On the trail of local dragons

I knew about the trolls. They're all over town. And the Mustard Museum, for a while at least, remains here in Mount Horeb, WI.

But I'd never noticed the dragons.

That's irony for you. My upcoming novel BURN ME DEADLY deals with a belief in dragons, and here I was in a town that actually harbored some. I'm sure I'd seen them before, lurking from the eaves of the Chamber of Commerce building, or stretched along the top of the Military Ridge Trail shelter. But somehow, they didn't register. And then, as if some sort of magical cloaking spell had been broken, I saw them looking down at me, belching their stylized fire.



They look harmless enough. And their Scandanavian origins were plain. But there was mystery afoot, because when I asked at the Chamber of Commerce, no one knew where they came from. They couldn't remember a time when they hadn't been there. They pointed me toward City Hall, where my luck was no better. I left my phone number in case anyone did recall, but I didn't hold out much hope. Clearly the dragons were experts at hiding in plain sight.



A visit to the Prairie Bookstore and a talk with its wise bearded proprietor gave me my first clue. The dragons, he said, were inspired by those of nearby Little Norway.

So, accompanied by my ferocious Viking sidekick...



...I pursued my lone clue and headed for Little Norway.



To be continued in two weeks....