Dragon's Gold Read online

  The Magician’s Apprentice

  Book 1

  Dragon’s Gold

  Pat Judd

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Dragon's Gold (The Magician's Apprentice)

  Chapter One - A Mud Bath

  Chapter Two - The Basket

  Chapter Three - The Certificate

  Chapter Four - Real Magic

  Chapter Five - Off to fight a Dragon

  Chapter Six - Dragon’s gold

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  Also By Pat Judd

  Cover art by Alena Lazareva

  Chapter One - A Mud Bath

  The day hadn’t started off badly at all. In fact it had started very nicely if you didn’t count Bobby! It was Saturday and it was the first day of the local fair. It was being held in the middle of town and Cassie Morgan and her family were all going.

  They had moved to the small town of Madson just three weeks ago and, so far, Cassie thought that it was very dull. She had left behind her best friend, Sally, and since school didn’t start for another week she hadn’t met anyone except the neighbours and they were all boys. Well, if you could call them neighbours as the nearest house was a good five minute walk down the rough and dusty road.

  Cassie was tired of moving. They moved every year and she had to make new friends every time.

  “There’s an ad in the paper for the local pony club.” Cassie’s mother called out as Cassie came down the stairs. “Would you like to join? I’m sure you’d meet other girls your age there.”

  “Uh. No thanks.” Cassie turned down her mother’s offer. Horses frightened her even though she wouldn’t admit it. Bobby, her twin brother, guessed at once why she wouldn’t go and teased her as they went outside to get into the car.

  “Chicken.!” he yelled and then ducked as she swung to hit him.

  She missed him and only managed to send herself off balance and land heavily on the dry dusty ground. She brushed a lock of blonde hair out of her face and decided it was time for another haircut. She tried to get it cut as often as possible to keep it in the boyish style that she preferred and her mother kept trying to make her grow it long. Bobby had his blond hair cut short so why couldn’t she?

  Her brother was always teasing her and today was no different. All the way into town in the car he let his foot swing just enough to keep kicking her in the ankle. Cassie moved but so did Bobby and just as they reached town Cassie punched him in the arm to make him stop.

  “Cassie. That’s not very ladylike,” her mother scolded and Bobby pretended to be hurt until she turned back to the front of the car and then he grinned.

  “I’ll get you, Bobby,” Cassie promised as the car stopped.

  “We’re here,” her father announced.

  Cassie forgot all about her horrible brother as she stared at the large fair that had been set up in the field. There were people everywhere and music blared from speakers perched at the top of tall poles. Stripped tents were pitched in rows and Cassie could see a red ferris wheel at the far end of the field.

  “We’ll meet you back here at three.” Cassie heard her mother say as she was halfway across the car park. Cassie loved fairs and from here she could see at least seven or eight girls her own age. She had no idea that there were this many people in such a sleepy-looking town.

  Cassie wanted to introduce herself to the group of girls ahead of her but, ‘Hi I’m new here’ sounded a bit silly. Maybe she should just wait until they noticed her - but what if they didn’t notice her for ages.

  Just as she decided to go over to them she stumbled and felt herself flying forward. Of course she landed face first in the only puddle of mud in sight, at least she hoped it was mud. What had she tripped over? Cassie looked back to see Bobby standing laughing hysterically and pointing at her. He must have done it on purpose.

  Cassie suddenly realised that Bobby wasn’t the only one laughing. The group of girls had their hands over their mouths trying to stop laughing.

  Cassie stood up with as much dignity as a ten year old girl covered in mud can do. She pretended not to have noticed the group of girls and broke into a run as she went around the back of the nearest tent. When she caught up with that little brother of hers... She called him that because he had been born five minutes after her.

  As she ran round the corner she bumped straight into a white haired old man unloading boxes from the back of a van. Boxes went flying and his glasses came off his nose and swung back and forth only held on by one ear.

  “Oh dear. I am sorry.” Cassie stopped and apologised as she bent down to help pick up the boxes. They were surprisingly light considering how big they were.

  “That’s okay. I was trying to carry too many boxes anyway. I’m running late and I hate to keep the children waiting.”

  Cassie gave one of the boxes a shake as she picked it up. Hopefully it wasn’t cakes or anything like that or she would be in trouble again.

  “None of it can be broken,” the old man said kindly as he peered over a stack of boxes he was carrying.

  Cassie put the boxes down next to the flap at the back of the tent. She squinted to see what was inside but couldn’t make anything out as it was dark.

  “Thank you....” The old man looked at her waiting for her to supply her name after they were back outside the tent.

  “Cassie Morgan.” She finished for him. “And I really am sorry for knocking you down.”

  The old man just smiled at her and went into the tent. Cassie remembered the mud on her face. That must have been what he was smiling at.

  Luckily there was a tap behind the tent and Cassie cleaned herself up.

  Well she certainly wasn’t going to go back to that group of girls. Her face coloured bright red just thinking of how silly she must have looked. She came around to the front of the tents and started to look around the fair. There were the usual dart games where you could win a teddy bear and lots of lucky dips. Cassie checked her pocket and saw that she didn’t have much money. She would have to be careful how she spent it if she wanted it to last all day.

