Hermonia raced ahead, forgetting all sense of caution in her eagerness for the story behind the village. Her grandparents followed at a more sedate pace, knowing that her exuberance wouldn’t cause her any harm and would burn off some of excited energy coursing through her small frame.
“Well Rachel, did you think we would be sharing this story with Hermonia so soon?” Roland asked, shaking his head in disbelief.
“To be honest, given Hermonia’s intelligence and curiosity I am only surprised it has taken this long because they haven’t lived here until now. There is something very special about that child Roland, over time it will reveal itself I’m sure.”
Roland slipped his hand into his wife’s and smiled his acknowledgment and agreement at her. They had been married for over forty years, words were not always necessary between them.
They stepped out the front door and found Hermonia sitting on the front step having a very earnest conversation with a daisy. Unwilling to interrupt and knowing she would follow almost immediately, they set off for the head of the dragon.
Hermonia watched her grandparents stroll off and resumed her conversation with the daisy. “I’m very sorry Daisy fairy but I have to go hear about the dragon. I’ve waited ever so long and I must know how the dragon came to be here.”
Hermonia’s head was bent low over the daisy clutched in her hand and any passerby would have sworn the child was listening to the flower talk to her and bobbing her head in response to what the daisy told her. Hermonia carefully set the daisy down and waved goodbye to the flower before skipping ahead to catch her grandparents.
Rachel and Roland had come to a stop at the base of the dragon’s jaw. The immense size of the skeleton dwarfing the couple in comparison. The blue sky and clouds above and the shadows of flying birds danced on the skeletal remains of the dragon.
“Grammy will you please tell me the story of the dragon now?” Hermonia asked politely as she skipped into her grandfather’s legs and promptly landed on her rear.
Roland scooped her up and placed her on his shoulders in one easy and fluid motion. “Hermonia, please meet Buttercup.”
“Grandaddy, Buttercup isn’t the proper name for a dragon!” The outrage in her voice was sincere. “Dragon’s have properly terrifying names like Flammel or Anger. Who ever heard of a sweet dragon named Buttercup?”
“I assure you Hermonia, that Buttercup was the name of this dragon. Now do you want to hear the story or are you going to pick on the dragon because of her name?” Roland sounded terse but the smile on his face belied the tone of his voice.
“I’m sorry, please tell me the story of Buttercup.” There was a sense of awe and wonder in her voice.
“Very well then,” began Rachel still holding Roland’s hand. “Buttercup was very old dragon when she first met your great grandfather when he was a little boy, not much older than you. He would see her flying above the village where he lived and unlike the rest of the villagers he never ran away in fear. He was fascinated with the dragon that came, flew about but never did any harm.”
Rachel’s voice was strong as she retold the story as it had been passed on through the family. “Your great grandfather,”
”What was his name?” interrupted Hermonia.
“Norman and he lived in a village by the sea. Norman grew up knowing only fear of those in his village. There were other dragons about in those days and these dragons were not kind creatures. In fact, they did not like people much at all and routinely set about destroying villages. Norman was never afraid of dragons though and for this reason he wasn’t much liked by the people in his village.”
“But what about his family? Surely they loved great grandaddy Norman!” her voice was filled with indignation at the very idea that someone could not love a member of her family.
“I’m sad to tell you Hermonia the Fair that even his family didn’t care for him overly much. Thus, Norman grew up quite alone surrounded by the village but that never seemed to bother him. One day, it was quite a cloudy and cold day, Norman heard the villagers screaming and fleeing into their houses. He went outside to see what he could see.”
“What did he see? I bet it was Buttercup wasn’t it?”
Roland smiled and squeezed Rachel’s hand. “Well, young lady I guess since you are going to guess the whole story maybe Grammy and I should just let you tell it?”
“Oh Grandaddy don’t be a silly goose, I can’t tell it yet. I don’t know all of it.” Her reply was serious and her face alight with the possibilities awaiting Norman and Buttercup.
Rachel, squeezing Roland’s hand in return, continued, “Norman decided he was going to go talk to the dragon and thus he ran for the highest point in the village a cliff overlooking the ocean. He ran as fast as his legs would go and scrambled up the hillside to the top. Out of breath he stood there very still, waiting. He could hear the sea crashing against the rocks below him and the sound of the dragon’s wings. He was afraid but he was more curious than scared and so he remained.”
“Buttercup had never understood why the creatures on two legs ran from her every time she flew near one of their villages. She knew other dragon’s hated the two legged creatures that hunted her kind but she was interested to know more about them. She was an old dragon, shunned by her own kind because of her gentle and curious nature. The other dragons would go on raiding parties and destroy whole villages for sport but Buttercup never participated. Now, there were fewer dragons and more two legged creatures in the world and Buttercup could no longer contain her thirst for knowledge. She had always been drawn to the village by the sea and so she returned once again and then she spotted the young child high on the cliff overlooking the sea waving to her.”
“He waved to her? How did he know the dragon would be friendly?” Hermonia had a lot of questions and Roland slipped her from his shoulders and sat her down on the grass. He and Rachel sat down too.
“Well, what is the one thing you do when you want to talk to someone you don’t know for the first time and are a little bit scared to talk to them?” Roland asked.
Hermonia thought about this quite a long time before answering, “I wave to them hoping they wave back. So, you think Great Grandaddy Norman wanted the dragon to wave back to him?”
“Wouldn’t you?” Roland responded watching the emotions dance across her face. She was thinking about the question quite seriously. “Never mind, you can answer later. How about Grammy continues to tell you about Buttercup.?”
Hermonia shook her head yes, turning her dancing emerald green eyes to Rachel. “Buttercup saw the wave and immediately flew over to the cliff, being careful to approach the cliff from the sea so that the power of her wings didn’t knock the tiny creature from the cliff into the sea.”
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