Free Dragon Keepers #1: The Dragon in the Sock Drawer by Kate Klimo, John Shroades

sock drawer. She takes after Grandma. She really seems to have a thing for socks. Love, Jesse

    Just as he was logging off, Daisy came into the room and showed Jesse a rough layout of the sign she had made on a page torn out of her wildflower notebook.
    â€œBrilliant,” said Jesse.
    â€œThanks,” said Daisy. “You take care of the words. I’ll handle the picture. Plan?”
    â€œPlan,” Jesse said. And they both set to work.
    Daisy measured Emmy as best she could, from horn to tail. “She’s four inches,” Daisy said to Jesse.
    Jesse nodded and added this information to the sign he was designing on the computer.
    Daisy went downstairs and came back with Uncle Joe’s digital camera. “I’m going to try very hard to make this the worst photo I can possibly take,” she announced to Jesse.
    Jesse squinted at the computer screen and murmured, “You mean like those shots Uncle Joe takes of rocks?”
    â€œExactly right,” said Daisy, peering through the camera at Emmy. “Very fuzzy and very, very, very, very boring.”
    By the time Daisy was ready to transfer the pictures from the camera, Jesse had the rest of the document all set to go. He had deliberately chosen a font that was hard to read. The cousins examined Daisy’s photographs. They finally agreed on the most boring one to use for their sign.
    â€œNot even Professor Andersson would be able to tell this is a baby dragon,” Jesse said. He selected the picture and dropped it in at the bottom of the document. Then he saved it and printed out twelve copies of the sign:

    The next morning, Uncle Joe was already out in the Rock Shop when Jesse and Daisy brought Emmy downstairs to the kitchen. Daisy gave Emmy some lettuce leaves for breakfast. The dragon was still hungry, so Jesse fed her a whole tub of cottage cheese, then a chunk of Swiss cheese, some strawberry yogurt, a pint of coleslaw, and five small balls of mozzarella.
    â€œShe’s like the Very Hungry Caterpillar!” Daisy declared.
    â€œHmmm,” said Jesse thoughtfully, staring at Emmy’s belly, which was bulging now.
    Daisy lifted her up and tucked her into the hood of Jesse’s sweatshirt. “She feels heavier today. Does she feel heavier to you?” Daisy asked.
    â€œWell, of course she does. She just ate practically half the refrigerator,” said Jesse, adjusting his hood.
    â€œPoppy won’t notice the missing food, but my mom will for sure when she gets back,” said Daisy. “I guess we’ll just have to tell her we’re in training for something.”
    â€œIn training to be Dragon Keepers,” said Jesse with a short laugh.
    Daisy put the copies of the sign in a big brown envelope and fastened it to the back of her bike with a bungee cord. Then they got on their bikes and rode into town. They stopped at every shop along Main Street and asked each shopkeeper if it was okay to put up a sign. Most of the shopkeepers were happy to let Jesse and Daisy post the signs. But when the owner of the dry cleaner’s said he did not allow signs, that was okay with the cousins.
    If nobody in Goldmine City ever saw a single sign, that would be fine with Jesse and Daisy. After all, Emmy had chosen them. They were the Dragon Keepers.
    When they had placed the very last sign in the window of the coffee shop, Emmy, who had been watching in silence from the hood, scrambled up onto Jesse’s shoulder, lifted her head, and yodeled, “Fooooood!”
    â€œShhhhhh!” said Daisy. “You just ate!”
    â€œEm. Meee. Eat. More!” she said.
    â€œSoon,” said Jesse.
    â€œNot. Soon,” said Emmy. “Feed. Em. Meee. NOW!”
    The cousins raced back home to boil some eggs.
    â€œLet’s boil the whole carton,” said Daisy. “We can make deviled eggs for snacks, and that way we won’t waste any.”
    As soon as the hard-boiled eggs were cool enough, they