"Hey, Miss Alodie!" Daisy waved at her.

54.Miss Alodie had the most beautiful garden in Goldmine City, the envy of everyone who saw it. Miss Alodie's daisies were bigger than sunflowers, her sunflowers were bigger than fruit trees, and her tea roses were as big as Frisbees. Practically everything Daisy knew about flowers, she had learned from Miss Alodie.

Jesse heard Emmy say, "Gar. Den. Gnome. Foooood?"

Miss Alodie was pruning a bush of giant yellow roses. She wore bright pink garden gloves, clunky sandals with socks, plaid pedal pushers, and a flower-patterned blouse. Her green beanie, which reminded Jesse of the top of a zucchini with the stem still attached, came up only to Jesse's chin. She does look like a gnome! She does look like a gnome! he thought. he thought.

"Good day, my young friends!" Miss Alodie said. Her sparkling blue eyes were a perfect match for the paint on the shutters of her cottage.

"Beautiful roses, Miss Alodie!" said Daisy.

"Why, thank you, Miss Daisy. I like them, too," said Miss Alodie. "You know, roses are not native to the Americas. They originally came from the Far East."

"Interesting," said Jesse. "Foooood?" Emmy asked.

55.Daisy said, "Jesse and I are making a Museum of Magic up at the barn. It's got a great section on wildflowers, and you're invited to visit."

"Just say the word and I'll be there with bells on," Miss Alodie said.

Jesse felt a p.r.i.c.kling on the back of his neck as Emmy scrambled out of his hood and perched on his shoulder.

"Land's sakes!" Miss Alodie said. She came out from behind her rosebush, planted her feet wide, and tipped back her head to look at the baby dragon. "Is that what I think it is?"

Emmy stared down at Miss Alodie and blinked.

"She's a green basilisk from Costa Rica," Jesse said quickly. "We found her at the Dell."

"Is that a fact?" said Miss Alodie, her blue eyes dancing. "She's certainly a long way from home, isn't she? Well, take very good care of her. Keeping a pet is a responsibility. Do not take it lightly, my young friends."

"We won't," Jesse said. Then he gave Daisy a meaningful look and added, "We have to get going now, right, Daze?"

"Right," said Daisy. "We have some important research to do at the library. See you soon, Miss Alodie."

56."I'll be seeing you two kids at the Museum of Magic!" Miss Alodie said, returning to her rosebush.

"Niff. Tee. Gnome!" said Emmy.

Uncle Joe liked to say that Goldmine City needed a new name because the gold mine had been boarded up for over a century and the town wasn't big enough to be called a village, much less a city. Jesse and Daisy rode down nearly empty Main Street and chained their bikes to the rack in front of the library. Like the few other buildings in town, the library had stone pillars and a grand flight of steps. It was a leftover from the days when the town had boomed.

Daisy drew Jesse behind a tree and said to Emmy, "There are no pets allowed in the library. So you need to get back in the hood and not show your face."

"Lie. Brare. Eee?" Emmy asked, c.o.c.king her head.

"It's where we keep books. Where we store lots of our knowledge," Jesse explained.

"And there's no no yakking allowed in the library," said Daisy. "Because people want to read their books in peace and quiet." yakking allowed in the library," said Daisy. "Because people want to read their books in peace and quiet."

"Read. Books? Scrip. Tor. Eeee. Urn!" Emmy said, her head bobbing rapidly.

57.The cousins looked at each other and put Emmy's syllables together. "Scriptorium!?!" "Scriptorium!?!" they chimed, then shrugged. they chimed, then shrugged.

Daisy led the way up the steps. Just as she was opening one of the library's double doors, Jesse caught a glimpse of what looked like the million-dollar car reflected in the gla.s.s. He whipped around. It was just an ordinary dark green car. Jesse felt a little foolish. Probably someone who lives on our street has just bought a big black car, Probably someone who lives on our street has just bought a big black car, Jesse thought. I Jesse thought. I am getting all worked up for nothing. am getting all worked up for nothing.

Mr . . Stenson, the weekday librarian, was seated behind his desk. He smiled when he saw the cousins come in. "How are my two most avid young readers?" he asked. "In this computer-crazy world, I can't tell you how nice it is to see a couple of kids who still prefer an old-fashioned book to a newfangled hard drive." Stenson, the weekday librarian, was seated behind his desk. He smiled when he saw the cousins come in. "How are my two most avid young readers?" he asked. "In this computer-crazy world, I can't tell you how nice it is to see a couple of kids who still prefer an old-fashioned book to a newfangled hard drive."

