Vern, the Wyvern.

How two brothers meet up with the family's protector.

VERN, THE WYVERN

  

The two brothers, Roy and Ivor, were sitting at the kitchen table doing their holiday homework. Martha, their mother, was busy tidying up the breakfast crockery and cutlery. She was going out in a few minutes to do the shopping and collect her husband’s clothes from the dry cleaners. “Now, don’t go anywhere before you’ve done all your homework. I shan’t be long, but you are allowed out to play, as long as you don’t go too far.”

“All right, Mummy, we’ll go to the sheep farm up the road. The farmer’s wife lets us collect the eggs,” Roy told his mother.

“That sounds fine to me,” Martha said, and kissed her sons goodbye.

“Roy, have you got much more to do?” Ivor asked his brother.

Roy looked through the page of instructions on the holiday homework, and replied, “Not too much. Have you finished already?”

“Yes, I have. I’m going to look at a film on my iPad, while you get on with your work. We’ll go out when you’ve finished.”

Although Ivor was the younger by two years, he always did the things he didn’t like doing before getting down to those he preferred. They had both celebrated their birthdays in the spring, and now they were in their summer holidays. Roy was ten and Ivor eight that summer, and beginning to feel that they would be big boys in a very near future. Roy hated doing homework, although he knew he had no alternative but to do so. He made an effort and struggled to the end of that day’s work. He tidied away his books and his pens and pencils, and said, “Ivor, I’ve finished. Can we go out now?”

Ivor closed his iPad and joined Roy in the kitchen. They took a bottle of water each out of the fridge, and an apple, and a salad sandwich, which were placed in their rucksacks, with a torch and a sweater. They made sure the kitchen door was locked, and left the house.

As they walked along the road to the farm, they spoke about what they wanted to do on the farm. “Do you think we can get a different fruit from the farm? I don’t like apples,” Ivor moaned.

“If we ask nicely, perhaps we’ll be given some plums,” Roy said.

“That sounds OK. I like plums.”

 

In a moment, the country road they had been walking along was no more, and they were in a dense wood. Neither Roy nor Ivor were aware of the change in their surroundings. In fact it seemed all too familiar to them. The entrance to a large cave was hidden behind long overhanging branches of oak trees. Roy pushed the branches aside, and he and Ivor went in. They sat down and opened their packets of food. They were busy eating, when a deep voice said, “You mind where you put your feet. I don’t like getting trodden on.”

Roy and Ivor switched on their torches and saw a dragon lying down in the back of the cave. It was difficult to make out his shape and colour, as it was so dark. “I’m Roy, and this is my brother Ivor. We’re on holiday, and we’re going to the farm where there are sheep and fruit trees. What’s your name, and do you always live here?”

“My name is Vern, and I’m a wyvern. Do you know what that is?”

Roy, who was always drawing pictures of dinosaurs and dragons, said, “You’re a dragon.”

“I’m a kind of dragon. If you look carefully, you’ll see I’ve got eagle’s wings and two chicken’s feet. My tail is my best feature. It’s very long and barbed, and it’s always knotted, because when it is undone, it can zap anyone or anything out of nowhere.”

“Why are you in this cave?”

“I’m here to help you sort out your problems. I also want you to enjoy your summer holiday,” Vern replied.

“That’s very kind of you,” Ivor said, warming to Vern. “How are you going to help us?” Roy asked.

“That’s very easy. Any problem you might have with other boys or authorities, I am able to sort them out - in a flash.”

“Do you ever leave the cave?” Ivor asked.

“When I have work to do,” said Vern.

“What kind of work do you do?” Roy asked.

“There’s no problem without a solution, and that’s where I come in. I solve problems,” Vern said, and then continued. “I think you’ll have to go, because I need to stand up, and there isn’t enough room in this cave for me to do so when you two are here.”

As the boys started to leave the cave, Vern said, “Leave, but never look back. Promise?”

“Yes, Vern,” they said in unison.

Vern watched Roy and Ivor as they made their way back onto the country road they had been walking along before meeting him. And Vern twitched himself, and then rose up inside the cave before flying out of it, high up into the sky. The cave and the wood vanished at the same time.

