowling him over into the long grass. The rifle fired, a sharp crack against the thrum of the falling water. Jake heard the slow beat of the dragon’s wings. Then he jumped to his feet as the echo of the gunshot rolled through the air. The dragon lifted its wings and dropped at a steep angle to the ground, flattening the long grass in its downdraught.
Trapper, terrified, scrambled to his feet. For twenty years, he’d been telling anyone who would listen that dragons existed, but no one had ever believed him. He’d never truly expected to see a dragon, and, now that he was staring one in the face, he could think of nothing better to do than run away. Trapper grabbed Sarah’s rope, and he and the mule were soon lost beyond the treeline.
Jake, however, was glued to the spot as the dragon landed in a billowing gust of wind. It nestled close to the ground and folded its wings, and Jake breathed an almighty gulp of air. Then he looked into the dragon’s huge red eyes. He didn’t notice Yellow Cloud slide off the dragon’s back and walk over to him, until he was standing beside him.
‘Come,’ said Yellow Cloud. ‘Do not be afraid.’
‘I don’t think I am afraid,’ said Jake, pulling his gaze away from the dragon’s eyes and looking at the Native, ‘but how do I know I can trust you?’
Yellow Cloud looked steadily at Jake. ‘You cannot know,’ he said, ‘but you have my word.’
Jake scowled hard at the Native for a long moment, still unsure of the man. He was only sure that if he didn’t go with Yellow Cloud there was no hope of having his questions answered. So, finally, Jake allowed the Native to help him on to the dragon’s neck. He pushed his hands into the ruff of feathers and hung on. He noticed, for the first time, that dragons really were like birds, with ruffs and frills of coloured feathers around their feet, the backs of their necks and their wing joints. They were the same feathers that adorned the jewels and headdresses that the Nimi’ipuu people wore.
Yellow Cloud climbed up behind Jake, and soon they were being swept up into the air. The ground fell away beneath them, and Jake remembered the feeling of flight, despite being unconscious when he’d flown to McKenzie’s Prospect a few short weeks before.
Jake felt entirely at home on the creature’s back, soaring out over the forest. Yellow Cloud had his arms around Jake’s sides, holding him in place, and his hands were woven into the feathers on the dragon’s neck. The dragon’s back rose and arched with the beat of its wings, and Jake imagined that it felt just like riding in a boat on the ocean.
The crack of another rifle shot split the air, and Jake felt the dragon beneath him suddenly dip closer to the tree canopy. He looked down at the spread of trees and the swirling mists that surrounded them. Eliza and Trapper Watkiss were standing in a clearing below them. Eliza was transfixed, staring between the trees at the dragon, a look of terror in her eyes.
Trapper tried to reload his gun. Then a second huge looming shadow fell across the clearing. Jake looked to left and right and realized that his dragon was flanked by two others, both with riders on their backs. One of the dragons dropped suddenly and landed heavily in the broad branches of a tree, which lurched under the weight of the great beast.
Eliza fell to the ground as the dragon descended, partly because of the force of its downdraught and partly because her legs had turned to jelly and would no longer hold her up.
Trapper Watkiss stopped trying to load his rifle and drew the Colt revolver that he wore in a belt, below the bulge of his belly.
The Native, who had been riding the dragon that had landed in the tree, slid down the trunk into the clearing and ran over to where Eliza was lying on the ground.
Trapper Watkiss turned his gun on the Native and then pointed it back at the dragon that was hovering above him. He didn’t know who was in more danger: Eliza or himself. He turned back and forth twice more.
‘Drop the gun, Mr Watkiss,’ Jake shouted. ‘Don’t shoot.’
Trapper levelled the gun at the Native again and then turned back to aim at Jake’s dragon. He pulled the trigger, and there was a bright, hard sound in the air as the bullet sailed past its head.
Jake’s ride dropped and began to fold its wings. He couldn’t believe the beast was going to land in the tiny clearing. Then the muscles in the dragon’s back extended, and two huge claws stretched out below the curve of its chest. The dragon picked Trapper Watkiss up by the shoulders of his jacket and lifted him into the canopy. Jake gasped in surprise, and then smiled. Serves the old man right, he thought.
Trapper got off another shot, but the jerk of his shoulder as the dragon grasped his jacket sent it high and wide, and the distinct crack of the bullet was drowned out by the harsh, bellowing shriek that escaped Trapper’s mouth as he was hoisted away.
