Escape to the Forbidden Isles

Chapter Thirteen: Does the Sweet Dragon Want a Tasty Little Fish?

Thora was very glad to be outside. There was a brisk wind, which Leif said meant that cold weather was coming soon. She tried catching fish in the bay, but didn't have much luck. She decided to enlist Skye and her gang.

"Skye, can you round up the troops and help me catch fish?" Thora asked.

Skye hadn't been much help today. She and the other children were getting in the way of the adults and no one was having much fun at all.

"Okay!" she readily agreed.

Five minutes later, fifteen children were hanging over the water, waiting for fish. After a few moments of contemplation, Tove walked over to Thora.

"Oh, Tove, I've been meaning to apologize to you. After the dragon attack, my father wouldn't let me speak to you or leave to house."

"Oh, good. I was wondering what I did that made you so angry."

"I caught one!" yelled one of the cousins.

"Good, now keep fishing for more, because the women can preserve them for winter."

Thora waited until they had a few more fish. Then she took the biggest one and snuck it to her house. After lunch when the mothers were exclaiming over the fish, Thora grabbed hers and started off for the caves.

She found a path that led up the mountain and took it. The path took her right past the biggest cave. Thora heard a strange noise. She looked in. There were several dragons all sleeping together in a heap. Thora moved to the next cave, which was much smaller and only one dragon was sleeping inside. She gasped. The dragon that lay before her was the same dragon Tove had fought. The creature had several gashes on its body as though the others had attacked it. The beast woke up at the sound of Thora gasping. It looked at her and moaned. Thora realized that this dragon was hurt really badly. It wasn't even going to defend itself. Thora took a step toward the injured dragon. It growled. She stepped back. It stopped. She took the fish and tossed it to the wounded creature. It looked at the fish, then at her. The massive reptile ate the fish. Its luminous blue eyes locked on Thora again. It began to crawl toward her. She scurried away. The dragon stopped and sniffed pointedly.

"I'm sorry. I don't have any more," Thora said.

The creature opened its blue eyes so they were as big around as Thora's hand. She reached her hand out to it and pet the dragon's head gently. The dragon closed its eyes and made a soft purring sound. She scratched under the creature's chin. It started to wiggle, but stopped, whimpering in pain.

"Oh, you poor thing," said Thora.

The creature crawled back in the shadows and sighed. Then the dragon promptly fell asleep. It was completely oblivious to Thora, who was looking over the dragon's injured body. She looked at a few of the cuts closely. They resembled the cut Tove had from this dragon. She decided to ask her mother what she was using to heal his back.

"Why, Thora, are you getting interested in medicine?" Iona asked.

"Sort of," Thora lied.

"Well, here is a list of what I am using and where to find it."

"Thank you, Mother."

Thora waited until tomorrow to gather the herbs. It was too late today.