The Bug Dragon Project

by Suzie Taylor

  “Let’s hear it then,” said Ben.

  Alf played the recording. “It’s like an animal version of R2D2,” he said when it ended. “Complex and with a wide tonal range – and that’s just what this microphone can pick up. It’s quite concerning.”

  “Why? Why are you always so worried about it? Why shouldn’t they talk? We do. My only concern is that they keep hanging around so close to the house.”

  “Yeah, they don’t care about that. And they know we can’t understand what they’re saying. Scamp said something last night and they all looked at me and laughed!”

  “I know what you mean,” said Ben thoughtfully. “The two girl dragons were like that – only they weren’t laughing. They’re so tiny but it was as if they were looking down on me; like I was inferior or something. That Gypsy dragon – she can change her colours – especially her hair. I’ve never seen any of the others do that. She’s pretty feral.”

  “There’s got to be a higher authority somewhere. Mouse was doing most of the talking last night and Growler is like a military commander, but they still keep going back to somewhere. I want to know where.”

  Ben crawled onto his mattress and Alf shut down his computer and turned out the light. They said their goodnights and there was a short silence before Alf spoke suddenly.

  “Ben, why are all the lights going on and off at your place?” he asked.

  Ben climbed up for a look. They watched in silence for a moment before realising at the same time.

  “They’ve got inside!” gasped Ben “We’ve gotta get over there!”

  “Window,” said Alf. “It’s easier than going through the house.”

  He unlatched the window and pushed it open. “But first we’d better install some bodies…”

  Rolled blankets and soft toys were hastily arranged under the bedcovers. They didn’t look particularly convincing but Ben didn’t care. “It looks like all the lights are going on and off,” he moaned. “Hurry up.”

  “Don’t panic,” advised Alf. “This could be our best chance to find out what they’re really up to. If all else fails, swing this around.” He handed Ben a butterfly net. “If there’s a leader in the group, we need to catch him.”

  Having climbed out onto the veranda, they crept as quietly as they could around to the stairs and down into the front garden. The dog next door let out a shrill volley of yaps that was quickly answered by Minnie’s thunderous bark. The moon was very bright and the boys crouched low in the shadows waiting for the dogs to settle down. Once it was quiet, they circumnavigated the front yard and scooted across the road to take cover under a group of tall trees that edged the horse paddock, and from there they were able to run unseen until they reached Ben’s front yard. There were muffled sounds from within the house along with a random flickering beyond the lounge-room curtain. A colourful flashing of party lights, accompanied by squeaks and whistles, emanated from the back patio.

  The boys ran down the side path then stopped open mouthed. Bug dragons were everywhere; swinging and running along the strings of lights, flying through the security motion detector and racing each other up and down the walls of the house. Scamp was having a riotous time. Having worked out how to turn the lights on and off, he was flicking the switch as fast as he could while one of the others discovered the hard way that biting the wire was not a good idea. Alf pointed at a bug dragon flying out from under the eaves.

  “There. It’s coming out of the house. What’s it got?” he asked.

  “Looks like a spoon!” Ben grabbed the spare key from behind the downpipe, fumbled with the lock, yanked opened the back door and stared in horror. Alf joined him and was briefly lost for words.

  “Intergalactic assault of epic proportions,” he finally murmured.

  The place was literally crawling and buzzing with glowing colours but it was the mess that was the major offense and that seemed to be centred in the kitchen. Every messy item in the pantry had been discovered and shared with the rest of the house. Flour, jam, honey, pasta… There were bug dragons playing on the scales, running with dirty feet across the bench tops and up the walls and one of the taps was on. One had discovered the joy of pulling tissues out of a box and another was sucking a tea bag.

