Clara couldn’t take her eyes off the baby dragon.
“He’s beautiful,” she said.
Even though they were in the lair, the dragon stayed on Lucas’s arm.
“He thinks I’m his mother,” said Lucas.
Clara laughed. “That’s a good thing,” she said. “Because you are his mother.”
Lucas smiled. “Let’s take him to the playroom and think of some names for him.”
“I love to think up names!” Clara said.
They hurried down the tunnel to the lair’s playroom. Lucas set the baby dragon on the floor. Then they watched to see what he would do. The little dragon held out his wings and took a few quick steps.
“He is so sweet,” Clara gushed. “Maybe we should call him Sweetie Pie.”
“No way,” said Lucas. “He needs a noble name.”
They watched the baby dragon chase his tail. He went round and round. Then he noticed the chew toys and pounced on the rabbit. He batted it with his nose. Then he brought it to Lucas and dropped it on the floor.
“Good boy,” Lucas said.
Then the dragon lay down in front of Lucas.
“Awwww,” he said. “The little guy needs a rest.”
Lucas pet the dragon’s horns.
“Let’s think up more names,” Clara said.
“Okay,” said Lucas. “How about Firefly?”
“I like it,” said Clara. “What about Fireball?”
“That’s a good one,” Lucas said.
They thought of all kinds of names: Mr. Flame, Big Red, Bonfire, and Rusty.
“What do you think of Ruskin?” asked Lucas.
“I really like it,” said Clara.
“It means ‘redhead,’ ” Lucas said.
“Even better!” said Clara.
“Okay! Then his name shall be Ruskin!” Lucas declared.
Then he addressed the baby dragon. “Hello, Master Ruskin,” he said.
The dragon didn’t respond.
“That’s okay,” Clara said. “He doesn’t know his name yet.”
Lucas tried again—a little bit louder this time. “Hey, Ruskin!”
Ruskin didn’t react at all.
“Maybe he’s hungry,” Clara said.
Lucas offered the dragon some olives and rhubarb. Ruskin didn’t even sniff the food.
“Maybe he’s thirsty,” said Clara.
They carried Ruskin to the wading pool. He just lay in a heap beside the water and didn’t move.
