The Ivory Dragon 5/14

The next weekend the Bell family was sitting at their kitchen table discussing Jennifer Jane’s findings at the squire’s mansion. Mary was cooking the dinner and making the occasional comment, whenever the manipulation of saucepans and baking trays allowed.

“To sum up so far,” said Dave; “Polly isn’t producing designs using sufficient imagination to make them saleable. Morwenna and George know nothing about the squire’s collection of models, including the fact that one of them is a double decked bus from this world. Neither do they know who is making them or where he is getting his raw material. Then to make matters worse, Eve has somehow managed to buy a model locally, depicting a dragon from the alternate world.”

“Talk of the devil!” said Mary, “here comes Eve now.”

“I’m sorry to barge in so close to dinner time,” said Eve as she came through the door, “but I’ve just had a visit from the local constable. He’s warned me not to get rid of my model dragon and says that it may well be confiscated, should it be proved to be made of ivory. I showed him my certificate from the man in ‘The Smuggler’s Cave’ saying that it isn’t, but he just said it wasn’t worth the paper it’s written on!”

“Old Bobby Pembleton seems to have got his teeth into something serious at last,” said Dave. “It must make quite a change from bicycle theft and parking problems in the high street. I shouldn’t worry too much about it if I were you, we believe you when you say that the model isn’t made from ivory!”

“It’s nice of you to say so, but it cost me an awful lot of money and I can’t afford to lose it!”

At that point Mary announced that dinner was ready, so Eve made her excuses and left them to their meal.

“It’s getting more and more mysterious,” said Jennifer Jane, as the family left the table to sit quietly after their meal. “It seems that alternate world models are on sale in this world and vice versa. Someone who is familiar with both worlds and who has access to a supply of teeth must be involved, as well as a witch able to use the required combining spell to produce the raw material!”

Her parents smiled at each other, then both of them pointed at their daughter. “One two three,” counted Dave beating time with his forefinger, then “It’s you!” they both exclaimed together, before bursting out laughing.

“I suppose it doesn’t really matter how the models are being made, providing they use a lot of teeth,” said Jennifer Jane when they had all quietened down again, “but it does seem a pity to disappoint Polly and Robert!”