Lulu Bell and the Moon Dragon Read online

  ‘The dragon’s beard is a bit crooked,’ said Molly.

  Lulu cocked her head to one side as she checked. ‘Maybe,’ said Lulu. ‘I think he just needs more feathers. The one in the picture has furry eyebrows as well.’

  Rosie and Sam blew up balloons to form a base for the papier-mâché masks. Gus played football with the floating balloons.

  ‘Take that!’ cried Gus. A balloon popped with a loud bang.

  ‘Gussie!’ said Lulu. She put her hands on her hips. ‘Don’t burst all the balloons.’

  Mum looked up from the gluggy pot she was stirring.

  ‘Why don’t you come and help me with the papier-mâché, honey bun?’ suggested Mum. She held up a strip of newspaper soaked in paste.

  Mum had mixed up a big batch of flour and water to make the paste. She was placing sticky strips of newspaper over each of the balloons to form a round face mask.

  Gus ran to help. He dunked a fistful of newspaper into the paste pot. In a few minutes he managed to get white paste all over his Bug Boy outfit.

  Mum put the masks out to dry in the sun on the verandah. Then she helped Tien sew the blue robes to go with them.

  At last, Lulu and Molly finished decorating the dragon head. They packed up the glue, scissors and decorations. Mum folded up the last blue robe.

  ‘That was fun,’ said Mum. ‘But now we need to go home and feed all the animals. It’s nearly dinnertime.’

  ‘We can paint the masks and make some lanterns tomorrow,’ said Tien. ‘Then over the weekend we can prepare some food so it’s all ready for Monday.’

  ‘It’s my news day tomorrow,’ said Lulu. ‘Can Molly and I take the dragon costume in to show our class? The kids would love to see him.’

  Mum frowned. ‘I don’t think so, Lulu,’ said Mum. ‘We don’t want him to get damaged. Perhaps we could make a practise lantern tonight after dinner? You could take that for news instead?’

  ‘Good idea. Thanks Mum.’

  Lulu held up the colourful dragon head. She swooped the dragon gently through the air, making him fly. The red cloak billowed out behind him.

  ‘He looks quite ferocious, honey bun,’ said Mum.

  ‘He looks awesome,’ replied Lulu. She and Molly grinned at one another. ‘I can’t wait until Monday.’

  Chapter 6

  Four Eyes

  The next day at recess, Lulu was walking through the playground. She heard a small voice calling her name. It was Molly’s brother Sam.

  ‘Lulu,’ called Sam. ‘Lulu Bell.’

  Sam’s hair was sticking up more than usual. His dark eyes blinked behind his thick, black-rimmed glasses.

  ‘Hi, Sam,’ replied Lulu. ‘What’s up?’

  Sam frowned. ‘Lulu, I’m … I’m not very happy. And I can’t find Molly.’

  ‘Molly had to take a message to the office for our teacher,’ said Lulu. ‘But why aren’t you happy, Sam?’

  Sam looked over his shoulder towards the monkey bars. Most of the kindy kids were swinging back and forth on the bars.

  ‘One of the boys was mean to me,’ said Sam. He blinked away tears.

  ‘Oh, Sam. I’m sorry,’ said Lulu. She kneeled down and gave him a hug. ‘What happened?’

  Sam sniffed. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

  ‘He called me Four Eyes,’ said Sam. ‘Because of my glasses.’

  Lulu frowned. She hated it when kids teased other kids.

  ‘That’s not very nice,’ said Lulu. ‘He shouldn’t call you mean names.’

  Lulu thought for a moment. What should she do? How could she best help Sam?

  ‘Have you told your teacher?’ asked Lulu.

  Sam shook his head. ‘No. I was too scared.’

  Lulu stood up and flicked one of her honey-blonde plaits over her shoulder.

  ‘Come with me, Sam,’ said Lulu. ‘Let’s go and find Miss Stevens.’

  Sam hesitated. Lulu smiled at him.

  ‘Miss Stevens is lovely,’ Lulu reassured him. ‘You don’t need to be scared of telling her. She’ll know what to do.’

  Lulu and Sam walked towards the kindy classroom.

  ‘Who was the boy who called you names?’ asked Lulu.

  ‘Oliver,’ replied Sam.

  Lulu remembered Oliver from the day before. He was the blond boy who had bumped Sam near the fence.

