“It sounds barbaric to cut fingers off a fish,”her dragon said.“Wouldn’t they miss them?”
“You’d think,”Sasha replied.“Can you spot anyone watching us?”
“No, but I see the flash from the watching glasses again.”
Once they arrived home, Sasha showered Noel and investigated Max’s list. She pulled a face. “Justine, how do I make an online call?”She and her dragon listened intently to the reply. “That doesn’t sound too difficult.”
“I’m hungry,”her dragon said.“What are we having for dinner?”
Sasha consulted the list. “Justine, what are fish fingers?”
“Pieces of fish pressed into strips and coated with breadcrumbs,” a feminine voice said from the computer.
Sasha had always loved cooking and found she enjoyed it even more when she didn’t have her mother—or the servants who’d been with the family since she was a baby—peering over her shoulder. Usually, with many comments about her methods and that she was doing everything the wrong way. Here, she could make mistakes, and no one learned of them apart from her and her dragon. Noel, too, since the three of them had to deal with her blunders.
Even the video call went okay, although she cut Max off the first time.
“Sorry,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “I hit the wrong button.”
Max laughed, his arresting face clear on the screen. “Now, where is Noel?”
“Here!” Noel said from his bed. He wore his pajamas and sat tucked up in bed. “Shasha is teaching me to swim.”
“Really?” Max sounded surprised, but she thought in an appreciative way. “How did you get on?”
“I blew bubbles. Three times. But we have to watch for waves.”
“I see,” Max said. “What else did you do?”
“Butterflies. Drew them. Look!”
“I can’t see, buddy. Ask Sasha to shift the screen to show me.”
“Oh!” Sasha said. “I can do that. No, you stay there. I’ll bring Max back to you once I show him your butterflies, which are brilliant, by the way. I bet Max thinks so too.” She carefully lifted the screen and directed it toward the sweep of bright orange, yellow, and red butterflies that decorated Noel’s room.
“Did you draw those?” Max asked when Sasha returned the tablet to Noel.
“Yes,” Noel said, excitement sparkling in his eyes. He’d caught the kiss of the sun today and wasn’t as pale or blotchy.
“What else did you do?”
“Dragon sandcastle,” Noel said, beaming. “It was big.”
“Do you like dragons?” Max asked, and Sasha picked up the strange note in his voice.
“I like Shasha.”
“Oops,”her dragon said.“He definitely saw us before we shifted.”
“Too bad,”Sasha said.“We’ll deny everything. That is the wisest course to follow since there don’t appear to be other dragons here. Everyone we’ve sighted is human.”
“I like Sasha, too,” Max said. “You be a good boy for Sasha, and I’ll be home in a few days. Has Sasha read you a story?”
“She told me a dragon story from her head.”
Max grinned. “All right. You go to sleep while I talk to Sasha. She’ll come and check on you once we’re finished. Okay?”
“Night, Max,” Noel said, settling in his bed.
