Let Sleeping Dragons Lie (The Modern Dragon Chronicles Book 1)

by Ty Burson

  “Where’s Justin?” he asked.

  John almost laughed aloud, but Frank gave him a grave look. “He’s fine kid. We weren’t ever going to actually hurt him.”

  “Shut up, John,” Frank instructed.

  “What? Oh please, Frank, you weren’t going to hurt that kid,” John replied.

  Steve thought for a minute, “Then, you weren’t really going to hurt my dad?”

  Before John could answer, Frank interrupted, “We weren’t going to hurt a kid. What happens to your dad is up to you. You understand me, kid? Just do what we ask and everything will turn out all right. Everybody gets to go home.”

  “Why do you want to hurt the dragon?” Steve asked.

  John shrugged and glanced at his brother.

  Frank only responded with, “It’s complicated.”

  Before he could say anything else, John asked, “Hey, so how’d you do it? How’d you get the deer and the bears to do what you wanted?”

  Steve thought about it, about whether he could, or should, answer. He wasn’t completely sure himself, though he was learning more about what he could do with the dragon’s help. Maybe he couldn’t bring himself to hate these guys, he realized, but he didn’t trust them either. He did what most kids do when faced with a difficult situation, he lied. “I can call any animal I want to help me. And not just animals, I can make all kinds of things happen.” He thought a second and added, “Where’d you think this fog came from?”

  Two heads turned around at once and looked at him like he was some kind of alien. Steve tried to look as innocent as he could.

  “Well,” Frank managed, “you need to knock it off; it’s dangerous.”

  “I’m better at starting stuff than turning it off,” Steve replied.

  Chapter 30

  Granny had left the girls in the other room after instructing them to pack up everything they needed and be ready to go. Now, with a moment alone in her bedroom, she tried desperately to reach out to the dragon for help. Unfortunately, she had never been able to communicate with animals or talk directly to the dragon. In fact, her recent fights were the first time that she’d had to exercise her strength and power as a protector. And now, despite her usual vigor and amazing health, she felt broken and bruised, and well beyond tired. She wondered why—when her family, when Roger and Steve, needed her most—she had to feel so useless. “This must be what getting old feels like,” she mumbled to herself.

  She shrugged that off; she had a good idea where the dragon was, somewhere north of Crescent City and south of Smith River, maybe somewhere off Lake Earl Drive or west of Jedediah Smith State Park, and she was convinced that the men were taking Steve there. It wasn’t a huge area, but there were lots of nameless, dirt roads that led off into the woods. Even if Jeanie got a bunch of folks out there looking, they might not be able find Steve before whatever the demon had planned took place. Maybe if she could figure out what that was, she could narrow the search.

  She fetched her book, thumbing through it for anything that might be potentially helpful in dealing with demons. Obviously, it was a long shot, but she hoped maybe there was something in it that could help her. Disappointed when she found nothing, she went outside, glad she had grabbed her jacket; it was colder than she thought and she could feel it seep into her bones. She was aching in a way she could not remember ever aching before.

  Up to now, her role as protector had meant little. Even when her oldest son Manuel died, there was nothing she could do about it, and when Roger had taken over as caretaker, there had never been much reason to worry. In fact, she used to tease herself about her precautions—the figurines were something she came up with on a whim, no different than building a fence.

  Granny refused to panic, though. No matter what happened, panicking was not in her nature. She wrapped her jacket tighter around herself and sat down on one of the carved burl slabs of redwood on her porch and waited. She was sitting there with her eyes closed when Jeanie arrived.

  “Girls,” Granny said, “get your coats and things. We’re going.”

  Jeanie bounded up the stairs and hugged her mother-in-law. “What’s wrong, Mom? You look terrible. Are you all right?”

  Granny smiled, “I’m tired, that’s all. I guess I’m feeling my age today.”

  Before Jeanie could follow up on what that meant, the girls bolted out the door and into her arms. “Hey you two,” Jeanie said, warmly, “it’s going to be okay. Go climb into the truck. Dani, hop in the back.”

  “Mom, I’ll throw up! I can’t ride in the back!” Dani insisted.

