Chapter 4
Chris slept all day and into the night. He woke up around midnight and he could hear his parents talking to each other. Chris stayed where he was and listened.
"You know I'm really looking forward to having Serenity come to this island," Rufus said, a bit too eagerly. "Did you see how beautiful she was? Not many girls like her around here."
"She's young and healthy," Valkyrie agreed. "And that baby was cute."
"I don't find it fair that Chris gets that girl all to himself," Rufus said as though Valkyrie hadn't spoken. "She's a treasure that should be shared with the rest of the world."
"What are planning Rufus?" Valkyrie asked suspiciously.
"I'll tell you tomorrow," said Rufus, with a yawn. He and Valkyrie soon fell asleep. Chris rolled over onto his other side. After hearing all of this, he wondered if it was safe to bring Serenity and Edelweiss to the island.
The next morning at the crack of dawn Chris was woken up by Rufus. He sat up and got to his feet.
"Time to get to work," he said. "That field needs plowing. The plow's on the other side of the barn from the door." Chris went outside where the sky was lighting up. Valkyrie and Rufus followed him. He opened the door and walked in.
"The black horse is yours," said Rufus. "The saddle's in the shed next to the plow." Chris went over to the black horse. It lowered its head to Chris's level and he stroked its neck.
"I've never ridden a horse before," he said.
"Ah, it's easy," said Valkyrie. "You catch on pretty quick." Chris went up to the hay loft where Windwalker was still sleeping.
"Come on Windwalker we have to get to work," Chris said. The dragon yawned and got to her feet.
"This is so unfair," she said. "I'm kept up all night by loud, obnoxious animals then when I do get to sleep, I'm woken up again only half an hour later."
"Really? You only got a half an hour of sleep?" Chris said.
"Yeah," said Windwalker gloomily. "Well we better get started." She followed her rider down to the first floor and outside. Valkyrie and Rufus had saddled their horses already; Rufus on the chestnut, and Valkyrie on the palomino paint.
"We'll be back this evening," said Rufus. "Once you're done with the field you can muck out the stalls." With that they rode off. Chris turned to his dragon.
"There's something I don't trust about those two," said Windwalker.
"I agree," Chris said. "They were talking last night about Serenity, and seem a bit too eager to have her on this island."
"We better keep an eye on them," Windwalker said. "And it might be wise not to bring her here." Chris nodded. He went behind the barn and found the plow.
"Of course you could just go back to your dragon family," Windwalker said as she was hitched to the plow. "They are the ones who raised you and they value Serenity not just because she pretty."
"It's true," Chris said. "But I want to know what Rufus is up to. If he's planning to hurt Serenity or do something equally terrifying, I want to go back and warn her."
"Fair enough," said Windwalker. She began pulling the plow up the field.
"But we can't let Rufus we're on to him," Chris said. "Draco only knows what he'll do."
"Right," said Windwalker. She put her shoulders into pulling the plow, it cut through the ground like a ship through water.
They spent the rest of the day working in the field. The finished plowing then went to work on the stalls. Chris let the animals out to graze. Windwalker kept the animals from wandering off. She didn't have the patience for stupid animals. The sheep never stayed put, the pigs squealed and ran away every time she got near, and the cow just mooed at her and refused to move. Windwalker never found sheep interesting, except when Berk used them for Dragon Racing. When the cow still refused to move she shot a tiny plasma blast at its heels and that got the cow moving. Both dragon and rider were worn out by the time Rufus and Valkyrie returned. They found the place quiet. The animals were back in their stalls. Chris and Windwalker were curled up in the hay loft on soft hey. Windwalker could hear them in her sleep. They came into the hay loft, looked around, then went back down. When they were gone she opened her eyes. Careful not to disturb her rider, she got up and went down the ground floor. It was dark out so Windwalker had no problem staying hidden. She snuck over to the house and right to the only window in the house. She peaked in and her powerful hearing picked up the conversation between Valkyrie and Rufus.
"I spoke to Bran today about our plan," Rufus said. "When I told him how pretty she was he was all for it."
"What are you planning to do about the child?" asked Valkyrie.
"It doesn't concern me," said Rufus. "Chris can have it." He sounded uninterested in Edelweiss. Windwalker did not like the sound of this plan.
"Let's get to sleep we can worry about this tomorrow," said Valkyrie.
"Okay, and not a word of this to Chris," Rufus said.
"Why not, she is his wife," said Valkyrie.
"He'll get his turn with her after we've all had a turn," said Rufus. "If he finds out about this he'll keep her all to himself, and that's not fair." Windwalker heard them get into bed and saw the light go out. She went back to the barn, her mind replaying what she had just heard. Apparently Serenity's life was in danger. Windwalker didn't know what Rufus's plan was, but it didn't sound good. She went back to bed, making a plan to tell Chris what she heard in the morning.