World War Dragon!

'You're Talking to Clothes Now?

Marion sank to the floor, shaking.

That same chill, that same enveloping darkness as when they had first escaped underground. Another cave, it seemed, and no way of knowing the way out.

But there was no Malachite to light the way now. Marion swallowed hard when she thought of the little dragon, down there with those horrible beasts – the same ones, it seemed, who had injured him. What would they do to him now?

She closed her eyes tight, trying to squeeze the thought out.

And the rods. I've lost the rods ...

Fred was the first to speak. 'What now?'

Marion shivered and bit her bottom lip.

He cleared his throat. 'I said, WHAT NOW?'

'I don't know,' she snapped back. 'I need to think. Why am I always the one who has come up with the ideas?'

'Because' - Judy's voice was unusually sharp - 'you're the one who always thinks she's in charge.'

'I just saved you all from those dragons!' Marion gasped, a sob rising in her voice. She felt betrayed. How could Judy turn on her now?

'I'm the one who closed that hole up. You should be thanking me.'

'Thanks?' Fred started to laugh, but it was a high-pitched, cracked kind of laugh.

'Oh, yes. Thank you, Your Ladyship Miss Marion. Thank you for trapping us all underground with a bunch of dragons so now we can all die of thirst and cold. Thank you so much. Oh, and by the way, I was the one who lifted you all up here. Doesn't really matter now, though, because we're all going to DIE anyway.'

Tommy whimpered. 'We ... we die?'

'Do be quiet, Fred.' Judy's voice again. It had a cold, crisp edge now.

'Yes, Fred, shut up!' Marion rejoined.

Judy clicked her tongue.

'Actually, Marion, I think you have some listening to do as well. You're very good at treating people like they're not as clever as you.'

'I – I didn't ... know that...'

'No, you didn't, did you? And it's time you realized there's quite a lot more you don't know. Some of us have quite enough adventures simply trying to live and you'd do well to remember that.'

'I – I thought you wanted to be an explorer...'

'I do want to explore. I read about wonderful places in books. But I know I can never visit any of them because we're poor and I have to stay at home to help look after Tommy. And now, even when I am on an adventure, I have to look after not just him, but everyone else as well!'

'Sorry, Judy. Jidy.' Tommy said quietly.

'I don't blame you Tommy,' Judy replied, her voice tearful. There was a silence.

Marion put her head on her knees. She felt tears pricking the backs of her eyes. They were stuck in this horrible, cold, dark place with no light and no food other than the sweets in her bag. And they all hated her.

Suddenly she had an idea. She reached into her bag and found the pocket in which she'd put the earwing.

She pressed her cheek to the cool, brass surface, then fiddled to open the catch. 'Trousers,' she whispered. 'Are you there? I ... I need help.'

Silence.

'Trousers?' Fred said, incredulous. 'You're talking to clothes now? You've actually ruddy lost your marbles, haven't you?'

'Be quiet,' Marion sobbed, snapping the mirror shut. 'You don't know what you're talking about.'

'Oh no, we commoners never know, do we?' said Fred. His voice had lost its jeering edge, though. There was a darker, deeper anger there now.

'It's always you Blounts who know what to do. My brother trusted one of you Blounts, you know. And look where that got him.'

Marion's tears now came quickly, coursing down her cheeks. 'Charlie's got nothing to do with this. You wouldn't dare even meet his eyes if he were here now. You coward!'

'Coward?' snorted Fred. 'Oh, that's a good one. You don't even know what your precious Charlie did. They haven't told you, have they?'

Marion remembered Mama's pale face, the way she sucked her lips in now whenever anybody asked about Charlie, the way she quickly changed the subject whenever Marion started talking about how he'd been hurt. She felt her stomach clench up inside.

'Charlie's a hundred times the man you'll ever be!' she shouted.

Fred coughed. 'Oh, is he now? Well, try explaining this, then. Your brother told our George he should leave his post with him. He said that he would lead the way and make sure they were safe, just like you did. Thing is, though, they got charged with leaving their watch. And while my brother got hauled up in front of a tribunal, yours got sent back here to "recover". So what do you think of that then? Still want to talk about cowardice? Eh?'

Marion slumped back against the cave wall. She shook her head violently. 'No, that cannot be.'

'It's true. And that tribunal found George guilty of desertion and he was shot. Dead! And me ma won't ever get over it. And me da won't ever stop drinking. Or ... hitting me.' Fred's voice dissolved into tears.

Marion buried her head in her skirts and sobbed.

'I'm sorry. Truly I am. I didn't know anything about George, I swear.'

Judy cleared her throat. 'Right, enough of this, the pair of you. What good is fighting and crying going to do any of us? We need to find a way out.' Marion heard boots scuff against the floor. A hand travelled up the bottom part of her leg. Judy was moving, groping around the cave wall.

'Here, there's a small tunnel. We can crawl through. It must lead somewhere.' Judy took Marion's hand and pulled her towards the left.

Marion grabbed the carpet bag.

'Fred ... Tommy,' Judy called. 'Follow my voice.'

'Not another ruddy tunnel,' Fred gasped.

'It's that, or stay here and rot,' Judy replied flatly.

The tunnel was far, far narrower than the others. They had to crawl their way through on their bellies. Marion's elbows were soon scraped raw, mud seeping through her clothes, matting her hair, the bag heavy as she pushed it along in front of her. She'd never been frightened of small spaces herself, but after what felt like an age, even she was starting to panic.

'Thank all our lucky stars!' Judy cried out suddenly.

Marion looked straight ahead. Sure enough, there was a faint glow.