The maiden voyage of the Mary Belle 7/13

It was surprisingly easy to make progress. She soon found a rather narrow but well-defined path, leading towards the mountain. It was very hot and humid away from the fresh breeze that was blowing on the beach and she was glad when the path finally led her up out of the trees, onto the lower slopes of the mountain.

She stopped for a breather and had a drink from her flask. Then she sat quietly for a moment or two to get her breath back. She looked at her objective more closely. Now that she was a lot nearer, it didn’t look so much a mountain but more like pictures she’d seen of extinct volcanoes. The top didn’t rise to a point, but looked as if it had broken off, leaving a flat area.

She suspected that this might very well hide an old crater, so she’d have to be careful if she got that far. She had a quick look round to see if she could see any signs of a village or town.

There was nothing in sight but the view of the sea, where she could see the anchored brig, after that there was nothing but the tops of trees to be seen. It seemed as if she’d have to climb even higher, if she was to be able to spot a village where she might find someone to ask where the crew of the Mary Belle had landed. She got to her feet with a sigh and began plodding on up the side of the mountain.

She had eventually climbed to within a hundred yards of the summit, without seeing any signs of habitation, when she first began to notice a slight rumbling noise.

It seemed to be coming from the mountain itself. Surely if it really was a volcano it couldn’t be active. There was no steam or smoke to be seen, nor was the ground trembling under her feet. Her natural curiosity led her to the very top of the crater’s edge.

She’d been correct thinking it was a volcano, she was equally correct in believing it to be extinct. The crater had long been filled in by natural growth and was only about a hundred feet deep.

The reason for the rumbling noise was now also apparent and she couldn’t believe how it was she hadn’t recognised the sound before. The floor of the crater was crowded with dragons of all sizes and colours.

They were moving around as if they were at a party, talking to each other in what sounded like basic dragon language. A sudden wind on her back and a loud sigh made her look round.

A green dragon similar to Clarence, but a little smaller, had landed just behind her, he didn’t look very happy.

“I suppose you’re from the Davy Jones’ brig down there,” he said, “I’m afraid you won’t be going back though. If I wasn’t under orders, I’d flame you right now. No humans are allowed up here under any circumstances.”

He grabbed her with his front feet and jumped off the rim of the crater, gliding down to the dragons below. The talking stopped as he landed.

“You were quite right Chief,” said her captor, “there was someone coming up here. She’s off that ship in the bay, but obviously she’s not a goblin.”

“My name’s Jennifer Jane and I’m friendly with several dragons, is Clarence here? He’d vouch for me.”

“So what!” said the chief dragon, “Now if your name was Freda Elaine, then you’d be alright. She’s the one who made Tornak the Terrible eat coal in the alternate world you know and she killed a troll. Clarence quite often tells us stories about her. You’re not anywhere near nine feet high, you don’t look particularly frightening and you’ve got the wrong name!”

“It’s Clarence who’s got my name wrong, he’s always doing that, his memory for names is terrible.”

The dragons began talking among themselves. Some of them were all for flaming her right then to get rid of the problem, while others suggested waiting for Clarence to turn up and identify her.

At last, much to Jennifer Jane’s relief, they decided to wait for Clarence. After that they just came to look her over and talk about her amongst themselves. If she tried to ask one of them a question she was ignored. There was no way for her to get out of the crater, the walls were far too steep, so she just relaxed as best she could and waited for Clarence to turn up. As she waited, the crowd of curious dragons surrounding her slowly thinned out.

She had noticed a blue dragon staring at her for some time and eventually he came over to her and spoke.

“Excuse me,” he asked rather timidly, “My name’s Fred, aren’t you Jennifer Jane? You may remember me because Clarence found me a home in Scotland, when I came through from the alternate world.”

To be quite honest he looked just the same as any of the other blue dragons in the crater, but if it really was Fred then she was very happy to see him.

“Is Clarence coming here soon?” she asked.

“Oh yes, any minute now I expect. Megan and Cyril will be coming with him. I would have flown down with them as well, but it was a bit uncertain as to when I could meet them, so I came here by myself.”