Free The Dragon in the Sea by Kate Klimo Page B

When he saw the eggs, he fell to his knees and wept. At first, my mom didn’t understand who this man was who was kneeling before the nest of eggs, weeping. When he told her that he was Obsidian, she didn’t believe him at first. Then he told her about the Old Mother giving him the ingredients for the spell that would turn him into a human so he could rescue her. And when he told her that onlya magic greater than it, and either of them, would be able to reverse the magic and turn him back into a dragon, it was my mother’s turn to cry. Would their babies ever see the handsome dragon that had once been Obsidian? They were both sobbing fit to bust when St. George jumped out of the bushes.
    “All at once, the woods were crawling with miners armed with rifles and pickaxes. ‘Save the eggs!’ my mother told my father, giving him two of the three. She told him in a rush, ‘Hide one in the eagles’ aerie on our mountain and the other in our brook.’ She took charge of the third egg—which was me. My father ran off, leaving my mother to fend for herself.”
    “That wasn’t very nice!” Jesse protested.
    Emmy shrugged. “But sensible. In his human form, my dad was no match for a big-time bad guy like St. George.
    “My mother took my egg and flew to the slopes of High Peak, where she hid it, moments before St. George hunted her down and slew her,” Emmy said.
    Jesse and Daisy both sighed.
    Then Daisy asked, “And your father?”
    “He did what my mom asked him to do. I’m guessing, since this egg wound up in the sea, that this is the one he hid in the brook.”
    They all stared at the Thunder Egg in a kind of mute wonderment.
    Daisy broke the silence. “I don’t get it. How did the egg get all the way from the brook to the sea?”
    “It’s just like Uncle Joe says,” Jesse answered. “Everything on Earth is connected to everything else: the brook runs into a stream, the stream runs into a river, the river runs down to the ocean.”
    “According to Watery Realm legend,” Yar said, “the egg was first found at the turn of the old century on a sandbar near the mouth of the Rushing River.”
    “There you go,” said Emmy.
    “Okay, then what happened to your dad?” Daisy asked.
    “Now
that
,” said Emmy with a crafty gleam in her eye, “is a story for another time.”
    Just then, as if the tiny dragon inside had been listening to every word of the story, the Thunder Egg started, ever so faintly, to vibrate.

C HAPTER S EVEN
A CASE OF THE HEEBIE-JEEBIES
    While Emmy had been telling her story, the water outside the canopy had been turning a deeper, darker green.
    “Who knew there was nighttime under the sea?” Daisy said.
    “The same sun rises and sets over the sea,” Jesse said sleepily, “and it has set, for sure.”
    “I’m pooped!” said Daisy.
    “Well, it’s a good thing you’re on the poop deck, then, isn’t it, Daisy?” said Emmy with a chuckle.
    “I’m too tired to laugh,” Jesse said. “Even my tail is tuckered out. In fact, I don’t think I have the strength to swim down to our cabin. Emmy, can’t I just curl up and sleep here with you and the egg?”
    “Me too,” said Daisy. “We want to be here when the egg hatches.”
    “It won’t hatch tonight,” said Emmy.
    “How come you’re so sure?” Daisy asked.
    It was Jesse who answered. “About twenty-four hours after Emmy’s egg started vibrating, it went
ka-blam
. So it will probably be the same with this one. Right, Em?”
    Emmy replied with an openmouthed yawn, showing the bright pink inside of her mouth and unfurling her long, forked tongue.
    The hammerhead shiver swam back into view.
    “Will you be okay here without us?” Daisy asked Emmy, casting a wary look at the hammerheads.
    “Don’t worry, Daise,” Emmy said. “They’re more scared of me than I am of them. Besides, we’re all here to protect the egg.”
    “You needn’t worry yourselves,” said Fluke. “Yar and I will be here, too, keeping a vigilant