the subject. “Good thing we took a bag with us, Ellen. We found a heap of tatties that Humans have spilled by a track and brought some back.”
“We left it outside – I’ll bring it in.” Duncan went out and reappeared with a bundle which he tumbled on the floor by the fire. “If these are OK we can bring some more tonight.”
“I’ll roast some now,” said Maggie, picking them up to pierce with her talons before pushing them into the glowing embers of the fire, where they hissed and spat.
“Lovely – all black and crunchy!” said Emily, who was looking at Alice’s worried face. She decided it was her turn to do some cheering-up, and finished her breakfast in a hurry.
“Shall we go out and check that Ollie hasn’t done a flyer?” she whispered as they left the kitchen together.
“I suppose we’d better,” Alice replied. “I can’t believe he spun us that tale last night! Let’s sneak round the back. He’s probably just sulking.”
They made their way through the front door and round to the dilapidated outhouses round the back. There was no sign of Ollie, either outside or in the ruins. Emily wondered whether he had gone back through the passage to the cellar, and ran to check, but he was nowhere to be seen. When she came back outside, Alice pointed to a heap of half-melted snow.
“He’s gone into the wood!” she said. “Look, you can see the print of where he took off over the fence. I daren’t shout for him in case the parents hear. I’m hoping he’ll calm down out there soon and come back before he’s missed.”
“And before any Human sees him!” Emily added. She was worried, like Alice, but part of her wished she could go out too. Just one glimpse of their young Human friends would be wonderful!
“Where’s Ollie?” Tom shouted, arriving round the corner, and was surprised when he was firmly shushed by both the girls. They explained what had happened, and Tom grinned appreciatively. “Wish he’d taken me!” he said.
“OK, we’d ALL like to go out,” said Alice, rather to Emily’s surprise. “But just now the important thing is to make sure nobody else discovers he’s missing. We’d better all stay out here.”
“We need to keep warm,” Tom said. “I’ll get the ball.” He disappeared into the passage and the girls looked at each other and sighed. “I suppose he’s got a point,” said Alice. “Running around will keep us warm.”
Tom re-emerged, dribbling the football that the Humans had left for him, and the three of them passed it energetically between them, with powerful tail-swipes and the occasional header. The ball was starting to feel rather soft, perhaps because their spikes were sharp.
Suddenly a particularly wild shot from Emily sent the ball flying over the fence. It disappeared into the undergrowth.
“Oh, no!” said Emily. “I suppose I’d better go over and get it, and hope nobody sees me.”
“I’ll go if you like,” said Tom eagerly, but before Emily could argue there was a rustle in the bushes and Ollie’s head appeared. He jerked it in the direction of the hidden corner and disappeared again.
The other three jumped guiltily as a voice came from above. “Where’s Ollie?” Oliver, frowning suspiciously, was standing at the top of the steps looking down at them.
“Er... I swiped the ball over the fence by mistake,” Emily called hurriedly. “Sorry, it was a bit wild. Ollie’s just gone over to find it. He’ll be back in a minute. It disappeared into the bushes, so he may have had trouble finding it…”
She was wondering how long she could keep suspicion at bay when the dark red figure of Ollie trotted casually round the corner, dribbling the ball. “Sorry, Dad – had to get this back,” he said. “I was only over for a minute.” Oliver stared hard at him, but then went back inside without further comment.
Ollie winked. “Quick thinking, Em!” he said. “I was just about to tell one of you to send it over and give me an excuse to be out when the ball flew over and hit me! Thanks.” He seemed to have left his bad temper behind in the woods, Emily thought. It was rare that Ollie ever praised one of them, so she felt rather pleased with herself.
“Nice to see you’ve quietened down a bit,” said Alice coldly. “Maybe you’ll think twice before swaggering again. And running away!” she added with her nose in the air.
“Perhaps,” said Ollie, with a maddening smirk, “but if I hadn’t ‘run away’, I’d have missed a Human sighting. Course, if you’re not interested...”
Emily gave Alice a prod with her tail. “’Course we are!” she said, and led the way through the passage and into their cellar, leaving the rest to follow. Alice, still disapproving, came last.
Chapter 4
Quarrels
The four young dragons settled themselves in the girls’ cellar, and Emily produced a secret stash of bumblebugs. She hoped it would help to soothe the prickles between Alice and Ollie. “How far did you go?” she asked.
“Not that far. I went to Ben’s Stone to start with,” Ollie said, referring to the huge boulder in the wood that Ben McIlwhinnie had rested on before starting the journey back to his glen. “Ben’s footprints have melted away, but you can see something big has been through the trees if you know where to look. Turned out it wasn’t much use as a look-out point, because of the trees, so I flew further on, low between the tree trunks keeping a good look-out. Nothing moving anywhere, apart from the odd wee bird, and not much snow left. I thought I’d head in the direction of that Human house, just to see how far it was.”
Alice rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Why do you take such risks? You could just as well have gone the other way!”
“Shut up, Allie!” said Emily, unexpectedly. “Go on, Ollie. Did you find it?”
“It took quite a while to get to the edge of the wood,” Ollie continued. “When the trees thinned I dropped to the ground and crawled through the undergrowth. And THEN....” he dropped his voice conspiratorially and they all leaned closer, “I came to one of those hard tracks...”
“A road?” said Emily.
“Yeah, just a narrow one. Then I had a REAL fright!” He paused for dramatic effect.
“What happened?”
“One of those Human machines thundered past, right in front of me! It was a big one, bright colours, and I could see some Humans inside, looking out.”
“Wow!” said Tom, lost in admiration.
“You weren’t seen, were you?” Alice cried in horror.
“Nah – it went by too fast. But THEN....”
“Yes…?”
“It stopped a bit further down the road-thing. And I
