Dragon Keepers #3: The Dragon in the Library Read Free Page A

as to define 'terrible' for me?" he asked.
    "Grumpy," Daisy said.
    "Gloomy," Jesse said.
    "Grouchy," Daisy added.
    "A junkyard dog," said Jesse.
    "A regular snapdragon, in other words," said the professor, enjoying a good chuckle.
    Daisy didn't see what was so funny. She asked, "Could Emmy be teething? My nephew gets really grumpy when he's getting a new tooth."
    "Dragons don't generally make a fuss when they are cutting teeth," said the professor. "And besides, she should have sufficient dentition to hold her for the next two years, I daresay."
    "Is it the summer, then?" Jesse asked. "It's been pretty hot here."
    "I doubt it," said the professor. "The metabolism of your dragon is such that she is capable of withstanding furnacelike temperatures."
    "That's kind of what she already told us," said Daisy. "My mother wants to cut her sheepdog fur."
    "DO NOT LET HER!" the professor thundered. The long white hair on his head seemed to crackle with intensity.
    Daisy winced. "Don't worry. I'm just saying--"
    "Eighty-seven percent of a dragon's magical
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    potency rests in its scales," the professor said, in a slightly less thunderous tone. "Since her fur correlates to her scales...well, I don't need to spell it out for you, do I?"
    "No," Daisy said.
    "Could it be a bug?" Jesse asked.
    The professor frowned, hooking his thumbs in his suspenders and leaning back in his chair. "An infestation of some sort?"
    "I mean a germ ...like the dragon flu," Jesse said, "or a summer cold."
    The professor shook his head. "Dragons don't ail the way humans do. Their bodies, as a rule, are in superb balance," he said.
    "Then why is she in such a crummy mood!" Daisy nearly shouted.
    The professor raised an eyebrow. "One might well ask the same question of you, young lady."
    Daisy shrugged and sighed. "Point taken," she said.
    The professor went on. "I'm afraid you'll just have to be patient with her. Humor her in the meantime, and hope for the best."
    Jesse stared at the screen. "That's it?" he said.
    "That's all the advice you can give us?" Daisy said. "Wait and hope for the best?"
    The cousins turned and stared at each other.
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    Was this the way it was going to be?
    Jesse said, "If you ask me, we're not Dragon Keepers, we're more like Dragon Slaves."
    "Oh, piffle," said the professor. "Forgive me, dear children, but have I ever given you to believe that being a Dragon Keeper was an unadulterated lark?"
    "Whatever that means," Jesse muttered.
    The professor went on. "Dragon Keeping isn't an amusement, my dears. You are your dragon's Keepers, in good moods and in bad. And that is the way of it, I'm afraid. There's really nothing to be done, unless--" He broke off and furrowed his brow, drumming his fingernails on the desktop.
    "Unless what?" Jesse asked, leaning toward the screen.
    "Unless...," the professor said. Then he shook his head quickly. "No. No matter how precocious your dragon has shown herself to be, such a thing would be utterly unheard of in the annals of early dragonhood development. Forget it."
    "Thanks a bunch," Daisy said through gritted teeth.
    "I will tell you this," said the professor, holding up a finger. "Valerian."
    "What's that?" asked Jesse.
    "It's an herb," said Daisy.
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    "Quite right, young lady," said the professor. "Known to be of use in the calming of fretful canines."
    "But Emmy's a dragon," Jesse reminded him.
    "Of course she is, my fine young fellow, but when she is in her masked state, you have but to offer her a steaming bowl of valerian tea...and her disposition will most likely improve. That is what you are looking for, isn't it? Some measure of relief?"
    "I guess," said Jesse doubtfully. "So what was the grave matter you wanted to talk to us about?"
    The professor snapped his fingers. "Ah, yes! I wanted to tell you..." He leaned across the desk, his dark eyes suddenly fierce beneath white bristling brows. "Beware, Dragon Keepers!"
    "Huh," said Jesse, too baffled at first to feel fearful.
    Daisy asked, "Beware