 

Mrs Palmer, the farmer’s wife, invited them in for tea. There were giant cakes of fruit, sponge, and jam, individual cakes smothered in icing. Mrs Palmer made her own lemonade, and the boys happily drank it down. The tea over, Mrs Palmer, who knew Martha and Basil, the boys’ parents, gave them a large bag of ripe plums, pears, and apples. In a separate bag, she put a dozen eggs in one long box.

“See you again next week. When are you going away?” Mrs Palmer asked them.

“Mummy and Daddy haven’t made up their minds yet,” Ivor said.

“All right then, but please tell your parents to ring me in case you stay at home. I like to have the shopping prepared before anyone comes to collect it. Bye then.” Mrs Palmer waved them off.

 

High above them, out of sight, Vern flew, following them every step of the way home. He was there to protect them, as he had once protected their father, who had forgotten to tell them about the wyvern’s existence in the family history. The boys encountered their father indoors, and he asked them what they had been doing that afternoon. “I’d like to see your homework, if you don’t mind. I want to make sure it’s been done correctly. Don’t you think it’s a bit cold? I might light a fire in the fireplace.”

Roy and Ivor went to get their books with the work they had done that morning.

Vern had made himself invisible and was standing outside the kitchen window waiting to hear what Basil was going to do. Basil began with Roy’s work, and studied it carefully. Then, he picked up Ivor’s work. “You’ve done very well, you’d better go up and wash before supper.”  Basil went into the sitting-room and sat down in the armchair.

 

Roy and Ivor were in their bedroom, when they heard a tapping on the window. They looked out and saw Vern’s face but not his body.

“What’s happened to the rest of you?” Roy asked.

“I’ve made it invisible. How are you? Any work for me to do?”

“Yes. Daddy said it’s cold tonight, and he’s going to light a fire in the sitting-room,” Ivor informed Vern.

Vern flew up to the roof of the house, and put his face down the chimney and blew fire straight down into the fireplace. The fuel, which had been laid some time ago by Martha, caught straight away, and in a couple of minutes the fireplace was lit up by a healthy blaze. Basil, who had fallen asleep in the armchair, stayed asleep.

Martha arrived home to see a winter blaze in the fireplace in the month of August. She tapped her husband on the shoulder, and said, “I know the evening’s chilly, but don’t you think you are exaggerating with the fire.”

Basil came to, and saw the fire, “I wanted to light the fire, but I don’t remember doing it.”

“You must have been very tired. Anyway it doesn’t matter, just think how lovely and hot the water’s going to be for baths tonight!”

 

Vern and the boys were having a chat about this and that. Ivor told him about a boy in his class, who would never let him join in any of the games at break time. Vern asked where he lived, and the boys happily showed him where the pest lived. Ivor said, “He’s always causing us grief. He does something really bad, and then tells the teacher it’s been me, or one of my friends, and we get into trouble.”

“Now that’s the kind of problem I’ve come to solve. See you later. I’ve got work to do.”

The boys went down to the kitchen to have supper, and Vern flew off to investigate the situation at bad Andy’s house.

 

So, while Roy and Ivor were having supper with their parents, Vern was about to put Andy to the test. He flew to Andy’s bedroom window and peered through. He tapped on the window to make sure Andy saw him. Andy screamed and ran down the stairs shouting, “There’s a dragon in my room.” His parents and his sister were eating and watching television. Paul, Andy’s father, said to his son, “What have you been drinking? I’ve told you before to stay away from the bigger boys.”

“Dad, I haven’t drunk anything bad, but there’s a dragon in my bedroom!”

“All right, but if you’re lying to me, you’ll be in deep water. Another thing, I’ve heard some not very nice stories about you, so be very careful.”

Paul and Andy went upstairs and opened the bedroom door, only to see it was all ablaze. When Vern saw Andy run out of the room, he had given a few of his better puffs, and set the room on fire. Now, at the moment father and son opened the bedroom door, all they could see were flames. The father rang the firemen on his mobile, and the neighbours ran out of their houses, to find out what on earth was going on.

Vern made himself invisible and flew to the rooftop of Roy and Ivor’s house, where he spent the night.

