The Dragonsitter to the Rescue Read online

  Copyright

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2016 by Josh Lacey

  Illustrations copyright © 2016 by Garry Parsons

  Text in excerpt from The Dragonsitter: Trick or Treat? copyright © 2017 by Josh Lacey

  Illustrations from The Dragonsitter: Trick or Treat? copyright © 2017 by Garry Parsons

  Cover design by Angela Taldone. Cover art © 2016 by Garry Parsons.

  Hand-lettering © 2015 by David Coulson

  Hachette Book Group supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

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  Little, Brown and Company is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc. The Little, Brown name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

  First ebook edition: March 2017

  ISBN 978-0-316-29917-6

  E3-20170126-JV-PC

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Map

  Begin Reading

  A Sneak Peek of The Dragonsitter: Trick or Treat

  The Dragonsitter Series

  You Might Also Like

  About the Author and Illustrator

  From: Edward Smith-Pickle

  To: Morton Pickle

  Date: Saturday, April 15

  Subject: We’ve arrived!

  Attachments: View; That’s my bed!

  Dear Uncle Morton,

  Here is the view from our hotel window. If you look very closely, you can see Big Ben.

  As you can also see, your dragons are fine. They both had a good dinner. Now they’re fast asleep.

  Dad didn’t actually want to bring them. He asked Mom to take them to Paris, but she said, “No way.” She said she didn’t want two badly behaved dragons spoiling her romantic weekend with Gordon.

  Dad said wasn’t a romantic weekend in Paris a bit of a cliché, and Mom said she’d rather have a cliché than nothing at all, which was all he used to give her.

  Gordon looked really embarrassed while they were shouting at one another, but Emily and I didn’t mind. We’re used to it.

  Mom won. So the dragons are here. I have brought the egg, too, just in case it hatches. I wouldn’t want a new dragon to arrive in an empty house.

  I have to go now. Dad says it’s bedtime. First thing tomorrow morning we’re visiting the Natural History Museum.

  Emily wants to go on the London Eye instead, but Dad says we’ll do that the day after.

  I hope you’re having fun in Tibet. Have you seen the yeti yet?

  Love,

  Eddie

  From: Edward Smith-Pickle

  To: Morton Pickle

  Date: Sunday, April 16

  Subject: Bad news

  Attachments: Croissant; T. rex; Blue whale

  Dear Uncle Morton,

  I have to tell you some bad news.

  We have lost Arthur.

  He’s somewhere in London, but I don’t know where.

  Today, we went to the Natural History Museum. I’ve always wanted to go there, so I was really excited.

  The only problem was Dad said the dragons had to stay in the hotel without us.

  I said that was very unfair, but Dad said he wanted to spend some quality time with his children, not a pair of fire-breathing lizards. He said we could take them to a park later if they needed to stretch their wings.

  He absolutely, definitely, no-question-about-it refused to change his mind.

  So I hid Arthur in my backpack.

  I knew I shouldn’t have, but I couldn’t stop myself.

  I told him to be quiet in there. He was, on the subway. Very. And he carried on being quiet in the café where we stopped for a morning snack. I dropped some croissant through the top of the backpack, which seemed to keep him happy.

  He even stayed quiet in the museum. He didn’t make a squeak while we looked at the birds and the bears and the earthworms and the giraffe and the rhino and the dodo and the dolphin and the blue whale.

  But when we got to the T. rex, he wriggled out of my backpack and flew off to have a look. Maybe he thought it was a long-lost cousin.

  He flew the entire length of the T. rex from tail to head and landed on its nostrils. People were pointing and shouting and taking pictures.

  Dad asked, “Where did that come from?”

  I pretended I didn’t know.

  Guards came running. One of them said, “You’re not allowed to have flying toys inside the museum.”

  I explained, “He’s not a toy. He’s a dragon.”

  The guard said he didn’t care what it was, I just had to get it out of here right now, this minute, before he called the police and had us all thrown out for making a public nuisance of ourselves.

  I said I would if I could catch him.

  The guard got on his walkie-talkie and called for reinforcements.

  Unfortunately, catching Arthur was easier said than done. He jumped off the T. rex and whooshed over our heads, waggling his wings.

  I ran after him. So did Dad and Emily and lots of guards.

  Arthur was faster than any of us. He flew along the corridors, looped the loop around some statues, dive-bombed a crowd of Japanese tourists, and disappeared through the revolving doors. By the time we got outside, he had vanished.

  We searched for hours, but we couldn’t find him anywhere.

  I wanted to keep on looking all night, but Dad said we’d just be wasting our time. So we came back to the hotel.

  Ziggy was fast asleep. She still is. I don’t know what I’m going to say to her when she wakes up.

  Dad says if I was so concerned about the dragons, I shouldn’t have hidden Arthur in my backpack in the first place. I suppose he’s right.

  I’m really sorry, Uncle Morton.

  This whole thing is my fault, and I wish I knew how to make it better.

  Eddie

  From: Edward Smith-Pickle

  To: Morton Pickle

  Date: Sunday, April 16

  Subject: More bad news

  Attachments: Into the night

  Dear Uncle Morton,

  I’m very sorry, but I’ve got some more bad news.

  I’ve lost your other dragon, too.

  Emily and I were brushing our teeth in the bathroom when we heard a terrible noise coming from the bedroom.

  We rushed out of the bathroom and found Ziggy going wild. She was trying to break through the windows and get onto the balcony. She must have realized Arthur had gone missing.

  Dad was standing on his bed, holding a pillow. He yelled at me to do something.

  I didn’t want to let her out, but there really wasn’t any choice. One more minute and she would have smashed the whole place to pieces.

  So I opened the door.

  Ziggy charged onto the balcony, flapped her wings, and took off.

  A moment l
ater, she’d disappeared into the night.

  I feel awful. I can’t believe I’ve lost both your dragons. I wish I knew how to find them.

  Do you have any brilliant ideas?

  Dad says there’s no point in writing to you because you won’t be checking your e-mails in Tibet, but I hope you get this message.

  Please write back if you do.

  Eddie

  From: Edward Smith-Pickle

  To: Morton Pickle

  Date: Monday, April 17

  Subject: 8,000,000

  Attachments: Londoners

  Dear Uncle Morton,

  Your dragons are still missing.

  We spent the whole day walking around London, but we didn’t see any sign of them.

  This city is so big!

  Dad says eight million people live here. I think we met most of them.

  I asked everyone if they’d seen a missing dragon. Some of them laughed. Others just walked past as if they couldn’t even hear me.

  People who live in London are quite rude. Dad says it’s the same in all big cities. Emily wanted to know if Paris is like this, too, and Dad said it’s even worse.

  I hope Mom and Gordon are having more fun than us.

  Love,

  Eddie

  From: Edward Smith-Pickle

  To: Morton Pickle

  Date: Tuesday, April 18

  Subject: Still missing

  Dear Uncle Morton,

  We spent today searching for your dragons again, but we still haven’t found them.

  Dad says not to worry—they’ll come back in their own good time.

  He says this is our one chance to spend a few days in London and we should be making the most of it, missing dragons or no missing dragons.

  But I don’t want to make the most of it. I just want to find Ziggy and Arthur.

  Eddie

  From: Morton Pickle

  To: Edward Smith-Pickle

  Date: Tuesday, April 18

  Subject: Re: Still missing

  Dear Eddie,

  I have just seen your messages. The internet is a rare treat here in Tibet, but I managed to check my e-mails on a sherpa’s phone.

  Thank you for letting me know about the dragons.

  You need not worry about Ziggy. She will be perfectly safe. Dragons are wise creatures, and she is even more sensible than most. She also has strong wings and powerful claws. I can’t imagine anyone or anything in London will be a threat to her.

  However, Arthur is quite different, and I am very concerned for his safety. A small dragon is not safe alone in a big city. He might have been run over or kidnapped or suffered some even more horrible fate.

  I suggest you call the police and ask for their help.

  I do hope you find them both soon, so you can enjoy your vacation in London. I have fond memories of the years I spent in that vast gray town. Few places could be more different than my current location: a cold, snow-covered mountainside in a remote region of Tibet.

  We have had no confirmed sightings of the yeti, but I have arranged a meeting with a local shaman tomorrow, and I am hoping he will bring good news.

  With love from your affectionate uncle,

  Morton

  From: Edward Smith-Pickle

  To: Morton Pickle

  Date: Wednesday, April 19

  Subject: Police

  Dear Uncle Morton,

  I did what you suggested.

  I called the police and told them we had lost a dragon in the Natural History Museum.

  First, the police officer thought I was joking.

  Then he said he would arrest me for wasting police time.

  Do you have any other suggestions for finding Arthur?

