Rhiannon - Dragonrider

Chapter Four - Through the Maw

"OK! What was that all about?" Megan asked.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," I said.

"Try me! I could tell there was something funny going on."

I thought about it for a bit then decided it was safe, telling her. She'd never let on and, even if she did, no one was ever going to believe her. "Okay then," I said with a shrug. "You heard him talking about 'the sight' thing?"

"Yeah..."

"Well... he wasn't joking and he just tried to use it to read my mind... but I managed to kick him out."

"What?" Megan exploded.

"I said you wouldn't believe it. To be honest, I'm not sure I really believe it myself. I tell you what..."

I tried to find my way back into the 'cloud world' thing but, for some reason, I couldn't work out how I'd done it last time. That was a bit funny... maybe it had something to do with what the fisherman did.

Thinking back to the whole fight thing did the trick... the clouds suddenly burst into life around me again. And, this time, I could relax a bit and have a more careful look around.

There were about a dozen clouds out there but there didn't seem to be any particular pattern to the way they were laid out. The fisherman was easy enough to spot but I couldn't tell who anyone else was.

So I slipped back out again. "You're going to have to help me here," I told Megan. "I can see quite a few minds round here but I can't work out who's who. Think of something obvious for me... say a dog."

She nodded, so I hopped back into the cloud world - it was much easier this time. And I could easily spot the large furry dog, hovering near the surface of one of the clouds... that one had to be Megan. So I reached across and, after hunting around for a bit, I found just what I was looking for.

"Was it a Newfoundland, by any chance!" I asked, as casually as I could, when I emerged.

Megan nodded, her mouth open in shock.

"By the way," I added, "who's Philip?"

She turned bright red. "But I never said..." she gasped. "How on earth did you know?"

"Do you believe me now?" I asked with a smile, "or do I have to hunt for a couple more secrets?"

Megan shook her head emphatically. "You won't tell anyone, will you?"

"Of course not. Who do you think I am?"

I leaned back against the cabin wall and rubbed my forehead. It was pretty hard work and I'd given myself a bit of a headache.

I just sat there for a bit with my eyes closed, trying to get my head round what had just happened. Then I sort of reached a decision. "I'm going to find out what else that guy knows about the whole 'sight' thing," I told Megan.

"Don't you think you ought to talk to Miss Parsons first?" she asked.

I just gave her a look.

"No..." she said, answering her own question, "because she'd never believe you and, even if she did, she'd just try and stop you from doing it."

I gave her a smile

"But are you sure it's safe?"

"I'll be fine. That fisherman is the strongest person about and I didn't have any problems dealing with him."

So I jumped back into the cloud world... it was getting easier every time... then I slipped into the guy's cloud and started hunting around.

His head was full of what I guess were normal sort of fisherman type thoughts... I need to go out to check the lobster pots tomorrow... the boat'll need more diesel soon... the tide's running along a bit nippily today. It might be a bit too choppy through the Maw...