 
Troll Brother

By P. Edward "Eddie" Auman

Copyright 2013 P. Edward Auman

Smashwords Edition

Cover Art Image: Jordon C. Brun

ISBN: 9781301738045

Discover other titles by P. Edward Auman at www.TrollBrother.com

### Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Dedicated to Mr. Stachurski, without whom Eddie would never have begun writing back in 1985, nor obtained his English Teaching degree. Educators and role models everywhere: never underestimate the effect you have on a child.

**Also dedicated to Cody Towse, Pfc., medic, KIA 5/14/2013 Afghanistan. Member 3** rd **Batt., 41** st **Infantry Reg., 1** st **Brig. Combat Team, 1** st **Armored Division. May Richard Johansson, Jr. in this book be another way for those of us who appreciate your sacrifice to remember you.**

# Chapter 1

# Why nine-year-olds are such Doofuses

If you were to ask nearly-twelve-year-old Robert ('Robbie' to his family and other people who most definitely were not his friends) why it is kids under ten seem like such doofuses he'd probably just point out his younger brother and say, "See?"

Little Ricky was a bit of a handful and very unpredictable, that was for sure. And perhaps that's why, in the summer of this past year, his substitute while he was away, (a youngish troll from under Loafer Mountain), was hardly even noticed as anything but Little Ricky himself. The mountain troll, who played the part of Ricky for two months, beginning with the last couple weeks of school in the spring and ending in mid-July, loved making messes. And he loved making trouble. And he loved making people uncomfortable. In a word, that was Ricky, too.

## ~~~

On a Saturday in May, Robert decided to go explore a little more of the sharply inclining foothills above his home in Maple Springs. The little town sat at the foot of a mountain which rose to nearly 10,000 feet. It certainly wasn't the largest mountain in the Rockies, but it was quite grand, especially if it was one of your first mountains you'd ever seen, let alone lived next to. And there were canyons, sloughs, and slopes covered in scrub oaks, maples, aspens and alpine evergreens to explore. Compared to the life he'd just left behind in Iowa it was excitement every direction he turned. To the northwest, a lake glistened below and in the distance he could see a valley full of larger towns where he went to school, shopped with his mother and did normal kid stuff. But all around him to the east, south and with a little hook of a mountain point heading west he was surrounded by the grandeur of cloud-scraping mountains and he wanted to be part of it.

All of his plans for that warm May day came crashing down when his mother put a stipulation on the adventure. She wanted his little brother Ricky to go with him.

"Please, Robbie! I _need_ your help with this!" Mom was begging.

She held out the sandwiches she made for him. They were meant as a bribe because they were three of his favorites: peanut butter and jelly, but with cocoa hazelnut spread instead of peanut butter; a cheese and mayonnaise sandwich on white bread; a seafood salad sandwich on a small roll.

"Mom! I can't take Ricky with me! He's going to slow me down, and...Er...what am I supposed to do if he gets hurt?"

"You'll take one of the cell phones. It has GPS. You just call me and I'll come running. If you go past where you have reception then you're going to be in big trouble anyway." Robert thought her pleading expression was pathetic.

He wanted to say something about how the puppy-dog eyes look doesn't work when he uses them on her, so why should they work in reverse. But he thought better of it. Mom was a feisty redhead, and that's one thing his father had warned him about often: _Never make a redhead mad, unless you want to spend days and days more than sad!_ Dad wasn't much of a poet, but that little slogan stuck in his head whenever he felt like arguing with Mom.

"You know...I'm technically too young to babysit, I think..." Robert said, reaching deep into the pockets of his mind for the last few excuses he could possibly find.

Mom stood akimbo and prepared for a more drawn out fight. But she kept her cool for a bit longer.

"Look at him, Robbie! Seriously, I can't get everything done for the party tomorrow if I'm dealing with that!"

Robert did look. All his remaining effort to argue fell flat and he resigned himself to taking little Ricky for a little walkie. Ricky had just finished building a fine scouter's fire by crumpling little bits of paper, throwing in some sawdust he got from Dad's workbench in the garage and leaned several of Dad's old toy cabin logs inwards together to form the fire 'teepee'. He had just tipped a little nail polish remover from Mom's bathroom into the pile to ensure a good start and was flicking a lighter he'd found in the kitchen drawer of emergency items. The display was setup and ready to go on the tile in the kitchen just a few feet from the table.

With Mom's desperation showing brilliantly in her eyes, Robert did the grown-up thing and stopped Ricky just pre-explosion and asked him if he wanted to hike up the slope and look for some snipe. Secretly, he wondered why Mom and Dad never thought of just putting Ricky on a chain in the front yard. If it worked for dogs, maybe it would work for crazy kids that failed obedience school too.

Dropping the lighter, Ricky dashed to his bedroom saying, "Let me get my pack and some exploring stuff!"

The lighter skittered across the floor and hit one of Mom's shoes, bouncing off. She looked at the other scorch marks on the tile here and there. They could come out with some cleaners and some elbow grease, for the most part. But the grout in some areas and one of the cabinets that stood a little too closely to where Ricky tried his last practice bonfire would never look quite right. As she stared she held out the sandwiches to Robert. He took them eagerly and went to find Ricky to see if he could hurry him a long a little, or at least prevent him from getting distracted with his latest home-built potato cannon. The family had all generally agreed it was best to have Ricky destroy the house and be in view, instead of allowing him to roam the neighborhood unchecked, destroying anything that caught his attention. But a potato canon in his room was bound to break a window or punch a hole through the wall into Robert's room.

_Maybe military school would be able to train him?_ thought Robert. But then he thought more wisely. _Nah. That probably wouldn't even be a challenge for Ricky._

## ~~~

"Ricky, let's get moving! I don't understand how someone as hyperactive as you can take so long to walk a couple blocks to the forest," Robert yelled.

His little brother had found a lizard or something clambering off of a rock as Ricky chased it. Most of the lizards in town were fully aware of the terror Ricky represented and would have been long gone by the time he got within two house lengths. But this particular lizard was either new to the area, still young, or was enjoying the May sunshine just a little too long until Ricky came running full force.

"Alright!" Ricky answered with a holler. "It's not like you got some kinda line dead or something anyway, Robbie! We can take all day!"

"And we probably will, too," mumbled Robert. Then a little louder so as to be heard, he replied, "Are you trying to say 'deadline', you Doofus?"

Ricky probably picked up the term from their father last fall when he was trying to hurriedly build them a tree house during the first snows. It was one of the promises Dad had tried to fill, on a deadline, before shipping out to Iraq for his second tour of duty. There were many promises made when the parents first spoke to Robert and Richard about moving to a whole other state, but after arriving, Robert learned he probably shouldn't have complained too much in the first place. The Rocky Mountains were beautiful, and through the past winter there had been all kinds of new sports and activities to do in the snow that, frankly, just can't be done in a place with no hills or mountains.

"Where _exactly_ are we going anyway?" asked Ricky.

"See that cliff face up there?"

Ricky raised his head. It was definitely a long ways up. Probably near a one-thousand foot rise if the boys had a way to measure it, and it would just about take a mountain goat to get to it.

"Way up there? You're joking, right?!?" Ricky replied, but he was unable to hide his natural grin. "Because...that would be freakin' _awesome!!!_ "

He started to jog up the hill into a path leading through some thick scrub oak.

"Wait! Wait!" Yelled Robert running after. "I didn't tell you why! We're going to hang you from a rope off of it and see if any eagles come to eat you!!"

Apparently that made the idea of the climb even more interesting rather than cluing the younger boy in on the joke, and Ricky picked up the pace. It was through several hundred yards of oak mixed with a couple spruces and a maple or two before the boys stopped at the first meadow above their home. It was a large lump of land that was probably a couple football fields in size. Some of the other kids in school during the past year told Robert it was called the Maple Springs Airfield. Sure enough there was another, older boy there getting ready to launch his model airplane down the runway made of tromped-down grasses and shrub in the middle of the field.

"Dan!" Ricky hollered, raising a hand to the boy he recognized from their street. "Guess what!"

"Uh..." began Daniel as his model of a B52 bomber rolled down the bumpy runway about to take off. "You're here to ruin my day?"

"Jerk!" Ricky yelled back, but smiling all the same. "No! We're climbing up to the cliff face up there above the ridges!"

"Oh yeah?" Dan asked casually as the plane soared out towards the valley above the rooftops of Maple Springs.

"We're not really," Robert corrected.

"What?!" Ricky cried unhappily. "Then where are we going?"

Both boys plopped their backpacks next to the gear Dan brought up and watched the plane for a moment, before Robert tried to explain. Daniel was only a year-and-a-half older than Robert so they'd hung out a few times, but this was the first occasion he had to watch him fly the model plane. Many kids, and adults too, had model planes and RC cars they brought up to the meadow above town and Robert was still hoping when his father came home from active duty the next time that he'd be able to get a helicopter.

Normally on a mid-Saturday morning there might be a few more people up in the meadow driving radio controlled vehicles or watching those that were, but so far Dan was the only one that had made it up. In the winter the meadow was a place where the Maple Springs residents would drive their snow-mobiles around. But in the summer the hills lower down the slopes that lead up to Maple Springs were designated dirt bike and ATV riding areas. The boys could hear a number of them buzzing around below town, even above the shrill mini-propeller sound coming from Dan's airplane. Robert guessed that since it had only been a couple weeks since the snows really melted away that most people in town were busy testing out their motors and "clearing out the old gas" still on the trails below.

Finally, Robert answered Dan. "I don't know how far up we're going to go. I just thought I'd climb up to the top of the ridge up there and take a look around. That canyon just kind of goes up the mountain a ways, right?"

"Yeah," Dan answered while he continued to guide the plane back around towards them to fly in low above the trees surrounding the meadow.

"That's all?" Ricky grumbled. But he too was still mesmerized by the small shape buzzing around the perimeter of the meadow.

"Why don't you go up to the top of that valley where it cuts in from Loafer Mountain?" Dan suggested.

"Yeah. We might." Robert was trying to sound cool and knowing, but he was still curious. "What's up there anyway?"

"Well, there's the springs up there." The RC controller dodged left in Dan's hands as if he were willing the plane to do the same rather than by the sticks on the controller. "That's where we get our name, see?"

"Whaddya mean?" Ricky asked in his overly-loud voice.

"Maple Springs. Get it?"

"So there really is a spring in Maple Springs, eh?" Robert asked, still trying to go for casual.

"Of course," Dan continued. "There's the springs up in that cut, and there's caves. There's all kinds of stuff to do up there. Even some smaller boulder faces you can rock climb on and stuff."

"Hmmm," responded Robert.

Ricky was looking back and forth between their two faces, hardly understanding why they were sitting so coolly staring at the plane when there were rocks to be climbed and springs and streams to be dammed up.

"Can we go there?" Ricky asked.

"I dunno," said Rob. "I don't know how I'd carry you home if you broke an arm or a leg or something."

"Good point," Dan added. "Actually, they say some ugly monsters live up there too, so it probably wouldn't be safe for the doofus here."

Robert thought Daniel probably meant well. He guessed that he was trying to help Rob keep Ricky from going up the cut to the top, but if he had the plan was sure to backfire with the little squirt.

"Oh! We gotta go, Robbie!!" Ricky exclaimed.

"Nnnhuh," Robert tried to disagree. There would be no convincing Ricky to give up on the idea, so it was better if he just prep himself for the trip and avoid having him run off on his own to attempt the climb.

All in all, every bit of planning or change of plans on that Saturday morning had directed the two boys towards their destiny in the troll cave, and it was well that Robert stopped trying to change it. They lumped their packs back on their shoulders and bid Daniel goodbye. He nodded in return, and as they were leaving he directed to Robert to come back sometime this summer without the doofus and he'd let him fly his plane.

## ~~~

"C'mon, spaz!" Robert called back to his younger brother, who was still climbing over a small ridge of granite and river stones. They had found the stream that flowed out of the springs, or at least Robert assumed he had, and started following it upwards through the little valley. Most people called it the 'cut' in the mountain side, but there were really several little valleys caused by snow run off or by little streams or rivers that flowed out of the mountains. This valley must be called the cut because after it rose above the roots of the mountains inwards towards Loafer Mountain itself it opened up. From the town of Maple Springs a back wall of sheer cliff face could be seen at the highest point of the cut and Robert assumed the spring was probably just below that.

"You know, we're never going to find the springs if you stop to dissect every single bug or animal you find."

"Yeah, but that was a deer caucus back there!"

"A what? Do you mean a 'deer _carcass_ '?"

Robert had heard the word 'caucus' from his dad the year before in Iowa and knew it had something to do with electing a president, but he wasn't sure what it meant. He did know that his little brother was acting like a doofus again though.

"You know we'll never get to the springs today if you don't keep moving."

Ricky's response actually made a little sense: "Yes, but isn't the whole point of exploring to see what you find? And if there's a carcass that means there were hunters up here!"

"Probably last fall during hunt season, though...you goober." Rob sometimes needed a moment to stretch his little-brother-name-calling vocabulary a bit.

Ricky was managing to catch up all the same.

"It was cool. You could see the eye sockets and stuff."

Rob stopped and turned to look at his little brother.

"You didn't touch it did you?"

"Well...with a stick, yes."

"Don't touch me if you used your hands. You're gonna get sick that way."

Robert wasn't entirely sure if a deer carcass that had been sitting out all winter would still be dangerous, but he knew two things: one, Ricky was likely to go poking and playing with a dead animal; two, Ricky was likely to eat his sandwich in his pack and also touch Robert with those same hands without washing them. He decided he'd better try to force the little monster to wash his hands once they got up to the spring before they ate their lunches.

Of course the very first thing Ricky did once he caught up to Rob was latch onto his left sleeve with one of those very hands. Robert moaned in disgust, but Ricky's head was cocked to one side and he was peering up through the Aspens that surrounded them. They were high up now, and if the boys were to look northwest they would have a beautiful view nearly one-hundred miles away between the mountains on the north end of their valley. But that was definitely not what Ricky was doing. For a moment, before he remembered his little brother was too much of a doofus to every really get scared, it looked to Robert as though Ricky was nervous.

"Did you hear that?" Ricky said breathlessly.

It was probably the only time that day Robert was going to get to enjoy Ricky speaking in a non-yelling voice. He stopped and looked around too.

"Yeah, I do! It's the spring! I think we're almost there."

Rob turned to head up the slope of the valley towards the back end of the cut. He thought he could just make out the cliff-faced wall at the back of the cut and knew what he'd said must be true.

"No. No! That's not what I mean," Ricky continued in a raspy voice, his hand still grasping Rob's sleeve.

Together they listened for a moment. There was something rustling through the leaves of the scrub oak and brush moving up the valley of the cut, most likely in the direction of the spring. It seemed like it must be relatively big, although not bear-sized. Robert began wondering if Ricky spooked a little more easily than he ever would have thought when the noise quieted as it moved away.

"Probably just a deer, doofus," he said.

Ricky was looking nervously around still. But it didn't deter him. Perhaps it was not fear that had shone on his face but curiosity. He grabbed his pack and motioned for Rob to follow.

"C'mon, Robbie! Let's see where it went! Maybe it's getting a drink at the spring or something."

Robert tried to roll his eyes and shoulders and begin a complaint, but Ricky was already heaving off up the hill and he'd have to keep track of him anyway.

"You know, it could be a bear or something. You really want to find out?"

"Yes!" Ricky replied several steps ahead. "I do, for sure!"

Little did they understand the true risks of tracking poor little Kile. Kile was named from his kind's first adopted man-speech they learned from humans in Norway many centuries before. The word meant "tickle". Of his kind, Kile was probably the most befitting of such a pleasant name, for all the rest of his tribe were particularly loathsome among their loathsome species and had names such as Djevelen (devil) or Bogstank (bog stench). Normally, of course, the cave dwellers didn't come out in daylight, and generally stayed far from humans due to the human's tendency to dispatch them whenever they'd met in the past. It is true though, that if given the chance they in turn would more likely eat a human than to offer a hand in greeting. So for all involved it was generally better that trolls and humans did not mix. Kile on the other hand didn't see it that way, and his little act of spying and his "accidental" alert he raised with the little human was all part of his mischievous little plan.

## ~~~

After a short climb further up the cut the boys finally heard the clear burble of the spring and Rob sighed at the chance to slow his little brother down for a moment again. The area truly was peaceful and they were both glad they came. Ricky, for his part, stared around the spring, the trees moving lazily in a gentle mountain breeze and up through the canopy to see the brilliant blue sky.

"Wow, Robbie! Have you ever seen someplace so cool?"

Rob laid his pack down and stood akimbo while he looked around and back to his brother. "Yep, this is a pretty cool little place, alright."

"There's like, no one around for _miles_!" Ricky breathed.

"Well...we probably only hiked a couple miles at most, Ricky."

"Yeah, but you can't see or hear anyone."

"I dunno. I bet if you climbed up one of these bigger boulders you could see through the trees down to the freeway."

"You know, you don't have to be right about everything," Ricky replied angrily.

"Waddya mean?" Rob asked casually as he took a snack out of his pack for the both of them.

Ricky stormed around the spring to sit on a large rock nearby opposite of where Robert had been standing. He folded his arms before him still not quite the preteen Rob was and attempting to make his point with extra flourishes of his hands and head.

"Whenever Dad is on duty you act like you're the dad. But you're not. And you don't know everything either."

_Oh brother_ , Robert thought as he rolled his eyes. He wondered why nine-year-olds have to be such annoying doofuses. After all, they're old enough to watch a lot of the older kids' movies and video games that their mother let Rob see. Ricky even read large chapter books above his grade level too, if he managed to stop lighting fires or building booby traps long enough to get hooked into one. But _this_ was the very reason Robert wanted to climb up the mountain on his own.

"Dude! Just relax. I'm just talking with you," Rob tried to respond in a grown up manner. "Big brothers teach their little brothers things. That's what we do, ya know?"

"Sure," Ricky grumbled. But he still wasn't interested in looking up at Robert. Little brothers aren't ever supposed to admit their older siblings might be right. That was their job.

The two shared a couple chocolate-chip granola bars and just enjoyed the bubble of the spring and the cool breeze. Smells from the various trees, particularly the spruce and pine wafted over them from time to time and the boys felt like life probably really couldn't get any better than living in the mountains. Of course, having Dad home in six months safe and sound would be the one thing all three of the Johansson's could agree on making their new life in the Rockies perfect, Mom most of all. But Robert understood why his father had to serve. In Spring a year from this trip Robert planned to bring his Dad along with Mom, and even the doofus monkey back up to the spring for a picnic. It was the sort of thing Dad loved.

## ~~~

After wrapping up their snacking, relaxing for a few minutes more, playing in the spring a bit and throwing some pebbles into the stream that flowed out of it, the boys got ready to go. Rob plopped a red cap on his head that he'd gotten out of his pack, in case the sun was too bright once they got back out of the dense forest. Little Ricky had gotten out some spray-on bug repellent Mom had apparently snuck into his pack and was busy spraying _every_ square inch in a visible oil slick, followed by chasing a few gnats around the spring and trying to spray them mid-air. Robert figured it was best he just let Ricky run the can out of spray than to argue with him. That way it wouldn't be something else Ricky would blame him for, and Mom would get to yell at him for using it all up himself. That's a win-win if you asked Robert.

Once the can was dry, Robert called to Ricky, who had suddenly stopped shaking it as if it were a cucaracha. He was staring into a particularly dense patch of scrub oak and ivies. Something had caught him in rapture and he ignored Rob's first couple calls before responding.

"Hey!" Ricky said, without turning around. He raised one hand back towards his brother and motioned with a come-here gesture. "Look at this!"

Ricky's gaze was so intent Rob instinctively went to his brother. Sometimes even things little brothers find cool turn out to be pretty interesting.

"What is it?" Rob said as he walked up behind Ricky.

"Shhhhh!" his little brother said, pressing a pair of fingers to his lips and then flapping them violently to emphasize just how important it must be that Rob be quiet _immediately._

Robert knelt down beside Ricky on some soft, decomposing oak and maple leaves and then peered into the brushes.

In a whisper he asked, "What is it? I don't see."

Slowly Ricky raised his hand with index finger pointed as though he was afraid to spook a deer or a bird or something. Once raised, the little boy's hand motioned forward, pointing much further into the bush and up the hill than where Robert had originally focused his gaze. Rob wondered what the heck he saw way back in the dark, and then, he saw the eyes.

They were not deer's eyes. Nor were they anything he'd recognize as a typical animal's. The irises were reflecting something as though they were a cat's eyes in the dark, and the pupils were large. However, they were paired like a human's around a very large and bulbous gray lump of a nose. And the lids and brows were strangely human-like too.

Robert took a sudden inhale and the eyes blinked. The creature's head shivered a bit to ward off the surprise it felt when the taller human boy made a weird whistling breath. The boys in turn looked quickly at each other in surprise, and then back at the pair of eyes. They were blinking and flicking from one face to the other.

Ricky made the first move. Raising his hand slowly he said in a husky voice, "Hi there!"

"E't Chi'at!!?" the face attached to the pair of eyes replied loudly in a shrill voice.

It dashed away through the shrubs at their right. If the boys had spoken Mountain Troll, they would not have been able to repeat what Kile had said in front of their mother. But the fact that it spoke at all startled them both into a momentary pause, eyeing the rustle of leaves and a dark shadow hustling past them around the back side of the spring. Then Ricky was on the move.

"C'mon! Hurry!" the smaller boy yelled as he jumped nearly all the way across the spring landing wetly on the edge opposite where they had stood.

Rob went running after taking the long way around the water's edge.

"Wait, Ricky! I don't think you should follow it!"

But it was too late. Ricky had dived into the trees and started following the sound of rustling up the hill. Whatever it was that they pursued was quickly navigating the forest. Even Little Ricky, with his ability to weave in and out of the tight trunks of oak, was nearly unable to keep pace.

"STOP, Ricky!" Rob yelled in an attempt to reign in the little squirt. "It's getting late and Mom would not want you chasing that thing!"

But of course, Ricky did not stop. The chase lasted another five minutes, and at one point Robert nearly got ahold of Ricky's pack to pull him down as the little boy scrabbled up a pile of boulders. Still the rustling of leaves and the breaking of twigs could be heard at a break-neck speed just above them. Rob's grab did not connect and he was left with having to find a way up the rocks as well, trailing behind Ricky by a couple hundred feet. Rob nearly lost sight of him before the chase stopped.

The escapade ended abruptly when Robert, trying to make up for distance by lengthening his stride in a more open part of the forest ran straight into the back of Little Ricky. They both fell down and Ricky tumbled and scrabbled against the soft soil forest floor and his brother above him to get out and away in a hurry. Robert was a little slower to rise, having scraped his knee on something when he landed.

"Geez! You spaz, Ricky! What are you doing, you little doofus?" He blurted as he made to dust himself off.

"Shhhh!" Ricky replied as he again flapped his hands in an alarm to keep his brother still. "I lost him!"

"What the heck, Ricky!? What if that was a bear cub? What would you do if you ended up cornering a bear up here?"

The little boy stood up straight and looked Robert in the face and replied matter-of-factly, "I'd play dead. That's what they tell you to do."

As he finished dusting off his jeans legs and Ricky returned to looking about the trees for the little monster they'd chased, Rob mumbled, "Sure. I'd like to see what happens if you did."

But then, a few steps further through the forest, little Ricky froze at what appear to be the tree-lined edge of a very small meadow.

"What's wro..." started Rob, but Ricky flashed his hands back at him as violently as Rob had ever seen and made a shush.

Robert took a few steps very carefully towards his little brother trying to get to where he could see what Ricky did. Each crunch or rustle of the leaves beneath his feet made him cringe. _What if it really is a bear?_ he thought. Actually, the thought of just about any forest creature being startled by his steps and rushing at them in defense made him very nervous. He'd seen what a possum could do to a cat one summer in Iowa when his pet calico came in with flesh torn and turned down in a two inch strip near to the bone on its hind leg. It was not a pretty sight, nor was it a cheap trip to the vet. Unfortunately Ricky thought it was cool to see the bone. If a bear did come rushing at them and take a bite, he'd probably be the one inspecting his own wounds and getting excited about the shape of the scar it might leave.

In a whisper once he was beside his brother carefully pulling back a couple branches, Rob asked, "What is it you see?"

In response, Ricky slowly raised his left arm and used his index finger to point across and to the right of the small field. There was a rise of boulders on that side that seemed to be an extension of the very steep mountain slope above them. Among the boulders were some movements that caught Robert's eye.

There, huddled behind a large boulder blocking the whole view of what appeared to be a cave was a squat, grey-greenish little thing bustling about, apparently wiping at the soil around the boulders. It was awkward and shuffled funny on short legs. It likely stood about four feet tall, nearly the same as little Ricky, but its proportions were off, being mostly body and short of arms and legs. Its head was odd too, nearly oval from ear to ear, and the ears themselves were pointed and elongated. Whatever this thing was it was roughly humanoid but it certainly wasn't any human. While the brothers watched it was quickly swiping the dirt and then throwing about leaves and twigs with hands which included boney, vicious looking fingers spread across the broad palms.

The ugly little creature continued to fuss about with the environments and back into the meadow as it did it also spoke to itself. Or perhaps it was singing. The words were not English but they had a sort of rhythm to it that was almost soothing. Rob was reminded of the seven dwarves singing "Hi-Ho" or perhaps the flying monkeys in another movie tromping along chanting 'Oh-wee-oh, oh-weeeee-oh!" As best as he could recall it later, this is what Robert heard:

Chirrup, danwa thang'wa

Chirrup, danway thay.

Chirrup, danwa thang'wa

Chi'tali danway thay!

Though they never did get Kile, the little troll they watched hiding his tracks, to later tell the boys what he was actually singing in his North American Modern Modified Troll dialect, it is not something one could repeat to one's mother and get away without a soapy mouth during the incident. The little creature had been cursing himself out for letting the human boys see him. It wasn't so much singing or chanting as it was a particularly adamant degradation of his self-worth. Kile was particularly young for a troll, and particularly small. He wasn't well liked and his odd fascination with the humans over the last few decades as their homes climbed ever further onto the benches of the foothills and roots of the mountains had earned himself a terrible reputation below ground.

As Robert attempted to move his head about to get a few twigs out of his line-of-sight, one of the branches slipped across the back of his baseball cap and made a leave-shaking sound directly behind him. He groaned under his breath, already knowing he'd blown their cover. The little troll very slowly stood up straight. Then it craned its head around equally slowly to look directly into the two pairs of eyes peering from the shadows of the oak scrub and maples. Then, instantly, he was gone. It was as if the ugly little thing had just blinked out of existence. But as Robert's mouth dropped and he bobbed his head some more to try to confirm what he'd just seen, or rather suddenly hadn't seen, he could just make out a cloud of dust slowly swirling into the boulders towards what he still assumed was a cave entrance.

"C'mon!" little Ricky said huskily, and he hopped up and started trotting towards the boulders across the meadow.

"Wait!" said Rob, extending an arm to try to catch Ricky by the shoulder and hold him in place. But it was too late.

Soon both boys were jogging up around the camouflaging boulders and towards the cave entrance. Ricky dropped his pack right there and started trying to peer into the very dark depths of the cave. The entrance itself was only about three or four feet tall, but it was five or more wide at the base. The floor of it and just outside of the cave was flat, and appeared to be carefully laid granite slabs. It seemed this cave was man-made, or at the very least, ugly little troll-made, as everything in the entry way seemed to be very carefully placed and positioned just right such that from elsewhere in the meadow the cave would not likely call attention to itself. Still, if one were to come upon it directly it was unmistakably defined and intentional.

"Look, Robbie!" Ricky said with awe in his voice.

"Don't call me that," sniped Rob.

"But look! There's carvings on the rock!"

At first Robert didn't see them. But as he peered further into the darkness they glowed an eerie blue color. There where shapes that looked vaguely similar to Egyptian hieroglyphs and pictograms Rob had read about in books but they were more modern looking. Some seemed to be spirals, or unclosed triangles, circles or various polygons with no particular purpose but decoration. None of them completed a full shape but had just stopped shy of completing the diagram. He thought of a musical triangle and how the metal bar that shaped the instrument didn't quite come all the way around to touch again. The shapes were like that. He couldn't imagine that any of them could mean anything. They didn't seem like words or letters. Yet they glowed and even pulsed slightly with the electric blue light. And they covered everything, with a distance of one foot at the most between any of them, they shone from the floor, the walls and even the roof of the cave as far into the hole as the boys could see.

"Ricky?" Rob whispered tentatively, "I think we'd better get out of here...right now!"

The last bit was a hiss and Robert grabbed ahold of Ricky's pack, suspecting that if he didn't the little boy would make a dash and that would be his last chance to make him see reason. It didn't work.

Ricky slipped out of his pack and dove for the floor of the cave a few feet ahead and ran his fingers tracing around some of the glowing shapes.

"What makes it glow?" he asked enthralled.

"I don't care, Ricky! We've got to get home, _now_!"

Ricky stood up. "No, no! Look, he wasn't a bear and he's not going to hurt us."

"Ricky, let me tell you right now, if you don't come home I'm going to tell Mom you went rock climbing and that I can't find you because you wouldn't stop! How do you think she's going to act then!" Robert played his desperation in his attempt to get Ricky to leave.

Ricky stood and shook his finger back at his older brother when he responded.

"She'll say you did a rotten job and _you'll_ be the one getting grounded!"

"NO, Ricky! Don't you know what happens if you corner a bear? You're going to get us eaten! We have to go _right noooowwww!"_

Ricky took a couple steps towards his older brother and then snatched his own backpack out of Robert's hands. They were both just inside the entry of the cave and their faces were only partially lit by reflected sunlight from outside and the blue light emanating from within the cave. The smaller boy started waggling his finger again about to tell his older brother just how it was since he couldn't seem to understand.

"It's _not_ a bear, Robbie. And I'm not leaving yet until I see where that little thing went. He was _talking_ , Robbie! I've gotta find out..."

But the little doofus was cut off. From within the cave an echoing hiss joined their conversation.

"Boysss mussst go!"

# Chapter 2

# Making Friends

The sound startled both of them so that Robert started taking a few steps backwards out of the cave. As Ricky also turned in response, Rob snagged the strap on the top of his pack and started to pull too, but Rick struggled against him trying to pull him further in.

"Lissssten!" said the voice again. "Boysss _must_ go now, or othersss will sense them soon!"

Both boys stopped and peered into the darkness. Robert's heart beat in fear and frustration both. He didn't know how close the owner of the voice was and hoped it wasn't within a near grab of them. Ricky's raced at the potential to speak with the ugly little creature and find out how he disappeared so quickly outside.

As they tried to focus their eyes further down the cave's walls a shimmer fell not ten feet before them and the little troll came into focus. He was wringing both hands in front of him and his sharp teeth shined blue in a tense grimace. It risked a couple steps towards the boys and motioned with both hands, palms up in an attempt at pleading with them. But the black-nailed, claw-like fingers along with the creatures teeth, ears and deathly skin tone made Robert all the more afraid to move.

"Human boysss. You mussst go now, or they will sense you! Then I get... rosh't'aken!"

Ricky, ever the curious cat, asked, "Rosh taken? What's that?"

The little critter raised its hands and waggled them back and forth in response. It hummed to itself in a monotone as it placed one long, boney index finger on its nose and thought, eyes rolling.

"Uh...grounded. Kile will be... _grounded_ if others find you here!"

"There's others!" Ricky almost shouted it.

Kile returned to waggling his hands back and forth before them. Robert for his part gulped and tried to imaging what kind of trouble they'd be in themselves.

"No, no!" Kile hissed. "Shhh, shhh!"

"What in the freak are you?" asked Ricky, his hands on his hips, puzzled look upon his face.

