Dragons of the Watch - Donita K. Paul [55]
Ellie sat up on the edge of the pillow she used for a bed. The sun streamed in and serious dust motes performed ballet in its beams. Laddin had already left. He’d slept with her for two nights, completing the healing of her broken head and slashed wrist.
Pulling back the sleeve of her nightgown, Ellie examined the inside of her arm. No scar marred her skin from the elbow down to just above her wrist. There, the skin puckered slightly in a white line. She closed her eyes and moved her head cautiously from side to side. No dizziness.
She opened her eyes, took in a big breath, grinned, and stood up. Today she and Bealomondore could go back to the library. Maybe this evening they could have tea with Old One. Maybe tomorrow she could feed the children daggarts.
After dressing, she went to the kitchen to see about breakfast.
“Bealomondore?”
He didn’t answer, so she checked outdoors. He sat on the bench next to the glass-topped table.
She watched him for a second before speaking. “There you are!”
Tak bleated and ran to greet her. Bealomondore started, then smiled. “You’re well enough to be sneaking around, scaring people.”
“I wasn’t trying to be quiet.” She rubbed Tak’s head as she moved closer, trying to see what Bealomondore had in his hands. “What is that?”
“It’s a tiny diary.”
“Tiny? It’s pretty big.”
“No, no.” He shook his head and turned the pages to the beginning. He read. “I start this tiny diary to record our trip crossing the sea and settling on the distant continent. Mother says I have to because we are making history. That is why I picked the smallest diary in the bookshop. I do not want to write lots and lots. I want to run along the deck of the ship and explore the hold. That’s in the belly of the ship, and I am strictly forbidden to go there.”
Ellie started her climb up to the bench. “So for a urohm, it is tiny.” She sat beside her friend. “Is it interesting?”
“Very.” He flipped a few pages. “Listen to this: I hid today among the lime barrels. I couldn’t find my brush, and my hair is in tangles. I put a bonnet on, but Mother is sure to ask why. Memorizing the principles is boring. Papa says we must know the words by heart so we can answer anyone who asks questions. Why can’t the grownups do that part? I want to play with new friends there. Porta Mellow says they will be so impressed with us that they will hang on our every word. Strangers from Amara don’t go to Chiril often. No wonder! This is a boring trip. But when we get there, I want to brag about crossing two oceans. It’s going to take a long time. I don’t have to memorize principles now. I’d forget them by the time we land. Good! I’m running out of room to write.”
Ellie picked up a muffin from the table and peeled back the paper. She nibbled on the puffy top. “Mmm … pumpkin.”
“There’s warm amaloot too.”
Two butterflies danced around each other on the way to a flowering bush.
Ellie smiled as she watched them. “Where’d you find it?”
“In the basket.”
Her head snapped around to look at her companion. “The urohm diary was in the basket?”
“No, the amaloot was. The diary was in the room next to the nursery.”
Ellie reached in and found her drink still warm in a glass jar with a lid. “This is good.”
“I agree. It cleared the blur out of my eyes and the fuzz from my brain.”
“Not the drink, the diary. The diary is good. We’ll learn a lot.”
“Much more interesting than Old One’s journal.”
Ellie mumbled agreement, sipped the amaloot, and nibbled the muffin.
“And there are a dozen of the diaries.”
Intrigued by the prospect of following the little girl’s life, Ellie said, “We should take them with us to read. We’re going back to the library today, aren’t we?
Bealomondore looked her over. “Do you feel well enough?”
She straightened her spine and gave a decisive nod. “I feel wonderful.” She frowned at her wrist. “That itches a bit, but my mother would say that means it’s getting well.”
“My nanny said the same thing.”
“How are we going to get the daggarts and diaries all the way to the library? And our bags? That’s