Dragon Rescue Read Free

theory,” said Furbetrance when they were alone. “She’s so concerned that they have the right diet for good teeth and strong claws.”
    “You should leave that sort of thing to your helpmate,” advised Retruance. “There’s important Dragon’s work for us males to do...”
    “Work? A quest? A task? I yearn to get my teeth into a new adventure, I can tell you!”
    “And a duty! No wife can deny her husband such a combination,”
    Retruance assured his brother.
    “Duty? Ah! You mean...looking for Papa! When do we leave?”
    “Soon as you tell Hetabelle about it,” his brother chuckled. “And only you can do that. I’ll wait for you over on the mainland.”
    “Oh, no you won’t!” cried Furbetrance, clutching his brother’s left wing firmly in an emerald foreclaw. “You’ll stand by me when I tell her I’m leaving...won’t you? Please!”
    As it turned out, Hetabelle was at once in favor of sending her husband off again to pursue her long-missing father-in-law.
    “I need some time to myself, you see. Not that I don’t love you dearly, husband, and I’ve really appreciated having you near the nest these past few years. I’d been hoping to take the kits to visit my mother’s aerie for some time. Mama knows good Dragon manners and the children need to get to know her better. But be careful, beloved! And call me if I can help your search. Send word if you are gone longer than you think you should.”
    Furbetrance sighed as he and Retruance launched themselves from Obsidia Isle. “I’m relieved she took it so well. And I’m pleased.
    But I’m also a bit...well... put out. Do you know what I mean?”
    “Thank your stars for unlooked-for blessings,” his big brother advised.
    Five days later the two green-and-gold Dragons were circling the upland rain forests at the feet of the sharp mountain range that ran north to south through Isthmusi, looking and feeling for signs of their missing parent.

Chapter Two
    Mountain Springs
    Retruance Constable rolled over on his back and waved a claw to attract his brother’s attention. Furbetrance waved back and the two flew toward each other to consult.
    “Shall we go on after dark?” asked the older brother. “We can’t do as well by starlight. The moon’s not up ‘til after midnight, and it’ll be a mere crescent.”
    “Hate to waste the time, but you’re right,” replied Furbetrance, doing slow wing-overs to maintain his altitude.
    “I’ve a strong feeling that Papa passed this way, and not too long ago,” added Retruance. “I’ve never had so strong a sense of him before.”
    “I trust your good senses, as always,” Furbetrance said. “I feel it, also. Rather strained, I must say, but definitely Papa.”
    He pointed a wing eastward, where the heavily forested uplands swooped up to the range of rugged, bare peaks. These stood shoulder to shoulder, cut only by one immensely deep valley filled with an un-named river.
    “Somewhere up there, I should say.” he said, turning away. “We can spend the night counting southern stars or catch a little sleep before the moon rises.”
    Without waiting for Retruance to reply, he shot on ahead, aiming for the riverine pass between the towering peaks. One of the wildest and noisiest rivers he’d ever seen flowed through the narrow water gap and down to the jungle, toward the distant Quietness Ocean.
    Retruance lingered to test again the wisps of Dragon scent in the humid air, and then followed several miles behind.
    All the better, he said to himself. Furby can make camp for us on some cool mountaintop.
    He was greatly impressed by these high mountains. They were surely the tallest peaks anywhere on the continent. Their feet were buried in the thick, tangled jungle, their lower slopes were densely clad with giant hardwoods. Higher up the cover changed to soaring pines, alternating with high, grassy alpine meadows. The bare upper third of their slopes rose steeply, almost straight up. Thick clouds washed