  “Oh, God, Dani, for once can’t you just do what you’re told!” Jeanie took a deep breath, “Joy, would you mind? I know it’s tight back there, but she’s probably right. She does get car sick.”

  “Sure, I’ll ride in the back. Have you called my folks?”

  “Yeah,” Jeanie answered, “I called and left a message with your dad’s cell phone, but he’s out recruiting, right? I’m sure he’ll call when he gets it.”

  “What about my mom?”

  Jeanie hesitated, “I tried her phone, honey, but I didn’t get anyone. Maybe your mom was sleeping.”

  “Sure, maybe,” Joy replied. The expression on Jeanie’s face made Joy add, “It’s okay Mrs. Batista.”

  “I’m sorry, baby,” Jeanie soothed, “it’s not easy for your mom either.”

  “I know.”

  “Have you gotten ahold of Roger?” Granny asked, decidedly changing the subject.

  “No, he’s still out on a boat and I can’t get through. I did call Anthony and he’s left messages all the way up to Alaska. If someone gets in range of the boat Roger’s on, he’ll get the message,” Jeanie replied. “Here Joy, I’ll hold the seat. Lord, look at you, you’ve grown just since I dropped you off here.”

  “Don’t remind me,” Joy answered as she squeezed into the back.

  “And prettier,” Jeanie added.

  “Ok, Dani, get in the middle. Hurry up,” Granny said from the other side before she, too, climbed into the cab.

  Jeanie had the truck back on Hwy 199 pointed west out of Hiouchi as quickly as she could safely navigate the treacherous curves of the mountain road. Fortunately for them, there was no fog. Jeanie talked as she drove, “Anthony called as many fishermen as he could get hold of, along with his brothers and their families. There should be dozens of people out looking for Stevie right now.” Jeanie continued, “How about you Granny? Any idea where they’ve taken Steve, or why?”

  Granny frowned, “No, nothing.”

  Jeanie waited for her to say something else, but when she didn’t, Jeanie simply pushed the pedal down that much further.

  With her knees tucked in, folded in the confined space behind the front seat, Joy thought it might be nice to not be a head taller than the next tallest in her class. Somedays, especially in situations like this, she wished she took after her mother, who was average height at best. Of course, height wasn’t the only thing she’d have inherited, so maybe it was better this way.

  The slight jostling of the vehicle as they worked their way through the mountains began to rock Joy asleep. Occasionally, the truck would jerk and pull her back to consciousness, so she mostly hovered on the edge of sleep. After a while, a scene began to coalesce, to come together in her mind. She saw a window covered with rivulets of water and dark shadows darting by. She saw the floorboard of a car and two seats in front. She saw the backs of two heads. Somehow, she knew they belonged to the men who had taken Steve. She could hear them talking above their car’s engine. One of the men was smoking. The cool stream of air that zipped by through an open window gave her goosebumps.

  She wasn’t dreaming; that was clear to her. She couldn’t guide what she was seeing, but she knew who she was observing. Somehow, she was in Steve’s head; she had to be. In her mind, she tried to call to him, “Steve, come on, it’s me, Joy!” It was no good. She could only watch. She couldn’t even move, she realized, which almost brought her out of h
er stupor, the bodiless sensation causing her to panic. But then something settled her down, a calm presence that comforted her. She drifted back, relaxed, and let herself experience what Steve was seeing.

  The sound of a conversation, far away, intruded—Jeanie and Granny, talking in the front of the car. But it was like hearing someone yelling underwater, distorted and hard to make out. Joy returned her attention to Steve, and she stared out the window along with him. The car he was in passed a series of streetlights. Suddenly, they lit up something Joy recognized—the golf course. It was the golf course! She knew where they were. But she didn’t know where they were going, not yet anyway. She prayed that Steve would continue to look out the window and she focused with all her might on looking for anything to mark where the men were taking him. It was hard, though, with fog and mist licking at the windows.

  Almost as soon as she thought this, the fog lifted, and she could make out the passing trees. The car started to slow down, and she could hear the men up front talking to each other. “What are you doing?”

