The Dragon of Cripple Creek - Tapa dura

When Kat and her father and brother visit the Mollie Kathleen, an old gold mine now turned amusement park, Kat gets lost from the tour group and falls down a shaft. Mostly unhurt, she wanders in darkness until she sees a light. Walking towards it, she discovers an ancient dragon - the last of his kind. She also discovers that gold which covers the cavern floor is the remains of dragons. As it turns out, a dragon hoards gold because it is his ancestors. Kat greedily sneaks a piece of gold into her pocket before the dragon helps her to escape the caverns. Once outside, she decides to return the gold out of guilt, but before she can do this, she drops it in front of witnesses and a media frenzy ensues about the new gold in the mine. Taking her brother into her confidence, Kat heads back into the mine to tell the dragon and to save him and his gold. A fast-paced, beautifully told tale that will keep readers spellbound.

Troy Howell is the illustrator of the jackets and interiors for the enormously bestselling Redwall series by Brian Jacques as well as a number of picture books. This is his first novel.