by L. EE
Get your free copy of the Andy Smithson series prequel novella
In this box set:
Blast of the Dragon’s Fury
Venom of the Serpent’s Cunning
Disgrace of the Unicorn’s Honor
Winner of the Readers’ Favorite
Five Star Award
Chapter One
The Boy Screws Up
Even before Andy felt the sting of the wizard’s curse, he knew he was in trouble.
He woke staring at a dark ceiling with muscular wooden trusses supporting its weight like Atlas holding the world. Sitting up triggered a shrill alarm—screeching like a horde of small monkeys at the zoo. He stuffed a finger in each ear and grimaced. That noise could wake the dead!
Shouts raced toward him. He whirled toward the threat. The sudden movement catalyzed an avalanche down a stack of gold discs he’d landed on.
“Whoooooaaahhhh…”
The screeches whizzed closer, and a brown fuzzy blur threw itself onto Andy’s chest as he careened downward.
“It’s over there!” a voice yelled over the din.
“That blasted boggart!” a second voice sounded.
“Max, open the door! Get it out of here!” a third commanded.
A boggart? Having just finished reading the Harry Potter series, Andy half expected to see Dad standing over him, hands on his hips, shaking his head and frowning like usual.
Andy came to rest behind a short wooden wall. The creature jumped onto his head and yanked at Andy’s brown hair as it continued its tirade. He swatted, trying to knock the menace away.
Shouts circled Andy’s position and his flailing grew more desperate. Experience had taught him you never want to get found out in situations like this—you’re guilty until proven innocent.
He plunged his head into what he now recognized were coins, knocking the pest loose.
“Ouch!” The gold concealed his exclamation.
He surfaced and rubbed his behind, finding a hole in his pajamas. His hand came away with a trace of red. Mom’s gonna kill me! He ducked down and everything went dark.
“Andy. Get. Up! We need to leave in ten minutes!” Mom’s voice echoed down the hall.
Andy wiped sleep from his eyes and shook his head. I must have been dreaming. But his left buttock complained as he threw a leg over the edge of the bed, disqualifying his rationalization.
With a reasonable explanation evading his consciousness, he rubbed his backside then stumbled down the hall and into the bathroom. His thoughts continued to whirl as he ran a toothbrush around his mouth.
Bang, bang, bang. Madison pounded on the bathroom door. “Hurry up! You’re going to make me late again, little twerp.”
I could really mess with her. The thought flirted with Andy’s mind, drawing the corners of his foamy mouth upward. What are little brothers for? What’s the world record for the longest time to brush your teeth?
Bang, bang, bang.
“Don’t rush me, I’m flossing.”
“Flossing? You don’t know the meaning of the word!”
“Now, now. You know the dentist…”
“Open. This. Door. Now!”
Andy spit out the by-product of his brushing and took his time swishing. He wiped his mouth on a towel then turned the door handle as slowly as humanly possible. He was rewarded by the sight of steam spewing from his sister’s ears. Madison extended her clutches and sank them into his shoulders. A stiff yank and he stood in the hall. The reverberation of the slamming door caught up with him as he ambled back to his room to dress.
Mom shoved a microwaved breakfast burrito into his hand thirteen minutes later and groaned, “You didn’t run a comb through your hair, Andy. No time now. Give Dad a hug goodbye, we need to go.”
Mom punched the automatic door opener as they entered the garage. As they climbed into her SUV, neither of them noticed a large golden tapestry land on the driveway, then quickly disappear.
“You need to behave yourself today,” Mom began as she backed out the driveway and headed down Elm. “Mrs. Taylor planned to leave you back at school with another class based upon what happened the last time.”
“I told you, it was an accident.”
Mom frowned before continuing, “There’s been a few too many ‘accidents’ with you on field trips, young man. I convinced her to give you one more chance, but this is it.”
