Page 47 of The Arrival of the Dragons

“Yeah, but now I’m thinking my mistakes have a lot more impact.” Caden’s lips flattened. He knew he was not smart enough to do this all on his own, but he had to be somewhat in control of his own message.

“You were chosen for a reason, Caden,” Wally assured him. “Things will work out. You’ll see.”

“Right. I’ve got to believe that.” Caden then realized Rose was about to take off. “Can Rose come with us to see Landry, too?

But Rose was already shaking her head and putting up a hand as if to block the invitation physically. “No, I can’t go. Even if Landry would have wanted to see me for some unknown reason--”

“Because you’re cool, smart, kind--”

“Kind?” Rose laughed. “Okay, okay, but seriously, I have to spend time with some of my brothers and sisters in the Below.”

“When you say brothers and sisters, you don’t mean blood obviously?” Caden guessed. She’d mentioned that he’d saved one of her sisters from the original bomb attack.

She nodded. “No, just more of Marban’s followers. Anyway, they’ve started saying that I think I’m toogoodfor them with all the time I’m spending in the Mid with you guys. So I need to patch up some of my friendships there.”

Caden felt a little stab of jealousy. He had worked hard to get Rose to trust him. He imagined her being free and easy with other people, freer than with him and Wally and it made him ridiculously envious of those unknown brothers and sisters.

Rose must have seen something on his face, because she put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Caden, I’m going to be talking to them aboutourplan for Iolaire to visit the Below.”

“I wasn’t worried! I mean you should spend time with your other friends. Not just me, Wally and Tilly. You have a life--”

“Yeah, I do, but that doesn’t mean that you guys aren’t my number ones,” she interrupted him and blushed as if revealing this much was embarrassing to her.

“You’re my number one too,” he quickly confessed.

“After Valerius,” she said with a laugh, but still looked pleased all the same. She patted his arm. “Go see Landry. If you think it will cheer her up at all, let her know that I’m thinking about her.”

“Will do,” Caden promised.

“My car is this way, Caden,” Wally said with a wave and started leading them around to the side of the Emporium.

“We’re going in the Bug?” Caden grimaced.

“I do not see you with any vehicle, soyes, we are going in the Bug,” Wally informed him tartly.

The Bug was an ancient Volkswagen Beetle painted a dung brown with only two seats that semi-held their occupants in place while they were bouncing up and down like jumping beans due to the Bug’s lack of shock absorbers.

“Actually, Valerius has cars--”

“You should only be using those in an emergency and certainly not to go see Landry in the Oubliette! Make that the next bit of Councillor advice I give you!” Wally informed him as the Bug came into view.

Wally was right, of course. But Caden often couldn’t feel his butt after riding in the Bug, not to mention he’d bashed the top of his head more than once. Iolaire who had been napping--likely dreaming of Raziel--stirred a little bit in reaction to his anxiety, but he soothed his Spirit. The Bug was not an enemy. Just an annoyance.

While Wally climbed into the driver’s seat--which had a thick cushion so that he could see over the dash--Caden slipped into the passenger seat. He tried to click the seat belt but it wouldn’t hook. He looked over at Wally with disbelieving eyes.

“Oh, yeah, that broke. Just tie it around that handle there,” Wally suggested.

“Wally, I can only hope that all these plushie sales will lead to a new ride for you,” Caden said as he looped the seatbelt around the handle and prayed it would hold.

“What? And get rid of Bug? NEVER!”

With that Wally turned the key and the Beetle burst into life with a puff of black smoke coming from the exhaust pipe. The motor rattled and clanged as he pushed on the gas. They took off at about 5 miles per hour. The Bug took a while to gain any speed. It’s top speed was something like 40 miles per hour. Caden rolled down the window and held onto the frame of the car as Wally drove them into the curving road that would lead to Low Reach.

By the time they got to the Oubliette, Caden’s brain felt like it had broken loose of its moorings and had sloshed from one side of his skull to the other dozens of times. He leaned forward, breathing hard and trying to center himself, once Wally pulled the Bug into a parking space for prison visitors.

Wally patted him on the back. “You okay there?”

“Ah…”

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