  Eddie

  From: Edward Smith-Pickle

  To: Morton Pickle

  Date: Wednesday, April 19

  Subject: Poster

  Attachments: Have you seen?

  Dear Uncle Morton,

  Your dragons are still missing.

  Dad says he’s had quite enough of them, even if they’re not here anymore, and we should just concentrate on enjoying what little time we have left in London.

  But I can’t make the most of anything because I’m too worried about Ziggy and Arthur.

  I made some posters and pinned them to trees.

  No one has replied yet, but I hope they will soon.

  Love,

  Eddie

  Have you seen this dragon?

  He is small and green.

  He has two wings and smoke coming out of his nostrils.

  He was last seen on Sunday, April 16 in the Natural History Museum.

  If you see him, please contact Eddie.

  [email protected]

  From: Edward Smith-Pickle

  To: Morton Pickle

  Date: Thursday, April 20

  Subject: Noodles

  Attachments: Gerrard Street

  Dear Uncle Morton,

  We have been looking for your dragons again today.

  We didn’t find them.

  We did see some other dragons, but not yours.

  Dad’s friend Julie came to have lunch with us. She’s really pretty, like all his girlfriends.

  Dad said she’s not actually his girlfriend, but fingers crossed. I hope she will be. She was very nice.

  Also she knows a lot about dragons.

  She took us to Chinatown because she said they have hundreds of dragons there. She was right. There were dragons everywhere.

  Unfortunately, none of them were Arthur or Ziggy. But we did have some delicious noodles.

  I put up some more posters. I still haven’t gotten any replies.

  Love,

  Eddie

  From: Edward Smith-Pickle

  To: Morton Pickle

  Date: Friday, April 21

  Subject: She’s back!

  Attachments: A very tired dragon

  Dear Uncle Morton,

  I have some good news and some bad news.

  The good news is Ziggy is back.

  The bad news is Arthur isn’t.

  Ziggy must have arrived in the middle of the night. She’s asleep on the balcony. I suppose she was exhausted from searching so much. In a minute I’m going to wake her up to say hello. Then we’re going to spend the day searching for Arthur. Julie is going to come with us. She’s taken the day off work.

  Dad asked if we could do something more interesting than looking for Arthur. But I said we’ve got to find him.

  Also, Julie won’t mind. She loves dragons. She told me so yesterday.

  Emily said maybe we would be able to see Arthur from the top of the London Eye, but I know she didn’t really mean it. She just wants to go up there herself.

  I told her there would be time to enjoy ourselves after we’ve found him.

  Love,

  Eddie

  From: Edward Smith-Pickle

  To: Morton Pickle

  Date: Friday, April 21

  Subject: Fizz

  Attachments: Cheers!; Shower

  Dear Uncle Morton,

  We are cold and wet and homeless, and it’s all your dragon’s fault.

  We spent today searching for Arthur, but we didn’t find him.

  Julie took us to Covent Garden and Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery, which were all very nice, but I didn’t enjoy them very much because I was too worried about Arthur.

  So Dad said tonight, as a special treat to cheer ourselves up, we could order room service and watch a movie in bed. He invited Julie to join us, but she was busy.

  Once we got back to the hotel, Emily and I took a bath and put on our PJs, then switched on the TV. Dad ordered burgers and fries, plus lemonade for me, orange juice for Emily, and a bottle of red wine for him.

  I wanted to get a drink for Ziggy, but Dad said she’d be fine with water.

  We had just started watching the movie when the waiter arrived with our dinner on a big, silver tray.

&nbs
p; Dad poured himself a big drink and stretched out on the bed and said, “Cheers.” We all clinked glasses.

  I felt a bit guilty about Arthur. You know how much he loves fries. Also, I didn’t like having fun while he was missing. Dad told me not to worry.

  He said, “Look at Ziggy. She’s enjoying herself, isn’t she?” And he was right. She was.

  She ate her burger in one gulp, and her fries in another. Then she ate most of mine, too.

  Unfortunately, she also drank my lemonade.

  I didn’t see her doing it, but she must have swallowed the whole thing because suddenly she gave an enormous burp.

  Flames shot across the room. A corner of the quilt caught fire.

  Dad jumped off the bed and grabbed the fire extinguisher. He was just figuring out how to turn it on when the fire alarm went off.

  It was the loudest noise I’ve ever heard. Until Emily screamed.

  Ziggy didn’t seem too bothered by all the fuss. She just reached across the bed and grabbed the remains of our burgers.