Dragons of the Watch - Donita K. Paul [81]
Porky clenched his teeth while still glowering at Bealomondore. With his chin still looking like a donkey’s jawbone, he growled out, “Thank you for staying to help me, Miss Clarenbessipawl.”
Bealomondore’s face immediately melted from ice to sunshine. He thudded Porky on the shoulder, announced, “Good job,” and turned to Soo-tie.
“What do you have for our brave Soo-tie, Ellie?” Ellie smiled. “Cinder, I’m sorry you had a nosebleed, and I’m glad it stopped.”
Horror washed across Soo-tie’s face. “I don’t care if he had a nosebleed. That’s his goings-on, not mine.”
Bealomondore spoke before Ellie could begin the lecture forming in her head.
He put his arm around Soo-tie’s shoulders and gave a friendly squeeze. “That is one of the keys to what Miss Clarenbessipawl is talking about.”
“What? What is she talking about? She talks a lot.”
“This one is, ‘You are going to learn to enjoy life. You will find it is good instead of bad, fun instead of boring, and safe instead of dangerous.’ ”
“Huh?”
“You can’t enjoy life unless you can see good, have fun, and be safe. First key! Are you ready for it?”
Soo-tie looked skeptical, but she didn’t say anything to stop Bealomondore. Ellie wondered what the key would be.
“You are not alone,” he announced. “First key is that you do not live without others. First key is that you are blessed with people around you. First key is that you are not alone.”
Soo-tie stopped in the street. Bealomondore stopped as well, and so did the other three.
“Look around you, Soo-tie,” Bealomondore instructed her as he slowly turned her in a circle. “Who do you see?”
“You, her, Porky, and Cinder.”
“Excellent. Now you must realize that it is good that you are not alone. What would it be like if none of the other children were here?”
Porky wiggled in Ellie’s grasp. “She’d get more to eat at noonmeal.”
Bealomondore threw a comment over his shoulder. “There probably would not be enough for others if she were the only one.”
“Oh,” said Porky with a distinct air of disappointment.
Bealomondore turned back to the girl and his point. “What if there were no children here but you, Soo-tie? No one to talk to, no one to run with, no one during the night when it’s dark.”
He waited. Ellie leaned forward, anticipating the girl’s response.
Bealomondore asked, “Would that be good?”
Soo-tie shook her head.
“You are so right, Soo-tie. Having people around is a good thing. Because you are smart, you can see that the other children being here is a good thing.”
They started down the street again.
“I can have fun all by myself,” she pointed out.
“Yes, but it is the law of the universe, Soo-tie, that some things are more fun when done with others. You can’t dispute that. On occasion, the addition of more players multiplies the fun.”
She nodded vaguely. Ellie figured she’d have to think that one over for a while. Soo-tie probably couldn’t add or subtract, let alone multiply. However, Bealomondore’s grand way of explaining ideas made them sound acceptable.
Soo-tie looked with big, wondering eyes at Bealomondore. “The others make me safe?”
Ellie answered. “When all of you learn manners, you will be safe. Because manners are the demonstration of respect for one another. Respect for one another grows courage. Respect sprouts determination to preserve what is good. Respect builds love and compassion.”
Three sets of eyes again turned to Bealomondore.
“She’s saying that manners help you be good, and when you’re good, others tend to be good too, and pretty soon you will all be good to one another except when you make mistakes. Then one of you will choose to be good about the mistake, and that starts everyone being good again.”
Porky looked very doubtful. “And all of this good is not boring?”
“Not boring at all,” Bealomondore reassured him.
Porky hunched his shoulders and let them drop. “We’ll see. I’m not sure manners are going to be fun.”
“Me neither,” said Cinder.
“I bet we miss noonmeal,” said Porky.
Ellie sighed. Bealomondore winked at her.
He