Her dragon guffawed so loudly a puff of smoke escaped from Sasha’s nose. Sasha slapped her hand over her lower face to hide the evidence.
“Better start making up your ditty because Noel is watching us closely.”
“Right, the song,” Sasha said aloud. “I’ll sing some of it on the way to your bedroom. Are you coming?” She set off before Noel had made up his mind. “There was a silly old dragon called Bruceous,” she croaked.
Sasha’s singing voice was terrible, and she admitted it, but if Noel loved songs and rhymes, she’d do her best.
“Who flirted with the ladies too much,”her dragon sang.
“We can’t sing that to a child,”Sasha protested. Aloud, she sang, “Who never made his bed because he was the laziest.”
“What’s next?” Noel asked, staring at her in expectation.
“Yeah, what’s next?”her dragon asked.
Ugh!Not only was she out of tune, but her rhyming was off.
“His mother proposed a bet. Bruceous would get a…”
“Set of goats?”her dragon suggested.“Set of cows? Set of pretty combs for our hair?”
Sasha sucked in a deep breath. “A pound of apple pies each week if he could make his bed.”
“This is a terrible song. Look! Noel has clapped his hands over his ears.”
“I know,”Sasha said.“What can I say?”She winked at Noel. “Let’s make the bed instead of singing.”
“Yes.” Noel wrinkled his nose.
Sasha burst out laughing. “You work on that side, and I’ll stand here. Are you ready?”
Noel gave her a doubtful nod, but Sasha had an idea. She sang the instructions about smoothing the sheets and tugging up the blankets. Fluffing the pillow and folding his pajamas.
“There,” she said. “That wasn’t too bad, was it? Now it’s time to see what Max says is next for you.”
“Drawing,” Noel demanded when they reached the kitchen.
“We should follow Max’s instructions.” Sasha scanned Max’s notes, and the answer was anything as long as Noel was happy and challenged. Most of all, he needed to exercise instead of sitting around all day. “Ah-ha!” Sasha said. “Do you want to know what Max says in his notes?”
“Yes,” Noel said.
“You can draw, but I have a suggestion. I’d like to explore the garden. How about if you come with me, and we’ll look for butterflies? You could draw them. Will you help me look?”
“I like butterflies,” Noel said.
“Great, that’s settled then. Are you ready to go? Do you have boots to keep your feet dry? There’s a heavy dew outside.”
“What’s dew?”
“I’ll show you. We might find spider webs or some insects. I enjoy drawing them too.”
Noel wrinkled his nose.
“Let’s go. Are you warm enough?”
“Yes.” Noel gestured emphatically.
“Do you want to bring your drawing paper with you?”
