Penny and the Dragons #1
Episode one: Hugo.
The light shone across the valley, and as it always did at that time of the afternoon, it lit up all that made Hernspark special.
As Toddy stood hopeful, near his most treasured friend, he wished for nothing more than for her to understand all the words that he knew he could never speak out loud.
“Sure,” she shrugged, missing the point completely, “I want a baby dragon as much as the next geek, but even in stories… that proves to be a little difficult.”
Toddy looked out into the landscape, knowing that there were things that he couldn’t tell Penny, at risk of being kicked out of the organisation. Toddy had tried to get Penny a place at the table, but it was always the same story, “Women aren’t cut out to protect dragons,” they’d say.
Now, I know what you are thinking… ‘This must have happened a long time ago,’ but, in fact, this story is written now. What… did you think that kind of ideology had disappeared? In some lines of work, it very well may have, but in the business of dragon care, it’s still very much the norm.
Toddy knew that if he wanted to get Penny on the team, he’d have to figure out a clever way, to either trick the ministry, or change the rules all together, but he knew that would be hard when he had only himself been a member for a little under a year.
Penny sighed. Her short dark hair swept over her shoulder with the gentle breeze as she looked at the trees in the distance from the lookout where they sat together. Penny was half Japanese from her mother’s side, so she looked very different to most of the village, who were mostly descendants from the same group of settlers. The Irish heritage was very easy to see both in the faces of the people, and the infrastructure which had not changed all that much over the years.
Toddy saw Penny as a treasure amongst commoners, but he knew she saw him as nothing more than a friend, and why would she really, when she had so many guys to choose from that looked just like him… and perhaps most were slightly more attractive than him. It cut him deeply that they were just friends, but he was aware that he would prefer to have her as a friend than nothing at all, so he kept silent on the matter.
“You know, Toddy, I do have something that I’ve been meaning to ask you,” she said.
So many things went through his head all at once, but it was odd that the thing he hoped most for her to say is that she had figured out he’d been working with dragons. He wasn’t allowed to say anything… but, if she guessed, would they really be able to dismiss him?
Penny continued, “My uncle is coming into town tomorrow, and I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind helping me be his tour guide?”
Toddy nodded. He’d never met her uncle Hugo before, but he certainly knew him by reputation. His clumsy nature was difficult to ignore, and every time he came into town, he had another story. Once Hugo broke his leg after tripping on an apple at the grocery store… another time, he sliced his arm open on the door of his letterbox. Yes, to Hugo, most things seemed to be booby trapped.
“To be honest though,” said Toddy, “I’m a little afraid to be around him… I mean, what if his clumsiness gets us hurt?”
“Oh… come on, he’s not that bad.”
“Are you forgetting about the rug in his lounge room?” he asked.
“No… I just, I’m sure he won’t trip over while he’s with us.”
“Well, I’m glad you have faith in him, but if you ask me, for such a problematic, uncoordinated person, he made the right choice being an accountant. Almost decapitating himself on his coffee table… on two seperate occasions, doesn’t fill me with confidence.
“I can ask someone else…” she started.
“No, no, no,” said Toddy, not wanting to miss an extra day with Penny, “I didn’t say I wouldn’t come… it’s just… you know.”
“Well,” she said as she slid forward to climb off the boulder she was sitting on, “I’d better head home. Mum needs some help getting the house… ready,” she said as she realised that her tone confirmed that even her mother was worried about Hugo’s unpredictableness.
“It’s nice to finally meet you, Toddy,” said Hugo as he held out his left hand to shake it as his right arm was in a sling.
“So… what happend to your arm?” asked Toddy curiously.
“Oh… um, I was helping an old lady cross the street, but her foot slipped and we both face-planted the road.”
“It’s no big deal,” said Penny as she put on her coat, ready to start the tour for her uncle.
“Well, thankfully, the old lady was okay. I think that my arm bore the brunt of the mishap.”
The tour of the city was rather uneventful, though Hugo seemed to be incapable of taking anything seriously, and the ice cream he ordered for all of them appeared to have more gummy bears in it than dairy.
Hugo always made Penny laugh, and once Toddy got to know him, he realised that any mishaps really were worth the risk, for the fun that could be had with him.
“Oh Toddy, isn’t my uncle amazing?” asked Penny.
Toddy smiled, he knew that he didn’t have to say a thing and that his ear to ear smile said it all… which is what made everything the following day, seem rather strange.
“Toddy, this is Hugo,” said Avis, Toddy’s team leader.
“Oh, we’ve met,” said Toddy with a huge smile.
Hugo didn’t smile back but stood like a soldier at the front of the auditorium.
“Everyone please be seated,” said Avis.
Toddy felt confused but quietly made his way to an empty chair.
Hugo began to speak in a rather authoritative manner, “Now, as I’m sure probably half of you are aware, the 270th journey to the fourth island, is happening in just under a week. For those of you that are yet to head out to one of the twelve islands, there will be a training package for you to collect from reception before you head home. Initiation begins tomorrow, so be sure to finish up any work you need to get done here, and get a good night’s sleep.”
“Ah, yes,” said Avis, “and adding to that, we have five employees here that are yet to see a dragon. I know all of this might seem to be a rather large learning curve, but we are here to guide you through the process. Your first tour will be a little over nine months, so be sure to make a list of things you will want to bring out to the island.”
Toddy was confused, so he put up his hand.
“Yes, Toddy, what did you want to know?”
“Um, when I was told that I’d be given a nine month contract to work with the dragons, I wasn’t aware that I would be leaving Hernspark, I thought they were here… somewhere.”
