“I think you have a mouth that’s still bigger than your imagination.” Gabe emptied the bucket of dragon waste into the well. “No dragon’s ever killed a man inside the arena.” He closed the lid then opened it back up again. “Say, Garland, I think I saw something really shiny down there. Why don’t you come and take a look?”
“Shiny?” Garland hopped off the stool and waddled over. “Wait a second. Are you trying to throw me into that stink?”
“I’m not trying. I’m going to!” Gabe picked up Garland by the waist.
The little man started kicking and screaming. “Put me down, Gabe. Put me down! I swear I’ll murder you!”
“Gosh, you’re heavy!” Gabe carried the man right up to the well’s rim. “Are you going to stop suggesting stupid things?”
“No!”
“Then in you go!” Gabe pushed him right up to the lip.
“That’s enough, Gabe,” Saul said. “Put him down.”
“I wasn’t going to stick him in.”
“I know, but we have work to do. Stop fooling around.”
“Yes!” Garland added. “Stop fooling around.”
Gabe set the little man down. Garland took a swig from his jug, wiped his stubby forearm across his mouth, and punched Gabe in the crotch.
“Oof!” Gabe dropped to one knee.
“Don’t ever pick me up again.” Garland started walking away.
“Is that the only place you can find to punch a man?” Gabe said as he tried to get up.
“It’s the only punch I need.” Garland left.
“He’s a tough little character, isn’t he?” Saul said with a little smile.
“Tough, yes. He’s just an ornery old man if you ask me.” He rubbed himself. “Man, he gets me there every time.”
“Come on, I have something to show you.” Saul let him into the room where the dragon eggs were kept. The cage held a family of small dragons.
Gabe’s eyes widened. “They’re back!”
“All of them hatched, and look.” He pointed at the pile of dragons. All of them were the size of a man’s fist except for one. It was smaller, a runt. Its ruddy scales were not yet fully formed, and it was a little paler than the others.
“Do you think that’s the one that I found? It hatched?”
“I assume so.”
The dragons nestled together, forming one body. It was a common and healthy thing for the reptiles to do when they were young. But they’d be separated soon enough so they could bond with their masters in the dominion. According to Saul, they didn’t want the dragons to bond with each other. If they did, they wouldn’t fight or compete. The dragons needed to learn to rely on their masters for the attention they needed.
“It’s a shame they will get separated,” Gabe said, tapping on the cage. “They seem so happy together.”
“For now, anyway. But without a mother, it won’t take long for them to start snapping at one another. They’re just like children—adorable as babies, but the older they get, the more troublesome they become.” Saul stared right into the cage. “Boy, think about how big these lizards can actually become. It makes me wonder if the mother was one of those old-world freaks or something.”
“They killed Lewis on purpose, didn’t they?”
“Huh?”
“You know, Lewis was too old and too big, so they killed him in the games. It’s a better way to go than the other fate.”
Saul gave his son’s shoulder a squeeze. “Listen, Gabe. These dragons aren’t meant to be pets. They’re part of another kingdom, and every last one is a killer. When the Lucys have eggs, they get put down so they won’t bond with their babies. When the Larrys get too big and brawny, they go down too. The last thing this city needs is a wild dragon running in the streets and sewers. The rats are problem enough. As for us, well, this is a pretty good gig. We just need to keep our mouths shut and enjoy it.”
“I know, Dad. You’ve told me a hundred times.”
“And it will probably be another hundred times before it takes.”
Eyes on the tiniest dragon, Gabe asked, “What about the little one? He doesn’t have anyone to bond with.”
“That’ll be interesting, to say the least. Sometimes, if a dragon hasn’t bonded, it won’t eat and will eventually die alone. This is a small one too. We could try to put him in another dragon’s cage, but he could get eaten.”
“Can I hold him?”
“I don’t think the dominion would like that.”
“We hold the others.”
“True.” Saul tapped the lock with his fingers. “But it’s all locked up.”
