Little Bobby steadied his knees and tried to shout: Hello Mister Dragon, but it came out  as just a little squeak. He took a deep breath and tried again: Hello Mister Dragon, but it was no good. Then he heard a whoosh beside him and thought the fairies had come back, but no, it was a curlew and as it swooped it cawed: Louder. It swooped again: Louder, Louder. Poor Bobby put his hands over his ears and shouted and this time it really was a shout and it echoed around the cave in front of him: Hello Mr Dragon, are you there?

What happened next made Bobby fall flat on his back. Out of the cave stepped the most ferocious Dragon Bobby had ever seen. But of course this was the first one he had ever seen. But ferocious it looked and ferociously it spoke: WHO WANTS TO KNOW?  Bobby scrambled to his feet and squeaked I do. I see, said the dragon, now in a rather refined and surprisingly gentle voice, after Bobby had burbled out his story: about the witch and about the Water Sprites and about the river being dammed.

There, it scuffled around like a cat trying to get comfortable then stretched its head towards the sky. At this point the two sprites lay flat on their tummies on the grass. The dragon opened its mouth and let out a tremendous burst of flame and sound (which you can hear for yourself if you click on the picture). The two sprites shook as the flame ball went up into the sky in a large arc and came down straight into the dam, blasting away the rockfall and releasing the water. As the two sprites stood up they could hear a great cheer come from further down the river. Then as the dragon flew them back they could see that all the water sprites were dancing and playing in the foaming water. Bobby and Lector thanked the dragon profusely and jumped in the water and joined in the splashing.

 

It was some time before Bobby heard the very recognisable voice from the river bank: