east.
As they turned toward the Swamp River, Wiglaf spied a gray stone castle sitting atop a hill. They drew close and Wiglaf saw dozens of rocking chairs sitting on the lawn in front of the castle. Letters carved into the stone above the door read: YE OLDE HOME FOR AGED KNIGHTS.
Erica led the way over the drawbridge. She yanked the bell pull. A minute later, the big wooden front door swung open. And there stood a tall, broad-shouldered man with wavy brown hair and eyes of cornflower blue. He wore a bright red tunic and red leather boots. A patch sewn onto his tunic spelled out his name: Donn.
âBuenos dÃas!â Donn said. âGood day!â He bowed. âCan I help you?â
âWeâre from Dragon Slayersâ Academy,â Erica said. âLady Lobelia sent us.â
âAh, Señorita L.!â Donn clasped his hands to his chest. âNo fairer damsel ever set slipper upon this earth.â
âYuck,â muttered Angus. âI hope he isnât Auntie Lobeliaâs new boyfriend.â
âWelcome to Ye Olde Home,â Donn said. âCome in!â He led them inside to a great hall. A fire burned in a big stone fireplace. Flags with faded coats of arms flew from poles above their heads.
Everywhere Wiglaf looked, he saw aged knights. Some wore tunics and breeches. Some wore odd pieces of their old armor. But most sat around in their jammies.
âTalk to the aged knights,â said Donn. âThey will enjoyâ Ay, caramba !â he cried suddenly. âSir Dribblechinâs lost his teeth again. Pardon me.â He hurried off to help him.
The DSA students walked over to two aged knights playing cards.
âHave you any knaves?â said one aged knight to the other.
âHa-haâno!â cackled the second. âGo fishing for it!â
The first aged knight drew a card from the pile.
ââTis a knave!â he cried, showing his card. âI get another turn!â
âThatâs no knave,â said the second aged knight. âThatâs a jester.â
âSame thing,â said the first.
ââTis not!â cried the second.
ââTis, too!â cried the first.
The aged knights kept arguing. They didnât seem to notice the DSA students.
âLook,â whispered Janice, pointing to a group of knights sitting around a large table. âTheyâre playing dragon bingo.â
The DSA students headed for the round table. Each knight had a parchment card in front of him. The cards were dotted with small flat stones. Letters at the top of the cards spelled out: D-R-A-G-O-N.
Wiglaf noticed that one of the knights wasnât nearly as aged as the others. He had plump cheeks, dark shoulder-length hair, and a potbelly. He wore faded blue pjâs. Wiglaf watched as the plump knight picked up a silvery napkin ring that lay on the table and gazed into it as if it were a mirror. He plucked a gray hair from his head. Then he smiled at his reflection.
Wiglaf thought he had seen this knight somewhere before. But where?
âBueno!â said Donn, coming over to the big round table. âWhere were we?â He picked a tile from a box and called, â Numero G-32.â
All the aged knights who had G-32 on their cards covered it with a stone.
Wiglaf nudged Erica. âLook at the chubby knight in the blue jammies,â he whispered. âDoes he look familiar?â
âWhere?â said Erica, looking around the room.
Donn reached into the box and took another tile.
â Numero N-5,â he called. âN-5.â
A short, bald knight clutching a cane in one hand called out, âDragon!â
âThatâs the only way youâll ever get a dragon again, Roger,â cried a skinny, hunched-over knight with poofs of curly white hair. âOn a game card!â
All the knights at the bingo table cracked up.
âStuff a sock in it, Poodleduff!â cried Sir Roger, waving his
Sharon Kleve, Jennifer Conner, Danica Winters, Casey Dawes