Eliza lay in the arms of the Native who had come to her aid. He was reassuring her gently, in his broken English, that everything would be all right.
At first, she could not speak; she could only stare up at the dragon, her mouth
half-open. She let out an odd squeak when the dragon sitting high in the branches above her adjusted its position, making the tree dip and sway. The Native lifted his left arm and swung his bracelet in the air. It emitted a high-pitched whistle that cut across the sound of the waterfall and the rumbling, slow beat of the dragon’s wings.
The beast that was perched in the tree elongated its neck as if to listen. Then, spreading its wings carefully, it lifted itself out of the tree. The tree trunk, like some great spring, flew back and oscillated before settling to its original position.
Trapper Watkiss hung limply from the dragon’s strong claws, but Jake didn’t think he was hurt. He had merely fainted and dropped his revolver. Jake felt the flex of the beast’s shoulders once more, as it lifted them all up into the sky and away.
They flew back to the grassland at the edge of the forest, where the dragon hovered low to the ground. When it let go of Trapper Watkiss, the man’s body was already half-sitting on the ground, and he fell sideways on to his left shoulder in the long grass. The dragon landed to a cacophony of manic braying from Trapper’s mule, Sarah, who trotted around and around on the spot. Yellow Cloud dismounted from the dragon, and Jake jumped down, his brow furrowed with anger that had been building up ever since he had first laid eyes on Yellow Cloud. Before he even realized what he was doing, Jake put his head down and lunged at Yellow Cloud, driving him over on to his back.
‘Was it you?’ Jake shouted at Yellow Cloud, standing over him. ‘Was it that?’ he asked, pointing to the dragon sitting on the ground behind him. ‘Did you kill them?’
Yellow Cloud said nothing.
‘Where is my family?’ Jake yelled again. ‘You know what happened to them, and I’m not leaving until you tell me.’
Yellow Cloud got up and shook the dust from his trousers. He glared at Jake, but said nothing. He strode over to Trapper Watkiss, still lying unconscious, and checked that the old man was breathing.
‘He is unhurt,’ Yellow Cloud said. Then he laid the man on his side in a more comfortable position.
Hearing a rustling sound coming from the treeline, Yellow Cloud and Jake watched as the other Native walked into the open, carrying Eliza. She was pale but conscious, her arms wrapped tightly around the neck of her saviour.
His dragon, which was a darker, richer blue than Yellow Cloud’s beast, landed on the ground close by, flattening the tall grass. The third dragon, paler and yellower, sat a dozen yards away, its rider still on its back, as if performing some sort of sentry duty.
Sarah began braying again, and Eliza instantly became more alert, craning her neck to see the little mule.
‘Poor Sarah,’ she said.
The Native who was carrying her put Eliza down beside Jake and walked over to the mule, clucking and tutting at it gently. He was soon able to take hold of the rope around her neck and ease her head down into his arms. He stroked the mule’s nose and whispered in its ear. Then he set Sarah loose from her tether and patted her gently on the rump. The mule trotted off beyond the treeline and was quickly lost to view.
‘We must leave,’ said Yellow Cloud.
‘Not until you answer me,’ said Jake.
‘And please not on those,’ said Eliza, nodding towards the dragons. Her face was losing its colour again, and her knuckles showed white as she clung to Jake’s arm, standing half-behind him.
‘We will talk at the settlement. Bear Paw will take your friend,’ said Yellow Cloud, nodding towards the Native who had carried Eliza out of the clearing. ‘There is much to say.’
‘I’ve got plenty to say too,’ said Jake, trying to sound brave.
Bear Paw bent over Trapper Watkiss, and, with a graceful rock of his knees and back, he lifted the old man over his shoulder. He put an arm around Trapper to make sure that he didn’t fall and carried him over to the third dragon. He arranged the old man over the beast’s neck, and the rider lashed him in place with a plaited leather cord.
Eliza shook as Bear Paw returned, but Jake gave her a reassuring nod. He’d known, all along, that he wouldn’t get any answers unless they returned to the settlement. Bear Paw lifted her and sat her gently on his dragon’s neck, placing her hands close together in the feathers in front of her.
‘If I close my eyes, I can bear it,’ she said to no one in particular, and she took another deep breath.
Despite his anger, Jake needed no persuading to mount Yellow Cloud’s dragon. He perched on the beast’s neck, instinctively holding the feathers in the correct manner. Yellow Cloud climbed up behind Jake, and the three dragons spread their leathery, scaled wings. Then they lifted their great bodies effortlessly into the sky. Yellow Cloud took the lead, and the dragon carrying Trapper Watkiss brought up the rear.