  ‘Well, Sam,’ said Lulu. ‘You tell Oliver that you have a big sister called Molly. And you have an eight-year-old friend called Lulu. We don’t like you being teased. So if he calls you names again, we’ll come and look after you.’

  Sam smiled up at Lulu. ‘Thanks, Lulu,’ he said.

  Miss Stevens was sitting at her desk in the classroom. Brightly coloured artwork hung on the walls. In the corner in a glass tank was a mouse called Archie. The brown-and-white mouse was running on his exercise wheel, making it spin.

  ‘Hello, Lulu,’ said Miss Stevens. ‘Hello, Sam. Is everything all right?’

  Sam hung his head.

  ‘Do you want to tell Miss Stevens what happened, Sam?’ asked Lulu.

  Sam shook his head.

  ‘Shall I tell her?’

  Sam nodded.

  ‘Miss Stevens, Sam is a bit upset,’ explained Lulu. ‘Oliver called him names.’

  Miss Stevens smiled at Sam and then at Lulu.

  ‘Thanks for your help, Lulu,’ said Miss Stevens. ‘You are very kind. I’ll go and have a little chat with Oliver. Perhaps I need to remind him that in KS we are always caring to one another.’

  Sam beamed at Miss Stevens and then at Lulu.

  ‘Thanks, Lulu,’ he whispered. ‘I feel better now.’

  Lulu felt a glow of warmth.

  ‘It’s my pleasure, Sam,’ replied Lulu. ‘Remember to come and see me if you need any more help.’

  Chapter 7

  Star Lanterns

  After recess it was news time.

  Lulu went last. She had brought in the practice lantern that she and Mum had created the night before. It was made of crimson paper, with purple satin ribbons. Lulu had cut out lots of tiny stars for the light to shine through. It dangled from a long dowel rod.

  That morning, Lulu had asked Molly if she wanted to tell the class about the festival. Molly had shaken her head. It wasn’t her turn and she didn’t like news time as much as Lulu did.

  So Lulu stood in front of the class and talked about her lantern.

  ‘On Monday it will be the full moon,’ explained Lulu. ‘Our family wants to help Molly celebrate by dressing up in traditional Vietnamese costumes. We’ve never been to a Moon Festival before.’

  Miss Baxter picked up the lantern and examined it carefully.

  ‘It’s beautiful. You don’t put a candle inside it, do you?’ asked Miss Baxter. ‘That might be quite dangerous. The lantern could catch on fire.’

  ‘No,’ said Lulu. ‘In the olden days, they used real candles. But Mum thought we should use a battery-powered candle.’

  ‘That sounds fantastic, Lulu,’ said Miss Baxter. ‘Thank you for telling us about your star lantern and the dragon costume.’

  Miss Baxter turned to Molly. ‘I know it’s not your news day today, Molly,’ said the teacher, ‘but I wonder if you could tell us a little more about the Moon Festival?’

  Molly was often shy when she had to speak in front of the class. She didn’t like to be the centre of attention.

  Molly stood up slowly. She glanced at Lulu as though begging for help. Lulu gave her a thumbs-up to give her courage.

  Molly paused. ‘Um. Well …’

  Miss Baxter nodded and smiled. Molly started to explain the Moon Festival to the class. Once she started talking she forgot to be nervous.

  ‘When we’ve finished painting the masks we still have to make more lanterns,’ said Molly. ‘Then we’ll bake lots of mooncakes to eat.’

  ‘That’s a lot of preparation,’ said Miss Baxter. ‘I have a very good idea. For craft this afternoon, the whole class is going to make Vietnamese lan
terns.’

  Molly smiled with pride. Lulu grinned back.

  ‘Do you think you could help us, Molly and Lulu?’ asked Miss Baxter. ‘We might need some artistic direction.’

  ‘Sure,’ said Molly and Lulu together.

  After lunch, the whole class set to work. Lulu and Molly chose the materials from the craft cupboard. There was paper and cardboard in lots of bright colours – red, pink, purple, yellow and white. They fetched scissors, sticky tape, staplers, ribbon and special hole punchers.

  First, each student decorated a sheet of coloured paper. They cut out star or moon shapes with the hole punchers.