  “Shhh, I’m looking for that weird tree that marked where his dad left the road. It looks like a comb.”

  “A what?”

  The driver answered, “A comb, a comb. The tree is lying on its side and its branches kind of grew up like comb tines.”

  “You mean pine cones?”

  “Comb tines, comb--”

  “Quit screwing around and look for the tree.”

  Joy snapped awake, lurching forward in her seat with a gasp—like she hadn’t been breathing. “Mrs. Batista, turn down North Bank Road. I saw them, I saw where they’re taking Steve!” Joy exclaimed.

  “Okay, Joy, okay,” Jeanie replied. “Did you have a dream?”

  “No, I’m serious! I was in the car with Steve and the men,” Joy explained excitedly. “I couldn’t talk to Steve, but I could see and hear what he did. They’re looking for a tree, a tree that fell down, and its branches are now little trees. They said it looked like a comb.”

  Jeanie exchanged looks with Granny. “I know it,” they said in unison. Jeanie pushed the accelerator a little harder. “We’ve got to call Anthony.” She reached into her bag on the floorboard and pulled out her phone. “Mom, here, look up Anthony and let him know where we’re headed.”

  Granny looked at the phone like it was an alien contraption. Joy reached over and took it, “Here, Granny, let me dial it for you.”

  Granny grimaced, “Guess I’m no help at all.”

  Chapter 31

  “I think someone…no, a bunch of someones, are following us,” John observed, looking past Steve through the rear window.

  Frank checked his mirror and then craned his neck backwards. “Dial Pop,” he instructed his hands-free device. As soon as the raspy voice answered, he tapped the little blue button next to his ear. “Pop, we’ve got the kid and we’re almost where we’re supposed to be, but it looks like we’re being followed.”

  Steve surreptitiously leaned in to hear, but he could only get Frank’s side of the conversation. “Oh yeah,” he heard from his captor, “and you knew about this? I don’t care if Mammon did explain it all to you. Yeah, it might have been a good idea to let us in on the plan as soon as you knew. So, that’s it! Then he’s bait? When is he supposed to show up? When this is over, Pop, we’re done. I want nothing to do with that thing. No, I won’t change my mind. Fine.”

  Frank glanced back at Steve and then over at his brother.

  “Well?” John asked.

  “We’re supposed to be followed,” Frank answered.

  “What? Frank, what’s going on?”

  Frank shrugged, “It’s part of the plan.”

  Even though John pressed, Frank wouldn’t say any more with Steve present. Steve gathered that whatever was happening, these two didn’t really know much about it anyway. He craned his head back toward the headlights in the distance, wondering who was coming to help him.

  A big bounce flattened him back down on the seat, and Steve realized they weren’t far from the dragon. He was nervous, but not as scared as he thought he’d be. What could these guys really do to the dragon, anyway? Even their demon, Mammon, hadn’t been able to touch the dragon’s aura without getting hurt. Still, clearly, they had a plan.

  “How much farther, kid?” John asked.

  Steve shrugged, “I don’t know, I’ve only been here once.” Maybe they’d drive into a big rut in the mud, he thought, hopefully. Steve pressed his face against the window, looking for anything familiar. A pair of bright yellow eyes glared back at him. Steve jumped back, startling the men up front.

  “Hey, what’s wrong?” Frank asked, then he saw Mammon circling the car. It flew off moments later, leaving only a smoky trail in its wake. “Oh,” he said.

  They parked the car in the middle of the muddy road, effectively blocking any vehicles from driving around them. “Now what?” John asked.

  “Grab him,” Frank instructed and got out of the car. John opened Steve’s door and held out his hand. Steve ignored it and climbed out on his own.

  “Okay, be that way, kid,” John said gripping the collar of Steve’s jacket. “Don’t try anything stupid. Hey Frank, after what this kid did before, should we, you know, shut him up?”

  Frank looked at his brother, “Yeah, you’re right. Hang on, there’s some duct tape in the trunk. Sorry kid, but you tend to ruin our plans. I’m going to put a strip across your mouth. Now, give me your hands. Out front is fine.” Frank wound the grey tape around Steve’s wrists.

