Dragonfire by Anne Forbes

see your Nessie swimming through the loch towards us.”
    Arthur removed his wings from his face and reassured by her smiling words, scrambled to his feet and turned to face the loch. Lady Ellan walked with him to the water’s edge where the waves were no longer gentle ripples but surges of brown water that crashed along the shore. Nessie had arrived!
    Clara cringed back against Neil as the enormous creature heaved its massive bulk out of the water just feet from where she stood. Arthur held no fear for her but this dragon wasvery different and much bigger than Arthur. Her scaly hide, dripping with water and weeds, was dark grey with tinges of livid green, and her face had a speculative, hungry look that gave them all pause for thought. Indeed, Sir James made a quick calculation as to how quickly they could reach the safety of the transporter should things get out of hand.
    Arthur, however, seemed to have no reservations and pushed forward waving his wings and hissing loudly with pleasure. The MacArthur and Lady Ellan raised their hands in salute as they moved away from the bank, but Archie ran crying into the waves shouting, “Goodbye, dear Arthur! Don’t forget me!”
    Perhaps Arthur didn’t hear his cry for the noise of the wind or the slap of the waves but he didn’t turn round to bid Archie farewell and it was Clara who stepped forward to hug him when he collapsed sobbing on the bank and Neil who helped mop up his tears.
    They stood silently at the edge of the loch as the two great beasts swam into deep water and disappeared from view without a backward glance. Archie continued to give great hiccupping sobs and it was Clara who voiced all their thoughts. “I hope we’ve done the right thing bringing Arthur here. I didn’t much like his Nessie!”
    Lady Ellan, too, looked dubious but before she could answer, the hooting of a car horn and the frantic baa-ing of sheep brought them sharply back to the present and put all thoughts of Nessie from their minds.
    “A car,” snapped Sir James, looking up at the road. Hurriedly they scrambled up the bank to where an irate motorist was making little headway against a flock of sheep that had hemmed him in at the side of the road. Neil and Clara ducked down and ran for the safety of the cab followed by Sir James, the MacArthur and Lady Ellan and it was only when the door of the cab slammed shut that the Ranger moved forward to calm the situation and shepherd the sheep back into the transporter.
    “Thank goodness that’s over,” Sir James confided to theRanger as they left Loch Ness behind. “I hope I never have to live through another week like that. I couldn’t stand the strain.”
    It was mid-afternoon by the time they reached Edinburgh. The bulk of the police contingent had long since left the park but when the transporter dropped Sir James at the distillery, his foreman was full of the events of the previous night.
    “I knew the police were there,” nodded Sir James, sipping a welcome cup of coffee. “They actually stopped the transporter last night as we left the park and made the Ranger open up the back.”
    “Did they no’ see the dragon, then?” gasped Jamie.
    Sir James grinned. “It was a bad moment,” he admitted. “At the time I really thought we were all for the chop but I think the MacArthur must have cast a spell or something, because all the policemen saw in the back of the transporter were sheep. No Arthur, nothing; just a load of sheep.”
    “And what happened when you reached Loch Ness? Did you get rid of Arthur as planned?” queried Jamie.
    “We did indeed! You know, Jamie, I can hardly believe that it all went so well. There were a thousand things that could have gone wrong but in the end it went without a hitch. The MacArthur was as good as his word. His daughter was there, you know, Lady Ellan! Now, she’s my idea of a faery; such a beautiful girl. She had Nessie waiting for us, as arranged! And, do you know, we actually saw Nessie up