“Yeah,” Ben said with amazement. “Just like that.”
Pearl took off her lab coat and tied it around her waist. After a boost from Metalmouth, Ben and Pearl stood on the rain dragon’s upper lip, right in front of her snout. Ben had expected steam to seep out of the cave-sized nostrils, but her breath was cool. It felt like air conditioning. Ben raised his arms and let it waft over his body.
Pearl sighed. “That feels so good,” she said.
The skin between the nostrils was creased, so it formed little steps. They walked up the nose, then stood on its crest, looking up at the forehead. Luckily, the slope was gradual and the terrain remained rutted, making it easy to grip, even for Pearl’s pink slippers. The rain dragon’s eyes were still closed—each eyelash as thick as rope.
“We’re walking on a dragon’s face,” Pearl whispered. “I bet you’ve never made up a story this good.”
He hadn’t. The whole day had been the most amazing story ever. A goat lady, a tornado, and not one but two dragons. If the Portal reappeared with Dr. Woo inside, then it would be a happy ending. But if they never saw the Portal again—that was a story Ben didn’t want to tell.
When they reached the dragon’s brow, they took a quick look around. The desert stretched on and on as far as they could see. It appeared they were all alone. No hunters. No poachers. No Portal. Ben waved at Metalmouth. Metalmouth waved back.
After a bit more climbing, Pearl and Ben rushed over to the hole. It was the size of a plastic kiddie swimming pool. Green blood bubbled up and out, too hot to touch.
Ben uncorked the bottle of wound glue. He hesitated. “Do you think we’re doing the right thing?” he asked. They’d had zero medical training. They didn’t even know if this particular dragon had allergies to medication.
Pearl patted Ben’s shoulder. “Go ahead. Metalmouth said it worked for him.”
Ben held out his arm and poured until the bottle was empty. The green puddle sizzled and popped, then stopped moving. A dark film began to form, just like the skin on cooked pudding. In a matter of seconds, the wound had sealed and the bleeding had stopped.
“Yay!” Pearl cheered. She hugged Ben. “I knew we could do it.”
Ben smiled. Yes, they’d done it. His face flushed with pride. But what would happen next? They peered over the crest of the dragon’s brow. Her eyes were still closed.
“Why isn’t she waking up?” Pearl asked. “We stopped the bleeding.” But the rain dragon lay perfectly still. “Shouldn’t she be doing something? Like making rain?” They both glanced up at the sky. The sun was shining. No clouds had appeared.
“Is she still breathing?” Ben asked.
They slid down her nose. Pearl stood in front of a nostril, but her hair didn’t billow, nor did her basketball shorts ripple. “I can barely feel her breath,” she said. “She’s still alive. But do you think…?” She spun around and looked at Ben, her eyes wide with fear. “Do you think we’re too late?”
It was a very sad thought indeed. They’d freed her paw, they’d closed her wound, but if the rain dragon had lost too much blood, what else could they do?
“Look!” Pearl grabbed Ben’s arm and pointed. “What’s that?”
Shielding his eyes with his hands, Ben squinted toward the horizon. Something was out there. Because the sun had dropped lower in the sky, Ben couldn’t get a good look at the shape. But whatever it was, it was definitely moving toward them.
Was the poacher coming back?
“Crud,” Ben mumbled.
As quickly as they could, he and Pearl leaped onto the dragon’s upper lip, then jumped to the ground. “Metalmouth,” Ben said, “someone’s coming this way.”
Metalmouth spat out his tennis ball. “Uh-oh.” He began to turn in a circle. “We gotta get outta here. We gotta hide.”
“We can’t abandon the rain dragon,” Pearl said.
Ben’s instinct was the same as Metalmouth’s. Running and hiding would have been the best way to avoid danger. But Pearl was right. “If the hunter is coming back for the other horn, the rain dragon will die for sure,” Ben said. “She can’t lose any more blood.”
Metalmouth stopped and cocked his head. “I don’t want any dragon to die.”
They all turned and squinted into the sun. The shape moved closer and closer.
“You know what to do,” Ben said.
