Dragons of the Watch - Donita K. Paul [106]
She lifted her head and gasped. A quick head count revealed that the group had grown to more than a dozen children.
“Are all of you hungry?” she asked.
Without exception, they nodded.
Cinder put a hand on her arm. “Don’t listen to them. They’re always hungry. Most of them came here from the circle, so they’ve eaten.”
A curly-topped redhead jumped twice to position herself opposite Cinder. “We could eat again.” Her hopeful eyes traveled from Ellie’s face to Bealomondore’s and back again. “We could be your children, and you could fix us supper.”
Ellie let go of Bealomondore to put her hand on the child’s shoulder, but the little girl grabbed her arm and hugged it. Ellie looked around for Soo-tie, who was always admonishing her not to cry. She wasn’t in sight. But still, Ellie sniffed, blinked back the tears, and offered the big angel a reassuring smile. “We’ll take care of you.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Bealomondore grimace, but he didn’t say anything about her offer. Still, his reservations transferred to her awareness through their bond.
He released her and bent over to examine Porky. “Well, he looks better. I think we can safely transport him to the library.”
“We’re coming too,” Red Curls announced. She looked around at the other children, and as if on signal, they all bobbed their heads up and down. She grinned at Bealomondore. “You’ll protect us from Yawn.”
Another child dared to step forward. “And you’ll protect us from Old One.”
Bealomondore rolled his eyes. “As I’ve said before, Old One is—”
“Not murderous,” said Cinder.
“Just grouchy,” added Soo-tie.
Ellie beamed at Bealomondore. “We’ve convinced two of them. That’s a start.”
Bealomondore clapped his hands together and looked over these huge six-year-olds. “I think we have enough muscle power here to do some good.” He pointed at some boys. “We need to clear a path wide enough for Tak to bring the wagon in and a large enough space for him to turn around once he’s in here. You boys push furniture back on the route to the door.” He pointed to more children as he spoke. “You girls clean up this area right around Porky. Boys, dismantle that tower of chairs and get them out of here.”
The children obeyed immediately.
“He’s the boss,” said one boy to another.
“Yeah,” the second boy answered. “A real boss, not like Yawn.”
Ellie settled beside Porky instead of helping. She felt she needed to protect him from small objects being thrown and toppling furniture. She ducked twice and once caught a fancy carved box before it landed on Porky’s head.
The shifting of furniture caused a lot of noise, from the heavy pieces scraping across the wooden floor and from the loud voices of the enthusiastic children. The minor dragons flew about chirping and chittering as if giving orders and offering suggestions. In spite of the urgency of the situation, giggles and laughter accompanied Bealomondore’s orders.
Ellie smiled. This is what children should sound like. This was a worthwhile project. And look at how many children had joined them. Perhaps her plans would work in spite of Bealomondore’s grim predictions.
Grim! Who would name a child Grim? She shook her head.
This was a most peculiar circumstance she’d found herself in. Parts of it were delightful, and most of the time she forgot she was missing the coronation. And the wedding. She sighed.
“Maa!” Tak greeted her as he pulled the wagon into the widened space.
The furniture still encroached upon the area. Bealomondore walked into the room and shook his head. “We’ll have to unhitch Tak, turn the wagon, then hitch him up again.”
The children surrounded Tak, pushing and shoving to be the one to unbuckle the harnesses.
Tak stamped his feet. “Maa! Maa! Maa!”
“Here now,” Bealomondore’s raised voice brought sudden order to the chaos. He pointed to two boys. “You and you take off the harness.” He pointed to two girls. “You go to Tak’s head and talk soothingly to him. Tell him you’re sorry for scaring him and that everything is going to be all right.