The Ivory Dragon 13/14

Jennifer Jane had followed the salesman until a cart came along and stopped to pick him up. She also began worrying about losing track of the editor of the Holmwood Advertiser, so she went higher until she could watch them both at the same time. The salesman got off from the cart as soon as it reached Lurbridge, so she zoomed down and walked carefully into the George and Dragons. She was still invisible, so was able to have a good look at his face while he was ordering a drink.

Then she went outside in case somebody bumped into her by accident and used the instant travel spell to go back to the crossroads where she’d left the editor. As she’d half expected, he’d disappeared. At least she knew that Leah had closed the door, so he had to be somewhere in this world and once again she went up high enough to be able to see over long distances. There was no sign of him anywhere that she could see.

Over at the squire’s house there were signs of activity as two men shovelled coal into a sack. She had a quick look at the day on her watch; sure enough it was a Wednesday, the day that had been put aside for the coal delivery for the local dragons. Some stablemen were busy getting a cart ready for the delivery to Lurbridge, so everything there was normal.

She scouted around for a while but with no result. The constant use of the instant travel spell was beginning to make her feel tired. Not only that, but she knew it could be very dangerous as well if a lack of concentration made her happen to arrive in the same place as someone else, or maybe even something solid. She could search far more effectively if she was just flying normally on her scooter. So she summoned up the last of her energy and transported herself to the Witches’ Home.

When she arrived, a strange carriage drawn by two horses was parked just by the drawbridge. She wondered for a moment who could possibly own the vehicle, but the driver was asleep on the footboard, while the horses were arguing with each other.

“Turn round this way; the grass is much longer over here!”

“No I won’t, the grass is much longer on my side and it’s a lot greener than yours!”

“Why don’t you just face the moat and walk forward slowly, said Jennifer Jane, “then you’ll both get longer fresher grass. But be careful you don’t fall into the moat!”

The horses looked round in astonishment, then looked at each other, before doing as she suggested.

“Don’t eat so fast,” one was saying as she crossed over the drawbridge, “You’re making me trample all this fresh stuff!”

She went inside laughing at the two horses. Whoever their owner was, they were obviously used to working together and spending all their time arguing.

Once in the refectory she had a cup of tea and a light meal to make herself feel better, then went off to find Abigail to tell her that yet another stranger from her world was loose somewhere in the area.

Abigail was to be found in none of her usual haunts and eventually she had to ask one of the senior witches if she knew where she might be.

“We’ve got a bit of trouble at the moment,” she was told. “The squire of Lurbridge is here with a stranger from your world. If I were you I would knock at the senior common room door, then wait to see if you’re invited in!”

Abigail came to the door in answer to her knock. “Good!” she exclaimed, “we’ve been trying to find you, but nobody seemed to know whether you were in this world or not!”

Sitting round a table were some of the senior witches, the squire and the editor of the Holmwood Advertiser. Jennifer Jane fetched another chair and everybody shuffled round a bit to make room for her. They were all looking stern, except for the editor who was obviously worried and rather unsure of himself. He brightened up a bit as Jennifer Jane came in.