Jonah and the Last Great Dragon Read Online Free Page B

holidays.’ He smiled at Mr Golding
    Erin was pacing along beside Jonah, biting her lip. ‘It’s strange to see fire coming up from the earth like that, isn’t it?’ she said, still anxious about the danger.
    Mr Golding nodded. ‘It is strange. And rather alarming.’
    Jonah was reminded of the morning and suddenly felt that he could confide in this man. ‘That’s not the only strange thing round here,’ he blurted out. ‘This morning, just after it got light, I saw an animal.’ Mike listened as Jonah explained what had happened. ‘I thought it was going to kill me.’ He stopped as they reached the wall into the churchyard. ‘I was so scared!’ he admitted.
    â€˜But that’s terrible. A dog like that shouldn’t be running loose,’ said Mr Golding. ‘Look, I can’t say for sure what is causing the fire, and until I am sure, it would be irresponsible of me to talk about my suspicions. I might well be wrong. So go home now and try not to worry. I’ll see you here at ten o’clock and then I hope I will know about the fire. All right?’
    They nodded, both feeling now that they could trust him.
    â€˜Good. And by the way, you can stop the Mr Golding stuff. Call me Mike. OK?’
    He smiled goodbye, vaulted over the wall into the churchyard and went towards the porch to retrieve his jacket. Erin and Jonah were walking back down the lane, when they heard him shouting and turned round to see him waving at them, frantically. They exchanged puzzled glances and ran back to the church gate.
    â€˜Sorry, you two,’ Mike said, ‘but I feel a bit worried about you going home alone.’
    Jonah was looking hard at him. ‘Because of the dog?’
    â€˜Yes,’ Mike answered quietly. ‘It may be perfectly harmless but if a large fierce-looking dog is running loose on the hills, I think I ought to walk along with you.’
    â€˜Oh, no,’ Erin exclaimed. She felt embarrassed in case Mike thought she and Jonah were too young to look after themselves. ‘You don’t need to do that. It’s kind of you but you don’t have to worry. I’ve got my phone. Look. And I’m used to dealing with farm dogs. We’ll be careful.’
    â€˜Well, if you are sure.’ Mike looked doubtful but said goodbye, raising a hand as he went through the field gate opposite. Jonah sensed that he was still uneasy about letting them go home by themselves.
    â€˜He’s nice, isn’t he?’ he said to Erin.
    â€˜Yes, he is. Sorry about earlier.’ She glanced at Jonah apologetically. ‘It’s just that it was so unusual to see a perfect stranger down there. I mean, we get tourists occasionally. They come to see the church. But they come up the lane by bike or car; they don’t just appear in the valley. And I knew he wasn’t a walker, because he wasn’t wearing walking boots or anything.’
    Jonah stopped in his tracks.
    â€˜What?’ Erin said, turning round.
    â€˜What you just said – it made me think. Erin, where did he come from? And where’s he going now? Like you said, there wasn’t a car or a bike outside the church gate.’
    â€˜No, there wasn’t! And if he’s walking to wherever he is staying, why did he go across the field? There’s nothing up there.’ They stared at each other. ‘Jonah, there’s something odd about Mike. Don’t you think so? He’s really nice but you must admit that there’s something a bit – well, a bit strange about him. Honestly, do you think he is a forester?’
    Jonah shook his head. ‘Well, to be fair, he didn’t actually say that he’s a forester. When you mentioned the Forestry Commission, he just said he worked for another company.’ He grimaced. ‘Perhaps we’re making something out of nothing. Perhaps he is just a forestry manager working in the area. Anyway, we