A few of his coworkers laughed.
“Tut…” said Avis, “well, where did you think they were?”
Toddy sat back in his chair feeling foolish. He’d worked for the ministry for so long, doing absolutely everything he was asked to do… but now, if he quit because he didn’t want to leave Hernspark, not only would all the effort he went to be worth nothing, but he also wouldn’t get a chance to see the dragons at all.
It’s not that working for the dragon ministry was awful, but he had been under a lot of pressure with meeting fundraising targets and the like, for cover organisations that payed the bills for the dragons. There had not been a great deal of opportunity so far, to even find out very much about the Dragons, and had it not been for the fact that Toddy was a particularly trusting guy, he perhaps would have thought that the whole thing was a scam.
All of Toddy’s confusion, was of course, on top of the shock that Hugo was in fact, not an accountant, but rather, someone that seemed to be rather high up in The Ministry for Dragon Protection.
“Penny… Penny, I need to tell you something… that is to say that I really can’t tell you anything at all… but I must tell you…” practiced Toddy, as he waited for Penny at the top of their favourite lookout.
“Sorry I’m late,” yelled Penny as she walked towards him.
“I’m leaving,” Toddy blurted out, which wasn’t what he wanted to say, “I mean, I’m leaving,” said Toddy, again failing to convey the regret he had because he’d decided to take the mission.
“Oh, I guess it’s a little chilly. Please don’t be mad, I’m only slightly late. Would you like to get a hot chocolate with me?”
“I’m sorry Penny, I mean that I’m leaving Hernspark… for nine months.”
“What, are you pregnant?” joked Penny, clearly thinking he was joking.
“I’m serious Penny. Your uncle offered me a job and I… I said yes.”
“But you’re not an accountant,” said Penny, with glassy eyes, as she was visibly upset.
“I’m so sorry Penny, I know this is a shock. I was as surprised as you that this opportunity came up, but it’s really a once in a lifetime kind of thing. If I reject this, I might not get the offer again.”
“To be an accountant?” cried Penny, “No… I’m going to tell my uncle what for,” she said as she turned and began running home.
Toddy chased after her, not really sure how the conversation would go when they got back to Penny’s house.
“Why?” asked Penny tearfully, as she questioned her uncle.
“Oh, Penny, it’s not a long time, he’ll be back before you know it.”
“But I don’t understand? Why do you want to train him to be an accountant? What’s next, are you going to teach him to fall over for no reason?”
“Shh, Penny…” said her uncle softly.
But Penny didn’t wish to be hushed. She ran to her room and slammed the door behind her.
“Come on Toddy, You’re 18 right? I’ll buy you a beer.”
“17.”
“Oh, an apple juice then,” he said as he ushered him out the door.
“Forgive me for saying, Hugo, but you seem to be two completely different people depending on who you are with.”
“Well, I’m not about to bring the management version of me to see my niece now am I?”
“Hugo… I’ve always wondered if there was a reason why I was chosen, I mean, it was kind of unusual.”
Hugo sighed before talking, “Penny’s dad was sure she was going to be a boy. My brother… her father, died before she was born. He died protecting the dragons. I held him as he drew his last breath, and I told him that I’d mentor his son. As you know, Penny doesn’t have any brothers, so, I chose you instead.”
Toddy was confused, “But I’m just her friend.”
“Well, maybe so, but, you’re also probably her only male friend.”
“Hugo… no, stop this. Isn’t this even more reason to change the rules so that Penny can join?”
“Change the rules?” laughed Hugo, “We can’t do that.”
“Aren’t you high up… can’t you call a few shots?”
Hugo shook his head, “No… there are so many people higher than me that I don’t even know all of them. There is not a single woman in the whole ministry, not even in reception or accounts payable, and I’m not about to try to change that.”
“Don’t you think it’s a little weird?”
“Well, perhaps, but it goes back to the time of the Vikings. You’d be amazed how much of their old ways have been carried forward. Oh, now that initiation is beginning, I can tell you my absolute favourite little factoid,” said Hugo with a smile, “Sunstones…”
“What?”
“Sunstones,” he continued, “were used by the Vikings to navigate their ships. In modern times, crystal collectors have speculated about what type of stones these were that were used. Some people think it was possibly calcite or something, but guess what… they are dragon scales.”
“What?”
“The stones are dragon scales.”
“Hugo… I don’t care. You are totally overlooking a really big issue here.”
“And what’s that?”
“Penny should be a dragon protector.”
Hugo’s expression looked sad, but he shook it off. Clearly he wasn’t considering finding a way to get her a spot on the ministry. He took a swig of his beer before saying, “Well, I should get you home. You’ve got a big day tomorrow.”
“It’s okay,” said Penny, “I’m sorry I overreacted. I was being selfish. I’m going to miss you, Toddy,” said Penny as she hugged him to say goodbye.
“I can’t lie to you Penny, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, but I’m not training to be an accountant.”
“Then what?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
“Why not?”
“Because what I’m doing is a secret, and I’m not allowed to tell anyone.”
“My uncle is an accountant,” she laughed, “Toddy, where are you really going?”
“Penny, I can’t tell you.”
“Tell me,” she begged, as she showed signs of feeling betrayed.
“I don’t know where I’m going.”
“What can you tell me?”
“Nothing.”
“Fine,” said Penny as she turned to walk away from him.
“I can’t tell you to come to the dock tonight,” he yelled.
“What?”
“And I absolutely can’t tell you to try to get on the ship.”
“You can’t be serious, Toddy,” said Penny, though she was not afraid of adventure.
“Bring a jacket,” he said with a smile.
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