The Case of the Vanished Sea Dragon

by Gareth P. Jones

  Away on case for few days. Will pay rent

  when get back,

  Dirk

  PS Sorry about mess

  ‘Ah, mystery solved.’

  There was an awkward pause while Holly tried not to feel disappointed that he hadn’t mentioned her in the note.

  The silence was broken by the doorbell.

  ‘I wonder who that could be?’ said Mrs K, heading down the stairs.

  Holly put the note back on the desk. She pushed open the window and looked down. There were two men standing on the doorstep; a tall one with a strand of wet hair combed over his head, and a shorter one, whose curly red hair was made even curlier by the rainfall. The tall man took a step back and Holly saw his face.

  She ducked back inside and shouted, ‘No, Mrs Klingerflim. Don’t answer it.’

  She ran to the landing but it was too late. Mrs Klingerflim was already opening the door and saying, ‘What can I do for you two gentlemen?’

  ‘Ah, yes, please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Arthur Holt and this stocky gentleman is my friend and colleague, Mr Reginald Norman. We are two small-scale philanthropists, looking for ways to help the situation of the neighbourhood’s elderly and infirm, vis-à-vis, a non-profit-making all-encompassing service provider.’

  ‘We’re odd-job men,’ added the other.

  Chapter Nine

  The last time Holly had encountered Arthur and Reg, the two crooks were working for the mysterious Vainclaw Grandin, unaware that their boss was in fact a dragon who wanted to conquer and enslave their entire species.

  ‘Well, my guttering needs looking at. Are you pricey?’ said Mrs Klingerflim.

  ‘Our services are offered for entirely magnanimous reasons,’ said Arthur.

  ‘That means we don’t charge,’ added Reg.

  ‘I’m sorry, did you say you don’t charge?’ asked Mrs Klingerflim.

  Holly tugged her sleeve. ‘You can’t trust them,’ she said in her ear.

  ‘What a charming little girl,’ said Arthur, smiling at her. ‘Is this your granddaughter?’

  ‘No one does odd jobs for free,’ said Holly. ‘It doesn’t make sense.’

  ‘Your scepticism is misplaced but not entirely without precedence.’

  ‘Oh yeah,’ agreed Reg, nodding. ‘They all think we’re animal crackers when we tell them, but it’s true. It’s something to do with utensils.’

  ‘What my cuddly companion is trying to say is that Reginald and I are foot soldiers of utilitarianism,’ said Arthur.

  ‘That’s the word …You-tell-an-aerial-person?’ ventured Reg.

  ‘U-tili-tar-ian-ism,’ repeated Arthur. ‘It’s a simple philosophy summed up in the sentiment: the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.’

  ‘Don’t listen. It’s a trick,’ whispered Holly.

  ‘My companion and I are trying to give something back to society.’

  ‘Not that we’ve taken nothing,’ said Reg quickly.

  Arthur shook his head solemnly. ‘Oh, Reginald, let us not forget that we have walked in the valley of darkness. We have on occasion stumbled on to the wrong side of the law. But now we are reborn, reformed and at your service.’

  ‘Are you selling something?’ said the old lady.

  Arthur laughed. ‘We are but two men standing in front of one elderly lady asking her if there are any odd jobs that need doing.’

  ‘We don’t want anything from you,’ said Holly out loud.

  ‘Fair enough,’ said Arthur, backing away. ‘We understand. Have a good day, the both of you.’

  ‘And be ’appy,’ added Reg.

  Mrs Klingerflim closed the door. ‘What a funny todo,’ she said.

  ‘I need to go,’ stated Holly.

  ‘Already? You’ve only just got here.’

  ‘Sorry, I’ve just remembered I need to be somewhere,’ she said, thinking it best not to tell Mrs Klingerflim that she was actually off to follow the two crooks.

  ‘Why don’t you hang on to this?’ said Mrs K, handing her the red book with the white zigzag across the front. ‘I think you’ll find it quite interesting. Don’t lose it, mind. It’s my only copy.’

  ‘Thanks, I’ll look after it.’ Holly slipped the book into her coat pocket, hugged Mrs Klingerflim and left.

  The rain had eased off. Arthur and Reg were on the opposite side of the road, knocking on a door. An elderly man answered. Holly couldn’t hear what they were saying but it looked like they were giving him the same routine. The old man must have bought it because he invited them in. Holly checked for traffic then crossed the road. Along the side of the house was a path where the residents kept their wheelie bins. The first gate on the right led to the old man’s backyard. Holly headed down the path. She heard the back door open and Arthur’s voice say, ‘Yes, we are foot soldiers of utilitarianism.’

