Free The Fire Within (The Last Dragon Chro) by Chris D'Lacey Page B

dog.”
    “What?”
    “She hasn’t really. It’s what she says when she’s buying me presents. I’ll be eleven at the end of next week, you know.”
    “I know,” muttered David, hurrying down the hall.
    “Oh, good,” said Lucy, skipping along behind him, “will you go to see the dog man, too?”
    “I’m going to see this smiling squirrel, first.”
    “It’s great, isn’t it — Snigger coming?”
    David paused at the kitchen door. “It’s
not
Snigger. It can’t be Snigger. Snigger is running around the library gardens.” He yanked the door open and went dashing out.
    Lucy stood still and pondered for a moment. “I don’t think he is,” she said earnestly.
    But the tenant was too far away to hear.
    When Lucy caught up with him, David was sprawling flat across the rock garden, peeking at the box on the other side. He waved at Lucy to be quiet as she crawled up beside him. Cocking their heads, they listened to the sound of acorn shells being cracked and scattered on the bottom of the box.
    “Let’s move the trap out and take a better look,” said David.
    He stood up and scrambled over the rock garden. A few loose stones crumbled out of the earth and pitter-pattered into the side of the hutch. The acorn cracking instantly stopped. David hauled the box into the open.The captured squirrel chattered loudly and hid itself in the darkest corner.
    “We’re not going to hurt you,” Lucy tried to tell it as David carried the trap across the lawn. He set it on the bench near Lucy’s swing.
    “I’ll see if I can coax him into view,” he said. He crouched down quietly and scratched the mesh. “Stay back, Luce, they can bite, you know. You’d have to go to the hospital if he bit your — waargh!” Without warning, the tenant toppled backward onto the grass.
    “Hhh!” went Lucy, clapping her hands across her nose and mouth. The captured squirrel was clinging to the mesh with his feet splayed out and only his furry white tummy showing.
    “Awesome!” she exclaimed.
    “Glad you think so,” David whined, checking his finger for signs of a scratch.
    “That was a good trick,” Lucy said.
    “It was not a trick,” David said curtly. “He jumped so fast I —” Then it occurred to him that Lucy wasn’t talking to him at all; she was chatting to the squirrel.
    “Did you come on your own?” David heard her ask. She had her head near the mesh now, blocking his view. “Was it you on Mr. Bacon’s windowsill?”
    “Lucy, don’t get too close,” said David. “That squirrel is very —” He froze midsentence as Lucy turned around. The captive squirrel was sitting forward, clamping its chisellike teeth around the mesh. It looked at Lucy and chirruped something, then squinted at David and flagged its tail. It twitched its whiskers, tilted its head, sat up proudly on its haunches — and
smiled.
    “I don’t believe it,” David gasped.
    “Told you,” smiled Lucy.
    “But it
can’t
be Snigger. Why would Snigger come here?”
    Lucy seemed to think the answer was obvious. “To help Conker, of course.”
    David gave her a withering look. “Lucy, don’t be silly. How is
he
going to know about Conker?” The tenant sighed and rocked back on his heels. “What a shame. We were so close. Come on, you can do the honors.”
    Lucy stepped back, looking puzzled.
    “Lucy, whoever he is, he’s the wrong squirrel, isn’t he? We can’t keep him imprisoned. We have to let him go.”
    Lucy squeezed her fingers into fists. She wasn’t about to give up yet. “Where’s Conker?” she whispered, hunkering by the hutch. “Will you find him for me? It’s very important.”
    The squirrel chirruped and turned in a little circle.
    David sighed again but didn’t interrupt. In a moment or two, the trap would be open and “Snigger” would be loose in the neighborhood once more.
    “He’s only got one eye,” Lucy went on. The squirrel chattered something and flagged its tail. “Yes,” said Lucy, “horrible,