The Bean and the Dragon

A Goat, Well Met... Maybe

"Everybody freeze!" hissed Archibald. No one had a problem with the command as they were all frozen in place anyway. "It'll be attracted to the movement."

"Dude," Wendy whispered, tracking the dragon through the sky, "that's one big flying machine."

"What are we going to do?" Jane demanded urgently, her voice low.

"Sit still and wait for it to go by. We're inside the trees. Maybe it won't see us," Orson said.

The dragon with a yellow underbelly and wings flew over them. After it went by, Jane could see that it was green, as green as the beanstalk she'd climbed to get to the cloud. She watched, heart pounding, as the dragon circled back to fly over again.

"Helloooo..." they heard from high in the sky.

Jane looked at Orson, who was as wide-eyed as she. "Did—?"

"Yeah, I think it did!" Orson said, looking at the dragon flying off back toward the mountain.

"That dragon said hello!" Shelly all but squeaked in excitement.

"What does that mean?" Jane asked. "Is it friendly?"

"No way of knowing, ol' girl, but to get up there and see!" Archibald announced. "Sadly, my wingmate and I have to stay here. Having sighted the dragon, we're now duty-bound to follow regulation."

Orson nodded at the swan. "We understand, Archibald, and we don't want you to go against the AT. We respect you too much to ask that."

Archibald gave him a smart salute. "Right-o, chap. Much appreciated. Now, we'll fly back to that pond we passed a half an hour ago and come back to wait at dawn. Best of luck to you." He began to shrink down.

"Go get 'em, dude!" Wendy added before she, too, reduced to normal size. The two ran and launched themselves into the air, exhibiting a grace in flight they didn't have on the ground.

The trio watched their friends fly away. Jane's stomach fluttered at the sight. "There goes our rescue."

Orson turned her to him with a gentle touch. "It's going to be okay, Jane. This will work out. Have faith."

Jane smiled at her friend. "Thanks, Orson." He's a good friend, she realized. And, most of all, they now knew where the dragon lived, about halfway up to the snow line.

They began walking across the field, their steps quick, in case the dragon decided to come back and not be quite so friendly. Jane soon became grateful the satchel didn't weigh much. She dug through it and found the hats they had stored for her and Orson, and the wide brims helped keep the sun off, including shading Shelly as she rode on Jane's shoulder.

The field started to become rockier and rockier, and the grasses more and more sparse until they crossed a line at which the grass stopped completely. The ground sloped upward, and they were picking out a path between large boulders a short time later. Everything seemed to be going well until they heard the first scream.

Ducking between two boulders with Orson, Jane gulped. "What was that?" she whispered.

"I don't know," Orson shared. "I've never heard anything like it."

"It's the goats," Shelly offered. "They scream. Don't you have goats where you're from, Jane?"

"Yeah, sure, but they bleat, not scream!"

"Well, I'd start getting out some apples because it means they've spotted us, and they're heading our way!"

Jane scrambled to open the satchel and dole out apples to Orson. They began to hear the crunch of hooves on gravel, and Jane squeaked when a scream next to them startled her.