  Ben freaked out. “Mum’s gonna go mental!” He yelled, flapping his arms in an attempt to scare them away. The bug dragons thought it was a game and cooperated accordingly. Several buzzed into the lounge-room with Ben in hot pursuit. There he found CD’s scattered everywhere and the TV blaring with channels randomly changing as the remote was being jumped on. Another group were busy dismantling the chandelier. In the bathroom Pixel was squeezing toothpaste snakes onto the bench whilst Ruby and UV had discovered the delights of lipstick and eye-shadow. Ben ran into his parents’ bedroom to find Mouse and Gypsy fighting over his Mother’s necklace.

  “No!” he yelled. “It’s not yours!” but before he could reach them, Mouse managed to jerk the pendant into his grasp and flew past with it clamped tightly to his chest. Gypsy followed close behind holding a pearl earring.

  “Mum’s jewellery!” shouted Ben. “Give it back! Right now Mouse! Alf, Help me!”

  Alf grabbed a broom and succeeded in sweeping everything off the kitchen bench. Bug Dragons were zooming in all directions, including up into the ceiling behind the fridge.

  “Open the door!” shouted Ben as he chased Mouse into the lounge-room. “Windows! Get them out!” Mouse dodged and tried to fly past him. “Wait! Shut the door!” he yelled. “Get Mouse first… over here!”

  After a considerable struggle, they managed to corner Mouse on the floor behind the upturned coffee table.

  “Hand it over Mouse…” Ben threatened, “Or I’ll squash you!”

  Mouse hugged the necklace and cowered but he wouldn’t give it up. Ben reached down but as he did so there was a crash behind him and he turned. Scamp had pushed the silver teapot off the mantle-piece. Mouse took the opportunity to zoom away and before the boys could stop them, they had escaped back into the kitchen and up into the ceiling.

  Ben was almost beside himself. He leapt at another pair who were flying out with a CD, missed his target and hit the floor. He picked himself up painfully and watched helplessly as the last of the intruders flew either out the back door or up behind the fridge. The house stood in devastated silence.

  “Gone,” said Alf, stating the obvious.

  “What’re we gonna do?” said Ben faintly. “I can’t fix this. We’ll never clean it up before Mum’n Dad are back… and they’ve taken stuff. Mum’s necklace… everyone’ll find out now, and it’s our fault.”

  “I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.”

  Ben held his head. “Get real.”

  “If we can’t destroy the evidence then we gotta get outta here,” said Alf. “Right now. If we’re caught, there’ll be hell to pay. It was a break in – you don’t even have to lie about that!” He propelled Ben back out the door. Ben went to lock it but Alf stopped him. “Leave it open. Can you picture what it will look like if the place is all locked up? At least this way it will seem like a normal break in. Just get going!”

  Ben finally grasped the urgency of their situation and they fled back down the path. The street was mercifully quiet.

  Once they had climbed back into Alf’s room (having set the dogs off again) Ben sat in the corner of his bed, hugging his knees and fretting. Alf was much more hard headed.

  “I should’ve realised of course,” he said more to himself than to Ben. “They’re dragons. Dragons! They obviously like the shiny stuff probably to add to their hoard wherever that is.

  “Thieves,” said Ben bitterly. “But it’s not just that. They were enjoying trashing the place. They’re vandals! Why us?”

  “They’re definitely operating as a group,” Alf continued, ignoring him. “It’s even more important now that we track down where they’re based – before they decide to do the whole street!”

  Al
f began pacing in a tight circle on the small amount of floor still exposed in his bedroom. “I really should have seen this coming. They’ve been assessing your place right from the start and last night they had a council meeting right under my nose and I didn’t even guess.”

  “And here I was thinking Mouse was just being friendly,” Ben grunted.

  “There were more than 72,” Alf admitted.

  “No kidding. Mum and Dad‘ll go mad. I don’t know how much they’ve taken, but it’s the mess… Mum hates mess!” Ben slumped down on his mattress and stared at the ceiling. “I really think I should just tell them…”

  “No!” said Alf vehemently. “We have to solve this ourselves. You can’t admit to knowing anything about it now, you’ll be in trouble for not telling them sooner... and that’s if they believe you at all.”

