One morning, Taran and Morrow and Srune went with Daddy to visit Grandma Weathercolour. They left quite early, and when Quarto woke up, he was very disappointed. So Mummy put the baby in the backpack, and she and Nenya and Quarto went out to work in the garden. Mummy was busy weeding at the side of the house, when she saw something and called Quarto over.
"Quarto, come look at this," she called - "you might want to pull this one." Quarto looked, and there was a small plant he hadn't seen before, the color of old brass and shaped as a single stem with a bell or a flower on the end - he couldn't quite tell which. So he reached out to touch it, and it felt like metal. He looked at Mummy, who smiled and said, "go ahead and pull it."
"Is this something you planted?" he asked, suspiciously.
"No, but I am quite sure it will be all right. I'll come with you."
Now very suspicious indeed, Quarto gave a small tug with the hand holding the strange plant. He heard a distant, deep chiming - like a very deep doorbell - and the ground at his feet began to move. Frightened, he grabbed Mummy's leg; Nenya had come over and was holding the other one. After a moment the rumbling stopped, and he saw a set of shallow steps leading down from where he had been standing.
"oh, is that what you meant that you'd go with me?" he asked Mummy.
"Why don't you go down and see?" she answered.
Carefully he stepped down, once, twice - he looked up to see Mummy, the baby in the pack on her back, Nenya on her hip, looking down at him. "Want to hold my hand?" she asked.
"Nope. I'm Ok" he said and walked forward. He rested his fingertips on the wall beside him as he went down, and gradually the walls got harder and harder, until he stopped and looked up at Mummy again. "I just noticed that the walls are stone - and look, they're turning lighter!" Mummy smiled and nodded ahead. "Oh, look, there's a light up ahead - it's like there's a fire or something!"
"Do you want to go ahead and see?"
"Oh, that's alright. I'll stay with you." And Quarto kept the fingertips of one hand on the wall, the hand by Mummy casually by his side, as he walked beside her down the last few steps into the cave.
And what a cave it was! The walls were red, raised flowers and leaves and patterns in silver all over them; the ceiling was so tall Quarto could hardly see it, and there were red drapes which went from somewhere up in the darkness down right to the floor. There were gold cords and tassels holding the drapes back, and Quarto could see that there were pillars behind the drapes. Between the pillars were big, dark spaces; and along one wall was a tremendous fireplace, taller than Mummy, even, with a fire taking up almost all of the back of it - but even though the fire was so big, and it was a warm summer day outside, the cave was a little bit cool.
"Hello, neighbor" called Mummy; and then Quarto saw that Nenya was carrying a big bouquet of flowers from the garden. Mummy had a cloth bag, which bulged with interesting shapes.
"What's in that bag, Mummy?" Quarto whispered.
"Just some things from the garden, for our new neighbor" said Mummy.
"Oh."
Just then, a low rumbling coming around one of the pillars made Quarto look up. There, in front of him, almost as high as Sextus on Mummy's back and almost as tall as Mummy herself was the largest head he had ever seen.
It was clearly a dragon head, and Quarto swallowed, twice. Then Mummy smiled and said,"I hope you can use some tomatoes and zucchini, because we have plenty this year," and the dragon smiled, and big as it was, suddenly everything was normal again.
"Why yes, thank-you." it said. "I haven't had time to put in my garden this year, so I do appreciate it. And this must be Quarto."
Quarto blinked, and looked up at Mummy, just as the dragon added,
"I wonder if you'd like to play me a game of chess?"
"Ooh, yes!" Quarto grinned, and the dragon delicately lifted an enormous chess board and a round table over in front of a large, soft chair by the fire. Quarto, using both hands, could just move the pieces; the dragon used the tip of two claws to move one. Mummy sat down in another chair, and read a book while the little ones had a nap, and Quarto had one of the funnest chess games he remembered. The dragon was a very good chess player, and was good at teaching little boys. Quarto learned so much he almost didn't notice who won or lost.
