Heavens to Murgatroyd – Part 2

I told Cosmo about his cousin’s impending visit and he proceeded to bounce around the house for the rest of the day. Cosmo remembered his cousin vaguely and was really excited about the visit. At least the bouncing was a change from the sulking and boredom. Cosmo brought out all of this things to see what I thought Murgatroyd would like best to play with and asked me to help him tidy up his playroom.

Then he insisted that the bedroom next to his be readied for Murgatroyd, which meant that the regular human bed in there had to be moved out so that a dragon-bed – with flame-proof coverings – could be put in. Jon and Rob got the call for that one. Then, being the good friends that they are, they took Cosmo out for an extended romp in the snow so that I could have some peace and quiet. All they got in return was dinner, but that seemed to satisfy them. Rob left and Jon stayed to spend the evening with me and a very tired but still wound up Cosmo.

“Are you sure about this?” Jon asked me after we finally got Cosmo settled for the night. “I met Master Murgatroyd when I was working with your employer and our friend Thomas last fall, and he’s, well…..he’s a bit different.”

“Different? Different how? I deal with Cosmo’s curiosity and bounciness and impulsiveness daily. How could Murgatroyd be worse? I mean, aside from the magic, which Felix says he’s put a damper on.”

Jon sighed. “This is true. Well, maybe it’ll all work out. At least he’ll occupy Cosmo.”

 

Felix brought Murgatroyd the following afternoon. Cosmo haunted the Door all morning, waiting for them to come, and had to be dragged away for lunch. When the Door bell finally rang, Cosmo swooped from one end of the big hall to the other in excitement and then got underneath my feet as I tried to unlock the Door.

I dragged him back with me as I stepped out of the way so that Felix and his charge could come in.

Murgatroyd wasn’t much larger than Cosmo, but there the resemblance ended. It was easy to see the trouble his experiments with magic had caused. His particular melding of red and green dragon traits was awkward at best. At worst, it would cause him problems in the dragon world in the future.

As I smiled and leaned forward to say hello and welcome Murgatroyd to our home, he turned to Felix and said rather imperiously in Dragon, “The interdiminsional Doorway is very interesting. I would like to study it more closely.”

I was startled, but I saved Felix the trouble of replying and responded to Murgatroyd in Dragon, “The Door is the property of the wizard Thomas, who has employed me to act as the Door’s guardian. Any requests will need to be directed to him.”

Murgatroyd turned around and stared at me. “I did not realize you spoke Dragon – or any language for that matter. Although with that accent, you could hardly be considered to be speaking it. Lesser species should not attempt things that are beyond them. You will relay my request to your employer NOW, so that I can begin my studies.”

While I stood there with my mouth hanging open and Cosmo was frozen in shock, Felix cleared his throat. “This is your guardian, Murgatroyd. Humans are not lesser species – they are our equals in every way. You will be polite, and you will NOT be studying the Door or any other magical device for the foreseeable future. Please remember what got you into your current dilemma. And drop the attitude, NOW.”

Murgatroyd dropped his head and muttered, “Sry,” in Dragon.

“I beg your pardon? I couldn’t hear you,” said Felix. “And you can speak English. Be polite and use it.”

Murgatroyd looked up at me, “I’m sorry, and I thought you were one of the great apes. That is why I was surprised you could talk. I’ve studied them but never actually seen one.” he said in passable English.

Felix turned Murgatroyd around and looked him in the eyes. “You will behave here at all times. You will set a good example for your cousin Cosmo, and you will be a thoughtful guest. I know you know how to behave; we’ve gone over it enough times in the past few days. See that you remember. And remember what happens if you don’t.”

The silence was palpable. Finally Murgatroyd nodded and Felix released him. “I don’t want to go to Mt. Elmot’s. I’ll be good.”

Felix sighed and turned to Cosmo. “Cosmo, would you please show your cousin around?”

Cosmo was still a bit stunned at Murgatroyd’s behavior, but he nodded reluctantly and said quietly, “Come on, Murgatroyd. I’ll show you where your room is.”

When the two of them were off, I crossed my arms and stared at Felix. “What was that about? The whole thing, I mean. The behavior, the attitude, the Mt. Elmot’s thing. Tell me now, or you can take Murgatroyd right back with you.”

Felix had the good grace to look ashamed. He slumped and the gestured towards the front room. “Come on then. I DO owe you an explanation. Several of them, in fact.”

When we were settled in front of the fire place (I started the fire since, as a blue dragon, Felix couldn’t), Felix began with no prompting. “Murgatroyd has always been quite precocious, very bright. His parents, though well intentioned, have not been very wise in raising him, and have encouraged him to barge ahead and do whatever he liked in pursuit of knowledge. Manners, too,  have never been at the top of their list for him, which is very unfortunate, as you can see. Really, they are the root of the entire problem that we are having now with him.” Felix shook his head.