“Yeah. Big mean voice.” Metalmouth reared up on his hind legs. As he opened his mouth, sunlight glinted off his jagged teeth. “Go AWAY!” he bellowed, steam hissing from his nostrils.
The shape moved toward them at a very brisk pace. Ben could now see that it was walking on two legs. And it was carrying something.
Metalmouth stepped in front of Ben and Pearl and raised his wings. “Do not come any closer or I will eat you!”
“If you eat me, then who will help you floss your teeth?” a voice asked.
Metalmouth smiled and thwapped his tail. Both Pearl and Ben also smiled.
For they could now clearly see the person hurrying toward them. She wore a white lab coat and carried a black medical bag.
“Dr. Woo!” they both cried.
18
Ben felt relieved at first. Dr. Woo would have fairy dust, and she’d be able to take them back to the Known World. But when he saw the look on her face, he wanted to run in the opposite direction.
The doctor’s long black hair swayed as she marched toward them. Her white lab coat was unbuttoned, billowing behind her like a sail. She stopped a few feet from them, set the black bag on the ground, then folded her arms and glared at her apprentices. “What is the meaning of this?”
“Uh-oh,” Metalmouth said. He stepped behind Ben, as if trying to hide.
Stories began to pop into Ben’s brain—stories that might keep Pearl and him from getting into trouble. But on this occasion, when a life was at stake, the truth seemed best. “The goat lady called us to the tenth floor,” he began to explain. “And even though we knew we were breaking a rule, we—”
Dr. Woo held up a hand to silence him. Her index finger was missing. Ben had assumed that she’d lost it dealing with some sort of dangerous creature. The scars that ran across her cheek and down her neck were other indications that her job came with great risks. “Firstly, she is not a goat lady. She is a satyress, and her name is Violet.”
“Sorry,” Ben said. “Violet the satyress told us to—”
Dr. Woo held up her hand again. “Secondly, you have broken more rules in a single day than any other apprentices I have ever employed.” She pointed at Metalmouth. “And you should know better.”
Metalmouth’s ears collapsed. Then he hid his head behind a wing.
“Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to travel through the Portal without proper training? Do you know how terrible it feels to get Portal travel sickness? Or to fall out of the Portal between dimensions? What would I have told your parents?”
Pearl took a cautious step forward. “Dr. Woo, we only came here because no one else could. You were busy and Mr. Tabby was busy, and Violet said the rain dragon was dying. We couldn’t let her die.”
“That’s right,” Ben said. Though he hadn’t wanted to take this trip in the first place, now that he’d seen the rain dragon’s injuries, he was glad Pearl had talked him into coming. “She needed our help. She still needs our help.”
“Someone hurt her,” Pearl said. “On purpose.”
Metalmouth lowered his wing. “A hunter.”
Dr. Woo sighed. “Tell me everything that has happened.”
Ben explained how they’d found the metal trap and freed the paw. Pearl explained how they’d climbed up and poured Woo’s Wound Glue into the hole. “She stopped bleeding, but she doesn’t seem better,” Pearl said. “She’s barely breathing.”
Dr. Woo removed a small device from her lab coat pocket. It was another creature calculator, identical to the one Mr. Tabby carried. She punched a few buttons and read the screen. “You did an excellent job with the wound g
lue. The rain dragon’s physical health status has returned to normal.”
“Then why isn’t she moving?” Pearl asked.
“I don’t know for certain, but I have a theory. You see, Chinese horned dragons are very gentle creatures that live in harmony with the universe. The rain dragon is the most gentle of all. She does not eat flesh—she eats clouds. She does not make war—she brings rain that keeps the valley lush. She does not argue, insult, blame, envy, or lie.”
“Does she steal treasure?” Metalmouth asked.
“No,” Dr. Woo said. “She does not steal.”
“But if her health has returned to normal, why isn’t she making rain?” Ben asked.
Dr. Woo put the calculator away. “Rain dragons are very proud of their horns. They are among the most beautiful in the Imaginary World. She feels the loss of her horn very deeply.”
“Won’t it grow back?” Ben asked.
“Antlers grow back,” Dr. Woo explained, “but, alas, horns do not.”
