The Storm Dragon by Paula Harrison Page A

opened the box as she was passing by. She’d never forgotten the dazzling beauty of the stones inside. Surely the queen hadn’t thrown them away?
    Heart thumping, she climbed over two chairs and scrambled under the table to get to the chest. Her apron was really grubby now but shedidn’t care. Her fingers struggled with the silver catch but eventually she opened it and pulled up the lid.

    Crystals of every colour from ruby red to emerald green and sapphire blue gleamed inside the box. Sophy took out a deep-blue one and held it in the palm of her hand. This was the colour she’d always imagined the sea might be.
    A fluttering noise made her look up. A golden songbird flew down and perched on the back of a chair, watching her with beady black eyes. Sophy put the blue crystal back, suddenly feeling as if she was doing something wrong. The bird fluffed up its golden feathers and let out a trill of beautiful music.

    Sophy had never heard anything so lovely. She hoped the bird might sing again but instead it fluttered down beside her. Then it hopped on to the edge of the chest and tilted its head, eyeing first Sophy and then the crystals.
    “They’re beautiful, aren’t they?” said Sophy.
    The songbird hopped right into the middle of the crystals and flapped its wings, scattering stones out of the chest and on to the ground.
    “Stop!” cried Sophy, trying to catch the spilling crystals. “We’ll lose them if you do that.”
    But the songbird went on beating its wings, sending more stones flying. At last it stopped and pecked at the remaining crystals. Sophy leaned closer. It was trying to get at something beneath the stones. The bird had a piece of purple material in its beak, and it pulled and pulled. Finally it let go of the cloth and gave animpatient trill. It was almost as though it was asking her to help.
    “What have you found?” Sophy took hold of the purple material and pulled it free of the crystals. She found herself holding a small cloth bag that had something heavy inside. The songbird fluffed its feathers again and watched expectantly.
    Sophy’s fingers tingled as she undid the drawstring bag and reached in. Her hand brushed against rough stone. The purse was full of small pieces of rock. She took one out and studied its lumpy, grey surface.
    The bird gave a final burst of song, then without another look at the bag or Sophy, it flew off.
    Sophy frowned at the rough stone. All that fuss about a bumpy piece of rock? She’d thought the songbird was trying to show her something … but why this?
    A swirl of wind lifted her hair and a shaft oflight beamed down on the stone’s rough edges. Sophy felt a strange tumbling in her stomach as if something was about to happen.
    “Sophy!” Mrs Ricker’s footsteps pounded on the drawbridge.
    Sophy quickly crawled out from under the table. She’d lost track of the time! She dropped the little stone into the bag and put the bag in her apron pocket. Then she scooped the crystals back into the chest and climbed over the furniture.
    “Coming, Mrs Ricker!” she called, rushing off towards the castle.

Chapter Two
Crash Landing
    Sophy was so busy that afternoon that she didn’t have time to think about the golden songbird or look inside the little purple bag in her apron pocket. She swept the floor in the Throne Room, polished all the queen’s crowns and helped Cook to decorate a huge chocolate cake that would be served to Her Majesty at teatime.
    After that, Sophy went to gather apples in the orchard. She worked quickly, picking all the ripe fruit on the lower branches and then fetching a ladder to reach the apples higher up.
    She’d just filled a second basket when she heard shouting on the other side of the garden. The wind suddenly blew strongly, making the apple trees sway. Sophy’s ladder rocked too and she held on tight to keep her balance.
    A purple shape zoomed overhead and a terrible screech sent a shiver down her back. The awful cry ended in a thump