  ‘Once you’ve decorated the paper,’ explained Lulu, ‘you need to roll the paper into a tube and sticky-tape it.’

  Molly showed the class how to make the base from a circle of cardboard. The base was firmly sticky-taped to the paper tube. Coloured ribbon was stapled to the top of the lantern to form a handle. The lantern could be carried by this ribbon handle or tied to a long dowel rod.

  Miss Stevens came in during the class to ask Miss Baxter a question. She smiled when she saw the students all busily working.

  ‘Our class is making lanterns,’ explained Miss Baxter. ‘It’s the Vietnamese Moon Festival next week. Molly and Lulu have been telling us all about it.’

  Miss Stevens nodded and rubbed her chin. She glanced at Lulu and then at Molly.

  ‘Molly, you’re Sam’s big sister, aren’t you?’ asked Miss Stevens.

  Molly nodded.

  ‘I have an idea,’ Miss Stevens said to Miss Baxter. ‘Could I borrow Lulu and Molly for a little while, please?’

  Lulu was surprised. What could Miss Stevens want them to do?

  Chapter 8

  The Fairy and the Dragon

  Lulu and Molly followed Miss Stevens into the kindy classroom. The children had been reading in groups with parent helpers. The parents were just packing up the readers while the students returned to their desks.

  ‘Now KS,’ began Miss Stevens, ‘we have two very special guests in our classroom today. Molly is Sam’s big sister and Lulu is their friend. I have asked Lulu and Molly to talk to us about an important celebration, which is happening next week.’

  The kindy children looked at the girls, then at Sam. Lulu and Molly glanced at each other in surprise.

  The Moon Festival is certainly creating a lot of interest, thought Lulu.

  Molly and Lulu talked about the festival and the costumes they had made. Several of the parents stayed to listen.

  ‘I wondered if you might be able to tell us anything else about dragons, Molly?’ asked Miss Stevens.

  Molly thought for a moment.

  ‘What about the story of how the Vietnamese people were born?’ suggested Sam. He peered at Molly through his round glasses.

  ‘Good idea, Sam,’ said Molly.

  Molly looked around at all the students. Lulu sat down on a spare seat. She had never heard Molly tell this story before.

  ‘Many thousands of years ago,’ began Molly, ‘there was a powerful dragon king called Lac Long Quan. “Long” means “dragon” in Vietnamese.’

  The kindy students all sat up straighter and listened carefully.

  ‘The mighty sea dragon fell in love with a beautiful fairy princess called Au Co,’ explained Molly. ‘The fairy princess lived in the mountains with her fairy family. The sea dragon lived in a vast underwater palace.’

  Lulu imagined a beautiful underwater palace built of coral and pearls.

  ‘The sea dragon king transformed himself into human form. He tried to woo the fairy princess,’ continued Molly. ‘She fell in love with him and they were happily married. A year later, the fairy laid one hundred eggs.’

  The kindy children giggled at the thought of a fairy princess laying eggs. Lulu giggled too.

  ‘Then the eggs hatched,’ said Molly. ‘Out popped one hundred human babies.’

  The children all laughed. Lulu noticed that Sam was sitting next to Oliver, the boy who had teased him. Oliver leaned over and whispered something to Sam. Sam grinned.

  ‘The problem was that the dragon king lived in his underwater palace. The fairy had to live on land,’ said Molly. ‘She became lonely and homesick. Queen Au Co longed to return to the mountains where she had grown up.

  ‘In the end, half their children stayed with their father living by the sea,’ said Molly. ‘The other half returned to the mountains with their mother. These one hundred children became the first people of Vietnam.’

  Molly looked around at the attentive kindy children.

  ‘So, all the Vietnamese people are like brothers and sisters,’ explained Molly. ‘Some live in the mountains and some live by the sea. But they are all descended from the dragon king and the fairy princess.’

  Molly smiled. Everyone clapped. A few of the children leaned over to whisper to Sam. Sam nodded and sat up proudly.

  ‘Thank you so much, Molly and Lulu,’ said Miss Stevens. ‘I think our class might make some lanterns next week as well.’

  The parents stood up to leave.

  ‘That was a lovely story,’ said one of the mothers. ‘When is your Moon Festival happening?’

  ‘On Monday,’ replied Molly.

  The girls walked back to their own classroom.