The little troll mimicked the smaller boy in return, standing akimbo and eyeing him up. He even giggled a little in his raspy troll voice as he did so. He'd never had a chance to actually talk with a human, let alone play a sort of game with one before. Mimic was a troll's greatest magical defenses, of course, but copying the humans' motions and expressions were not quite the same thing.

"Kile!" he eventually replied.

"Well...what's your name then?" Ricky continued.

Robert behind him was starting to regain his sanity a little. He swacked his little brother's right shoulder, hard, and made a shushing sound himself, extremely unlikely to be heeded by the smaller boy.

"Um," said the little troll, placing a finger on his mouth this time before responding. "I Kile!"

"Kyle? So...your name is Kyle...and you are a Kyle?...How do you spell that?"

Kile clapped his hands and laughed again in a raspy hum and giggle combined as he tried to mimic the raised eyebrows and somewhat haughty look Ricky was giving him. Unfortunately troll eyebrows don't really raise very well, although they can squash together when frowning or squinting. The effect was that of wide-eyed terror or surprise that was so awkward even Robert had to laugh.

"I am troll. I mountain troll!" Kile said, and then pointed a thumb back at his chest. "Kile!"

"Uh-huh," replied Robert. "And we're both humans, and...I think we'll just be leaving now."

Robert turned and forcefully turned his little brother around, who protested and fought. As they looked to the exterior of the cave a large shadow loomed over it, making the light inside even more eerily blue. Then a very large troll seemed to materialize out of a shimmer in the air. It's nose and it's ears were considerably larger than Kile's. In fact, the entire head, body, and the lengthy, orangutan-shaped arms were all considerably larger. It hung from the edge of the cave entrance such that it looked almost bat-like, blocking the entrance. A rough and reverberating voice came when the creature opened its mouth, exposing large stone-colored and rugged teeth.

"Ker-atch'k?" It asked. Then it dropped to the floor of the cave entrance with a heavy thud, spinning as it went to land on its feet.

The boys heard a quiet Trollish curse uttered behind them, "Chi'at..."

Then they turned back to the monster filling the entrance just feet in front of them.

It glared at the two of them in turn, then made a sharp gesture with one arm towards Kile. It seemed to be asking the smaller troll a question about the two brothers. As it spoke it demonstrated taking a large food item (a hind quarter of a cow, perhaps?) and pretended to nosh on it as it held it between two fists.

"Cu'moh neer'at tah neekin, Kile?" it growled, and then gestured again towards the smaller troll.

The two humans turned their heads slowly about to see what Kile's response would be. He waddled towards them wringing his grotesque hands together again. As he stepped to answer the larger troll he parted the two brothers. Neither human knew it, but it was an attempt to ensure Dronosh did not take the initiative in enjoying a nice human munching either.

Finally drawing enough nerve to face the older troll eye to eye, Kile began to plead on their behalf. His hands moved a lot, and the explanation was lengthy. When he was done the large troll huffed at him. It then placed one over-sized palm on Kile's head and leaned over him to look more closely at the humans. He took several giant whiffs of air, smelling the boys, seemingly contemplating their flavor. Then he stood up again and folded his arms before them, breathing heavily.

"What is it? What is he saying, Kyle?" asked Robert breathlessly.

Kyle turned his head somewhat back to them but did not dare turn his back on the large troll. He mumbled out of the side of his mouth a quiet response.

"Dronosh want to know...umm," again Kile seemed to be seeking the right words. "He want to know why I not eat you already."

"Oh cra..." started little Ricky. But he did not get the chance to finish.

Kile attempted to continue on his explanation. It took several sentences and the larger troll seemed less and less happy with it.

"Na'lah tah neekin derre _humanssss_?! Ne ta'lah tah neekin, ogen mysah derre _humansss_!"

"Uh-oh," mumbled Kile and then he attempted to complain again to the large troll. His voice was raising and it seemed to Robert that the little troll was getting desperate.

"What? What is it?" insisted Robert every time Kile took a moment to inhale.

Finally, Kile responded in his nervously raspy voice.

"Dronosh say, if I not eat you, he eat you. I try to tell him against the rules now."

Robert and Ricky both looked at each other. Ricky finally seemed to understand the predicament that he had brought both himself and his brother into, and there was some honest, nine-year-old fear reflected on his face.

Rob grumbled very low, "Ricky?...I think I'm gonna let him eat you first, you doofus. Maybe he'll get full."

Ricky gulped and then both boys turned back to the conversation. Kile also turned from his conversation, exposing his back to the larger troll. Subconsciously, Robert thought perhaps that was a good sign. Indeed Kile was smiling when he spoke to the boys, although it seemed forced. Forty-seven pointed teeth shone from his wide grin.

"See? We talk it out!"

"Oh yeah? So what's for dinner then?" asked Ricky quietly.

The large troll still stood behind the three with his arms folded, chest rising and falling heavily as he huffed.

"No, no, no!" Kile said. He clapped a hand on either boy's shoulders, which was a little hard to do since both, even Ricky's were quite a bit taller than the small troll's drooping hands and turned them into the cave, walking slowly. "We are mountain troll. Not bridge trolls. We not eat humans. And! Mountain trolls can talk too! We fix this."

"Fix this?" Robert asked nervously. "What's going on? Can't we just leave now?"

Robert had stopped them in their tracks and Kile's eyes flicked nervously about.

"Uh...Dronosh not let me let you go until we talk to king," he responded, trying to push the boys to start walking into the cave again with him.

"What?!"

Kile stopped and rung his hands a little before responding. Dronosh also stopped and smashed down both clenched fists into the cave floor, shaking it slightly. Obviously, there was still quite a bit of tension between them all and Robert had already decided he could do nothing but go quietly with Kile's plan even before he got the explanation.

"Well...Dronosh is our...um... _guard_?" Kile still had trouble with several words. It was then that Robert understood this was a second language for him, and he was struggling with it just as Dad had when he spent one summer trying to learn Spanish.

"Guard?" Ricky asked? He turned to Rob and then said in a whisper while finally smiling again, "Like Dad!"

"No, doofus. Dad is in the Army National Guard. I think this big guy is like the door guard to the cave."

"Yes!" giggled Kile. He wondered at how smart the little humans were. They seemed to understand a whole lot more than he would have expected. "Dronosh guard door. He say must eat you so no more humans come. I tell him that is against rules. We don't eat humans anymore."

"Anymore?"

"Well...mountain trolls used to eat humans. Insides taste very good...at least that what Dronosh say."

"How does Dronosh know?" asked Ricky.

"Oh?...well...Dronosh very old. He eat humans many hundred years ago in old lands. But he won't eat you...if King tell him not to."

"Oh great. I get it. You still have to convince him," Rob grumped. "Ricky, I swear you're getting eaten first!"

"No, no, no!" Kile tried to ease them both with his huge grin again. "King made rules. King not going to let eat you."

Kile slapped them on the shoulders reassuringly as they continued into the pale blue glow of the troll caves. The pathway twisted and turned and descended into the roots of the Rocky Mountains. The temperature dropped and occasionally the boys could hear either water dripping in the caves or various grumblings of other trolls echoing through the caverns ahead.

The two boys were not reassured by Kile's friendly slaps.

# Chapter 3

# The Mountain Troll King

Along the cave through which Dronosh accompanied the three smaller beings, Robert and Ricky both tried to figure out a little more about these ugly creatures hidden in the mountain.

"Do all of you speak English?" Little Ricky asked.

Kile grinned aggressively at the question. "No, no. Kile only one. I find TV on road by the big smelly cans one time. It stayed there for many weeks, every time I go check on it. So...I take it. I watch it for many years now."

"Sweet!" replied Ricky as he trudged along being steered by Kile's touch on his shoulder.

After a few moments of thinking about it, Robert asked, "How do you turn it on?"

Kile was lost at first and his grin became only a thin-lipped smile. "Hmmm? What turn on?"

"Your TV? How do you turn it on? Do you have electricity in here?"

"Oh!" Kile said, somewhat surprised. He turned his head and rolled his eyes as if to check how close Dronosh was following behind. When he looked back to Rob his grin broadened but it wasn't as pleasant has it had been earlier. "Uh...sometimes..."

"Sometimes?" Ricky repeated.

"Not supposed to bring human power into troll caves," Kile grumbled under his breath, but his eyes clicked to a space several more steps ahead where the cave floor with its blue-glowing glyphs met the wall of the passage. Along most of the path there were small pebbles and palm-sized stones. Neither boy had thought anything of it before, but as they passed the spot where Kile's eyes homed in, if only for a moment, there were a couple exposed sections where they noticed a grey electrical cable tucked along the side of the cave. It seemed to be a very thick version of the cabling Robert had seen strung through the exposed walls of a home still being built.

"Kile is only troll that knows about you very much. It is forbidden to talk to humans."

"Why is that?" asked Robert.

Kile fussed a bit with his answer, all the while trying to maintain his grip on their shoulders, thinking it was a sign of friendship. But it made the boys a little uncomfortable as he responded.

"Um...humans used to hunt trolls."

"Oh yeah? How long ago are we talking about?" Rob said.

"Is it 'cuz you're so ugly?" Ricky added.

Either Kile didn't understand the little boy had made an unintentional insult or he was too busy trying to figure out how to answer without alerting Dronosh to the contents of their conversation. He did not reply to Ricky's inquiry.

"Well...trolls used to eat humans too. But that all long time back." Kile's grimace and eyes flicked between a bogus attempt at warmth and nervousness. "Mmmm...bridge trolls still eat humans, though, but...not too many bridge trolls left. They not smart enough to hide. Stupid bridge trolls."

After many minutes of walking with Kile's clammy hands occasionally resting on their shoulders the boys found themselves entering a much more grand cavern. There was activity about them, and even though there seemed to be some actual lighting hanging above their heads a good seventy-five or one-hundred feet up they still had difficulty making it all out. It was still quite dark compared to outside. Shadows stomped about around them making terrible noises, and then...the heavy breathing and snorting made Robert nervous. _What kind of trouble are we in?_ he wondered.

The corridor through which they had traveled, Kile leading them and Dronosh taking up the rear, had the softly glowing electric blue glyphs all over. But once the cave opened so broadly it was more difficult to see them, and they were farther apart. In the middle of the massive, widening cave there seemed to be silhouettes of ram-shackle buildings. Soft firelight glowed from within some of the windows of the smashed-together construction. From a few a large-headed shadow would move about. While looking up at one window, higher up in the collection of rooms, Rob thought he saw a face staring out at them. But then it was gone, like Kile when he'd first realized the two boys were watching him at the cave entrance. It was as if these trolls could appear and disappear at will, and that too made Robert uneasy.

All four came to a stop several strides into the large cave at Kile's direction and they waited. Ricky was muttering under his breath his amazement as he struggled to look all around and take it all in. Robert just about raised his voice to ask what they were waiting for, but was halted by a huge troll waddling over towards them from one of the lower rooms in the pile of dwellings in the center of the cave. He carried a club and his attire was a mere pair of brown pants, either from dirt or by design, Robert couldn't tell, and held up by one leather strap over his right shoulder. The creature's club itself could have been as large as little Ricky. Even though mountain trolls apparently didn't not stand very tall, even when fully erect, their broad shoulders, large football head and oversized hands gave this rambling troll a sense of massive weight. The sensation was confirmed in the last few steps it took towards the small group because the floor of the cave seemed to tremble with each step.

The large troll opened its mouth. Sound came out, that sounded roughly like it could be speech. Except that to Robert and Ricky's ears it was only a prolonged grumble.

Kile replied while nodding his head but his speech was much more discernible. The words seemed to be, "K'han ne'er tray thah. Koniger tray'um de snort."

Little Ricky laughed aloud.

"What is it, you goober?" asked Robert.

"He said, 'snort', didn't he?"

"Sheesh! Ricky, just learn to keep your mouth shut, will you?"

Kile turned to the boys with a grin himself. "No, no. I _do_ say 'snort'! It mean 'decide'! I tell Scrimp we need King to decide what to do since we can't eat you."

"Great," mumbled Robert.

Scrimp, as the large troll must be named, nodded and turned about slowly to head off towards an opening somewhere else along the wall of the large cavern from where the small party had entered. Ricky was still trying not to giggle, which Kile in turn found amusing too.

"What's wrong, Robbie?"

"It's just...there's a lot of other bad things they could decide to do to us beside just eat us."

"You mean there's a lot of things they could _snort_ on us?" and with that Ricky started chuckling again. Kile joined in; he seemed to understand what the boys were saying, even the more subtle intonations.

"Whatever, doofus," Rob replied.

And then they waited. It wasn't more than about ten minutes, but to Robert if felt like hours before Scrimp returned with a gathering of other trolls. Ricky had spent the whole time trying to look around the huge cavern, from the weird non-direct lighting up at the top to the passing of other trolls around them entering the large cavern from side tunnels spread about its outside edge. Most trolls huffed at them and skirted around where they stood with Kile in a large circle. It certainly didn't _seem_ to Robert that any of them were very interested in eating them. But none were very friendly either. All were quite ugly.

Finally, Scrimp waddled up with a fair collection of four other trolls in various sizes, and even to some extent, various shapes. Three of them held spears with various rough points on the end. It would seem these three were the king's guards. The fourth had long enough scraggly hair and a resemblance of cloths that could have been a dress, such that Robert guessed rightly this was the king's wife, the queen. She was smaller than the others but at least as wide.

A fifth troll huddled bent down shuffling in the middle of the others and was clearly the king of the mountain trolls. He wore no crown, although he had flowing purple robes draping off of his shoulders...and he was _huge._ He was as large as a small mountain himself. If Rob had tried to describe the beast to a friend he'd probably have claimed it was twelve feet high. He'd be wrong. At his full height, Karapace, the troll king under Loafer Mountain stood at least fourteen-and-a-half feet tall. His shoulders seemed nearly as wide as he was tall and his belly certainly was. It rolled with him as he walked, and it very nearly covered all of his short legs but the bent and crooked feet beneath him. Had Karapace stood fully erect the sight would be even more impressive and perhaps he could move along at more than a shuffle, but it seemed to the two boys that Karapace, the troll king, was old. And it seemed he was not fairing very well in his old age either.

With a cough and some spittle, the king spoke, addressing Dronosh first. "K'mani era tu die humans?"

Dronosh moved closer to the king and rolled his eyes to the side to keep the two boys in view. His reply was mumbled, even without having hidden his mouth behind his giant troll hand in an effort to be secretive when answering the king. Whatever Dronosh said to him was not actually taken very well. The King shrugged and shook his head, sending more spittle out the sides of his flabbering jowls.

"Ney, Dronosh. Keine tah neekin derre humans. Keine neekin!"

With that the king gestured to Kile with his left hand. In it was a small but highly polished wooden staff. It was not noticeable before as it nearly disappeared in proximity to the huge troll king himself. But it was marked with a number of carvings, similar to the ones the boys had seen glowing blue along the cave they had followed and here and there in the great cavern. Some of the fear Robert had been harboring was creeping away and some interest in the weird society of these trolls began to tickle his brain. Ricky was merely standing in awe, intently trying to comprehend every word uttered, though it was impossible.

Shaking the staff, the king said, "Kile! Vas era tu die humans werein grow Machsa!"

Upon the word "Machsa" the king had raised both arms and gestured around the entire cavern, looking upward and then back to Kile. He seemed to be indicating the cavern itself.

"What's he saying?" Rob tried to ask Kile as he leaned close to the smaller troll.

The question startled Kile a bit and he flapped his hands for a moment before replying in a raspy whisper, "Wait! Wait! I tell you."

What happened next was a lengthy explanation from Kile. The king clearly was growing tired of the explanation as he started rubbing his chin with his free right hand and nodded at the little troll. Before Kile seemed to finish, he knocked the little one aside and stepped towards the two boys. Ricky stared up at him, but Rob took a step back, afraid he was about to be squashed by one giant hand. Instead the king swept his open palm in front of them and spoke.

"Niiiisse boysss!" he started with a deep baritone chuckle. "Karapace, unal konig um Trolllllsss."

The king patted his chest when he said his own name, and then rolled his tongue to emphasize the last word. Then he stood, hand over his heart (if troll hearts were roughly in the same place as human hearts) awaiting the boys. When neither said anything in return, he pounded his chest repeating just his name and then extended his hand to the Robert again, nodded and then hummed a little, as if he were eliciting a response from the older boy.

"Rrr..." Rob hesitated. "Robert?"

"Hmmmm!" Karapace smiled and hummed at the same time. Then he swept his hands towards Ricky and hummed yet again. "Hummm?"

"Richard!...Uh...the third!" Little Ricky said with pride, thumping his own chest and then holding out his hand to the king.

Apparently the troll king was a little uneasy with human etiquette because while still extending his own hand he glanced over at Kile and raised an eyebrow. To the side of him Robert noticed Kile take his left hand in his right and pretend to shake it while grinning and nodding as if he were greeting himself a friendly "hello". The king cooed a little and smiled again, turning back to the younger boy. He very gingerly took Ricky's hand in his and shook it. It was not meant to be violent, but the sheer length and leverage of the king's arm practically lifted Ricky off of the cavern floor and then back down again repeatedly.

Of course, Ricky thought the hand shake was fantastic and giggled while he was receiving it. Robert held very, very still, subconsciously supposing that if he did so he might not get the same welcome. It did not work. The king turned, hunched over to Robert again, extended his hand in the same gesture and hummed through his smile. Robert took it, and was also nearly lifted off the ground, saved only by his tippy-toes and a few more inches in height he held over Ricky.

"Niiiisssseee boysssss!" The king smiled, nodding and took in each of the other trolls' responses. They all seemed eager to agree with him and smiled and nodded back. Except for Dronosh. Dronosh had folded his arms over his great barrel chest and jutted one nasty tooth from his bottom lip on the left side up over his upper lip. He glared at the group.

Kile made a gesture and asked a short question in Trollish and then was given leave by the king to speak to the boys.

"King Karapace say welcome to humans. He like you. But he concerned that you see our home. Not sure what to do with you."

It was apparently a question. Kile stood awaiting their response. Robert stumbled before trying to respond.

"Uh...Well...We really weren't looking for trouble. I promise we won't say anything to anyone...uh...ever!"

Kile smiled and nodded his head. Until Ricky spoke up.

"Are you _kidding_!" Ricky blurted. "We have _got_ to tell my teacher about this! Can you just imagine? We're going to be rich! There's trolls! _REAL_ trolls that live under Loafer Mountain!"

Karapace's eyes squinted at the smaller boy, one eyebrow raised. Then he looked to Kile, who by that point was flashing his hands back and forth and making a sort of tutting noise. It was apparent to everyone but Ricky that he'd said the wrong thing.

"No! No, no!" Kile spurted as quietly as he could. "You must not speak of trolls. Humans will harm trolls. King will fight if you tell others. King will _eat_ you if you tell others."

"Gr'omash, Kile? Dey anu? Dronosh tah neekin derre humans, oren keine?" the great King grumbled.

"Keine! Oren keine!" Kile pleaded with the King. His hands were cusped together before him.

For the next several minutes the king and Kile, with an occasional input from Dronosh discussed what to do with the boys. Where he could sneak it in, and sometimes when it was just plain interrupting Ricky would interject a "What? What does he say?" Finally, during one such interruption while the king was instructing Kile with very animated hand gestures he stopped, turned to Ricky and placed his index finger upon Ricky's head. The tip of Karapace's finger must have been at least half the size of Little Ricky's head itself and he pressed down just enough that Ricky was forced to lower his chin and his knees bent ever so slightly. The king huffed at the little boy to make a final clear statement about the interruptions.

Robert was very nervous. He stood as still as he could with hands at his sides but quietly said to Ricky through the side of his mouth, "For Pete's sake, Ricky! Keep your mouth shut for a moment unless you want to get eaten!"

As Rob completed his instruction to his little brother Karapace turned to him and listened. When finished, he looked back at Ricky and huffed again, a little spittle or perhaps boogers landing on the boys' face and shoulders. Then he returned to the discussion with Kile. It continued for several more minutes. Dronosh continued to mumble some input here and there and even one or two of the guards with the King would interject an agreement-sounding grunt here and there.

Then something peculiar happened. The troll queen, who had merely been observing the whole meeting with narrowed and lowered eyes cleared her throat and stepped forward. All trolls suddenly stopped speaking and turned to her. Kile's jaw seemed to unhinge mid-sentence as he waited for her response.

"Nashtu keine tah neekin derre humans. Ob giano de santey, Dronosh," she said flipping her hand towards Dronosh. Dronosh bowed, turned and ambled off towards the cave behind them through which they'd traveled to the great cavern. Her speech seemed to roll off her tongue and lips more eloquently than the rest of the trolls. It was difficult for the boys to know whether that was typical of all female trolls or if the queen just happened to be more formal than anyone else in the troll village they had stumbled into unwillingly.

Taking another couple steps towards Robert she eyed him directly and asked in a steadied, staccato pronunciation, "You eat meat?"

Robert's response was a violent nodding of his head after he realized what he'd just been asked, and then confirmed with, "Uh-huh...um, yes. We do."

Turning to Kile, Rob's face shown of surprise. Kile was equally perplexed and he simply turned his palms up and shrugged, mouth agape.

"You drink berrywine?" the queen asked in that same, very purposeful pronunciation.

"Uh...no. No, we're not allowed to drink wine," replied Robert nervously again. He shook his head just as vehemently as he'd nodded it a moment ago in answer to the first question.

"Wa-ter?" she asked, folding her hands before her.

"Yes. Water is good."

"You eat with us," the queen said in a tone of finality. She turned and began leading the band of trolls and humans, large and small, from the cavern towards the left-hand side of the large complex of troll homes in the center of the cavern. "We talk."

# Chapter 4

# What To Do With Humans

As the boys and party of trolls began making their way around the back side of the giant pile of troll homes Kile and the boys themselves tended to cluster together. Robert tried to ask at one point what was going on. All Kile could give him was a short shrug and a mumbled, "We go to dinner...I guess."

If the trio got to whispering too much, Ricky usually barely managing to keep it a whisper whenever he spoke up, Scrimp would quicken his pace just a little from his position at the rear and snort or huff at the back of their heads. The vibration of his footsteps as he neared them each time was enough to frighten them into quiet reflection while they walked and tried to take in the sites of the large but dark cavern. Whether or not that was the intent of the king or queen the giant troll was managing the little collection of troublemakers and outsider misfits in a totalitarian manner. Clearly, they were not to speak at all in his opinion, but the giant's attempts did not prevent it entirely.

"How does she know how to speak English?" Robert finally asked of Kile.

Kile again shrugged and shook his head. For his part, Kile had never heard any other troll speak English, or really any other true human language because no other had access to a television as he did. At least, that is what he had thought until the queen had spoken.

Then a softer, more practiced voice cleared its throat up ahead and the queen spoke briefly. "Internet," she said.

The boys looked at Kile as they continued the march towards the king's dining hall, eyes wide. Shrugging must have been the one human gesture Kile fully understood, because that's all he could offer yet again. Robert didn't know if that meant Kile was confused about how the queen found access to the internet, or if he was just plain confused about what the internet was itself.

Eventually, as they had fully rounded the troll city they found a large log and stone castle of sorts before them which tied the backside of the troll homes to the exterior cavern. It seemed to be of a little more careful and intentional design and it had a couple towers and parapets that rose out of the large flat wall of the exterior and dull yellow lights glowed throughout it, in windows, on walkways, and held in the hands of trolls as large as the king standing on either side of a huge double-door entrance.

As the group neared the entrance though, it became clear the giant, king-sized trolls were not trolls at all but rather statues of beasts similar in stature to the king. They were shown with robes upon their shoulders similar to the king's, but they did wear crowns upon their heads. Each held a single lantern in one upheld arm. The figures of each were remarkable similar to King Karapace's, with an over-hanging belly and humongous arms. But the faces were very unique, both from Karapace's and from one another.

Before entering the double doors, Ricky risked one more brash question of Kile. "Kile? What is the queen's name?"

"Uh..." Kile fidgeted again. Clearly he was uncomfortable with the question and he eyed the others around him, but apparently couldn't bring himself to look back and check how close Scrimp was. "Not supposed to ask! Must wait until told!"

And then that softer, more clear voice spoke up again. "Isabel," the queen replied.

Robert got the feeling the queen's hearing was probably pretty sharp, because even their attempt at clandestine conversations had been heard, every one, by the queen at the head of the column. Upon her reply he noticed Kile was nervously shaking his head and mouthing the word "no" repeatedly. Rob was unsure what to make of it. Then the queen spoke again.

"You might hear our people call me by other names. It is the queen's privileged to ask each individual to address her by a special name."

At that moment they had finally arrived at the entrance to the castle and the queen stepped to the side as she concluded, while King Karapace strode right up to the doorway.

"You and your brother may call me Isabel." She gave both boys a warm, friendly smile. At least, it seemed it was meant to be warm, as much as the toothy, bulbous face of a female troll can represent. Robert nervously returned the smile. Ricky grinned ear to ear. He liked the name and felt he was being treated special...which in troll etiquette was part of the purpose behind the queen's prerogative.

King Karapace had raised both arms up to the great troll statues, and then he uttered in a rumbling voice some sort of command or greeting. The large wooden doors with iron pining and hinges then creaked open, inward from where they were standing. Inside was just as dim or more so than outside and it was not an entirely inviting situation for the two boys. But Ricky remained excited by the treatment they were getting.

## ~~~

At the troll king's banquet table the boys were offered a number of items they found familiar...and a few they did not. Robert had never seen a whole roasted pig, although he'd see it in cartoons and few television shows or movies. Still it was surprising when the serving trolls waddled out, two on either end of the giant serving platter, carrying a hog nearly five times larger than Robert thought pigs ever grew. And then he started wondering, _where would they have gotten this pig?_ There were some farms that might potentially house pigs along with the cattle and horse in the neighboring valleys of the Rocky slopes on which both his family and apparently a whole society of trolls lived. But it still seemed a little out of place. Hogs were more common back at their old home in Iowa, rather than the very heart of western cowboy country.

Some potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli and several other vegetables all arrived in heaping and steaming piles. With a bite the boys soon found that troll food was generally only seasoned by salt. But even at that, the fact that they even cooked, let alone had access to such a variety of foods buried in the mountain as they were. It would not be until later that Summer when Ricky had opportunity to learn more about how far the trolls' world extended into the human world that they would understand. For the time being, having trekked up the mountain all morning, the boys were just grateful for a break and some warm food.

The guards who had been with the king dispersed themselves about the room, apparently to keep an eye on the group from a tactical location. A few other trolls of various sizes, one or two of which are also apparently female trolls sat to join them, but the king had the two boys sit at either side of him and the queen at the head of the table. Kile and Scrimp sat next to them. The boys initially picked timidly at the food and awaited their hosts to see how they were expected to behave, even little Ricky. There were no forks, knives or spoons. By observing, Robert realized that anything needing a spoon was generally served in a bowl-shaped, rough looking piece of serving-ware and everything else was ingested by way of giant, grasping hands. There was only one knife upon the table and it was huge. One of the chef trolls used it for slicing off very large chunks of ham.

"Will this suit you, young humans?" Queen Isabel asked.

Robert attempted to be very gracious, like when his parents instructed him on how to behave at a formal military dinner which they had attended two Christmas' earlier. "Yes, your majesty. It's very good."

Ricky was more open. "It's great! Our mom never cooks ham like this!"

The queen smiled in return. Kile, who was sitting next to Robert, nudged him just a bit with his elbow to catch his attention and when Rob looked gave him a quick nod and smile. Robert was beginning to suspect Kile was taking ownership of the two boys and trying to make sure they maintained a good impression through the dinner.

Scrimp on the other hand merely reached into the serving area and grabbed a great chunk of meat from the hind area of the hog. He took a couple great bites and when he was left with a few dangly strands of meat and gristle he looked briefly at little Ricky next to him and tossed it in front of the boy. Ricky in turn giggled and then grabbed and gobbled up the scrap. The queen produced a white handkerchief (which was more the size of a bath towel in Rob's mind) and wiped her chin smiling at the display. Scrimp seemed to think it was terribly amusing that the little human boy wasn't repulsed as he thought he would be and laughed a deep baritone laugh along with him. He gave him a pat on the back, and Ricky, having tried to gulp down the meat like Scrimp had, nearly choked, laughing the whole time. Bits of ham and potatoes were spurted about on the table before him as he coughed, making Scrimp and some of the other trolls laugh all the harder.

"Ricky!" Robert hissed, trying to get his attention.

"No, no, young man. I think your little brother is fitting in perfectly," said the queen. The king gave a little chuckle himself, but continued on eating his own meal. Rob placed his hands in his lap, hoping to appear as though he was giving the queen and king the reverence he thought he ought to.

The queen put aside her own handkerchief and paused for a moment too. "Tell me, young humans, what are your own names?"

"Well, I'm Robert Johansson, and..." Rob started.

Ricky finished, mumbling around the large bite of potatoes he'd just stuffed in his mouth, "Mmmph, Ricky!"

"Well, it is very nice to have two fine young gentlemen such as yourselves from the human world be our very first visitors to the troll kingdom, Machsa. I hope we have not made you too uncomfortable."

"We're very comfortable, your majesty," Robert replied. He thought a moment before continuing. "Please, your highness...can I ask you why it is that you and Kile speak English so well, and everyone else seems to sort of grumble?"

"Mmmm...well, Robert. That could be a simple and a lengthy explanation. For which are you ready?" she asked.

"Ummm...the long one, I guess, ma'am."

"Well, you see...trolls live very long and the longer they live the more stupid they become."

Several trolls, the king included, stopped mid-bite and looked at the queen. Robert couldn't tell from their expressions whether they were insulted, sheepish, or whether they even understood what she had said. As she continued, and they returned to their meals, he'd guessed that they probably didn't truly understand her, but perhaps they just recognized a few words in her pronunciation, namely: "trolls" and...perhaps "stupid". It was an awkward moment for Robert none-the-less and Kile next to him seemed to be fussing with his food significantly. He too was not entirely comfortable with the conversation, having only just learned how very well the queen spoke English too.

"How long do trolls live?" Robert asked, trying to keep the conversation more polite.

"Oh very long, by your account, I'm sure," Isabel said as she took a drink of her berrywine and then set the roughly formed cup back down. "How old are you and your little brother?"

"I'm turning twelve this next month, and...Ricky is nine. But, really he acts like he's six."

The queen smiled and laughed ever so slightly to herself at the last comment.

"Well, my dear. You are nearly a grown man among humans then, aren't you?"

"Uh... I guess. I've got four years before I can even drive though."

She smiled again. "Hmmm. Yes, I'm sure that seems like a very long time to you too."

"Yeah...well, I'm kind of excited to drive already," Robert replied honestly.

"Well, young Robert, what if I were to tell you that Kile here is our youngest troll? And he is a mere one-hundred-and-thirty-seven years old."

The idea shocked Robert. The thought of living that long alone made Rob a little afraid. He wasn't sure he'd even want to live that long. He recognized in his mom's day they didn't have MP3 players and tablets to do homework on, but she'd told him about even more archaic forms of entertainment, like the black and white television his grandparents used to have to watch. And of course 3D, or at least _real_ looking 3D, was a long ways off. His father even once told him about video "tapes" and "records" made of vinyl and played with a type of needle. One-hundred-and-thirty-seven years earlier would have been even before cars were invented, or at least he thought. He wondered if even the steam cotton-gin he'd had to read about in school had been around by that time. It had. But putting that many years in perspective was very hard for Robert to do at only twelve.

With mouth shuddering nervously a bit, he asked, "Your highness, how old does that make the King then?"

"Well, now...let me think. Scrimp here is our closest advisor and he's coming on...oh, about seven-hundred years. Karapace himself is probably nearly one-thousand then."

