Chapter the 11th
The park was deserted except for one girl sitting on a swing, Michael winced when he recognized her as Mrs. Lear's granddaughter. He sauntered over in her direction while trying not to show any interest in her existence. Scott followed, hands in pockets.
"I knew you'd come," the girl said to Michael.
"How did you know?" Michael asked with a shrug. "I almost didn't.”
"Hmm. Then I almost didn't know you were coming.”
“It isn’t easy to go and meet a dragon who’s angry with you,” said Michael, surprised he would open up about how he felt.
“I’ve never tried it myself,” said the girl, “but I suppose it’s difficult.”
Scott looked at Michael anxiously. A stab of pain reminded Michael that scales were breaking out in his left arm.
"Nothing else I can do. I’m almost turned into a dragon already. I can hardly expect people to let a dragon run around free here in Milton.”
“I suppose not. Who’s your friend?”
“Scott.”
“Are you coming with Michael, Scott?” the girl asked him.
Scott had the look of a child peering into a store window at an unattainable toy.
“I guess,” Scott answered, his hands still in his pockets, “if I’m wanted.”
“My Grandmother says that Carelin always wants anybody who wants to be there.”
“Maybe Myra would like have you,” said Michael.
If Scott was hurt by the remark, he didn’t show it.
“Get into the swings, both of you,” said the girl “and I'll push you."
Suddenly, Michael’s head began to feel violently feverish. He dropped his newspaper sack absently and stumbled over to the swing as soon as the girl hopped off. It felt funny to hold on to the chains with one human hand and one dragon's claw. Scott waited for another nod from the girl before stepping over to the other swing and gripping the chains as he sat in it.
The girl gave Michael a gentle push, but it was still enough to hurt his sprouting wings.
"It might be easier if you take your jacket off," Scott suggested.
Michael grimaced, but the girl ripped it off before Michael could do anything about it. Michael's shirt was already coming apart at the seams from the force of the scales and the dragon wings.
“Beautiful!" exclaimed the girl, as if dragon wings grew on boys every day. "Now I can really push you." Then the girl hesitated a moment as she looked over to Scott. "Of course, it would be easier for all concerned if the two of you could fly together. But I can only push one of you at a time."
Michael couldn’t help but realize that if the boy he called Pickleface were there, he and the girl could push the two of them at the same time.
“Did it ever occur to you to call your brother Pickleface?” Michael asked the girl.
“Why, no. Is that what you call him?”
“Yes.”
“That’s a good name for him. Just for that, I give you another push.”
The girl pushed Michael again. He swung up and then back. As he thought of something else, he scraped his foot in the dirt to stop the motion.
“That paper sack over there,” said Michael.
“Yes?” said the girl.
“It doesn’t have any newspapers left, but it has a valuable, but waterlogged book about dragons.”
“Oh, good! My grandmother and I will take care of it for you.”
The girl gave Michael another series of pushes and this time Michael let the momentum carry him up into the air. Even when he was sure the chain could not be long enough to take him higher, it did.
"You'll have to let go!" cried the girl.
Michael did not want to let go. He clung so tightly that his knuckles turned white. The next push drove him up so high the swing went upside down and came back down full circle. The girl ducked out of his way, then pushed him again.
“I said: Let go!” the girl cried insistently.
This time, when Michael reached the top, he let go, expecting to fall. But he did not fall. He rose further in the air, supported by the wings flapping on his back. Further into the sky he rose, his heart directing him towards Carelin. He looked down at the empty smokestacks of Milton and the houses and the stores. They all took on the charm of little toys arranged by a child. A freight train pulled out of town into the rolling hills surrounding Milton. Michael looked for Scott but did not see him. His wings were growing tired already and he had a long way to go. Michael hoped he was flying in the right direction. Scott would have to find his own way to Carelin.
After Michael had been flying long enough to feel faint from exhaustion, bright spots formed in his eyes, causing Michael to fear that he was fainting. The golden spots grew larger until Michael's eyes filled with gold. Then patches of sky broke through and Michael found himself surrounded by golden dragons. His wings flagged, and he started to fall. But he did not fall. Instead, Michael landed on the back of one of the dragons.
"Hang on to my neck," said the dragon. "Myra wants you safe and sound."
