mouth. They could be a gap-toothed grin. It must be an old stone circle!”
Yann was looking at her with surprise on his face. Lavender blew her a kiss. Rona smiled at her confidently and said, “I knew you were theone to help. A human bard with books in her blood! Which stone circle could it be?”
Yann grunted. “Sapphire, you’re the expert on stones. Where does this rock come from?”
Sapphire sat back on her hind legs and picked the stone up between her front legs. She turned it over and looked at each of its six sides. Then she sighed a breath of pale smoke and snuffed a small dragon laugh. She laid the stone on the rough floor, with the writing downwards, and tapped her tiniest silver claw on a mark on the top surface.
Helen brushed shoulders with Rona as they all leaned forward to look.
Scratched on to the stone was a shape like a tree with three short branches pointing up on one side, and four on the other.
“A rune!” exclaimed Yann. “Well done. Can you read it?”
Sapphire snorted again, and rumbled briefly.
Yann said disapprovingly, “It’s a joke! It says ‘ouch!’ Sapphire says she thinks someone dropped the stone on his foot and scratched an ‘ouch’ rune. The Book wouldn’t tell jokes. It must have been on the stone before the Book carved its clue.”
“But that’s great,” said Helen, “We want to know where the stone came from, so if the rune is earlier than the Book’s visit to the garden then it’s a really good clue. I can look for a book about stone circles at school tomorrow if you want, see if any circles near here have runes carved on the stones.
“Then we can meet tomorrow night, and I might be able to tell you which circle this stone came from. And if you think it would be helpful, maybe I could come with you again, just in case you need my first aid kit.”
Sapphire mumbled something warmly, which Rona explained was an offer to carry the human who had restored her sight anywhere, anytime. Helen grinned. Her Dad always said the first song she’d ever written, when she was six, was about a ride on a dragon. “Thank you so much, I would love that.”
“But not tonight,” said Yann. “Sapphire, you need to recover and regain your strength for tomorrow. I will take the healer’s child home safely, and we will all meet again in her garden tomorrow after the sun goes down. We have only three days before the Winter Solstice, when our elders will notice the loss of the Book.”
Suddenly the group broke up. Lavender’s lights dimmed and everyone said goodbye. Yann took Helen home through the wider front entrance to Sapphire’s cave. He cantered rather than galloped, but he did not say one word to her the whole way home.
When he let her down in front of the garage, she asked him politely to step back in so she could check his wound. She unwound the bandages, and tried not to sound too surprised when she said, “It seems to be healing perfectly, no pus or swelling at all.” She put a clean pad on and bound it up again.
He barely seemed to hear her, or notice the new bandage. But just as he left, he turned to her.
“Human girl. I hope you find the answer to our riddle soon, because the Master’s creatures have been in the walled garden since last night and they will have read the clue long before we did. We have to puzzle out the answer, then reach the stone circle and the Book before they do, or the Master will gain answers to all the questions he burns with, and we fabled beasts will have no answers at all.”
Helen asked, “Are you afraid of that, Yann, even though you’re not afraid of pain?”
“Yes, I am afraid.” He looked directly into her eyes. “I am afraid because it will mean war. A war my people cannot win, and a war your people may lose too.”
Then he galloped off.
Chapter 8
Helen woke full of excitement and jumped eagerly out of bed. If she could find the right stone circle today, she would fly there tonight on a dragon!
After buttoning
Yann was looking at her with surprise on his face. Lavender blew her a kiss. Rona smiled at her confidently and said, “I knew you were theone to help. A human bard with books in her blood! Which stone circle could it be?”
Yann grunted. “Sapphire, you’re the expert on stones. Where does this rock come from?”
Sapphire sat back on her hind legs and picked the stone up between her front legs. She turned it over and looked at each of its six sides. Then she sighed a breath of pale smoke and snuffed a small dragon laugh. She laid the stone on the rough floor, with the writing downwards, and tapped her tiniest silver claw on a mark on the top surface.
Helen brushed shoulders with Rona as they all leaned forward to look.
Scratched on to the stone was a shape like a tree with three short branches pointing up on one side, and four on the other.
“A rune!” exclaimed Yann. “Well done. Can you read it?”
Sapphire snorted again, and rumbled briefly.
Yann said disapprovingly, “It’s a joke! It says ‘ouch!’ Sapphire says she thinks someone dropped the stone on his foot and scratched an ‘ouch’ rune. The Book wouldn’t tell jokes. It must have been on the stone before the Book carved its clue.”
“But that’s great,” said Helen, “We want to know where the stone came from, so if the rune is earlier than the Book’s visit to the garden then it’s a really good clue. I can look for a book about stone circles at school tomorrow if you want, see if any circles near here have runes carved on the stones.
“Then we can meet tomorrow night, and I might be able to tell you which circle this stone came from. And if you think it would be helpful, maybe I could come with you again, just in case you need my first aid kit.”
Sapphire mumbled something warmly, which Rona explained was an offer to carry the human who had restored her sight anywhere, anytime. Helen grinned. Her Dad always said the first song she’d ever written, when she was six, was about a ride on a dragon. “Thank you so much, I would love that.”
“But not tonight,” said Yann. “Sapphire, you need to recover and regain your strength for tomorrow. I will take the healer’s child home safely, and we will all meet again in her garden tomorrow after the sun goes down. We have only three days before the Winter Solstice, when our elders will notice the loss of the Book.”
Suddenly the group broke up. Lavender’s lights dimmed and everyone said goodbye. Yann took Helen home through the wider front entrance to Sapphire’s cave. He cantered rather than galloped, but he did not say one word to her the whole way home.
When he let her down in front of the garage, she asked him politely to step back in so she could check his wound. She unwound the bandages, and tried not to sound too surprised when she said, “It seems to be healing perfectly, no pus or swelling at all.” She put a clean pad on and bound it up again.
He barely seemed to hear her, or notice the new bandage. But just as he left, he turned to her.
“Human girl. I hope you find the answer to our riddle soon, because the Master’s creatures have been in the walled garden since last night and they will have read the clue long before we did. We have to puzzle out the answer, then reach the stone circle and the Book before they do, or the Master will gain answers to all the questions he burns with, and we fabled beasts will have no answers at all.”
Helen asked, “Are you afraid of that, Yann, even though you’re not afraid of pain?”
“Yes, I am afraid.” He looked directly into her eyes. “I am afraid because it will mean war. A war my people cannot win, and a war your people may lose too.”
Then he galloped off.
Chapter 8
Helen woke full of excitement and jumped eagerly out of bed. If she could find the right stone circle today, she would fly there tonight on a dragon!
After buttoning
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