After steadying his thoughts for a moment by taking a swig of water, Robert mumbled something under his breath about the dark ages. Then, "So...your majesty...if you don't mind my asking: how old are you?"

Queen Isabel snickered to herself a bit before replying. "I am a full nine-hundred-and-eleven years old, young human."

"Whoa!" Ricky interjected into the conversation.

Robert was still trying to understand how they could live for so long when he remembered where the conversation had been going. "So, then, you said that trolls get more stupid as they get older. But, you seem to me very smart."

Isabel again gave a snicker and then a full, hearty laugh. "Yes, I did, indeed. The difference is, I am a _girl_ troll. Only the boys get more simple-minded as they grow."

Robert and Ricky looked at each other for a moment. "Is that why the older ones are so big?" Ricky asked.

"Unfortunately, yes, little human. Our poor male trolls. The older they get the larger and stronger they become. But at the same time, they seem to lose what little minds they had to start with."

At that point, Karapace and Scrimp must have caught on to what Isabel had been explaining because both put their food down again and gave her a bit of a glare. Then they looked at each other. Karapace nodded his head at Scrimp before returning to his meal, and Scrimp, for his part, looked hurt.

The queen tucked a hand about her mouth as she explained a little more conspiratorially. "You see, they remember some of the human words which I've taught them. But not many....and neither of them can remember how to speak it. But we _females_ , we do not have this...growth problem."

"Oh! So lady trolls are smarter than the boy trolls?" asked Ricky a little louder than he probably should have. Scrimp went back to eyeing him suspiciously.

"Well, I suppose that's the truth of it," the queen replied, "at least if you give it until four or five hundred years old. Our poor menfolk...they just sort of...lose their mind while they grow strong."

At first, Kile was chuckling openly but realized the queen did not intend the comment as a joke. So he tried to stifle it and fake a cough behind his arm quickly.

"And you said you learned English over the internet?" Robert continued. "How do you have access to the internet? I thought Kile said..."

Robert was interrupted by a sharp press upon his foot, the one closest to Kile's own feet. He stopped short, remembering that it would be unwise to expose the power line or the television which Kile had apparently used to learn English himself. Queen Isabel herself cleared her throat as if in warning about Kile's abuse of the troll rules. But she carried on the conversation willingly enough for her part.

"I happen to have gotten hold of one of those human... "pads," is it? The king does have some very wise rules in place to prevent our people interacting with humans and causing a panic. But as queen I occasionally do have the power to get what I want, what I need. Certain trolls among us have assisted me in ensuring I have the information we need to make wise choices about our people...and yours."

Kile caught Rob's eye for a moment, smiled and nodded his head then went quietly back to eating a largish potato. After a moment's thought, Robert decided it was safe to keep pressing for a bit of information. He wanted to know all he could about these trolls; he felt it likely he and his little brother were not simply going to share a meal and then, "Tah-tah for now!" back off to the way things were before. No. This lengthy visit did not bode well for Robert and Ricky's lives being normal again.

"Your majesty, if you don't mind me asking, why is it we were brought down here?" The queen and Kile both had a cock-eyed expression on their faces and King Karapace stopped eating for a moment. Scrimp and the others kept eating, apparently forcing a casualness to visit yet Scrimp was eyeing all of them at the same time. "I mean...Kile said that we needed to see the king to keep Dronosh from eating us."

"Ah!" replied the queen. She patted her lips with her giant handkerchief again, and then she explained.

"You see, in old times we lived in the mountains of a far off country on another continent. We liked it well enough there, but the humans in that land often lumped us in with bridge trolls."

"Is that bad?" interrupted Ricky.

"Oh!" giggled the queen and she patted her mouth again as Karapace smirked a bit. "I should say it is. We're nothing like the bridge trolls, except for the name 'trolls' itself, which, by-the-way, humans gave to us. But more importantly, humans lumped us into the bridge trolls race and then hunted us as well. And to be fair, in truly ancient times we were known to eat a human or two...but only when it was absolutely necessary. Later we did it as a defense when the humans kept hunting us."

"At any rate, we eventually heard that humans had sailed across the great oceans and found a new land to inhabit. Of course, being lovers of the land ourselves, we wanted to know more. So, we sent one of our number among them on a ship probably a few hundred years ago using her _glimmer_ abilities to disguise herself as a ship-hand. She was one of the bravest among us, for mountain trolls are very afraid of open water. Eventually, that same troll made her way west to what you humans call the Rockies and setup a new troll state nearby Machsa, more on the eastern side of the range and a little further north."

"Once a troll cavern is setup with all the required natural ingredients, of course we just used our magics to carry more of us from the old land to these beautiful Rocky Mountains. My own people living here in Machsa left with King Karapace and myself a couple-hundred years ago and we've been here ever since, wondering how long it would take for the humans to find us again."

"Oh, I don't think we would hunt trolls now-a-days," said Ricky with a trusting smile.

The queen gave a very friendly smile to the little boy and nodded. "And of course that's why we don't eat humans any more either! But tell me young Robert, do you think if other humans knew we were here, adult humans, that they'd hunt us as they did long ago?"

Robert thought about it for a moment before answering. "No, I don't think we would. Humans are a lot more _scientific_ these days. But...I guess that means if they knew you were here...they'd probably want to study you. Um...that might not be the best thing."

"Mmmm," mumbled the queen watching Robert closely. "Then it is roughly what I thought based on what I have read on your internet. I think it's safer if we kept our secret a little longer."

The king nodded his giant head in agreement and then both monarchs turned to each of the boys in turn to get an agreement there. Ricky of course was completely oblivious, but Robert quickly nodded so positively in agreement he nearly shook himself right out of his chair. It seemed an uneasy truce had been entered with that and the king, queen, two boys and Kile went back to eating a little more of the delicious meal along with the rest of the trolls at the table. But then Ricky spoke up, the little doofus.

"Miss your-highness?" he asked. "What if we were to take Kile back with us and show him how things are at our house? I bet my mom would let him stay the night too!"

"What?!" Robert forced through gritted teeth. "Ricky! Be quiet!"

But at the same time Robert couldn't help to notice Isabel catch Kile's eyes with a wink followed by a smile.

"Oh! That would be nice, indeed!" said the queen somewhat louder than she had been during the previous discussion. The king startled a little and put his cup down after spilling some of his berrywine upon his chin. "How about that, Karapace? Send Kile to assess the situation among the humans?"

The king's response was not so positive. His arms and hands gestured very animatedly and once or twice a fist was slammed on the table. It was all in Trollish, but the little bit of a tirade clearly amounted to "NO!"

"But, your greatness!" Kile interjected. When he continued he arose from his seat to come stand on the opposite side of where the queen sat, surrounding him with their behest. When Kile continued, he too switched to speaking in troll.

Robert and Ricky understood the next five minutes or so between the three trolls' conversation to be a discussion about whether or not Kile could join the human boys at their home. At first it did not seem to be going very well. But as the queen was clearly spelling out her case for the foray into the human world the king calmed down and slowly changed from eyeing his wife with severe suspicion to a look of irritation. Robert fixed Ricky's open-mouthed gape at one point with a look that meant to say, "You've done it now!" But Ricky missed the point. He mouthed quietly back to Robert, "Maybe they'll let him go afterall?"

While Robert continued to grumble, something finally changed. The king was sitting with both palms placed flat on the table before him. He was breathing heavily. Kile quietly returned to his seat and waited. The queen had sat straight up in her chair and folded her hands in her lap, also awaiting something. Robert put his hands down too, but Ricky and Scrimp continued to munch, Scrimp occasionally tossing scraps onto Ricky's plate.

Finally, after what was likely a full two minutes of sitting and huffing, the king pushed back his chair and stood up. From beneath his robes he produced a golden crown, which once he placed it gingerly upon his head, was clearly too small. Then he spoke. It was in Trollish again.

"Keine tah neekin deere humans! Aunde keine deere humans d'rargen zum heis'r! So! K'mani nachen deese humanssss...won'ah gran, Kile!"

There was silence at the table. The king sat roughly back down in his chair and did not appear at all happy with what he himself had just said. Then, Scrimp chuckled. Then he laughed riotously and slapped the table several times. While still laughing heartily he pointed a large index finger at Ricky's chest next to him and laughed some more.

"Won'ah gran, Kile? Ha, ha ha! HAAAaa!!" and he laughed so hard with that Scrimp's old throat closed up and caused him to cough a bit. When done he leaned over very close to Ricky and said in a deep earthy rumble, " _MY_ pet!" Then he laughed some more, slapping the table again.

The king's expression finally changed to a grin and a small chuckle. He patted his wife, the queen, softly (for a troll) on her shoulder next to him and said something in Trollish before taking another swig of his berrywine. Kile and the Queen also gave way to small smiles, although Kile looked a little sheepish.

"What? What is going on here?" asked Robert. He looked at Kile and then the queen.

It was Isabel that responded first. "King Karapace has graciously granted us a very special opportunity my young human friends."

"Oh, crud..." Robert started, but he was interrupted by the continued explanation of the queen.

"Master Ricky? The king would have you exchange your position in your own home with our own Kile here, and he within your home with you, Master Robert."

"Oh! Sweet!" Ricky said and nearly jumped out of his chair. Scrimp giggled in his low, large troll voice again.

"No!" Robert stood upright. "No, no, no! We can't do that!"

"Master human Robert...it is already decided." Queen Isabel was clearly either not in a position to budge Karapace's decree, or she was entirely unwilling.

Robert turned to Kile. "Kile! You can't do this. It's way too...dangerous. There's no way we can do that."

"Oh, relax Robbie!" Ricky said. "This is perfect!"

"Oh! Really, Ricky! What if they end up _eating_ you, you bone head?" Rob replied, smashing his own fist down on the table, with very little of the effect the king had on the thick oak.

Apparently, the trolls at the table found that un-necessarily rough any way because all quieted down immediately and watched Robert stone-faced.

"No! This is _not_ going to work! We can't make that trade," Robert pleaded.

"Of course you can, young human. This will give us the information we need about you humans," the queen responded calmly. "And I would suppose that you and your little brother would learn quite a bit about us in exchange. Young Ricky? Wouldn't you like to learn a little _real_ magic while you were here?"

The queen's bating smile was not lost on Ricky.

"Oh, yeah! That would be awesome!" the little boy responded.

Robert turned to Kile again, hoping there might be an ally in the little troll. Instead, the troll was enthusiastically nodding at the queen and Ricky in turn and then to Robert as well. Rob stood for a moment watching him, eyes pleading with Robert, grin awaiting hesitantly. Then Robert turned to the queen and found her expression suspiciously vacant.

"You set this up," Robert said quietly. Then more aggressively, "You set this all up, didn't you? Both of you!"

Kile squeezed his hands together and looked nervous, his large bulbous nose hanging over his mouth and head ducked down. The queen remained absolutely still. The king had returned to picking out some vegetables and gulping them down. Robert plopped down in his seat.

"Oh man. Ricky...you idiot. You walked us straight into a trap."

"No I didn't!" Ricky screamed. "I want to stay here! This is perfect! Um...how long will I stay?"

Before anyone could answer, Robert turned to Kile. "I bet even Dronosh was in on this the whole time..."

"No..." Kile said, shaking his head in short rounds and still ringing his fingers. "No, no. Dronosh really want to eat you."

"So you used him too?"

"Young Robert of the humans dwelling outside our cavern," began the queen in a very formal tone. "As of late the humans have crept ever higher upon the foothills of these, our mountains. We should like to know if we can trust them, or if we must move on again. I would think that you would equally like to know a different sort of people than those you meet every day, wouldn't you?"

"No, not really," Robert grumbled, but he had a feeling the queen recognized his sour grapes attitude at losing the argument and instantly regretted being negative.

"I think it would be very advantageous if we might swap our young companions for...what shall we say? A few weeks?"

"A few _weeks!?_ "Robert asked. "How on earth am I going to keep it secret that Ricky is missing for more than a few hours?"

Kile eagerly responded to that one. "Oh! I hold glimmer for that long! I look like Ricky! No one knows!"

The queen looked Robert in the eye at that point and said very quietly as the king and other trolls continued to munch. "Indeed, Robert. That is the very reason I chose Kile from the beginning. He has an interest, _and_ he's the only male troll that can hold a glimmer for so long. Most males don't even know how to do it, but of course the king would never allow for a female to go amongst you. And even more importantly, Kile has been studying the humans since they first started building the little town below us in which you live. Next to myself, he's the most knowledgeable."

Robert was pondering what the two were trying to tell him, when a secondary realization came to him. "Your majesty?...You're the girl troll that came over on the ship to the Americas, aren't you?"

The queen sat back into her chair and grinned her toothy troll grin at him. Her eyes sparkled. "You see? You are a very wise young human. I think you're the perfect boy to help Kile learn about your world."

Kile nodded exuberantly next to Robert. When the joy clearly wasn't rubbing off, he stopped and slowly went back to finishing his meal.

Ricky looked up at the conversation, and in a moment of sheer brilliance, at least for Ricky's typical behavior he made his own observation.

"You're the girl troll that came across the ocean on the boat, aren't you!" he said.

The queen smiled. The king looked up just long enough to seemingly recognize what the little human boy just said.

"Perhaps," Isabel replied, and left it at that as far as Ricky's engagement in the conversation was concerned.

Over the next twenty minutes the rest of the trolls and Ricky did the same as Kile, clearing the serving trays of all the available food. Generally it was a noisy and juicy affair to which Ricky was clearly well suited.

Robert, on the other hand, sat staring at his little brother trying to emulate Scrimp's nauseous eating habits. _A pet for Scrimp?_ He thought to himself. _Actually...I guess this could work out for everybody._

# Chapter 5

# First Night Away

"If we pull this off..." Robert was mumbling as he hurriedly bounced down the hill, breathing slightly knocked off when his feet pounded down the incline.

"Wait! Wait, brother Robert!" Kile said, hobbling along behind. The little troll's stride became more of a slow tumble down the hill rather than a walking descent due to his short legs.

Without turning back or slowing down Robert said loudly, "I'm not your brother!"

Then the cellphone rang. Robert stopped suddenly and threw his pack to the ground. The sky was getting a little darker and the shadows much longer as 5:00PM was passing. Kile stopped suddenly too, mid-roll, and his pointed, gray ears perked up.

"Crap!" Robert said, and practically ripped the cellphone out from the side of the pack. "Ya?"

He had responded a little too briskly for the situation they were in. Kile could hear a human female voice raised on the phone coming through nicely in the cooling and still, late afternoon air of the mountainside.

"What do you mean, "Ya?" young man? I've been trying to get you for hours! Do you realize if you didn't answer just now, my next call was to the sheriff's office?"

"Sorry mom!" Robert did his best not to get defensive. He quickly flipped the phone away from his face, and sure enough in the lower part of the display it showed five missed calls. "I'm really sorry. I'm just...mad."

"Why? What's going on? Just how far up the mountain did you go?"

"Oh...uh. We didn't really go all that high up."

Kile snickered behind Robert. Robert turned away from him and took a couple steps as he might if he didn't want a friend to hear his mother chewing him out on the phone. But Kile merely stepped along with him, staring at and fascinated by the phone glowing against Robert's face. He had seen phones shown on the TV shows he'd watched but he hadn't had a chance to touch one yet, and the queen had not ever shown him hers that she was rumored to possess.

"Okay. OKAY!" Robert was saying. "We're on our way now. We just got caught up in a canyon that took us a while to get out."

Some more muffled angry words burbled out of the earpiece. Robert was nodding as if his mother could see him answering her with his head.

"Yes. Got it. Straight home."

Robert hung up, and then turned and stared at Kile. He sighed heavily and then moved to pick up his pack he left a few strides behind.

"Our mom?" Kile asked.

"No! It's my mom." Rob threw the cellphone back into the pack and shouldered it and prepared to continue down the mountain.

"Yes, but..." Kile tried to keep conversation going. He was beginning to wonder if maybe the queen's plan was going to work out okay for him or not. He didn't want to be trapped with humans if they dis-liked him even _before_ they saw him as he really is.

"So, when are you going to do this "glimmer" thing anyway? Aren't you afraid you're going to get seen out here?" Robert asked him before actually moving on.

"Oh! No, not worried. I will shimmer if I see any humans on the way down."

"What do you mean? What if they surprise you?"

Kile smiled and pointed at himself as he answered. "I am shimmering. No one see me but you for right now. That way I save strength to glimmer when I met Mom!"

"What's the difference?" Robert prompted.

"Between what?"

"ARrrgh! It's like I still have Little Ricky with me! What's the difference between shimmering and glimmering?" he bellowed.

"Oh!" Kile put his pack down, which was actually Ricky's and spread out his arms. He seemed to blink out of existence but his voice was still there. "Now I shimmer for you. You not see me, right?"

"Holy crap! No, I don't!" Robert said sucking in his breath and then whistling it out. "Is that what you did at the cave entrance when we first saw you?"

Kile giggled his little raspy troll giggle and winked back into existence. "Yup! Kai'ana humans! I trick you good! Ha ha!"

"Great," Robert retorted and turned away stomping quickly from the little troll. He'd decided Kile was just as bothersome as younger brothers

"Wait! Wait, brother Robert!" Kile hollered, swinging Ricky's pack back onto his back.

Robert formed an opinion on his way back from the troll caves that evening: little trolls can be just as big a doofus as a little brothers.

## ~~~

In the kitchen, Mom Johansson gave both boys a real chewing-out again. Robert made a lot of "I know's" but the figure of Little Ricky just seemed to stand and stare. Finally Mom picked up on the unusual stillness of her little boy and eyed him while she handed plates to Robert to pass around the table.

"What is it tonight, Ricky? Cat got your tongue?" she asked.

"Cat?" Kile then smiled finally at the human mother. "No. I eat cat. Not get my tongue."

"What?!" Mrs. Johansson sputtered. But she laughed a little uneasily and continued. "There's the Little Ricky I know."

While turning to pull some forks and knives out of a drawer she nodded at Robert and said, "Exactly what went on today? Did you put some fear into your little brother for once in his life?"

"Uh...No," Rob hesitated. "I think he's just really tired from climbing."

Robert squinted at Kile while his mother was turned away and silently mouthed _be quiet!_ to the small troll. There was something else at the end of the lip-read too, but Kile couldn't quite figure that part out. He was pretty sure by Robert's scowl that it wasn't a very friendly word, whatever it was.

Once the places were all set, Mom set out a bowl of macaroni and cheese and put a loaf of white bread on the table with butter and sat down with the two boys.

"What this is?" Kile asked poking his finger into the cheesy pasta with a scrunched nose.

"It's your favorite, Ricky. Mac'N'Cheese, silly. Now, why are you poking your fingers into it? My goodness," Mom sighed as she slapped Kile's hand as she'd done to Little Ricky all his life since he was no better at keeping hands out of the food than Kile. "Now go ahead and say grace."

Kile was looking at his hand, holding the wrist with his other hand. His eyes were moist and Robert wondered if the little troll was going to cry. What would happen if Kile cried? Would it look like the glimmer of Little Ricky was crying too?

"Grace?" the little troll asked.

"Yes. Say prayer, please, Ricky."

"Uh, Mom," Robert interrupted after he picked up what was going on. "How about I say it. Ricky really is tired."

"Fine. Let's just do it. I'm starving already."

Robert uttered something quickly to satisfy Mom while Kile busily tried to emulate their arm-folding. He closed his eyes to follow suite as well, but kept peeping them open to check what the others at the table were doing. After grace was done, Mom slapped a huge helping of macaroni and cheese onto Kile's plate and then one not quite as large onto Robert's.

While Mom tried to ask the boys, mostly Robert, what they saw up the mountain that day and kept the conversation going, Kile poked at the pile of pasta with his right index finger and grimaced. Whenever Mom got distracted by something she was saying or in taking a bite of dinner, Robert tried to catch Kile's attention and give him some signals. The first took a few tries to get the little troll hiding in Ricky's image to notice. He flicked his fork a little before him and then flicked his eyes down repeatedly to the fork beside Kile's plate.

Kile eventually caught on, lifting the fork and fumbling it around with both hands until it was roughly griped in the troll's right hand. He jabbed it into his pile of pasta and scooped up a huge bite noticeably dramatic enough that Mom looked over and stopped mid-bite. The visage of Little Ricky looked up and beamed at her, and then beamed at Robert as well. He seemed to be awaiting some applause or congratulations. Not finding any on Mom's face, and a funny, half-cocked smirk on Robert's he went ahead and stuck the whole huge forkful of macaroni into his mouth.

The _glimmer_ of Little Ricky had not been turned on for Robert's sake and so he got a full view of the approximately forty-two bites-worth going into Kile's wide, toothy grin. Rob wasn't sure what exactly Mom saw but by her expression it probably wasn't pretty.

For a moment, it looked like Kile was going to turn the situation around. But that was only for a moment. He did not actual chew the food but held it as his eyes stopped looking towards the others for approval and seemed to glaze over. Then it all came back out.

"BLAH!!!" Kile said, and stuck his lengthy troll tongue out with the entire contents of the spoonful now perched directly under his nose, mouth very widely open.

"Now Ricky!" Mom raised her voice. "Don't you dare spit that out!"

Kile rolled his eyes over at Mrs. Johansson and mumbled over his tongue, "Huhn?"

"Yes, that! Don't you spit it out young man. You swallow that food."

Robert started laughing, try as he might to control himself. The spectacle was too much, but in reality it wasn't anything he wouldn't expect Ricky to do...if it wasn't his supposed "favorite" Mac'N'Cheese. Kile very carefully pulled the tongue-full back into his head. Without chewing he swallowed it in one enormous bite.

"What is wrong with you tonight, Ricky?" Mom asked. She sat, her fork pending a lift of her own food on her plate and eyeing the little boy before her. "Take a bite of bread if you don't like it for some reason."

Kile looked around the table and then saw the loaf of white bread in the plastic sack. He looked at Robert for confirmation, who nodded very slightly so as to prevent his mother from seeing their silent communication. The troll struggled a little with the plastic clip holding the bag closed and he became even more nervous because the human mother wouldn't stop watching him. Finally he got the bag open, took out a couple pieces of bread and stuffed them all into his mouth. The result was worse than the macaroni. He very nearly spewed the mushy bread across the table and onto Mom and Robert.

"Blech!" he sputtered. "That not taste like anything!"

Robert watched his mother with great hesitation. He wondered how this was going to go down, and wasn't sure what exactly he could say to explain if it turned out he and his little troll friend had to come clean about the exchange they had made with Ricky.

"Honey?...Ricky?" Mom placed a hand on Kile's forearm. "Are you feeling okay?"

Kile looked to Robert for an answer as he started to nod his head uncertainly. As soon as he saw Rob's quick, subtle shake of his head he reversed course and started shaking his own instead.

"No. I feel sick," Kile tried to annunciate very carefully.

"Oh dear." Mom stood and cleared both her plate and Kile's. "Robert, did you guys get into anything? Maybe take a drink from the stream up there or something?"

"No, Mom. I think Ricky is honestly just really tired. Here, I'll get him into bed."

"Oh that's very nice of you!" she replied, and it really was, because Robert hardly ever did something like tuck his little brother into bed. At least not since they were about two and four years old. She started wondering if maybe it turned out to be a really good idea to have the two spend the day together out in the wild. Dad might have been right about spending time in the wild together as a family after all.

## ~~~

"What the flippin' flying fruit is wrong with you Kile?" Robert asked when he'd gotten the troll out of earshot of his mother. It was a phrase his little brother often said, having picked it up from their father. Rob may have said it subconsciously because he actually was missing his little brother a bit. Not that he would admit to worrying about him, but he hoped Ricky's experience in the troll cavern city, Machsa, would be better than Kile's had so far.

"That was _not_ fruit, Robert!" Kile said.

"No duh. What's the matter with you? That is some of the most plain food ever. How come you act like it's making you throw up?"

"It not taste right, Robert. That food taste like bag for bread!"

"Like plastic? You're saying macaroni and cheese tastes like plastic?" Robert asked with a smile on his face. He had kind of felt that way too, but wouldn't have been able to get away with saying so. Mac'N'Cheese was a staple in the Johansson home, because it was the one thing everyone would eat without complaining, at least not out loud to Mom.

"...and the white stuff!" Kile was continuing on his explanation while Rob had been thinking about what the yellow death really tasted like.

"White stuff?"

"Yessss! Flat white things. Taste like the healing mushrooms after we make paste out of them....That _not_ bread. That medicine!"

Robert couldn't help but laugh. He loved the white bread, especially spread with peanut butter or maybe the cocoa-hazelnut spread he loved. It was like eating cake in his mind.

"Bread made from wheat! It is brown, or black sometimes. It not mushy like medicine."

"You know what, Kile? I think we're going to have to teach you the finer things about people food. Do you like chocolate?" Robert asked.

"Mmmm...I don't think so. Trolls eat meat and vegetables, sometimes fruit for dessert. We have thick, yummy, warm bread with melty honey-butter....and... _lots_ of meat!"

"Okay! I get it," Robert said, still laughing. You just stay here, and if Mom comes act like you're sick. Once she's done cleaning up I'll bring you back some food that might be better for you."

## ~~~

Robert had gone back out to the kitchen to help his mother clean and to see if he could get her to forget about Ricky for the evening. The less she spent grilling him the better. But all in all Robert had been pleased at how well Kile fit in as substitute Ricky. Mom might not ever suspect something was really different just because Ricky was such a spaz normally anyway.

Meanwhile, though his stomach growled and ached, Kile looked around Little Ricky's room. On the shelves were a number of books. He took down a few and marked a few as ones he might want to try to read later, although he was likely to need Robert's help. Some few television shows he got on his set in the mountain when he ran an antenna out of the cave covered the alphabet regularly for preschoolers and sometimes basic reading skills. But he hadn't been very interested in those when there were so many exciting adventures the humans had on a regular basis.

Hanging from the ceiling was a cool mobile with a bunch of motorcycles. Kyle knew he'd seen some before on the TV now and again, but he still marveled at how they could possibly stay up on just two wheels. He thought perhaps he should ask Robert soon if he had any they could try riding. And then he remembered, one of the key things he was supposed to do is look into the humans' magic "technology". A quick circle around the room was a disappointment. Little Ricky's parents had not provided a TV, computer or anything else besides a few toys that looked like technology to Kile.

It was about the moment when Kile was sticking his nose out of a cracked-open bedroom door that Robert returned. He shooed the little troll back into Ricky's room and sat down on the bed, gesturing that Kile should do the same. From out of his pocket he pulled a couple sticks of individually wrapped jerky and a couple cheese sticks.

"Do you eat cheese when it's not on macaroni?" Robert asked.

"We have cheese. Ours very strong and tasty!" Kile responded as he snatched a stick from Robert.

Holding a jerky in one hand and a string cheese in the other Kile rolled his eyes with pleasure and then stuffed them both into his enormous mouth.

"Blech!" he screeched as he spat them both out, barely chewed once or twice. "These like _plassstic_ too!"

Chuckling to himself, Robert picked up the two treats and began unwrapping them, despite the troll slobber all over them. "No, no! Kile, you have to take this plastic wrap off first. I promise, these taste better than yellow death."

Kile eyed the food sideways and snatched at them with a little sneer as Rob held them out. But with the first two chews he had already changed his mind.

"Pretty good, eh?" asked Robert.

"Mmmph! Hmmm," Kile said in a pleased mumble. "Very spicy! How you humans spice it like this?"

Robert didn't know exactly what the troll meant and he certainly didn't know the process for spicing meats, so he just shrugged and said he didn't know. But the occasion began a life-long obsession for _certain_ human foods in the little troll.

"Now, look! Tomorrow is Sunday...and we've had a really long day. I suggest we go to sleep and then in the morning we'll sneak out early and I'll show you around a little bit so you don't embarrass yourself."

Kile watched Robert stand up from the bed and move to the dresser with wide eyes, stuffing the remaining pieces of jerky and string cheese into his open maw as he did.

"Uh...I don't suppose you would be willing to take a shower at all, would you?" asked Robert.

"What shower?" mumbled Kile around the nearly completed meal.

"Well...you kinda of stink. Not that you smell any different than Ricky does after he plays out in the dirt, but Mom's gonna make you take a bath tomorrow morning...or maybe even tonight, if she catches wind of you."

"Bath?!" Kile squeeked. It was the first time Rob had heard the little troll squeal like a little rodent. Kile hoped off the bed onto his short, stubby legs and waddled briskly over to where Robert stood. "No bath! If I take bath it ruin my _glimmer_! You mother will know!"

"What? A bath means she can see you?" While Kile nodded violently at him, Robert considered the situation. "I think you might be lying to me so you don't have to shower."

"No, no! Must not get water on me or humans will see!"

"Alright...but, she's not going to watch you shower anyway. Can't you just take a quick shower, get out and get dry before she even notices?" Robert tried reasoning.

The reasoning approach worked about as well as it did on Ricky most times.

"Mustn't get wet! Please do not make me shower, brother Robert!"

"Dude!" Rob blurted, becoming frustrated with the little troll, "Can't you just get the shower done? If you don't, Mom will for sure make you take a bath tomorrow, and if you fight her she's definitely gonna see you then because she'll throw you in!"

"Whuh?!..." Kile huffed and shivered, hunching into as small a stature as he could manage.

"Believe me, she's done it to Ricky many times before."

As Robert went through his little brother's dresser looking for clothes, Kile stood shaking and nodding his head. Rob was pretty sure the little troll had never taken a shower or bath before. Perhaps the little beast was even afraid of water. _What was it the queen said?_ Rob wondered. _Did she say trolls are afraid of open water?_

Turning around Robert found the troll nearly squatting on the floor and cooing to himself, rubbing his awkward arms with his great big palms and licking his trollish lips uncomfortably.

"Uh...Kile?"

"No bath!"

"Kile?" Robert repeated.

"Huh-umm?" the troll finally looked up at him.

"You're not going to fit into any of my brother's clothes are you?" Robert was smiling. Maybe a redirection would work.

Kile pawed at the t-shirt, jeans and briefs Robert had pulled out but he seemed a little repulsed by them. Robert wondered if maybe they were too clean.

"Okay...How about we make a deal so that Mom doesn't give you any problems?"

"Deal, good!" the poor little creature whined.

"If you will _sneak_ into the bathroom with me, you can take a shower with your clothes on. Then you'll be washing both you and your clothes at the same time."

Kile was nodding his head, though he was standing more upright and was definitely paying closer attention.

"But! You've got to use soap, okay?"

The troll pondered this option for a moment. Soon, his shaking turned to nodding his head. But there was a counter-offer to the deal before he would agree. Robert must hold his hand while he took the shower.

"Wow...you really are scared of the water, aren't you?" Rob giggled.

Kile gave a harrumph and placed his hand akimbo on his barely visible hips. "Only when not see the bottom of water!"

"Well then you should be fine in the shower!"

Waddling with Robert's hand on his back, Kile slowly and reluctantly moved out the bedroom door. They quickly hustled across the hallway to the bathroom. There, Robert continued the goading.

"So...how do you keep from getting thirsty if you're afraid of water?"

"Only when not see the bottom!" Kile responded. Then more reservedly, "I use a cup."

"Yes, but who gets the water for your city if you're afraid of the water?"

Kile was incensed again, and returned his wrists to their former akimbo state. "Not all trolls scared."

"Well, obviously the queen isn't," Robert replied. But he was willing to let it go at that.

As the human boy turned the faucet on the bath tub, Kile watched wide-eyed.

"Not just queen. _Girl_ trolls not scared of anything," he suggested.

"Really? Nothing?" smiling again, Rob prodded his guest a bit further. "Not even a grizzly bear?"

"Nope. Not bear. _Girls_ flippin' tough!"

Robert patted his leg and laughed out loud. "Flippin'? Where did you hear that word?"