“You have the key. The Count gave it to you, remember?”
With a funny little smile, Saul replied, “I was hoping you didn’t see that.”
“So I can do it?”
Saul twisted at the hairs between his lower lip and chin. “I know this is a bad idea, but you made a good point. Besides, you’re going to have to move him from cage to cage anyway. Just like the others.”
“You’re going to start letting me move them?”
“You need to learn to do what I do, and after all that you’ve been through, I think you’ve proven that you’re ready.” Saul produced a key from his pocket and opened up the lock.
Gabe reached inside the cage and stopped. “Do I need a glove?”
“No, they’re harmless enough right now.”
He eased his hand inside. The littlest dragon broke from the pack. It climbed right into his hand.
CHAPTER 26
New warmth raced through Gabe’s body. Goose bumps rose on his arms. His jaw hung open. That exhilarating feeling he’d experienced weeks ago was back.
“Gabe, what is happening?” his father said. “Are you okay?”
Unable to hide his smile, he replied, “I can feel its heartbeat.”
With tiny wings folded behind its back, the dragon, filling Gabe’s palm, sat down. The creature yawned. Its tongue flicked out of its mouth. Its eyelids blinked. The dragon then proceeded to walk up Gabe’s arm up to the shoulder. Its sharp claws dug into the skin of his neck. Gabe winced.
With a worried look in his eyes, Saul reached for the dragon.
“No, don’t. It’s okay.”
The dragon crossed shoulder to shoulder and down the other arm. Gabe made a basket out of his hands. The dragon slunk right in.
Raising his hands up and down, Gabe said, “He’s kind of heavy for such a little thing. Are they normally heavy like that?”
“They’ve got plenty of meat over the bones, if that’s what you’re asking. It looks like he’s taken to you pretty quick after all.” Rubbing the back of his neck, Saul said, “I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think the dragon’s bonded with you. I’m not so sure that the dominion is going to like that, either.”
“They don’t care. They’ve given up on this one anyway.” He rubbed the top of the dragon’s head with the tip of his finger. Its neck rattled, and it made a little squawking noise. “Did you hear that?”
“I heard something.”
Studying the dragon’s diamond-shaped head, Gabe said, “It chirped. It sounded like a bird. I’ve never heard a dragon do anything but rattle and hiss.” He rubbed the dragon’s head some more.
It let out a squawk.
Leaning closer, his father said, “I’ve never seen anything like that. It kind of makes me wonder if this little beast might sprout feathers.”
“Don’t say that.”
Saul shrugged.
“He’s different, isn’t he?” Gabe said.
“I suppose, but that won’t be a good thing. Anything that gets too much attention is never a good thing.”
Gabe pulled the dragon close to his chest. “I won’t let anything happen to him.”
“He’s not yours to let anything happen to, Gabe.” Saul sighed. “Crap. Just put him back in the cage.” He opened the door and reached for the dra
gon.
The dragon rattled its neck at the man.
“Now, that’s weird. You put him in the cage, then. He’s better off there so he doesn’t draw too much attention—at least until we work something out, which I don’t think we can.” Saul backed away from the cage.
Dejected, Gabe said, “Fine, but can I at least name him?”
“You can name him tomorrow. Come on, put him up before somebody comes.”
Gabe held the dragon up to his eyes. The dragon’s bluish eyes held his gaze. “Squawk,” he said. “I’m going to call him Squawk.”
“You can call him whatever you want—just put him back in the cage.”
CHAPTER 27
Gabe spent the next few weeks staying close to his father. When Saul got up, he got up. When Saul slept, he slept. He wouldn’t let his father out of his sight unless the man insisted. He needed to be with Squawk even though the dragon wasn’t really his. He went to the dragon den whenever his father did. He fed the dragons and cleaned the cages, and his father started letting him move them from cage to cage. Gabe found a special spot for Squawk where the strange lights had a little extra glow to them. Squawk grew to be bigger than his hand though smaller than the rest of the other recent hatchlings. The little dragon ate crickets, basked, and slept.