Safe and sound so that she can devour me, Michael thought to himself, but he held his tongue and tightened his grip on the dragon's neck. The other dragons flew around him on every side as they all rose up to the stars. The whole earth became a little ball, a mere toy. Somewhere in that sphere was Carelin, Michael reflected. Or was it? The actual location of Carelin still eluded him. The stars twinkled brightly around him in the darkness. The dragons' scales lost their luster. Only an occasional blast of fire from the dragon in the lead lit the way. Then, in the darkness, a small spark came his way. Compared to the distant stars, it looked friendly. The spark landed on the dragon's head in front of Michael. The dragon tried to shake the spark off, but it couldn't.
"Will!" cried Michael.
"That's my name. You remembered."
"You lead me astray."
"Me?"
"Yes, you. I wandered off the bus because of you."
A smile like that of an innocent but mischievous child flickered all over the will o' the wisp.
"I only lead you to the smoking section," Will replied. "Did I lead you to a place where you could not smoke?"
"No."
"Then you have nothing to complain about."
Michael knew there was something wrong with Will's logic, but he didn't know what to say about it. He tried looking Will in the eye, but Will's eyes eluded him.
"Going to Carelin?" Will asked.
"Yes."
"What for?”
“To meet a dragon and save the children who haven’t been eaten yet.”
“By presenting yourself as her next meal?” asked Will.
"Looks like it."
"You've got wings, you know."
"I know."
"That means you can fly anywhere you want to go to."
"Wings aren't strong enough. I would have crashed to the earth by now if these dragons hadn't come along."
"Your wings just needed a little more time to gather strength. They should be fine by now. Dragon wings grow strong real fast. By now, they must be strong enough to carry you anywhere you want to go, especially now that you've had a rest. You can fly to safety where no dragon can devour you. Soon you will grow your other claw. Then your whole body will be golden. Know what you can do then?"
"What?"
"Golden dragons can shed their golden scales. Think how rich your family will be. And your friends."
Michael looked at his claw. Almost the whole arm had become dragon since his flight started.
"Are you thinking?" prompted the will o' wisp.
"Yes, I'm thinking."
"You'll be able to fill the empty smokestacks in Milton with your breath. Your fire will purify the water. Dragon's fire purifies everything."
"The whole of Milton will be saved," Michael mused. "And then I could scare the president and everybody else out of fighting wars."
"Yes, you could. And you would not have to die."
The fire within Michael blazed up. The will o' wisp's flame filled his eyes so that he could no longer see any of the dragons, not even the one he was riding.
"Where is your friend?" the will o' wisp hissed. "The one who says my kind is always leading others astray. Are you sure he is coming to help you?"
"Don't know."
"There is only one way to save yourself."
"How?"
"Let go."
"I'll fall."
"You will not fall. I told you, your wings are stronger now. They will hold you up and they will take you wherever you want to go."
Still, Michael clung to the dragon's neck that he could no longer see. The dragon within him, struggling for expression, sent sharp pains throughout his chest.
"Let go and let the dragon that is you be born," said the will o' wisp.
Then Michael knew that Will was wrong, and he knew what to say.
"The dragon is not born yet."
"You have to let it be born."
"THE DRAGON NEEDS ITS MOTHER, YOU FLAMING IDIOT!"
The will o' wisp blinded Michael with a flurry of frustrated activity, but Michael held on. Then it was gone. Michael’s eyes cleared and he could see the stars and the dragons once again.
"Michael," said the dragon who was carrying Michael, "You did that very well."
"Thank you," said Michael. But then a troubling thought crossed his mind. "Why didn't you say something when Will was talking to me?"
"Because then you would not have learned what to say to a Will o' the wisp when it talks to you," the dragon replied.
There was nothing Michael could say to that, although he wasn't sure of the dragon's logic, either. The dragon plunged through a cloud, where Michael could see nothing. He held on tightly, trusting in the dragon's sense of direction. Suddenly, the dragon dropped out of the cloud and Michael saw Carelin below him. The town was a shambles. Broken houses scarred the landscape. The steeple of a large church reached for the sky, but there was no church to go with it, only a pile of rubble beside it. There were no people to be seen.
"You can let go now," said the dragon, “and fly down to Main Street."
Michael looked down dubiously. He was still high up.
"Your wings are just strong enough," said the dragon. "And I cannot land in the right place without destroying another building or two."
Michael held his breath and let go. As the dragon promised, his wings held him up just enough so that he could glide down and land in front of what was left of the dime store. The fish tank lay on its side, its water spilled out and dead fish lay on the floor. Michael's wings folded behind him automatically and he waited for somebody to appear. It was Samantha who climbed out of a pile of rubble.