Double Dragon Trouble by Kate McMullan

Author:Kate McMullan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin USA, Inc.

Chapter 7

Bilge’s eyes grew wide. He pointed at the cave ceiling. “Cave-in!” he yelled. “DUCK!”

“My stars!” cried the dragon twins. They covered their faces with their front paws and fell to the cave floor.

Angus and Wiglaf threw their arms over their heads and hit the dirt.

But the twins squeezed past one dragon and took off running down the tunnel.

“Suckers!” Bilge and Maggot shrieked as they ran. “Suckers!”

Wiglaf scrambled to his feet. “Angus, get up!” he cried. “We can escape!”

But the dragon twins quickly leaped up.

“Don’t even think about it,” one dragon snapped. She turned to the other dragon. “Those little guttersnipes ran back into our cave, Ethelred. They’ll be hiding out in one of the passages. We can get them later. In the meantime, roll the boulder and seal the entrance.”

“All right, sister,” said the dragon Ethelred. She lumbered off toward the mouth of the cave.

“Prisoners!” said the remaining dragon to Wiglaf and Angus. “Hands up where I can see them. March!”

They raised their hands and marched in front of the dragon back to the cavern.

“Sit.” The dragon motioned to the stone bench.

Wiglaf and Angus sat.

The dragon sat down opposite them. As they watched, her yellow crest shrank down until it was only a dainty ridge on top of her head. Her pearls cooled to a silvery white.

“I shan’t tie you up, prisoners,” said the dragon. “No point. The entrance is blocked. Nobody can get out.” She looked around and sighed. “Our poor wreck of a cave!” She took a lace hankie out of her big red purse and dabbed at her eyes.

“Don’t weep, Lucinda,” said Ethelred, coming back into the cavern. Her crest was no longer a huge yellow sail. And her pearls no longer glowed. “I’ll help tidy up.”

“Thank you, sister,” said Lucinda. “But first let us have a talk with these intruders.”

Ethelred sat down beside Lucinda, facing Wiglaf and Angus.

“Our family has dwelt in this cave for seven centuries,” Lucinda told them. “In all that time, not one of our ancestors ever broke a stalactite or a stalagmite.”

“Now half of them are stumps!” said Ethelred sadly. “It will take years of dripping for them to grow back to their former beautiful shapes. What a pity!”

“Our great-granddaddy started a collection of antique armor,” Ethelred said. “He found priceless, one-of-a-kind items. We add to it as best we can. And we display our finds on the natural ledges all over the cave.”

“Now most of our precious armor has been knocked onto the floor,” sniffed Lucinda. “Broken and dented! And those two little pip-squeaks are wearing the rest of it! Oh, it is just too much to bear.”

“We are sorry your cave got wrecked,” said Wiglaf.

“But we didn’t wreck it,” said Angus. “It was those other two. Here’s what happened.” And he told the dragon twins about Mordred and the ransom note.

“We had no idea it was a fake,” added Wiglaf. “We thought we were coming on a rescue mission.”

“Bilge and Maggot say this is their cave now,” Angus added. “They don’t want to leave it.

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