Dragon Gold Read Online Free

none too gently. She sat up, all her necklaces and bracelets clinking. ‘What are you doing here?’ she asked sleepily.
    â€˜We’ve come to rescue you!’ James said angrily.
    â€˜What from?’ she said, stretching and yawning.
    â€˜From the dragon!’ Ben said.
    â€˜Oh, I don’t need rescuing,’ Sarah said. ‘There’s no need to be scared of the dragon. He’s a great big pussycat. Look at all the presents he’s given me.’ Sarah waved her jewelled hands around, showing them an array of golden-haired dolls, and a number of pink and white silk dresses hanging in a gilded white wardrobe. Beside the bed was a silver table with a plate of little pink iced cakes and a crystal jug of strawberry milk on it. Sarah loved strawberry milk.
    â€˜He thinks I’m a real princess,’ Sarah went on. ‘He wants to adopt me and keep me here. He’s lonely, poor darling.’
    â€˜He can’t adopt you, you’ve already got a family,’ James cried indignantly.
    â€˜Oh, I know,’ Sarah said. ‘But it’s been rather fun pretending I really am a princess, at least until I convince him to take me home. If I hadn’t, he might have eaten me, you know. I’m sure he wouldn’t have been so nice to me if I had told him I was just an ordinary girl, and not a princess at all.’
    â€˜You mean you are not a princess?’ a huge, deep, gruff voice suddenly boomed out, fiery light blooming all around them. ‘You have been deceiving me?’

CHAPTER NINE
    The boys all flung themselves down on the floor, but Sarah just smiled up at the dragon and said, ‘Well, all little girls are princesses, aren’t they?’
    The dragon hissed. Sparks shot past them. Everyone’s hair blew back, and the pink eiderdown fluttered madly. Ben took a deep breath and pulled out his magic wand. ‘Leave us alone, else I’ll . . . I’ll turn you into a cane toad!’
    The dragon laughed and waved one claw. The wand in Ben’s hand burst into flame. Ben shrieked and dropped it. To his dismay it fell away in a shower of ashes. He looked back up at the dragon and waited to be fried.
    The dragon did not flame him, though. It said, quite nicely, ‘Silly little boy. I’ve eaten the most powerful wizards that ever existed. If you weren’t so skinny, I’d probably eat you too.’
    For the first time ever, Ben was glad he was skinny.
    â€˜Why have you disturbed my sleep?’ the dragon roared.
    â€˜We had to come and get Sarah back,’ Ben said.

    â€˜Her mum is so upset. And it’s all my fault. Because I said the spell wrong. We never meant for you to come and take her.’
    â€˜I suppose you wanted to steal my treasure?’ the dragon said angrily. With each great gusting breath, flames spurted from its mouth so that shadows leapt and gibbered all round the huge cave. Tim pressed closer to Ben.
    â€˜Well, yes,’ Ben said. ‘But only because I wanted to have enough money to buy a big house with a big garden so I can have a dog. I wasn’t going to take much.’
    â€˜That’s what they all say,’ the dragon complained.
    Ben stared at it suspiciously.
    â€˜Stealing my treasure is all anyone ever wants. No-one ever comes to visit me. I’m a perfectly respectable dragon. I really only eat humans occasionally. Contrary to what you imagine, humans are not very tasty. Give me a nice fat elephant any day. Why, you little puny things are just a crunch and a swallow, and then you’re gone. Hardly worth the effort.’
    â€˜I’m sorry,’ Ben said, not sure what else to say.
    â€˜It’s not your fault,’ the dragon said quite kindly. ‘You can’t help being so scrawny. At least you can talk. I get so bored here, guarding my treasure, day after day, century after century. There’s not much to amuse a dragon these days, you know. No dragon