Andy nodded slowly. He knew she was justified in saying what she did. He still didn’t understand how flames had ignited Mrs. Crabtree’s hair as they toured the fire station last year. Nor did he have a reasonable explanation for why Alexis Garnier’s backpack ended up in the gorilla exhibit when they visited the zoo. Everyone had pointed to him.
“I wish I could help chaperone, but I’ve got back-to-back meetings today.” Mom and Dad were both CEOs of companies they’d founded and grown.
Andy ate his burrito as he watched limestone houses turn into brick buildings. Mom stopped at a red light fifteen minutes later and Andy’s gaze floated over the intersection. A mammoth stone statue, perhaps twenty feet tall, of a medieval knight saluting, stood on the far corner. He and Mom came this way every day and it took a second for Andy’s brain to register something was drastically different. As the light turned green, he pivoted. Hmm…just a metal power pole. Andy shook his head.
“Something wrong, honey?”
“Uh… no.”
First that boggart with the gold, now this?
“You did bring your permission slip, didn’t you?” Mom hoped, interrupting his ponderings.
“Hm? Oh, yeah.”
Several minutes later she pulled into the drive of a three-story limestone building. Bellrose Junior Academy announced a stately sign out front.
Mom leaned over and gave Andy a peck on the cheek. “Be. Good.”
Andy nodded as he closed the door.
Andy sat in the front seat of the bus, next to Mrs. Taylor, deflecting snide remarks from classmates as they filed on—“Widdle bitty baby. Has to sit next to the teacher.” This and similar comments made the muscles in Andy’s jaw bulge as he stared out the window waiting for the driver to get the show on the road.
Two long hours later and the bus pulled in to Dinosaur World.
“Stay with me at all times, Andy,” Mrs. Taylor warned as they disembarked. Andy rolled his eyes on the inside.
The class toured several rooms containing monster-sized dinosaur skeletons, including a Deinonychus, a vicious raptor-like beast; an Iguanodon, a large veggie-saur; and a Pleurocoelus, a mammoth creature similar in appearance to a brontosaurus. After lunch, the class split into teams to do a dinosaur scavenger hunt—Mrs. Taylor instructed Andy to stay with her.
While the class searched, the teacher led Andy to the dig site where the bones of an Acrocanthosaurus, a super cool carnivore like the T-rex, had been discovered. Archaeologists had excavated the full skeleton, and Dinosaur World reproduced the bones as they were when discovered. A sign invited guests to dig for fossils but added a caution: Limit one fossil per person.
“Why don’t you find a fossil? Looks like tools are over there.” Mrs. Taylor pointed.
With nothing better to do, Andy sauntered over and grabbed a hand trowel and gloves.
A row of ten-inch teeth protruding from a jaw that nearly equaled his height enticed Andy, and he headed ove
r to examine more closely. He cleared away the hard-packed soil, freeing the lower jaw, then set to work doing the same for the upper.
Andy had been playing his new video game, Dragon Slayer, all week. What’s the difference between a dinosaur and a dragon? The seemingly innocent question slithered its way around his brain like a cobra. And true to form, it coiled itself up then rose, expanding its hood. Other than breathing fire… The snake struck and the next thing Andy knew the Acrocanthosaurus skeleton rose from its tomb of dirt.
“Ah!” Andy scuttled back.
A rake lay nearby and Andy grabbed the handle, which of course came loose from the head. Crap!
The beast of bones stood and shook itself, spraying a shower of dirt. Andy choked and sputtered as the creature bellowed then surveyed its surroundings. He dared not move. Don’t see me. Please don’t see me.
Blinding light from the nearby parking lot caught Andy’s attention. Their bus driver had opened the doors, and the glass reflected the sun’s brilliance right at the monster. The brute took a step, its massive skeletal foot missing Andy by mere inches. He ducked as the bony tail swished.
The beast let loose a terrifying roar and charged.
It’s going after the bus! It’ll kill the driver!
Andy raced after it.
