Circle of Summer

by Lynne Roberts

  Chapter 11. Flight to Aylwin

  The children climbed onto the dragon’s back, where a large pair of pale green wings was unfolding. They found it extremely uncomfortable. There were lots of spikes sticking up in unexpected places and the dragon’s scales were slippery and cold. The children were forced to huddle together and hang on as best they could.

  ‘Sit in the middle and hang on to Sharon’s waist,’ Mark told Paul.

  ‘I can’t see over her head,’ complained Paul. ‘I want to see where we are going.’

  ‘Look out the side then,’ said Mark unsympathetically.

  The dragon took a few lumbering steps, then flapped its wings and rose into the air. The flying sensation was wonderful but the air was very cold. Sharon wished she could put their hood of her cloak over her head but she couldn’t spare a hand, as she didn’t dare let go of the dragon.

  They flew back rapidly over the way they had travelled. There was the forest that had frightened them so much before they found the phoenix. There was the plain of wilted flowers and the large black rock, that looked tiny from the distance. The children shivered when they saw the two tall trees with the magic pool. They could still have been sleeping there if Mark hadn’t dragged them away.

  They saw the river winding beneath them and soon they were flying over the rocky cliffs they had climbed so long ago. They swooped past the flumpers which were still rising and falling in the air on the top of the mountain. Soon they were in the valley where the wizard lived and the dragon made a beautiful landing outside his cottage.

  Caleb came bounding out to meet them but backed away suspiciously when he saw the dragon.

  ‘Don’t be scared,’ said Sharon. ‘He is a very friendly dragon and he won’t harm you.’

  ‘I’m not scared,’ said Caleb hurriedly, making sure he was well out of the dragon’s reach.

  Aylwin came out of his cottage and greeted them.

  ‘Did you have any problems?’ he asked.

  The children thought uncomfortably of all the cross things they had said to each other and all the mistakes they had made. No one wanted to speak. Aylwin seemed to understand and smiled forgivingly at them.

  The dragon crawled forward until its head was by Aylwin’s feet.

  ‘I was killing your flowers with my fire,’ he said apologetically. ‘These wonderful children have cured me and saved the flowers for you.’

  ‘That deserves a reward,’ beamed Aylwin.

  A procession of chairs came marching out of the cottage and came to rest in front of the children.

  ‘Climb on and follow me,’ said Aylwin. He led the way into the cottage to a room the children had not seen before. Large mirrors lined the walls and containers of bright flowers spread a sweet perfume in the air.

  Aylwin clapped twice and a wonderful banquet appeared on a table in front of them. He clapped again and a fountain appeared, only instead of water it spurted lemonade. The children ate until they thought they would burst. Caleb and the dragon became firm friends when they discovered they both liked peppermint creams. The children told Aylwin about their adventures, and he decided the dragon could be very useful to him. ‘He will be able to use his huge claws to dig the ground and smooth it with his tail. Then Caleb and I can plant new flowers. But now,’ he said looking kindly at the children, ‘it is time for you to go.’

  ‘Our mother must be really worried about us by now,’ said Paul anxiously.

  Aylwin smiled reassuringly at him.

  ‘She will never know you have been away. Time moves at a different speed in Amaranthi. What seems like weeks here will be less than a second in your world.’

  The children followed him sadly as he led the way to the largest mirror on the wall. Aylwin clapped his hands and the children looked just as they had when their adventure started. Their clothes were clean and tidy and their scratches and bruises had disappeared.

  Aylwin clapped his hands again and the mirror opened into a long corridor. After saying a last farewell to Caleb and the dragon, the children stepped through the doorway and found themselves back in the mirror maze once more.

  They ran out into the fairground to find their mother waiting for them.

  ‘Did you have fun?’ she asked with a smile. ‘You have been in there for nearly half an hour. I thought I was going to have to come in and find you.’

  ‘We had a ride on a dragon,’ said Paul excitedly. ‘And we rode flumpers and magic chairs and saw a wizard.’

  Their mother laughed.

  ‘Fairground rides are a lot more exciting than when I was a girl,’ she said. ‘The most we had were merry-go-rounds. Come on, I’ll buy us each a hot dog, I’m sure you must be hungry by now.’

  Chapter 12. How it Ended

  ‘At least you didn’t give us wings,’ said Mark thankfully. ‘I was sure you would do that. I didn’t fancy flying around like some sort of dumb fairy, even if it was only one of your stories.’

  ‘I thought there would be some blood,’ said Paul. ‘It was quite a good story though,’ he added hastily, as he saw Sharon scowling. ‘Especially the dragon. You should have made me fight the dragon. I could have had a magic sword or something.’

  ‘Next time,’ said Sharon firmly. ‘I’m all storied out now. My brain feels all squishy and empty.’

  ‘Back to normal, then,’ said Mark, and ducked as his sister flung a handful of grass at him.

  They were interrupted by their mother coming down the steps into the garden.

  ‘Sorry to have taken so long,’ she said breathlessly. ‘This is the last old lady I had to visit today.

  ‘Why did you have to work on a Saturday?’ demanded Paul. ‘You said we could go to the fair.’

  ‘We will go to the fair. Right now,’ replied his mother. ‘You know I don’t usually work on weekends but Nurse Perkins had to go to her niece’s wedding and I said I’d do her home visits for her. It was bad luck that the car broke down this morning and we had to walk so far. I hope you weren’t too bored waiting out here?’

  ‘We were not bored even slightly,’ grinned Mark.

  ‘No,’ agreed Paul. ‘Sharon told us a story about the garden.’

  ‘It’s certainly a lovely garden but I’m sure old Mrs Boston doesn’t want that gnome in the middle of the flowerbed. Put it back by the pond where it came from, please Mark.’

  ‘That’s not a gnome. That’s Aylwin the wizard,’ said Mark. He caught Sharon’s eye and they started to giggle. ‘He can even wriggle his ears.’

  Mark and Sharon howled with laughter as they hauled the gnome back under the trees beside the pond.

  Their mother gave them an exasperated look. ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘If we hurry we’ll make the fair by lunchtime. The hot dogs are on me!’