When Gabe wasn’t with his father, he kept a closer eye on Mabel. He spent many long hours sitting downstairs in the building’s commissary, watching her and her friends play cards. It was punishment for leaving her in the first place. His dad saw to that, as if his whipping hadn’t been bad enough. His back still burned from the beating, but he’d survived.
Gabe wondered what his father was doing when he wasn’t with him. Saul came and went, urging him to stay behind while he took care of business. Sometimes, he noticed his father slipping out the apartment room in the dead of night only to find him sleeping close by in the morning. It was strange, and Gabe couldn’t help but think that it had something to do with him or the Count, Angela.
He woke one morning to find himself alone in his room. The door that led out into the hallway was cracked open, and he could hear talking outside. Still in his clothes from the day before, he got up to investigate. Several people were standing half in their rooms and half out in the hallway. A morbid feeling lingered in the air. A few doors up, his father stood just outside of Cotton’s door.
Gabe asked his father, “What’s going on?”
“Cotton’s gone.”
Gabe rubbed the chill on his shoulders and peeked inside. Mabel sat at the table where she and Cotton would play cards. Tears dripped down her face. She wiped them with a handkerchief.
There wasn’t any sign of Cotton’s body. There never was with the old ones. They just disappeared. Cotton hadn’t been that old, either, compared to the rest. He’d always babbled too much, whereas the other old people were quiet.
“Is she going to be okay?” Gabe said.
“Of course. She always is.” Saul turned his frown into a slight smile. “Just be sure that you keep an eye on her. She might not say much, but she’ll still be lonely after losing a friend.”
Losing was the key word. There were people who died in Newton. They got sick. Or became too old. Sometimes there would be an accident, and a person would perish like a withering vine. In those cases, the Count would take care of the dead. There would be a service, a burial, quick and ceremonial. But other people just vanished in the evening shadows, never to be heard from again. It was frightening, and it only seemed to happen to the old ones. Their numbers were dwindling.
Gabe had never given it much thought, not until that day. Seeing the tears on his grandmother’s face started a new set of gears turning in his head. Something that he’d been too young to understand before bloomed into unwanted knowledge: Mabel was scared. His father was too. But why? Who would harm helpless old people?
“Will we still be going to the dragon den today?” he asked.
There was a loud boom from somewhere outside. It shook the building. Everyone in the hallway gasped. A series of explosions followed. People closed their doors. Others rushed to their windows. Gabe and Saul darted into Cotton’s room and peered outside. A building burned. A mob of angry people shouted in the streets. The guards were beating them back.
“Stay here,” Saul said.
“But—”
“Stay!”
Gabe waited by the window. Within seconds, his father was down there among the raucous people doing crowd control. The Count arrived too. She shouted them down and scattered them like a flock of geese while the guards and others dumped buckets of sand over the flames. The restless people murmured before finally moving on. The Count was talking to Saul in a heated exchange and pointing at a spot on the wall with the black NA markings on it.
Perhaps Gabe had been paying more attention to Squawk than he needed to, but he wasn’t completely out of the loop. The NA markings were becoming more frequent. There were other little attacks going on too. Sabotage. Theft. The Count was on the warpath over it. She wanted justice, and she was cutting back on everyone’s rations until she got it. As for NA, Gabe didn’t have any idea what it meant. He just wanted to see his dragon.
His father returned about thirty minutes later. He had a bucket and brush in his hand. “Come on—you have work to do.”
“Me? What work?”
“I’m putting you to work on the markings.”
Gabe frowned. “But why?”
“Because I volunteered you, that’s why.”
***
The task was agonizing. With the sun beating down on his back, Gabe scrubbed on the wall for hours. It was nothing but a black smear on a gray wall. Soaked in sweat, he took a seat in the shade and watched the citizens go by. Each one looked as miserable as the last. They were hungry. His own stomach hadn’t stopped growling since he’d started working. He tossed his brush in the bucket. This sucks! I want to see my dragon!
