“It was sort of reddish-coloured,” he replied.
“Anything else?”
“Only the two letters printed on the side.”
“What two letters?”
“G and S.”
“Global Sands!” gasped Holly.
“Rats on a stick!” exclaimed Dirk.
“Do you think Brant Buchanan really does know about dragons?” said Holly.
“I‘m worried that it’s looking that way,” said Dirk. “Right, Captain Karnataka the Fearless, a Sea Dragon has been kidnapped by humans. It’s time for you to live up to your name.”
“Ah, well … yes, right,” mumbled Karnataka, edging away. “These days I have to follow correct Dragnet procedure. I’ll alert the nearest duty officer who will assemble an emergency action committee meeting.”
Dirk shot a burst of fire at him. “If you don’t help me I’ll go before the Dragon Council and tell them what I know about those missing Welsh gold reserves.”
Karnataka could tell Dirk wasn’t joking. “All right,” he sighed. “What do you want me to do?”
“Take the boy with you and search east. We’ll look west.”
“You want me to carry a human? Are you mad?”
“While I’m chatting to the Council, I could also mention this little Sky Dragon scheme of yours. I wonder how they’ll view your actions,” added Dirk.
“But Dirk … a human!” protested Karnataka. “I’m the captain of the Dragnet!”
“He’ll help you identify the truck and you should have thought about that before you set me up,” said Dirk.
Karnataka looked warily at Archie. “All right, get on,” he said, “but no kicking.”
Archie climbed on. “Another dragon ride,” he said. “This day just keeps getting better.”
“Whoever finds the truck first sends up a fire flare to let the other know where he is,” ordered Dirk. “Now let’s get going.”
Both dragons flew to the roof of the shack, Holly on Dirk’s back, Archie on Karnataka’s.
“And don’t even think about ditching the kid and heading underground,” warned Dirk. “It looks as though one of the most powerful humans on the planet has kidnapped a Sea Dragon. If we fail to rescue Alba, you can kiss goodbye to your cushy job as captain and say hello to full-scale war, dragons versus humans.”
There were a surprisingly large number of reddish-coloured trucks in London that evening. Dirk and Holly searched the streets, but each time they thought they had spotted a truck that fitted the description, they would get close, only to find it wasn’t the one they were looking for. It wasn’t until they reached Waterloo that Holly saw one with the letters G and S printed in white on the side.
“That’s it!” she said.
“It’s heading for the bridge,” Dirk pointed out. He took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. Holly struggled to cling on.
“What are you doing?” she asked, feeling his stomach swell.
He exhaled suddenly and Holly felt the skin around his neck get warm as a small fleck of light shot from his mouth.
“It’s a fire flare,” explained Dirk, “to show Karnataka where we are.”
“Will he see it?” asked Holly, peering up into the sky, where the tiny pellet was barely visible.
“Keep watching,” replied Dirk.
All of a sudden, the burning ember exploded in the sky. The Londoners who noticed it briefly paused to wonder who was letting off fireworks, then carried on doing whatever they had been doing.
“The truck’s getting away,” said Holly, seeing that it was already halfway across the bridge.
Dirk looked down. Jumping the river was always the most challenging part of his life in London, but it was dark and he had no choice but to risk it.
“Hold tight.” Dirk took a small step back, then sprang up, flying high over the river. He landed on the first building on the other side and ran across the roof, vaulting over a line of stone figures. Across the rooftops he kept up with the truck as it drove through London’s bustling streets.
“Why would they be taking a dragon further into London?” asked Holly.
“That’s not the only question that needs answering. What about how would Buchanan know where Alba was meeting Karnataka in the first place?” said Dirk.
The truck eventually began to pull into an underground car park. Before they followed it in, Holly looked around to see they were next to an ugly skyscraper that towered above the surrounding buildings.
“Get ready to blend.” Dirk jumped from a church to the roof of a pub, then to the top of the truck just before it went below ground.
“Oh no,” murmured Dirk. “Height restriction.”
