Searching for Thanksgiving (Dragonlings of Valdier)

Chapter 16

16

T he sounds of laughter echoed loudly along the narrow canyon walls as the bright pink raft bobbed in the current. James had taken over guiding the raft. He had gone on and on about currents, rocks, funneling, and other stuff that made Morah’s head hurt until she ordered him to pilot the craft.

She wasn’t sure that was a good idea after Leo talked him into bouncing off some of the rocks so that they could spin like a top. When Pearl turned a delicate shade of green, Morah threatened to throw both boys into the water if they did it again. James sheepishly kept the raft in the center of the river after that.

“This is almost as much fun as flying,” Hope said, trailing her fingers in the water.

“Yeah, and we don’t have to blow hot air,” James agreed.

He laid back against the soft side of the raft and stared up at the canyon walls. Morah scooted over when he stretched his legs out and wiggled his feet. Her eyes narrowed on Leo when he got a mischievous grin on his face and shifted into his cat form.

“Leo, you better nots put your claws into the raft,” Morah growled when he began to bounce up and down.

Leo gave her a sharp-tooth grin, sat, and lifted his front paw up. Morah growled again when he slowly extended his claws. She sat up and glared at him. He snickered at her, as if daring her to do something.

I roast his tail again? her dragon suggested.

We can’t. Remember what Alice said, she silently groaned.

Alice not know.

Morah was about to agree when the raft hit a rough spot in the river. She had been so focused on Leo that she hadn’t noticed that they were moving faster. Her eyes widened with dismay when Leo was thrown forward. The hiss of air from where his claws pierced the raft was drowned out by James yelling.

“Holds on! We’ve gots rapids!” James warned.

“We’ve gots holes!” Pearl snapped.

“Quicks, puts your hands over it,” Sacha suggested.

“It’s not working,” Pearl replied, frantically trying to cover the holes. Water gushed into the bottom of the raft. “Sacha, help me!”

“Maybe if Leo puts his claws back in it will stop the air,” Hope suggested, gripping the side of the raft as it rocked.

“No! That’s only going to make it worse,” Morah cried out when Leo did as Hope suggested.

Leo bounced up and down. The hissing grew louder as every time he landed, he poked new holes in the bottom of the raft. Sacha fell across him on his third bounce.

“Buttercup, covers the holes,” Morah shouted above the roar of the water.

“Holds on, everybodys,” James yelled.

“Why… oh!” Sacha hissed.

Startled shouts and squeals rang out as the raft tilted forward before plummeting over a short waterfall. Morah clung with one hand to the side of the raft and the other to Hope who was laughing and squealing with delight. The raft twirled in a circle before going over a second, shorter waterfall.

“Here comes another ones,” James warned.

Morah was glad the symbiots had formed life vests around each of them when they went over the last waterfall. By then, the bottom of the raft had filled with water. As the raft tilted, it caught on a rock and sent the lot of them into the water. Morah held her breath as her head went under the water for a brief moment before she popped up. Beside her, Hope appeared, turning in a slow circle in the water. James floated by them, clinging to the nearly deflated pink raft.

Morah frantically searched for Sacha, Pearl, and Leo. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the three had shifted into their cat forms and were paddling towards shore. She reached out when she saw the knapsack floating by her and snagged it.

“That was fun!” Hope exclaimed with a grin.

“It was like the ride at the amusement park Mom made,” James agreed, reaching a hand out to pull Hope onto the over-turned raft.

“You two are crazy,” Morah replied, shifting enough to form her tail.

She swiped her tail back and forth, propelling herself toward the shore where Sacha, Pearl, and Leo were now shaking from head-to-tail in an effort to dry off. James ordered Prime to push himself and Hope to shore. The second her feet touched the rocky bottom, Morah tossed the knapsack to the shore and shifted. With a loud growl, she charged Leo.

“Run, Leo, run. You’ve really made her mad this time!” James called out with a laugh.

Leo didn’t need to be told twice. He twisted and took off for the tree line with Morah racing after him. Morah released a fine line of dragon fire that licked at Leo’s tail as he scrambled up the closest tree. Morah’s dragon clawed at the bark. She circled the tree, shaking off the water still clinging to her as she eyed Leo with a menacing growl.