  ‘Jam and peanut butter on ceiling...’ the policeman wrote on his pad. ‘...flour everywhere and squashed lipstick on the walls and mirrors.’ He had seen a lot of burglaries in his time but nothing like this. It had to be kids out for some fun or else there was a lunatic at large. His partner was taking photos and checking for fingerprints. “Is it purely vandalism or has much been taken?”

  “Well that’s just the weird thing,” Mrs Prinsloo flustered, “My handbag was on the hook by the door with my wallet in it – and it’s still there, cards, cash and all.” She was recovering from a terrible night’s lack of sleep, several bouts of hysterics and five cups of coffee. She was now jittery and itching to clean – except that she had to wait for the police to finish their inspection. “Apart from the breakages they’ve taken a set of silver spoons, CD’s, most of the crystals from the chandelier and some jewellery. But not all the jewellery; I had a gold and ruby ring in a pot on my dressing table and they’ve left that – as well as a couple of gold necklaces. They’ve just taken the silver stuff and a glass pendant that was a birthday present from my son. The only item of any real value was a single pearl and diamond earring. I don’t understand why anyone would want to steal a single earring! It was part of a pair Mark gave me, but I lost one years ago and just kept the other for sentimental reasons. Really it makes very little sense. Gold would surely have more resale value don’t you think?”

  “Got any enemies that you know of? Anyone seeking revenge?”

  “No, of course not!”

  Ben sidled past. “Going for a ride,” he said. His Mother acknowledged him with a gesture and he went outside. It was not just the mess that had upset her; the thought of strangers in the house had made her feel ‘violated,’ and the way she had said that, made him feel really guilty. His Dad was outside checking the security lights and they had been talking about installing an alarm. Ben hunched his shoulders moodily. If only he had realised, he would never have let Mouse inside or let any of them get close to the place for that matter. But how could he have known? They were small and cute… but they were in fact dragons.

  He went through to the garage and picked up his bike. As he opened the door he saw that his sister had followed and was watching him.

  “You know, don’t you,” she said accusingly.

  “Know what?”

  “Who did this. You won’t look at anyone. I know you keep getting up in the middle of the night... and nothing of yours was wrecked - your room was ok.”

  Ben scowled. What could he say? His door was shut - like that would have made a difference to a normal burglar!

  “The office was ok too,” he protested. Emily’s eyes narrowed and she indicated ‘I’m watching you,’ before turning back to the kitchen.

  He rode past the police car and off down the road, wanting to put as much distance between himself and his problems as possible. He avoided the school, instead taking the back streets into town until he passed the supermarket and from there he crossed the main road and headed for the long cycle path that followed the river. The sun shone through the trees at an angle creating a bright shaft of light that flickered and flashed as he rode along. A flock of cockatoos screeched as they rose into the air, and a blue-tongue lizard shuffled along the edge of the concrete, looking for a warm spot in the sun. At that time of the morning it was still the domain of dog walkers and joggers although the more serious individuals had completed their run and now it was left to a few of the less dedicated to struggle against the oncoming heat of the day.

  Upon reaching the playground, Ben dropped his bike on the grass, plopped himself down on a swing and rocked back and forth on his heels, staring moodily into the sand.

  He had heard the cop say that burglaries were rare in their area and there hadn’t been any others lately. Their case was pretty random which at least meant the bug dragons had not targeted anyone else yet - but that was surely only a matter of time. And if no-one else had had been robbed, there was a fair chance the dragons were coming from the National Park - a huge area to search for creatures that weren’t much bigger than stag-beetles! That night he and Alf were going to have to go out again. They couldn’t afford to put it off. He didn’t know how they were going to follow a bug dragon but they had to try – and maybe, just maybe get something useful out of Mouse. Alternatively, if they succeeded in catching one, the others would probably come to the rescue and maybe they could negotiate some kind of truce.

