CHAPTER SEVEN

“Professor!” Elliot said, his head resting against the small window beside him, his face positively green as he stared out at the blue sky and, below them, the clouds. “My mom expects me home for dinner. A flight to Europe must take hours and hours! Then we’ll have to fly back. And, oh yeah, rescue a dragon while we’re there.”

“Don’t worry, Elliot. The Basque Country is in a different time zone. We can go and be back in time for dinner.”

“That’s not how time zones work, Professor.”

“I’m pretty sure it is.”

Uchenna nodded. “I think he’s right, Elliot.”

Suddenly, the plane lurched in a gust of wind. Elliot closed his eyes and tried not to be sick.

Uchenna turned to the professor. “So, you said you have something for me?”

“Oh yes!” He turned away from the steering column and began digging behind his seat. With no one manning the controls, the plane took a sudden jag downward. Elliot screamed. Jersey was thrown into the air. Uchenna grabbed the steering yoke and pulled up. The plane leveled out. Professor Fauna reemerged as if nothing had happened, holding a camouflage backpack.

“What’s that?” Uchenna asked.

“It is a special Jersey Devil transporter!”

“Where is Jersey, by the way?” Elliot asked.

They looked up. Jersey was clinging to the ceiling, his little legs trembling.

“He must not be used to flying!” the professor said.

“He has wings, Professor,” Elliot replied. “I think he’s just not used to flying in a custom-made death trap.”

Uchenna was examining the backpack. Tiny holes had been poked in the main compartment, and the two side compartments had been insulated.

“Those are for his food,” the professor explained. “I made it last night.”

“You made this?” Uchenna said. She was impressed.

Jersey dropped down into Elliot’s lap. Elliot gazed out of the window. They were flying. To the Basque Country. In Europe. His mom and grandma were going to kill him.

Elliot remembered that the professor hadn’t answered any of his questions before whisking them off to his frequently-crashes-but-always-works-again-somehow airplane. “Professor, can we talk about the Schmoke brothers now?”

The plane jerked downward, and everyone was thrust forward against their seat belts.

“Sorry!” said the professor. “Turbulence.”

Elliot was pretty sure that Professor Fauna had made the plane do that intentionally. It was highly suspicious. He was about to ask about the Schmoke brothers again when Uchenna asked her own question:

“When you say we’re supposed to rescue a dragon, what exactly do you mean?” Uchenna asked. “Like a giant fire-breathing lizard that sleeps on a huge pile of treasure? Because I definitely want to see one of those.”

Professor Fauna sighed as he squinted at the endless stretch of blue before them. “Uchenna, do not be swayed by the video films you see on the television. Dragons are not all giant fire-breathers. Some are quite small. Some swim underwater. Some have cool, refreshing, frosty breath. Think about birds: There are eagles, there are chickens, and there are ostriches. All are very different, but all are birds. It is the same with dragons.”

“So, what kind of dragon is a herensuge?” Uchenna said.

“Well, in this specific case, you were correct,” the professor admitted. “The herensuge is exactly what you described.”

Elliot groaned and began petting Jersey rather hard. He wasn’t sure whether he was trying to comfort the little Jersey Devil, or himself.

Uchenna tapped Professor Fauna on his tweed-covered shoulder. “Can I try flying the plane?”

“NO!” Elliot shouted.

The professor smiled. “Perhaps another time.”