Searching for Thanksgiving (Dragonlings of Valdier)

Chapter 9

9

“ I hate you,” Roam growled under his breath before he yelped.

“No, you don’t. Now stay still,” Spring snapped.

“I can’t believe you put sticky worms in my bed! In my bed! ” he snarled, wincing as Jabir pulled a worm out of his ear.

“Well, you shouldn’t have taken the worms from my garden and ruined my plants,” she retorted before gently coaxing another worm out from under his armpit.

He shuddered. He was going to have to talk with Jabir later about how they were able to remove the worms… once his friend and Spring finished pulling off all the visible ones attached to him. There were a few worms that he wasn’t letting anyone near!

He squirmed when a few of the worms moved, and tried to gently adjust his baggy trousers. Spring snorted with laughter. He made a face at her.

“You shouldn’t have shifted, Roam. I think it made them worse,” Jabir was saying.

Roam scowled at Spring when she smothered another snort of laughter. He wanted to tell them to just leave him alone, but the stupid worms wouldn’t respond to anyone else… including Bálint! Afraid of more retribution from Spring, he turned his ire on Jabir.

“I can’t believe you helped her!” he spat out.

He was surprised by the swift anger that flashed over Jabir’s face. Jabir was never mad. Out of all the dragonlings, Jabir was the most even-tempered and the nicest one out of the group… well, except for maybe Bálint. Bálint was pretty ‘chilled’ as his mom would say.

Jabir met his gaze and said, “Worms are… are sweet and nice and they help make things grow. You took them and you messed up Spring’s garden. You don’t think of anyone else but you, Roam. You hurt Spring’s feelings and you fed her garden worms to the fish.”

“Ow! I don’t only think of myself. I think of others. I was going to share the fish we caught,” Roam muttered when Spring pulled some of his hair out with the sticky worm.

“When? When do you think of someone other than yourself?” Spring demanded.

Roam flushed. “I think about you all the time. I mean… I think about how you-you… grow great fishing worms in your pretty gardens.”

Spring stared at Roam for a second before she rolled her eyes, turned, and stomped away. Roam stared after her, unsure why she was even madder at him. He winced when Jabir pulled another sticky worm off him.

“That’s the last one,” Jabir stated with a shake of his head.

Roam grimaced, looked at Jabir, and wiggled his finger to lean closer.

“There are a few more—” he whispered.

Jabir frowned. “Where… Oh! Ah… yeah, you’ll have to…”

Roam listened as Jabir whispered instructions on how to remove the last of the worms. He nodded and took the jar of worms from Jabir before awkwardly standing and waddling towards the door. He could feel his face turning a brilliant shade of red as everyone in the room paused to watch him walk toward the hallway and the bathroom.

“Roam,” his father said, looking down at him with a sympathetic expression.

“Yeah?”

“Your mom wants to know if you need any help,” his father replied in a gruff tone.

Roam blanched and shook his head. “No… I got this,” he replied before escaping to the bathroom with a burning face.

“Do we have any idea where the kids are going?” Calo asked.

Calo’s twin brother sat with a stoney expression. Melina stood behind her mate with one hand on his shoulder and the other on Cree’s. Paul studied the trio before scanning the room of concerned parents. Instead of frantic concern, they were all resigned now. They had all been through this before… more than once.

Still, this is with a different group, he thought.

He shook his head and fought to keep his expression calm. Morah was different from his older daughter, Trisha. The brief image his symbiot had received from Princess Buttercup had shown Morah looking like she was going on a fashion tour more than a trek through the wilds of Valdier.

He wasn’t worried… well, not much. First, Morah had been on enough camping trips to know how to handle herself out in the wild. She also had her symbiot and her dragon to help her. Second, she had the other kids. Pearl and Leo could be a handful, but they were smart, resourceful, and had a knack for not only getting themselves in trouble, but out of it too. Hope was delicate and small for her age, but Sacha looked out for her. No, if he was worried, it was about the two boys. James was like his older sisters, too smart and creative when it came to things that went boom, and Leo was too curious for his own good.

“Morian, has Crash given you any idea where they could be?” Tina asked, worrying her bottom lip. “Leo…”

Morian gave Leo’s mother a reassuring smile. “Buttercup is still young and unfortunately, just as excited about this trip as Morah. All we are getting is vague images.”

“What about Hope’s symbiot? Is Rainbow any help?” Tina asked, turning to Cree, Calo, and Melina.

“No,” Calo replied with a huff.

“They can’t have gotten far,” Riley said, looking at her mate. “Vox, you can pick up Sacha and Pearl’s scent and track them. I wouldn’t be surprised if they aren’t home by this afternoon. Sacha isn’t going to want to mess up her nails, and Leo is always hungry. Whatever food they’ve taken is bound to be gone soon.”

The low chuckles around the table made even the most worried parent relax a little. Leo was known for his appetite.

“We’ll break up into teams and spread out,” Paul said.

“The other women and I will stay here in case the kids return. We can send you a message if they do,” Morian suggested.

“Sounds good. I’ve asked Trisha to come with us. Her experience in tracking will help us. We leave in ten,” Paul announced.