There was a hollowness inside him that throbbed. He wasn’t sure what caused it, but he felt alive when he was with Squawk. He felt alone otherwise.
One of the guards walked up to the spot that he’d been scrubbing. The man’s chin jutted out, and his head was tilted sideways. “That’s a fine-looking smudge you’ve made there.”
“I thought you’d like it.” Gabe spat out the words without even thinking.
The guard jerked him up off the ground and shoved his face into the spot. “I do like it. How do you like it?” He ground Gabe’s face into the rough stone. “Now, I’m going to make my own smudge out of you!”
“That’s enough,” a voice said.
Gabe couldn’t see the source.
“It’s enough when I say it’s enough.” The guard eased his grip on Gabe’s neck. “Oh, I beg your pardon, Count. I didn’t realize it was you.” He let go of Gabe.
Gabe slid down the wall, gasping for breath. He looked up and found the Count’s hard eyes on his. She didn’t look happy. “Come with me, boy.”
CHAPTER 28
Walking through the compound with the Count was one of the most uncomfortable moments of Gabe’s life. He kept his head down. The people they passed stared and murmured. The citizens hated the Count, and starvation intensified that hatred.
Not too far from the north gate, one of the guards from the outer wall started shouting. “A rider is coming! A rider is coming!”
The Count stopped and turned. “Get behind me, boy.”
The gates parted. Somewhere up the road was a puttering sound that grew. Rows of people gathered on either side of the gate, forming a channel that led into the city.
Gabe gave an upward glance at the hospital building that was his home. People were on their feet and looking through their windows.
Everyone knew what was coming—it arrived a few times a year—but they didn’t understand the contraption. It was a vehicle of the old world. The citizens covered their ears as a man on a motorcycle blasted through the gate. He wore goggles and was dressed in heavy clothes
from head to toe. His frame seemed too big for the vehicle that he was on. Smoke shot out of a silver pipe. Everyone gaped and murmured. They pointed. Some giggled. He came to a stop a few feet from the Count and revved the engine up to a deafening roar a few times. The children encircled the man. He twisted the handle, firing up the blistering sound, scattering them away.
“Heh! That never gets old.” The rider shifted a toothpick from one side of his mouth to the other. He spat juice on the ground, reached into a leather satchel that hung at his side, and grabbed a bundle of paper packages bound with twine. Holding them out, he nodded to the Count. “For you.”
The Count swiped the package out of the man’s hand and tucked them under her arm. She eyed the cycle and the man. “See you next time, journeyman.”
The motorbike’s back wheel spun to furious life, spitting dust and dirt all over the people who couldn’t shuffle back fast enough to get out of the way. The rider tipped the motorbike up on the back wheel and blasted through the compound and out of the front gate. Everyone cheered and laughed at one of the most thrilling sights they’d ever seen.
The Count cut their celebrations short. “Get back to work.”
***
The Count led Gabe to the entrance to the dragon den and pounded on the door. Garland didn’t say a word when they entered. She took Gabe straight back to the cages. The musty smell tickled his nose. He fought against a sneeze. Sage was there, standing by the workbench, and no one else. Gabe’s skin turned clammy. He trembled within.
What do they want with me?
“It seems that we have a problem, Gabe.” She’d positioned herself right in front of Squawk’s cage. “One of the dominion has taken a shine to this dragon, but the dragon hasn’t taken a shine to her.”
Not knowing what to say, he shrugged. Good.
“Every one of these dragons has a master from the dominion,” she continued. “Except this one.” She patted Squawk’s cage. “Now, the dragon’s young, but the older it grows, the less it will be controlled. We can’t have that, now, can we? You saw what happened to Lewis. He turned into a wild thing.”
Squawk: Beginnings (Book #1) Page 10