It occurred to Ben that the rain dragon’s horn was one of many things that had been taken during the last couple of days. His grandfather’s toaster had been stolen, but it was easy to buy a new one. Same for new forks, garbage cans, and mailboxes. This horn, however, was special. How could it possibly be replaced?
“Poor thing,” Pearl said. “She feels so sad. How can we make her feel better?”
“I know how to lance boils, how to stitch snouts and mend broken tails, but I’m not very good at fixing feelings,” Dr. Woo said.
Ben looked up at the rain dragon, his gaze resting on the remaining horn. It wasn’t white like Metalmouth’s horns. It was silvery and glistened in the sunlight. And its surface was so smooth it could have been made of…
“Metalmouth?” Ben said, an idea flitting around in his head.
“Yeah?”
“Remember that chain link that was attached to the trap?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Do you think you can melt that into something else? The way you melted all that stuff and made your nest?”
“Sure.”
“Oh, Ben,” Pearl said, her eyes twinkling. She grabbed his arm. “That’s an amazing idea!”
While Pearl and Dr. Woo stayed with the rain dragon, Ben and Metalmouth ran back to the dragon’s paw. Using his flame, Metalmouth separated one of the chain’s links from the others. Then Ben wrapped the tip of Metalmouth’s tail around the link and Metalmouth dragged it back to the rain dragon’s head.
As the others watched, Metalmouth melted, melded, shaped, and soldered a beautiful silver horn. It was a work of art, just like his nest.
Ben, Pearl, and Dr. Woo carried the horn up the rain dragon’s face and set it carefully on top of the hole. The doctor used an adhesive specifically designed to reattach horns. “It should hold for at least a thousand years,” she said.
The ground shuddered.
“She’s moving,” Pearl said.
Just as the rain dragon opened her eyes, Ben, Pearl, and Dr. Woo slid down her nose and jumped onto the ground. The dragon raised her head. After batting her long lashes, she reached up with one of her paws and touched the new horn. The edges of her mouth turned upward.
“She feels better,” Dr. Woo said.
Then all at once, the dragon’s body bloomed with color. It was as if someone had used a giant eraser on her. All the brown disappeared. Her skin turned lime green, her mane buttery yellow, her eyes tangerine orange, her whiskers ocean blue. She was a living rainbow.
The dragon lifted her neck and gazed down upon them.
“We must show her our respect.” Dr. Woo placed her palms together and bowed. Ben, Pearl, and Metalmouth did likewise. The rain dragon bowed her head. Then she exhaled a long string of clouds.
“Wow,” Metalmouth said. “I wish I could do that.”
The clouds floated above their heads, blocking the sun. The air immediately cooled. Ben took a long, refreshing breath. His sweat was gone. Even his sunburn disappeared. Metalmouth’s scales glistened with dew.
The rain dragon extended one of her claws and drew something in the hardened ground. It was a symbol, and it looked like this:
Ben had seen it before, but he didn’t know what it meant.
Then she took to the sky, her long, snakelike body gliding in S-shapes and circles. The clouds sighed and let loose their rain. Drops the size of golf balls fell onto the parched ground. Ben wiped water from his eyes. Pearl tilted her head and opened her mouth.
“I’m drinking imaginary water,” she said. “And it tastes great.” Ben drank some, too. Metalmouth lapped from a puddle.
The strange symbol disappeared as the ground turned to mud. Then newborn shoots began to sprout. In a few minutes, what had been a dry wasteland was transformed into a lush carpet of greenery. Ben was soaked all the way through to his skin, but he didn’t care. As rain rolled down his face, he thought only of the amazing sight above him—a wingless dragon, looping and gliding across the sky.
“Our work here is done,” Dr. Woo announced. She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a vial of yellow fairy dust.
“Wait,” Pearl said. “Shouldn’t we find out who took the rain dragon’s horn? My aunt Milly knows how to check for fingerprints. Maybe we could borrow the equipment from her.”
“There is no need. I already know who took the horn.” She sprinkled some dust in the newly sprung grass. “Step back.”