A yellow sign in the entrance stated the maximum height allowed into the car park. There was barely enough room for the truck, let alone the extra passengers on top. Holly rolled off Dirk and lay flat as the truck drove in. As it entered the building, the sign scraped across Dirk’s tough, ridged back, actually doing more damage to the sign than it did to him.
The truck trundled down to the lowest level and then came to a standstill. The car park had dim lights along the walls and concrete pillars that cast long shadows. Except for the truck, the entire level was empty.
Holly heard two people step out. Neither spoke as they slammed the doors shut and walked to the back of the truck, their footsteps echoing. Their features were shrouded by darkness, but as they opened the back doors and stepped into the light, Holly finally saw their faces. It was the pair of crooks, Arthur and Reg.
Something was stirring inside the truck. The long head of a dragon emerged, a thin line of smoke from its nostrils drifting up, making Holly’s nose itch. She stifled a sneeze. Alba Longs stepped out.
“What’s going on?” Holly whispered to Dirk.
Dirk motioned to stay quiet and they watched the two crooks silently escort the Sea Dragon across the car park into a lift.
“I’m going after them,” said Dirk. “You should stay here. This could prove dangerous.”
“I don’t care. I’m coming with you,” insisted Holly, climbing on to his back.
“There’s no time to argue,” said Dirk.
“Exactly, so let’s go,” she urged.
Dirk sprang from the roof of the truck and flew across the car park to the lift. He extended two claws, jammed them into the gap between the doors and strained as he pulled them wide open to reveal the empty elevator shaft. He pushed himself and Holly inside and the doors slammed shut again. It was dark inside. Above, they could hear the lift rapidly ascending.
“Hold tight,” said Dirk. The shaft wasn’t quite wide enough to spread his wings and fly up, so he half flew, half scampered, using the ladder that ran up the side to propel himself faster. They were gaining on the moving lift but Holly was being thrown about by Dirk, her legs flailing like a rag doll no matter how tightly she locked her arms around his neck.
“Don’t lose me!” she yelled desperately.
“I won’t!” shouted Dirk above the squeaks of the lift. He tried to use his tail to secure her to his back, but lost his rhythm and collided with a wall just as Holly’s left leg was outstretched. There was a CRUNCH and Holly yelped in pain.
“Hang on,” said Dirk, flapping one wing, giving him enough of a final boost to grab on to the bottom of the lift, which was still hurtling upwards. He spun round, bringing himself face to face with Holly, so he was hanging upside down with her lying on his soft green underbelly.
“How are you doing, kid?” he asked.
Holly tried to smile but the pain turned it into a grimace.
The lift jolted violently as it reached the top of the shaft. Above them they heard footsteps as Alba and the crooks walked out.
Dirk jammed his claws into the underside of the lift, cutting straight through the base. He pulled one claw free and punched the metal until it bent back, making a hole big enough to climb through, then he hauled them both into the lift.
Dirk placed Holly on the fl
oor as gently as possible. Her jeans were stained with sticky red blood. She winced in pain as he examined her leg.
“I’m so sorry,” he said.
“Will it heal with sleep?” she asked, sucking her teeth.
“Not this time, Hol,” he replied. “The bone’s broken.”
Holly had never felt such agony.
“We need to get you to a hospital,” said Dirk.
“There’s no time,” she replied, her voice weak with pain.
Dirk knew she was right. The unfolding drama wasn’t exactly going to pause and wait for them to deal with a broken leg. He hated to see Holly in such pain but he had no choice.
“Stay out of sight. I won’t be long,” said Dirk. He pressed the button to open the doors, then stepped out.
Alone in the lift, Holly examined her leg. It was the same one that Vainclaw Grandin, the leader of the Kinghorns, had slashed in Little Hope. She wondered how she was going to explain a broken leg to her parents.