  The first tent that she stopped at was a lucky dip and she dug deep thinking the best ones would be hidden at the bottom of the big barrel. Cassie was more than pleased with her prize which was a book of poems as she loved reading and she pushed it into the back pocket of her jeans. She wandered around the rest of the fair avoiding looking at any of the girls about her age as she was sure that they must all have heard about her mud bath by now.

  There was one tent in particular that Cassie couldn’t forget and she looked at her watch, yes there was plenty of time. The tent wasn’t stripped like the others. Instead it was covered in stars and moons and pictures of exploding fireworks. The board outside was boldly lettered in gold and looked very impressive.

  Waldo the Great

  Performances every hour on the hour

  FREE entry

  Cassie hurried over to join the growing line of children waiting. She had loved going to magic shows when she was little but she hadn’t been to one for years. She was going into the tent when she saw Bobby in line too. If she had known he was going to be in here she would have waited for the next show. She scowled at him and made sure that she sat as far away as possible.

  “If everyone will take a seat......” The man who spoke paused as he waited while everyone shuffled for position and sat down. “..... I now introduce for your entertainment “Waldo The Great”.”

  The man left the stage and everyone waited. Suddenly there was a loud bang and the stage was covered in smoke. Everyone gasped and as the smoke cleared there stood a magician complete with shiny black hat and a red lined cape. It looked impressive but Cassie knew that he probably ran out from behind the curtain d
uring the smoke. Anyone could do that.

  The magician proceeded to do all the tricks that Cassie had seen other magicians do when she was a little girl with cards and cups and disappearing balls and coins. But now they didn’t seem so magical after all. They were just tricks and there was nothing magical about any of it, what a fraud. She had certainly wasted her time here. She was beginning to get bored when the magician announced that he needed a volunteer from the audience. Maybe he was going to do something interesting like saw somebody in half and Cassie hoped he picked Bobby.

  “How about you, Cassie?”

  Cassie was dreaming about Bobby running away in fright from the idea of being sawn in half. Boy would he look like a fool for being frightened of a simple parlour trick. She knew someone had said her name but she didn’t know who.

  “Come on up, Cassie”

  Cassie looked around to see who was saying her name and realised with horror that it was the magician telling her to come up on stage. He had pick her! Well she wasn’t going up there.

  “Are you chicken Cassie?” Bobby yelled and Cassie immediately jumped up and climbed onto the stage. Nobody called her a chicken.

  Cassie tried to look brave and breathed a small sigh of relief when she recognised the smiling eyes of the old man that she had knocked over earlier. Well at least that explained how he had known her name.

  Waldo the Great put a black cape around her shoulders and gave her a black wand just like his.

  “Now it’s your turn to do some magic. You saw how I pulled a rabbit out of this hat so you have a try.”

  Cassie stared at the old man in disbelief. Was he mad or did he just want to make a complete fool out of her? She had no idea how to pull a rabbit from a hat. Unwilling to admit that she couldn’t do it with Bobby sneering at her she took the hat that he offered her and used her wand to show to the crowd that there was nothing in it. She covered it with the white silk hankie that Waldo gave her and then said aloud the words that he whispered into her ear.

  How was she going to get out of this one? As soon as she removed the hankie everyone would see that the hat was still empty. Before Cassie could take the hankie off though, a small pink nose pushed it out of the way and a snow white rabbit sat contentedly looking around at the wildly clapping people. Cassie poked at the rabbit and was surprised to find that it was real. Where had it come from? Before she had figured out how the trick had been done Waldo had taken the hat and they were onto the next trick. By the time Cassie had repeated all the tricks that she had been so sure had been fake she was completely confused.

  “Thank you, Miss Morgan,” Waldo the Great was saying. “You are indeed a wonderful Magician’s Assistant. I’d better be careful or you’ll be after my job.” He handed her a piece of paper and removed her cape. She gave back the wand and went back to her seat amongst the cheering crowd, tucking the paper into the pocket of her jeans.

  He finished off with several more tricks that Cassie couldn’t explain away logically. Then there was another explosion with lots of smoke and he was gone.

  Chapter Two - The Basket

  Outside the sun seemed bright after the dim inside of the tent and Cassie squinted as she wondered where to go next. She still couldn’t figure out how she had done those tricks but she wasn’t going to waste her whole afternoon wondering about it.

  “That was very good.” A girl came up to Cassie with several of her friends and held out her hand. “I’m Sandra, I guess you’re Cassie.”

  Cassie nodded and shook her hand. Today might not be so bad after all if she was going to make some friends.

  “We’ve just moved in,” Cassie explained to Sandra just as Bobby found her again.

  “Did you miss her having a mud bath?” Bobby asked then grinned as Cassie went red. Why couldn’t he just go away and leave her alone. He had the neighbours boys tagging along after him and Cassie knew she had to get rid of him or she would never make any friends.

