Chapter 18

Mary thought that Lady Jade was acting really strange.  Lady Jade was never tired, especially not in the middle of the day!  Excusing herself from the courtyard, Mary went to see what was going on.

Walking up to Lady Jade’s Door, Mary knocked on it and called, “Lady Jade, it’s Mary.  Are you feeling okay?”  She didn’t hear anything, so she called again, “Lady Jade!”

Mary heard a squeak on the other side of the hallway.  It sounded like someone walking on an old staircase.  Turning around quickly, Mary just saw a navy blue cloak go down the stairs towards the entrance.  She ran as quietly as she could to follow whoever it was.

Mary followed the person in the blue cloak through Garden Plaza and back out into the forest.  It was very dark and scary.  Mary was happy that the person had brought a lantern, or else neither of them would have been able to see.

The person in the blue cloak was walking very fast through the forest.  They weren’t even on a path.  Mary almost had to run to keep up.  They ran over branches and roots and all sorts of things.  All of a sudden, the person tripped on one of the many roots and fell, making the lantern go dark.  Mary ran up to the person to see if she could help.  She pulled down the hood of the cloak and gasped.

It was Lady Jade!

“What are you doing?” Mary asked.

Lady Jade cried, “I’m looking for that baby dragon!  It must be alone and scared, and that made me sad.  So I decided to go look for it.”

Mary was confused.  “I thought you said that you thought the baby dragon had someone taking care of it.

“I did say that,” Lady Jade replied, “but the more I thought about it, the more I believed the opposite.  I decided to go look for it.  I know exactly where it should be.  Do you want to come with me?”

Mary shrugged.  “Why not?  I’m already here.”

Lady Jade nodded.  We have to be quick then.  We don’t want anyone to follow us.”  She walked over to where the lantern was laying.  Picking it up, she breathed fire to light it again.  Mary was amazed.  Lady Jade could breathe fire!  Then she remembered that Lady Jade was a dragon, even though she looked like a human.

Together they ran though the forest by the light of the lantern.  Mary noticed that the smell of the sea was getting stronger the farther they went.  Mary asked, “Where are we going?”

Lady Jade pointed to a big tree way up at the top of a hill.  Behind it was the sea.  “There.  That’s where we’re going.  We’re so close!”

They were halfway to the tree when Mary saw that it had started to flow.  Lady Jade saw that, too, and she stared to run.  They tree kept getting brighter and brighter the closer they got to it.  When they got to the top a small creature had appeared at the base.

“My baby!  My son!” Lady Jade said, going up and hugging him.

Mary was getting closer to the tree when she noticed that there was someone standing in the shadows behind Lady Jade.  She yelled, “Look out!  There’s someone behind you!”

Lady Jade turned around just as the person sprung out from the bushes.  It was the teenager with brown hair that Mary had caught spying on them!  Lady Jade had enough time to dodge out of the way.

The spy said, “I knew there was a baby dragon!  I just knew it!  Now I can capture it and bring it back to the king of Dragonland!”

Lady Jade held the baby close to her and started running.  The spy followed her, quickly gaining on her.  Mary ran as fast as she could to try to stop him, but he was too fast for her.  Before she knew it, he was right behind Lady Jade.

Lady Jade turned around to see where the spy was.  She gasped when she saw that he was behind her.  She turned back and concentrated on running.  Lady Jade was concentrating so hard that she didn’t realize that the little baby dragon was flying.

The baby dragon said, “Mommy, Mommy, stop running!  I can help!”

She looked at her son, startled.  “You can?  Well, you do whatever you can do!”

The dragon flew over her head and looked down at the spy.  He huffed and he puffed, and he tried to breathe fire.  But only smoke came out!  The spy was still running and was almost to his mom, so he had to try again!  He huffed and he puffed, and he tried to breathe fire.  Again, only smoke came out!  He was getting really frustrated, but he was scared for his mom.  One last time, he huffed and he puffed, and he blew fire!

The flames caught on the spies’s pants.  The spy cried out and tried to pat it out, but it didn’t work.  He looked around and saw the ocean.  Running down the path, he went to extinguish the flames on his pants.  He was never seen in Garden Plaza again.

“I did it Mommy, I did it!” the dragon said, flying to his mom.

She laughed.  “Yes you did.  You did a very good job, too!”

Mary ran up to them.  “The spy is gone!  And you found the baby dragon!”

“I am Bem, and this is my mommy,” he said, hugging his mom.  That made Lady Jade smile.

Mary looked at her friend.  “You’re a mommy?”

Lady Jade’s smile widened.  “Yes I am, and this is my son, the baby dragon that everyone was looking for.”

“I am Bem,” he repeated.

Mary smiled.  “That’s a nice name, Bem.”

He nodded.  “I like it.  My friend Jane said I could have it.  I had lots of fun with her and her brother Eric.  We met a rabbit named Mr. Robert and a turtle named Mr. Lou.  We had an adventure!”

“You can tell us all about it,” Lady Jade replied as she started to walk.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

Lade Jade smiled even brighter than before.  “We’re going home.”

Author's Note

End of novel!!! =)