“Not likethat.”
Hannah went serious. “You mean one ofthosedreams?”
“I don’t know. There were dragons.”
He stiffened and stood there, blueberry pie in hand, straining to listen to the girls behind him.
“Dragons?” Hannah said.
“He was hunting them.”
“I bet they were gargoyles. He’s really good at finding them. He has twice as many as I do, and he doesn’t even live here.”
“He killed one,” Rose said.
“A gargoyle?”
“A dragon. An old one. She was blocking his way, and he fed her foxglove flowers, and she started to scream.”
His stomach twisted so suddenly that he doubled over, the elder grabbing his arm to steady him, asking if he was all right, and he said yes, quickly, pushing her off as politely as he could and taking another pie from the box as he struggled to listen.
“That’s one freaky dream, Rosie,” Hannah was saying.
“I know.”
“I think it just means he’s going to win the gargoyle contest.”
“Probably, but it felt like…” Rose drifted off. “No, I’m being dumb.”
“You’re never dumb. You just think too much sometimes.”
Rose chuckled. “My mom says the same thing.”
“Because she’s smart, like you. Now, let’s go ask if Bobby wants to come see Mattie.”
Thetap-tapof fancy shoes. Then a finger poked his back.
“Bobby?”
He turned to Hannah, smiling at him.
“We’re glad you came,” she said. “We missed you.”
He nodded.
“It’s not time for the festival yet. Do you want to come see Mattie?”
“That’s what she named the kitten,” Rose said, walking up behind her friend. “Short for matagot.”
“No, short for Matthew.”
Rose rolled her eyes. “Whatever you say.”
Hannah pretended to swat her, then put her arm through Bobby’s. As she did, Rose tensed and rocked forward, like she wanted to pull Hannah away. She stopped herself, but fixed himwith that strange look. Like she knew what he’d done. With that look, he knew Rose had a power, like Hannah. And him? He had nothing except taunting dreams of castles and meadows, and the screams of dragons, fading so fast he could barely remember the sound at all.
“Smile, Bobby,” Hannah said, squeezing his arm. “It’s May Day, and we’re going to have fun.” She grinned. “We’ll always have fun together.”
Hewon the gargoyle hunt that year. The next year, too. They went to Cainsville for all the festivals and sometimes he and his mother just went to visit. Life was good, and not just because Gran was dead and he’d gotten Cainsville back, but because he’d learned a valuable lesson. He did not have magic powers. He would likely never have them. But he did have a power inside him—the screams of dragons.
