Chapter Four

When Norman reached town, he went in search of a stable where he could sell his horse. Upon finding one, close to the eastern edge of town, the stableman was slightly surprised that Norman wanted to sell his horse when he was obviously not done with his journey.

"Are you sure you want to sell this horse? I can see that you're not done travelling. How are you going to get around?" he asked.

Norman replied, "Don't worry about me. I'm meeting up with a friend outside of town, and he's taking care of our transportation."

"Well, this is certainly a fine-looking specimen. I'll give you...five gold pieces for him."

"Only five? I was thinking more along the lines of ten gold pieces."

"Seven, and that's my final offer," said the stableman.

"Deal," said Norman, and, after he gathered his saddlebags from his horse, he handed over the reins.

Now that he was slightly richer, Norman thought it might be a good idea to pick up some more food and other supplies to make the trip more pleasant. His first stop was a bakery, where he picked up a loaf of bread and some hard rolls. Then he went to a dairy and got some cheese, and from there he went to a butcher's shop for some dried meat.

Now that he had plenty of food, he decided to visit a tailor to see if he could get a small tear in a shirt mended. While he was there, he spied a pair of leather gloves in a display. Norman thought those would come in very handy while riding on a dragon, since the air was sure to be colder at higher altitudes. His shirt was soon mended, and he left with it and the new gloves.

Thus provisioned, Norman headed for the east road out of the town with his saddlebags slung over his shoulder. It wasn't long before he spied a pile of boulders that looked just slightly out of place. Remembering his last encounter, Norman opted not to climb on the boulders, and to call out instead, "Dennis, is that you?" Whereupon the pile of boulders shook itself and changed colors from gray and brown to green and purple; and Norman found himself looking into the face of his new friend. Dennis cocked an eyebrow (or what passed for an eyebrow) at Norman, and said "Of course it's me. Know any other dragons who might be hiding on this road?" Then he chuckled and said "I'm only joking. Are you all set for an adventure?"

"I sure am! I got some new food, new gloves, and I'm ready! I, uh, didn't get any food for you, though," Norman said, feeling slightly abashed. After all, he thought, he really should have shown some consideration for his traveling companion...but then again, what could he have bought for Dennis to eat that would have fit into his saddlebags? Looking at Dennis, though, he noticed that the dragon was chuckling at him, and he remembered what Dennis had said about what dragons really preferred to eat. Norman realized that Dennis would be perfectly capable of providing for himself as they traveled.

With Dennis's help, Norman used some rope he had in his saddlebags to rig a harness to keep himself from falling off the dragon's back. Then, with Dennis providing a boost, the young knight climbed aboard and strapped himself in place. Dennis stretched his neck, accustoming himself to Norman's weight, and launched himself into the sky, heading east.

After the initial jolt, Norman was exhilirated. He looked around with awe. He noted the ground slipping by in patches of green and brown, and the clouds that seemed to be racing with him and the dragon. "This is amazing!" he thought. "Who's ever going to believe that I rode on a dragon? If only my mother could see me now..."

Thinking of his mother made him melancholy, so Norman reached into his saddlebag for his flute and began to play a song that Maria had sung to him as a small child. All of a sudden, he noticed that Dennis was sort of sliding side to side in his flight. Alarmed, he stopped playing.

"Oh, don't stop, that's wonderful!" Dennis exclaimed.

"B-b-but what were you doing? I thought something was wrong," Norman said.

Dennis replied, "Nothing was wrong, I was just moving to the music--dancing, if you will."

The idea of the dragon dancing through the air to his flute made Norman smile, so he brought the instrument back to his lips and began to play again. Dennis again started dancing to the music, and in this way the two new friends began their journey eastward.

To be continued...