The tornado appeared as it had on the tenth floor, swirling and thundering. Ben wasn’t afraid this time. He didn’t need to be pushed or convinced. He stepped right in.
19
Thank you for flying the Portal. Please refrain from pushing as you disembark.”
Ben, Pearl, Metalmouth, and Dr. Woo stood on the tenth floor of the old button factory. Puddles formed around them as water dripped off their clothing. Metalmouth shook like a dog, spraying the walls and ceiling. There was no sign of Violet the satyress. The yellow light on the switchboard had stopped blinking. The bags of oats and ivy were gone. The shattered glass had also been cleaned up, and the window replaced with a new one.
“Who took the rain dragon’s horn?” both Pearl and Ben asked as the last wisps of tornado disappeared.
Dr. Woo set the extra medical bag into the closet. “His name is Maximus Steele. He’s not supposed to be in the Imaginary World, but he’s apparently found a way to get in.” She closed the closet door. Pearl opened her mouth, about to ask a million questions, but Dr. Woo gently silenced her with a raised palm. “Maximus Steele is a very dangerous man.” Dr. Woo’s wet hair clung to her cheeks and neck. Water leaked from the pockets of her lab coat. “If you continue to work as my apprentices, I will tell you all about him. But right now, there is another important matter to attend to.”
Ben’s sneakers squeaked as he and Pearl followed the doctor over to the windows. He’d noticed how she’d said, “If you continue to work as my apprentices.” Was she still angry that they’d broken the rules? Was she going to fire them?
The windows offered a bird’s-eye view of the front of the hospital. Two people stood at the gate. Ben recognized the red overalls of Mrs. Mulberry and her daughter, Victoria. The little red welcome wagon sat beside them. “It appears we have angry villagers at our door,” Dr. Woo said.
“Angry villagers?” Metalmouth backed up into the corner. “I don’t like angry villagers. Make them go away.” His legs began to tremble. Ben was certain he was imagining all those horrid drawings from the dragon book.
“They’re mad about the missing stuff,” Ben explained. “But they’re not going to hurt you. Don’t worry.”
“I needed to build my nest,” Metalmouth said. “I can’t sleep without a nest.”
“You are quite right,” Dr. Woo told him. “A dragon must have a nest. This is my fault, not yours. I should have provided you with the necessary materials.” She tapped her four-fingered hand on the windowsill. “If they ask too many questions, I’m afraid we’ll have to move again.”<
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“Don’t do that!” Pearl cried.
“We could buy new stuff for everyone,” Ben said. “That would make them happy.”
Dr. Woo smiled sadly. “While that’s a nice idea, I’m afraid I have little time to spare.”
What could they do? Ben had only known Mrs. Mulberry for a few days, but he could tell she was the sort of person who wouldn’t give up easily. She wanted to prove that Dr. Woo was the thief. If only they could give Mrs. Mulberry something to make her happy. Then she might stop trying to get inside the hospital.
Ben smiled as a brilliant idea just about knocked him off his feet, like the stink of a sasquatch. “What if Metalmouth made something? Something out of metal. He could give the town a present.” Ben didn’t want to hurt Pearl’s feelings, since she’d lived there all her life, but Buttonville was as run-down as a town could get. It could use something pretty. “What do you think?”
“Where would he get the metal?” Dr. Woo asked.
“I know,” Pearl said. “The trap is still in the Land of Rain. And the chain links. He could use those.”
“Excellent,” Dr. Woo said.
Metalmouth groaned. “Ah, gee, do I have to go back through the Portal?”
“Yes,” she told him. “But be quick. I have no time to deal with angry villagers.” Then she led the kids to the door.
“Dr. Woo?” Pearl asked. “What did the rain dragon draw in the dirt?”
Dr. Woo leaned against the doorframe. “That is called yin and yang. It is the ancient Chinese symbol of opposites. Man and woman, day and night, plus and minus—the universe is composed of opposing energy. The rain dragon was letting you know that while there are bad humans there are also good humans. While there are hunters who take horns, there are also Ben Silversteins and Pearl Petals who put them back.” She smiled at them. “I am very proud of both of you.”
The Rain Dragon Rescue Page 7