  She peaked through a gap in the wooden fence and saw the crooks walk into the backyard.

  ‘Well, it’s very kind of you to help. I’d have done it myself but a rather nasty hiccupping episode last week brought back an old war wound.’

  ‘You were in the war? How interesting,’ said Arthur. ‘I bet you have lots of stories you’d like to regale us with. We’d love to hear them, wouldn’t we, Reg?’

  ‘If it would make you ’appy to tell us, yeah,’ said Reg enthusiastically.

  ‘How nice,’ said the old man. ‘People don’t seem so interested in my stories these days. I’ll show you my collection of antique weapons if you’d like.’

  ‘We’d love to see them, as soon as we have cleared up these leaves for you,’ said Arthur, smiling.

  ‘You want them put in bags?’ said Reg.

  ‘Yes, please. Are you sure you don’t want paying?’

  ‘As long as it makes you ’appy, we’re ’appy, ain’t we, Arthur?’

  Arthur nodded. ‘Indeed. Reginald, I will take the burden of holding the bag, while you scoop up the leaves and place them within.’

  ‘Right-oh,’ said Reg.

  Holly watched them work, while the old man stood in the doorway. ‘Why did you say you were doing this, then?’ he asked.

  ‘We were once on the wrong side of the law, weren’t we, Reg?’ said Arthur.

  ‘That’s right. Rotten as a pair of bad bananas,’ said Reg.

  ‘And then we had an awakening.’

  ‘It was like a miracle, weren’t it, Arthur?’

  ‘A miracle, indeed. I remember standing outside a train station somewhere, Stonegarth, I think it was called, when I felt a sharp slap on my cheek.’

  ‘I ’ad the same thing,’ added Reg.

  ‘It was as though we awoke from a strange dream,’ continued Arthur, ‘with the clear knowledge that from then on our mission was to make the world a better place.’

  ‘It brings a tear to my eye to think about it,’ said Reg, ‘and not just because of how hard the slap was.’

  In an instant, Holly realised what had happened. The last time she had seen Arthur and Reg they had still been under the powerful hypnotic spell of Dirk’s Dragonsong. She remembered how Dirk had leant forward and said something she couldn’t hear. She realised he must have told them to give up crime and dedicate their lives to making the world a better place.

  ‘Where do we put the bag?’ asked Reg, tying it up and throwing it over his shoulder.

  ‘Outside the gate, please,’ replied the old man.

  The ill-fitting gate rattled. Holly quickly pressed herself against the fence and imagined what it was like to be this varnished wooden fence. As the gate opened she turned the same dark wood colour, vanishing from sight. Reg dropped the bag outside and Holly heard a mobile phone ring.

  ‘I think that’s coming from you,’ said the old man.

  ‘Indeed, you seem to be correct,’ said Arthur. ‘I’d forgotten I even had a phone.’

  ‘Maybe you shouldn’t answer it. It might be one of our old mates, asking us to do some dodgy job,’ said Reg, sounding concerned.
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br />   ‘If it is indeed a member of the criminal community, a scallywag, a ne’er-do-well, a rogue, I shall inform them of our new path, the long and winding road to happiness.’

  ‘Yeah, good idea,’ sad Reg, pulling the gate shut behind him. All three men went back into the house.

  Holly moved and her natural colour returned.

  ‘So you can turn yourself invisible,’ said an astonished voice.

  She froze then looked behind her to see a boy with blue eyes and dirty blond hair, balanced on top of a fence, staring at her in disbelief. This was bad. Not only had she been seen using dragon magic, she had been seen by the worst possible person, Archie Snellgrove.

  Chapter Ten

  ‘Where are we go now? Are you believing a Sky Dragon has taken Delfina? Why would they be doing that? Have you ever seen one? I have never seen one. Not materialised, at least,’ Alba said, barely taking a breath between each question, her yellow eyes blinking in the darkness.

  Alba Longs was proving to be the most irritating dragon Dirk had ever met. In fact, she was proving to be the most irritating thing he had ever encountered. It wasn’t just the incessant chatter. She had a habit of poking Dirk with her claw every time she said something. Dirk was doing his best to keep calm and resist the urge to SNAP HER CLAW RIGHT OFF!