As the little troll stepped into the growing puddle of water in the tub bottom, which turned out to be not nearly so frightening after all since the water was clean and he could see the bottom, he turned and grinned at Robert. "On TV! They make flippin' good pizza!"

Laughing even harder, Robert recalled the specific advertisement from a local restaurant he'd seen too. The word was not one they used back in his old town in Iowa, at least not yet. But it was very popular with the kids in the sixth grade in the little Rocky Mountain town where his family lived now. He started to realize having Kile in his home for a few days wasn't going to be any different than helping with Ricky. In fact, if the little troll was less inclined to start little tee-pee fires in the kitchen and living room, then it might even be more enjoyable.

"So, see? This tub's not so bad is it?" Robert asked.

"No. I see bottom. Very good water." But the timidness with which Kile said those words gave indication that he was still nervous.

"Can I ask you, Kile, why are you so afraid of water that you can't see the bottom of?"

Kile tutted a little and shook his head as he started at the water climbing up past his broad, ditry feet to the ankles, dust and dirt slowly drifting off him and mixing into the tub.

"Trolls sink...if can't see the bottom, trolls might not know when they will stop sinking."

Robert smiled with caring. As weird as it was to find real live trolls living in the mountains under his home, it was reassuring to know that trolls had things they were afraid of too. Despite his better judgment, and the peculiarity that Kile was so very much like Ricky in so many ways, Robert was quickly coming to like the little mountain troll.

Then he pulled the stopper on the tub spout. Rain-sized droplets started pelting Kile's head from above accompanied with a little squeak and a pipe rattle as the water moved up to the shower head. Initially the spray was colder than the water that had run across the troll's feet too, until the hot water made it up the climb a few seconds later. That was all a mistake.

"Bleeeaaahhh!" Kile screamed. It may have started as a scream but it sort of rolled into a very boisterous roar. And then he looked at Robert with a snarl. "Bad Robert!"

But as the water warmed, Kile realized he kind of liked the gentle feel of the shower too. It was like a warm, clean rain. Clumps of mud and dirt quickly rinsed from his head and hair, his clothes, and down into the drain in a river of mud. All would have been very well if he just hadn't screamed.

A hustled rush of footsteps down the hallway's wooden floor and brisk knock at the door before it was quickly cracked open was all the warning Robert and Kile had that Mom was responding to the alert she'd heard several seconds before. _Why didn't I lock the door?_ Robert berated himself. Mom stuck her face in just enough to see Rob with one arm stuck in the shower and the curtain there pulled with water running. Fortunately, she wasn't in a position to catch any sort of glimpse of Kile holding his breath and covering his mouth with his hand, water pouring down his face causing his huge eyes to blink uncontrollably.

"Mom!" Robert said, honestly startled.

"Uh...what's going on here?" Mom asked, swinging the door a little wider. "I thought I heard one of you screaming bloody-murder."

"Oh! Uh...well...Ricky was really, really dirty from the climb and playing in the stream so I'm helping him take a shower."

Mom leaned against the door jam and folded her arms. "Is that right?"

"Uh...yep!"

"Mmm-hmmm," Kile hummed loudly from inside the shower. It sounded to Robert as though he were trying to raise his voice a little to match that of Little Ricky's. He hadn't thought of it before but he wondered if the glimmer trolls used could mimic voices too when it's turned on. Of course, Kile had already told him humans could see through the glimmer when they're wet, so maybe they could hear through it too?

"Well...That's two pleasant surprises then," Mrs. Johansson said to the pair.

"Waddya mean?" Rob responded.

"You, willing to help your little brother like that without saying "Ew! Gross!" and Ricky, willing to take a shower for the first time without me having to threaten him with no video games for ten years."

"Yeah. I guess," was all Robert could say. Kile had grabbed Rob's loose hand when the shower started spraying, and he hadn't let go yet. So for the duration of the conversation with his mother, he stood like that.

"Alright," Mom made for leaving again. "I was thinking I smelled something pretty ripe at dinner. When you're done get ready for bed. I still have that party for Aunt Janine and Uncle Bill tomorrow, you know. All the cousins will be here."

Kile squeezed Robert's hand even more tightly.

"Oh, man!" Rob replied. "I had totally forgotten."

"Yes, well. I expect you to come in and spend some time with them."

"Crap. I hate talking with the cousins," Robert fussed, oblivious to the fact that he was actually retaining his mother's presence in the bathroom still longer, further risking discovery.

"What? They love visiting. And you shouldn't be rude," Mom said as she slowly closed the door and began moving away.

"Yeah, but they're like, a decade older than me. And all they do is take over the video games and not let me play," he yelled back as he heard her walking down the hallway.

Finally, Kile exhaled loudly and released Robert's hand. He yanked the shower curtain aside and looked at his adoptive brother for a moment before speaking.

"Kile not sure he can glimmer for that many humans. And...I not talk exactly like you yet either. They will _know_!" the little troll hissed.

"Yeah..." Robert thought for a moment. "But I think we're going to go find something else to do for most of it anyway."

"Good!" Kile smiled again and nodded his head. Water was splashing out of the tub and Robert flicked the shower curtain across again.

As he sat down on the toilet to think for a moment, Robert suddenly remembered a potential problem.

"Kile?"

"Yes, brother Robert?" Kile said in a happy tone.

"Uh...how long do you think you will be living here with me before we trade back for Ricky?"

Kile was rubbing his hands on his head and shoulder by that point, enjoying the feel of mud-free skin and continuing to send the dirt down the drain.

"Mmmm...I think a few months."

"Oh! Oh crap!" Rob huffed.

"What wrong?"

"Well," Robert slumped on the toilet a bit. "We still have a week and a half of school."

The shower curtain flipped open again and the football-shaped head poked out with a huge, toothy grin. "School good! I will learn more about humans!"

Standing up, Robert began pacing the bathroom a bit. "Yes, but on Monday you have to go to a class that has, like, thirty people in it!"

"Oh..." Was Kile's only response.

Neither said anything, but the topic was put aside for the time being, to be pondered over the following thirty-six hours before they had to cross that bridge when they came to it.

Using soap took a little convincing, but by the time Robert was done with Kile the little troll was actually probably the cleanest he'd ever been in his entire life. The only difficulty was that they hadn't considered how they would get Kile's clothes dry since none of Ricky's clothes fit and they'd had to wash them. Robert tried the hair-dryer, which caused about as much panic for Kile as the shower head did at first, only this time the troll bit down on his right hand instead of screaming. He never really got accustomed to the blower either, as he had the warm water, and he was very uncomfortable with the whole thing such that Robert couldn't leave him to do the drying himself while he searched for something to dress him in.

Just as Robert was about to switch off the hair dryer and sneak back to Ricky's room to see if there was anything at all he could find to put the troll into, he realized that Kile's attire was a fairly rough burlap sort of material that dried pretty fast. The crisis was averted for the moment. But Rob resolved that they needed to find some normal clothing...and that he was going to need to talk Kile into returning to the troll cave for Little Ricky much sooner than in "a few months."

# Chapter 6

# Sunday Best

Mom woke the boys at 8:30 AM on Sunday morning already chewing them out for sleeping so late. She started with instructions that Kile clean up his room and the play room while Robert took a shower and then they were to switch while Rob cleaned the family room and picked up the video games. That was, until she was reminded that Little Ricky had already showered. She was so pleased she reduced their sentence to "just clean up the family room and video games." The conversation made Robert wonder what Ricky would be doing to stay clean while he was with the trolls. _Do they even have bathtubs or showers?_ He wondered. But Ricky was such a little beast when it came to hygiene he gave up the thought and figured Ricky was going to need an hour long soak once he did come home anyway.

For clothes, Mom had picked out some nice semi-dress pants and button-up shirt for each boy. Most of the morning, Kile just followed Robert around while Mom made the selection from the chests of drawers in their rooms and they straightened up the family room. While the cleanup went fairly smoothly it was mostly because the troll was so distracted with all the interesting human things they left just hanging around the house. If he'd had them back in his own cave, Kile would have put the weird plastic cases with round, mirror-like discs into one corner, the books in another, and all the little nick-knacks like the action figures he'd found setup attacking a funny looking model of a human vehicle. In the end, Robert huffed and said they needed to go upstairs and figure out what to do about the clothes Mom laid out.

"There's no way you will fit these pants without me cutting almost half the leg off...and I don't think Mom will miss that when she goes to wash them. Could you wear the shirt?" Robert asked while they stared at the clothing on the bed.

"Mmmm..." Kile grumbled. "Maybe. But _glimmer_ would be better!"

The little troll had stuck a finger up in the air, cocked his head to one side and raised one eyebrow, as if he were awaiting confirmation from Robert on the matter.

"You mean you could make yourself look like Ricky...wearing _these_ clothes?"

Kile climbed up on the bed and bounced a little. He spread his arms and grinned, almost just as Ricky might have done. "Of course! I just need to see it...and practice a little."

"Good. Start practicing," Rob replied. But as he had turned and started heading out of the room to go get the clothes for him in his own, he heard a raspy little giggle and a squeak and had to turn back.

Kile was bouncing on the bed, arms flapping and a little drool splattering out here and there. He started laughing noisily.

"Stop! Kile, STOP!" Robert was flapping his own arms in a settle-down motion to try to get the troll to hold still. "You're going to get Mom in here and you don't have your glimmer turned on."

"Yes I do!" He kept bouncing and laughing uncontrollably, so much so that he finally bounced himself off the bed and landed flat on his back on the floor. The laughing continued.

"You dork, Kile! You're going to have Mom come in here and figure out what you are at some point."

Picking himself up off the floor and giggling the whole time Kile responded, "No, no. Glimmer will keep her from seeing. It going good, I think. Robert not think so?"

Robert folded his arms and watched the little troll trying to climb on top of the bed for another round of bouncing. "Actually...I think it is going pretty good. I don't know what I'm worried about. Ricky gets in trouble for bouncing on his bed so much Mom hardly even bothers anymore."

Just then Mom's voice interrupted, calling up from the stair bottom and through the slightly open door of Little Ricky's bedroom. "Ricky! Can you keep your furniture together for just one day while the cousins visit?"

But that was it. No threats for grounding, (never worked anyway), and no quick inspection. Mom was too busy prepping the afternoon meal for their guests.

"Alright then, can you show me what you look like to them?"

"You want see glimmer?" Kile asked, pausing on the bed for a moment.

"Yes. Show me what they're seeing so I know."

There was a shimmer in the air, much like when they first saw the little troll and he disappeared before Robert's eyes. However, Kile's little image merely flickered and was replaced by one of Little Ricky, eyes sparkling, large grin on his face. He was wearing the dark slacks and dress shirt that was lying on the bed. In all, it was a pretty convincing replica.

Robert quickly grabbed the duplicate clothes from the bed cover, wadded them up and threw them into the dirty clothes hamper in Ricky's closet. Kile had returned to jumping.

"Kile?" Robert asked casually.

"Hmmm?"

"How do you do that _glimmer_ exactly anyway? Do you use mental telepathy? I mean, would it work on someone who's never seen Ricky before?"

"Oh yes!" Kile replied as he continued trying to knock his breath out of himself by getting an unstable enough bounce to throw him off the bed. "What telepathy is?"

"Like using mental powers," Rob added. He watched the troll while continuing his inquiry. "Is it like hypnosis, or a jedi mind trick? Or is it like magic?"

"Ooohhh!" Kile said in a hoarse groan. He'd stopped bouncing on the bed and sat down at the edge, fixing Robert with his large yellow eyes. "It _is_ magic. Kile forget. Humans don't use magic anymore. But trolls do. We never forgot. As long as Kile know what the _glimmer_ needs to look like then I can use magic to trick other eyes."

"I see," said Robert somewhat doubtfully. Here he had a troll, a living, breathing, actual troll sitting in his brother's bedroom and he still had some doubts as to how magic could possibly work.

"Yes! And I can teach you too!"

"Really?" The response carried a fairly sarcastic tone, but part of that was that Robert didn't want to let on too much that he still wanted to believe in kid things like magic, even with a troll before him making the offer.

"Oh yes!" Kile plopped down to the floor and spun around showing off the overall effect of being Little Ricky. "Kile is best boy troll at magic. That why Queen Isabel ask me to this mission."

Kile seemed to understand he'd let slip a little too much information almost instantly. His eyes quickly searched left and right and then he slapped both hands over his mouth. He mumbled something to Robert, realized his hands were preventing it, placed them both back at his sides again and said, "Never mind."

"A mission, eh?"

"No, no!" Kile's hands were up before his face between himself and Robert. It looked a little funny because even Little Ricky was never so melodramatic nor had so much body language except when he was trying to out run the effects of one of his mischievous fires or experiments. "Not what I meant. Kile means, uh...honor. Queen Isabel gives me big honor to come live with you."

"I don't think so, Kile. I know what you meant. It was pretty clear yesterday at the dinner with Isabel in Machsa that you guys had this all set up," Robert replied. He went to the dresser and grabbed a large, worn softball and started rolling it from hand to hand as he slowly paced the room. He didn't look directly at Kile as he asked as if in contemplation, "The question is, what are you trolls up to?"

Kile's _glimmer_ dropped suddenly and he waddled up to Robert, placing his hands palm-forward again between them. "Nothing! Nothing, brother Robert. I just want to learn. The queen want to learn too. So...she...give let me do the job."

"Job?"

"Uh...let me..." Kile's eyes were flicking about the room while he placed an index finger on his lip. He realized he needed to learn a little more finesse with the human's language or he was never going to be able to woo them the way he did all the male trolls back home when he'd gotten himself backed into a corner. "She let me come live with you. Kile's idea. Queen said it okay so she can learn too. She likes to understand humans. She likes humans more than most trolls. Thinks that TV and internet and cars are magic that we not have."

"Mmm, hmm. I think I understand," Rob said as he plunked the softball back onto the dresser on its little cupped holder.

"Boys!" Mom yelled from downstairs again. "Uncle Bill and Aunt Janine are here. Can you please come down and open the door for them while I finish putting the bird in the oven?"

Kile's attention was drawn to the door for a moment and Robert groaned. As he led them both out he said, "We're not done talking about this yet."

Kile whimpered a bit, but followed him out of the bedroom to the stairwell.

## ~~~

"Ricky! You're standing right in the way again, ya goober!" said Donald.

Of course, Kile had maneuvered back in front of the cousins again while they played a first-person action game together on the video console, but it wasn't intentional. He simply wanted to see what it was all about. The troll learned quickly from the television he'd hidden in the troll caves what the moving pictures were all about, though he hadn't decided whether it was actual magic or not. He'd even figured out that he wasn't always watching the humans as they were doing things, especially since he sometimes saw the exact same story playing out on the TV, even within the same day. Certain shows which declared they were "previously recorded" gave the final clue, particularly after Kile learned what those two words basically meant. He'd decided that the television did the same thing as their own carvings, paintings and few statues the trolls had created over the years. No, all that was pretty well understood during the last twenty years or so Kile had with the TV's he had seen and used, and with what Queen Isabel had taught him from her own reconnaissance. What Kile found most intriguing about the so-called "video games" was that the two cousins seemed to be controlling what was happening on the screen.

At one point Kile had sidled up to the younger of the two cousins, a human girl apparently named KJ, and tried to push one of the buttons on the controller she was using to move her side of the screen around and perform all kinds of stunts. When he did, something went flying from the hand on the TV screen and blew up like a firework in a brilliant glowing blue light. Cousin KJ was livid. That was apparently her last plasma detonator and she needed it to get up to the next level of the structure she had been climbing to catch up to her older brother's side of the screen.

When Kile had slowly positioned himself in front of Donald for the fifth time, drawn to the screen like a moth to a flame, and Don chewed him out yet again, that was the end of it for Robert.

"You guys! He just wants to have a turn playing," Rob blurted loudly. Then more reservedly he mumbled, "and I do too."

"Dude!" cousin KJ replied, "You guys get to play this all the time. We don't have it at home so you need to let your guests try it out."

"You try two hours!" Kile said.

"What's wrong with you Ricky? Can't you speak in full sentences today?" Donald replied.

Robert thought if there was anyone he'd ever met that he hated, it was probably his cousin Donald. His Aunt and Uncle thought they were better than Rob's family just because he ran his own stone and brick supply company, and they tended to be pretty rude sometimes. But Donald thought he was the only one with a right to exist sometimes, and he seemed to revel in putting Robert and his little brother Ricky down all the time. Today, perhaps because the new video game had distracted both him and his sister more than usual, Donald was mostly content to play the ignoring game with Robert and Kile disguised as Little Ricky.

But when Kile looked to Robert sheepishly yet again and returned to his side where he was sitting in the rocking chair, Rob had decided enough was enough. This wasn't a visit. If anything, it was playing butler to the cousins in case they asked for the disc to be changed or to have a fresh cup of soda brought down to them from the kitchen.

Robert stood and quietly said, "C'mon Ky...er...Ricky."

Fortunately, the slip was quiet and unnoticed. Though Kile couldn't very easily drag his eyes from the large TV screen, he did follow his human host up the stairs and out the back door of the house into the back yard.

Once outside in the sunlight, Robert grumped under his voice, "Jerks. I hate those cousins."

Kile kneaded his hands together. He wanted things to be going better for his host, and he felt he must be to blame, although he wasn't entirely sure why. "Did Kile make those humans angry?"

"No," Rob said, throwing a rock out into the field behind their house that he'd picked up from the yard. "Well, maybe you made them mad by standing in the way, but they're always like that. If you didn't get in the way, they'd be mad that you weren't massaging their feet or something else dumb."

"Massage?" the troll placed his index finger on his bottom lip again. "Was Kile to massage mean humans' feet? What means massage?"

"Don't worry about it, Kile. I was just saying, they always find something to be jerks about. It's not your fault."

"Oh..." Kile replied, nodding his head in an effort to confirm the idea for himself.

"Kile?"

"Yes, brother Robert!"

"First! Stop calling me that!" Rob said with irritation still in his voice.

"But what does Kile call you then?"

"Well..." Rob thought for a moment. "Actually, I guess you'd better call me Robbie."

The troll was not using his _glimmer_ on Robert and the human boy could see his perplexed troll grimace and concentration in his brow. "I not hear that name. Why Robbie?"

"That's what Little Ricky called me all the time," Rob said, tossing another rock. "Mom might just notice that you...I mean Ricky, stopped calling me Robbie, so I guess you better call me that."

"But human Mom and cousins not call you Robbie," the troll continued to ponder.

"Yeah...well...I don't really like it very much. It's kinda a baby name...but it's what Ricky called me."

"Oh...So, it is like Queen Isabel. She can decide what each troll must call her too," Kile said finally figuring it out for himself and smiling at Robert again.

"Well," Rob snickered, "Not exactly. Humans generally get called what other people decide to call them. Usually you don't get to pick your own nickname."

"Nickname..." Kile went back to pondering. "Well...okay, Robbie."

Robert turned to Kile and smiled. It had only been twenty-four hours but he realized he kind of missed someone calling him that. And Kile really was trying to be a good friend it seemed like.

As they finished discussing nicknames both heard the familiar buzz of a model RC plane flying above them as it banked around town and then flew back up towards the hills and the cavern where they first met. Watching it return to its owner for a buzz past the meadow, aka: the Maple Springs airport, Robert had an idea to get free of the family visit for a while. He'd made his decision final when he noticed Kile watching the plane, mesmerized, as well.

"Hey Kile?"

"Yesssss..." the troll's voice trailed off as he watched the plane circling back towards them.

"I got an idea. Follow me."

"Okay!" and Kile bounded over a couple larger boulders placed in the back yard as decoration and followed his adopted human brother out of the back yard and into woods beyond.

As they started hiking, Robert asked, "Kile? What does Queen Isabel have you call her?"

"Well..." Kile fussed a bit as he trotted to try and keep up with the human's stride. "She give me special gift."

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"She let me choose what to call her." Kile was getting a little out of breath, so Robert slowed his stride a little.

"Really? How'd you get to do that?" Rob asked as he planted a hand on a particularly thick scrub oak trunk and stepped up over a slight ridge.

"Oh...Um...Queen ask Kile to work with her. We learn about humans together. She say I earned special right."

When Robert stopped and turned for a minute to await the little wheezing troll he noticed the troll was smiling to himself.

"I get it. Special assignment, special name then, eh?" Robert said, finding his own smile. At some point he was going to need to pin down why it was the trolls were so interested in the humans lately, but for now he thought of Kile as just being another Little Ricky; annoying, but lovable at the same time. Though he'd never let Ricky know that's what he thought.

"Yes. Special." huffed the little troll. "After that, other trolls not pick on me as much."

Robert was starting to get more of a picture of what being a troll was like. It wasn't a whole lot different from life in a middle school apparently.

"So?... What do you call her?"

Kile finally caught up with Robert on the ridge. He grinned ear to ear at Robert when he replied, "I call her Ti'eir Dorna Scharpfen. But usually just say Dorna. Dorna sort of mean "Queen" in troll."

The two stared at each other smiling, though Rob didn't exactly know why. Kile continued.

"Ti'eir Dorna Scharpfen sorta means, "my secret queen"." Kile then averted his eyes. "Also can mean "My secret friend"..."

He huffed a little and tried to meet Rob's eyes, but dropped them again bashfully. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Then, smacking his lips a bit, he turned and started walking up the hill again. Rob grinned when his back was turned and then moved to take the lead again.

## ~~~

Ahead of Robert and Kile, just before they were about to step into the Maple Springs Airport, they heard the buzzing start of Dan's B52 model plane. This is what Rob had been hoping for. And there was Dan, eyeing his plane as it took off from the grassy landing strip.

"Hey Dan!"

"What'sup?" Dan nodded, not looking away from the plane rising in the sky.

"Oh... you know. Need a break from some family," Rob replied.

Kile, disguised as Ricky, kept staring awkwardly at Daniel. The stare and open mouth look was powerful enough that even Dan, distracted by it, looked down from the plane and caught Kile's attention. He smiled at the little boy and nodded, trying to be friendly enough. "You okay Ricky?"

"Mmmm..." the troll mumbled.

After a moment more, Rob, standing behind Daniel's shoulders motioned for Kile to come back and talk with him. It took some pretty drastic arm movements and mouthing "Come here!" before the troll noticed and stepped away from Dan a little bit. Once he was out of the line of sight from Dan, Rob grabbed Kile's arm and pulled him close.

"What are you doing? He's gonna think something's wrong if you don't stop staring like that!"

Kile cusped his hand around his mouth and tried as best as he could to utter a hoarse and raspy whisper to Robert. "Why is Daniel skin so dark?...It's very brown!"

"What?" the question took Rob by surprise and didn't quite register what Kile was asking at first.

Dragging him as quickly and quietly as he could, Robert took Kile several more steps away, hopefully out of earshot of Daniel before the little troll said something terribly rude.

"What are you talking about?" Rob asked again.

Kile squirmed in the firm grip. "Why his skin so dark? I not see a human with such dark skin before!"

The troll seemed perplexed. Perhaps he was mesmerized by the difference in skin tone, but Robert was starting to feel a little uncomfortable with Kile's blunt reaction.

"Are you saying you haven't seen a black person before?" Rob asked.

"Daniel _not_ black! He's dark brown!...It's very pretty. Remind Kile of forest," Kile continued. He scratched his head and mopey hair with his long fingernails. "Are brown humans okay to talk to?"

Now, Rob was _very_ glad he had pulled Kile away to talk with him. "What?! Of course it's okay! Why wouldn't it be okay?"

"Well..." Kile looked as though his hand had been slapped. "It's just that...there are different kinds of trolls."

"Yeah?" Robert said, standing upright for a moment to check on what Daniel was doing and if he needed to move the little troll even further away. Dan was fixed on the plane and so he knelt down next to Kile and allowed him to continue.

"Yeah. You know...like..." Kile said and then leaned in really close to whisper the last bit, "like the bridge trolls! They're _green_!"

Kile stood back again from Robert and nodded his head very carefully and looked upon Robert with serious eyes.

Robert flapped his hands against his side before responding. "So...You're saying you're not allowed to talk to Bridge Trolls because they're green?"

"No!" Kile responded agitatedly. "Never! Because they are dangerous! And they're mean!"

Robert was beginning to get the same sense of unease about having made the exchange with the trolls for Ricky. How was he going to keep a crazy troll out of sight and out of mind for several days, or weeks...or months. Who knew how long he'd have to keep up this charade? Obviously, trolls saw things completely different than humans did. But then a thought occurred to him. That difference was the very reason Queen Isabel wanted Kile to go out with Robert and observe in the first place. A sense of duty and big brotherly responsibility tugged at Rob's emotions. He decided he should continue to try to reason with Kile.

"Well, Kile...maybe that's all just a misunderstanding?"

"No, no, no! Green trolls with horns are very, very bad. Never let one see you, Robbie!"

Kile adopted the use of the name Robert asked him to use easily enough. Perhaps reason was not beyond the little troll after all. However, as he pondered, Kile started huffing and flapping his arms. He was becoming a little distressed and Rob felt he had no real way to prevent it. The troll was reacting to something totally ridiculous, so how could he convince him to forget about it?

"Okay, so look Kile!" Rob started. He found he had to grab him by the shoulders again to get him to hold still and to stop looking over at Daniel with trepidation in his eyes. "It doesn't matter what color skin we have, humans are all _exactly_ the same!...You got it?"

"Daniel, not going to eat us?" Kile asked, one finger on his lip and the other hand grasping Rob's coat sleeve.

"No. There is no way Daniel is going to eat us. Look Kile, there's lots of black people in the world....and yellow...and red...and even olive, I guess, from what Dad says. But none of them are going to hurt us just because our skins are different colors, because we're all the same, really. You gotta relax, buddy! Stop looking for things to panic about."

"Daniel will not smash us if we get in his way?" Kile continued to push.

"No! Look, Kile! Daniel is just a human. He's just the same as you or me!"

The two locked eyes for a moment. Then both started giggling.

"Daniel not a troll, Robbie," came the quiet response and with that Kile started waddling slowly back to Daniel's side to see what he could see. He called back over his shoulder, "And Robbie not either!"

"You alright there, Ricky?" Dan asked once both he and Robert returned.

"Oh yes!" Kile said with a large grin. He flashed Rob a thumbs-up and winked, making Robert wonder where exactly the little troll had picked that up. "I am not scared of you at all now!"

"What?" Daniel said, glancing at the image of Little Ricky and then up at Robert. "I've never known you to be scared before, Ricky. In fact...most people in Maple Springs are afraid of you!"

While Dan went back to focusing on bringing the plane around again in a circle to buzz above the meadow, Kile looked to Robert for explanation. There was none coming, but Robert tried to redirect the conversation.

"Oh... He just wants to try your plane and was afraid to ask you."

Rob looked back at Kile and smiled and winked himself.

"No way, Ricky!" Dan said. "You know my parents' rules. You gotta be at least twelve to fly my plane. You'd totally wreck it."

Somehow Kile picked up on the deception. He folded his arms and huffed a little. "No I wouldn't!"

"Yeah, little dude. You're a total spaz," Dan replied, but his tone was familiar and it didn't seem to upset Kile at all. "You get a couple years older, like Robert, and I'll let you have a go."

After another half a minute of flying, Robert cleared his throat and spoke. "I don't supposed that means you'd let me try, does it?"

Dan thought for a moment. "When's your birthday again?"

Rob seemed to lose just a bit of luster as he replied. "Not for another two weeks."

Dan directed the plan around towards them again before responding. "Tell you what. I don't think you better trying taking off and landing yet...but here. You can try controlling it in the air for a minute."

Kile gasped with glee and grinned, clapping his hands together once.

"Really?!" Rob smiled.

"Sure. Just don't push too hard on either stick. Just get used to it first," Daniel replied holding out the RC controller to him.

For the next five minutes or so, before Daniel said the plane needed to come in for a refuel, Rob circled around the meadow while Dan gave directions. Kile watched in amazement, both the plane and the two older human boys. If he'd had his journal with him that Queen Isabel had given to him before their departure from Machsa he would have made a little note about how easily humans worked together. He thought for sure it was something his own people could learn from and made a strong mental note of it so that he wouldn't forget to jot it down later that night back in Ricky's room.

After a long visit with Daniel the older boy started packing up his plane, and Robert with Kile bid goodnight. As they were nearing home again they could hear Rob's mother calling their names and decided they'd better hurry up.

Somewhat out of breath while trying to keep up, Kile said to Rob, "You're right, Robbie! Daniel is a _very_ nice human. I hope all humans are like that."

## ~~~

The house guests who had all come for a little celebration of Uncle Bill's retirement from the fire department in one of the towns down in the valley had already left when Mom finally came up to talk to the two boys. Dinner was done, mostly in quiet, except for where the cousins could slip in not-so-subtle remarks about the maturity of both Ricky and Robert. Cake had been served, though R & R were sent up to their rooms to sit quietly. During the pause, Robert kept wondering what Kile was up to in the room next door as there were bumps and other noises coming from Ricky's room, but he was hesitant about calling out to him with Mom in such a foul mood. He was about to find out when his mother passed by his door way quickly telling him to step into Ricky's room so she could talk to them.

"Aaaah! Arrrggh..." he heard his mother say before Rob could get off his bed and come out to join them next door. "Ricky! What on Earth are you doing?"

Robert found his mom standing in Ricky's doorway assessing a very fine mess he could see looking past her from behind. Apparently Kile had disassembled most of the furniture in Ricky's room and stock-piled the components into something completely different. Both parent and older boy stepped into the room and simply observed while the vision of Little Ricky popped his head out from under a blanket propped up on top of the assembly looking at them sheepishly.

"I just trying to get comfortable..." Kile said as humbly as he could muster.

The drawers of the chest of drawers had been pulled out and stacked onto of the dresser itself a couple high and then again on the opposite side of what appeared to be a little miniature cave made of the bedroom pieces. The box spring and mattress had been removed from the bed and looked to be forming the back two walls of the little cave. Clothes and bedsheets had either been integrated into the construction as part of the roof or as additional walls and entrance doors, or had been thrown off to one side of the bedroom, entirely discarded and ignored. On the floor of the cave Kile had built was a few blue markings apparently created with water color paints.

"Oh...Kile...er... Ricky! What did you do, dude?" Rob said as he pushed around his mom and started trying to gather up the art supplies.

"Color sticks did not work good on this floor. So I try to use this paint."

Looking carefully, it appeared some crayons had been rubbed around on the carpet trying to make the little blue glyphs. There were also all kinds of knick-knacks and toys which had been broken down and crushed, then piled into the make-shift cave. Rob wasn't sure but he supposed it was supposed to be troll bedding of some kind. Kile had tried to match his home here in Ricky's bedroom, and if Robert knew his mother, somehow he was going to be blamed instead of Ricky, even if in this case it happened to be a little troublesome troll.

Mom was so red in the face, Robert actually thought she was going to explode.

"I try to make comfortable..." Kile said, standing now and wringing his hands.

"Comfortable?!!" Mom yelled. It was so loud the window panes in the room rattled for another three or four seconds after she quieted. Then the heavy breath and sputtering started. And then she left the room.

They could hear Mrs. Johansson stomp down the hall and then down the stairs. They heard her head out to the garage and the car started. Within seconds some screeching from the tires could be heard, perhaps _barely_ long enough for the garage door opener to fully pull the door open, let alone permit enough time for Mom to get the car out of the driveway in reverse. And she was gone. They did not hear from Robert's mother again until nearly 9:00. The reaction was the worst Robert had ever seen, and he'd wondered if Dad had in fact ever seen when his redhead had truly lost it.

"Kile..." Rob started quietly. Then he noticed some dark paint on the troll's arms and cheeks. "What's this stuff all over you?"

