Dragon Gold Read Free Page A

as they rolled up blankets and stuffed them into their beds to make it look as if they were still there, huddled under their doonas.

    â€˜Flying carpet, I guess,’ Ben said. ‘I’ll enchant our rug with my magic wand.’
    Their rug was a grey square of carpet with a plan of a city laid out with parks and buildings and streets for the boys to drive their cars along. They dragged it downstairs and out onto the lawn, and then Ben raided the kitchen cupboards for their midnight feast. Sitting on the rug, they ate stale arrowroot biscuits, sultanas, and Vegemite on crackers, which was all Ben could find by the light of the open fridge. It wasn’t much of a midnight feast, but it was fun eating out in the light of the moon when all the rest of the world was sleeping.
    When they had finished, Ben took a deep breath and pointed his wand up at the moon. ‘With these magic words, I begin my spell. Hear me, full moon, hear me well. Make our magic carpet fly, way up into the sky, to find the dragon gold, from the days of old. The spell has been cast, let the magic last.’
    With a jerk, the rug suddenly lifted off the lawn and soared up into the sky.

    James and Ben let out a screech of surprise and clung very tightly to the edge, but Tim laughed and pointed at the moon, saying, ‘Up dere! Me go up dere!’ He had always wanted to go to the moon.
    Higher and higher the boys flew. Below them the city lights sparkled like handfuls of diamonds dumped on black velvet. They dared not let go of the edge of the rug to point, but they shouted at each other and laughed.
    The moon got bigger and bigger, and the lights below dwindled away into pinpricks. They could see all sorts of shadows and pits on the moon’s round face, like ancient acne scars. Suddenly there was a blaze of searing light. The boys had to shield their eyes. Then everything went dark.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    The rug came down to the ground with a thump, and the boys were all flung off. Ben rolled over something hard and knobbly, like pebbles and rocks, and banged up against a wall. Cautiously he opened his eyes.
    It was pitch-black, and stinking hot. Slowly a smoky-red light flared up, along with a low rumbling roaring sound. Ben looked about him anxiously. They were in a huge cave, so enormous he could not see the far walls. Above him was a great vault of shadows. Gradually the red light and the rumbling sound faded away again. It was hard not to feel scared as the darkness fell down like a hot, heavy blanket. He sat really still, then slowly the light came back again, the air smelling smokier than ever, stinging his eyes.
    He gasped in surprise. He was sitting on a simply gigantic mound of treasure. Gold cups and crowns, jewelled sceptres, sparkling bracelets, necklaces of rubies and emeralds and opals and sapphires, shining golden plates and jugs, and trillions and zillions of coins and jewels rolled away in golden hills and mountains as far as the eye could see.

    Ben scrambled to his feet, leaning his hand against the wall to balance himself. It was burning hot to touch. He snatched his hand away, almost overbalancing as the treasure slid from under his feet. Then the light faded again and he could see nothing but fizzling darkness, no matter how wide-open he stretched his eyes. So, tentatively, Ben groped out and touched the hot wall. It throbbed under his hand. Ben felt very uneasy. The roaring sounds, which rose and fell so steadily, suddenly sounded a lot like snoring.
    â€˜Don’t be silly,’ Ben said to himself.
    The smoky-red light brightened the cave again. Ben was able to see the wall, which curved away from him on either side. Towering over him, it was the same golden colour as the treasure, and made of hundreds of huge overlapping scales, like a snake’s skin. Ben’s heart beat hard and fast. He took a shaky step away, craning his neck to get a better look. The wall was topped with huge spikes that grew smaller as