 

Back in Andy’s house, pandemonium had broken out, with Andy repeating that he had seen a dragon at his bedroom window. Paul and his wife took Andy to the hospital to try and discover what the matter with him was. They also rang their respective parents, relating to them the fire and the problem with Andy. The doctor who examined Andy said, “He’s convinced he saw a dragon. Are there any books in the house with pictures of dragons?”

“There are some, but they aren’t the books he looks at now. He’s into technology, not books. In fact, his teacher says he’s not all that good a reader. Have you any clue why he’s telling this story?” Paul asked the doctor.

“In my opinion, he’s trying to cover up that he was playing with matches or smoking, or something like that. We’ll do what we can with a child psychologist, and see what he comes up with.”

“That’s fine by me, Doctor. Goodnight.” Paul, his wife, and daughter, left the hospital and a drowsy Andy still saying he had seen a dragon.

 

The following morning, Paul and his wife were able to enter the house and retrieve anything that wasn’t destroyed. Fortunately, only Andy’s bedroom was affected, and the rest of the house only smelt of burning wood. Paul’s mother had a lovely big house in another village, and the little family moved there. Andy was still going on about the dragon to everyone’s boredom, and he was just beginning the treatment that would last him for years - that nothing he said would ever be believed.

 His parents eventually bought another house in a different county, where nobody knew of Andy’s encounter with a dragon, and whenever it came up in conversation, Paul said, “My son has a vivid imagination.”

Roy and Ivor didn’t have to stretch their imaginations to guess who had been behind Andy’s family leaving the village, and the secrecy in which it was done. The house would take quite a while to repair, so it was left to its abandoned state, till Andy’s room was restored once more.

 

When Basil and Martha were at work, Vern kept Roy and Ivor company. Every time Basil commented to Martha about Andy, Roy and Ivor kept silent.

Basil said to them, “Don’t either of you tell us that you’ve seen a dragon in the bedroom window!”

Before leaving the village and moving in with Paul’s mother, Andy’s parents had many angry parents approach them in the street, relating how he had lied to the teachers and the parents about the other children. That made Andy’s father even more determined to go as far away as they could. Paul put the house on the market, because he was so fed up with Andy and the destroyed bedroom.

 

“Mummy, Daddy, are we going anywhere this summer?” Roy asked his parents.

Basil and Martha exchanged a glance, and Basil said, “We’re looking into it. In the meantime, finish your holiday homework.”

 

One morning, after Basil and Martha had left for work, Vern made a welcome appearance at their bedroom window.

“Can you help us with our homework?” Roy asked.

“If I do, you’ll have to do something for me. OK?” Vern told them.

“Yes, it’s OK,” the boys said.

“Vern, why is your mouth always open?” Roy asked.

“Because it gets very hot inside it,” Vern answered.

 

Vern flew up to the roof, to have a think about how he could help the boys. He knew what he wanted, but he wondered whether the boys would be able to deliver the goods, after all they were only boys. As he was thinking, he remembered the gossip the boys had related to him about a nosey neighbour called Millie Billings. He knew that Martha was fed up with her always interfering where her opinion wasn’t asked for. He saw Millie’s washing blowing in the wind. Vern thought he would have some fun. He blew the sheets high up into the air, so high they flew higher and higher till they got to another village. He set fire to compost heaps that were piled up at the end of some of the gardens. He flew to the local lake, and blew on it until the water was almost on the boil, which was rather disconcerting for those who were swimming. Still feeling naughty, Vern flew around the surrounding villages and saw a barbecue set up in a garden. The owner of the house went indoors and Vern thought he’d help out, and blew long and hard on the coals. When the man returned to his garden, he couldn’t make out how all his meat was cooked and ready to eat.

 

 On his way back to the boys’ house, he saw that one car was badly parked, thus inhibiting any other vehicle from moving. Vern saw that, as an injustice towards the other cars and their owners, so he undid his knotted barbed tail, and zapped at the badly parked car. It crashed into another, and then another, creating a chain effect of fire, the cars flying up into the air, much to Vern’s delight, and to the unfortunate owners’ horror. Anyway, they were all parked illegally.

 

 That done, Vern flew back to the boys. They were still sitting and struggling with their homework. Vern from his position on the roof, gave their work a quick check and stared at it with his penetrating eyes. Any mistakes they had made were erased and the correct answer put in their place. Roy and Ivor took their books from beneath Vern’s feet, and stashed them away till Basil returned in the evening.