Jesse and Daisy exchanged a guilty look.

"What are you looking for today?" said Mr. Stenson. "We've got the first book in a brand-new fantasy trilogy. I think you're really going to like it."

"Is it about dragons?" Jesse wanted to know. "We're looking for books about dragons," Daisy told him.

58.The librarian laughed and said, "You and every other kid in the world. Which one? We have lots of books about dragons."

"Oh, anything ...dragonish, to be exact," said Daisy.

"Dragon stories, dragon legends, dragon operating instructions ..." Jesse trailed off.

"You kids are in luck. Just the other day, I made up a list of the dragon books in our collection," said the librarian.

He opened a file folder and shuffled through some pages until he found what he was looking for. He gave it a quick look and smiled. "There are some great reads here," he said.

Emmy must have disagreed with the librarian, because she blew in Jesse's ear and whispered, "Dragon piddle!"

Jesse started coughing to hide his laughter, giving a little hop to shake Emmy down into his hood. "Thanks a lot, Mr. Stenson," he said.

Mr. Stenson's nose twitched. "Do you two smell something?" he asked.

The cousins looked at Mr. Stenson, their eyes wide.

"I don't smell anything. Do you, Daze?" said Jesse.

"Not me," said Daisy.

59."Strange," said the librarian. "Not quite sure what it is." He lifted his nose in the air and sniffed some more. "Burritos? Tacos? Mexican salsa, maybe?"

"Sounds great to me!" said Jesse.

"Yeah," said Daisy. "When do we eat?"

Mr. Stenson grinned. "It's probably just my hungry tummy manufacturing appetizing aromas."

"This list looks great," said Jesse.

"Can we keep it?" said Daisy.

"Be my guest...and happy reading!"

After thanking him again, the cousins went to their regular table in the children's section. They huddled, running their eyes down the list. It filled an entire piece of paper.

"I've got a plan," said Daisy. She folded the sheet of paper in two and ripped it on the edge of the table. She handed Jesse the top half. "You hunt up those. I'll hunt up the rest. We'll pile the books here on the table and figure out which ones we want to check out first."

Luckily, the plan soon put Emmy to sleep. Whether it was from the peace and quiet of the library or his steady plodding through the stacks, Jesse didn't care. He was just grateful. When Jesse and Daisy had finished hunting and gathering, they had a small mountain of books on the table.

60."Okay," said Daisy. "Let's set the ones that seem like they might give us useful facts on the right and the ones that are just made-up stuff on the left."

They went through the books with surprising speed. When they were finished, they had no books on the right and a big stack on the left. They were all probably perfectly wonderful books. It's just that, from what the cousins could tell, they didn't contain much in the way of practical advice on the care and feeding of a baby dragon.

"What about this one?" Jesse said, pointing to the last t.i.tle on Daisy's half of the list. It wasn't in the pile.

"The Dragon Keeper's Guide?" she said. "Yeah, that's because it wasn't on the shelf. And the funny thing is," she added, "it was the only book that was actually listed as nonfiction." she said. "Yeah, that's because it wasn't on the shelf. And the funny thing is," she added, "it was the only book that was actually listed as nonfiction."

They returned to Mr. Stenson's desk and asked him about the missing book. He looked it up on his computer and quickly confirmed that there was only one copy and that it was checked out and overdue. "The book's long out of print," he said.

The cousins went over to the computerized card catalog and looked up The Dragon Keeper's Guide. The Dragon Keeper's Guide. The author was listed as Professor L. B. Andersson, D.D. (Doctor of Draconology). The book had been published in 1877! The author was listed as Professor L. B. Andersson, D.D. (Doctor of Draconology). The book had been published in 1877!

61."It's old," said Daisy. "What's in it?"

Jesse leaned toward the screen and read the small print aloud. "Hatchlings, younglings, h.o.a.rding, scrying, masking, flaming, soaring, spelling, dreaming, The Time Before."

There it was on the screen, in black and white. The Time Before! The Time Before!

After swiftly returning the books to the shelves, the cousins flew home and dashed upstairs to the computer. With Daisy standing behind his chair, Jesse Googled "Professor L. B. Andersson." Only four four hits! The first three listings were about the book, which seemed to be the only one the man had ever written, or at least the only one Mr. Google knew anything about. Next to the fourth entry, a Web site was listed. hits! The first three listings were about the book, which seemed to be the only one the man had ever written, or at least the only one Mr. Google knew anything about. Next to the fourth entry, a Web site was listed.

