Jesse James and the Dragon's Egg

They See Dead Things

"So what's the deal with that guy?" Kate asked.

"Brad knocked his butt out." John said, high-fiving his cousin. "That's what the deal is."

"Yep." Brad said, pointing to himself. "You're looking at the only guy that ever beat up Chip Trotman."

The little group had left Chip and his friends far behind. They moved through the wide open pasture, skirting the edge of the forest, laughing and joking. Al was out and free. His head was barely high enough to see over the tall weeds, but he blazed a trail ahead of the kids anyway. He stopped occasionally, raising his head above the surface of the grassy ocean just long enough to sample the sharp summer air, then dove right back in.

"Yeah. We sort of have a history." Jesse said, following right behind the little dragon.

"Ok, so, spill."

Lamar cleared his throat and spun the tale.

"Well, me, Jesse, John, and Chip kind of grew up together. Our moms were all friends and, even though Chip was two years older than us, we all played together."

"Yeah," John said. "He used to be super cool. We all went to each other's birthdays, went to the movies together, you know, just kind of hung out."

"Right," Lamar said, "well, Jesse's mom and Chip's mom got into some kind of fight. It was a big fight, went on for weeks. They'd be yelling at each other over the phone, sometimes even in restaurants. It went on for a while until eventually Chip just stopped coming over."

Lamar continued. "A little while after that me and Jesse are playing at Tekesta on the see-saws and Chip comes up with Corny and Matt and just pushes Jesse off the see-saw and starts laughing! Doesn't say anything just comes right up and knocks him off the see-saw. Well, I go to check on Jesse and Chip and Corny get on the see-saw, laughing and clowning and out of nowhere, Brad, this little kid right here, comes up and pushes Chip off the see-saw! I mean knocks him right off! It was awesome! Chip never even saw it coming! He went right off on his head and it knocked him out! Like, actually knocked him out!"

"Brad had just moved here that summer." John said. "I was bringing him around to meet everybody. He saw the whole thing when we were walking up and he just ran right at Chip. He hit him so hard and he's like 'You leave him alone!' It was awesome! Brad's mom was so mad that he didn't leave the house for like a month! And Chip has never gotten over it."

"That's crazy! Brad, I can't believe you did that!" Kate swatted playfully at the boy with a tuft of grass.

"Believe it! I owned that boy once and I'll do it again!" Brad grew quiet as he gazed off into the woods.

"Brad?"

"Jesse, what if there really is a reward?" Brad turned to Jesse. "I mean, we did kind of steal the thing."

"Oh, please." John said. "King wanted him to have it, and even if he didn't, he wouldn't have to offer some kind of reward to get it back. He knows who you are, Jesse. It wouldn't take but a second for him to figure out where you live and come get Al. Believe me, when the black limos and the cop cars start showing up outside your house, then it's time to worry."

"Yeah. Besides," Kate placed her hand on the little dragon's neck, "it's Al. We couldn't give him up. He's one of us now."

"What are you even talking about?" Brad said, throwing his arms into the air. "Nobody's talking about giving Al up! Besides, you're not even one of us."

"Uh, guys," Lamar had moved ahead of the conversation. He stood, surveying the wooded landscape. "Where are we?"

They had been walking and talking for some time, seeking shelter from the sweltering summer sun in the woods they were skirting. Without realizing it, they had walked and talked their way much deeper into those woods than they had intended, far deeper than any of them have ever gone before. The canopy was so dense that there was little in the way of underbrush and the walking had been so easy and cool they simply hadn't noticed.