Veiled Dreams by Gill James

Author:Gill James [James, Gill]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-78279-260-4
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
Published: 2013-07-26T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Leonis

‘Aha!’ laughed Budela. ‘I see it begins. Well, I must away. Have fun, young people!’

Budela heaved himself up into the carriage. ‘Forward!’ he cried.

The horses pulled away and within seconds were galloping. White dust flew up from the road and soon they could see nothing of the carriage but a great cloud. The two girls turned back towards Leonis. Christina started giggling again.

Leonis looked uncomfortable. He tried to brush the smut from his nose, but he only made it worse.

‘That will never do,’ she laughed. ‘Why have you got the exhaust pointing towards your face? You should have it so it trails behind you!’

‘Well, it wouldn’t be a dragon then, would it?’ Leonis was hot and sweaty and looking more uneasy by the minute. He shuffled from foot to foot. He held the helmet under his arm.

‘Why does it have to look like a dragon? What does it matter what it looks like, as long as it goes from one place to another quickly and safely?’

‘Well…I suppose…’

Imigriana was frowning slightly.

‘How do you know so much about electric dragons?’ she asked. ‘Anyway, Leonis is right. It won’t be a dragon if the head doesn’t come up like that.’

‘Well, call it something else, then,’ muttered Christina between her teeth.

Leonis was looking even more tried. He flopped down on to the ground.

‘It would be nicer if you didn’t keep getting smoke in your face,’ he said.

‘But then the smoke would come over the person at the back! It would ruin my clothes if I was riding behind you!’ Imigriana face was getting redder and she was beginning to shout.

‘It wouldn’t actually,’ said Christina calmly. ‘When you’re going along, the exhaust goes out in a line behind you. It’s only the people behind who get it. And it doesn’t look to me as if there would be too many people following you.’

‘How do you know? How do you know?’ said Imigriana. ‘Have you ever been on an electric dragon?’

‘No! But I’ve been on a motorbike. Remember I told you about Jan. Now that was a real machine. Makes this look like a battery operated push bike. And he wouldn’t turn up with muck all over his face. Or a stupid imitation roman soldier hat. He wears a real helmet – smooth and black and shiny. And hard as a rock! Christina felt the lump in her throat that always came whenever she thought of Jan, even now, after all that time.

‘Ah, but Jan isn’t here. At least Leonis is, even if his machine seems pathetic compared with your so-called boyfriend’s!’

Redder still, Imigriana turned on her heels and marched into the palace.

Christina wanted to shout back. But she couldn’t. She sank down to the ground and buried her head into her arms. She did not want Leonis to see the tears which she could not stop running her cheeks.

There was a long silence. Then she heard Leonis clear his throat and stand up. He walked over to her, and gently put his hand on her shoulder.

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