The little troll did not comprehend what exactly had just happened, but he knew he'd done something wrong. He fussed, smacked his lips, made to move things around and then thought better of it. "Um...I try to make my skin brown."

Robert was thinking just how much Kile was like Ricky at that moment. "Why? Were you trying to be like Dan?"

Finally Kile smiled, though weakly, as he nodded his head and hummed an agreement.

Robert sat down heavily on the bed's frame and blew out a sigh. "Kile...if you're going to stay...somehow you're going to have to not do things until _after_ you ask me whether it's a good idea or not."

Scooping up the paints, brush and a sock being used as a rag from the troll's hands, Robert continued. "Tomorrow is school. We only have two weeks left. Somehow, you've got to get through that by just...sitting there. Don't do _anything_ to call attention."

The two looked at each other solemnly. Kile's eyes were close to tears. He didn't want to do anything wrong, that was clear, but he seemed absolutely compelled to experiment in the wrong thing at just the wrong minute... _exactly_ like Ricky liked to.

"Do you understand, Kile?"

Kile nodded vehemently, then slowed the head jiggling, looked at Robert scrutinizing his face and then, started shaking his head slowly.

They talked then. Robert tried to do his best to explain what school was about, what the bus was like, what humans did day in and day out. He realized as he explained, that Robert's world had become a lot less interesting than he might have thought it was if the troll had simply asked him in the cavern city of Machsa what it was like to be a human boy. Disappointment was digging at Robert's heart, despite his original intent to just get through the ordeal of having a troll guest. A great tale for Kile to tell about humans upon his return had somehow become very appealing in the last twenty-four hours for Robert, and he didn't want to be the one to curtail it.

When they were done speaking, Rob tucked Kile into bed in a manner of speaking. Even though the nights were still cool, he opened the window some because the little troll had asked to be able to smell the night smells. The blinds were closed though and every light upstairs that could be, including the little built-in LED night-light in the hallway, was either turned off or covered up. With that, the two went to bed a little early, just before Mom returned, Robert dreading what would happen the next day in third grade at school once Kile made an appearance as Little Ricky.

Once mom came upstairs, stepping quietly, she passed Robert's room with a momentary pause. It only slightly woke him and he attempted to stay asleep, or at least appear that way, as best as he could. Then she went into Ricky's room. She stood there watching the figure breathing under a few clothes piled onto Kile's back. It was lucky that she didn't try to climb into the manufactured cave structure to say goodnight because Kile had not practiced well enough with his _glimmer_ that it maintained while he slept. She would have gotten a very rude awakening if she had. But when she was done, smiled and gave a little chortle, she went back to Robert's room. She gave him a small peck on the forehead and whispered that she loved him and thanked him for watching out for Ricky. Robert's heart twinged a bit at that, wondering what she'd say if she knew where Ricky really was. And then she went to bed herself.

Sometimes, a little while away from the boys on a drive or a walk was all that was needed to gain a little perspective. Mom slept soundly that night.

# Chapter 7

# Kile's First (and last?) Day of School

At the bus stop, all went about as well or better than can be expected. Kile stared openly at some of the children. They in turn grimaced and gave him a wide birth. If Little Ricky was considered the weirdo, doofus or troublemaker of the neighborhood beforehand, Kile's gawking, wide-eyed curiosity only served to make the perception stronger among the other children. When the bus pulled up to the stop, Kile had a moment of despair about the sharp climb. It seemed too much for the little troll. But without really saying anything the two communicated by eye contact, held back until the end of the line and then Robert subtly helped the troll climb aboard. With the _glimmer_ in effect both were pretty confident that nothing looked too out of the ordinary...except for how nice Robert was being to Little Ricky.

Though neither really thought of it, it was a great blessing that the middle school was next door and basically attached to the elementary school where the boys attended. Robert walked with Kile to Mrs. Haversham's third grade class. On the way to the door in the hallway there were several hand-drawn self-portraits created by the children. The troll recognized his exchange's picture immediately because Little Ricky was standing next to a taller boy with a red baseball cap on, and the name "Richard Johansson III" was scrawled in very large letters to begin with, and then sloped and curved downwards to the right as Ricky had tried to squish the remaining letters onto the page. Kile pointed and then looked at Robert and smiled. Rob merely nodded and grinned in return. Robert himself did not know that Little Ricky had included him on his picture and it gave him a momentary buzz of pride.

Just before rounding into the door, Robert took Kile gently by the shoulder and went through last minute prep.

"Is your _glimmer_ holding out?" he asked.

"Oh! Yes! I practiced the last two days a lot. I think I am better than the queen!" Kile said, gleaming.

The troll was wearing a pair of shorts they had picked up that looked just about like long pants on the creature's short legs without the use of a _glimmer_ , and a long-sleeved printed shirt from Robert's closet. It had a picture of a waterfall, some pines and a large full moon with the words "Yosemite" written across it. All in all, the troll looked almost acceptable to Robert even without the benefit of _glimmer_.

"Alright...run through what you're going to do then."

"I sit in the chair third row over and second chair back," Kile concentrated and placed his black finger-nailed index finger upon his lower lip again. "Wait for a bell noise. Don't be surprised...Listen to the teacher. Try to do what she says. If I don't understand, watch the other human children."

Robert was nodding. It seemed they'd worked out the plan pretty well. In his mind, Kile should be able to follow directions better than Ricky considering he was well over one-hundred years old. But the more time he spent with Kile, the more he felt that trolls must age relatively slowly in mind as well as in height and girth.

"Good! Good!" Rob rasped at him. "Just be sure, when the _second_ set of bells ring to meet me out here in the hallway. The first one, just follow the kids and watch them play. But the second one you need to be _right here_ to meet me. I'll just pretend I have to go to the bathroom or something from my fourth period. Then I can show you where to go for lunch."

"Hmmmm..." Kile mumbled, smacking his lips.

Rob hoped the troll was actually listening and not totally lost in thought about food at lunch time. They'd had a pretty good sized eggs and bacon breakfast that Mom had made for them. It had been a sort of an apology, but then Mom had set some strong rules about where Kile was allowed to make messes and what she expected of him now that he was going to be turning ten late in the year. Kile had almost slipped and said he was turning one-hundred and thirty-eight the next year, but Robert used a second helping of bacon lumped on Kile's dish to prevent it. Fortunately, both scrambled eggs with cheese in them and bacon suited the troll's appetite well enough it did not prove to be a problem to explain to Mom why Ricky wouldn't eat his favorite breakfast. Somehow though, Kile had gotten from home, to bus, to the beginning bell and was getting hungry again already.

"Alright. Go have fun. Meet me _here_ though! Right?" Rob asked one last time as he started walking away.

"Yes, Robbie. I meet _here_!" the troll repeated pointing both fingers at the floor just before him.

Then he too turned and moved to his own labor for the day.

## ~~~

Through the day all seemed to be going according to plan. Kile had indeed met Robert outside Mrs. Haversham's class for lunch. She only shook her head at Rob when she saw him come to collect Little Ricky. He wasn't really sure whether she were shaking her head at him for being out of class at the Middle School, or if something had happened, but he didn't ask and decided unless someone said something it was better not to know.

Lunch was relatively straight-forward too. Rob watched Kile long enough in the cafeteria to ensure he got some food, a chicken-fried steak and mashed potatoes dish to which the troll turned up his nose only a little, and then sit down. He was reasonably confident Kile would get back to the classroom. He was not entirely right about that last part though.

At the end of school, the middle-graders were released about ten minutes before the elementary so that they could get all the way to the end of the building and be in line for the buses without interfering with the younger kids' assault on the hallways when the last bell rang. Robert went to Mrs. Haversham's class and awaited his "brother" in the hallway.

But Kile didn't come out. After twenty-some-odd other children poured out, pushed past and bumped Robert to get to the buses first in line, Kile was still not to be seen. He stuck his head in the room just as Mrs. H was headed out.

"Oh!" she said clasping a few papers she'd been carrying bundled close to her chest. "Why, um? Are you looking for Richard, young man?"

"Yes," Rob said as he tried to peer past and take in a look at the entire classroom. Ricky's backpack was there at the right desk, but no Kile. "Is he not here?"

"Honestly, I thought he was. But about twenty minutes ago as we returned to our seats from our reading pods, he was gone," she replied.

"Uh-oh," Rob said quietly under his breath as he turned away and looked down the hallways."

"I can't explain it. I know he was right there one moment...then the next he was gone."

"Okay," he acknowledged and then shouldered his pack on both arms and started trotting down the hallway to see if the little doofus of a troll had headed towards the buses on his own.

Mrs. H called after him, "I've called the office and asked them to look for him about ten minutes ago. Good luck!"

Apparently Mrs. Haversham was not too quick on taking up the search for Little Ricky, or wasn't very worried. It didn't surprise Robert too much. Something similar had happened a couple times earlier in the year with the real Ricky too. But Robert was sensing this was likely a little different situation. Then it happened.

Overhead the speakers suddenly blared in a nervous, older woman's voice, "Would Mr. Robert Johansson from the middle school please come to Mrs. Gardner's kindergarten class in the Elementary wing?"

Then there was a bang and a scrape like a school desk or table was being slid across the linoleum, followed by the same voice calling out in surprise, "Oh!"

Robert quickly reversed directions and started heading to the area where the younger aged classes were on the east side of the building. Under his breath he grumped, "So that's where you went you little twerp."

While nearing the open doorway to Mrs. Gardner's kindergarten he heard what had to have been old Mrs. G herself trying to control the situation and Rob's heart sank. "No, no, no! Don't use those! Really Richard! Why are you so out of control? You're _always_ out of control! But why do you have to do it in my classroom?"

Once standing in the doorway, a hand on the doorjam of either side of the opening, Robert was pleased to see the situation actually wasn't nearly as bad as the bedroom the night before. While Kile ran about with one boy and one girl chasing him and laughing as they held rolls of toilet paper that were draped around Kile's head and neck, the teacher was busily picking up loose items from the floor. There were a couple other children in the room but it seemed they had finally lost interest and though smiling as they watched Little Ricky they were heading out the door. Mrs. Gardner caught him standing in the doorway as a pair of six-year-olds squeezed past him.

"Oh thank goodness! Robert, isn't it?" she said, approaching him with both hands extended. " _Please_ take your little brother to the bus. He's got his hands into everything!"

Kile had his _glimmer_ on full force so Robert saw what everyone else saw: Little Ricky running around with something white smeared all over his shirt, some various princess and car stickers up and down his arms, and a great big Cheshire grin. Between his laughter and the two kindergarteners trailing after him, Rob couldn't help but smile himself. Then he entered the room and got ready to grab Kile on his next pass nearby.

"Actually, Mrs. Gardner, this really doesn't seem that bad. You should see what he did to the carpet last night."

Mrs. G stopped and placed her hands on her hips dramatically. "Oh really?! And who is it you're expecting to clean up this mess, anyway? Will you?"

Rob tried to mouth an answer but before he could, she continued, "I hardly think so! No! You and your hellion little brother have to get on the bus! You can't miss getting home or you'll be in trouble with your parents! I know! I know! Now, go on and take your brother away, and be sure he doesn't return tomorrow."

"Ricky! Hey Ricky!" Robert yelled to catch the little troll's attention. Suddenly as he came full circle around the room towards the entrance Kile ran full force into Robert's hands and nearly knocked him down. As it turned out, Kile was _considerably_ heavier than Little Ricky. "Ooof! Ricky! Ricky, listen! We have to go now or we'll miss the bus."

Just as Robert was muscling the troll out the door and the two remaining kindergarteners waved goodbye, Mr. Fisch, the principal, entered the room. He eyed the two boys, and then looked at Mrs. Gardner who was pouting and near tears as she straightened some papers and books that had been knocked over during Kile's escapades.

Turning to Rob, Mr. Fisch said, "Robert, I think you and your brother better hurry to the buses if you don't want to spend the night here."

It was a little bit of a threat, which Rob caught on to immediately. It wasn't hard to recognize the oh-not-Little-Ricky-Johansson-again glower in his eyes. And then Mr. F turned and walked quickly over to Mrs. G. On their way down the hallway, the boys heard Mrs. G's sobs and frustration pour out. Apparently, Kile's tirade was just the icing on the cake for a particularly bad day. But later, Robert couldn't help but feel bad about the day when he learned that this was to be the last year Mrs. Gardner ever taught Kindergarten. She retired, moved to Cancun, and never looked back on her forty-three years of teaching ever again.

"Kile! What were you thinking?" Rob asked in hushed tones as he half dragged the troll by his shirt sleeve through the now nearly empty hallways.

"I hungry some more," Kile said, dropping the _glimmer_ effect for Robert's sake and showing his own forty-seven-toothed grin.

"What? Didn't you get enough for lunch?"

"Um...it wasn't very good. Not enough potatoes...and they were all smashed up" the troll said matter-of-factly while he pondered something on his left index and fore-fingers and then stuck them into his mouth to lick them.

"So...why were you in the Kindergarten room then?" Robert asked.

"I smell something good! When I find it, smaller humans were eating brown, yummy-smelling sticks."

"I see... that was probably their afternoon snack."

"Yes! Snack!" Kile said excited and grinned again, squeezing his eyes shut momentarily with delight. "One small human see me at the door while teacher reading a book and he give me snack!"

"Is that right?" Robert huffed as he continued to try to quicken Kile's pace. "But that doesn't mean you can just go into any old class you want to."

"Yes, but then I see bottles of their white snack. I point and ask small human for it because the other snack make me feel so good! So, he take me in class."

"Didn't the teacher say anything?"

"Er...yes. She say something. I smiled at her and said I hurry. Then boy give me bottle of white snack and it wasn't as good. But brown snack give me energy."

"Wait? Are you saying you tried to eat the paste?" Robert stopped for a moment to ask.

"Yes! Paste! That what teacher called it. But she got very angry."

Robert thought that was pretty funny, that a one-hundred and thirty-seven year-old troll still had no better sense than a kindergartener. "And how did it taste?"

"Blech!" Kile stuck out his tongue. "But I eat it all. I was hungry."

Rob's eyebrows rose. "You ate a whole bottle?"

"Yes! Not as bad as MacN'Cheese...it like that cheese...but a little bit spicier."

Kile started walking again, and so did Robert to keep up.

"And the running around?"

"The bell rang and then all the kids start running to put stuff away and get backpacks. I help them."

"Oh..." Rob thought perhaps that wasn't the worst thing in the world. But obviously the hub-bub transition into Tee-Peeing the room along with Kile was a bit too much. "And how about these stickers?"

"Some new human friends put them on me. Pretty cool, huh?" Kile said, pressing one or two of the stickers more firmly onto his arm.

"Cool? Where'd you hear that?"

Kile grinned at Robert yet again, pleased as punch. "The new friends tell me it is cool."

"Mmm, hmm," Rob nodded.

They walked out the front door of the Elementary side of the buildings and approached the bus number 94G that took them back up to their street in Maple Springs. While waiting for the last child or two to climb on before they did themselves, Robert asked one last question.

"So how did you get out of Mrs. Haversham's class, then?"

"Oh! I just used _shimmer_ ," Kile said. Then realization dawned on the troll's face. "Oh! I forget Ricky's back pack there."

"It's alright. Let's just get home. I have a feeling Mom's going to be getting a call soon, and we'd better make sure she doesn't have to drive down here to get us or it will be worse," Robert answered.

"When will we get it, Robbie?" Kile asked.

"Don't worry about it. It will be there tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? Oh! How many days do we go to school?" Kile said with heavy anticipation.

"Oh. Yeah. Well, if you don't get kicked out in the next two weeks we've got another...nine days of school left."

"Wow! Nine whole days! I will have lots of fun," the troll smirked as he plopped into the bench seat to which Rob had pointed. The smirk and look in Kile's eye was a little bit dis-settling to Robert at that point.

"Oh boy," Rob said under his breath. "Are you sure we don't need to trade back with Little Ricky before then?"

"No, no!" Kile answered, bobbing his head and bouncing slightly on the seat. "This is very good. I am learning a lot about humans."

"Yeah... at least you seem to be learning how to speak English a little better anyway."

"And Spanish too!"

"What?" Rob asked.

"Teacher had us read some words that she said were Spanish. I not ever hear them before," Kile's face was very serious. He put his finger to his lips again and concentrated. "Gato means cat. Quattro means four. Dias means day, and dos means two!"

Robert nodded and said with little conviction, "Very impressive."

Secretly, Robert wondered how many near-twelve-year-olds there could be in the world that were friends with a multi-lingual smallish troll. _Of_ _the billions of kids my age, why do I get to be the lucky one?_ he asked himself in frustration.

The bus started up and rumbled away from the school. Kile closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the rattling and the vibrations from the exhaust tingling his head. Robert closed his eyes and thought about how good it would be to just sneak off to the family room with a bowl of icecream and watch a sci-fi marathon on Saturday without Ricky. And then he realized it was less likely that Kile would find something to do on his own, and that he'd be stuck playing host for a long, stressful while.

## ~~~

It was true that Mom had received a call by the time the bus had dropped off the boys. But she didn't seem nearly as stressed about it. She took Ricky aside and asked him a little about it, and he pretty much gave about the same story as he had told Robert. Fortunately, the idea of Little Ricky wanting to try to eat paste didn't clue her in much. She reminded him, with a smile, that he'd already tried paste several times before and said every time that he didn't like it.

"You'd think you'd know by now," she said, gave him a squeeze and then sent him out with a PB&J to help quash his continued appetite.

The boys met up again in Robert's room where he'd been waiting for the troll to finish his so-called lecture with his mother.

"I don't understand why you always get off so easy," he grinned.

"You mean Ricky!" the troll correct him. "I like this sandwich...I still don't like this bread. It still taste like bag. Hmmm...or like paste. But the jelly is very yummy. And peanut butter taste sort of like the snack small human gave me at school."

Through some trial and error description and charades, Robert figured Kile had been given a stick of a candy bar with cookie and peanut butter. But in that case it was the chocolate Kile liked most. And apparently, the chocolate tended to make trolls a little goofy. Rob decided he'd better manage the troll's diet much more closely while he yet remained in his house or there could be worse problems than a freaked-out, elderly Kindergarten teacher.

# Chapter 8

# The Zoo, And All Which That Implies

The rest of the week at school didn't exactly go without incident, but none of them were much worse than driving poor Mrs. Gardner of the Kindergarteners crazy. All in all, a fairly successful week whether it was Little Ricky himself or a socially awkward troll disguised as him. However, Friday was the third grade trip to the zoo, and Mom had already turned in her approval on the release form a couple weeks earlier, so of course Kile would be going. For several days as soon as Robert realized the potential dilemma he'd been working on getting Mom to go with the class as a volunteer parent, and giving reasons why she should call him out of class and excuse him so he could be with them as a family trip too. None seemed to work. Mom apparently didn't think it was at all necessary for either condition, and it was too late anyway. All volunteer slots were full.

Then, luck struck! As Robert picked up Kile from Little Ricky's classroom, Mrs. Haversham mentioned to Robert that one of the student-escorts from the middle school was actually leaving on an early summer vacation with his own family and she wondered if Rob would like to fill the slot. She tantalized him with a free entrance, but it wasn't necessary. Robert jumped at the opportunity, recognizing only later that evening that Mrs. H might have set it all up just so she could have the older sibling help keep Little Ricky under control at the zoo. But it didn't matter. Mom was willing enough to sign Robert up as an escort and wondered why Robert seemed so very interested in animals this time. He convinced her that he just thought it would be fun to go on the trip with Ricky, because Ricky loved animals so much. A promise to take a lot of photos for scrap books helped quash any suspicions too.

Thursday night, Robert tried to review what they'd see at the zoo and how Kile should behave. He fretted it was all for naught because the troll was a little too excited by the mention of getting treats along with PB&J sandwiches for lunch while they were at the zoo.

"PBJ! PBJ! Robbie and Kile likes PBJ!" Kile said, stomping around the room while earnestly trying to acknowledge the things Robert was telling him, but having great difficulty in doing it. Although Rob didn't come away from the troll feast thinking there was a lot of variety in their diet, trolls apparently were foodies. Smallish mountain trolls from Machsa under Loafer Mountain, anyway. "Oh! And chocolate!!!"

## ~~~

All three third grade classes lined up on two long buses parked outside about fifteen minutes after school started on Friday. Robert was of course assigned to Ricky's group of four kids. He'd noted that most groups had five kids in the group, except for his own. He considered it a blessing. One of the other three children had a mom with the group and Rob was to be her student escort assistant. Each student was given a sheet to mark down things they saw at the zoo plus a couple extra items Mrs. Haversham had provided. Robert and the other mother, Mrs. Davis, split the papers up as well as the sack lunches the kids had brought with them and placed them into a backpack for Rob and a large hand bag for Mrs. Davis.

Kile was bouncing on his toes and eager to be moving. He hadn't even asked for a morning snack yet he was apparently so excited, although Rob did notice him eyeing the sack lunches he put into the backpack very closely. Kile had kept his mouth shut about it, but there was just a small bit of drool coming off his lip for a minute before he went back to bouncing and looking all about.

Once on the bus the teacher kept the students entertained with some songs they'd learned and by telling jokes. It was a good thing too, because the bus ride to the zoo was a good thirty-five minutes and some of the students, Kile included, were near bursting out of their seats by the time they'd arrived.

After the group had collected their tickets, and the three teachers and principal had handed out large matching necklaces with names on them so that the students could be all rounded up at the end of the trip, Mrs. Davis, Robert and their collection of four little hooligans headed off down the first trail through tall Eucalypts, pines and other trees that had been planted to shade both animals and pathways. In May the sun was warm and could make for a hot day, but the annual third grade zoo trip was always started in the morning and done by about one. The park was cool and comfortable and the animals were active. Kile was ecstatic.

"Wow, Robbie! There is an elephant! Humans keep _elephants_ as pets?!" the troll asked.

Robert tried to step just a ways away from Mrs. Davis and the rest of the group to try to keep the awkward questions from tipping off anyone to Kile's disguise.

"No, no," Rob replied in muffled tones. "These aren't pets here. I mean...they're taken care of, but the zookeepers try to make it natural for them in their cages."

"Hmmmm," Kile pondered, tapping his index finger on his teeth again. "Then, why do they put them in cages at all?"

"Uh..." Robert thought the answer was self-explanatory, even to a little troll. "Because you can't have a lion or an elephant just roaming around the United States now, can you?"

"Why not?" Kile pushed back, as they started walking again to catch up to their group.

"Well...that would be pretty dangerous. Probably for both the humans and the animals."

"Then humans should not bring them here and leave them where they belong," came the reply.

The conversation bantered back and forth for over five minutes while Robert felt some sort of obligation to justify why humans had zoos. Apparently, mountain trolls did not keep zoos. In fact, he learned, even the animals they use for food were all free range and permitted to live as they'd like until needed. Rob was wise enough though to stay quiet about human farms and slaughter houses. He thought that could be another hour long conversation on its own.

And then they arrived at the native animals section. Kile and Robert were suddenly surrounded on both sides by displays with big horned sheep, a bobcat, and then a larger containment that housed three wolves. One wolf strode right up to the fence where Kile and Robert were looking and the other two paced about behind it, seemingly keeping an eye out.

Kile very quietly mumbled, "They can see me."

"Of course they can."

"No!" Kile looked at Robert and spoke, still in a raspy whisper, more urgently. "They can _see_ me."

"Oh!" Rob replied and paid closer attention.

"Do you think they will give me away?" Kile said, slowly extending a hand, palm up towards the fence as far as he could reach by stepping up on the guardrail.

"No...but climbing up like that might!" Rob hissed and pulled Kile down by his shirt. "I don't understand, can only the wolves see what you are?"

They started walking again to catch up with Mrs. Davis, just as she turned to eye them both suspiciously.

"Oh, they can _all_ see me, Robbie," Kile gleamed, looking up at him. "But trolls don't really talk to bobcats, or goats much....We eat goats though."

Kile's eyebrows cocked for a moment while he considered that.

"Mmm...actually, that's maybe why goats and trolls don't talk much."

"Yeah, I could see how that might mess up a conversation a little," Rob said with a smirk. "So, when you say you talk to the animals...are you saying you actually _talk_ to the animals?"

Kile giggled in his trollish laugh as he kicked a pebble and skipped a bit on the path. "Not with words like humans, no. But we know what they are saying."

"So...Kile..."

"Hmmm?"

"What was that wolf saying to you then?" Rob asked. He was dying to pin Kile down to some ridiculous fantasy. It was hard not to be, particularly when it was so much like talking to his doofus little brother about something he'd just made up in his head. But he was also honestly curious, or perhaps worried.

"He said he knows Dronosh," the troll continued strolling casually towards the big cats display area. "He also said he wants out."

"Really?" Robert scoffed.

"Yes. He does not like it in there. He says he and his mates cannot run long enough and they don't hunt in there."

"No, no, I mean about Dronosh!" Rob interjected.

"Oh! Yes. He knows Dronosh."

"Well, that's an interesting coincidence. How do you suppose a wolf that knows Dronosh ended up here at the zoo?"

"Mmm..." Kile pondered with his finger. "Maybe humans tricked him."

Robert was a little perplexed at Kile's casualness about it. "No, I don't think so. But how is it the couple wolves we see in the zoo also happen to know Dronosh? Have you ever met these wolves before?"

"No. But I don't get to talk to the wolves very much."

"Why not?" asked Rob.

"Well...King Karapace says I provoke them," Kile said, still casually.

"Ha!" Robert blurted out loud, surprising the other three kids and Mrs. Davis a few yards down the path looking at a lynx in its display. "I bet that's true. By the way, your English is getting a lot better."

Kile looked up at Robert and squished his nose and grimaced. Rob had learned in the near week Kile had been in his home that the look he'd just received from the troll was one of incense. He hadn't meant to offend Kile, but it was likely true about the provocation bit.

"Alright, so you and the wolves don't get along too well. But what about that wolf? I mean, if he knows Dronosh, don't you think he probably doesn't belong here?" Rob continued to feel out the little troll. "I mean, really. What's the chances of meeting a wolf that you guys actually know? He shouldn't be trapped in here."

"Brother Robert. Dronosh is an entrance guard. He knows all the wolves." Kile said in a very serious tone, placing his big broad troll palm up upon Robert's shoulder and pulling him down somewhat to speak to him eye to eye. "None of these animals belong here."

After releasing Rob's shoulder he returned to walking casually up the path to the group. He quietly said one more thing to Robert though. "I'm going to break them out."

Rob stopped in his tracks and hissed at Kile. "You _can't_ do that! If you take the wolves out someone is definitely going to figure out what you are. They've got video cameras here, Kile!"

"I'm going to break them _all_ out."

Because they had caught back up to the rest of the third grade tour group Robert didn't say anymore, but just stewed, worrying about what Kile might do. Kile played it absolutely cool. He was casual, asked a question about the tiger pacing about in its cage, and continued on beside Mrs. Davis. He'd certainly figured out how to use human mannerisms much better since he came down the mountain with Robert the previous Saturday.

## ~~~

Robert had been eyeing Kile the whole time following their conversation, but the little troll seemed to be intentionally hovering around Mrs. Davis just so Rob couldn't ask him any more questions. So they did not speak further except to comment on some of the animals in the display or for Kile to ask Mrs. D some questions, particularly about animals from other continents. It wasn't a surprise then, when the little imp tried to casually disappear around the corner of one of the souvenir carts during lunch.

They'd all been slurping at icecream cones that Mrs. Davis had bought for everyone, including Robert after they'd eaten their sack lunches. Kile had been sitting up on top of the picnic table in the concession area just as Rob had, bum on top and feet on the bench. He'd hunched over and seemed oddly quiet while he chewed his favorite PBJ sandwich. And then as Mrs. D pulled out a map and the papers they were to mark as they learned things about the animals, Kile slipped off quickly and stealthily from the table and snuck away.

Rob was slightly taken aback. He'd thought at first maybe Kile had used a _shimmer_ spell to get away. That might have been easier. But, no. He'd just wanted to look like a little kid getting into trouble. And that was just what Robert suspected. He hopped down and tried to move quickly too.

"Hurry back," Mrs. Davis called, barely looking up from the map with the other three kids huddled around her discussing where they saw the antelopes and how soon they might get to see the penguins.

After scooting around the souvenirs and down the path, Robert negotiated around a small family with strollers and hurried around a corner that moved from giraffes to the monkey and apes area. There was Kile standing near the zookeeper's entrance to an exterior, globe-shaped cage with what looked like several small monkeys. The sign on the rail next to the display said in large block letters Rob noticed as he passed trying to make a grab for Kile, "Ring-Tailed Lemurs" and "Madagascar."

But it was too late. Kile had waved his hand like he was hypnotizing or using a mind trick on the Lemurs. Except nothing happened to them. The cage door unlatched and swung open instead.

For a moment, a very short moment, as Robert yelled "No!" the lemurs just turned and looked at the door and Kile. One cocked its head slightly considering while another bobbed his. And then the rush came.

Lemurs don't actually spend as much time in the trees as monkeys and other primates, since they aren't really monkeys, Robert learned. Some did drop from where they were perched, but they all raced across the floor of the cage and out the door within a couple seconds of each other. A few climbed the guard rail and up and over Kile, while others just shot straight through or under it in the gaps. Robert would later swear that one of them paused on Kile's shoulder just long enough for them to look at each other, nod and then pat the troll on his head before scurrying off.

From there the lemurs mostly carried on in a pack, but they stopped to check out just about every human before making for cover among the trees. One Lemur stood on its hind legs and took an icecream cone from a gentleman.

Another ran up to a toddler strapped into a stroller. While the baby's mother screamed and pathetically kicked her shoe at the creature, it hacked at her, turned about and urinated right on the child's lap. The babe yelled, "Bad Monkey!" and kicked his little shoes about violently before the lemur hopped off and followed the rest of its gang.

A third lemur made a mad dash up a hill on the paved walk, looking very much like a house cat chasing a mouse. And then it saw a trio of staff in their khaki colored clothes and audacious large-brimmed hats and it stopped mid-stride, jumped and turned itself about, reversing course straight back at Robert and Kile.

As the little thing ran towards the boys it made eye contact with Kile and even mid-gallop seemed to bob its head. Rob looked quickly at Kile who was standing watching the scene, one hand still hanging on the top iron bar of the guard rail, smiling. He also nodded and grinned as the critter ran past. The zookeeps came huffing and puffing down the hill past them intent on catching that lemur particularly.

More yells, more running and more staff from the zoo could be heard all around. Robert snatched Kile's shirtsleeve and quickly marched him away from the scene down one of the branching pathways that seemed to have appealed to the least number of lemurs. Down the path a couple hundred yards he spied a bench seat and strode up to it huffing and puffing some himself. He practically threw Kile into the seat, much heavier than Ricky though he was.

"What the? What? HOW!?" Robert said pacing in front of the troll. "What the what, Kile?! Why did you do that?"

"I told you," he smiled pleasantly, "I'm going to break them all out."

"Dude!" Robert shouted in frustration. "You _can't_ do that! What if you'd let out the wolves first? Or...or...the mountain lion? You could have killed someone!"

Kile realized he was in some serious trouble. From his perspective it reminded him of the once or twice he had been called to the throne room as "audience" to King Karapace for one...misunderstanding or another. He started wringing his hands together and rolled his lowered eyes back and forth.

"They would not hurt, Robbie," he said in softened tones.

"Don't call me that! You idiot!" Robert yelled. His thoughts hadn't returned to clarity yet so he didn't hold back his feelings either. "You are a menace! You seriously could have killed someone!"

"No, no!" Kile pleaded with his palms held out before him. "They would not hurt, Robert. I tell them to run free and get away."

"Kile," Rob said, raising an index finger right up to the troll's nose and breathing heavily, "a mountain lion would probably go straight to eating that little kid instead of just peeing on him!"