  By the time Ben returned home, his mother was well into the clean up process. The step ladder was out and and she was busy scrubbing the dining room wall.

  “Can I help?” asked Ben, wanting to redeem himself.

  “You certainly can. Emily’s picked up everything in the lounge but the bathroom hasn’t been done yet. You’ll probably need the Jif.”

  Ben hated cleaning almost as much as his mother loved it. She never said she loved it of course but evidence spoke to the contrary. It had developed into a very domestic Saturday. They cleaned until lunchtime and then his Dad bought takeaway, after which they stopped for a brief siesta in the loungeroom. Ben would have relaxed for longer but the conversation was awkward so he went out to dismantle the fairy lights instead. His mother was surprised at his willingness to help but didn’t say anything until dinnertime at which point she congratulated him on his maturity. His sister gave him the look of death.

  After dinner Ben prepared everything for the night time’s adventure. He put on his blackest clothes, filled a bottle of water and reminded Alf to bring a net and container. He even considered shoes but changed his mind. His alarm was set but he needn’t have bothered as he found himself being woken by the usual tap on the window.

  “Mouse? You’re kidding me!”

  But Mouse was not hanging around. He buzzed off quickly and Ben shut the curtains, rolled up a blanket in his bed and went outside.

  Alf was waiting by the back gate.

  “Mouse was at my window,” said Ben. “I can’t believe he came back! What’s he thinking?”

  Alf pointed. “He went that way. He was travelling pretty fast but in a direct line, as they often do.”

  “Let’s go then,” said Ben. “Got your net? I reckon if we can catch one we can use it as a ransom. They seem quite protective of one other.”

  “How was your Mum?”

  “Better now we’ve cleared up. They got into Emily’s stuff too. Took bits of a sparkly mobile thing she had, and drew on her ballet posters.”

  “Tragic.”

  “Yep.”

  They tramped through the trees for a short distance, their torches weaving a lonely little path in the vast darkness of the forest. Eventually they reached one of the more established trails.

  “Which way now?” asked Ben.

  “Not sure… but usually they head north west which is… that way!”

  Unfortunately ‘That way’ did not involve following the trail but led them directly into the undergrowth which was awkward, even with the help of torches. They stopped after a short distance to watch and listen.

  Ben began making his way towards a tiny point of light. “Over there! I can see something... keep your torch off.”
It turned out to be a group of glow worms nestled under the roots of a fallen tree and he sighed impatiently. “Mouse! Are you around anywhere?”

  A faint chirping could be heard in the trees to one side.

  “That way I think,” said Alf.

  “No it wasn’t, it was more that direction,” argued Ben.

  “No…”

  A bright blue light flashed briefly in the trees. They followed without a word. A stick snapped somewhere behind them followed by a thud.

  “What was that?” whispered Ben, shining his torch.

  “Roo maybe. Keep going.”

  Eventually they found themselves faced with a steep slope and having struggled to the top they paused once more to reassess. It was a hot sticky night and Ben wiped his forehead on his sleeve. Something stung the back of his leg and he slapped it irritably.

  “Now what?”

  Alf didn’t reply. They stood in silence for a while straining their eyes in the dark. Ben wondered if there was an easier way back.

  “This is ridiculous…” he began, when Mouse suddenly appeared on a branch close by. He didn’t look at the boys. Instead, he perched like a bright jewel amongst the broad leaves of a stinging tree and flashed his tail-light on. An unwary moth fluttered close by, attracted by the light. Mouse pounced and ate it, gave a tiny burp of satisfaction then buzzed off down the hill.

  “Surely he saw us?” wondered Alf.

  “Well if he did, he didn’t care. C’mon.”

  They made their way down the slope being careful to avoid the stingers, and Ben realised they must sound like a herd of elephants to any creature in the forest. But they weren’t the only elephants. Ben spun round suddenly and flashed his torch behind them. A head and shoulders was caught directly in the light and ducked a little too late.