  Muzzled and restrained, Steve felt completely helpless as he was led stumbling along in the mud, with Mammon bouncing along in the distance. Steve searched unsuccessfully for any sign of the dragon. The warm mist that poured out of the dragon’s hole and hugged the ground was present, but Steve couldn’t hear the ocean sounds from before—was the dragon still breathing?

  He turned and thought he saw headlights back where they had come from. The men noticed it, too. “Company’s getting close,” John announced.

  “That’s what Pop said Mammon wants. Hurry up, we don’t want to fall behind,” Frank instructed.

  The trio, plus one demon, circled around the massive sinkhole. The Mercedes was doing its job, forcing the other drivers to get out and approach on foot. Steve could barely make out the vehicles themselves, but he thought he recognized his dad’s truck. The people were too far away and too small to see clearly. A tug on his collar kept him moving. Meanwhile, the demon was doing loops in the air, like it was having a grand ol’ time.

  Chapter 32

  Jeanie pulled in right behind Craig from the hardware store. He hadn’t gotten out of his car yet. “What do you think, Mom?” Jeanie asked.

  “I don’t know. I can’t figure out what this thing wants, and I’ve got nothing from the dragon. Seems our only link right now is Joy,” Granny answered, perhaps a little bitterly.

  “Anything?” Jeanie asked, looking over her shoulder at Joy.

  “Sorry, Mrs. Batista,” Joy replied. “I can’t see anything else.”

  “Okay, I’m going to talk to Craig. Mom, is there anyone else close by we can call? The sheriff, maybe? They have Steve; it’s a real crime now.”

  Granny considered, “Ralph’s a good man and he’d help, but I think he’s out at Happy Camp dealing with some Indian problems. We could call the Crescent City police. It’s outside their jurisdiction, but they’d come.”

  Jeanie sighed, “I already tried. I think their 9-1-1 line is down. I couldn’t even leave a message. Maybe something to do with all of this. Okay, if you think of anyone else, get Joy to help you with the phone. I’ll be right back.”

  Jeanie approached the car ahead and tapped on the window. Craig lowered it. “Hi sweetheart, how are you holding up?”

  “I’m fine, Craig. Thanks for coming. They’ve blocked the road, I see,” she answered.

  “Yeah, looks like. Any idea what they want? Heard from Roger yet?”

  “No, and no. I keep praying he’s
all right. We can’t get word to him. These men, they work for this thing, I don’t know what it is, but it hates our dragon,” Jeanie explained.

  Craig shifted in his seat, and strained to look through his window. Not able to see anything beyond the Mercedes, he opened his door and pulled himself out with an audible grunt. “Wow, I’ve got to lose a few. Anthony should be right behind me, by the way. Who you got with you?”

  Jeanie stepped back to let her large friend shut his car door. “Granny and Dani, and one of Steve’s friends.”

  Both of them turned at the same time to the roaring sound of Anthony’s four-wheel drive truck, which was followed closely by a pair of lesser mechanical leviathans. Anthony left the engine running, dangled his lanky body from the door, and dropped the final few feet to the mud. “Hey babe, we’re here.”

  Jeanie gave him a big hug. “Thank you so much. Who’d you bring?”

  Anthony pointed proudly, “My brothers and Gimby, Tom, Sheri, Mike, and Robert. I called Chester, the police dispatcher, on his cell when the 9-1-1 line wouldn’t work. I didn’t get into the dragon thing, but a kidnapping’s a kidnapping. He only had one guy on right now and he was south on 101 working an accident, but he was calling everyone in. I called the guys over at the firehouse too.”

  “The firehouse? Why?” Jeanie managed.

  Anthony looked at her like she was a child, “Because they save people, duh! Besides, most of those guys have friends and relatives who fish. They know the deal. Anyone tries to hurt our dragon, or Steve, well, we’re not going to let that happen!”

  One of the guys from a trailing truck got out and approached the trio, “Hey, what’s up? Hi Jeanie, you okay?”

  “I’m fine Mike. Thank you for coming,” Jeanie replied, giving the gristly old sailor a hug.