Leo shifted and clung to the trunk of the tree. He warily watched her as she huffed out a puff of smoke. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

We show him sorry! her dragon snorted.

She shifted on her third pass and placed her hands on her hips as she continued to glare up at him. She lifted one hand and waggled a finger at him, opening and closing her mouth before she shook her head. She huffed and puffed before she tossed her wet hair back over her shoulder, turned, and stomped back to the edge of the river.

The others watched her walk by them. Tears of frustration burned through her, and she sniffed. She shook her head at Hope and Sacha. She continued down along the bank of the river until she rounded a curve in it where the others couldn’t see her. Only then did she sink down onto a rock and begin to sob.

She wrapped her arms around her waist and rocked back and forth. She was a bad Priestess-in-training. She shouldn’t have charged Leo. He didn’t know any better. She was older than he was! Only by a few months, but… she was supposed to be a leader.

She lifted her arm and rubbed it against her damp cheek. Her mommy and daddy never got mad when she did something wrong. They always talked to her and helped her understand. Why did Leo make her so mad all the time?

She started when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. Twisting on the rock, she released a cry of surprise and relief when she saw her sister standing there. She fell into Trisha’s outstretched arms and breathlessly, between sobs, shared all her doubts and fears.

“It’s okay, Morah. I’m so proud of you,” Trisha murmured.

She tilted her head back and looked at Trisha. Her lips quivered, and fresh tears streamed down her face. She gulped several times before she finally spoke.

“I tried to roast Leo’s tail again,” she wailed.

Trisha held her little sister as she sobbed out how she was trying to keep everyone safe and that she wasn’t doing a very good job, and how she almost roasted Leo’s tail for a second time after Alice told her that she shouldn’t, but that he made her so mad, and about how they crashed their balloon and because of Leo they ended up sleeping in a tree but that Arilla came and gave them a magic knapsack….

A chuckled threatened to escape Trisha as Morah breathlessly recounted the exploits of the group of explorers as they tried to find and help Thanksgiving. When Morah finally stopped crying, Trisha released her and guided her back to the rock where they both sat down. She held Morah’s hand as her sister drew in deep, calming breaths.

“Dad is going to be so proud of you,” Trisha said.

“Even though I tried to toast Leo?” Morah sniffed.

Trisha laughed and nodded. “I saw you. You gave Leo a good head start. If you had really wanted to toast his tail, you could have.”

Morah giggled. “Did you see his face? His eyes were huge.”

Trisha laughed again and nodded. “He knew he was in big trouble. What did he do this time?”

Morah sighed and shook her head. “He poked holes in our raft after I tolds him to be careful.”

“How did you guys manage to get this far?” Trisha asked, curious.

“We made a balloon out of Buttercup and Rainbow, and Prime mades a basket. Hope, James, and me blew hot airs into it and we floated. It was fun, but tiring… and the basket was squishy because Prime is little.”

Surprise and pride swept through Trisha. She didn’t think she would have been that creative when she was Morah’s age. She also didn’t think she would have had the patience to deal with so many kids, especially out in the wilds.

“You are pretty amazing,” Trisha murmured.

Morah looked up at her with shining eyes. She leaned down and kissed Morah on the top of her head before she stood up. She looked in the direction where the other kids were waiting.

“Do you want to finish your adventure, or are you ready to go home?” she asked.

Morah stood up and looked at her before setting her jaw in a determined thrust. Amusement swept through Trisha. Their dad got the same look when he was confronted with a group of cocky service men thinking they knew more about surviving the wilds than he did.

“We gots to help Thanksgiving. I promised Hope that we would,” Morah declared.

Trisha knelt and held Morah’s hands gently in hers. “Then, you’ve got to finish this.”

Uncertainty tainted Morah’s expression. “Is Daddy going to be upset that we wents on an adventure?”

Trisha shook her head. “No one is upset. We were just worried. Maybe next time, give us a little notice. I’ll let everybody know you are okay.”

Morah threw her arms around Trisha’s neck and clung to her for a moment in a huge hug before she released her and stepped back. With a brilliant smile, she turned, shifted into her dragon, and took off down along the river bank where the others were waiting.

Is everything alright?

Trisha smiled at her mate’s concerned inquiry. Everything is perfect.