The Storm Dragon by Paula Harrison Page B

followed by the sound of cracking branches. Something had hit one of the apple trees!
    Sophy quickly climbed down the ladder and hurried through the orchard. Broken branches lay on the ground not far away and leaves were floating to the floor. Setting down her basket, she went closer. Had a bird crashed into the tree? It must have been a pretty big one to cause so much damage – maybe a raven or an eagle. The poor thing could be badly hurt.
    As she got nearer, she saw that half of the tree’s branches were snapped off and there was a long black mark across its trunk. Somethingwriggled under one of the broken branches and a puff of grey dust drifted into the air.

    Sophy spun round to call for help but a whimpering noise stopped her. That didn’t sound like a bird at all! Her heart began to race. Maybe that puff of grey wasn’t dust at all. Maybe it was smoke. An amazing thought popped into her head as she crept right up to the damaged tree.
    Hardly daring to breathe, she crouched down and lifted up the broken branch. The creature hiding underneath was a purple colour. Its skin looked soft but it had bumpy ridges running down its back and along its tail. Another puff of smoke rose from its nostrils as itcoughed. Then it rolled over on to four clawed feet, shook its web-like wings and looked at Sophy with wide amber eyes.

    Sophy knew what it was. She’d listened carefully to many tales about these magical creatures.
    This was a dragon.
    “Are you real?” Sophy whispered, reaching out to touch the creature.
    The dragon gave a snort of alarm and jumped backwards. Its amber eyes narrowed, fixing on Sophy. A gust of wind rustled the leaves on the trees.
    “It’s all right! I won’t hurt you,” Sophy said gently. The creature was smaller than she’d thought a dragon would be – a little shorter than the gardener’s dog. The roundness of its cute purple snout made it look a bit like a puppy.
    The dragon crept towards her and sniffed her hand, swishing its long purple tail.
    “That’s it – I won’t hurt you,” Sophy repeated.
    The dragon came even closer, till she could feel its warm breath on her face. Then it gave her cheek a long slobbery lick and sat back on its haunches.
    Sophy laughed and tried to wipe off the slobber. She glanced at the broken apple tree. “I guess you didn’t mean to land here. I wonder why you crashed.”
    The little dragon sniffed the air and then tried to stretch out its webbed wings, but its left one wouldn’t straighten. It tried again, but the left wing dangled uselessly by its side. At last it gave up and a large tear rolled out of its eye and dripped on to the ground.
    “You poor thing – you’re injured!” cried Sophy. “Does it really hurt?”
    The little dragon sank to the ground, still crying. Sophy patted its bumpy back, wishing she knew what to do. The creature’s sobbingwas mixed with a dragonish growling – as if it was trying to talk to her. The wind rose again, bending the trees and sending leaves skittering along the ground.
    “Oh dear! I wish I knew how to help you,” said Sophy. “It must have been horrible crashing like that.” A lump came to her throat. Kneeling down, she threw her arms around the creature and kissed its pointy ears.

    The dragon stopped sobbing. When Sophy drew back she realised her apron pocket felt very warm. She reached inside for the little bag of stones she’d almost forgotten about. When she lifted it out, she knew at once that something strange was happening.
    Fingers trembling, she opened the bag and poured the rough, grey stones on to the ground. One of them wasn’t grey any longer. It had turned a deep, glowing orange – the exact same colour as the dragon’s eyes.
    Sophy picked it up and watched the stone grow brighter in the palm of her hand. It became hotter too – so hot she didn’t think she could hold it any more. Yet somehow she didn’t want to let go…
    Crack! The stone broke into two pieces.
    The orange glow