Read Online Jonah and the Last Great Dragon by M E. Holley - Free Book Online Page A

dogs, as I can hear some people suggesting. They were very large, grey wolves.’
    An old, ruddy-faced man in a tweed cap, who looked as if he might be a farmer, scoffed. ‘You’re dreaming, boyo. Hasn’t anyone told you wolves are extinct in Britain?’
    Someone yelled, ‘They want to bring them back to Scotland though!’
    â€˜Maybe they are starting here,’ called a young, laughing man near the front. ‘My village isn’t called Bleddfa for nothing!’
    People started to laugh. Jonah looked around, perplexed. ‘He means that Bleddfa is Welsh for Place of the Wolf,’ said one of the clergymen, smiling.
    Emlyn Morgan pushed forward and raised his voice so that everyone could hear him. ‘The animals were wolves,’ he declared. ‘It wasn’t just the children who saw them. Bryn and Rhodri Parry here, and Ted Lewis, were with Mr Golding and me when the wolves came out of the woods behind my farm. We saw them close up and there was no doubting what they were.’
    Above the clamour a woman shouted, ‘Where did they come from, then?’
    â€˜That’s one of the things I am here to find out,’ Mike replied calmly, ‘but another strange thing happened that you should know about.
    â€˜Erin Morgan and Jonah Drake met me yesterday, after they had been looking at a huge fissure in the field over there,’ Mike pointed, ‘where smoke is puffing out. You must have noticed it. Look, there it goes again, now!’
    People craned their necks to follow the line of Mike’s outstretched arm. There was a swell of conversation as the crowd watched a large column of smoke rise into the air and hang above the woodland.
    The young man standing in front of Mike raised his hand. ‘I felt concerned,’ he called out, ‘so I went into the woods to look. The smoke’s coming from deep under the ground!’
    â€˜Smoke where no smoke should be,’ Mike said clearly. ‘And then, a bit later on, Jonah and Erin saw two creatures, looking just like gargoyles, scuttling all over the church.’
    There was a roar of laughter. ‘Like gargoyles?’
    â€˜Over-active imaginations at work there!’
    â€˜Kids saw some animals and got scared, innit?’ someone called. ‘Sure t’ be.’
    Jonah heard the word ‘squirrels’ and frowned. He went back to stand with Erin.
    â€˜They think we’re just stupid little kids,’ he muttered.
    She tossed her curls back. ‘Don’t worry about it. We know what we saw.’
    The farmer in the tweed cap, who was standing on the edge of the crowd, grinned round mirthlessly. ‘Seeing as the phone lines are dead, I’d like to know how you knew about this smoking chasm in the wood before you got here,’ he said, confrontationally. ‘Have you got a different kind of mobile phone from the rest of us?’
    Mike met his gaze evenly. ‘The information came by courier. What I think we should—’ He was interrupted by a mournful wail that sounded in the fields beyond the church.
    Everyone started in alarm. ‘What was that?’
    Then there were answering cries from the hills – strange, doleful howls that raised hairs on the backs of people’s necks.
    â€˜Wolves! There really are wolves.’ The whisper ran through the crowd. Nobody looked sceptical now. Everyone stared up at the hills, while the howls echoed eerily round the valley.
    A woman cuddling two small children cried out in a frightened voice, ‘What can we do?’
    Mike raised his hands for quiet. ‘I asked for this meeting because we need to have a plan to ensure your safety, when you have to leave your homes,’ he said. ‘These animals are extremely aggressive and the danger is worse while you have no telephones. For the time being, you shouldn’t go out alone.’
    The mood among the villagers changed. People looked at Mike, standing