The Outcast and The Night Fury
Chapter Seven
I searched through the other trunks and found harnesses that seemed to be in better condition than the first one I had found. I was tempted to take the best one with me tomorrow and try flying again, but I decided that, for safety's sake, I really should restore it before letting Toothless take me up into the sky again.
So I locked up the carriage house and went back to the manor to my room, taking the harnesses with me. Then I got on my laptop and read everything I could find about how to restore leather. It was nearly midnight before I finally went to bed.
I was not looking forward to going back to the Wildlife Center the next morning, but it actually wasn't as bad as I feared. Sven and Phlegma were there when we all arrived and the other kids and I just ignored each other for the little bit of time that we were together, which wasn't much because I ended up going along with Sven while he made field calls around the island.
Sven and Phlegma are the only veterinarians on Berk so they stay pretty busy caring for pets, livestock, and the wild animals at the Center. We went to Bucket's farm first to check out a cow that had gone off her feed, then to another farm so Sven could do some kind of dental work on a sheep, and then to their office in downtown Berk because Mulch Olsen's cat needed a vaccine.
Sven and Phlegma's office happened to be right across the street from the hardware store. Since there wasn't much I could do to help with giving the cat its shot, it occurred to me that maybe I could run over and pick up a leather restoration kit instead of having to wait until afternoon. I needed to buy the kit so I could start working on the harnesses that evening, but I also hated to miss any of my time with Toothless.
"Sven, would it be all right if I ran over to the hardware store a minute?" I asked while he was getting the vaccine.
He waved me on. "Sure, go ahead."
So I hurried across the street and asked the owners, a Mr. and Mrs. Tindall, for the kit. Normally I'm a little shy about asking people for things. I always feel like I'm bothering them. But I didn't want to waste any time and hold Sven up, and the shelves in the hardware store were crammed full with nuts and bolts and tools of every type, and everything seemed to be in such a jumble that I probably could have searched for an hour without finding what I needed. But Mrs. Tindall went straight to a shelf on the far wall and got a kit.
"I think maybe I'll get two of those, Mrs. Tindall," I decided. If I was going to try to restore one harness, I might as well work on all of them. You never knew when having extras might come in handy, after all.
The kits weren't cheap, but I had plenty of money. Dad is actually pretty generous about giving me pocket money, and I rarely spend much so I have a lot saved up.
I was waiting at the street corner for the traffic light to change (Berk is not quite a one traffic light village-we have four around the town square) when a guy came rushing around the corner, talking on his phone and not paying much attention to anything else, and bumped right into me.
"Watch it!" He snapped, but then seemed to realize that he was actually the one at fault and said more contritely, "Uh, sorry, kid. Wasn't paying attention."
Before I could respond, he was already heading off down the cobbled sidewalk, still talking on his phone.
I heard him say crossly, "Well, that's not my fault. It was catering to His Majesty that cost me the ferry job."
I gave him a sharp look, remembering that Dad had gone to Dragon Island to help Gobber because the ferry boat captain had been fired for not showing up to work. Could this be the guy? He looked awfully young to be captaining a ship-only around twenty or so, tall and brawny, with dark hair, wearing a blue sweater and brown trousers. He wasn't from Berk, I did know that. Maybe he was from one of the other islands in the Archipelago?
He slid into a black Porsche convertible parked on the side of the street, tossing his phone towards the passenger seat. He seemed like the type who would tear off at twice the legal limit, but instead he drove almost sedately, using his signal and checking carefully before turning down a side street and disappearing from view.
Almost too carefully? Like he didn't want to give the police any reason to stop him?
Then I could hear Dad's voice in my head—Hiccup, you're being ridiculous.
I sighed. No doubt Dad was right. So what if the guy was young and had a nice car? Wealthy tourists weren't unheard of around here, especially in the summer. They didn't come in droves, but there were always some people who came to see the dragons.
Except that the tourists didn't usually take jobs while they were here, and there was at least one dragon poacher on the loose.
"Hiccup! Are you going to stand there all day? The light's already changed once."
That was Sven. He must have finished with Mulch's cat and locked the office because he was standing next to the white truck he and Phlegma drove for work. I hurried across the street and climbed into the truck.
As we drove back to the Wildlife Center, I decided to mention my suspicions to Sven. He'd probably think I was crazy, but what if that guy was a poacher and I didn't say anything and he hurt more dragons? Then I would hate myself for keeping quiet.
Sure enough, Sven shook his head. "You kids watch too much television. You don't know for sure if that guy was the ferry boat captain, and even if he was, having a poor work ethic isn't a crime."
"I know that, but you and Phlegma said there could be dragon poachers around and he is a stranger," I pointed out.