The site was called www.foundadragon.org. Jesse clicked on the link and the home page came up.

On the left side of the screen was a black-and-white drawing of a dragon. It looked very old. On the right was a photograph of a very stern-looking man with long white hair, a long white beard and mustache, and white eyebrows bristling over sparkling black eyes.

Jesse didn't know what to do, so he clicked on the old man's face and was startled when the 62.photograph suddenly came to life. The dark eyes blazed, the long nose twitched, and the mouth beneath the mustache opened and began to speak. "So! You think you have found a dragon?" it boomed at them.

63.[Image: The dragon and the sorcerer's Sphere.]

CHAPTER FIVE

THE SORCERER'S SPHERE.

"Whoa!" Jesse rolled back in his chair and stared at the screen. "What am I supposed to do now?"

Daisy pointed to the blinking cursor at the bottom of the screen. "Try keying there," she said.

"Try keying what?" what?" he asked. "Did you get a good look at this guy? He's scary!" he asked. "Did you get a good look at this guy? He's scary!"

"Just tell him yes," Daisy said patiently, "and see what happens."

64.Jesse took a deep breath and rolled back to the computer. He flexed his fingers and keyed, in capital letters, "Y-E-S."

Once again, the photograph stirred to life and the lips moved. "Very good. What are its salient characteristics?"

"Um, what does 'salient' mean?" Jesse asked Daisy out of the corner of his mouth.

But it was the man on the screen who answered him: "By 'salient,' we mean 'most noticeable; prominent.'"

Jesse stiffened. "How did he do that? Can he actually hear what we're saying? I don't know if I like that," he added, turning from the screen and cupping his hands around his mouth.

"Of course he can't," said Daisy. "He probably just expects most people not to understand that word. So go ahead." She gave his shoulders a gentle squeeze.

"Go ahead and what? what? This guy is giving me the creeps." Then he caught himself and apologized to the screen. "Excuse me, mister. It's just that I'm not used to a talking ... to a talking, um, Web, um ...head." This guy is giving me the creeps." Then he caught himself and apologized to the screen. "Excuse me, mister. It's just that I'm not used to a talking ... to a talking, um, Web, um ...head."

The picture on the screen remained silent and still.

65."Write in her salient characteristics, Jess," said Daisy. "Why not start with the little green horn?"

Jesse nodded and put his hands on the keys.

"Stop!" the voice roared. Jesse's fingers froze. In a softer tone, the professor said, "It is not necessary for you to type your responses. I can hear you."

"Yikes!" Daisy grabbed Jesse's neck. "He can can hear us!" hear us!"

"I can indeed," said the professor, "provided you take the trouble to make yourself understood, by which I mean that you must enunciate." enunciate."

"What does that that mean?" Jesse asked. mean?" Jesse asked.

The professor replied, "It means that you must speak clearly and slowly and succinctly, and not slur your words! and not slur your words! Simply click the mouse when you wish to speak." Simply click the mouse when you wish to speak."

Jesse gaped at the screen.

"Go ahead." Daisy nudged him. "It's like an interview."

Jesse clicked the mouse, cleared his throat, and said, loudly and clearly and slowly--exactly the way he spoke to their great-aunt Elizabeth, who was as deaf as a tree stump--"She has this little green horn on her head!"

The professor's face burst into a smile. "Very 66.good!" he said. "But there is no need to shout. I a.s.sure you, I am not deaf." Jesse blushed.

"Do go on," said the professor.

Jesse nodded and clicked the mouse once again. At a more moderate volume, he said, "She hatched out of a geode. She has a forked tongue. She likes to eat limestone. She smells like hot chili peppers. She comes from The Time Before---"

"Don't forget to say she can talk," Daisy whispered.

"Oh, right!" said Jesse. "She talks!"

Just then the left side of the screen lit up. The picture of the dragon turned bright green on a field of dazzling red and began blinking, as if they had just hit the jackpot. The old man's eyebrows lifted, and he grinned. "Bravo!" he told them. "You have found yourself a dragon!"

Even though the cousins already knew this, it was nice to get proper credit for their discovery. When the screen stopped flashing, Jesse clicked the mouse and asked, "Could you tell us what to feed her? I mean, besides limestone."