“What do we have to do for you?” Roy asked Vern.

Vern said, “I want to go back home. I’ve been away for a long time and want to see my family, and I’d like you to accompany me, and see how wyverns have protected your family for generations.”

“All right, but where is your home?” Ivor asked.

“It’s a long way from here, and it’s better we go there under the cover of darkness. I’ll wake you up when your parents are asleep.”

“How do we get back?” Roy asked.

“I’ll bring you back at dawn, before you have to get up. OK?”

 

That afternoon the boys played in the garden, and went for a walk to see what state Andy’s house was in. Vern remained invisible on the roof, yet at the same time kept an eye on the children. There was a group of women talking to a policeman. “Millie says her sheets have been stolen from her washing-line. What are you going to do about it, Constable?”

“I’ve spoken to Mrs Billings, and she says that the sheets hadn’t been out long on the line before they had disappeared.”

“There was a bit of a breeze this morning, but not that much. Anyway, are you going to arrest anyone soon?” a woman asked

“Madam, I’m not going to arrest anyone. There’s no evidence that the sheets have been stolen. Excuse me, please, but I have to see about another domestic problem,” the constable said, as he got back into his car.

“Is it about the missing sheets?” one of the housewives asked. The policeman didn’t hear, he had started up and driven off, straight down the street to the main road. The conversation had been heard by Vern high up on the roof, so he now had to get someone to report having seen a set of wet sheets lying in the garden in a nearby village.

 

In the town, firemen were still busy dealing with the blaze. The owners of the cars were out of their minds, wondering how they would get to work, and ringing their bosses. Vern felt light-hearted. He liked the boys, and had a story to tell them.

 

Roy and Ivor went to bed without making protests. Vern had told them to be dressed and ready, for when he would tap on their window that night. Basil and Martha were surprised their offspring had gone up to bed so easily.

When Basil and Martha were fast asleep, there was a tap at the boys’ bedroom window, which signalled it was time for them to get up. To save time, they had gone to bed ready dressed, and they only had to put their trainers on.

“You’d better wear the fleece jacket, flying at night is cold,” Vern told them. “Now climb onto my back and hang on tight.”

They climbed onto him in front of his wings, and hung onto his neck. They flew high up into the star studded dark blue sky. From their vantage point everything down below was tiny. Vern was elated, when after some time he saw other wyverns travelling in the same direction.

When they finally descended, they saw they were on a small island.

“We’re in Devon, and my family is from here. We’re having a family reunion. There are many caves. Don’t be afraid of exploring them, while I’m at the meeting,”

“Do you do this often?” Roy asked.

“Not as often as we’d like to. It’s all Uther’s fault, he forced all the dragons and wyverns out. So now we do everything in secrecy.  Now, off you go, and explore the caves.”

Roy and Ivor walked through the caves, and marvelled at the wonderful wall-paintings of dragons and wyverns. One of the paintings depicted Uthur telling the dragons to leave. They saw Merlin talking to a huge dragon in another drawing. They then began to understand the importance of the dragons and wyverns in the lives of many families down the centuries.

 

Vern delivered them home, just as dawn was breaking.

“Goodbye, boys, for now. We’ll meet up again one day.”

Roy and Ivor waved goodbye to their friend and protector.

 

Martha and Basil took the boys to Devon. “Mummy, Daddy, let’s go to Wyvern Island,” Roy suggested.

In the small port, there was a huge poster with an equally large wyvern painted on it. The notice said, ‘VISIT WYVERN ISLAND - FULL OF FUN AND MAGIC’. A small motor- boat took the visitors to the island. Roy and Ivor with their parents, began walking through the caves. The boys nudged each other on seeing the ancient drawings of dragons and wyverns - they had seen them all before.

 

Outside the caves, there was a tourist shop that sold everything one could wish for. All the objects bore the picture of wyverns or dragons. Ivor bought a fluffy wyvern to put on his bed. Roy bought key-rings, and pictures, and other things. There were even sweets and ice creams depicting wyverns and dragons.

 

“What’re you going to call your souvenir, Ivor?” Martha asked.

“Vern, the Wyvern,” Ivor said, hugging his fluffy toy.