She looked around for something to distract her from the pain. Above her was a row of buttons, each with a company name next to the corresponding floor. She twisted herself around to get a better look, lifting herself on her hands, trying to avoid putting any weight on the broken leg. At the top she could see ‘GS’ in block capitals on a red background, just like the one on the truck. Below it was the full company name in smaller writing. She strained to read it but it was a tricky angle. She remembered how on the Global Sands website every division used the same logo of a dark blue GS in a circle. It seemed strange that here in the lift and on the truck were the only times she had seen it written differently.
She pushed herself up the wall, bashing her leg and sending a spasm of pain rattling through her body. She tried again, this time raising herself high enough to read the tiny writing. It didn’t say Global Sands. The company name was Gronkong Shinard.
She had heard the name somewhere before but she couldn’t quite place where. As she was trying to figure out why it sounded so familiar, she felt the lift move and lost her footing. Landing on her bad leg, she narrowly avoided slipping through the hole Dirk had made in the floor. The lift juddered again – it was going down.
Dirk followed a few stairs to a door that led to the roof of the skyscraper. The sounds of the London evening drifted up from the streets. Alba Longs stood on her hind legs with her back to him. The two crooks were on either side of her, holding a large net. Neither of them looked at Dirk.
“I am not sure I can do it,” said Alba.
“You must do what we say,” said Arthur.
“No one need get hurt,” added Reg.
“Are these two gentlemen bothering you, Alba?” asked Dirk casually.
They all spun around to look at him. Alba was holding the flask that Shute Hobcraft had given her.
“Mr Dilly! You must go or—”
“Alba. Leave this to me,” interrupted Dirk. Without warning, he sprang into action, spinning horizontally through the air towards the unwitting crooks, using his tail to send both men staggering backwards. He yanked the net from their hands and threw it over their heads, bagging both of them. Dirk lifted the net to look at them squashed together inside.
“That was easy,” said Dirk.
“Oww,” said Reg. “What’s going on? The last thing I remember, we were bagging leaves.”
“Judging by our current predicament I think we may have died and been reincarnated as fish,” replied Arthur, who was facing the other way and hadn’t yet seen Dirk.
“We’re in the sky,” said Reg, also unaware of the dragon holding the net.
“Flying fish, perhaps,” said Arthur.
“Dragonsong,” snarled Dirk.
He shook the net, banging the two villains’ heads together and knocking them out. “Someone hypnotized them with Dragonsong. Did you do this, Alba?”
He turned on her, angry smoke billowing from his nostrils.
“I would never,” wailed Alba. “I only wanted to help my sister.”
“What are you talking about? Karnataka has Delfina locked up. I know you’ve been lying to me.”
“You are right,” said Alba, averting her eyes. “I have spoken untruths but I am not the liar now. Delfina is no longer in the prison.”
“Where is she then?” demanded Dirk.
Behind him he heard the ting! of the lift door opening. He turned around to see smoke billowing out like the lift had caught on fire.
“Holly!” Dirk said, panicked.
From within the lift emerged a Mountain Dragon. He was larger, darker and scarier than Dirk. Grey smoke poured uncontrollably from his nose. Predatory eyes peered out from the smoke and a mouth curled into a sinister smile.
“Vainclaw Grandin,” snarled Dirk.
“Dirk Dilly, dragon detective,” replied the deep baritone voice.
“Whatever you’re planning, it’s over. I’ve got your henchmen bagged.”
“Henchmen, yes… Not my hench-dragons, though,” replied Vainclaw.
From the lift behind him emerged Leon, the eldest of the two yellow-backed Scavenger brothers who worked for Vainclaw. He was holding a Sea Dragon, a claw jammed threateningly into her jaw.
“Delfina,” said Alba desperately. “Are you all right?”
“Help me, sister. I fear for my life. They are maniacs,” whimpered her sister. She looked terrified.
“Keep quiet, hard-back,” growled Leon.
A second Scavenger climbed up through the hole Dirk had made in the lift and picked up what looked like a blood-stained bundle of clothes. As he stepped out on to the roof, Dirk could see that it was Mali, Leon’s brother, and he was holding Holly, the blood from her leg smeared across his belly.
