Chapter Fifteen

It’s Wise to Fear a Man with Dragon Tattoos

Sara read the sign. NO CHILDREN ALLOWED. “If I’m old enough to rescue my mother, I’m not a child anymore, and no stupid sign will get in my way.”

Sara boldly opened the rickety door, held her head high, and walked into the room, daring anyone to say anything. As she stepped into the room, the loud, lawless bar became silent, and every eye in the place zeroed in on Sara. It reminded Sara of some old movie she watched with her father called Star Wars. There was a scene when the good guy walked into a bar, and there were a lot of mean, dangerous looking creatures sitting around the bar. They all looked right at the good guy. Except, the characters staring at her right now, seemed a lot less respectable. Suddenly, the bold, confident Sara began to feel very small.

The ogre behind the bar looked at Sara from head to toe, and then rubbed his large meaty hands on his greasy, dirty apron. In his deep, booming, menacing voice, he pointed to Sara and said, “Hey kid, can’t you read? The sign says no wizards allowed.”

Sara raised her hands to protest and then realized her star was showing. She quickly dropped her hands to her sides and defended herself by saying, “I am not a wizard, I’m a child.” She realized, child or wizard, either way, she was in trouble.

The ogre laughed, “And I’m the Queen- off to Doldunt Prison with you.” Everyone in the bar laughed as the ogre continued, “Anyway, children aren’t allowed in here either, so get lost.”

Sara turned around, dejectedly, and left the inn. As she left, the patrons of the bar went back to their conversations, except two. A lizard sitting at the table in the very far back corner had noticed the white star on Sara’s palm and stared at the door after she left. He finished his drink and started to follow. He left the pirate sitting at the table, sadly lamenting his recent string of bad luck.

Sitting at a table next to the pirate’s table was a very large, scary looking man with a large tattoo of a dragon on his left arm. He knew instantly who this young girl was. He sneered. His employers would want to know that this white-palmed girl was now near Tenebrae. He knew what he needed to do. It did not escape his attention that the lizard had excused himself from his table and followed the young girl. Chase, the man with the tattoo, stood up and deposited a Queen’s dollar, which he had been running through his fingers. He needed to see what the lizard was up to. It might have been a coincidence that the lizard left about the same time as the young girl, but he had to make sure. Chase left the inn through the back door. No one in the inn noticed him leave.

Sara was angry. How dare that ogre make her leave? She thought to herself, “If I had been a wizard, I would have turned him into a...a….” She couldn’t imagine anything worse than a greasy fat ugly ogre with a dirty apron. She noticed the figure of a large lizard slithering towards her. She looked around but could find no place to hide. Like a deer caught in a trance from oncoming headlights, she could do nothing but wait for the lizard to reach her. She reached down and grabbed her backpack for protection.

“You don’ need to be scared, I am a friend. My name is Cedric.”

 The lizard did not look trustworthy. She thought of using the sunglasses, but she didn’t want to waste one of the three uses so soon. Besides, Jessup had mentioned a lizard named Cedric. “Ok, Cedric. Jessup mentioned you. Jessup said you could help me find a pirate, but you weren’t where you were supposed to be, and now I’ll never meet the pirate.” She folded her hands across her chest. “And I don’t know you, so you are not my friend.”

“I was having a drink with the Pirate Percy when you came in waving your white starred palm so everybody in the inn could see it. That’s not the wisest thing to do. There are those who are looking for a white star palmed child.”

“I didn’t mean to show off my palm. If I had my way, I wouldn’t even have a star. If I had my way, I’d be at home with my mom and dad.” She paused for a moment, and her face brightened. “You know the pirate? Can you introduce me to him? I need to get to ten….”

Cedric stopped Sara before she could finish her sentence. “Please, don’t talk about that place out-loud. There are those who report all that is spoken here. It’s best that place is spoken of in private. It will take someone with experience to convince Percy to go anywhere near his ship again and even more to convince him to go to that place.”

“Cedric, I have no other choice. I have to get to—to that place, and his is the only ship in the harbor.”

“Well….”

“A friend would help me.”

“Yes, Yes, I know.” Cedric rubbed his chin. “The only way to get from here to there is by Percy’s ship,” Cedric looked up, his eye’s bright and a smirk on his face. “All we need to do is to make him think that the idea to take you is all his. I think I might be able to do this. It will take some time. I have a cot in my tent; you are welcome to stay there. We can talk to Percy tomorrow.” He started to walk away from Sara, and then turned his head around again, “Are you coming?”

The thought of staying anywhere near the lizard gave Sara the heebie-jeebies; she didn’t know why he seemed like a nice enough guy, but nevertheless. “Well, actually, I have a sort of phobia of cots, and I was thinking of sleeping out here under the stars. I like sleeping outside.” She had never slept outside alone before but somehow. It sounded better than sleeping anywhere near Cedric.

 “Okay. Sara, be careful. Not everyone around here will be friendly.” Cedric turned and left.

                              

Hiding behind some bushes and unnoticed by Cedric or Sara, a scary person with a dragon tattoo had seen and heard everything. “I will be joining the Pirate’s crew tomorrow,” Chase said to himself. He knew his employers wanted the girl; he would have to find a way to join up with the pirate before Sara. “Unfortunately the ships only travel on the water,” thought Chase, turning a bit green. He was terrified of water.

“This is not what I expected in this job.” Chase had been hired to take the girl to a rendezvous at Hemits Cave. They had not told him the girl was a wizard. His father had been a wizard and had abandoned him, and his mother just after Chase was born. His mother died shortly after his birth, and he grew up in an orphanage. He vowed to avenge his mother’s death if he ever found the wizard that had abandoned her and left her to die. However, a job was a job, and the pay was good. Once he completed this job, he would have the money to continue the search for his miserable father and avenge his mother’s death.

                            

Sara watched the lizard walk away. She had an uneasy feeling about Cedric. Off towards the right, she saw a gigantic man moving away; she had an uneasy feeling about him too. Perhaps it was because they were both strangers, and both a bit strange, but they gave her the creeps. The large man left, leaving Sara alone as the sun finished setting. Exhausted, all she could think of was a soft bed. “Maybe I should have taken Cedric up on his offer,” she said aloud, talking to herself again. She used the backpack as a pillow and lay down on the ground. “This is so uncomfortable,” she said, “I’ll never get to sleep.” She gazed up at the stars. They didn’t look much different from the ones at home, except they were green. She closed her eyes, and within seconds Sara was drifting off into dreamland, dreaming of her trip to Disneyland with her parents. She smiled in her sleep.