Jake had a mesmerizing view. As they rose, he could see the treeline and the extent of the forest beyond as it staggered down the long rise that formed the backbone of the mountain ridge. The waterfall boomed as it cascaded away below and Jake felt a fine mist on his skin as the dragons followed its crest.
Once they had cleared the waterfall, they flew into a broad, blue sky, high above a great grey blanket of clouds and fog beneath them. Jake remembered Trapper’s voice, telling him that the Natives called this Smoke Mountain, and the clouds beneath them looked exactly like a great bank of swirling grey smoke. Jake knew that he would never have been able to navigate through the fog at ground level, just as Trapper Watkiss had never been able to find the Native settlement again once he had left it. Viewed from above, it was obvious why it was so well hidden. The fog was no impediment to the Natives. They could navigate the clear skies above the great grey pall from the backs of their Thunderbird dragons.
A broad ridge of land broke through the cloud below them, spreading into a wide green plateau. From above, the collection of teepees reminded Jake of the circle his mother’s skirts had made, spread across the water of the river. The people milling around looked like tiny figures whittled from glossy twigs.
The dragons circled the settlement twice and Jake got an idea of the size of the place. There must be almost as many dwellings here as there were in McKenzie’s Prospect. Everyone seemed to be doing some sort of work: cooking at fires, preparing skins, tending to the animals.
As they made a second broad circle, lower than the first, Jake saw the corral of dragons. He had been so in awe of the beasts that he realized he hadn’t taken a proper look at them.
The dragons came in various sizes and colours. Some were the size of a horse, and Jake supposed they must be infants. Others, like the one he was riding, were two or three times the size of an Appaloosa, and one or two were perhaps double that size. They ranged in colour from a buttery yellow, to green, and on through the spectrum to dark, rich blues. Their iridescent scales were not uniform, but came in vivid, irregular patches, much like the random colour patterns of the Appaloosas.
The beast Jake sat astride was a rich, deep, emerald green, with brighter, lighter patches, the colour of fresh young grass.
As the dragon swept around, Jake could see more details. The Natives wore feathers in their hair and clothes, and in the jewellery that adorned their necks, wrists and ankles. They wore soft buckskin trousers and shoes, and their long hair was glossy and dark and impossibly straight.
The settlement was calm and industrious, and Jake felt reassured by the familiarity of everything. He needed to remain cautious until he found out what had happened to his family, but he was also reminded of how well he had been cared for the last time he was there. As they landed, Jake looked for White Thunder and Tall Elk.
Trapper Watkiss was still unconscious when his dragon landed, and he was carried to a teepee in the same manner that h
e had been carried to his transport, slung over the shoulder of one of the Natives.
Eliza’s dragon landed last. Bear Paw dismounted and then lifted Eliza down. She looked pale, her shoulders were hunched and her hands trembled. Bear Paw put her down gently, but Eliza’s legs buckled beneath her and she vomited copiously at the man’s feet. He lifted her swiftly back into his arms and strode towards the teepee that Trapper Watkiss had been taken to.
‘Hey, where are you going with her?’ Jake asked. He knew that Eliza was scared, so he followed Bear Paw. He trusted the Natives to care for Eliza as they had for him, but he wanted to make sure she was all right.
The teepee was cool and comfortable, with matting, blankets and skins on the floor. Bear Paw lowered Eliza to the ground, as Jake poured her some water from the provisions laid out on a low table.
‘Are you all right?’ Jake asked her.
‘Sick,’ said Eliza, ‘and scared.’
‘You’re perfectly safe with me,’ said Jake. ‘The Natives could have let me die, and they brought me here instead. They looked after me as well as they could and I’ll make sure they look after you too.’
Eliza shook her head and said, ‘It’s silly, I know.’
‘It isn’t silly to be scared,’ said Jake.
‘But it’s crazy to think that dragons exist,’ she said, unable to meet his gaze.
‘This time, we both saw them with our own eyes,’ said Jake, smiling at the girl, who looked very small dressed in her borrowed clothes.
‘How will we get back?’ asked Eliza. ‘How will they find us?’
‘The Natives know how to find McKenzie’s Prospect, even if the people there don’t know how to find this settlement,’ said Jake. ‘Don’t worry.’
‘What about him?’ asked Eliza, gesturing towards Trapper Watkiss. ‘He tried to shoot them.’