“All right, Mr Detective?” he said. “I’ve got your little friend here.”
“If you hurt her I’ll roast your heart, Mali,” replied Dirk.
“You want me to chuck her over so we can have a fair fight?” replied the younger of the Scavenger brothers, holding Holly over the edge of the building.
“Not yet,” snapped Leon.
“You never let me have any fun, bro,” replied Mali.
“Cease your bickering,” said Vainclaw. “We have work to do.”
“Now, Mr Dilly, we are thirty-five floors above a hard concrete pavement,” said Vainclaw Grandin, “so you will do everything I say otherwise my Scavenger will let go of the girl.”
“Yeah, I’ll give her a free flying lesson,” said Mali, leaning forwards to dangle Holly over the side.
“There will be no tricks,” said Vainclaw. “Is that clear?”
“Crystal clear,” replied Dirk, through gritted teeth.
“I realized just after you’d gone,” said Holly weakly. “GS doesn’t stand for Global Sands—”
“Eh, who rattled your cage?” said Mali, shaking Holly, so that her bad leg flew about, causing her to cry out. Tears streamed down her face.
“GS stands for Gronkong Shinard.” Vainclaw finished her sentence.
Dirk recognized the name. When he first discovered Kinghorns in London they had been hiding in a warehouse that was registered to a Gronkong Shinard.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Rearrange the letters to find our true identity.”
It only took Dirk a moment to come up with the answer. “Kinghorn Dragons,” he muttered. “But why would the Kinghorns have a company in the human world?”
“How naive you are,” said Vainclaw. “Gronkong Shinard has been operating for a long, long time. Gronkong Shinard built this tower.”
“This is a modern building,” said Dirk. “It was built by humans.”
“Humans employed by me,” said Vainclaw. “They constructed it around a central stone spine built by dragons. Remember when our kind used to help these pathetic mammals to build their monuments in return for gold? The pyramids, Stonehenge, the Aztec temples, the Great Wall of China, all built with the help of dragons. But with this tower, Gronkong Shinard retained the rights to
the top floor and roof. At the base of the foundations is an entrance that allows us to come and go as we please. So you see, our headquarters are in the heart of the human civilization that we will soon destroy.” Vainclaw’s sinister grin widened. “Now, Alba Longs, it is time for you to play your part.”
“Please, no! I have told you how to be summoning a Sky Dragon. Why can you not let me go now and summon one for yourself?”
“You think I should spit fire into the belly of a Sky Dragon then politely ask that it joins me in my fight against humanity?” asked Vainclaw.
“So that’s your plan,” said Dirk. “The same as Karny, you want to summon a Sky Dragon.”
Vainclaw turned to look at him, his eyes glowing. “Not just one Sky Dragon,” he said. “I have been tracking the herd. They are flying over this city. When Alba spits the fire into the belly of the leader, it will materialize before us. I will say that humans are responsible for summoning them. I will explain that we Kinghorns are here to help them. Then the rest of the herd will materialize and the great war will begin. With the Skies, there will be no limit to our power.”
“Please don’t make me do it,” begged Alba.
“She’s innocent,” said Dirk. “Do your own dirty work.”
Vainclaw flared his nostrils. “Alba, you’re off the hook. We have another volunteer.”
“Me?” said Dirk. “Not a chance.”
“Mali, show him what will happen if he does not obey,” snarled Vainclaw.
Mali dangled Holly over the edge of the building.
“You wouldn’t want me to drop her, would you?” said the yellow-backed Scavenger, letting her slide a little.
“Don’t do it, Dirk!” Holly tried to sound brave but was unable to hide her fear.
“Don’t hurt her!” shouted Dirk.
Mali stepped back from the edge and waited. Dirk took the flask from Alba and flipped the top open. Inside, the scorching liquid sizzled, bubbled and spat. The tiny sip he had taken at the Outer Core had been painful enough. In order to reach a Sky Dragon he would have to take a big gulp. It wasn’t going to be fun.
Sky High! Page 9