"Never!" Kile looked shocked. "I would not let it do that! I would tell it to leave humans alone!"

Robert returned to pacing trying to organize his thoughts and regain his cool a little. Kile seemed to wiggle his bum and legs in an effort to slide off the bench and stand up. Rob's finger whipped out and pointed at him so quickly the little troll thought he almost heard the sound of a whip cracked, and he scooted back into the base of the bench seat.

Finally Rob stopped and folded his arms glaring at the troll. "You may not understand this Kile, but humans don't talk to animals. In fact, all-in-all we're not on particularly good terms with most of the ones here in the zoo. And we certainly can't trust that they will just leave us alone!"

Kile's eyes actually seemed to be welling up tears as he looked into Robert's face. He hadn't meant to make Rob so upset. He certainly didn't want anyone to get hurt. But he thought he was teaching the humans, especially Robert, the right thing to do for the animals. Could it be that what he'd known in his little cavern city of Machsa just didn't apply in the outside world at all?

Robert sat down next to him and blew out a long sigh. It was more of an attempt to stop his racing heart than to show any sort of exasperation, but that came across well too.

"Kile..." he began slowly. "While you're here you have to live by our rules. Okay? You've got to do what I tell you to do, and you can't fight against me. Got it?"

The troll frowned but nodded, eyes still shining.

"These animals and humans just don't mix very well."

Kile was slow in responding because he didn't know if it was okay to speak again. But slowly, as he watched Rob's reaction, he asked, "Is that why humans put them in cages?"

Robert glanced at him, his own eyes tearing somewhat from his frustration. "No. No, not really."

"Then why do you make them live in a way that they don't like?" the sheepish little troll voice asked sincerely.

Looking down at his hands, Robert struggled to come up with an answer. "Because we like them, I guess. We want to learn about them."

Kile's head began nodding as he listened. Robert continued in a resigned voice.

"But that doesn't mean we can be friends with them like you do. We... don't understand them like you do I guess."

Kile slowly gazed about. They were near the aviary section and there were several Macaws in an outside cage cocking their heads and watching him. At the moment, they stayed silent, perhaps listening to what Robert had to tell the troll.

"And...sometimes, I guess, If we don't understand something, we're both amazed by it...and scared of it."

Kile nodded again. Then turning slightly on the bench so he could look at Robert, he asked, "Do humans understand trolls now?"

Robert snickered, sniffling slightly at his tears and runny nose. "No, Kile. I think I'm probably the only human on earth that even knows one."

Kile smiled too and shook his head. "You might be the only human here that knows one. But I know other clans that sometimes talk with humans....But I don't think they understand trolls very well."

"No. Probably not," Rob replied.

Kile put his hand on Rob's arm. "Does that mean you are scared of trolls too?"

Robert laughed out loud again at that. "I think it's pretty safe to say that trolls would scare the living bejeebers out of most humans, Kile."

"Are you scared of Kile?"

"No. No, I'm not. But... Dronosh...and some of the others kinda scare me."

"Is that why you did not want me to come home with you?" the troll asked quietly.

Robert shook his head, but not because he meant to answer in the negative. He just wasn't sure what to say. He made an attempt anyway, using his sleeve to wipe away the last of the tears.

"I guess I just didn't want things to change. I'm scared Ricky won't ever come back. I'm scared Mom would figure out what we did and kill me for letting Ricky stay to live in a cave. I think... I might be scared I'm doing the wrong thing."

Kile rubbed his closed lips with the side of his palm while he considered.

"That is probably why trolls and humans used to fight, I think," he finally said.

Rob looked at Kile in a new light. He was becoming more of a school mate, or a brother, than a novelty odd creature to keep hidden than ever before.

"You might be right," Rob replied.

"I was supposed to find out if Machsa trolls could be friends with Maple Springs humans now that you've grown so big in the valley. The queen was hoping humans had changed in the last few hundred years, with all your technology and schools. But I think maybe we can't yet."

"Yeah..." Rob sniffed one last time. "Probably not quite yet."

They looked at each other for a moment, smiling, knowing that their friendship, regardless of how strong it was becoming, probably needed to continue to remain a secret. Even after Ricky and Kile traded back again. They sat watching the birds, who after seemingly hearing everything Robert had to say on the matter, went back to their regular squawking and racket.

Suddenly, Mrs. Davis and three third-graders came hustling down the path in a flurry.

" _There_ you are!" she breathed on them once she'd gotten close. "I was worried you got all caught up in that non-sense!"

Robert and Kile shared a quick smile. "What non-sense, Mrs. Davis?"

"Wow! Dude!" said one of the trio of kids, who Rob thought was named Billy. "You totally missed it! Somehow the monkeys got out of their cage and swarmed the park!"

"They're lemurs, William," Mrs. Davis tutted. "Anyway, it's time for us to start heading back towards the bus. C'mon! Up and at them, lazy bones."

"Hey Mrs. Davis," said the girl in their group, "What if one of the lemurs hides on the bus? Do we have to give it back?"

"Of course we would," Mrs. D said in her how-can-you-be-so-silly grown up voice.

"Aw...!" Billy added. "I was hoping we could keep one as a school mascot!"

"Sure! And where would they keep him? In Mrs. Haversham's classroom I suppose? It wouldn't be much different than the kids, I suppose."

Kile and Robert who were following a little behind turned and giggled at each other quietly. Kile reached up and patted Rob on the back, and Rob in turn patted Kile on the head.

During the bus ride home, most of the children, and Kile too, had fallen asleep within two miles of freeway travel. It had been a long day for everyone it seemed.

# Chapter 9

# A Zoo Trip, Troll Style

The Friday evening after the zoo trip seemed to pass in a flurry of non-activity. Both troll and pre-teen were worn out physically and emotionally. Dinner happened, but neither could remember what it was, much to Mom's displeasure they were sure, but even that didn't register.

While Mom was watching a television show after nine Robert went into Little Ricky's bedroom, having already been tucked under his own sheets for nearly an hour. It was cool enough in the house to refresh him, but he couldn't quite stay asleep. Sure enough, Kile was engulfed in clothes and blankets and things under his little make-shift troll cave again. Rob slipped into the covers on the bed.

"Robert?" Kile said quietly.

"Yes. Just me. Go back to sleep."

"Why not sleep in your room?" Kile asked, raising his head.

"Ummm," Rob tried to answer, and found he didn't really have one. "Just wanted to make sure you were okay I guess. And...I'm sorry I yelled at you today."

"I am sorry too," Kile replied, laying his head back down on the pile of things there. "I will try to do what you say."

"'Kay," Rob said with a little snore already.

After a few minutes pause, while still laying down looking up at the roof of his little cave, Kile asked, "Robbie?"

"Hmmm?"

"Would you like to see a troll zoo tomorrow?"

Barely keeping his mind awake long enough to respond, Rob asked, "What's a toll zoo?"

"I will show you how we see animals."

"Oh. Alright," Rob said, definitely snoring at that point.

"We'll have to do it at night time. We'll have to sneak out."

Having no response from Robert then, Kile closed his eyes and smiled. He drifted off to sleep not but a minute behind Rob.

## ~~~

Saturday went well and passed quickly enough. They meet up with Daniel again on their street and a couple other kids and rode bikes. Although, not Kile. Kile tried to peddle around on an old trike that was at the back of the Johansson's garage. There wasn't too much ribbing about the trike, even though Little Ricky was known as a two-wheeling stunt-man on their street. But Robert did have to explain to Dan that Little Ricky had sprained an ankle and couldn't ride on his normal bike for the time being.

Lunch consisted of Kile's favorite PBJ yet again, despite Mom wondering out loud whether or not it was physiologically safe to keep eating the same exact sandwich for almost every meal for a week straight. Robert decided to spice it up for him a bit by substituting the peanut butter with his personal favorite cocoa hazelnut spread. It was a good thing the jar had been nearly empty because the two sandwiches Kile ate with the spread had given him a bit of a buzz. Rob began wondering if there was something about the cocoa itself, not the sugar in chocolate that had some sort of weird effect on trolls. If he'd had time enough to conduct experiments on Kile during the summer, he would have found out he was correct.

But by late afternoon, Kile had followed up with Robert on the troll zoo idea, although Rob initially had to be reminded that they'd spoken of it the night before. Together they came up with a plan that was both genius in its cleverness, and simple in its design. They would tell Mom that they wanted to sleep out in a tent in the back yard. Then, once she had turned out the lights in the house that night, Kile would lead Robert into the forest, up the mountain to where they would meet some animals.

"So...are we going to be safe though, Kile?" Robert asked as they were gathering their things for the evening.

"Oh yes! Very, very safe!" the troll replied almost a little too positively.

"Well, I just don't want to be attacked by wolves while you sit there and try to talk to them."

"No, no. They will not attack," Kile retorted with a head bob to boot. "I will talk to them."

"Kile, am I going to be able to talk to them?" Robert asked with great interest. He stopped loading up his backpack to hear the answer.

"Mmm..." the little creature was back to pondering with the aide of his finger again. "I don't think so. I guess we would have to teach you some magic. I am thinking that's why humans don't talk to animals. You don't know magic anymore."

Robert went back to packing, only marginally satisfied with the answer. "Uh-huh. Like I'm going to learn how to use magic to talk to bears and wolves and stuff."

"Oh no!" it was now Kile's turn to stop what he was doing. He flapped his hands at Robert quickly. "Never talk to bears! They will eat you!"

Rob stood up straight again. "Okaaaayyyy... Kile, are you going to tell me the rules before we go, or are you just going to tell me when we can talk and when we can't based on what's chasing us?"

"Ha, hah!" Kile laughed. "Robbie is funny. I will keep you safe."

Then the little troll's tone changed again.

"Just not talk to bears. Never talk to bears."

"Why not?" Rob pressed.

Kile turned and waggled a finger in front of Robert very slowly. "Some animals are no good to talk to. They won't listen. Bears only know two things: Eat! And...I forget what the second thing is..."

"Hmmmm," giggled Robert. "Sounds like the trolls I've met."

"Oh yes! Eat and take care of cubs. And they don't like humans aaaaannnnyyyywhere near their cubs. So..." he shrugged, stuffing the last items in his own pack, "they eat you."

"Alright then," Robert said, shouldering his pack, throwing on his red cap and making for the door. "We'll just stay away from bears."

"Yep!" Kile followed Robert's lead. "Never talk to bears...or bobcats...oh and goblins. We don't even want the goblins to see us."

"Goblins? What?!"

## ~~~

To entertain themselves, the boys had brought some packs of cookies, some BBQ chips and a couple books to read by flashlight. It seemed like Mom was _never_ going to turn off the lights and go to bed. But it was Saturday night after all. So it startled both Kile and Robert when Mrs. Johansson finally called from the back kitchen door and said goodnight. The slamming screen door finished bringing them fully back to life.

"We go now!" Kile said teh-hehing and giggling his excitement. Finally, it was his turn to teach Robert something.

The hike was nearly in the same direction, and nearly as long a climb as to the troll cavern. But they did not pass through the Maple Springs Airfield. Instead, once they arrived, they skirted around the edge of the meadow staying inside the tree line out of the moonlight and made to climb the far ridge to get into the next mountain crevice.

"Why do we have to stay out of the moonlight, Kile?" Rob asked as they were nearing the rise of the first ridge.

"We don't want anyone to see us," the troll responded in a similar hissing whisper as Rob had asked.

"Well, we're a long ways from home. No one's goin' to see us now."

"Not talking about humans," the troll mumbled and continued leading the way.

Robert thought about asking again if they were safe in making this little trip. A thought occurred to him from a conversation he'd once had with his dad about serving in the military. He remembered that safe was a relative thing. It's not that they were safe regardless of how far out of bounds they might wander, like a toddler stuck in fenced backyard. It was more that they were safe as long as they chose to stay within the yard, rather than go for a wander. Rob decided right then to strive to do everything Kile asked him to do. And, he thought, perhaps by doing so and being a good student, the troll would make a better effort to reciprocate.

They climbed over the first ridge and down into the next valley. The second ridge also came and went and the second valley was much deeper, longer and more broad. As they climbed along the foot of Mt. Loafer, they also crept ever higher along the ridge slopes towards the main body of the mountain. Finally, as they were completing the ascent of the third ridge and Robert was about to tell Kile that it was too far for a near-twelve-year-old to travel into the back country without a parent Kile raised one hand, placed the index finger from his other hand over his lips and hushed him.

The slope on the far side of the third ridge had fewer thick trees and there were rocky outcrops on the more sharply inclined wall of the canyon. There, standing on one of the rocky outcrops stood a gigantic looking wolf. It watched several other wolves below it, pacing, yapping. Some were playing with pups. Other medium-sized ones seemed to be chasing a mouse from one hole to another in the ground. Some simply laid out under the moon resting their heads. It appeared to be a gathering, if Robert were to put some human context on the scene.

"Come!" Kile whispered.

He half-crouched and half strode down the slope to the first rocky outcrop and perched there. He wasn't quite hiding, but he kept the rock between himself and the wolves. So Robert did the same, exposing even less of himself to view.

Then the wolf on the outcrop turned and looked straight at Kile. For a moment it looked as though it were just watching. Its ears honed in on Kile and its tail flicked once. Then it pounced from the rock and trotted up the hill towards them.

Robert ducked behind the rock and fussed in a whimpering whisper, "Oh crap! What do we do? Kile, what do we do now?"

"Shhh!" Kile said and rapped him on the shoulder. "Stand up. Don't surprise him."

Just as Robert attempted to stand and turn back around to peer over the rock, the wolf jumped up upon it bare inches in front of him. Rob startled and fell backwards. The great canine looked from Kile to the human boy and gave out a very low growl. It seemed like more of a warning than threat, and Rob almost heard his own voice chastising himself as he would Little Ricky, "Don't be a doofus, little boy."

Then the wolf looked back to Kile. He and the troll cocked their heads, huffed once or twice. Kile raised his hands and made a couple gestures now and again. Then the wolf jumped back off of the rock and down the slope to sit on his previous perch.

"Wha?" Robert said, still sitting, drawing his knees up to his chest and trying to remain calm. He swallowed hard before continuing. "What did he say?"

Kile smirked and then patted Robert's shoulder again, and offered his other hand to help raise him. "He said we can come sit with him and watch his family."

"Oh!" Robert replied huskily, dusting himself off. "Sure. Sounds great."

They carefully climbed down the slope and move to a boulder slightly lower than the wolf's at Kile's direction. The wolf in turn gave them a quick look and then laid down on his belly and paws to preside over the pack. One or two of the wolves below looked up and noted the visitors and then went back to what they were doing.

Following a series of starts and stops from Robert as he would try to ask a question and Kile would quickly place his finger to his lips and make a shushing motion with a slight whisper, the two settled in for a quiet observation of the wolves. Rob's initial terrible unease subsided and he started to feel like he was just watching a bunch of dogs at a neighbor's house playing. He considered making a joke about tossing a ball to the pups, but he had a feeling he was still very much the outsider in the situation and that if there was a way to offend a wolf bigger than himself that might have been it. Instead they waited until after about fifteen or twenty minutes a pair of pups, evidently from the same litter, came sniffing and frolicking along the way up to their position. As they neared, the pack leader turned his head to acknowledge Kile and Robert.

Kile leaned slowly and very quietly into Rob's shoulder and said in a very low voice, "Just hold still. See what happens."

The pups climbed up on the rock upon which they sat. The two circled Robert and sniffed at his boots and at his pockets. Once he had been circled twice by the pair one stopped to nibble at and tug his shoelaces on his sneakers. The other patted and pinned down a struggling weed with a flower on the top of the stalk and then began chewing the stem.

It was amazing to realize that actual, wild wolves were making friends with Rob. He quietly went to pet the pup chewing on his shoe but Kile made a quick negative sound and nodded his head ever so slightly, so the hand was retracted.

Suddenly, the pack leader stood upright on all fours, tail down and ears perked. The rest of the mature wolves in the pack down below turned their heads to the ridge on the far side of the cut. Soon pups were being herded up the slope towards Kile, Robert and the alpha male. One or two pups down below were too slow for their parents and they were picked up by the scruff, yet none yelped. Within fifteen seconds or less the entire pack was gathered behind their leader and the rock on which he stood or further up on the ridge crest from where the boys had come down.

The entire gathering, human, troll and wolves sat and eyed the opposite ridge. Then they heard it. A twig snapped. A large twig. Then an awkward repeated huffing or coughing sound resounded through the valley followed by a low, very reverberating growl. All tensed and awaited confirmation of what they feared. Even Robert was pretty sure of what was coming noisily down the slope on the other side.

Then with a rustle of leaves and another growl it was there, striding into the valley floor: a great, black bear. It was huge. Robert thought it looked twice as big as his father.

The wolves, including the alpha male, started retreating back up the ridge over which Kile had led Robert. Though it wasn't looking at or specifically targeting any of them, Robert instantly knew by the responses from the wolves and the troll that they were all in great danger. Kile pulled slowly but firmly on Robert's sleeve and he carefully rose and started walking backwards, uphill in reverse.

But something strange happened as the black bear bent to take a drink at the pooled stream where the wolf pack had gathered below. Its ears twitched and it suddenly reared up on its hind legs and then padded backwards himself. Rob thought perhaps the bear was suddenly afraid of such a large pack of wolves, but in another instant he realized what was happening. A bobcat slunk around a small grove of trees not far from where the bear had appeared.

Flicking its head slightly, the bobcat bared its teeth and let out a wild, screeching howl, but it seemed only half-hearted. It still strode casually down to where the bear stood and made for the water too. But there it sat on its haunches, glancing around but seemingly waiting. Neither animal seemed to want to acknowledge each other except with occasionally vocals that were powerful sounding but not over-riding.

Inexplicable things surely happened in the woods up high in the mountains, it was true. But Robert couldn't believe these two super predators were sitting side by side like two trained house pets. And then the explanation came. With a series of growls and choking grumbles several shadows came pouring out of the woods on the opposite side of the valley.

"I'tira thane!" Kile cursed under his breath and ducked low to the ground behind the ridge.

"What?" Robert whispered, craning his neck and trying to also quickly lay down on his side to see what Kile was up to.

"Ne'ya, Robert!" the troll hissed. He grabbed the boy's shirt and nearly threw him to the dirt immediately. He used his stronger troll arms to hold him there tightly and would not allow him to move.

Rob's heart raced. "What? What is it?" he attempted a whisper but it almost came out as a whistle his throat was so tight.

Kile crawled up just slightly to peer over the horizon of the ridge and then turned back to Rob. He shook his head as his eyes seemed to flick from shadow to shadow in the moonlight trying to find something to focus on.

"We are in big trouble, Robbie!" he whispered. "That is a clique of goblins! Oh...I should not have brought you here."

The little troll scrubbed furiously at his chin while he considered what to do next. Quickly, the alpha male wolf turned and padded off into the forest below them with all the others falling in behind. Any pup not big enough to make a run was nabbed by the nape and carried off in silence.

"Alright...goblins are bad, obviously," Robert tried to reason. "So...what do we do?"

"Ohhh...dear. Goblins much, much worse than bad, Robert. They will _kill_ us immediately...and after, they eat us...and they will probably use our pelts!"

"Pelts?" Rob asked trying to take a small peak over the ridge himself. "What are pelts?"

"Us!" Kile whimpered, tapping his chest with the his ten fingers spread wide from his palms. "Our hides! They will use our _hides_!"

Robert slunk back a little again. He swallowed hard. "Are you saying they will skin us?"

"Yep," the troll nodded vigorously about, eyes rolling. "Oh yes. But, ehm...they _will_ eat us first, so...it won't hurt, I guess."

"Eat us?" Robert said both concerned and a little sarcastically.

"Yes. Eat us. Right after they kill us first."

"Dammit Ricky, er, I mean Kile! Look what you've gotten us into _again_!" Rob sputtered.

"I know, I know!" Kile fretted terribly. It seemed to Robert as though the little troll was chewing his fingernails, much the same way as Ricky did on any of the very few occasions he actually got scared. "Not supposed to _be_ here, though!"

The troll smacked himself on the forehead violently, but seemed to realize quickly that might make enough noise to catch the attention of the occupants of the valley just over the ridge.

Several growls and what sounded like a catfight broke out over the ridge. Robert thought the goblins did sound very much like cats fighting in the driveway. Then the mountain lion roared once, and some more crunching and rustling noises ensued among the trees and the fallen branches and other detritus. The goblins seemed to be barking commands at the bear and cat.

"Why are they here?" Kile continued, shaking his head slowly back and forth. "Not supposed to be any goblins down here! They _never_ come down here!"

"Kile. Kile!" Robert patted the creatures head as the goblins and animals continued squabbling over water rights. "What's with the bear and the bobcat?"

"I don't know, I don't knowwww..." the troll continued to whimper. He was holding his pointed ears close to his head as though trying to stem a headache. "Why would they even come here?"

"Alright," Robert made a leadership decision. Even with Kile being almost one-hundred and thirty years older than him, he felt like during the whole exchange that he was the one meant to be the leader anyway. "We've got to get out of here then. How do we do it safely?"

Kile tried to calm himself. He bit down, hard, upon the knuckles in his left hand. Then he turned and shimmied back up to the top of the ridge for another peak. Robert followed him. Then the human remembered that he had brought one of his father's binoculars. He pulled it out and tried to focus it on the creatures at the bottom of the valley.

Counting the goblins would have been impossible because they scurried about so quickly, but there were at least six at any one time standing out of the forest. It seemed to Robert there were likely more. The bear was being given a turn at the water, as it seemed most of the goblins had already used one of a few metal cups passed around them to drink with. Unfortunately, the mountain lion was being held at bay and made to wait for the black bear and the last couple goblins.

Goblins, it occurred to Robert, weren't all that different from trolls, although noticeably uglier, and much more rodent-faced than the more human looking mountain trolls. Only, they were all of them about Kile's size or a little smaller. There did not seem to be any goliath sized goblins as the majority of the trolls were. Ears were further back on their head and their mouths and noses seemed to be somewhat pointed into more of a canine shape. But their skin, through the binoculars anyway, seemed to be amphibious with odd porcupine-like quills sticking out of the back of their heads, necks and upper backs. Each were wearing leathers and furs and seemed to be carrying around small arm-mounted shields. Yet the skin that did show glistened. There did not seem to be any hair at all, let alone the scraggly, thin whisps that trolls seemed to have. Mottled and spotted as it was, Robert thought their skin seemed most like tree frogs, blues, dark greens and blacks with yellow and cream colored spots shining in the moonlight.

Kile seemed to settle down finally and placed a broad palm on Robert's shoulder as he finally answered his question. "We do _not_ try to get out of here."

"No?" Rob answered, still peering through the binoculars. "I thought you said we're in a lot of danger."

"We are!" the troll hissed. "But they hear really good. They can smell really good too, but wind is blowing towards us, so we are safe for now. The bigger problem is if there are more of them."

"More?" Robert finally set the binoculars down before him.

"Yes! More...Goblins usually stay in very large groups."

"Why is that?" Rob ventured to ask in a whisper.

"They are like ants. Whenever they move they swarm," Kile swallowed hard himself. "Nothing gets away."

Rob raised the binoculars again and Kile turned to watch. After a few more seconds he reached up and snatched them from out of Robert's hand, who nearly responded in a loud voice, but fortunately thought twice about it before he did. Kile placed them to his eyes but found the binoculars too narrow for his broad face to see with both lenses. So he resorted to turning them sideways and peering through just one side with his right eye like a telescope.

Then they waited. Eventually, all goblins, bear and cougar had their fill of water from the pooling stream. One or two of the goblins grunted and chattered at each other and one pulled out a sheet of paper or leather or something broad which they laid upon a boulder. He and three others scrutinized the paper, made a mark and then rolled it up and placed it back into a storage satchel on the shoulder of the leader again. With great animal and banging noises they turned around and marched back up the steep opposite rill of land they had burst through earlier.

Kile rolled over onto his back, and plopped one hand over his chest. "Whew!" he blew softly.

"Does that mean they're gone," Robert asked tensely.

The little troll neither moved nor answered immediately, but a couple seconds later he nodded his head. Looking over at Robert he stared at the boy pondering for a minute.

"What?" Rob asked again, "What is it? Can we get outta here now?"

Sitting himself up with a groan, Kile said, "Yes, we go now. I am sorry I brought you here. There have never been goblins down this low before. They hate sunlight, and humans even more."

As the two started huffing down their own ridge towards home, Robert tried to feel out what was going on here. "So what were they doing here? And why didn't they swarm us like you said?"

"Oh! That wasn't that many," Kile said, trying to brush it off. "They were probably just looking around."

Kile's best Troll comforting smile and head bobbing as he spoke did very little to actually comfort Robert. He knew when something wasn't quite right, and he'd learned pretty well that trolls, at least with Kile as the example, were absolutely terrible at keeping something secretive.

They made the trek back and spoke little before getting into the tent. Once there they said goodnight to each other. As the crickets returned to sounding off once they had settled, Kile asked Robert about the troll zoo.

"Did you like seeing the wolves, Robert?"

Nearly asleep already, Robert rolled back onto his side facing Kile and replied, "I did, actually. You don't really get to watch them as a pack like that in a zoo. And they didn't even attack us or anything."

Kile sniggered a little and then rolled back, closing his eyes. "You just gotta know how to talk to them."

# Chapter 10

# Mom Has Super Powers?!

Sunday Morning started out great. Mom had made some French Toast, and apparently the powdered sugar Rob liked to heap on top along with the syrup was almost as equally appealing to Kile as the chocolate he'd quickly fallen in love with. It wasn't quite the same. Chocolate seemed to have some extra kick in it for trolls, but the massive amount of sugars seemed to do as a close second. Kile had been raving while Mom scrambled up some eggs. As she came to the table to heap some on Robert's plate and then Kile's, the little troll stopped her.

"Please, um, Mom..." Kile said. He looked over at Robert and winked, his _glimmer_ only in effect for Mrs. Johansson. It just about choked Robert with egg having surprised him so with a human gesture he hadn't seen Kile do before.

"Yes, Ricky," Mom said in a curious tone, patting the troll's head. She seemed to be feeling for something more than just giving her little boy a pat.

"Could you maybe put the shells back in the eggs?"

Rob understood the trouble about mid-way through the sentence while still trying to clear his throat, but he couldn't deflect the little troll's odd request quickly enough. Mom's eyebrows crooked and she sneered a little at the thought.

"You want me to put some egg shells...in your scrambled eggs?" she asked hesitantly, but turning back to the range top all the same, eyeing her would-be smallest son.

"Umm...Yee....essss," Kile slowly answered as he rolled his eyes cautiously in Robert's direction.

Rob was quickly shaking his head as imperceptibly as he could but still signaling to Kile that he'd said something wrong. Kile swung his eyes back to Mrs. Johansson who was apparently getting ready to break another egg or two into the remaining serving of scrambled eggs and probably leave the shells.

"Well...or something else crunchy," Kile plied, flicking his eyes back at Robert just long enough to smile and nod again, proud of his quick recovery. Rob gave another quick shake of the head and Kile lost his smile.

The boys went about eating the remainder of the French toast and Robert picked at his eggs in silence. Mom did indeed put the shells in and crunched them up pretty well. Rob supposed she was filling the order just to teach Little Ricky a lesson. But then as they were nearly cooked again, she gave them a jump in their seat.

"So, did you enjoy your hike last night?"

This time Robert did choke on his eggs. He spat them out all over Kile who's eyes were flittering back and forth between Mrs. Johansson's back turned to them and Robert. He shrugged and shook his head slightly.

Clearing his throat, Rob spoke first, "Uh. What hike are you talking about, Mom?"

"You know," she replied, "the one the both of you snuck out on at about 10:30 last night after I shut off the lights."

"Oh," Rob thought it best to come clean, to a certain extent. "You saw that did you?"

She turned and scooped the eggs onto Little Ricky's plate before him and then sat down. She picked up her cup of coffee that had been cooling on the table before answering and had a sip or two.

"Of course I did Robert," she answered in her deeper, you're-already-caught-so-let's-make-the-interrogation-easier-on-us-both voice. "A mother _always_ senses when her kids are up to something."

She only eyed him sourly when her Little Ricky giggled in an unfamiliar way and started to say, "Yeah! But you don't even..."

Kile's grin and giggle dropped immediately when he saw Robert's face and the very quick, very intense shake of his head.

"We just went out to go see some night animals, Mom," Robert replied, and forced himself to take one last casual bite of French toast.

"Is that right?" Mom asked casually as well. "You know there are bears that still live here on these mountains, right?"

"Uh," the boys stared at each other. Rob continued, attempting to play down the concerns. "Yeah, but I don't think they're any down here in town where we were."

"Oh."

They all sat quietly sipping or picking at their food. Kile seemed the least convincing in the faux conversation, looking from one to the other and then stuffing a giant sized bite into his mouth.

"So, are you enjoying those crunchy eggs?" Mom asked Little Ricky, eyeing his fork as it was raised to Kile's mouth.

"Oh! Yefff!" Kile mumbled around one of the large gulps he hadn't managed to chew up yet.

Silence returned for a little bit more. Mom still sipped at her coffee.

"So, just how far up did you go then?" she asked finally.

Rob quickly swallowed the bite he'd been dragging out. "Sorry?"

"Well," Mom continued. She put her cup down, wrapped both hands around them as if to warm them in the cool spring morning and leaned on her elbows, bringing her face much nearer to both boys on either side of the table beside her. "You said there weren't any bears here in town where you went. How far up did you go?"

"Oh," Rob batted his mouth with a napkin while he thought how to continue to play his lie coolly. "Um, just to the last couple roads up the hill."

"Mmmm," Mom answered again nodding. "Did you get a chance to go up to the kids' airfield above town?"

Kile had sat up straight as a troll could in his kitchen chair and eyed each of the others in turn. His lips were pursed and from Mom's perspective through the glimmer looked pretty ridiculous, but she didn't let on.

"Um, yeah, yeah. I guess we did get up there, didn't we Ricky?"

Kile nodded slowly at first and then more so as he saw Rob's own subtle nod. "Yes. We did get up there."

Rob flinched a little. Kile didn't realize it, but he hadn't disguised his voice as Little Ricky very well that time. His _glimmer_ was still on, but he was neglecting the little boy voice. Mom's expression didn't flicker though while she turned her cup a little and watched the coffee ripple.

"You sure you didn't get a little further up? Maybe see some really cool animals?"

"Well," Rob thought the better he broke down this lie and fessed up the less likely she would ask about what exactly they saw. "Yeah. I guess we went a ways up. We saw some deer and stuff. In fact, I think we even found one of the eagle's nests up there."

"Oh my," Mom said coolly. "I hope you didn't disturb it or anything. Those eagles can take a pretty big chunk out of you."

"Oh no. We know how to behave," Rob continued. His mother looked at him for the first time in moments with a slightly sideways smile, and then returned to her mug. "In fact, I think we maybe even did hear a bear once, but we came back right away."

"Really? That sounds exciting. But you really need to be careful, don't you," Mom replied again.

"Oh yes!" Kile added, his voice somewhat more correctly registered to Ricky's tone. "We even saw a wolf pack! And..."

It was immediately clear that Kile overstepped in the conversation again. Robert tried to back track and act like Little Ricky was making up stories. All the while Mom sat sipping and warming her cup of coffee. Until at some point during the denials she started smirking herself.

"May I tell you boys a little story about when I was thirteen in Iowa near the Des Moines river?" She looked at both but spent a particularly long time looking at Ricky.

"Uh, sure, Mom."

Kile just nodded, aggressively looking back and forth between Robert and Mrs. Johansson.

As she spoke, Mrs. Johansson turned and cradled her coffee, focusing on it, rather than the boys. She was trying to keep from giving away too much herself.

