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"Oh, you don’t? Fancy flying down there yourself, fur-face?" inquired Lola "Co’s hand "We’re going to make ourselves useful," she said and turned to Firedrake "Coht?"

Firedrake nodded "Very handy," he replied "I’ll tell you so to small people one of these days"

"That’s okay byin tow, she cliuided the homunculus down to where her plane was still safely tied to the dragon’s tail They undid the thin chains, Lola opened the cockpit, and the two of thelance at Ben, and the boy waved to hiine Its hu of crickets as the little plane took off with the two scouts on board, swooping doard the Eye of the Moon

45 The Eye of the Moon

"Pretty big, this lake!" shouted Lola through the noise of the engine "Yes," whispered Twigleg "As big as a sea" Looking out of the , he could hear his teeth chattering The sound of the engine rang in his ears, and his knees were knocking Flying in a tinny little plane! What a horrible thought Nothing but a bit ofcontraption between hi back, on Ben’s warm lap, in the backpack, anywhere but in this infernalsuspicious, hoet rid of fear by sing "No," he said in a tre Only the stars"

They were reflected in the water like tiny fireflies

"Fly closer to the bank," Twigleg told the rat "That’s the kind of place where he likes to hide, lurking in the leg’s sto solass Hu, the plane flew over the water All was dark Only the flowers on the bank glowed alooked over his shoulder to where Firedrake had landed, but there was no sign of the silver dragon He had probably hidden and atching for their signal frolanced down at the water Suddenly, as if co shook his chest

"He’s here!" he cried in terror

"Where?" Lola clutched her joystick and peered into the dark, but she could see nothing suspicious

"I don’t knohere," cried Twigleg, "but I can feel it Quite clearly"

"Could be so in what you say" Lola pressed her sharp nose to the cockpit"There’s kind of a suspicious ripple on the water there ahead As if a large stone had just dropped into it" She throttled back the engine "I’ll turn off the lights," she whispered "We want to get a closer view of this"

Twigleg’s knees were knocking again Thehis old master once more froze his blood Lola flew in an arc toward the suspect spot She didn’t need lights; like Twigleg, she had the eyes of a nocturnal creature, and starlight was enough for her

Where the ripples were curling and little waves lapped the shore, the ste his way through theer than a dwarf

"There!" Twigleg jumped up from his seat and hit his head on the roof of the aircraft "It’s Gravelbeard -- running along ahead of us!"

Lola steered her plane toward the bank The startled dwarf stuck his head out of the glowing flowers and saw the buzzing aircraft heading straight for him Gravelbeard didn’t stop to think twice He ran back to the water like lightning

Lola Graytail wrenched the plane around