As soon as he finished, Mummy said they had to go home so she could get dinner on - but the dragon invited them to come again, and Mummy said Daddy would love to visit his library, and they all smiled and Quarto looked forward to playing chess again.
"Quarto, come look at this," she called - "you might want to pull this one." Quarto looked, and there was a small plant he hadn't seen before, the color of old brass and shaped as a single stem with a bell or a flower on the end - he couldn't quite tell which. So he reached out to touch it, and it felt like metal. He looked at Mummy, who smiled and said, "go ahead and pull it."
"Is this something you planted?" he asked, suspiciously.
"No, but I am quite sure it will be all right. I'll come with you."
Now very suspicious indeed, Quarto gave a small tug with the hand holding the strange plant. He heard a distant, deep chiming - like a very deep doorbell - and the ground at his feet began to move. Frightened, he grabbed Mummy's leg; Nenya had come over and was holding the other one. After a moment the rumbling stopped, and he saw a set of shallow steps leading down from where he had been standing.
"oh, is that what you meant that you'd go with me?" he asked Mummy.
"Why don't you go down and see?" she answered.
Carefully he stepped down, once, twice - he looked up to see Mummy, the baby in the pack on her back, Nenya on her hip, looking down at him. "Want to hold my hand?" she asked.
"Nope. I'm Ok" he said and walked forward. He rested his fingertips on the wall beside him as he went down, and gradually the walls got harder and harder, until he stopped and looked up at Mummy again. "I just noticed that the walls are stone - and look, they're turning lighter!" Mummy smiled and nodded ahead. "Oh, look, there's a light up ahead - it's like there's a fire or something!"
"Do you want to go ahead and see?"
"Oh, that's alright. I'll stay with you." And Quarto kept the fingertips of one hand on the wall, the hand by Mummy casually by his side, as he walked beside her down the last few steps into the cave.
And what a cave it was! The walls were red, raised flowers and leaves and patterns in silver all over them; the ceiling was so tall Quarto could hardly see it, and there were red drapes which went from somewhere up in the darkness down right to the floor. There were gold cords and tassels holding the drapes back, and Quarto could see that there were pillars behind the drapes. Between the pillars were big, dark spaces; and along one wall was a tremendous fireplace, taller than Mummy, even, with a fire taking up almost all of the back of it - but even though the fire was so big, and it was a warm summer day outside, the cave was a little bit cool.
"Hello, neighbor" called Mummy; and then Quarto saw that Nenya was carrying a big bouquet of flowers from the garden. Mummy had a cloth bag, which bulged with interesting shapes.
"What's in that bag, Mummy?" Quarto whispered.
"Just some things from the garden, for our new neighbor" said Mummy.
"Oh."
Just then, a low rumbling coming around one of the pillars made Quarto look up. There, in front of him, almost as high as Sextus on Mummy's back and almost as tall as Mummy herself was the largest head he had ever seen.
It was clearly a dragon head, and Quarto swallowed, twice. Then Mummy smiled and said,"I hope you can use some tomatoes and zucchini, because we have plenty this year," and the dragon smiled, and big as it was, suddenly everything was normal again.
"Why yes, thank-you." it said. "I haven't had time to put in my garden this year, so I do appreciate it. And this must be Quarto."
Quarto blinked, and looked up at Mummy, just as the dragon added,
"I wonder if you'd like to play me a game of chess?"
"Ooh, yes!" Quarto grinned, and the dragon delicately lifted an enormous chess board and a round table over in front of a large, soft chair by the fire. Quarto, using both hands, could just move the pieces; the dragon used the tip of two claws to move one. Mummy sat down in another chair, and read a book while the little ones had a nap, and Quarto had one of the funnest chess games he remembered. The dragon was a very good chess player, and was good at teaching little boys. Quarto learned so much he almost didn't notice who won or lost.
As soon as he finished, Mummy said they had to go home so she could get dinner on - but the dragon invited them to come again, and Mummy said Daddy would love to visit his library, and they all smiled and Quarto looked forward to playing chess again.
1 comment:
I love this story!
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