Drake the Dragonboy Read Online Free Page A

frightened.
    â€œJuniper, you don’t have to come if you don’t want. It’s my dad who is in danger, not yours.”
    â€œOf course I’m coming,” she said, looking annoyed.
    â€œWe’re going to need her,” said Ronan, looking affectionately at Juniper. Drake felt a burst of jealousy rise from the pit of his stomach and explode in his head. He hadn’t realised until now that Ronan had a crush on Juniper. Is that why he was helping? He quickly dismissed this idea. No, Ronan was in this for a whole lot of reasons. He liked an adventure; he had a real daredevil streak in him. Juniper was just the icing on the cake for Ronan.

    Drake walked home that afternoon deep in thought, tapping his dragon claws on his forehead. He hadn’t heard anything from his father and he was worried. He knew that his father had thrown his phone out the window, so not hearing from him didn’t mean anything. He probably was okay but couldn’t get any messages out.
    When he got home his mother was sitting in front of the television with a glass of wine.
    â€œWhat’s up, Mum?” asked Drake. She only watched television and drank wine when something was wrong. Normally she would be buzzing around the house, tidying up, making dinner, flipping over to her laptop to mess around with the online business she was running, all the while asking him about his day.
    â€œNothing Drake, honey; everything’s fine.”
    â€œDon’t lie to me, Mum.”
    â€œOkay … I’m a bit annoyed because your father said he’d put money in the account this week and he hasn’t … so we’re a bit short on cash.”
    â€œI’ve got some money if you need it,” said Drake, quickly.
    â€œWe’re okay … it’s more the principle behind it. He should do what he says he’s going to … but I don’t want to get into this with you. It’s not your problem.”
    â€œMaybe there’s a good reason he didn’t, Mum. Maybe he got tied up.” His mother smiled.
    â€œYou’re a good person, Drake. You always think the best of people.” No, I don’t, thought Drake. I just know he happens to be tied up and unable to get to the bank. At least with his mother distracted with her own misery, she wouldn’t notice that he wasn’t himself. He made them both a goose sandwich, put hers carefully in front of her while she remained glued to the television, and took his up to his room. Sometimes it was okay being a small family of just two. You could do what you liked without brothers and sisters interfering. He sometimes craved for a busy house, with a brother and sister or two to chat with, but he knew deep down he’d probably hate it. Most people he knew fought with their brothers and sisters all the time.

    The next day Drake, Juniper and Ronan were sitting on the floor of the shower in the girls’ toilets with the door shut. Juniper had brought a blanket and some snacks. Today Juniper had her hair in two long pigtails sticking out just above her cute little ears. She’d laid out the blanket and then the snacks and then Ronan had laid out all the bomb components. All Drake had was a pen and paper to help work out the plan. When Drake had met them in the shower, Ronan and Juniper were already chatting and he again felt jealous. He probably didn’t have a chance at all with Juniper. Ronan was tall and dragonly and had that whole bad boy thing going for him that girls just loved. Drake was small and skinny and smart. His mother told him that he would be the one the girls would want when they grew up. Maybe this was true but it didn’t help one bit right now.
    â€œYou’ve really got four brothers and three sisters?” Juniper was asking him with amazement. Dragonfolk generally had pretty small families. Seven siblings was really unusual.
    â€œWow, your mum and dad sure have been busy,” Drake said