Armed with only the rake handle, he didn’t really want to attract the thing’s attention, but with no other available options, he skidded to a halt as the brute prepared to take a bite out of the bus roof.
“Hey, Mr. T-Rex! Back here!” Andy panted, stabbing at the beast’s tail with the handle.
The monster pulled back and turned toward the distraction. Eyeing Andy up and down, it took a step toward him and announced its dissatisfaction.
“Come on, Mr. T-Rex. I’ll fight ya!”
The beast advanced another two steps and Andy prepared to engage.
I hope its reactions aren’t very fast!
Andy darted below the scrawny forearm, and in a flash jumped and thrust the handle through the monster’s armpit, angling it toward the creature’s heart, then dashed to safety.
As if in slow motion, the beast of bones looked down to find the weapon protruding from among its parts. A low growl escaped as it toppled earthward and landed in a disheveled heap.
“Yes!” Andy pumped his arm.
“Andrew Smithson! What do you think you’re doing? How did you have time—? No, I don’t want to know.” Mrs. Taylor raised her eyebrows over sequin-studded, cat-eye glasses. (Who wears those anymore anyway?) She shook her head as her balled fists found her hips.
How could she not appreciate that I just saved the bus driver, not to mention the bus…?
“You will haul every last one of these back to the dig site. Immediately!”
Andy shouldered the first bone, a femur, and trudged back as his mind whirled, trying desperately to put together the jigsaw puzzle of today’s events. By the twentieth trip, the rest of Andy’s classmates had finished reboarding the bus and many offered insults out open windows.
Catcalls and hooting greeted Andy when, after ten more trips, he collapsed onto the seat next to Mrs. Taylor. He wiped his brow on his shirtsleeve.
“We are an hour late thanks to you, young man. Rest assured your parents will be notified when we get back to school.”
Andy turned toward the window and rolled his eyes.
Andy found himself standing before Headmaster Deitz three hours later.
“That was quite a stunt you pulled, Mr. Smithson,” the man observed, trying unsuccessfully to hide his annoyance. “What did you think you were doing?”
Andy opened his mouth to explain but closed it again, realizing anything he said would only get him in more trouble. “I don’t know, sir.” His eyes dropped to the floor.
The headmaster tried phoning Mom’s office, then announced, “Since it appears your mother is in a meeting and unable to be disturbed, let’s see what your father thinks about your behavior.” He flicked his eyebrows upward to press his point as the last word tumbled out.
The man dialed and Dad’s voice emanated from the speakerphone perched on the well-worn desk, a workspace Andy felt sure had witnessed many an unruly child meet a similar fate. Dad listened attentively as the headmaster explained the situation in more detail than Andy hoped.
“Thank you for letting me know, Headmaster. Rest assured, my wife and I will discuss this further with Andy tonight,” Dad concluded the conference call ten minutes later.
I’m confident they will, Andy groaned inside. But what’s going on?
Never happier to be heading home after this disaster of a school day, Andy met Mrs. Appleton, a neighbor from down the street, who drove him, along with her first and third grader toward home. Squished between two booster seats in the back of the SUV, Andy fought to manage his mood while Isabella babbled incessantly, insisting he appreciate the minutest details of her art project. Caden kept pinching Andy’s arm and giggling, drawing a growl from his prey.
Andy scrutinized the intersection where his mind had played tricks on him that morning. He shook his head, a plausible explanation for the goings-on still evading discovery.
Mrs. Appleton pulled in the driveway. “You’ve got your house key?”
Andy scrounged in his backpack and finally located it.
“See you tomorrow!” The neighbor’s cheerfulness did nothing to lift his mood.
He slid out of the vehicle and banished the little pests behind the closed door.
Seeing the mailbox he decided, I better get the mail. I’m in enough trouble already.
Andy opened the front of the box and reached in as the light in his periphery dimmed, drawing his gaze upward. A man with brilliant blue eyes and wearing coordinating blue robes with a floppy Santa hat came into focus before him. The pair locked eyes.
