professor. âIs that the man with the deep voice?â
âGoodbye, professor,â said Arthur.
âNice to meet you,â added Reg.
The two men got back in the car.
âArenât you staying with me?â
âIâm afraid not,â replied Arthur. The engine started. âOur instructions were to leave you here. We will return each morn to provide transportation for procurement of provisions. Come on, Reg,
allez
!â
âA what?â
âIt means go, you nincompoop.â
Reg let the handbrake off and they drove away, leaving the professor to enter the cottage through its only door.
Dirk scurried forward. There were two windows on either side of the cottage. Looking through the nearest one, he could see that the cottage was small and squalid and what an estate agent might describe as âfull of potentialâ. In other words, it was falling apart. Rosenfield sat down on a rickety wooden chair and placed the silver case on the kitchen table. He pressed a button on the side of the case and the lid opened,blocking out the professorâs face. Dirk needed to see what he was doing, but suddenly he felt a sharp pain shoot through his tail.
He looked round to see the silver bark-coloured skin of a Tree Dragon. Its teeth were clamped over Dirkâs tail. Its pale green eyes were staring at him wildly.
Chapter Nine
Dirk tried to swing his tail, but the Tree Dragonâs grip was firm, secured by its claws digging into the ground like roots. Its mossy teeth had penetrated the soft underside of his tail, drawing dark green blood. The pain was immense.
Dirk opened his mouth and sent a line of fire, singeing his own tail but forcing the Tree Dragon to release him. He leapt on to the dragonâs back, pressing the tips of his claws against its throat.
âWho are you?â he whispered, not wanting to attract the professorâs attention. âWhy did you attack me?â
âGet off me. Youâre ouching me.â
It was a female.
âTell me and Iâll get off your back,â replied Dirk, holding down the Tree Dragonâs writhing limbs and digging his claws further in.
She screamed in agony.
âWhoâs there?â shouted the professor from inside the cottage.
Dirk released the Tree Dragon, who darted up an oak tree, her body twisting easily around the thick trunk, disappearing into the dense forest.
âWhoâs there? Show yourself,â yelled the professor, coming to the window.
Not wanting to be seen by a human, Dirk took after the Tree Dragon.
Tree Dragons are fast movers in their own territory where they can swing from tree to tree, so it was difficult to keep up. He followed her deep into the forest until she stopped, landing on a malformed dead tree in the centre of a clearing, illuminated by white sunlight cutting through the green leaves.
âWhat do you want to know, Mountain?â she said.
âWho are you?â panted Dirk, catching his breath.
âMy nameâs Betula Pendula,â she replied.
âCharmed, Iâm sure,â he said. âWhy did you attack me?â
âYou were schnooking on the manuman.â
âYou mean Professor Rosenfield?â
âWhat do you know about the manuman?â snapped Betula.
âWho are you working for, Bark-back?â snarled Dirk.
âThatâs enough interroquests,â she replied.
âIf I donât get some answers Iâm going to open my mouth and burn down that tree and you with it,â threatened Dirk.
Betula laughed and said, âCome on, bark sisters.â
The tree began to move, branches slowly peeling away, dismantling itself, lowering Betula down to the ground and splitting into four more parts. What Dirk had taken for a tree was actually four more Tree Dragons balanced on top of each other like acrobats, each one with a different bark-coloured skin.
âThese are my cofrienions,â said Betula, introducing the Tree