“Yes, please,” Noel said.
Sasha helped Noel to find his drawing materials and placed them in a bag. Then, sheled the way outside and into the garden.“Can you smell the fresh air?”
Noel sniffed loudly, making her dragon chortle.
“The weeds have choked the flower garden,” Sasha said. “I love to grow flowers and herbs. While you’re searching for something to draw, I can fix the garden and give the plants room to grow. Oh, look at the orange butterfly. Do you want to start with that one?”
Noel unpacked his bag and sat on the footpath, which thankfully, was dry. “The butterfly flew away.”
“I can describe a butterfly,” Sasha said. “Draw two big wings and a long, narrow body in the middle of the wings. They have two feelers coming from their head.”
“Does a butterfly have eyes and ears?” Noel asked.
“I’m not sure. It doesn’t matter. You draw eyes if you want. We’ll save your picture for Max when he comes home tomorrow.”
“Yes,” Noel said.
“A young man of few words,”her dragon said.“Let’s fix this garden. It will look pretty without the weeds and give visitors a better impression of the property.”
“I agree,” Sasha said aloud.
“Who are you talking to?” Noel asked.
“I talk to myself,” Sasha said.
“I am a dragon,”her dragon said.
“Yes, but we must stay hidden while we are here,”Sasha replied.“It’s not safe for our dragon here. Foremost, we must keep you safe while we work out how to get home.”
“Grandmother says people who talk to themselves are crazy,” Noel said.
“Quite possibly,” Sasha chirped, settling down to pull the weeds from the garden on the right hand of the steps leading to the front door. “This garden is full of weeds.”
Noel sidled closer. “How do you know the weeds?”
“I like plants. My mother taught me about herbs and flowers. I enjoy making order out of chaos,” Sasha said. “Last night, I gathered plants to make the salve we put on your face to take away the sting. You can make ointments and medicines from plants since they have healing properties.” She tapped her fingertip on Noel’s nose. “Your nose isn’t red any longer.”
A rumble grabbed Sasha’s attention.
“What is it?”her dragon asked and moved up Sasha’s neck so she could investigate.
“I’m not sure,”Sasha replied.“It sounds like the box thing on wheels that Max used to get here from his job. His square box has vanished, so he must’ve taken it back to his work.”
The black box came to a halt, and a door opened on the side. Sasha rose to her feet and plastered a polite smile on her lips.
The woman who exited had an oval face with few visible lines. Sasha’s mother would’ve approved of the woman’s grooming—her smooth silver hair and subtly painted cosmetics—while her immaculate purple skirt and cream blouse shouted capable and classy. It was a pity her pursed lips and narrowed blue eyes contradicted first impressions.
“She looks grumpy,”her dragon murmured.
“She does,”Sasha agreed.
“Do you know the lady?” she murmured to Noel.
“That’s Grandma,” Noel said.
“The evil woman who wants to steal Noel,”her dragon said.“We must take care we don’t give her further ammunition to use against Max.”
“Don’t worry. Max has our loyalty.”