“Yip!” a duet sounded.
Loud gurgling diverted Andy’s attention. Behind the man, laboratory equipment sat haphazardly atop three tables. A copper-colored brew belched vapor from one beaker, making the place smell like rancid dog farts.
“I’ve got a boy!” the wizardly man exclaimed.
“Good grief! Send him back!” demanded a voice from out of sight. The wizard waved his arms then cast a spell, zapping Andy.
“Ouch!” Seconds later, Andy felt his feet thud into the grass and his knees buckled from impact. The sting pulsed across his face and arms like a bad sunburn.
“What’s going on?!” Andy clenched his fists and punched the mailbox then winced when it bit back, outraged by the dent he’d left. A line of blood appeared across his knuckles.
Great, one more thing Dad’ll freak out about—his precious mailbox. Andy took a deep breath.
Cars passed by on the street and the trees swayed in the gentle autumn breeze. A dog down the way barked. Nosy neighbor across the street peered out her front window, shifted her glasses to halfway down her nose, and raised her eyebrows—a phone grew from her left ear. She turned her back and gestured.
Everything seems normal enough, but I know I didn’t imagine that wizard, or anything else for that matter.
At a loss for what to do, Andy unlocked the front door, made his way to the kitchen, and threw his backpack on the granite counter before turning his attention to his rumbling stomach. In vain, he foraged for something sweet despite the fact that Mom rarely bought junk food. His scavenging produced nothing he wanted, so he settled for fresh strawberries. He groused to himself as he ate.
“What are you whining about?” Madison broke through his muttering several minutes later.
He had been so deep in bellyaching, he had not heard her arrive home. He jumped, then accused, “Why’d you sneak up on me like that?”
“Why is it my fault you didn’t hear me come in?”
In no mood to argue, Andy grabbed the last strawberry and his backpack and headed upstairs, leaving his dirty dish for someone else to deal with. He glanced out the living room window as he passed and noticed dark clouds gathering. It
looks like I feel.
Not wanting to do homework, he jettisoned his pack on his bed, flipped on his game console, and plopped down in his beanbag chair, controller in hand. Instantly, he morphed into Dragon Slayer, the fearsome, black-clad warrior. He crouched low behind a boulder. Movement and noise emanating from the bushes ahead drew his attention. Through the thick underbrush he could just make out the green scaly outline of the dragon. Barbed spikes protruded from its ugly head. It greedily shredded its most recent kill. What a pig! Andy crept forward and raised his bow, ready to take out his frustrations on the beast.
A clap of thunder right outside Andy’s window jolted him back to his bedroom. Missed. Doggone it!
He paused the game and opened the blinds. The branches of the oak tree beat against the house, driven by the wind. But the light turning off in the attic window caught his attention.
That’s weird. Madison’s in her bedroom probably checking her homework over for the fifteenth time to make sure it’s perfect, and Mom and Dad aren’t home yet.
With all the strange happenings of the day, Andy grabbed the flashlight he used to read in bed after he was supposed to be sleeping, then snuck out of his room and down the hall toward the door at the end. Thankfully the hall had plush carpeting that muffled the sound of his footsteps.
“Shhh! Don’t let Madison hear you,” he cautioned the hinges each time they squeaked. “I don’t need you betraying me on top of everything else.”
Cold air hit him, making him question whether to go back for his jacket. Nah… He turned the flashlight on and started up the unfinished wood stairs. Halfway up, another thunderclap startled him, as if to remind him of Dad’s warning that “in no uncertain terms” was Andy to be up in the attic by himself—though Andy never understood why, since Dad hadn’t issued that decree for Madison. He persevered and made it to the top step.
He shone his flashlight on his old Nintendo 64 and Game Cube. Both “electronic altars” (I don’t get why they call them that), as well as the multitude of games belonging to each, remained dust-covered and undisturbed.