Dragons of the Watch - Donita K. Paul [86]
Bealomondore pointed a finger at Orli. “Ellie, mind my words. This dragon intends for us to bring about this miracle.”
“Yes, I know.”
“You know? How can you know?”
“He told me.”
Bealomondore tried to catch up. Didn’t he just recently enlist Airon to help her learn to mindspeak? Was the bond that sometimes caused them to finish each other’s sentences not constantly in play? How did Ellie become more informed of the secret workings of Rumbard City when he’d searched for months for clues? And why hadn’t Orli, suddenly a fount of knowledge, come forward to tell him a thing or two before Ellie fell into the bottle?
It wasn’t her fault. He tried not to sound as irritated as he was. “What did he tell you?”
“Old One was given the task, as the last living adult, to train the children. But they had been too long on their own. He went out to speak to them, decided they could not be tamed, came back into the library, and has shunned them ever since.”
“Then his assessment of the situation is very close to mine. The whole lot of those hooligans is incorrigible. The job of civilizing them is hopeless.”
“Well, it would be, except there is a bottle of memories we can find and unstop.”
Bealomondore unclenched his jaw to speak. “I suppose that is the first thing we can do to ‘change the course of Rumbard City.’ ”
“Actually, that’s the second. First is to gain the trust of the children and guide them toward more acceptable behavior.”
Bealomondore stood in a daze, shaking his head. Ellie sounded quite ready to attempt the unattainable.
“It’s what we were planning to do anyway, Bealomondore.”
She sounded pleasant and determined.
He’d try to be obliging. “Yes, I recall. The amazingly successful Daggart Tactic.”
“You’re sounding very snide, Bealomondore. That attitude will not get us anywhere.”
So much for hiding his mind-set from Miss Ellicinderpart Clarenbessipawl. He jumped off the last step, leaving the mound of disintegrating wusstbunters. He put his hands on his hips and stared at the skylight. What could he possibly do? He had the gnawing suspicion that the key to getting out of the bottle rested with the taming of this crew.
“There’s one more thing, Bealomondore.”
He closed his eyes. “Go ahead. Tell me.”
“When we establish a sense of order among the urohm children and find the bottle of memories and open that bottle, then the bottle around the city will dissolve.”
“And we’ll be free to go?”
“Yes. We’ll be free to go.”
After the Battle of the Wusstbunters, Ellie and Bealomondore spent hours cleaning up. The fine dust left from the wizard’s uncharitable thoughts drifted with every little puff of air. The dust had a slightly unpleasant smell and caused them to sneeze, which only complicated cleaning up.
Ellie’s latest attempt to gather and dispose of the black powder involved getting down on her hands and knees and using a damp cloth. The sooty residue got more and more difficult to scoop up.
She straightened, putting her hands against the small of her aching back, and glared at the smear she had just made. Ellie wanted to leave the smudge, leave the library, and move to another dwelling. Whoever heard of anyone living in a library? She and Bealomondore had seen lots of unoccupied residences in their meanderings through the town.
Of course, living where they were had many advantages. A wealth of information surrounded them. On the other hand, the size of the books meant they were not quite easily accessible. But another plus outweighed that inconvenience. Old One sometimes helped them, and because of the gruff curmudgeon, the children would not sneak in and attack. Perhaps after she and Bealomondore gained the children’s trust and developed a friendship, they could move to a real house.
With a gasp, Ellie dropped her cloth on the floor, right in the middle of her latest smurpy gray spot. She stood and looked around the room. Her sudden realization colored everything she saw with a new light.
Old One had yet to move or make