Spellhound by Lian Tanner

Author:Lian Tanner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Published: 2023-02-27T00:00:00+00:00

Flax whipped the key out of the padlock, and Rose hurried around the corner of the garage just in time.

Heavy footsteps tramped towards them and stopped at the garage door.

‘What are we going to do?’ breathed Rose.

‘I don’t know!’

Flax wanted to run in circles. She wanted to hide under the nearest bush until everything sorted itself out.

But it wouldn’t sort itself out, not without a bit of help.

Derk unlocked the garage doors and dragged them open. Flax heard him climb into the automobile.

It rumbled out of the garage and stopped in the driveway.

‘Think of something,’ hissed Rose.

But Flax couldn’t think of a single useful thing.

Derk shouted above the rumble of the automobile, ‘Hurry up, Gav. Don’t want to keep her waiting.’

‘Yeah yeah,’ came the reply from somewhere inside the house. ‘I’ll be with you in a minute.’

Rose was jiggling from foot to foot. ‘What can we do? What can we—’

She stopped and peered down at the blackened boards, where there had once been a small fire. ‘The dragon,’ she whispered.

She dumped Flax on the ground, picked up a piece of burnt wood and rubbed it all over her face.

She rubbed it on her coat, too, until she looked as if she had been in a fire. She tore off a couple of buttons.

‘Gav!’ shouted Derk. ‘Hurry up!’

‘Coming,’ shouted Gav.

The back door of the house slammed, and a different set of footsteps hurried towards the automobile.

Rose took a shaky breath, rumpled her hair – and screamed, ‘Heeeelp! The dragon! The dragon’s after me!’

She stumbled around the corner of the garage, waving her ams. ‘Heeeeelp! Save me! It’s the dragon!’

Derk cursed. ‘The automobile won’t protect us,’ he shouted. ‘Not against a dragon. Back to the house, Gav. Go!’

‘What about the girl?’

‘Who cares about the girl? With any luck the dragon’ll eat her and forget about us.’

The two men threw themselves out of the automobile and pounded back the way they had come. The door of the house opened and slammed shut again.

Flax raced out of hiding. Rose picked her up and ran to the automobile, screeching, ‘It’s going to kill me. Help meeeee!’

The pup was still tied up in the back seat. When Rose threw open the door, he moaned with fright.

Flax leapt down beside him. ‘Rope cutting,’ she whispered to the key.

It twitched in her hand and was a sword again, its blade sharp and gleaming.

‘Hurry!’ hissed Rose.

Flax slashed at the ropes, while Rose banged on the roof of the automobile and screeched, ‘Aaaaaaargh! It’s here! AAAAAAAARGH!’

The pup’s legs were so cramped from being tied up that he fell out of the car and onto the ground.

He whimpered, ‘The dragon. It’s going to get us.’

‘It’s a trick,’ whispered Flax. ‘But they’ll figure it out soon. Hurry, pup. Please hurry. Can you walk yet?’

‘I think so,’ said the pup. And with a bit of help from Rose, he climbed to his feet and staggered up the driveway, with Flax trotting alongside.

‘Hurry,’ she said. ‘We’ve got to hurry!’

By then, the cramp was beginning to wear off, and the pup could go a little faster.

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