"You see, as a kid my family moved into a little neighborhood in Des Moines that was being built almost right alongside the Des Moines river within a mile or two of the downtown. It was a pretty cool little neighborhood because you could go fish the river just down at the end of the street, and the banks were still covered with trees. In the early 90's we learned it was just a little _too_ close to the river and had to move away because the whole street flooded...but that's another story.

One summer, when I was turning thirteen, I happened to spend a _lot_ of time with the neighborhood's tomboy. And let me tell you, she was the tomboy of all tomboys. She's the one that had taught me how to fish a couple years earlier and stuff. The funny thing was that we always just met outside to play and I never really knew where she lived.

Anywho!...After knowing her for a few years I was turning thirteen, and well...you know...I was more interested in looking like a girl than a boy."

Kile spoke up, "What do you mean?"

Mrs. Johansson looked at the visage of Little Ricky for a moment smiling and then snickered, "You know...I wanted to look pretty. So I told this girl, Wilhelmina she said her name was...which was pretty weird for that time. Anyway, I told Willy that I didn't really want to play by the river much anymore and asked her if she wanted to have a sleep over at my house and we could do make overs and...well...gurly stuff like that.

So then she says to me: 'Let me show you something first, then if you want we can do makeovers.' So I did. She had me follow her down the river. I have no idea how far we went that day. It felt like nearly two hours. But we eventually got to where she had us cross the river on some boulders and went into a field. There was a big grove of trees there, mostly oaks, that must have been extremely old."

Mrs. Johansson stopped her story for a moment and she seemed about ready to shed a tear.

"This Willy, she says to me, 'This is my home!' And of course, at first I was like, oh, she must be homeless or something, maybe that's why she doesn't want to have a makeover with me. But then she had me stand in the grove and wait a minute. When she came back she had these...other people with her."

"What _other_ people, mom?" Robert asked. He was enthralled. Mom's voice had gotten low and he could tell this is stuff she'd never shared with anyone else before.

"Well...I'm not exactly sure how to say this, except that I think you'll understand now," Mom replied, looking over at Kile and grinning.

Kile flapped his hands down on the table and said with a comical breath of awe, "What? Say what? Please say what, human lady?"

Robert got a lump in his throat again and mumbled uhn-uh as he shook his head most vigorously this time.

"Human lady, eh?" Mrs. Johansson said, still grinning. "Well, alright then."

"Willy came walking out of the forest in her blue-jean cover-alls with three fairies flying around her shoulders."

"What?" Robert grumbled, thoroughly frustrated. His mom had him going and pulled him right in for the punch line and he wasn't happy he'd been suckered.

"Fairies!?!" Kile cried, his voice squeaking of troll glee. "What _kind_ of faeries? If they were flying I bet they were pixies!"

"No, no," Mrs. Johansson said with a laugh. "They weren't pixies. They were sprites! Water sprites is what Willy told me."

"Sprites?" Kile said, placing an index finger to his bottom lip again and pondering.

Mrs. Johansson put her hands out softly on each boys' wrist and held them warmly. She smiled at both as she continued, though Robert was flicking his eggs about with his fork again, having felt duped by his own mother.

"Yes, sprites. And then, Willy warns me not to get too excited, that she's going to drop her _glimmer_. Of course I say, 'What's a glimmer?' but before she could answer, poof! She changes into one of the sprites too!"

"Sprites, Mom?! C'mon," Robert said, trying to yank his hand free of hers.

"No, really, it's true, Rob," she said. But before she could add more Kile interrupted.

"Yes! Yes! Must be careful of sprites, Robbie! They are _very_ powerful."

Rob looked at Kile and could see he was being very earnest. Mom seemed to be too, though she was still smiling at him. His look of puzzlement must have shown pretty well because Mom propped her check on her fist, the one he'd made her let go of him with.

"Yep. They control the elements!" Kile was saying, lowering his voice and rasping while doing it.

"Too true!" Mom blurted, then pulled back both hands and slapped them on the table.

Rob didn't know what to do and Kile seemed to be literally bouncing out of his chair looking back and forth at the two humans.

"So, then, Ricky..." Mom continued. "What are you?"

Kile stopped bouncing and pointed at himself mouthing the words "who me?"

"Yes, you. You must not be a sprite _or_ a pixie because you asked about those. So...what are you then?"

Kile looked nervously to Robert. Robert hesitated but then began a show of resistance. "C'mon Mom. What are you talking about?"

She leaned very close to her eldest boy and looked him straight in the eye. "This is what I'm talking about: I'm a mom. I know when I'm being conned, and you're not the first pre-teen kid to find out faeries are really real!"

Mom sat up straight again, before then leaning over and looking Kile squarely in the eye and trying to find something there. "Tell me what you are, because you're not my Little Ricky."

Kile gulped once, checked Rob out of the corner of his eye, and having not received any clear guidance there with Robert's shrug, replied, "Um, I am a mountain troll, ma'am."

"I'll be darned!" she said, pushing the chair out and laughing. She leaned way over and tried patting the head of Little Ricky again. "Are you using _glimmer_ like the sprites do?"

By this point Kile wasn't sure what to make at having been made. Did he need to panic and run? The human female wasn't getting ready to shoot him or pitch-fork him or anything else. In fact, she seemed to think it was pretty amusing. He decided like Robert earlier, that it would be better to come clean on everything he could, but keep as much about his mission from the humans as possible.

"Uh, yes. I use _glimmer_. I'm best at it! Well, for boy trolls," he finally fumbled. He was interlacing and massaging his fingers again as though they ached.

"So...I thought trolls ate people and...goats and stuff. That's what Willy told me anyway."

"No, no, no!" Kile patted the air in between he and Mrs. Johansson trying to affirm his negation of the idea. "Those are bridge trolls. They are green, and horned and ugly. Mountain trolls do _not_ eat humans!"

"Any more," Robert quietly mumbled. He sat watching his mother and troll brother interacting and wasn't sure what to make of it, though the feeling he had was very much that the gig was up and that this would all put an end to their adventures. After a week with Kile, he wasn't quite sure he wanted that yet.

"I see," said mom, hands on her hips. "Drop your glimmer! Show me what you look like!"

Kile did so almost immediately and then grinned at her. Mom startled and raised her hands to her mouth stepping back a bit. But then she started laughing. Kile looked embarrassed.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I guess I wasn't quite ready to see a troll after all!"

The little troll, big nose, ears and wide mouth looked troubled and turned to Robert for support. Having found nothing there again but the now common place shrug, Kile just stood at attention as the human female moved about a little, inspecting him. He felt like one of the Queen's guards were measuring him up again just before he was granted audience with her a year earlier to discuss their reconnaissance of the humans in the neighboring town encroaching on their mountain territory.

After a few minutes of further inspection and some questioning, Mother finally stopped her work and stepped back a few steps and stood at the kitchen counter. "Alright, boys. So tell me. Where is the little boy I gave birth to then?"

Troll and human looked at each other. _This must be it,_ thought Robert, _this is where we're going to get it_. Kile decided to do the talking in this case though, before Robert could stop gaping his mouth like a fish and come up with some human words.

"He is with the troll Queen, Isabel, in our grand city. He is learning from the trolls while I learn from Robbie."

"I see," she said, much more calm and definitely more seriously as she gave Robert a stern look. "So, what's the plan here. How long until he comes home? Because to be honest, I would have like to have been asked before you did all this."

"Really, Mom!? How was I supposed to know you would be okay with this? And besides, it wasn't even my idea. They really didn't let me decide anything, they just did it. You're crazy little perfect boy Ricky and this crazy little half-sized troll!"

"Yea, crazy!" Kile nodded smiling. And then he caught on to the insult at the end. "Hey, I'm not crazy!"

"And!" said Mom, "I didn't say I was okay with this! I just understand it is all."

Robert was beside himself. Somehow he felt he was being given all the burden of this little venture with none of it being his fault to begin with. "How was I supposed to even know that, Mom?"

"Calm down, now," she said. "Let's just figure this out. You're pretty sure he's safe? I mean, they wouldn't try to induct him into some troll society or anything by having him catch a bear or some stupid stunt like that, right, uh...errr...what's your real name anyway, troll?"

"Kile!" the troll gleamed. "My name is Kile."

"Kyle? Well that doesn't sound like a very Trollish name to me. Are you sure you don't have an actual troll name?"

Kile kicked his feet a bit at the floor. He was still embarrassed that he did not have a tough, threatening name like all of his troll brethren in Machsa. "No, Kile is my name."

"So, alright Kile. What's the plan for getting my boy back here?"

"Well..." said Kile. "I was supposed to meet Dronosh one week from exchange and get message from queen last night."

Robert's brows cocked sideways again. There was apparently an ulterior motive to the troll zoo trip, then?

"But we could not find him," the troll finished.

_Oh boy_ ¸ Rob thought to himself again. He knew Kile was setting himself for further grilling without having the right finesse to giving his mother only the information she _needed_ to hear.

"Hmmm," Mom's mumbled thought came forth. "So how do we get in touch with him. I really think Little Ricky should be home for the last week of school, and Thursday is his brother's birthday too."

_Oh yeah!_ Rob's mind whirled again. This week was his birthday, and through some unique bartering around Ricky's birthday several months back he was sure he was going to end up getting a copy of the new video game he'd been wanting since Christmas. Ricky was supposed to ensure it in exchange for Robert getting him a certain robotic insect toy. That wasn't going to happen of course unless Ricky, the _real_ Ricky were home to ensure it. Rob grimaced slightly at his materialistic motivation, but if Mom was motioning for the return swap to happen soon, he could definitely second it.

"I go find him tonight!" Kile said.

"Whoa! Big Fellah!" Mrs. Johansson said, grasping his shoulders. "Are you planning on taking Rob here with you?"

Kile stood looking into Mrs. J's eyes awaiting direction but nodding all the while. He found the human female's gaze just as powerful as the queen's. He wondered almost if she had magic of her own....It was possible she learned some, if she'd been in contact with Sprites in the past. But he simply stood nodding until Mrs. Johansson's own head started shaking "no" in reply.

"I don't think that's a good idea. You didn't exactly tell me where all you went last night, and I have the feeling it wasn't entirely safe either."

"Kile kept me safe, Mom."

"I'm sure he did," Mom patted Robbie's shoulders as she collected his plate from the table. "But I hung out with sprites for a while, Rob. I think I have a pretty good understanding of what Kyle's version of 'safe' is and I'm not entirely comfortable with it."

Kile was bouncing on his toes now, eager to please the human female now that she had stepped up to take charge. "I will get a message to the queen. She should be able to trade back soon. My job is nearly done..."

The little troll caught himself. He checked both humans' expression and they too caught what sounded like a near slip, but in each other's presence, or perhaps in spite of it, they were both letting it go...for the moment."

Still he attempted a minor correction. "My job is to make sure everything go smoothly. I will make sure Ricky comes home now."

All three agreed, that after dinner, which should be safer in the dusk for Kile to leave town, even with his available _shimmer_ and _glimmer,_ he would travel up to the cave entrance which Robert and Ricky had found and make contact with the rest of the mountain trolls to see what the status was.

When Rob laid down in bed that night, half waiting for the troll to return, he thought to himself, _Mom sure is taking this well. I wonder what she learned from those sprites anyway._

# Chapter 11

# Kile's Late Return

Monday, Mrs. Johansson called her Little Ricky ill for the day. Ricky had not returned from the trolls but neither had Kile. In truth, both mother and son, Robert, were very worried about the troll and Ricky, but of the two, Ricky was likely the most safe. Rob didn't want to explain to Mom why he felt that way but they were agreed without saying anything and so he left it. Without knowing anymore they decided it would be best if Rob just went to school and they wait it out.

When Robert got home from school his mother was in the kitchen making a snack for him which she brought out to him in the front room immediately.

"Did Kile come back?"

"No, but I found this on the back porch about lunch time."

Mom handed Robert a rolled up sort of parchment that felt more like flimsy leather than paper, and may actually have been. The tie around it had been removed so the roll flopped loosely. Robert splayed it out on a couch cushion next to him while holding the little PB&J sandwich on his lap, mother sitting down on the third cushion next to it. Black charcoal or a very heavy and broad pencil tip had been used to print out a short message. It read:

Ricky safe.

Kile safe.

Can't come back yet.

Guards are looking for go

That line had been x'd out and then scribbled across several times but it could still just be made out. A new line started below it.

Guards check to make sure area safe.

Queen says Ricky should stay a couple more weeks.

He is learning a lot and does not want to leave.

I come back in a few hours when guards let me.

-Kile

Beneath Kile's lines there was a much smaller and more precise pair of lines from Ricky.

Hi Mom! I'm doing fine and will come home in a couple more weeks.

I love you. Oh yeah. Tell Robbie Happy Birthday. I will give him my present later.

Richard Johansson III

Robert was still slowly chewing his first couple bites of sandwich when he finished reading through, and looked at his mom.

"So what does that mean? We just let them keep Ricky?"

"Well," Mom replied, "I was actually hoping you could tell me what that meant about the guards and making sure everything was safe. Exactly what did you guys do Saturday night? Is there some kind of trouble?"

"No, no," Robert replied and took another big bite of his sandwich and looked at the floor trying to be casual. "I don't know what he's talking about. We didn't see any problems."

"Uh, huh," Mom said sarcastically as she stood. "Well, I say, for the moment, we just wait and see what's going on. We can talk to Kile about Ricky some more when he gets home. If we have to I'll march up there with you two and we'll go get Ricky back ourselves."

"Oooohhh..." Robert responded. "I'm not too sure that's a good idea."

At the archway into the kitchen Mom stopped and turned back to look at Robert as she spoke, "And why is that? _Is_ there something dangerous going on here, Robbie?"

"No, it's just...well, most of the trolls are a lot bigger than Kile. And...uh...I think one or two of the guards might still be willing to eat humans...you know...if they got surprised."

"I see," she nodded slightly. "I thought it was just Bridge Trolls that ate humans."

"Yes, well, that's what they said too, but I think some of the older ones might sort of forget sometimes."

"Hmmmm," Mom mumbled and returned to the kitchen to put away the sandwich makings.

## ~~~

Kile finally arrived near dark. Mom and Robert had already eaten, and by the smacking of lips it appeared the little troll had on the way back down the mountain too. Neither human wanted to ask exactly what it was he'd had but welcomed him back.

"How's Little Ricky, then?" Mom asked immediately.

"He is having fun! The queen's court is teaching him all kinds of magic and he understands it!" Kile said. "Can I have a Peanut Butter sandwich?...With the cocoa spread Robbie likes?"

Mom replied a little hesitantly before getting out the bread, jelly and spread, "Sure. Sure, Kile. But what does that mean? Is he going to come home soon?"

Kile was not using glimmer and so both Robert and Mom watched him work to get his bottom up on a kitchen chair since it was too high for his legs. He grunted as he sat back and put his two broad hands on the table cloth. "Mmm, we are wondering, can we keep the trade for two months?"

"Two months?!" Mom breathed. She flapped the sandwich bag and knife down on the counter and then returned to the table to sit down. "Why so long? The longest I ever spent with the sprites was overnight. My parents would have _killed_ me if I'd asked them to spend more than a night at a friend's house especially if they don't know the parents."

Mom wagged her head a moment before trying to rejoin the conversation. "I don't even know how I got away with it the few times I did without my Mom wanting to meet Willy's parents to be honest with you. And you want me to leave him with _trolls_ for two whole months!?...Uh, no offense, Kile."

Kile beamed at her. "I'm not offended....Is it okay if I have that sandwich?"

"Sheesh dude," Robert said, shaking his head and displaying a sideways smirk. "You don't know how to deal with women very well, do you?"

Mom snickered and then laughed. She patted Rob on the shoulder, proud of her son trying to act so much like his father. "Yes, I'll make it," she answered getting up from the table.

"Mmmm...no. Not really," Kile responded. "The lady trolls are all part of the Queen's Court and don't talk to the boy trolls very much. I think they might not be allowed to. But...they also make use nervous."

"Nervous?" Robert asked.

"Yeah," the troll replied, twiddling some paper and looking up occasionally to smile at Rob, apparently trying to ensure the humans knew he was happy to converse with them despite his edginess. "Boy trolls don't like to be around girl trolls very much because they are so much better than us."

"Wha?!" Rob sputtered.

Mrs. Johansson turned from spreading the cocoa spread, nearly done with a few sandwiches to share amongst them. "Kile, do you mean you're _intimidated_?"

"Kile doesn't know what that means," the troll said looking down at his feet swinging off his chair. He was resorting back to his broken English in his frustration or nervousness.

"Well, sweety," she said, as she handed both boys a cocoa hazel-nut spread and jelly sandwich. "It means that you're not comfortable around someone because you think they are better, or smarter...or that they may embarrass you."

Kile nodded his head, looking briefly up at Mrs. Johansson once and then back down at his feet. "Yes. Boy trolls are intim... What is it?"

"Intimidated," Mom replied. "And it's okay if you are. But you shouldn't be. Everyone's equal and _everyone_ has something unique to add."

"Oh!" cried the little troll, raising an index finger and smiling at Mrs. Johansson. "That sounds like Queen Isabel! That's why she said she wanted me to learn and try to remember some magics while I get older."

"I see."

Rob interjected, "But why do you think girl trolls are better anyway?"

"Mmmm," Kile said pleasantly around his first bite of sandwich. The next few lines were somewhat mumbled with the sticky pleasure of a peanut-buttery mouthful. "Well, girl trolls don't keep growing."

Mom nodded and Robert agreed that he'd seen that with the Queen and her escorts at the feast they shared.

"So...you know. They don't get stupid."

"Oh, dear. Kile, you're not stupid," Mom said, trying to reassure the little troll.

"That's because I'm not that old yet!" Kile replied. He looked at Mrs. Johansson with glistening eyes. Then he remembered himself and tried to avert his gaze from her. It was as though he acknowledge her as the alpha-female of the Johansson tribe, so to speak. "When I get bigger, my brain will get smaller. I won't be as smart anymore. AAANNNDD! I won't be able to do magic anymore."

"Well, it sounds like your Queen doesn't think that it has to happen. Why would she be trying to teach you more magic, then?" Mom soothed him. Rob noticed she'd placed her hand on his shoulder, much the same way she might to him or to Little Ricky.

"Yes," Kile nodded, somewhat unconvincingly. "She thinks she can help me re... return? She thinks she can help me keep my smarts and my magic."

"Do you mean 'retain' your magic?" Mom smiled.

"Yes!" Kile was excited again. He liked talking to Mrs. Johansson. She had a way of teaching him things that was nice, unlike the head troll matron that taught the queen's court magic. "She thinks I can retain it."

"There ya go then," Rob spoke up. "Girl and boy trolls can both do the same thing! So...maybe you could teach me some magic...you know. Since Ricky gets to learn some."

Kile just shrugged. He didn't seem very thrilled to try to teach Rob anything.

"Robert, don't push. Maybe when it comes to trolls, boys and girls just are different. I'm sure Kile will share what he can with you if you give him time."

Mom eyed Kile until he looked up at her bashfully for a moment and then gave him a wink. Kile himself began to wonder if Mrs. Johansson had some skill with magic she learned from the sprites that she wasn't sharing. He decided he might need to be careful around her for more than just one reason, if she should happen to know more about the different races of faeries than she let on.

"So, tell me. Is Ricky really going to be comfortable staying with the rest of the trolls all that time?" Mom asked.

"Oh yes," Kile nodded vigorously. "He's having a very good time. I ate at a feast with the King and Queen again and he was there. He showed her several lesser magics he had learned already and was very excited. I don't even think he ate any of the roasted rabbits he talked so much!"

"Ewe," Rob said. "Who could blame him."

"Rabbit is actually pretty good, Robbie. Just because I don't make it doesn't me you should shoot the idea down right away."

"I suppose the sprites fed that too you," Rob grumbled slightly.

"No, actually it's something GG used to make a lot whenever we visited her house while we lived in Marshalltown."

Mom seemed to entirely miss the bit about her secret of the sprites.

"Well, I guess we just wait then," Mom said.

"Yes, wait. Oh! And we can send messages!"

"Really?" Mom said smiling. "That's perfect. It will be like having a penpal, or writing to our exchange student son living in another country or something. Although, now-a-days we would just normally use the internet to message or video call each other. But that will work."

Unsure of what it would mean in the context, Kile retained the information about the Queen's little internet-connected "pad" to himself for the time being. Instead the group finished off their late evening second meal and then headed to bed. They still had four days of school left before Summer and Mom intended that Kile be there to sit in as Little Ricky for all four days.

# Chapter 12

# Human Boy/Girl Relations,

# or

# How Kile Messed Everything Up Just In Time for Summer

Tuesday at school was relatively uneventful, until the boys were standing at the bus line for heading home. Robert had decided he would invite a few friends over for a small party on Saturday, even though his birthday was Thursday, and he wanted to use it as an excuse to invite Marissa. She was already twelve, tall and a glowing auburn red-head.

At just about every level, Rob realized he was too young to be interested in girls, but deep down he also recognized just how pretty he thought Marissa was...even though it was just last Fall when their friends had had an argument, and she ended up nearly knocking him out and started a full on brawl. He didn't realize it, but the redheaded tiger in Marissa was probably all the more appealing because his mother was just the same sort of willful type.

So he asked Kile to stand in line for just a moment while he went over to the line for 21C. It was a perfect setup. Ronald, one of his best friends in the sixth grade was also in the line just two kids in front of Marissa and he could invite him and oh-so-casually mention something to Marissa at the same time.

Kile stood behind watching, eye brows, even in Little Ricky _glimmer_ form, cocked to the left a bit while his head was cocked to the right. Something was going on with Robert. His voice sounded funny and he seemed nervous. The troll could smell that his human friend had also gotten a little sweaty all of a sudden. He listened intently with his troll ears and could just pick up the conversation.

"Hey Ron!" Robert greeted. Trying to remain calm he added to the side, "How's it going Marissa?"

"Hey, dude! Wassup?" the other human male responded.

The female just nodded, smiling slightly and said, "Z'it'goin?"

"Ron, I was wondering if you'd like to come to my house up in Maple Springs Saturday afternoon for some video games and stuff. It's my birthday this week and I'm kind of, like, having a little party." Rob's voice seemed to Kile to be a little squeaky once or twice, and the troll wondered if it was because Robert was nervous.

"Oh yeah! Definitely," was the reply.

Robert apparently wrote something on his friends hand with a pen. Then he stepped back.

"Hey, uh, Marissa? You don't happen to like video games, do ya?" he asked before turning away.

Kile sniggered a little at Ronald's reaction. It was a cross between a sneer and repulsion and the little troll thought it was kind of nice to see someone other than himself get the look for once.

"Girls, don't play video games!" Ron said and sort of waved his hand out in front of him to place it between Rob and Marissa.

" _Actually_ ," Marissa spoke up and eyed Ronald, "I _do_ like some video games."

Kile sensed then that the intimidation Mrs. Johansson was trying to teach him about applied to human boys just as much as trolls. Marissa was a good few inches taller than Ron and probably a little more muscled too, despite her pretty flowered blouse she wore with blue jeans and cowboy boots. Ron backed down immediately.

"Well, I guess I should give you my address and phone number too, then," Robert said. His voice cracked on "my" again and Kile couldn't figure out what was wrong with him.

"Robert," Marissa said, arms crossed before her holding a notebook, "If you're asking me to your party why don't you just ask me."

"Oh. Yeah, okay. So...would you like to come to my party on Saturday?"

Marissa smiled and rocked back on her cowboy boot heels as she responded, "I'd love to. Here, write your number and address on mine too."

Kile thought it odd that while she probably had paper or something to write on in her binder, the red-headed human girl stuck out her arm to have Rob write on it, just as he had done to Ronald. As he did and he concentrated on what he was writing, the girl bit her lower lip and smiled, still rocking on her cowboy boots. All in all, it was a very odd sight for the little troll. Until this point, the human males and females all just sort of interacted, like they did on the television shows he'd watched over the last couple decades. It was true that at the school a lot of the older adolescent human boys were not too keen on talking with the girls, but still, it wasn't like the separation of the two genders back home in Machsa. And there were just as many girls as boys in the human world. So, why was it Robert seemed so _intimidated_ when their relationship was so easy compared to the trolls'. Then it hit him. It must be just like the human television shows. Robert must have wanted to kiss her! (As strange a custom as that seemed to be among the humans. It was saved for extreme respect among trolls and usually one was only given by a king or queen or great leader.)

When Rob made it back to the bus he was smiling slightly but looked dazed. Kile wagged an index finger at him and said, "You want to kiss her, don't you?"

"Wha?!" Rob said. He glanced around to make sure no one else was really listening. The closest pair of eight-year-olds just snickered but then stopped paying attention. "What are you talking about? You don't ask that!"

Kile shrugged and held out his palms. "Why? Isn't that what you wanted? Like that Hospital show?"

"Man!" Rob took the little troll to the side out of the line and growled near his ear, "Stop talking about it, okay?"

"Okay," Kile said, but he didn't forget about it. He watched the pretty redhead human girl standing in line occasionally glancing Rob's way and he too started rocking back on his heels and smiled. He was coming up with a plan.

## ~~~

On Wednesday, Rob went from his History class to his English class in relatively good spirits. All in all, Kile had not been much of a problem at school or in the neighborhood and they were beginning to enjoy each other's companionship about as well as he and Ricky did. In other words, Kile hung around him all Tuesday afternoon, and Robert only mildly begrudgingly agreed to teach him a little about baseball and basketball. Apparently the troll had seen the sports played out on television and he wondered why, over the seasons, teams kept playing and playing, frequently playing them more than once. As it turned out, the only sports-like events that trolls engaged in were more like battles and were generally to settle a score or to select a troll for a particularly ostentatious position.

But, as he stepped into the classroom he found about six or seven of his fellow students giggling, four girls standing and a couple boys getting into their seats. When he entered they stopped for about a half a second's hesitation to look at him and then started laughing outright. All but Marissa, that was. She was slumped into a chair and covering her face with her hands, though Robert could see she was rather red underneath them. He didn't notice as he looked towards the front board but Marissa did sneak a peek at Robert between her fingers to watch what he would do.

There, on the board was a collage of various things collected from the board area and the teacher's desk depicting an extremely well-muscled and handsome Robert in a pose that would not be entirely out of place on one of the grocery store romance novel covers with what might have been a beautiful princess Marissa draping off his left arm and swooning with her right hand pressed to her forehead. Worse than that, a huge paper-mache drawing of a heart with an arrow through it and some lettering inside finalized the effect. It read:

Robert Johansson

+

Marissa

It took a few seconds for Robert to take it all in, during which time a couple more students walked in, paused to take in the scene and started laughing themselves. Ronald walked in and glancing at the board, then round about the room lost with his mouth hanging open, he recovered in due time and slapped Rob on the back, saying, "Excellent art, dude!"

Truly, the craftsmanship of the drawing was excellent. It had been created by a combination of several different colors of wipeboard markers, most notably a bright red for Marissa's hair, and toilet paper, apparently clumped together with white glue, as well as what may actually have been shadows and reliefs carved into the whiteboard itself. Clearly, Kile had been "helping". But the work seemed so realistic and detailed, it didn't seem much like the glowing blue carvings that were so rough and perhaps amateurish in comparison. No, this was truly a work of art. And it had to come down.

It had to come down right now!

Robert dropped his binder and slipped his backpack off in a flurry. He first grabbed the teacher's wipeboard eraser and got to work on all the inks and things that would come off. But the majority of the display was thoroughly stuck on or embedded into the board already. While Rob began desperately picking at the toilet paper and who-knows-what paper mache heart he happened to glance to the entrance door, partly looking for Mr. Stuart, the English teacher. There he caught in just a moment's peek the little troll, undisguised in his _glimmer_ for Rob's view, holding up both hands in a thumbs-up and huge grin. Then he was gone instantly with the aid of his _shimmer_ magic. Rob bolted.

Once in the doorway of the classroom Robert was pawing at the air. He knew the little doofus had to be standing there somewhere, but he looked like a crazed maniac swatting at invisible flies to the students passing by in the hallway. From inside the room Robert could hear several other kids laughing all the more loudly and he made another dash.

Running towards the Elementary wing of the school through the connecting hallway Robert could hear the little troll giggling ahead of him, but there was still no Kile or Little Ricky in site. He began flailing his arms back and forth as he went feeling he was closing in the twerp. As it happened some of the elementary grades were returning from a recess and about five paces in front him Rob heard a sharp exhale of wind and suddenly one of the fifth graders was knocked to the ground.

"Sorry!" a raspy, giggling, troll-sounding voice said loudly.

Robert slowed to get around the pileup of smaller children around the one who had fallen and grumbled through his teeth, "I'm gonna _kill_ you, Kile!"

Rounding the last corner before heading straight into Mrs. Haversham's classroom Robert could just about swear he saw a little troll-shaped shadow dart inside the room. He arrived and came to a stop in the doorway, hands smacking the doorjam to catch him in a clatter. The students were just returning to their seats and Mrs. H looked up surprised from her desk. Kile was in Little Ricky's seat, _glimmer_ on full force, with hands interlaced before him on the desk and looking utterly innocent and sweet. He blinked rapidly when Robert spoke.

"Kile!" Robert rumbled like thunder, but quickly changed his mind before he let loose. "I mean, _Ricky_! Come'ere!"

Mrs. Haversham stood awkwardly, unsure of what was going on. Robert was breathing heavily, but it didn't appear to be to regain his breath, but rather like a great bear about to strike.

"May I help you Mr. Johansson?" She asked politely.

"Yeah. I need to talk to Ricky for a moment," Rob's voice was rusty sounding and unpleasant.

Mrs. H seemed to hesitate for just a moment before nodding and granting permission to Ricky to leave the room.

Outside, Robert grabbed the troll's shirt shoulder and pulled it to the wall. He wanted to make sure the little jerk didn't disappear and make another run for it.

"What. Are. You. Doing?" Robert said as best as he could through teeth that had been cemented together.

Kile was timid, fidgeting with his hands as he answered. "I am helping. You like girl, right? So I help you."

"No! That. Is. Not. Helping!" Rob let him go.

The problem was it was very much something Little Ricky might be expected to do, if he'd had the artistic ability. So Kile was very much like having his little brother around. It was hard to stay angry, not because he didn't want to, but because living with someone makes them more vulnerable and in many ways more understandable. Maybe as trolls go, Kile was a bit of a ditz. But he had still become a close friend and Robert found himself recognizing the mistake as one.

"You _can't_ do that, Kile," he said in a long sigh.

"Why not? It's very pretty I think. Makes you look good!" Kile retorted tapping one of his black-nailed index fingers on Robert's chest.

"Yeah, but you can't do that. My teacher is going to kill me," Robert was pacing a bit and flapping his arms. "And...Marissa is going to think I'm a complete dip-wad now!"

"No, no," Kile assured him, waving his palms upright back and forth and shaking his head. "She will think you are _romantic_!"

"Romantic? Really? Where did you hear that word?"

"I read it! It's on all the books your Mom has," Kile said, gleaming.

"Oh, Jeez! You got the idea from my mom's romance novels?" Robert hung his head and tried to breath in deeply. "Kile. You're going kill me. Or worse, get me grounded."

Kile stepped around Robert cautiously still but shrugged his shoulders and seemed perplexed. "Why would you be grounded. I made it very sweet. I bet you will get a kiss from both Marissa and your mom!"

"No, no I won't, Kile. I'm going to get in trouble with the teacher because I can't get it off, and Marissa probably won't talk to me for ages."

"Richard?" Mrs. Haversham was standing at the class door. "Are you ready to join us again? We're about to start reading our last book for the year."

