The Secret Dragon by Ed Clarke

Author:Ed Clarke [Clarke, Ed]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780241360545
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2019-05-29T04:00:00+00:00

Back in the kitchen, Mari was rummaging around in a drawer in the Welsh dresser.

‘What are you looking for?’ asked Dylan.

‘I want to test a hypothesis,’ she replied.

‘Test a hippo-potheosis?’

‘Hypothesis. A scientific theory. A starting point for investigation.’

‘And your theory is?’

‘Ha! There it is.’ Mari brandished the lighter she’d just pulled out of the drawer.

‘Hang on a minute,’ said Dylan, looking worried. ‘You said you would run stuff like this past me first.’

‘Follow me,’ said Mari. ‘You bring Gweeb.’

But Dylan wasn’t moving.

‘Quickly,’ said Mari. ‘We don’t have long before Mum gets back with the cows.’

Dylan reluctantly picked up the terrarium and followed her back out into the farmyard. Way off in the dairy, the milking machine was still making its familiar sounds.

‘So, the rotten-egg smell …’ said Mari. ‘What do you think it means?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Dylan. ‘Gweeb’s eaten some rotten eggs?’

Mari tried to be patient. Dylan wasn’t a proper scientist, after all.

‘No, it means that the dragon’s stomach is producing some kind of gas as it digests its food. And this –’ she held up the lighter – ‘is going to prove it.’

‘How?’

‘I’m going to set light to it.’

‘You’re going to make Gweeb breathe fire?’ Dylan looked horrified. ‘Like in a fairy tale?’

Mari rolled her eyes. ‘Yes, Dylan, and then I’m going to make him fight a tiny knight and kidnap a miniature princess.’

‘Well, if dragons are real, maybe fairy tales are true too,’ said Dylan.

There was no way a scientist like Mari was going to entertain that notion. ‘We’re not in a fairy tale, Dylan. We’re in Wales. And Gweeb isn’t a mythical creature, he’s real. And I’m going to prove that he’s breathing out methane by igniting the gas.’

Dylan instinctively pulled Gweeb’s box close to his chest. ‘I still don’t think that’s a good idea,’ he said.

‘All right, you can hold Gweeb,’ conceded Mari. ‘I’ll do the science bit.’

Dylan grudgingly placed the box on the ground and removed the lid.

‘Please feed him a worm, Assistant Dylan.’

He pulled a squirming worm out of the box. Gweeb’s head snapped round towards him, tongue lolling like a puppy begging for a treat, before snaffling the worm down. Standing behind them, Mari wasted no time in holding the lighter right next to Gweeb’s gaping jaws.

‘Too close,’ warned Dylan.

Mari muttered to herself, and moved the lighter another ten centimetres away. As she did so, she heard a rumble in the creature’s stomach and flicked up a flame. A second later, Gweeb belched out a stinky breath that instantly caught light, sending a tongue of flame shooting out about a metre in front of them.

‘That is so cool!’ said Dylan, grinning at Mari, who couldn’t help but return the smile. Even Gweeb looked pleased with himself, his emerald eyes glinting.

‘Hypothesis successfully proved,’ announced Mari. ‘Please write that down.’

‘Shouldn’t we do it again, just to be sure?’ asked Dylan eagerly.

‘Science before fun,’ said Mari, pulling the ring binder out of her bag.

‘Boo!’ said Dylan as he put Gweeb back in the box.

‘Dylan, the lid!’

Dylan had forgotten to close the terrarium, and that split second was all Gweeb needed.

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