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The Dragon Boat

Aunt Zelda was panicking "Where is the key? I can&039;t find the key! Oh, here it is" With shaking hands she drew the key out of one of her patchwork pockets and opened the door to the lantern cupboard She took out a lantern and gave it to Boy 412 "You knohere to go, don&039;t you?" asked Aunt Zelda "The trapdoor in the potion cupboard?" Boy 412 nodded "Go down into the tunnel You&039;ll be safe there No one will find you I&039;ll make the trapdoor Disappear"

"But aren&039;t you co?" Jenna asked Aunt Zelda

"No," she said quietly "Boggart&039;s very sick I&039;m afraid he may not last if I move him Don&039;t worry about me It&039;s not me they want Oh, look, take this, Jenna You may as well have hi out of yet another pocket and gave the rolled-up bug to her Jenna tucked the bug into her jacket pocket "Now, go!"

Boy 412 hesitated, and another crack of lightning split the air

"Go!" squeaked Aunt Zelda, waving her arms about like a demented windmill "Go!"

Boy 412 opened the trapdoor in the potion cupboard and held the lantern high, his hand tre a little, while Jenna scra where Maxie had got to He kne much the wolfhound hated thunderstorms, and he wanted to take him with him "Maxie," he called out "Maxie boy!" Fro a faint wolfhound whine came in reply

Boy 412 was already halfway down the ladder "Co with the recalcitrant wolfhound who refused to come out from what he considered to be the safest place in the world Under the hearth rug

"Hurry up," said Boy 412 ih the trapdoor What Nicko saw in that heap of srabbed hold of the spotted scarf that Maxie wore around his neck He heaved the terrified dog out fro hi noise on the stone flags and as Nicko shoved him into the dark potion cupboard he whined piteously Maxie knew he must have been very bad to deserve this He wondered what it was he had done And why he hadn&039;t enjoyed it more at the time

In a flurry of fur and dribble, Maxie fell through the trapdoor and landed on Boy 412, knocking the lantern fro away down the steep incline

"Now look what you&039;ve done," Boy 412 told the dog crossly as Nicko joined him at the bottom of the wooden ladder

"What?" asked Nicko "What have I done?"

"Not you Him Lost the lantern"

"Oh, we&039;ll find it Stop worrying We&039;re safe now" Nicko hauled Maxie to his feet, and the wolfhound skittered down the sandy slope, his claws scrabbling on the rock underneath, dragging Nicko with hi to rest in an unruly heap at the bottom of some steps

"Ow!" said Nicko "I think I&039;ve found the lantern"

"Good," said Boy 412 gruain and lit up the smooth marble walls of the tunnel

"There&039;re those pictures again," said Jenna "Aren&039;t they a?"

"How come everyone&039;s been down here except for ht have liked to look at the pictures Hey, there&039;s a boat in this one, look"

"We know," said Boy 412, shortly He put down the lantern and sat on the ground He felt tired and wished Nicko would be quiet

But Nicko was excited by the tunnel "It&039;s alyphs that ran along the wall as far as they could see in the flickering light of the lantern

"I know," said Jenna "Look, I really like this one This circle thing with a dragon in it" She ran her hand over the se inscribed on the in to shake

Boy 412 juulped

A long, low ruh their feet and reverberated through the air

"It&039;s "

One side of the tunnel as parting, ponderously rolling back, leaving a wide-open space in front of them Boy 412 held up the lantern It flared into a brilliant white light and showed, to their astonishment, a vast subterranean Roman temple laid out before them Beneath their feet was an intricate e round marble columns But that was not all

"Oh"

"Wow"

"Phew" Nicko whistled Maxie sat down and breathed respectful clouds of dog breath into the chill air

In theon the mosaic floor, lay the olden Dragon Boat of Hotep-Ra

The huge green and gold head of the dragon reared up froiant swan&039;s The body of the dragon was a broad open boat with a s the outside of the hull were the dragon&039;s wings; great iridescent green folds shiht of the lantern And at the stern of the Dragon Boat the green tail arched far up into the darkness of the telooet here?" breathed Nicko

"Shipwrecked," said Boy 412

Jenna and Nicko looked at Boy 412 in surprise "How do you know?" they both asked

"I read about it in A Hundred Strange and Curious Tales for Bored Boys Aunt Zelda lent it to on Boat was real Or that it was here"

"So what is it?" asked Jenna, entranced by the boat and getting the strangest feeling she had seen it soon Boat of Hotep-Ra Legend has it he was the Wizard who built WizardTower"

"He did," said Jenna "Marcia told me"

"Oh Well, there you are, then The story said Hotep-Ra was a powerful Wizard in a Far Country and he had a dragon But soon offered to become his boat, and she carried him safely to a new land"

"So that boat is - or was - a real dragon?" whispered Jenna, in case the boat could hear her

"I suppose so," said Boy 412

"Half boat, half dragon," muttered Nicko "Weird But why is she here?"

"She recked off sohthouse," said Boy 412 "Hotep-Ra towed her into the marshes and had her pulled out of the water into a Roman te her, but he couldn&039;t find any skilled craftsh place in those days"

"Still is," grunted Nicko, "and they&039;re still no good at building boats either If you want a proper boatbuilder you come upriver to the Castle Everyone knows that"

"Well, that hat they told Hotep-Ra too," said Boy 412 "But when this oddly dressedto be a Wizard, they all laughed at hion Boat Until one day the Queen&039;s daughter fell ill, and he saved her life The Queen was so grateful that she helped hihter out to the Marraon Boat And they fell in love with it After that Hotep-Ra had ason it as he wanted, and because the Queen loved the boat, and she liked Hotep-Ra too, she used to bring her daughter out every su on The story says the Queen still does that Oh, erwell, not any more, of course"