  “By the way did mum tell you that your girlfriend wrote a letter to you and she is missing you and she really liked your letter that you sent her.” It was true that he had written to her but she hadn’t written back. It also had the desired effect of making his mates laugh at him. An ten year old boy did not write to girls. Cassie could see her brother’s temper begin to build up. First he just stood and stared at her and then his hands balled up into fists and he started to go red. It was definitely time to leave.

  “Maybe I’ll see you later Sandra.” Cassie said quickly and then took off as fast as she could run. She bumped into people, sent candyfloss flying and tried to apologise as she ran. Cassie didn’t have to look back to know that Bobby was chasing her. She could tell by the angry shouts of more bowled fairgoers.

  She was going to have to get out of this crowd or she would have no chance of escaping Bobby so she turned down the side of one of the tents. Once behind the tents she ran faster but she was quickly getting tired. She would have to find somewhere to hide while he cooled down.

  Luckily she came to the Magician’s tent just as she was out of breath and she decided to hide in there.

  Without time to think about whether she should be going in there she ran inside and pulled the flap closed behind her. She could hear Bobby outside the tent and if he looked in the flap he would surely see her. She hurried past the rows of seats and hid behind the curtain that sectioned off the back. The only things there were the boxes she had helped to carry and a large wicker basket. The boxes were blocking the exit of the tent and she could hear Bobby running across the wooden benches.

  Cassie opened the basket and upon finding it empty she got in and closed the lid. The basket was lined with black cloth and totally dark with the lid closed. She didn’t like it but she would just hide here until Bobby left.

  “I know that you’re around here somewhere Cass,” Bobby shouted from very close by and Cassie held her breath even though he couldn’t possibly hear her anyway. It was cramped in the basket and the sharp point of a broken piece of cane was digging painfully into her arm.

  “Are you in here?” Bobby’s voice sounded so close that he must be next to the basket. It gave Cassie such a fright that she started to hiccup. Now hiccups are not something you can stop when you want to.

  ‘Hic’

  “So that’s where you are. Hiding in the basket.” Bobby’s voice sounded calm but Cassie knew he was really very angry. She would just have to make a run for it as soon as he opened the lid. She felt a hand jiggle the lid and she held on to it to stop him.

  “Oh I don’t want to be here,” she whispered to herself meaning every word. “I want to be gone from here.”

  The rattling of the lid ceased suddenly but Cassie didn’t let go of it. Why had he stopped? What was he doing out there? It was so quiet and Cassie realised that she couldn’t even hear the fairground music any more. She stayed still, hardly breathing for several more minutes that seemed like hours to her. Finally, Cassie decided that Bobby must have gone and she lifted up the lid.

  Something was wrong. Where was the tent? Where was the fair? Cassie sat in the basket with just her head sticking out the top and stared around her at the empty field. She sank back into the basket and shut her eyes. She must be imagining it. Slowly she opened her eyes and saw that it was just as bright above her as it had been seconds before.

  “What are you doing in my field?”

  Cassie jumped and started hiccupping again as a large face appeared at the top of the basket. He wore a fraying straw hat and had a weather worn face. He chewed a piece of grass as he spoke and looked very confused.

  “Your - Hic - field?” Cassie echoed trying hard not to hiccup.

  “You’re sitting in the middle of it... in a basket.”

  “But I was at the fair...” Cassie trailed off as she rose out of the basket and looked around her. She obviously wasn’t at any fair now and the man was looking at her suspiciously.

  “You’re not crazy are you? Are you sick with some kind of fever?
” He took several steps back and covered his nose with a very dirty looking hankie.

  “I’m not -Hic- sick,” Cassie said. She frowned and climbed out onto the freshly-ploughed field. This was just too weird. What had happened to all the people? Even the field looked smaller and there was no car park full of cars. “I shouldn’t be here.”

  “That’s the first sensible thing you’ve said. Get out of my field and I mean now.” The man still looked at her with distrust and held the hankie firmly in place.

  “And go -Hic- where?”

  “Back to where you came from.”

  Cassie stared at the black-lined basket with suspicion. Maybe it was a magic basket? After all it had been in the magician’s tent and all his tricks had seemed pretty real. Maybe if she got back in and wished to be back at the fair? She put one leg in.

  “Oh no you don’t.” The man took several steps forward. “You’re not sitting in that in the middle of my field all day. I suppose you take Thomas for a fool do you just like everyone else around here.”

  Cassie took her leg out of the basket. She noticed for the first time that Thomas carried a very vicious looking pitchfork. She’d better take the basket out of his field before she got back into it.

  “Okay I’m going,” Cassie said taking hold of the handles of the basket and lifting it. It was so light that she had no trouble carrying it and she walked backwards away from Thomas. When she reached the edge of his field she lifted the basket over the unpainted wooden fence and put it on the ground. Thomas was still watching her and Cassie tried hard not to let his staring bother her.

  She put one leg into the basket and then looked up in surprise as she heard a shout from the field.

  “Are you trying to drive me mad?” Thomas’ voice travelled clearly across the field as he ran towards her. His face was twisted with confusion and frustration. “Nobody sits in baskets. I know you are all having a joke on me. I’ll show you what I do to people who play jokes on me.”