In The Beginning, Gail Daley [red white royal blue .TXT] 📗

scale grew out over the top of the one under it. Just now, the cow turned her side to them and made a hopeful purring noise.

"Why did she do that?" asked Zack, puzzled.

"I think she’s been infested with sand ticks," Katherine answered, "and she wants us to get rid of them for her."

"Er—sand ticks?" he asked. "I hope that’s not like the blood sucking ticks found at home—"

"Probably pretty close," Katherine remarked. "Every planet seems to have something similar. Watch closel, children. I am about to show you how to make friends with a Sand Dragon."

She unhooked her Force Wand and held it out so the children could see it. "To remove the tick and kill it, you need to set your wand at about a five. This will make the tick uncomfortable enough to back out of the dragon. If it dies with the head still attached, the wound can become infected." Carefully, she lifted a hard skin plate that wasn’t resting flat on the one below it. A red-looking lump showed. Katherine put the end of the wand on the highest part of the bump. After a few minutes, it shivered and fell out onto the ground on its back, revealing a pointed head with nasty sharp teeth.

"Once it hits the ground, you up the setting to about eight, and kill it," Katherine directed, touching the wand to its rear, watching as the tick shriveled up into a black smoking block about the size of a fist on the ground. She turned the wand off.

"Boys, there’s a jar of salve in that blue jar in my pack, can you get it for me?"

Katherine opened the lid and using the applicator, carefully smeared it onto the irritated skin under the scale. The Dragon gave an almost human sigh of relief. She then made a chirring noise, and two baby dragons about the size of large dogs staggered out of hiding in the nearby rocks.

"Don’t come between her and the babies," Katherine warned. "Let them come to us."

Both calves also showed signs of the ticks. Under the Mother Dragon’s careful supervision, Katherine instructed Juliette and Roderick how to remove the ticks. Lucinda and Rupert applied the salve. After which, the Dragon and her calves slid off the beach and into the warm waters of the ocean almost disappearing as their scales changed to mimic the ocean colors.

As they turned to go back to the dock, Zack noticed Violet was still staring off into the rocks. "What is it, honey?" he asked her.

"There’s another one there," she said.

"Katherine," he called, "I think we still have a problem." He motioned towards Violet.

Just then, a much smaller Sand Dragon calf tottered out into the open towards Violet, who dropped to her knees beside it. "Why did she leave her behind?" Violet demanded.

Katherine and Zack inspected the new arrival, and then Zack went over to where the dragon had come from. "I don’t think this one was hers," he said. "There’s a dead one over here."

"Well, while they share nesting grounds, they’re not especially herd oriented," Katherine observed. "If this calf isn’t hers, I doubt if our Dragon would have cared for it unless she and the mother were closely related, especially if the calf is weak for some reason. Remind me to send a crew down here to clean up the body and do a cleansing of the beach for ticks."

"Does she have ticks, Violet," asked Rupert, eager to denude another one.

Violet had been carefully running her hands over the scales, which were still soft. "No, she’s just hungry," Violet said, fishing out a part of her sandwich leftover from lunch and holding it out to the calf who took it delicately and then swallowed it whole.

"How do you know Violet?" Katherine asked quietly.

"I feel it when I touch her," Violet said absently. "I’m going to name her Jelli." She rose to her feet, picked up the dragon somewhat awkwardly as it was the size of a small dog, and started back towards the wharf.

Zack looked at Katherine. "Are we taking it home with us?"

She looked at him. "You have a better idea?"

He snorted, "You mean ‘Hey Mom it followed me home, can I keep it?’ How big do they get?"

"Uh-huh. The cow we saw earlier was about average size for a Sandie." She touched her com and contacted the house to request that Mistress Leona meet them in the hall when they arrived.

"Who’s she?" Zack asked.

"Mistress Leona is a retired Dragon Talker who lives with us. She will know the best way to handle this. She was my teacher when I was smaller." Katherine added ruefully, "I guess we won’t have to worry about a career path for Violet."

"What’s a Dragon Talker?" asked Juliette.

"Well, you remember on the way down the river, when Drusilla kept the Nessie Channel Dragons from attacking the riverboat caravan?" Katherine responded. "That’s what a Dragon Talker does. They have to have special training with different types of Dragons to handle them. Sometimes, like now, if the Dragon is young enough, it imprints on a human and a special relationship develops between them. I think this one has done that with Violet."

On the way to the Lodge, they passed through a small village of domes for houses and shops with views of the sea. Within easy walking distance was an even larger dome for housing animals during the storms.

"How do you reach it during a storm?" Zack asked.

"It's connected to the house by an underground walkway," she replied. Pointing to several smaller domed residences, she continued, "Those belong to clan families who work on the estate."

The lodge itself was massive with several interconnected domes. Although Katherine explained that the Family had separate quarters, much of the huge house was given over to a dormitory for single clan members and a recreation/dining area open to visitors, all the staff and their families.

They were met in the Hall by Mistress Leona, a tall, well-built woman in her seventieth decade with iron-grey