Dreaming of Dragons

[Image – princess & prince / girl & boy reading book about monsters of the past]

"That’s a Mighty Jungle Dragon!" exclaimed Sir Toby.
"No, it’s not, it’s a Megamungasaurus."
"No! It’s a Mighty Jungle Dragon."
"No! It’s a Me-ga-munga-saur-rus!"
"No it isn’t!" With that he gave his sister a mighty jungle shove.
Lady Elizabeth flipped around and thumped him on the arm.
"Owwww! Eggy hit me."
"Well, Toby pushed me first."
"No I didn’t!"
"Yes you did – like this!"

"That’s enough!"
Lord Bigbeard threw open the door. "I can hear you two in the scullery."

{Illustration: Lord B in scullery with big rosy cook, blushing maids and fresh baked goods}
Lord Bigbeard often popped down to the scullery for a little nibble of Cook’s orange muffins; it was much more fun seeing all the ingredients and smelling the freshly baked cakes and pies. You know, having servants bring you things all the time is really rather boring.

"Now, hands washed, please! We’re having one of Cook’s special Scrummy Pies for supper."
"Where’s Mummy?"
"Her Ladyship is opening a new hospital this evening. She might be a little late.’
"Waaaah!"
"Now, now, that’s enough, you don’t want Butterbean to hear you crying, do you, You know it makes him sneeze."

"Aaaah – kerchoo!"  Tap, tap, tap.
"Dinner is served My Lords, Milady."
"Thank you Butterbean. How are the little Butterbeans?"
"Very well Sir, very well."
"Good."

After supper, Lord Bigbeard went upstairs to work on one of his projects.
Nanny appeared.
"Upstairs! Brush teeth! Bath, book, bed!"
"Ohhh, can we play a game?"
"All depends if you’re good or not. Right, who’s going to be first in the bath?"
"Me, me, me!" squealed Toby and Elizabeth.

[Fun sequence for illustrator]
They raced through the hallway, past the suit of armour, past the grinning portraits, past the Bayou Tapestry, jostling one another for pole position.
Sir Toby took the lead on the staircase, but Elizabeth was not going to be beaten, so she reached out and grabbed his foot, and down he slid, bumping his chin on the stair.
Luckily the stairs were covered in a thick red carpet, so he wasn’t too badly hurt.

"I saw that, you naughty girl! No games for you tonight."
"But Toby made me do it!"
"I don’t think so! Now what do you say to your brother?"
"Sorry Toby."
"That’s alright," said Toby, bravely.

Sir Toby snuck into the master bathroom just ahead of his sister.
"I was first, I was first,’ he shouted happily.
"It’s not a race," replied Elizabeth.
"Yes it is," said Nanny, "but you still have to get into the bath."

Toby was struggling with his doublet, which is a kind of tight jacket that knights and princes wear.
"Here, let me help," offered Nanny.
"No, I can do it!" cried Toby.
‘Haha! I’m first in the bath," laughed Elizabeth.
"It’s not a race!" cried Toby.

Nanny helped Toby into the great big bath.  It was warm, wet and full, full, full of bubbles. Nanny knew how to run a fabulous bath.

"Try this Eggy, try this!" said Toby, as he pushed off with his legs against the side of the bath and pretended to swim.
Lady Elizabeth tried it too. It was so much fun.
"Let’s do it together, Toby."
They did it together. Nanny didn’t stop them. To be honest, she was glad they had stopped fighting, it gave her a moment to relax.
Toby and Elizabeth squished their feet against the wall and pushed off together like a pair of performing frogs.
A huge wave of soap bubbles flowed towards the other end of the bath.
"I won, I won!"  cried Elizabeth. The wave of bubbles hit the back wall.
"It’s not a r…ublublublub." The wave of bubbles bounced off the back wall and smacked into Toby’s face. "Waaaaah! My eyes, my eyes!"

Nanny jumped up and grabbed a clean cloth to wipe the soap out of his eyes.
"You silly sausages," she said with a smile.
"I’m not a sausage!" cried Toby.
"No you’re not, you’re right. Sausages can’t swim. Especially not in the bath."
"Eggy made me do it!"
"No I didn’t! He did it first."
"That’s enough. I think it’s time for bed, don’t you?"
Nanny was not listening for an answer.

That night, nanny read them a long, long story about dragons and princesses and soon they were fast asleep, and deep in their dreams.

Lady Elizabeth was walking through the forest with a bag full of cookies, just like Little Red Riding Hood.
Suddenly a great big dinosaur leapt out from behind a tree and blocked her path.
"Hand over the cookies!" roared the dinosaur, who was beginning to look more and more like a dragon.
"No," said Elizabeth, "they’re for my grandmother."
The dinosaur grinned wickedly and two big fangs appeared.
"Oh, what big teeth you’ve got!" said Elizabeth.
"All the better to eat you with," said the dinosaur to the basket of cookies.
The cookies screamed.

At that moment Sir Toby appeared in a full suit of armour.
"Hey, Dragon Wagon," shouted Toby. "You’re a big, smelly coconut head!"
"Well, well, well," said the beast, turning away from Elizabeth and eyeing up Sir Toby. "You’re a silly sausage!"
"I’m not a sausage."
"Very well, Sir, very well," said the dragon and he sneezed a big sneeze of fire, which hit a tall coconut tree. The tree burst into flame. [Dragon looks a bit like Butterbean]
"Mmm," said the dragon, breathing in the sweet smell of sizzling coconuts. "Well you look like a sausage and you smell like a sausage. Let’s see if you taste like a sausage." [Dragon now looks more like the cook]

Sir Toby pulled out his sword.
"On guard!"
But the dragon was bigger and stronger than Toby and with one swoop of its massive claw, knocked the sword out of his hand. Sir Toby fell backwards. The dragon scooped him up with his other paw.
"Mmmmm," said the dragon. "Dinner is served."

Lady Elizabeth could see that her brother was in terrible danger, but she knew just what to do.

She grabbed the dragon’s left foot and gave it an ALMIGHTY tug. The dragon toppled over with a thundering crash and smashed its chin hard on the forest floor.

Sir Toby grabbed his sword and stood on top the dragon.
"Haha! We got you, you big, smelly, coconut head," he cried.
"Very well, Sir, very well," sighed the dragon.
Then it looked over at Elizabeth, who was busy picking up the cookies and putting them back in the basket. "What do you say to your brother?"
"Thank you for saving me, Toby!"
"That’s alright."
"Is that all, Toby?" enquired the dragon.
"Thank you for saving me too, Eggy."
"That’s alright," said Elizabeth.
She looked at him and he looked at her.

Two seconds later, lady Elizabeth woke up – to find her brother, in his knight’s pyjamas, sitting on her bunk bed. He was just about to jump on her.
She reached out her arms and smiled.
"Hug?"
"Hug!"
[Final page  - brother & sister hugging, ahhhh!]
 

© 2006 Andrew Johnston