daylight, he was wearing boots to hide his hoofed feet, and it was plainly uncomfortable: he shifted from one leg to the other as they spoke, the stuffing that made the shoes fit crinkling and crackling. “At the moment things are no worse with either Gideon or the witch. We should try to keep them that way… ”
Ragnar shook his head. “No, Simos. Look at you-you are exhausted. You did the work of ten men even when I was there…!”
Mr. Walkwell snorted. “So now I do the work of ten and a half. I will manage.”
Ragnar smiled at the joke, but Lucinda knew he didn’t approve of Mr. Walkwell taking on so much. “I have never seen him this way,” the Norseman had told her that morning. “He almost seems old.” Which was a strange thing to say, considering Mr. Walkwell must have been around for at least a couple of thousand years, but now looking at the old Greek’s bony face and dark-ringed eyes she understood Ragnar’s concern.
“It is not me who needs your pity,” Mr. Walkwell told them. “Every time the witch brings out Gideon to have him give orders he seems slower, weaker, and more stupid, like a tree that does not get enough water. I fear for him.”
The idea of her great-uncle growing sicker and sicker at Mrs. Needle’s hands made Lucinda’s heart race with fear. “It’s the greenhouse! I know there’s something in there! I can give you the letter I found if you want to see it- there’s something really bad in there and I’m sure it’s what Mrs. Needle is using to control Uncle Gideon!”
Mr. Walkwell only looked at her, not as though he didn’t believe her, but as if it didn’t matter. Ragnar shook his head sadly.
“If I could simply break the witch’s neck, I would,” the Norseman said. “But the gods only know whether we would ever get Gideon back afterward. The same if we simply took him away from her. As long as he is in her power she knows we dare not do anything.”
“Ragnar speaks the truth, child,” Mr. Walkwell told her.
“But what about the thing that got Gideon-and me?”
“I will not let anyone go near the greenhouse, that you need not fear.” Mr. Walkwell turned to look over his shoulder, back toward Ordinary Farm. The wind was changing-even Lucinda could feel that. “Another storm coming,” he sighed. “By Olympus, what next?”
“That settles it,” Ragnar said. “I am coming with you. The sick animals will have to be penned. You cannot get it done in time on your own.” The big man vaulted the fence with the ease of someone a quarter his age. “I know it is hard for you to wait, Lucinda, but I will come back this evening and tell you everything I have seen. Go back to the house, now. This storm may bring lightning.”
“ Will bring lightning,” said Mr. Walkwell darkly. “And only the Moirae -only the Fates themselves-can say what else will come with it.”
Carrot Girl!
She could hear it as clearly as if someone spoke it into her ear-the name (or more precisely the idea) that the young dragon Desta used as Lucinda’s name. The sound that was not a sound came again: Carrot Girl-help!
Lucinda had fallen asleep on the air mattress in Carmen’s room-in fact, she realized, she was still at least half-asleep, but she didn’t dare open her eyes for fear of losing touch with the frightened dragon. She had never dreamed the creature’s thoughts could reach her this far from the farm. I’m here, Desta. What’s wrong?
Too much wrong! All wrong! Frightened!
And it wasn’t just herself the young dragon was worried about. Meseret -Lucinda felt it as an image, not a name, the huge, warm shadow-thought that represented Desta’s mother- she hungry too! Other animals-escape! Growling! Scaring Desta! Others running and shouting!
And even as these ideas fluttered and whirled through her mind like panicky bats Lucinda could feel something else as well-Desta was trying to fly. Lucinda could sense the young dragon straining at her harness, struggling to let her wings pull her up into the air.
She’s ready! Even in the midst of so much confusion and fright, Lucinda felt a swelling of excitement. She’s ready to fly!
Tell me what’s going on, Desta. What’s happening?
Everything bad. Bad-smell animals out hunting. For a moment Lucinda could almost see what Desta saw-a slouching four-legged shadow, a pale, orange-eyed face peering into the Reptile Barn-and a cold shiver ran down Lucinda’s spine, even miles away.
One of the manticores was out.
Lucinda sat up. Carmen’s room was empty and dim, the light of the dying evening turning the long window into a glowing violet rectangle. She could dimly hear the television in Grandma Paz’s room down the hall. Outside the trees thrashed in a strong wind and a few raindrops were already splattering against the window.
The dragon’s thoughts suddenly vanished from her head.
Concentrate, Lucinda told herself. Desta? Desta, can you still hear me? The moment of contact now felt slippery as a piece of soap at the bottom of a bath or a watermelon seed squirting across a plate each time she tried to close her fingers on it. Concentrate. And there it was, but only for a moment, the last, dwindling perceptions that came from the terrified dragon…
Running things. The ideas flitted across Lucinda’s mind like shadows on a window shade. Wind and growing darkness. Warm rain making all the smells strange. And the hunting things still lurking outside the reptile barn but working up their courage to come in-there was more than one of them now, and they were barking to each other, excited chuffing noises like an ax biting into wood…
Lucinda’s skin went cold. Was all that really happening? Could it possibly be just some kind of dragon- nightmare? But in her heart she knew it was all too real. Since the first moment she had seen Gideon’s new watchdogs, the manticores had terrified her. But how had they gotten out? And more importantly, if it had taken Alamu to kill just one of them, how on earth would anybody at the farm be able to get all the rest back into their cage…?
Tears of worry running down both her cheeks, Lucinda leaped up and sprinted down the hallway.
“Tyler!” she shouted as she burst out the back door and headed for the garage. She saw that the boys had set their tent up inside it-the canvas was lit from within but she couldn’t hear them. “Tyler, it’s the farm! Something’s really wrong on the farm!”
No reply. No movement.
“Tyler, don’t play games!” She yanked back the flap and leaned in. “I just… Desta just… ” She stopped when she realized it was pointless. The tent was empty but for a clutter of comic books and video game magazines. Tyler and Steve weren’t there.
With Carmen and Alma-and, when she finally understood what had happened, with Grandma Paz as well- Lucinda turned the Carrillos’ house upside down but found no sign of the boys anywhere.
“Where could they be?” cried Paz. “Are they playing a trick with us?”
Carmen came out of the kitchen. “No, they’re really gone. They took food with them. Baloney sandwiches. And of course they didn’t put anything away-not even the mayonnaise!”
“At eight o’clock at night?” Grandma Paz was irritated at the mere thought. “What for? They both ate like pigs at dinner… ”
“Because they’re not coming back right away,” Lucinda said, suddenly feeling queasy. “They’re… ”
Alma back into the house, hair dripping, carrying a piece of paper in her hand. “I found a note in the tent.”
Paz grabbed it from her. Lucinda and the girls leaned over her shoulder to read.
Were out doing important things and well be back soon. Don’t worry about us were fine.
“My brother is allergic to apostrophes,” Alma said, but she looked really frightened. “Where do you think they went?”
“Why would they go out somewhere?” demanded Grandma Paz. “Those pinches! And in a storm!”
“Oh. Oh, no.” Lucinda suddenly remembered Tyler’s excitement over what Paz had told him. “It’s Tyler. I bet he and Steve are going to try to get back into Ordinary Farm.”
Carmen looked shocked. “How can they do that? There’s an electrical fence! Even my brother isn’t that stupid.”
Lucinda slumped down onto the living room couch. “I don’t think that’s the way they’re going.” She turned to Grandma Paz. “Tyler said you told him there was a tunnel or something that might connect this property to Gideon’s… some underground way.”