  A dark sphere of shifting rock surrounded them. Dirk had asked the rock in Dragonspeak to take them down to the massive network of underground tunnels, where thousands of dragons dwelt, far out of the reach of humans. They were heading for the lithosphere tunnel, the outermost arm of the matrix, which circled the globe and could be reached from any part of the world.

  ‘We’re going to see Karny,’ said Dirk.

  ‘Mr Captain Karnataka?’ replied Alba. ‘How can he be helping us? He was the one who sent me to you.’

  ‘Karny always knows what’s going on in the dragon world and now he’s got thousands of Drakes answering to him he’ll be even better informed. If the Skies are on the move he’ll know about it.’

  ‘I do not like those Drakes, horrible creatures,’ spat Alba.

  Dirk nodded in agreement. Drab-nosed Drakes were fireless, wingless dragons with floppy noses, big bellies and small brains. They went into the Dragnet for the power the black metal neck cuffs and chains gave them.

  The rock beneath Dirk and Alba’s claws pulled away and they plummeted into a large tunnel lit with the dim orange glow of earthlight.

  Dirk stood up and dusted himself down. ‘Now, if memory serves me correctly, Dragnet HQ is this way,’ he said.

  ‘I do not think the captain will be able to help us?’

  ‘Me and Karny go back a long way,’ said Dirk, walking down the tunnel. ‘Besides, it’s his fault I’m involved in this. I’ve still got a case open back in London. The sooner I can solve this one the better.’

  ‘But you care why my sister has been vanished?’

  ‘It’s just another case to me,’ shrugged Dirk, walking away. ‘The first thing you learn as a detective is to never let it get personal. At the end of the day it’s only a job.’

  Behind him Alba let out a long wailing noise. ‘Ahhh,’ she cried.

  ‘Don’t be so melodramatic,’ said Dirk, refusing to turn around.

  ‘Get off me,’ squealed Alba.

  Dirk spun around to see Alba with a black metal cuff attached to her neck. He felt a sharp pain as an identical cuff snapped around his own neck.

  ‘You is under arrest, boy,’ said the dust-grey Drake with the chain attached to his short stumpy tail.

  Dirk reared up on to his hind legs and roared fire, but the flames bounced off the Drake’s armour-like skin. The Dragnet officer swung his tail down, dragging the chain, neck cuff and Dirk violently to the ground.

  ‘Good work, Junior,’ said the Drake holding Alba. ‘That’s it, use your tail. Show that traitor who’s boss.’

  With their long floppy noses and inflated bellies, Drakes looked almost comical, but Dirk knew well that once a Dragnet officer had a dragon cuffed, there was no way out. Iron or steel, Dirk could have bitten through, but Dragnet chains were made from black metal, forged in the liquid fires of the Outer Core. It was ten times stronger than any metal known to humans.

  ‘You hold on tight now, Junior,’ said the larger of the two Drakes.

  ‘Sure thing, Pappy,’ said the other, swinging his tail so that Dirk felt another painful jolt around his neck.

  ‘You are hurt my skin,’ complained Alba.

  ‘On what grounds are you arresting us, Drake?’ demanded Dirk, addressing the larger of the two.

  ‘You speak to Pappy with respect,’ said the other, smashing Dirk’s head against the ground.

  ‘Well done, Junior,’ said Pappy. ‘You’ll make a fine Dragnet officer, just like your old pappy and my pappy before me. And his pappy, your great-grand pappy. And his pappy, your great-great-grand—’

  ‘On what grounds?’ interrupted Dirk, his head throbbing.

  ‘Tell him, Junior,’ said Pappy.

  ‘We is arresting you on grounds that we is currently in a state of emergency as declared by our glorious captain, Karnataka the fearless.’

  ‘Karnataka the fearless?’ laughed Dirk. He had heard Karny described as a lot of things but never fearless. ‘Why has Karny declared a state of emergency?’

  ‘The Kinghorns are on the rise,’ said Junior. ‘There’s talk that they’re gathering an army, preparing for the big attack. Captain Karnataka has told us to arrest any dragon acting suspiciously and you two is definitely suspicious.’

  ‘But we are just looking for my sister,’ said Alba.

  ‘Sounds mighty suspicious to me,’ said Pappy. ‘What do you think, Junior?’

  ‘Mighty suspicious, Pappy.’

  ‘We are not doing anything the wrong,’ pleaded Alba.