  ‘You told that story really well,’ said Lulu. ‘Sam was so proud of you. I think even Oliver was being nice to him.’

  Molly smiled. ‘Thanks, Lulu. It’s easier to talk in front of people when you are excited about something.’

  Chapter 9

  Mooncakes

  Finally it was Monday afternoon – the day of the full moon. It had rained during recess. And during lunchtime. Lulu had been frightened that the weather would be terrible all day and ruin the Moon Festival.

  But in the afternoon, the clouds lifted and the sun came out.

  Lulu went to Molly’s house to help bake a huge batch of mooncakes for the feast.

  Sam proudly showed Lulu his lantern on its bamboo pole. It was decorated with moons and dragons. Sam had drawn the fiery dragons, cut them out and stuck them on with glue.

  ‘We made them in class today,’ explained Sam. ‘Everyone made one.’

  ‘I love the dragons,’ said Lulu. ‘Your lantern’s really cool.’

  Molly’s mother Tien had been making food all day in the tiny kitchen.

  ‘I had a few phone calls today,’ said Tien. She sounded puzzled. ‘Some mothers from school rang and asked me about the Moon Festival. They were curious about where we were going.’

  Lulu and Molly exchanged a glance.

  ‘I told them we were starting here and walking down to the beach to have our picnic. I don’t know how they all knew about it,’ Tien finished.

  ‘It must be because we talked about it at school last week,’ suggested Molly.

  ‘Maybe we’d better make some extra mooncakes,’ said Tien. ‘Just in case someone drops by to watch.’

  Tien gave the girls a simple recipe to follow.

  ‘The mooncakes my grandmother used to make were very complicated,’ explained Tien. ‘They took a month to prepare. Each one had a salty yolk in the centre to represent the full moon.’

  ‘A whole month?’ repeated Lulu. ‘Didn’t they go off?’

  Tien picked up an egg and rolled it between her fingers.

  ‘The eggs had to be salted for twenty-eight days – a full lunar cycle,’ she explained. ‘The salt preserved them. Then the cooking took a whole day. This is a much simpler and sweeter recipe. I think you’ll like it.’

  Lulu read the recipe. It did sound more delicious than salty eggs.

  The girls stirred butter, sugar and egg yolks in a large bowl. Then Lulu added the flour and mixed it to make a rich dough.

  Molly popped the dough in the fridge for half an hour. When it was chilled, Lulu and Molly rolled spoonfuls of dough in their hands to make round balls.

  The final step was to stick their thumb in the middle to make a hole. This was filled
with strawberry jam.

  ‘This time last year, Mum made us mooncakes with red bean paste,’ said Molly. ‘But this year we thought some of the kids might prefer jam.’

  At last, the girls finished making several trays of round mooncakes.

  Tien popped the trays in the oven to cook. The kitchen filled with the delicious sweet smell of baking pastry.

  When the cakes were golden brown, Tien pulled them out of the oven. She put them on a rack to cool.

  ‘Yummo,’ cried Lulu. ‘They smell delicious.’

  Just then the doorbell rang. Molly opened the door to let in Lulu’s mum, Rosie and Gus. As usual, Gus was wearing his Bug Boy outfit.

  Mum was carrying a big basket filled with goodies for the feast. She was wearing a long green Vietnamese-style dress over loose-fitting trousers. She had made them herself. Her long blonde hair hung down her back. The finishing touch was a conical cardboard hat. It was tied on with a wide green ribbon.

  ‘Something smells delicious,’ said Mum. She put the basket down on the table. ‘You girls had better get dressed. It’s nearly time to go.’

  Lulu felt a shiver of excitement.

  Rosie was already dressed in Molly’s ao dai. It was a long, slim tunic of crimson silk over white pantaloons. Mum had painted Rosie’s face with swirling black lines and red patterns. She had copied the design from one of Tien’s photographs. Rosie looked completely different from her usual self.

  Except, of course, she wore her feathery white angel wings. Lulu laughed when she saw them.

  ‘I don’t think Vietnamese fairies wear wings, Rosie,’ said Lulu. ‘At least they didn’t in the photos we saw.’

  Rosie pulled a disgusted face. She fluttered around like a dainty red bird.

  ‘Whoever heard of a fairy with no wings?’ asked Rosie. ‘I couldn’t possibly go without wings.’