Read The Fire Within (The Last Dragon Chro) for Free Online Page B

said Liz. “Now move that clay.”
    Lucy transferred it to a corner of the counter. “What did the other squirrel look like?”
    David put his fingers to the corners of his mouth and pushed his lips up into a grin. “It shmiled, like thish.”
    Lucy gaped in astonishment. “What’s its name?”
    “I don’t suppose he thought to ask,” said Liz. “Cutlery, please.”
    “Smiler!” Lucy shouted, opening the drawer. “I bet its name is Smiler!” She slapped a fork on the table in triumph.
    “That doesn’t sound right,” said David.
    “Well, that was Gawain’s turn,” Lucy said hotly. “Big Beam, then?”
    “Oh dear,” clucked Liz. “Imagine being stuck with a name like ‘Big Beam’!”
    “Well, that was … Gwendolen’s turn!”
    Liz looked at Lucy hard. “Then Gawain and Gwendolen have both gotten it wrong.”
    Lucy, undeterred, had one last option. “Can Gadzooks have a try?”
    “Pardon?” said David.
    “Ask him,” said Lucy.
    “How?” said the tenant, looking bemused.
    Lucy paddled her feet. “Dream it,” she breathed.
    “What?”
said David.
    “Mom, make him do it.”
    “I’m cooking sausages, Lucy.”
    “Oh, Mom. Please.”
    “Do what?” said David.
    Lucy threw herself into the chair beside him. “It’s Mom’s special way of telling stories. You have to join in and tell what you see. Then the story really comes alive. Things happen. Things you don’t expect. Oh, Mom, make him
do it.
”
    Liz sighed and gave in: “David, close your eyes and picture Gadzooks.”
    He looked at her askance. “You’re not serious?”
    “In thirty seconds, your dinner will be burned.”
    “That’s serious,” said David. He closed his eyes. “OK. He’s on his windowsill, looking out over the garden. I think he’s wondering if it’s going to rain.”
    “No,” said Liz, “he’s biting his pencil, deep inthought, trying hard to think of a name for your squirrel. Dream it, David.”
    David rocked in his chair and let his mind float. “He flipped a page of his notepad over.”
    “Hhh!” gasped Lucy. “It’s working, Mom!”
    “Shush,” went Liz.
    “He’s writing something.”
    “What?” gasped Lucy, too excited to be shushed.
    David let his imagination flow. To his amazement, he watched Gadzooks take his pencil from his jaws and hurriedly scribble down a name on his pad.

Snigger
     
    David’s eyebrows twitched in surprise. Liz prodded a sausage or two with a fork. Lucy bit a fingernail. Bonnington yawned. The whole Pennykettle household waited for an answer.
    “Snigger,” David whispered.
    From somewhere came a gentle
hrring
noise.
    David’s dark blue eyes blinked open. “Yes,” he said, “his name is Snigger.”

S OMETHING T RAPPY
     
    I like it,” said Lucy, smiling at her mom.
    The doorbell rang before Liz could begin to offer an opinion. “Terrific timing,” she muttered, turning things down to a lower heat. “Lucy, set the table while I see who that is.”
    Lucy grabbed the placemats and plopped them down. “Tell me some more about Snigger and Birchwood.”
    David shrugged. “They went up a tree. That was it.”
    “Nooo,”
said Lucy. “Make up a story.”
    “Lucy, I told you, I don’t tell stor — hang on.” David cocked an ear toward the hall. He could have sworn he had just heard Henry’s voice. Now that he’d tuned in, he could certainly hear Liz.
    “No,” she sighed loudly. “Thank you. Good night.”The door banged shut. She bustled back into the kitchen. “Well, I’ve heard everything now.” She whipped the oven door open. “That was Henry, wanting some gorgonzola.”
    “That horrible smelly cheese?” said Lucy.
    “Why did he want gorgonzola?” asked David, suddenly aware that the hairs on the back of his neck were rising.
    “He didn’t say,” Liz muttered, sliding the potatoes out of the oven. “But, knowing Henry, it’s bound to be something typically trappy.”
    “Oh, no,” David gasped, standing up suddenly. His chair legs