Sven sighed. "All right. I'll mention it to Clueless, but I doubt anything will come of it."
Clueless Bell is the police chief on Berk. Yes, you read that right—our police chief is nicknamed Clueless. I'll give you a minute to go roll around on the floor and laugh. He is also distantly related to Gobber, though by the time Gobber tried to explain the tangle of cousins, half-aunts, and grand-uncles, I was completely lost.
We have very little crime on Berk, although I'm not sure if that's due to Clueless' skill or the fact that this is a small town where everyone knows everyone. I think the most work that Clueless has ever had was the day a few years ago when Old Mildew got drunk and went streaking around the island. Now, that was a day to remember—whether you want to or not.
It was still about ten minutes before noon when Sven and I reached the Center, but he told me I could go on if I wanted. Of course I could hardly wait to see Toothless, and it was even better if I could avoid seeing Sly and the others, so I quickly grabbed my bike and headed for home.
I packed lunch for us and then decided to bring along my sketchbook and pencils, too. Toothless was waiting for me this time and I ran over and gave him a big hug while he chirped and warbled and almost knocked me over dancing around me.
"I Icka!"
"Hey, bud! I missed you too. How's your morning been? Did you go flying again?"
Toothless spread his wings and preened.
I unpacked our lunch and sat down cross-legged in the grass while Toothless settled down beside me. "Well, guess what? I found some harnesses in the carriage house and I think I can fix at least one of them. It may take a few days, but I'll be able to fly with you! Isn't that great?"
Toothless seemed to think so too, and while we ate, I told him about the rest of my morning. Then we looked through my sketchbook. I'm not a great artist, not at all, but I like to draw and Toothless looked at all my pictures with interest-the ones of Dad, our house, the beach, and then…
"Eee!" Toothless chirped happily.
"Yea, I drew it from one of the pictures I took of you with my phone. What do you think?"
It was a close-up of Toothless, looking directly at the viewer with his head slightly tilted, his eyes big and round. It was one of the best drawings I've done and I was pretty pleased with it, if I do say so myself. Toothless gave me a gentle push with his nose. I took that to mean that he liked it, too.
It was a fun afternoon. We played tag and hide-n-seek around the cove, and I discovered that if I held my phone so that the sunlight bounced off of it, Toothless would chase and pounce on the reflection, like a big cat. We play-fought with me jumping at his neck and Toothless very carefully batting at me with his front paws, just barely touching me so I wouldn't get hurt.
Finally we sank back down in the grass near the pond to rest and I began another sketch of Toothless, drawing him slightly crouched down with his wings spread, about to take flight. He watched lazily, and as I shaded in the scalloped points of his wings, I brought up something that had been bothering me ever since I had wondered if Porsche Guy might be a poacher.
"Toothless, remember I told you about that guy bumping into me this morning, and that I wondered if he might be a dragon poacher?"
Toothless growled menacingly.
"Well, he probably isn't, but there are poachers out there, and I was thinking that you're here all alone in the cove when I'm not here. I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you, bud."
Toothless pushed me gently again, as if to say that I was being silly.
"I know, you're all strong and fierce. But I can't help worrying. If there is a dragon poacher on Berk…well, that's just too close." I patted Toothless' shoulder. "So I was thinking, what about if you came home with me? We could sneak you in pretty easily right now, since Dad's gone. Then if any poacher did come here, you'd be safe."
Toothless looked at me. I swear, the long-suffering expression on his face was just like Dad's when he thought I was being paranoid.
So I decided to play the sympathy card, except that it was true and I really did want Toothless to come home with me, both for his own safety and just because it would be fun to spend more time together.
"Please, Toothless. I've never had a friend to sleep over before. The closest thing I've ever had was Sly staying a couple times when we were younger, but that doesn't count because he was always shoving me around and I spent most of the time hiding from him. When we were ten, I beat him at Monopoly—that's a board game—and he knocked me out of my chair. I hit him back, but he's always been bigger and stronger so that didn't end well for me."
Toothless growled again, and I grinned. "Yeah, I'd love to see Sly try something with you around. So will you come home with me, Toothless? Please, bud?"
He nodded and I patted his shoulder. "Good. Maybe we better go then. It'll be time for dinner soon." I pointed to the narrow gap in the rock wall where I always entered. "Can you fly out and meet me on the other side there?"
It was a little strange to have Toothless with me outside the cove, but it was great too. I wished that we could always stay together. I wondered if I could manage to sneak him in and out once Dad returned home in a couple days, but then I decided to just take things one step at a time, and the first step was sneaking him in tonight.
At the edge of the forest, I stopped Toothless. "Hold on, let me make sure no one's outside."
