He checked the lap-desk's contents hastily. There were containers for ink of various colours, some empty and some full. Some quill pens already cut and others whole. His penknife, small and sharp. A generous supply of paper in several weights, and a bound sketchbook. A small box held charcoal sticks and several sketching pencils. He pushed two concealed catches with his thumbs and the bottom of the paper box came loose. He lifted it out. There were his specimen bottles. The larger bottles and the coarse salt were concealed in a different compartment in the base of his wardrobe, but for his first foray, this was enough. Perhaps, if he were extraordinarily lucky, by the time they returned to the barge, he'd have everything he needed.

When he returned to the deck, the others were already gone. How considerate of them! He suppressed his annoyance and went to the side of the barge. A coarse rope ladder was his means of egress from the boat. It was tricky to get down with his lap-desk tucked under his arm but he wasn't about to toss it down onto the baked mud. And of course no one offered to help him in any way. Alise was already a substantial distance down the beach, trotting along by herself. That rogue Leftrin hadn't even seen fit to escort her, had just dropped her off on a beach littered with dragons. How could she stand that man?

He dropped the last few feet to the ground and found the impact harder than he had expected and nearly lost his grip on the precious case. He crouched down to roll up the cuffs of his trousers, scowling at how foolish he'd look, like some sort of a booted stork. Well, better that than spending the rest of the day with his cuffs weighted down with foul-smelling mud,

And it was foul. There was no mistaking the reek of excrement. It combined with the brackish smell of the river and the rank smell of the jungle to make the air a thick soup of stench. Good thing he'd not had an opportunity to eat much today or his stomach would have rebelled completely. 'Such a lovely place you've chosen for a stroll, Alise,' he muttered sarcastically to himself. 'Off you go to frolic among the dragon dung with your river rat.'

He heard a noise like a low growl and looked around himself in alarm. No. There were no dragons anywhere near. Yet he had definitely heard the threatening snarl of a rather large creature. Even now, he had the uncomfortable sensation of being watched. Not just watched but stared at, as a cat stares at a mouse. Again he scanned the area near him, then startled as he came face to face with two large glaring eyes. His heart slammed against his ribs. An instant later, he realized his error. The eyes looked down at him from the nose of the barge. He'd never noticed them before. It was, he recalled, an old superstition to paint eyes on a ship, to help it find its way. The eyes glared at him with contempt and fury. He gave a shudder and turned away from the hideous thing.

'Sedric! Hurry up! Please!'

He looked up to find Alise looking back at him over her shoulder. Now he saw Captain Leftrin was off to one side, conferring with a delegation of Rain Wilders about something. One had a thick scroll and seemed to be going over a list with him, point by point. The captain nodded and gave his braying laugh. The man with the scroll did not look amused.

Alise had halted just short of the dragons. Now she looked at him like a dog begging for a walk. Anxiety vied with the excitement in her stance. And no wonder. The dragon she had chosen had risen to her feet and was regarding Alise with interest. It was much bigger than it had looked from the deck of the barge. And blue, very blue. The creature's hide sparkled iridescently in the sunlight. The eyes she had turned on Alise were large, much larger than seemed proportionate to the creature's head. They were a coppery brown, with a slit pupil like a cat's, but unlike a cat's eyes the colour of the dragon's eyes seemed to melt and swirl around the iris of her eye. It was unsettling. The creature gave a guttural call.

Alise turned her back on him and hastened toward the dragon. 'Yes, of course. I apologize for keeping you waiting, beauteous one.'

If the dragon had been proportional and perfectly formed, she might have been beautiful, as a prize bull or a stag was beautiful. But she was not. Her tail seemed short compared to her long neck, and her legs were stumpy. The wings that she now lifted and spread seemed ridiculously small and floppy for a creature of her size, and uneven. They reminded Sedric of a parasol that the wind had blown inside out, presenting the same aspect of flimsy ribs and uneven fabric. He stood up, tucked his lap-desk under his arm and set off across the mud in pursuit of Alise.

A commotion off to one side made him halt. A small red dragon with a boy clinging to its back was thudding ponderously along the beach. 'Open your wings!' the lad was shouting. 'Open your wings and flap them. You got to try, Heeby. Try really hard.'

And in response, the misshapen creature spread out wings that were not even well matched. One was larger than the other, but the dragon obediently flapped them as it ran. Its 'flight' ended a moment later as it charged directly into the river. The boy yelled in dismay and then shouted, with laughter in his voice, 'You got to watch where we're going, Heeby.

But that was good for a first try. We just got to keep at it, girl.'

He was not the only one who had stopped to stare at the spectacle. Dragons and keepers alike were frozen. Some of the keepers were grinning and others were horrified. He could not read any expression on the dragon's visages. After all, how would one tell if a cow were amused or offended? Alise, after one moment of staring in shock, turned back to her target and once more hurried off.

His longer legs soon caught him up with Alise despite her dogged trot. She seemed to be talking to the dragon. 'You are glorious beyond words. I am so thrilled to finally be here, and to speak with you like this is beyond my wildest dreams!'

The dragon lowed back at her.

For the first time, he really noticed the young girl beside the dragon. She had rested her makeshift pine-bough broom on her shoulder. She didn't look pleased to see them. The scowl on her face and her narrowed eyes made her look even more reptilian. For that was his first impression of her. Lizard-like, he would have said of her scaled face. He had thought her hands were caked with mud, but now he saw that her fingers ended in thick black claws. Her braided black hair looked like woven snakes, and her eyes glittered unnaturally.

'Alise,' he said warningly, and when she didn't respond, he raised his voice more commandingly. 'Alise, stop a moment! Wait for me.'

'Well, hurry then!'

She paused, but he sensed that she would not wait long. In two strides he caught up with her completely. In the guise of taking her arm, he caught hold of her. 'Be careful!' he cautioned her in a low voice, pitching his words to carry through the dragon's vocalizing. 'You know nothing of the dragon. And the girl looks distinctly unfriendly. Either one or both of them may be dangerous.'

'Sedric, let go! Can't you hear her? She says she wishes to speak to me. I think the best way to insult her and anger her is to ignore such a request. And speaking to the dragons is exactly why I came here. And it's why you are here, too! So follow me and please, have your pen ready to record our conversation.'

She tried to pull free of him. He kept his grip and leaned down to peer into her face. 'Alise, are you serious?'

'Of course I am! Why do you think I came all this way?'

'But. . . the dragon is not speaking. Unless mooing like a cow or barking like a dog conveys some meaning to you. What am I to record?'

She looked at him in confusion that became dismay and then, inexplicably, sympathy. 'Oh, Sedric, you cannot understand her at all? Not one word?'