Tongue Tied - Episode 3
J.E.
Thompson
"Drake,
first off, Bessie ain't a thing, or a beast, she's a dragon. And a mighty fine
one at that.” Grant leaned down and patted Bessie’s neck. “If you stay
still, maybe a lick is all she'll take. You get to moving around, and she might
take a nip or two."
The
clouds floating around them hued orange as the sun dropped toward the horizon. “Better set down for
the night, girl.” Grant tugged the reins and the dragon began a slow descending
circle.
Bessie cruised five feet off
the ground, and stalled. Her wings billowed, kicking up a small dust storm from
the red desert, and she landed light as a hummingbird. Grant petted Bessie. “Good girl. Such a good landing.”
Drake spit dust out of his
mouth. “Maybe
from where you’re sittin’.” The red dust coating his hair and face gave him a
raccoon look.
“Drake, I get the sense you’d complain if you was hung with
a new rope.”
“And I got a notion you’d use one just to test the idea.”
Bessie opened her mouth, and Drake tumbled out of her mouth
and plopped onto the ground.
“Hey!” Drake said. “You could warn a guy, you—overgrown
lizard.”
Bessie lowered her head to
glare into Drake’s eyes. Puffs of smoke drifted out her nostrils.
“She can’t understand me,” Drake said. “Can she?”
“Maybe not exactly,” Grant said. “But she knows when she’s
been insulted. You two stay put while I walk yonder into town.” He put his hand
on the side of Bessie’s face and leaned in close to her. Speaking loud enough
for Drake to hear, he pointed and said, “You keep the bad man right here. If he
tries to skedaddle, bite his head off.”
It looked like Bessie
smiled. Drake stared at the dragon’s sharp teeth. “You don’t really mean
that. Do you?”
“I absolutely mean that,” Grant said.
“And so does she.” He ran his hand over the points of Bessie’s teeth. “Sharp.
But you already know that.” Grant waved his hand. “Bessie, blend in.”
“Where’d it go?” Drake said.
“She,” Grant said. “And she’s still here. Were I you, I’d get
in that cave.” Grant motioned to a hole in the cliff. “And don’t you come out
till after sunup.”
Drake backed into the cave, cautious not to trip over any of
the stones littering the entrance. The cave was a six-foot-deep dead-end hole in
the cliff face. He hunkered down against the rear wall.
Then he noticed that what
he thought were stones, were human skulls.
“Hey Bessie,” he said, his voice trembling. “You eat all
them folks?”
Silence. “You out there?”
Drake slunk out of the cave and crept along the base of the
cliff as quietly as he could. He had already crawled ten feet. He smirked. “Stupid
dragon.”
