The Dragon MEGAPACK ®. Kenneth Grahame

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СКАЧАТЬ said a bit unintelligibly, seeing as he couldn’t move his tongue that much or talk very clearly with the little mouse upon it. To his credit, the dragon was most delicate with the mouseling, and took great care not to mistakenly ingest the miniscule rodent by speaking, or through one of his massive inward breaths.

      “Thank you, oh Great Dragon!” Dapple said with a nervous reply as the huge beast caught his fall. Then he noticed the intruders who were now coming towards them. “But look, we have strange company approaching!”

      The dragon placed the tiny mouse back upon his huge nose—Dapple holding tightly to a long thick stalk of hair so as not to lose his balance again. Then the dragon turned his lumbering gaze to the three visitors.

      Well, they certainly were strange and they didn’t look very friendly; sort of grumpy and angry, actually. And one of them, the old walrus in the middle—and I do mean old walrus, for in fact the visitor was an actual large fat male tusker blubbering forward upon perambulatory fins and uttering guttural growls like a hungry sea lion. Well, this worthy wore pinned to his chest what shone unmistakably as a five-pointed star that seemed to proclaim him as some type of law enforcement officer. A sheriff or perhaps, a marshal. Obviously by this scenario, the appearance of the companions of the old walrus—the large upright walking feline and the equally tall upright walking canine who stood on each side of the walrus, were his companions, perhaps even his deputies. Dapple noticed that they were deputies. They wore the badges to prove it.

      Dapple wasn’t all that confident about the appearance of these three strange beings but he watched them carefully as he held on tightly to the dragon’s nose hair—ever watchful that a sudden and disastrous sneeze by the large beast might be in the process of arriving any moment and dislodge him with calamitous circumstances.

      The dragon also watched these newcomers with great interest, his bright orange eyes narrowed down to curious blood-red slits. Just in case there would be trouble the enormous reptile stoked his fire and brimstone apparatus. Should the occasion warrant, he’d be ready to do battle, or at least to seriously scorch a few butts.

      “Step no closer upon pain of roasting!” the dragon demanded when the trio of newcomers was some hundred feet distant. “State your business or be away from here in a heartbeat!”

      The dragon then shot a spurt of fiery brimstone into the air to emphasize his words.

      The gesture was not lost on the newcomers as they quickly jumped back a few steps in evident alarm. They got the message but quickly regained their equilibrium.

      The feline finally just laughed and said, “Well, look at that, it looks like the old sourpuss finally has got his fire-breathing facilities working again.”

      “About time too, they’ll come in handy, for sure,” the old walrus muttered as he gathered his composure and walked closer towards the dragon. He finally stopped a dozen yards from the reptilian monstrosity, looking into the large scaly face, which was staring down at him in obvious curiosity and some concern. The walrus also now noticed that the dragon had—of all the most incredible things—a tiny rodent of some kind perched upon it’s nose—however he thought better of mentioning that for the moment. He had more important things on his mind. He gathered his thoughts.

      “Now look, Charlie,” the walrus told the dragon with obvious familiarity, while his feline and canine deputies nodded meaningfully and walked forward to take up positions on either side of him. The three intruders all wore weapons—side arms in waist holsters, but as yet had not drawn them. “You gotta come back with us. Right now. We need you.”

      “Charlie?” Dapple asked looking from the walrus, then back at the creature upon whose nose he now stood and finally back to the walrus. “You mean the dragon’s name is Charlie?”

      “Yep, Charlie is his name,” the walrus offered having to squint a bit to see the miniscule rodent who stood upon the dragon’s ponderous nose. “Ah, Sir Mouse, well you see…”

      “Dapple, sir, if you please.”

      “Quite right. Well then,. Mr. Dapple, you see, Charlie, better known to us all at the constabulary as Charlie Richfield, just happens to be a very important and unique creature. He’s an interbred or hybrid of man and dragon. Mostly dragon, as you can plainly see, though he is capable of speech and rather obtuse thought…”

      “Hey, I think I resemble that remark!” the dragon, now identified as Charlie said in a bit of a huff.

      The walrus and his two companions took a careful step backwards in concern and conferred quickly. Good judgment dictated never angering a dragon. The walrus continued, “No offense intended, Charlie. It’s just the facts, only the facts. You have these human characteristics to a limited degree.”

      Dapple looked at the walrus carefully asking, “And what of you and the two beings with you?”

      “Ah, good question, Sir Mouse. Myself and my companions are also interbreeds, commingled biological species artificially constructed for various specified functions. In the case of myself and my two companions, law enforcement happens to be our forte—in the case of Charlie, well, he’s our transportation. And a darn good transport he is—usually. Truth is, we just couldn’t work as well without him. You see, dragons have the power and ability to travel not only through space and time, but within the full spectrum of trans-dimensional realities. I think its got something to do with those big floppy wings of their’s and that kooky fire-breathing ability. Or maybe it’s just that long barbed tail? Whatever the case, they are highly prized as valuable transportation mediums where we come from.”

      “I see,” Dapple replied, not really seeing at all but interested nevertheless. “And just where do you come from?”

      “Oh, a place far away and very different from here, I can assure you,” the walrus said with an indulgent smile.

      Dapple nodded. It certainly seemed likely.

      “The problem we have is…” the walrus added giving a quick nod of his head towards Charlie, “is that they aren’t very bright in the gray matter department…”

      “Hey, I heard that!” Charlie growled, snorting in annoyance.

      “No offense intended, Charlie. Anyway, Sir Mouse, if dragons are left alone they often mistakenly go off on their own—somewhere—and not only forget where they are, but where they have come from as well. They have to be rounded up and shown the way home. I tell you, it has caused me and my companions quite a lot of trouble at times, as I am sure you can understand.”

      Dapple didn’t really understand, but the walrus continued regardless. “You see, Charlie has this dreamwalking problem…”

      “Dreamwalking?” Dapple scratched his head in thought. This was all moving a bit too fast for him.

      “When dragons dream they allow their subconscious mind to roam far afield, and sometimes their thoughts can become trapped in a loop of conflicting resonances—dreamwalking—which can cause them to accidentally flit into another dimensional reality. Hence Charlie is now here—in your reality, err, your world. Once in that new world without a rider for guidance, dragons forget all about who they are and where they come from. It’s a bit awkward at times as my companions, Gump and Tump, and I have to go out searching for Charlie when he’s in that dreamwalking state and bring him back home. But old Charlie is worth it, so that’s why we’re here.”

      “To bring him home?” Dapple asked.

      “Correct.” СКАЧАТЬ