Chapter 13.
Cave Life.
Caderyn and Lynwood flew back into the cave, where Sofia was waiting for them.
"Did it work?" She asked curiously.
"I think it did," Lynwood replied, climbing down from the dragon. He patted Caderyn's nose and walked up to his sister. "There was a bit of trouble at one point. I met up with the niece of King Farran, but she saw Caderyn and freaked out. I had to calm her down and that took longer than expected. In the end she promised not to talk about me and said she'll take the letter to her brother, though at the cost of Caderyn giving her a ride in two weeks, but at least she'll keep her tongue behind her teeth, so I guess all's well that ends well. Were you really worried about me?"
"Not really," Sofia laughed, "I did get a little frightened when Caderyn returned without you, but he was so calm I figured you were safe. When he departed again in the evening, I knew he had gone to get you. I'm glad you made it home safely."
She put her arms around her brother. Lynwood returned the hug, albeit a little awkwardly. He wasn't really big on showing affection in the form of hugs and kisses. His overly affectionate sister sometimes irked him a bit and had often been yet another cause for arguments between them. Today, however, Lynwood was happy to see his sister and figured he would let her show her love. It was nice to know at least someone loved him.
At last Sofia let go of Lynwood and dragged him to the fireplace, where a small fire was slowly dying out.
"Okay," she stated, plopping down on the ground. "So we got the letter to the nephew of the king, now what?"
"I'm not exactly sure," Lynwood confessed, taking a seat next to her. "Perhaps it's safe enough to try and contact Elaine again. Maybe she has some information about father."
"You think the soldiers are gone from her house by now?"
She had a point. It had only been a day since he had gone down to the village, and it was very unlikely that things had gotten better. How was he to know when it would be safe to contact her?
"We should probably wait a couple of days," he said at last.
Sofia gave a loud sigh. "I am so sick and tired of this cave. You at least get to go out and see things, you even met a princess, while all I can do is sit around here and read and reread your boring book. It is a pity you only have two and a half." Sofia glanced over at Caderyn, who had settled down opposite the children. "If only he was the kind of dragon that breathed fire," she stated, "then you wouldn't have to tear up your book. You keep tearing out from the middle. I know what happens in the beginning and the end, but I'll bet all the fun stuff is the part you burned.
Lynwood laughed and let out a yawn. "I've had such a boring day, hung around the palace garden doing absolutely nothing. Course things did pick up when Collyn started screaming."
"You really must tell me how everything went," Sofia pleaded. "I'm not very sleepy right now anyway, and I don't think you are either."
"Alright," Lynwood agreed. "Though if we are going to be living in this cave for a few days we are going to have to figure out some sort of schedule. It isn't right to be sleeping the whole day and then staying up at night."
"And we should set up the cave a little better, and figure out our food," Sofia added.
"How about tomorrow we try to see what we can do," Lynwood suggested. "Right now I'm not in the mood to try and figure out domestic problems."
Sofia nodded and settled down more comfortably to listen to the tale of his trip to the capital.
***
The next couple days passed smoothly for the children and the dragon. After putting their heads together, Sofia and Lynwood asked Caderyn to take them to the forests of the moutains, where they collected berries and mushrooms and nuts and brought them back to the cave. Sofia also collected thin branches and sticking the mushrooms to them, left them in the sun to dry. Pine needles were gathered, along with branches and leaves and Lynwood constructed a bed for him and Sofia to sleep on. He felt that since they were going to be residing with the dragon for quite some time, it was only right to return the bed to its proper own and sleep on something else. Caderyn helped the children drag some large, flat stones into his cave, which were then turned into a sort of table and chairs. After five days of hard work, the new living quarters of the children was quite complete. Lynwood and Sofia felt very proud of themselves as they sat eating a roasted squirrel that Lynwood had caught earlier that day. Caderyn was resting by them, watching as the flames cast dancing shadows on the cave wall.
"Do you think Caderyn minds that we are living with him?" Sofia suddenly asked.
Lynwood shook his head. "If he minded, I think he would have kicked us out, but he seems intent on letting us stay. I don't think we're proving to be too much of a nuisance, its not like we take up so much room."
Sofia glanced at all the new furniture they had constructed. It was of course rather crude and slapped together, but it gave homey, almost rustic appearance to the gloomy cave. "It looks to me as though we take up a of of room , look, or have you forgotten how we dragged in a whole bunch of stuff and cluttered up his cave."
Lynwood laughed at this. "You have a point, but remember Caderyn was very helpful and did all the hard work we would have never managed, so I believe it is safe to say he likes us."
Sofia smiled and reaching over patted the dragon's nose. Caderyn gave a lopsided smile from her action.
"He's a good dragon," Sofia whispered. "Even if he doesn't breath fire or store treasure. I'm wondering if he ever gets lonely, living up here all by himself. It doesn't look like there are any other dragons in the area. Maybe you are right after all. Maybe dragons just like living alone most of the time."
Lynwood only shrugged. "We've been up here for quite some time, Sofia, and I think it is time for me to go down the mountain and try to see if anything has changed. Elaine told me that if things became better she tie a ribbon on the Great Pine."
"I think it is worth the risk," Sofia agreed. "we must find out what happened to Papa. Do you think I could come with you? My ankle is all better."
"It is not all better." Lynwood shook his head. "You've been doing far to much walking. You can't even stand on it properly. You've got to sit put if you want it to be healed. Elaine said two weeks and I've let you use it far more than I should have!"
Sofia's face scrunched and she crossed her arms in front of her.
"Oh, don't pout," Lynwood sooth. He gave her a little peck on the cheek. "I'll be back before you know it. Caderyn, could you take me to the base of the mountain, I need to see if Elaine left a message for me."
Caderyn gave a yawn, but slowly rose to his feet and motioned for Lynwood to climb on his back. Together they left the cave and flew into the twilight sky. Soon they were at the base of the moutain and Lynwood silently made his way through the woods and to the large pine with tangled branches that the local villagers had nicknamed the Great Pine. There was no ribbon tied to it, but after some diligent search around the tree Lynwood noticed a piece of paper stuck into one of the cracks. Pulling it out he read:
Lynwood, meet me at midnight on the 21st by the old broken bridge. Do not bring Sofia, it is not safe.
Lynwood closed his eyes, trying to figure out what date it was today. Living out with the dragon in a cave had completely made him loose track of days and dates. Sitting down, he leaned against the tree trunk, counting. Father was captured on the 14th, so that would make the twenty first...today! Stuffing the paper into his vest pocket, Lynwood crept back to Caderyn. "I've got to meet with Elaine by the bridge at midnight," he informed. "That's in only few hours I think it would be best if we remained here, no point in going back and forth. What do you think?"
Caderyn gave a slight shake of his head and motioned towards the mountain.
"It's silly to go all the way up to the cave," Lynwod argued. Caderyn cocked his head to the side and gave Lynwood a frank stare.
"You're probably worried about someone coming around and noticing us," Lynwood guessed. "Fine, let's just go up a little, the forests here a thick and not many people go wandering around after dark. It's very dangerous with a lot of wild animals."
Caderyn agreed to this. They found a secluded spot higher up the mountain. Caderyn settled down in the grass and Lynwood nestled in between his front paws. He guessed that since Elaine told him not to bring Sofia, it was not safe for them to return yet. But seeing she wanted to see him, probably meant she had some news. Lynwood hoped she had some word about what happened to his father and if there was any hope they would see him again.