Searching for Thanksgiving (Dragonlings of Valdier)

Chapter 3

3

T he night before:

“Roam, I don’t think this is such a good idea,” Bálint said, watching as his best friend crouched to scratch at the loose soil.

The black-striped, young white tiger rolled his eyes and shook his head. “If we want to go fishing early tomorrow morning, we’re gonna need worms. If we don’t, we’re not gonna catch anything. This is the perfect place to find them. You heard Spring talking about all the worms she saw at dinner.”

“Yes, but she was talking about how happy and important the worms are for her garden. If you take the worms out, then she won’t be happy,” Bálint warned.

Roam set down the bucket he had found outside the garden shed and straightened. He pursed his lips in annoyance. It wasn’t like they were going to take all the worms in the garden. They just needed a dozen or so. If they didn’t use them all, he would return them. It wasn’t like Spring knew exactly how many worms she had in the new garden she was creating!

“Do you want to go fishing or not?” he demanded, placing his dirty hands on his hips and glaring at Bálint.

“Yeah, but… we could use the fake worms like we always do,” Bálint defended.

“And how many fish do we normally catch with those?”

Bálint shifted from one foot to the other and looked sheepishly at him. “None. That’s okay, though. It is fun to try. Besides, Alice doesn’t want me to hurt them,” he defended.

“We’re not hurting the fish. We’re going to eat them! Plus, Alice isn’t going with us this time. Now, hold the flashlight steady,” Roam ordered.

Roam pulled up another one of Spring’s freshly planted flowers and set it to the side of the hole. The worms seemed to like the loose soil. He would replant all of Spring’s flowers when he was done. She would never know he was there.

Ten minutes later, he grinned at Bálint as he held up the bucket of squirming worms desperately trying to tunnel their way back into the dirt. He had found way more than two dozen worms! They could fish the whole week on them.

Bálint ruefully shook his head and sighed as he looked around the garden. Roam followed the beam of the flashlight. The harsh light made the garden look worse than it really was… he hoped.

Spring going to be so mad at us, his cat warned with a groan.

It isn’t that bad!

His cat snorted in response. He rolled his eyes. His cat was always trying to warn him about upsetting Spring. Sure, his cat was usually right, but Spring always forgave him. It wasn’t like he tried to make her mad. It just came naturally… the same as with his mom and dad. His dad was always doing something that upset his mom, and all they ever did was kiss and cuddle afterwards.

Not that Spring and I will ever do that, he thought with a grimace. Girls are yucky and weird.

Spring not yucky and weird! his cat snarled.

Roam rubbed his stomach. She is… but in a good way. I like her weirdness. She doesn’t mind worms or getting dirty… and she makes the best hiding places underground, he defended.

She NOT yucky! He was about to argue with his cat when Bálint spoke.

“I don’t want to be you when Spring finds out what you’ve done.”

Roam scowled and studied the garden. Sure, the plants might not be in the pretty rows that Spring had them in, but they were close. And yeah, there might be a few places where he dug a little too deep or piled the dirt higher, but it gave the garden character.

Spring would appreciate character in her garden. She was always talking about how this plant looked better up high, and this one needed to be in front of that one to make it stand out. It wasn’t like he didn’t listen to everything Spring said. It was just that he didn’t understand most of it.

He reached out and nudged a broken stem with his foot. It just needed a little water, and it would be good. He looked longingly at the bucket of worms.

“I’ll come back after our fishing trip and clean things up some more. She’ll never know,” he replied with a confident grin.

We going to be in so much trouble, his cat muttered before thankfully shutting him out.

Early the next morning, Spring stared at her once beautiful garden. She wiped angry tears from her cheeks, leaving behind dirty streaks. Her garden was littered with piles of dirt, dozens of small holes, as well as wilting and broken plants. The whole thing looked as if her dad and the other dads had played a game of Tackle the Dragon in the middle of it.

“Here you go, Spring,” Jabir said.

Spring looked at the bright green worm Jabir was carefully holding in the palms of his hands. She reached for the wiggling body, carefully lifted it, and sniffed. Whoever did this was going to pay!

“What did he say?” she demanded.

Jabir squinched his nose and looked at her with a confused frown before it cleared when she held up the worm. He chuckled and shook his head.

“I don’t speak worm, but if I was to guess from the footprints, I’d say it was Roam or Leo,” he replied.

Spring pursed her lips. Roam!

“It can’t be Leo. Sacha and Hope chased him up a tree over an hour ago and he’s still there,” Phoenix said, coming to put her arm around her sister’s waist. “I’m sorry about your garden, Spring. I’ll help you make it right.”

“Oh, I’m going to make it right, alright! That shifty cat-shifter is going to pay big time for this! He was asking me all kinds of questions last night about the worms in my garden. I should have known he was fishing around for something. He is clueless when it comes to plants!” Spring growled.

“But he loves fishing,” Jabir said.

Spring gave Jabir a sharp-tooth grin. “If he wants worms, I’ll give him worms.”

“Spring, what are you planning on doing?” Phoenix asked.

Spring turned to her sister and shrugged. “Let’s just say by the time I’m done with Roam, he’ll never mess with one of my gardens again… and may never even want to fish! At least not with real worms.”

“I’ll help you,” Jabir offered.

Spring looked at Jabir in surprise. “You will? Why?”

Jabir gave her a sheepish grin. “I might not understand everything a worm says, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know how they feel. I like worms. That’s why I made the fake worms for Roam to use.”

Spring studied Jabir’s earnest expression to make sure he was really going to help before she nodded. She looked at her sister who nodded in agreement. Bending, she released the worm she was holding into the loose soil and motioned for the other two to step closer.

Oh, Roam. You have really messed up big this time you crazy cat-shifter, she thought with a devious sense of satisfaction as she outlined her plans for revenge.