chapter 15

Home at Last

Incensed, the mother dragon sloshed through the surf. Her wings postured and spread threateningly. She towered over the little guitar boat.

Burdock lifted his paddle and swung it at the dragon. “Paddle harder, Basil!” he screamed. Basil tried to maneuver the boat in another direction, away from the menacing mother dragon.

But her huge head dropped in front of the boat. Burdock swung at her with his paddle, but the dragon took no notice. Instead, she began pushing the boat back toward the beach, nudging it over and over.

The bottom of the boat scraped into the sand. In a panic Burdock and Basil crawled out onto the neck of the guitar, and watched as the mother dragon gently pulled her babies out one by one and dropped them safely on the beach.

Then she again turned her attention to the two weasels.

With one toss of her head she flipped the boat end over end back into the surf. Burdock and Basil spilled into the water and floundered in the frothy waves, thrashing and spitting.

The dragon coiled back and shot a giant blast of fire that scorched the guitar. It smoked and smoldered in flames, and then, with a black hissing sputter, it sank to the bottom of the sea.

The two weasels frantically struggled back to shore. They were fairly good swimmers, but the mother dragon caught them in no time. With a flick she tossed them onto the shore, where they sat, sandy, salty, and breathless.

The mother dragon turned to Twig and Lily. The hair on Twig’s spine stood up as he saw her approach them, wings extended. For a second he thought she would scorch them, too, but she lowered her head and nuzzled them, pulling Char and her other babies under her protective wing.

Char had found home, at last.