There wasn't, but before we went on, I pointed to a set of windows on the ground floor. "Those windows are in the kitchen. This time of day, Mr. and Mrs. Holt are probably there or in the dining room. So don't go in front of the kitchen windows. The dining room windows are on the right side of the house. We don't have to worry about those now."
I indicated another set of windows on the first floor above ground. "That's my room. That's where we're going to go."
We crept along the edge of the forest as far as we could and then, after one more quick look around to make sure no one was watching from the windows, we hurried across the lawn to the door to the mud room. I opened it and cautiously peered inside before motioning for Toothless to slip in with me.
I led him towards the back staircase. It was more narrow than the grand oak staircase in the entrance hall, but the stairs were still wide enough for Toothless and we didn't have to go past the dining room to get to the them.
We were halfway up when Mrs. Holt called my name and came to the kitchen door. Frantically I motioned for Toothless to hurry on to the top and luckily, he got out of sight just in time.
"Hiccup, we're going to eat a little early tonight. Mr. Holt and I have decided to go to the cinema this evening. Would you like to come?"
"No thanks. I'm kind of tired. I think I'll just stay here."
She frowned. "I don't like leaving you in this big house all alone at night."
I sighed. "I'm fourteen, Mrs. Holt. I'll be fine. You can set the alarm when you leave and I've got my phone."
I had Toothless, too, but of course I couldn't say that.
She smiled. "You're right. Very well, then. Hurry and wash up. We'll be eating dinner in a few minutes."
I showed Toothless to my room. He looked around curiously at the walnut paneled walls, the wide double windows with moss-green velvet drapes, the big four-poster bed with a matching moss-green spread and pillows, the desk, the bookcase, and chest of drawers, and the corner fireplace. He crooned approvingly before moving around, examining everything. I guess it would seem strange to him, since I don't imagine he would have ever been inside a human house or bedroom before.
"It's pretty nice, isn't it? Which is a good thing cause I spent a lot of time here before I met you, bud."
I crossed over to the windows and knelt on the cushion in the window seat while I struggled to open them. I get cold easily so I rarely have them open, but I figured Toothless might need to go outside at some point, and I could always put on a sweater.
The windows were difficult for me to draw, but Toothless came over and helped push them with his head.
"Careful there. The glass could cut you if it breaks."
But Toothless was gentle and with a protesting groan, the windows opened.
I patted his head in thanks. "Okay, if you need to go outside, you can fly out from here, but be careful not to let anyone see you. I've got to go downstairs for dinner now, but I'll be back as soon as I can. And I'll bring you up some food and water as soon as the Holts leave."
After a quick dinner of meatballs, gravy, and potatoes, Mr. and Mrs. Holt were off to the theater, and I took up some fish and a big bowl of water for Toothless. He was stretched out on the rug beside my bed, dozing, but he woke up to slurp down the haddock and tuna I had brought. Then I got several clean cloths and sat down on the floor beside him with the old harnesses and the leather restoration kit.
We spent a quiet evening while I cleaned the harnesses, carefully applied filler to the cracks, and then rubbed the leather conditioner over them. It was more time-consuming than it sounds and after finishing the first harness, I decided to put them away for the night. I placed everything into the trunk at the foot of my bed and told Toothless to wait there while I got ready for bed. Then I grabbed a pair of plaid flannel pajamas and headed for my bathroom.
A few minutes later, I was back and burying myself under the thick comforter on my bed. The night air from outside was pretty chilly, even though I had closed the windows most of the way. But I still left them unlatched so Toothless could push them open if he needed to.
"Hey, bud. You want to come up here?" I asked softly, patting the bed beside me.
Toothless immediately leaped onto my bed and then we spent a few moments untangling the covers, but finally he was settled. I sighed happily as I curled up beside him and he tucked his wing around me. His warm dragon scales chased away the night chill, and I didn't think I had ever felt so safe and so loved as I did then.
When I opened my eyes in the morning, Toothless had gone and the windows were agape. I wondered if he had returned to the cove or if he would come back here. I wanted to see him again before I had to go to the Center. It was still pretty early, so maybe if I hurried I could find him first.
I hurried to shower and change into a red hooded sweatshirt with black and white lettering, jeans, and sneakers. I went back to my bedroom to get my phone, debating about whether to close my windows or leave them open. I decided to leave them open, in case Toothless needed to get back inside, but it turned out to be an unnecessary debate. Toothless was already sitting on the rug in my bedroom.
I went to scratch behind his ear fins and under his chin. "Hey, bud. I'm glad you came back."
And then Toothless looked straight at me and said, "Hey, Hicca."
Author's Notes: Thanks for reading! Please review!
