Ben tied the boat to a tree and shyly came closer. “Thank you,” he said to the dragon. “Thank you very much for chasing those men away.”
Firedrake bent his neck and gently nuzzled the boy. “What are you going to do now?” he asked. “You can’t go back there, can you?”
“No.” Ben sat down on his backpack, sighing. “That factory won’t be left standing much longer. They’re going to blow it up.”
“Oh, you’ll find somewhere else to hide!” Sorrel looked around, snuffling, and picked a few leaves from the bramble bushes. “I know! Why not move in with Rat’s cousin? He’s got plenty of room.”
“Rat’s cousin!” cried Firedrake. “With all the excitement, I’d entirely forgotten about him. What did he say? Does he know where we must look?”
“Well, sort of!” Sorrel stuffed the leaves into her mouth and picked herself another handful. “But we’d have found that out for ourselves, anyway. One thing’s for sure, we have a long journey ahead of us. Are you certain you don’t want to change your mind?”
But Firedrake only shook his head. “I’m not turning back, Sorrel. Exactly what did the rat say?”
“He gave us a map,” said Ben. “The map shows it all. Where to fly, what to watch out for, everything. It’s great!”
Excited, the dragon turned to Sorrel. “A map? What kind of a map?”
“Well, just a map.” Sorrel took it out of her backpack. “There you are.” She spread it out in front of the dragon.
“What does all that mean?” Firedrake looked at the tangle of lines and marks, baffled. “Can you read it?”
“Of course,” said Sorrel, looking important. “My granddad was always drawing things like that, to help him find his way back to his mushroom stores.”
The dragon nodded. “Good.” He put his head to one side and looked up at the sky. “Which way do I fly first? Straight east?”
“Um, east? Wait a minute.” Sorrel scratched behind her ears and bent over the map. Her furry finger traced Gilbert’s golden line. “No, I think we go south. First south, then east, he said. Yes, that’s exactly what he said.” She nodded. “I’m certain he did.”
“Sorrel,” said Firedrake, “are you quite sure you understand what these scribbles mean?”
“Of course I do!” Sorrel looked offended. “Oh, bother these human clothes!” Crossly, she pulled Ben’s sweatshirt over her head and slipped out of the trousers. “I can’t think properly with this stuff on.”
The dragon looked at her thoughtfully. Then he stretched his neck and looked at the sky. “The sun’s setting,” he said. “We can start soon.”
“Thank goodness!” Sorrel folded up the map and put it in her backpack. “About time we left this city. It’s no place for a dragon and a brownie.”
Ben picked up a couple of stones and chucked them into the dark water. “I don’t suppose you’ll be coming back, will you?”
“Why on earth would we want to?” Sorrel stuffed a few extra bramble leaves into her backpack. “I certainly don’t want to see that conceited white rat again.”
Ben nodded. “Then I’ll wish you both luck,” he said, throwing a final stone into the water. “I hope you find this Rim of Heaven place.”
Firedrake looked at him. Ben returned the dragon’s glance.
“You’d like to come, too, wouldn’t you?” asked Firedrake.
Ben bit his lip. “Of course,” he muttered, hardly knowing where to look.
Raising her head, Sorrel pricked up her ears uneasily. “What?” she said. “Come with us? What are you two going on about?”
Firedrake took no notice of her but just looked at the boy. “It will be a dangerous journey,” he said. “Very long and very dangerous. You may never come back. Wouldn’t anyone here miss you?”
Ben shook his head. “I’m on my own. I always have been.” His heart beat faster. Hardly daring to believe it, he looked at the dragon. “Would you … would you really let me come, too?”
“If you like,” replied Firedrake. “But think about it carefully. Sorrel often gets very bad-tempered, you know.”
Ben felt weak at the knees. “Oh, I do know!” he said, grinning. He was feeling quite dizzy with delight.
“Hey, hang on half a sec!” Sorrel pushed her way in between them. “What’s got into you, Firedrake? He can’t possibly come.”
“Why not?” Firedrake playfully nuzzled her furry stomach. “He’s been very helpful. We can use all the help we can get, don’t you think?”
“Helpful?” Sorrel was so indignant she almost fell over. “He’s a human! A human being! Only pint-sized, but still a human being. And it’s the humans’ fault we’re not at home in our nice warm cave. It’s their fault we’re off on this crazy quest! And now you want to take one of them along?”
“Yes, I do.” Firedrake rose, shook himself, and bent his neck so low that the brownie girl had to look him in the eye. “He’s helped us, Sorrel. He’s a friend. So I don’t mind whether he’s a human being, a brownie, or a rat. What’s more,” he added, looking at Ben, who was standing there hardly daring to breathe, “what’s more, he doesn’t have a home now any more than we do. Isn’t that true?” He looked inquiringly at the boy.
“I never did have a home,” muttered Ben, looking at Sorrel.
The brownie bit her lip and dug the claws of her toes into the muddy bank. “Oh, all right, all right,” she murmured gruffly at last. “I’ll say no more. But he sits behind me. I insist on that.”
Firedrake nudged her so firmly with his nose that she fell backward into the dirty grass. “He sits behind you,” Firedrake agreed. “But he’s coming with us.”
8. Flying Off Course
When the moon had risen above the city rooftops, and a few lone stars began to appear in the sky, Firedrake came out from under the bridge. Sorrel was up on his back in an instant, but Ben didn’t find it quite so easy. Sorrel watched with a scornful grin as he laboriously clambered up Firedrake’s tail. When he finally reached the dragon’s back he looked as proud as if he had climbed the highest mountain on earth. Sorrel took his backpack, buckled it to her own, and hung them like saddlebags over Firedrake’s back.
“Hang onto the spines of his crest,” she told Ben. “And tie yourself to them with this strap, or the first gust of wind will blow you off.”
Ben nodded. Firedrake craned his neck around to look at the two of them. “Ready?”
“Ready!” said Sorrel. “Here we go. Fly south!”
“South?” asked Firedrake.
“Yes, first south, then after a while turn east. When I tell you.”
The dragon spread his shimmering wings and took off. Holding his breath, Ben clung tight to the spines of Firedrake’s crest. The dragon rose higher and higher. They left the noise of the city behind. Night enfolded them in darkness and silence, and soon the human world was no more than a glitter of lights far below.