“They have let him learn anything and everything he wished, and let him feel that this was all that mattered. They have not encouraged friends for him, nor have they encouraged normal play and games – there is nothing in his world except learning. And there, he is denied nothing. When he started to develop his magical abilities, they were ecstatic and immediately began to look for someone to teach him. Of course, no one would, although several wizards and dragons offered to put a damper on his burgeoning abilities until he was old enough to use them wisely.”

Felix stopped now and stared into the fire. “His parents wouldn’t let anyone do this to their precious little one, of course. They accepted the fact that no one would teach him, and they  now swear that they have no idea how he’s been learning. I’ve got my work cut out for me, finding the source of  his rather inadequate lessoning.”

“Why you, Felix? How did you get roped into this? I mean, I know you are more than passable at magic, but you’re a researcher. You study other cultures. You aren’t a draconic policeman. Or are you?”

“No, I’m simply an old friend of both the little fellow’s parents. As you can imagine, they are both heavily involved in intellectual fields, and we have know each other for years. They know that I have connections that they don’t  - you, for instance, and Thomas. And I like to think that they realize that I have a heavy streak of practicality which they both seem to be lacking.”

“All right, that seems reasonable. Now what’s this Mt. Elmot’s thing?”

“It’s a very, very strict dragon school. The young dragons there tend to be a bit out of control, or a bit hard to control, and there are all sorts of restrictions and dampers in place. Really, it’s rather like what a military boarding school for borderline delinquents would be here. And if Murgatroyd went there, he’d easily be  the youngest dragon in the place. He doesn’t want that, and really, neither does anyone else. I want him here, learning to play like any young dragon should, and learning to get along with others, like Cosmo.” He looked over at me.

I nodded. I could see that this would be a last resort.

Then I asked bluntly, ” How am I supposed to control him. I don’t have magic.”

“I think that he’ll be all right with you. The first was an honest, if rude, mistake on his part. He has studied this world somewhat, but has never met anyone from here. Most of his books have been rather lacking in the visual graphics, so he really thought that you were one of the great apes. The incident was regrettable, but understandable if you consider this.”

I didn’t like it, but I nodded.

Felix continued, “I’ll leave an emergency contact spell for me. You can trigger it just by reading it, even without magic. You know the sort of spell. You’ve used them before. If you use it, I’ll come right away, no matter what. And,” he patted a bag he had brought with him, “I have a surprise for both of our young dragons, and you as well. It may keep them occupied for a while.”

“What is it?” I asked, my eyes narrowing with suspicion.

Felix dug into the bag and dug out a hugely oversized computer keyboard. “It’s a dragon sized computer set-up. This keyboard will easily accommodate their claws. It will hook up to the big TV moniter out here. And I have programs, too, both with games and with information about this world. Next time, Murgatroyd won’t mistake you for a great ape.” Felix beamed.

“But no Internet.” I said. “I can’t even begin to imagine the trouble they could get into on the Internet.”

Felix winced. “Neither can I. Never fear, that was never part of the plan. That would be the last thing I’d want at this point in time.”

Felix bustled off to set up the computer, and I went to check on the young dragons.

They were in Cosmo’s playroom, and Cosmo was zooming through the air around a series of obstacles set down the middle of his very large, dragon-sized playroom – a favorite game of his. “Now we can play chase with the obstacle course!” he was shouting gleefully as I came into the room.

Murgatroyd looked on sourly. “No we can’t. I don’t have wings.” He turned away, acting annoyed, but I could see that he was dejected. No matter how difficult he was, he was still a child, and I felt sorry for him.

“Cosmo, come here,” I called. Cosmo came right away, having realized his mistake.

“I’m sorry, Murgatroyd. I forgot,” he said without prompting. He was a soft-hearted, observant little fellow. Maybe Murgatroyd could learn something from him. “Let’s play something else, okay?”

Murgatroyd shrugged. I spoke up, “I have a suggestion. Murgatroyd, you read English, don’t you?”

He nodded slowly.

“Well, Cosmo hasn’t learned to read yet, and he loves stories. There are all sorts of books in this closet here (the closet was fireproof, so Cosmo wouldn’t accidently incinerate his books) and if you read some to him, he’d like it and you’d learn some more about our culture.”

Murgatroyd perked up at this, although he did comment, “He can’t read yet? I could read three languages by the time I was his age!”  and soon was working his way through a large stack of Cosmo’s favorite picture books with Cosmo sitting delightedly beside him.

Hurdle number one, done. I went to see about dinner.

-She Wolf © 2009