  ‘A Mountain and a Sea Dragon skulking down the western ring of the lithosphere tunnel during a state of emergency,’ said Pappy. ’You two is sure-fire criminal types.’

  ‘No, this is Mr Dirk Dilly,’ said Alba. ‘He is a famous detective. I am Alba Longs. Mr Dirk is helping me to find my sister.’

  ‘Keep quiet, Alba,’ snarled Dirk.

  ‘Famous detective, eh?’ said Pappy. ‘Well, I’m a bit of a detective myself and I detect the blood of a couple of Kinghorns.’

  Dirk sighed. He had learnt from previous experience that for all their self-importance, Dragnet officers were almost always looking for what they could get out of a situation. He was yet to meet one who couldn’t be bribed.

  ‘OK,’ he said, ‘what will it take to persuade you to let us go?’

  Junior pulled hard on the chain, bringing Dirk’s face close enough for him to whack it with his fat fist. ‘You can’t bribe Pappy,’ he said. ‘My pappy is the most honestest officer in Dragnet. He ain’t never taken a backhander. Ain’t that right, Pappy?’

  ‘Er … sure thing, son,’ said Pappy, although Dirk could see from the look on his face that if his son hadn’t been there it would have been a different story.

  ‘Rats,’ muttered Dirk. ‘Of all the Drakes in all the world we had to meet these two prize specimens.’

  ‘What was that, Mountain Dragon?’ said Pappy.

  ‘I said, we’ll come quietly,’ he said out loud.

  ‘You see, Junior. Now he’s showing some respect. All these dragons understand is a firm cuff.’

  The two Drakes set off down the tunnel, pulling Alba and Dirk behind them

  ‘How can we find Delfina now?’ said Alba.

  ‘Never mind her,’ replied Dirk. ‘How are we going to get out of this?’

  ‘Surely they will let us go when they realise we are innocent,’ she said.

  ‘You two Kinghorns keep quiet,’ yelled Junior.

  ‘You tell them no good traitors, Junior,’ said Pappy.

  ‘Oh yes,’ said Dirk, under his breath. ‘They seem like a very open-minded pair.’

  Chapter Eleven

  Holly had been concentrating too ha
rd on following Arthur and Reg to check if anyone was following her. Archie had seen her vanish from sight then reappear. She could have kicked herself for being so careless but kicking herself wouldn’t have helped, so, instead, she let her face relax into a smile and laughed.

  ‘What are you talking about?’ she said.

  ‘Don’t try and deny it,’ said Archie, jumping down from the fence into the alleyway.

  ‘Don’t try and deny that I can turn invisible?’ laughed Holly. ‘OK, you’re right, I can turn invisible. I thought everyone could. Can’t you?’

  ‘Course I can’t. That’s how you kept getting away from me. How are you doing it?’

  ‘I come from a long line of invisible people.’ Holly chuckled.

  ‘Listen, I know what I saw and I saw you turn invisible.’ Archie was getting annoyed.

  ‘Then go and tell someone. See if they believe you,’ replied Holly.

  ‘They will when I get evidence. I’m going to stick so close behind you you’ll think I’m your shadow.’

  ‘Yeah, you’ve done a great job of following me so far,’ she said sarcastically. ‘You don’t even know where I live.’

  ‘Yes I do. Elliot Drive. Number forty-three,’ said Archie triumphantly. ‘I looked you up in the phone book. Why are you following them two blokes?’ he asked, standing in her way with his hands in his pockets.

  ‘It’s none of your business what I do. Haven’t you got anything better to do than follow me about?’

  Archie thought about this before replying, ‘It’s the summer holidays. What else is there to do?’

  ‘Just leave me alone,’ said Holly.

  ‘Come on, we could follow them together,’ said Archie.

  ‘Why would I want you anywhere near me?’ snapped Holly.

  ‘It’ll be easier with two of us.’

  ‘I thought you hated me,’ she said, thinking of all the names he had called her.

  Archie looked at his feet. ‘I didn’t know you,’ he said apologetically. ‘I am sorry about being so horrible to you at school.’

  ‘You were really vile, you know.’

  ‘I know.’ He looked her straight in the eye. ‘I tell you what, when we go back to school after the summer you can call me names in front of everyone. Any names you want. And I won’t say anything back. No, better than that. I’ll agree with you, whatever you say.’ Archie reached out a hand. ‘Come on, let’s be friends.’