BACK DRAGON4 8' The Detective, the Princess and the Dragon Once upon a time a long time ago in a land far far away, Michaela, the world's greatest detective, was in the hen house feeding the chickens and collecting the eggs, when she heard the thundering of several horses' hoofs coming down the road. She went outside to investigate. It was the king's royal coach pulled by four white horses. There were two knights on black horses in front of the coach and two knights on black horses behind. They were all galloping at full speed toward the house. When they saw Michaela coming out of the hen house, they steered their horses away from the house and toward Michaela at full speed, then they halted the horses inches away from her. The footman jumped down from the coach and opened the door. Out stepped the king himself. Michaela and her family bowed down. "Young lady," asked the king, "are you the one they call the world's greatest detective?" "Yes, Your Majesty." replied Michaela. "Then you must help me!" cried the king. "My daughter, Princess Margaret, has been kidnapped! You must help me get her back!" Michaela stepped into the king's coach and the horses thundered down the road toward the royal palace. Michaela asked, "Did the kidnappers demand a ransom?" The king replied, "Yes. And we were ready to pay the ransom. But we never heard from the kidnappers again! You... You don't think that they.... You don't think that my beautiful daughter..." "Your Majesty," replied Michaela, "I will get your daughter back for you!" When they arrived at the palace, Michaela asked to see the place where Princess Margaret was last seen. The king showed her to Margaret's bedroom. Michaela inspected the bedroom carefully. She picked up a cup from the bedside table and sniffed it. "Margaret had hot chocolate before bedtime?" she asked. "Yes. Always." replied the king. Michaela said, "But her bed was not slept in last night. That means that someone put a sleeping potion in her hot chocolate. She probably collapsed on the floor. You need to arrest the chamber maid. She had to be in on the kidnapping." The king replied, "That would also explain how the ransom note ended up on Margaret's pillow." Michaela inspected the floor around Margaret's bed with her magnifying glass. "Aha!" she said. "What is it?" asked the king. "There are tiny chips of wood here on the floor next to the bed. That means the kidnappers put the sleeping princess into a wooden box and lowered it on ropes down the outside of the palace walls." The king replied, "That explains why noone saw anything or heard anything." Michaela said, "You'll probably find horse and wagon tracks on the ground below." Sure enough, when they went out of the palace, they found two sets of horse and wagon tracks next to the palace walls. The king and Michaela got into the royal coach and followed the wagon tracks until they discovered one of the wagons on fire. The grass all around the wagon was scorched black and still smoking. There were two human skeletons on the ground. "There's the box you spoke of!" shouted the king as he pointed beyond the burned grass to a wooden box. The lid was removed. There was no sign of fire anywhere on the box. But the box was empty. The king asked, "Does this mean my daughter is still alive?!" Michaela inspected the box with her magnifying glass saying, "The ropes holding the box closed have been shredded. And there are claw marked from a very large beast all over the box. I think Princess Margaret was rescued by a dragon!" "A dragon!" shouted the king. "That's impossible! Dragons EAT people. They don't RESCUE people! And if Margaret was rescued, where is she?!" Michaela pointed to foot prints in the grass saying, "It was dark last night. She didn't know which direction to run. So, she ran that way, toward the river, AWAY from the palace." They followed the tracks to the cliff above the river and looked over the edge. There were skid marks in the grass and slide marks on the soil. Michaela explained, "In the dark, by the time she saw the cliff it was too late. She fell and slid down the cliff and ended up in the mud next to the river below." When they climbed down to the river, the princess was not there. Michaela pointed to the mud at the base of the cliff. There was an indentation from Margaret's body in the mud and muddy footprints leading into the river. Michaela explained, "It looks like Margaret swam across the river." The king commanded his royal guard, "Cross the river and search for my daughter. Quickly! We're getting close." The commander of the guard asked, "What color clothes was she wearing?" Michaela interrupted, "The princess fell into the mud. Her night gown was covered with thick mud and the mud would have slowed her down as she swam across the river. It's quite likely that she took off her nightgown to avoid drowning. If she's wearing anything at all now, she probably borrowed some clothes from the farmers in the area." Sure enough, a few minutes later the guards reported back that a farmer's wife lost some boys clothes that were drying in the sun. The king commanded, "Now you're searching for someone who looks like a boy. Go!" The guards search the area on the other side of the river thoroughly for hours without finding the princess. Meanwhile, Michaela suggested that the king's coach ride up and down the roads looking for the other wagon involved in the kidnapping. "We're not the only people looking for the princess," Michaela said, "If the kidnappers get her back first, they can still get the ransom." Sure enough, a few miles down the road, the other wagon was found burning. The ground around it was scorched black and was still smoking. There were two more human skeletons on the scorched ground. But there was no sign of Princess Margaret. Michaela walked slowly around the outside of the scorched area inspecting the ground carefully. The king followed. "Well? Was my daughter here in this wagon?" he asked. "I think so." replied Michaela. "Well? Where is she? Where's my daughter? Which way did she go?!" cried the king. Michaela pointed up, saying "That way." "You mean, the dragon got her?!" cried the king. "Not like you think." replied Michaela, "If he wanted to kill her, you'd find her skeleton here. No, I think he took her with him. If you find the dragon's nest, you'll find your daughter." "But where?" asked the king. Michaela explained, "Dragons build their nests in high places." So, the king order the guards to search the highest places in the kingdom. Finally, the dragon was sighted. The king and his guards and Michaela climbed to the nest slowly and carefully. When the guards saw the dragon lying on top of its nest they pointed their spears at it. "Wait!" shouted the king, "My daughter is probably in the nest with the dragon. Don't risk hurting my daughter!" When the dragon heard the king's voice, he stood up. Under the dragon was a large egg. Princess Margaret stood up from behind the egg. She was still wearing boys clothing. She shouted. "Father! Don't hurt the dragon. She saved me!" "Come quickly, my daughter!" shouted the king. "No, father. If I leave the dragon, your guards will kill her!" shouted Margaret. The king replied, "On my sacred honor, I swear that noone will harm a dragon in my kingdom ever again." In the royal coach on the way back to the castle, the king recalled why the dragon had been so protective of Princess Margaret. Years ago, the king and queen were unable to have babies of their own, so they adopted a baby that was found in the nest of a dragon. The baby had apparently been fed and loved by the dragon. The dragon was killed but a baby dragon that was also found in the nest ran away. This was the dragon that grew up to save princess Margaret. The dragon thought of Margaret as her sister. So, they all lived happily ever after. ©2007 Bob Snook. Conditions for use: This story is free. Pay no fees or royalties. Do not sell this story or rewrite it. You may reproduce and distribute this story freely, but all copies must contain this copyright statement. http://www.fea.net/bobsnook/kid email: bobsnook@fea.net BACK |