Mrs. H had apparently been watching from through the doorway. It seemed she had made her own determination that the boys' conversation was over and was moving to intercept. As Kile entered the room and went back to his desk she stepped outside the door and put her hand on Robert's shoulder.

"You know, I have an older brother, myself," she said.

"Yeah?"

"Yes. And when we were kids I thought he was a major pain-in-the-neck. Always teasing me and such. But there were times where he'd also stand up for me. One time he even fought a boy that had been teasing me too much."

"Really?" Robert looked at Mrs. Haversham with new-found respect. She'd lived through a childhood too, and that made her a lot more likeable in his eyes.

"Oh yes. He knocked that boy down and told him to stay away."

"Did it work?" Robert asked trying to politely participate in the conversation. He found his nerves were calming a bit too.

"Not really. I still got picked on sometimes. But Chuck would always be there to fight for me when I couldn't."

"Sounds like a good brother," Rob said.

"Yes, it might. But he really was a pain-in-the-neck most of the time. He was the tease when there wasn't one around to do it in his place. But you know what I learned?"

Robert shook his head.

"Even though he seemed to be really good at being a pain, he also wanted to help....Sometimes brothers just want to help...even if they don't really know the best way to do it."

Robert thought about a retort, something on the order of saying that Kile wasn't really his brother. But he realized of course that he couldn't do that. He simple nodded and turned to leave. As he walked away, Mrs. Haversham wished him luck and reminded him that whatever was wrong likely wouldn't matter by next Fall when they returned to school.

Hoping that it likely wouldn't matter by his birthday the following day, Robert returned to his English class to find out what kind of trouble he'd be in.

## ~~~

Mr. Stuart was indeed waiting for Robert. Once he'd returned to class, most of the other students were in their seats, though a few were kneeling on the chairs to get a better look of the board's art or to talk with a neighbor. Arms crossed before him, as Rob entered, the teacher spoke in very stern tones, but managed to keep his cool. Years later, the extended Johansson family would learn that Mr. Stuart, being a bit of a poet himself, thought it was one of the coolest things any of his young students had done for a girl.

"Robert, I am given to understand that you created this mess on the board."

Robert's shoulders sunk and he moved slowly to pick his backpack and binder up off the floor where he'd left them.

"Yes, Mr. Stuart," he replied. "Well, I mean, No. I didn't do it. But...yes, I guess it's mine."

"Well then, who did it?" Mr. S. asked.

Robert wanted to blurt it all out. Everything. Oh, how much he would have liked to tell someone in authority, a teacher, exactly what he'd been facing for the past week and a half. But he knew he'd get himself a straight jacket if he did. He just mumbled his reply.

"I'm not really sure."

"Well, I understand it was quite a beautiful piece of Art, Mr. Johansson, before you tried to clean it off. But I suggest you finish the job you started and get it off my board while I begin our lesson."

"That's the problem, Mr. Stuart. Whoever did it, like glued, and I think even carved some of it on. I can't get it off."

Mr. Stuart had moved around behind his desk. He put down the pencil he was holding and stretched his fingers on both hands onto the top of the desk as though he were keeping it from floating away. He thought for a moment.

"Alright then, Robert. I think you and I had better take a quick trip to the office," he replied. "Students, I want you to trade your Haiku poems with your partners and do one last review before we turn them in tomorrow. It's your last grade for the year and I want to be able to show them to parents during the conference Friday afternoon."

Out in the hallway, Mr. Stuart marched Robert down to the office respectably enough. But on the way he happened to mention that one of the girls in the classroom had managed to snap a photo of the board before Rob got at it.

"Just thought you should know. In case...maybe you wanted a copy. I doubt you'll manage to stop it from being everywhere on the chat rooms by the end of the day."

Robert didn't quite know what to think about the comment, and he was a half-step in front so he didn't see the gentle smile Mr. Stuart made. He simply uttered, "OK", and moved on.

## ~~~

In the principal's office, Mom had been kind enough over the phone not to drag out the embarrassment any further than it had to be. Besides, she said, she'd already seen the photo of the board online on Mrs. Tremont's profile. She told Robert, what's done is done and they'd talk about it when he got home.

There ensued a fairly lengthy conversation with Kile that evening in the kitchen. Mrs. Johansson reiterated that the rules she laid down about carving troll writing and painting things into her carpets and furniture also applied at school. For his part, Kile seemed to feel particularly remorseful, but not so much for the damage as the fact that Robert had told him it was totally uncool to mess with another guy's love life. _Maybe_ , Kile thought, _romance doesn't really exist like the human books and TV said it did._ But he was sure, even if Robert couldn't see it yet, that he'd done the human boy a favor.

# Chapter 13

# Happy Birthday!

School on Thursday was a bit of a drag for Robert. He'd had people joke about the board in Mr. Stuart's room. Unfortunately, it was the last B day in an A-B track and so he wouldn't have had class with Marissa anyway. She wasn't at the bus stop either, however, and Rob wondered if he'd so thoroughly embarrassed her that she convinced her parents to not even make her come to the last couple days of school.

Thursday evening, Kile celebrated with Robert and Sara Johansson in a way he'd never really heard of, or at least didn't really connect with on the TV shows he'd seen. They had cake, and icecream and lit candles on top of the cake. The little troll wasn't very fond of the cake, but he ate almost half of the gallon-sized container of vanilla icecream. He insisted, when the others put caramel or chocolate chips on top, that he spread some of the cocoa hazel-nut spread on his, and he had to be sent outside to keep him under control.

For about ninety minutes the Johansson's weren't entirely sure where Kile had gone, but they could occasionally here laughs and animalistic noises that assured them he was okay. It seemed at one point he may have found a birds nest. There was such a racket it was entirely probable that Kile had eaten some, but they tried not to dwell on it too much. Robert and his mother just talked for a while. About girls, Marissa particularly, and other things. Mom talked about how much she was starting to miss Ricky, and Robert even agreed with her. And then they spoke about Robert's father.

Sara Johansson had received notice from her husband that he was going to be released from his tour in about a month, just on time for July Fourth. If they really weren't going to get the trolls to trade back in less than the couple months they had requested Robert's mother wasn't too sure how they'd deal with Dad. As far as either had ever heard, Mr. Johansson had not had experiences with faeries as Mom had. It was also likely, though, that Kile's disguises wouldn't hold up very well, since father had talked before about having to know when someone was lying or not. In his case, he had said, it could be a life or death situation to trust whether someone in a nearby Iraqi village needed his medical assistance or if he and his troop were being setup for an ambush.

That Thursday night, Robert asked a very astute question, but neither could provide a solid answer. "What do you think Dad might do if he learns about trolls?" he asked.

They agreed he wasn't very likely to run off and get his rifle to take care of the troll or anything, despite being a particularly good shot for an EMT. It simply wasn't in his nature. Dad was cautious but always wanted to understand a situation before trying to respond to it, such as when one of the boys was in trouble. He'd take them on his knee and talk to them. Then he'd bring anyone else in that was involved and talk to them. Only after all the "interrogation" as Mom sometimes called it was a discipline determined.

But on the other hand, Dad had been in firefights, and most definitely had had to make snap decisions. His response was going to be a toss up, and both mother and son decided they should let Richard Jr. see Kile in disguise for a while. They hoped that once he'd gotten familiar with the troll bouncing around, imitating Ricky that perhaps he would be very slow to react if...or when...he discovered the deception.

After Kile had come back in, the icecream was gone and a couple shows watched, the boys went to sleep. The following half day of school was a Friday, and Robert did not have English to try to speak to Marissa again, so all he could do was hope she'd come to his party on Saturday.

Friday dragged, and friends all said goodbye, mostly signing each other's year books. Robert was actually very curious as to who might sign Little Ricky's year book. Would any of his classmates have noticed a difference with Ricky in the last two weeks of school? Did Ricky even have friends in his class? Robert had never thought about it before but Ricky really didn't bring friends over to play much. He just hung out with Rob and Rob's friends and generally the older, middle-school-aged kids in the neighborhood.

In the afternoon, Robert, and Kile to a lesser extent, helped to clean up the house and got the basement setup with folding sort of papasan-style chairs for the kids to have a video game fest. Rob showed Kile a few things to keep in mind on the controller so that if he _did_ end up playing to level out teams or something, at least he would seem as natural at it as Little Ricky was. With his long fingers on a broad palm, it was difficult for the little troll, so they eventually gave up and agreed he'd just do the best he could.

After hamburgers, which it turned out Kile liked immensely, with or without the various colors of human butter on it, (he couldn't understand why they gave them all funny names, like mustard and mayonnaise. It seemed easier just to call them yellow or red butter, rather than assign made-up words in his mind), they watched a little TV. They stayed up pretty late mostly because Kile was enthralled with a space adventure show. He couldn't seem to grasp that the stars they showed on the screen were supposed to represent the ones they could see in the sky. The idea of other planets was absolutely out of the question. The little troll swore that the stars and other shapes in the sky were controlled by sky Gods. After a short argument, Robert finally gave up and they just watched the show, Kile entirely confused by the instantaneous shift from "space boat" to walking on earth and back again whenever the characters needed to go down to a planet surface.

Then it was bed. Robert still secretly hoped that Marissa would show up. After all, he needed to prove to Ron that girls could shoot aliens on screen just as easily as boys could and somehow thereby play down the wipe board incident.

## ~~~

In the morning of the last Saturday in May, and the day after school was out for good that year, the boys arose slowly and came down for breakfast. Kile began making his own "crunchy" scrambled eggs, but Robert just opted for a cold cereal with milk.

Mom had passed through the kitchen, grabbing her cup of coffee and some toast, and apparently on a whim went out the back door. She returned, still sipping her coffee but staring at a leather-like sheet with writing on it. Sitting down at the table, Robert could tell the print was in Trollish and sat wondering why Mom was seemingly trying to read it. When Kile turned around with his pan of eggs he saw the sheet and smiled at both Mrs. Johansson and Robert. While he slide his food onto a plate on the table he responded.

"New message! Here. I will read it for you."

Mom turned the sheet around and pushed it towards Kile's seat while he placed the pan on the kitchen counter and then returned. Robert wondered how she had decided which way was up, because he certainly couldn't tell.

The troll read for a moment and then looked up at Mrs. Johansson to speak. "They say Ricky is doing very well. He has almost learned how to _shimmer_ and he can even use the _breakroc_ spell...at least on tiny rocks."

A mouthful of egg was shoveled into Kile's mouth and he attempted to smile at the same time as he chewed. His breath was heavy through his nose as he tried to keep his lips closed as Mrs. Johansson had taught him earlier in the week. While Rob watched to see what his mother's reaction would be, she merely sipped her coffee again, placed it back on the table, and wrapped her fingers around it as if warming them.

"What else does it say?" she asked.

"Oh?" Kile fussed a little before taking another forkful of egg. "Nothing really. Just tells me to wait a while longer and to keep visiting you."

"Hmmm," came the reply. "Why are there so many words."

"Oh, ehm...there's not so much words here," Kile indicated tapping the sheet backhandedly.

Mrs. Johansson hunkered down over the table a little more and brought her face several more inches closer to Kile's. "Then why does it say they're taking my boy to the Morning Shadow Mountain?"

"Wha?!" Kile squawked. He tried to recover quickly and swept the sheet with his hand as he continued. "Nothing about that. Why you say that?"

"Yeah, Mom," Robert interjected. "Where d'ya see that?"

Mom slid the sheet closer to herself but kept it pointed towards Kile. She placed her finger about mid-way down and towards the left half of the writing. She tapped a few of the Trollish figures in a row as she annunciated clearly, "Taking infant human to safety of Morning Shadow Mountain."

Kile's eyes were large but it was now Robert's turn to be shocked.

"Wha?! How'd you..." he said half laughing and half speaking. "Mom? You read Troll?"

Mrs. Johansson sat back in her chair, placing both hands around the mug again but frowning and scowling at the little troll, who was not bothering to use _glimmer_ at the moment, being familiar with both humans, and trying to rest his magic.

"No. But I can read Faerie pretty well," she finally replied. "Trolls apparently use the words pretty plainly... I assume they're meaning my son when they say "infant human," right?"

"Wow!" Rob said breathlessly.

"Uh," started Kile. "It's nothing...they are just taking Ricky to another troll cave. Probably just to make sure no one stops his magic lessons."

"Sure," Mom said, clearly not completely satisfied. "So explain what all the rest says. That's a long letter and it seems like it's very literal...I can't quite make out what they're trying to say."

"Uh..." Kile looked to Robert for some sort of defense, eyes wide. "Well...it just talks about how they are doing. They say Ricky is learning his magic fast."

"Yeah, got that."

"And, um,...well, there's not much else really to say." The troll was not covering very well, that much was clear even without seeing Mom's eyes glaring at him, brows furled.

"I'll tell you what then. You just tell me what that word right there means," she said and placed her finger on one particularly ugly marking that was mostly a swirl but with two barbs coming off of it and a flat line drawn underneath.

Kile swallowed hard. "Er...that says..."

Once again Kile looked to Robert for a way out, but didn't find one. His eyes flicked from mother to son and back to the writing on the sheet.

Sara Johansson slammed the table with her clenched fist and bent very low, nearly touching her nose to Kile's as she exhibited the dangerous redheaded flare up Dad had warned Robert about. She growled through teeth gritted so hard it was hard to tell if she had lips, curled and retracted as they were.

"You tell me what that says, you little lying troll, or I'm going to bring some of my other faerie friends into the picture and have them strip your bones right out of you... _without_ magic!"

Robert whispered very quietly, "Jeez, Mom."

"Quiet Robert. The sprites warned me about trolls, but I was just waiting to see if it was true. They're tricky faeries. All the while they act dumb, but they're usually keeping secrets. The rest of the faeries don't trust them."

"I, er..." Kile said, patting his chest as though he were searching pockets for something. "It says gob..."

"Gob?!"

"Goblins..." Kile rasped, dropping his eyes trying not to make contact.

" _What?!_ "

Sara Johansson stood quickly from the table and strode to the back door. She looked outside, knowing she wasn't going to see her little boy from there, but searching the mountain side with her eyes all the same.

Kile, too, stood up and started pacing the kitchen. He gestured with his hands while he spoke.

"I sorry. Not trying to trick you, but not want you to worry."

"Well I'm pretty worried _now_!" Mrs. J. said in an aggravated voice. "Tell me what's really going on."

"Nothing, nothing!" Kile whimpered.

"NO! Tell me what's going on with Ricky."

Kile swallowed again. His voice was raspy and reverberated in a funny tone as he spoke. "We have spotted some goblins in the mountains, but that's very strange! Goblins in these mountains stay very high, and very deep within the mountains. Not many, that I know. But some have come down and guards watch them like they're looking for something."

Robert motioned from his chair and it then became Kile's turn to give a quick communicative shake of his head, warning Rob to stay quiet on what they had seen the previous weekend.

"They don't want to bring the human...er, Ricky, out of the caves and back home because they are afraid goblins might see and maybe attack humans too. So, they took him to another city through the caves where he will be safe. When guards check the mountain, and it seem safe, then Ricky can come home!"

"And how long will that be?" Mrs. Johansson asked.

"Well..."

"Be honest with me, Kile, I mean it!" she said, wagging a finger in front of his face.

"That why they say two months. They want to search mountain and see what the goblins are doing. Then they can let Ricky come home."

Mom sat staring at the troll, arms folded before her, as he in turn fidgeted with his hands and kicked at the floor with his feet.

"Alright. You send them a message back that says if Ricky is not home in two months total, then I'm coming after him." She started to stomp off towards the stairs to go up to get dressed for the day, but turned back and added, "And tell them I'll be bringing friends, so they better be ready."

Troll and human boy were left in the kitchen with an awkward silence. Kile eyed the stairway through the kitchen archway as Mom headed up. Eventually he sat back down at his place, but he didn't start eating his eggs again right away.

"Oh, man, Kile! I've never seen Mom act like that. You probably better just come clean on everything you know from now on."

"Come clean?" Kile asked, face still uncertain.

"Yeah, you know. Tell the truth," Rob said. And then with a second more of consideration he added, "Tell everything you know, too."

"Oh," Kile sounded despondant. "Should Kile leave now?"

"What? Just because you got in trouble?" Robert laughed.

The little troll was nodding and still fretting about with his hands.

"Nah. Welcome to the family, Kile. You're one of us now if you get yelled at too."

Kile remained leery but he nodded and then picked up his fork. Within two bites he had seemed to put aside the confrontation and was busy with his near dozen eggs worth of scrambled crunchy eggs.

## ~~~

Finally, the party came. Marissa did not. Robert and four of his friends took turns rotating through a four player capture-the-flag style first person game. Kile got to play, and while Rob could see improvement during each round, a few of the others would groan each time the troll came into rotation.

Mom provided pizza which the preteens inhaled rather than ate. Kile did not care for the pizza and so he left during one of the off rounds and went upstairs to find Mrs. Johansson and ask for a PB&J, or three. Once the sandwiches were done, Mrs. J. sat down with him and visited, laughing occasionally at the outbursts from the basement from the boys.

"Tell me about your home, then. Have you lived near Loafer Mountain all your life?" she asked.

"Oh yes! I was hatched right here in the Morning Shadow Mountain cave and have stayed ever since."

"Hmmm...and you never traveled or ventured out?"

"No, I don't go far," Kile said behind a muffled mouthful. "The other trolls tell me it is not safe. And the King has said, ever since humans found this land near our entrances that we should not go where they can see us."

"But there's been Native Americans around here for centuries, even thousands of years. How long has that rule existed?" Mrs. J. pressed.

"Mmmph." Kile needed to swallow before continuing. Once he did he was as open as he could be, at Rob's suggestion. "The queen found these mountains probably nearly four-hundred years ago. She found the cave and opened the tunnels so that all the trolls with King Karapace could travel here from what you call Europe."

"You mean you used magics to get here?"

"Yes! Boy trolls don't like water....I don't think girl trolls do either, but I don't know any besides the Queen really. Girl trolls don't like to talk with us and there's not very many. So, she said she would find us a new place and she went. Isabel is probably bravest troll ever! She used _glimmer_ to ride on a boat with humans, and then when they landed she moved across land until she found these large mountains. Then she created our cave home, Machsa!"

"Very interesting. So, even though you don't have many, it's the female trolls which kind of run the show?" Mrs. Johansson continued to ask.

"Mmmm, sort of. I don't know what the girl trolls do. But King Karapace wasn't a king then. King Teufel ruled over all trolls in the old lands, at least all the ones my family knows about. But he kept fighting with humans. Then the humans had guns, and Karapace and some of the others did not want to fight with humans anymore. They wanted to hide, or to try a treaty with them.

Teufel banished them. So, with nowhere to go, Queen Isabel decided to find a place for us where humans weren't so many.

Then humans found even these mountains. Only two centuries ago, maybe less but it was before I hatched, they started moving in and taking over the valleys. So, Karapace told us we should hide and stay out of the humans' way."

There was a pause while Kile worked particularly hard at getting his whole second sandwich put down. Mrs. Johansson waited, sipping a drink she had made for herself earlier, something that looked a lot like tea.

"Why did you decide to talk with my boys then," she asked. "I mean, you have _shimmer_ that you could have used. Why not just stay hidden."

Kile toyed with his last sandwich for a few seconds. Mrs. Johansson wasn't sure if he was figuring out that she was grilling him for details and information, or if he just wasn't quite sure how he should answer.

"The Queen gave me an assignment, because I had snuck down to your city sometimes and I also know how to speak the human language. She wants me to find out if humans will fight with us again, or if we can make a treaty."

"Oh," Mrs. Johansson said thoughtfully. "And why would you need a treaty now?"

Kile nodded as if confirming that was a good question. "You live higher and higher on the mountain. There are more and more of you. They say it is like the last times where we lived before and had to leave. The King and Queen do not want to fight humans, so my work is to find out if we can...get along?"

Mrs. Johansson nodded in response to confirm for the little troll that he'd chosen his words correctly. It was all coming together now. It seemed the sprites were at least mostly correct about trolls. They had ulterior motives. The friendship of some among the humans would certainly aid in any type of exposure the trolls might risk in the human world.

Having learned for a Summer from the sprites directly while her family yet lived in Des Moines, and having met a few other faerie folk by her acquaintances, Sara Johansson knew that in general most faeries had died out, and lived only in rare pockets of their civilizations. It did not help that in addition to the threat she was sure humans were perceived as, each faerie race tended to distrust and fear interactions with one another too. Modern humans swore faeries never did exist, but if faeriefolk weren't careful they most certainly would cease to within a couple-hundred years or less. Faeries, Sara Johansson thought, were going extinct. And there was no one among humans who were going to do a recovery effort like they did for wolves and buffalo. It was more likely that most faeries would be killed as monsters.

"How many troll cities do you think are left, Kile?" she mused.

"Hmmm. I don't know really. Mountain trolls always live in caves in mountains," he responded.

Sara smiled and nodded at the troll. He certainly seemed innocent enough, much like her own boys: growing and becoming more wise, but still very open when comfortable and mostly trusting.

"But we only keep track of a few clans now. There are some in what humans call the Alps...oh, and also in the Andes! I'm thinking..." Kile tapped his teeth with his index finger nail again. "Oh! There are many caves still left in the Himalayas! I think maybe we talk with ten different clans."

"That seems like a lot of caves still," Sara confirmed. "But how _many_ trolls do you think there are?"

"I'm not very sure. We don't really keep track too much, because we have not had troll wars for thousands of years. No one really needs to know if we are not going to fight each other. Who cares who's clan is bigger anymore? But...if there's ten clans left, and maybe several caves for each of them...I say...maybe 100,000!"

The troll stopped to chomp nearly all of his third sandwich in one bite. His number sounded totally arbitrary and made up from the top of his head.

"Kile," Mrs. Johansson said quietly.

"Hmmm," the troll responded, still trying to get peanut butter where he wanted it to go in his mouth.

"There's seven _billion_ humans now. I'm thinking it might be better to stay hidden."

Kile sat and thought for a while, while he savored the remnants of his sandwiches. It wasn't immediately clear to Sara if "billion" had any meaning for the little troll. But she let him stew about it for a while.

"Well," said Mrs. Johansson, "I guess it's time to bring Robbie his present."

"Present?" Kile looked at her quizzically from the table as he'd finished his sandwiches. "What is a present?"

"You know, a gift. I got Robbie a little present that I saved for today. It's a new game and I think he'll want to unwrap it now and share with his friends, including you."

She brought out a small gift-wrapped package with a bow on it and turned to show it to Kile. His mouth opened in a wide "O" having never seen reflective nor striped paper quite of the same quality as surrounded whatever was inside it.

"We don't have gifts on birthdays..." he mused, eyes glazed over.

"No?"

"Uhn-uh. We have a tradition, but gifts are for the Queen and King," he explained. His breath whisked in as he marveled at how shiny the red and silver stripes were on top of the white background of the paper. "It's so beautiful. But...What do you do with it?"

Sara laughed lightly and handed it to Kile. "He unwraps it and gets the gift inside."

"Aaahhh..." the troll responded.

Kile was mesmerized and turned the package around in his hand poking the silver bow. It was fairly flat and about a palm's width by two palm's width for Kile. He wasn't sure what sort of gift would be that shape except maybe one of his paintings he had made for Queen Isabel in the past. As he started tugging at the bow, Mrs. Johansson tutted and told him to go deliver it.

"May I give him my tradition too?" Kile asked, earnest eyes waiting.

"Oh, sure. You go right ahead....It's not some weird mushrooms or anything, is it?" she kidded.

Kile looked at her cock-eyed. He shook his head slowly as if her comment was totally inconceivable. _What kind of tradition is a mushroom?_ he thought.

"Never mind. Something a pixie once tried to share with me," Mrs. J. said, trying to put Kile back on task. "Now hurry. He's only got a couple more hours to play the game."

## ~~~

Downstairs it was a little difficult to interrupt Robert and give him the gift. He'd just entered the rotation for game time again and none of the boys wanted to stop until they finished at least the first round. Finally when Kile jumped in front of the television and waved the gift in front of him they paid attention. It wasn't the troll's silly dance he performed for them but the shape of the present that stopped them. After taking the gift and thanking Little Ricky, Rob and his friends were treated to another thirty seconds or so of Kile's best moves that he'd learned watching various dance shows and pre-teen broadcasts showcasing kids busting a move at appropriate moments.

Kile was quite proud. But all he got for his birthday "dance" was a couple shaking heads and small grins before the boys sat on the couch to unwrap the present. So he stood and waited with baited breath just as the rest of the boys to see what it was.

The group of humans shouted excitedly as the first half of the paper tore off.

"Mom! I thought you said I was too young for this," Robert yelled up the stairs.

Mom laughed and shouted back, "Yeah! Maybe I still do, but I think you've proven you're getting pretty mature. Just be willing to shut off the games when I tell you it's time."

"No problem!" he yelled back. "Thanks Mom!"

"Let's put it in!" Ron said loudly.

"Wait, wait!" Daniel interjected. "We should give him all our presents now too."

It only took a couple of minutes to go through what the other human boys had brought him. Two of them had just brought a little bit of cash and told Robert he could use it for whatever he wanted. Ronald was one of them and he cracked a joke to which Kile laughed.

"I was going to give you a locket," he said.

"What?" Rob asked back smiling.

"Yeah, you know. So you could put your picture in it and give it to Marissa if she came, but...." The smaller boy laughed.

Robert socked him once on the shoulder hard enough to be his retort but not so much to justify the fake pain Ron pretended he was in.

Then Daniel gave Robert a little box. It was felt and looked to Rob like it might be a jewelry box. He made a comment to Ron that maybe he _did_ get a locket to share with someone, but Dan laughed and promised him that, no, there really was something good inside.

After flipping the lid Robert removed a credit-card shaped thing but stared at it vacantly for a moment trying to read what it said.

"It's a gift card. For the hobby store," Daniel explained.

"Oh cool!" Robert replied, very much grateful Daniel had given him something thoughtful.

"It's not really a lot, but I thought maybe you could save money up on it and then buy a plane or a helicopter or something. I'll help you put it together if you want."

"Wow," Rob said again. "That's really cool. I'll have to mow lawns this summer so I can go ahead and get it quick."

Kile too mouthed "wow" silently to himself mimicking Rob. He vowed he would try to help Robert earn his helicopter so he could see it before returning to Machsa, but also because he wanted Robert to remain a friend after he left.

As the boys settled, Kile spoke up. "Can I share my tradition with you now?"

Rob smiled and said, "Sure."

Then Kile bent down to hang his face low. He stuck one long, black-nailed index finger deep inside his nose and started rummaging around. His glimmer was turned off for Robert, though the rest of the boys watched Little Ricky fumbling around like a fool picking his nose. Robert got the full effect of the show though.

After a half a minute Kile withdrew his finger, covered with ooze and displaying one giant, particularly revolting glop of booger on the end of it. Kile was smiling ear to ear, and waddled over to Rob, sticking his finger in the boy's face.

"Happy Birthday!" Kile said gleefully.

"Ewweee, Ricky!" Daniel said. "That's not even funny!"

"Get rid of that Ky...er, Ricky!" Rob spluttered waving his hand in front of him.

"No, you have to eat it!" Kile said, smile faltering just a bit and then returning.

"What?!" Ronald said, plopping on the floor and laughing even harder than he was before despite Dan's admonition. "Eat it yourself, Ricky!"

"No, no, no," Kile plied to Robert's senses. "It is a tradition. It will help you grow!"

The other two boys were alternating between laughter and awkward giggles. All five humans could not help but look at the glistening troll booger. It seemed to Robert to even be throbbing in the darkened basement light.

"Ricky," Robert pleaded, starting on one track and then changing his mind. He was having a tough time remembering that the troll wasn't really his human brother, despite being able to see him without _glimmer_. "Come upstairs. Here, you guys load the new game."

Ronald caught the game package out of the air as Rob tossed it to him gently. He continued to chuckle as Robert dragged Little Ricky up the stairs.

"Why?" Kile said loudly. "You need to finish the tradition."

Rob's hand was clamped around the troll's wrist, the one with the extended booger finger. Though the troll was surely stronger than he, Robert continued to pull him up the stairs hoping his mother would help him intercede before the boys downstairs missed him.

"Kile," he rasped at the troll, "I'm not going to eat your boogers. What are you getting at here anyway?"

"No, wait! It's a tradition!"

Mom came striding out of the kitchen wiping a small handful of flatware on a dishtowel. "What's going on?" she asked.

"It's Kile. He pulls out this honkin' big booger in front of everyone and he wants me to eat it!"

Kile looked to Mrs. Johansson, still trying to force a smile. "Yes! Yes! It's a tradition! All the friends of a troll give him a booger for good luck! It helps him grow bigger and stronger for the next year!"

"Ah!" said Mrs. J. "I see."

"Dude, it's totally gross!" Rob was still trying to clue the troll in.

"It's alright. Go back downstairs, Robbie. I'll explain."

After Robert trotted down the steps and another roar of laughter came from a couple of the boys, Mrs. Johansson took the troll to the bathroom.

"Did I do something wrong?" asked Kile.

"You might say that," Sara replied with a giggle. "Humans really don't want to eat boogers, especially someone else's, Kile."

"Yes they do! I saw it at the school _and_ on television shows."

"Yes dear, but I think they usually do it to make fun of kids that eat their boogers."

Kile waddled behind her towards the bathroom. Humans were so weird. He couldn't understand what was wrong with them that they didn't take care of their bodies better. After all, they did weird rituals like lather up soap inside their mouths with a bristley stick a couple times a day. What could be so wrong about eating boogers?

"Here, wipe off your finger on a tissue and then wash your hands," Mrs. Johansson said.

Of course! Again with the hand washing. Humans loved to wash their hands all the time too. And while he had figured out what the tissue _was_ the first week easily enough, he still had a question about it, but he held it while Mrs. Johansson continued to explain and then suggest a different tradition he might be able to go downstairs and do for Robert.

"Sara?" Kile asked experimentally after she was done to see if it was okay to call her by her first name.

"Yes," she responded.

"What is that tissue for?"

"What do you mean? The toilet paper there?" she asked, pointing at the roll mounted beside the toilet.

"Yes. What do you use it for, besides wiping off boogers?"

Mrs. Johansson thought for a moment. "Kile, how do you get...you know...clean after you go to the bathroom?"

"Bathroom?" Kile looked about for a moment trying to concentrate. "I get clean _in_ the bathroom. Robbie showed me how to run the shower."

"No, I mean, where do you go to the restroom?"

"Restroom?" Kile squished his nose and brow trying to understand where you go to rest.

"Potty? You know?" Kile continued to shake his head so she expounded, "Poop, Kile? Where do you go poop?"

"Poop?"

"Oh boy," she mumbled under her breath. "Where do you get rid of the wastes from your body?"

Kile placed his index finger on his lips again while he thought. "You mean dewies?"

"If dewies means poop, then, yes. Where do you do your dewies?" She was getting exasperated.

"Oh," he fiddled his fingers a bit, a little embarrassed. "I could not find where you put them so I put them behind the tree in the corner of the back yard."

"Oh man," Sara responded, placing her hand on her forehead. "So that's what all that was."

Kile was nodding.

"Okay...tell you what. Let's just not mention it to Robert, and, uh...if you still want to do your dewies outside, can you go just a little bit into the forest back there, sort of out of the way?"

"Okay," Kile grinned and nodded his head.

She patted him on the shoulder and sent him back down the stairs, returning to the kitchen a little light-headed.

"Sara?"

She turned begrudgingly. "Yes?"

"Should I do my streams out there too?"

Mrs. Johansson just nodded, mouth slightly open, unsure of what was the proper expression. She did not want to ask nor even imagine where he might have been doing _those_ for the past two weeks.

Kile tromped down stairs. A few seconds later Sara heard her eldest son's voice say, "Ow! What was that for?"

Then a voice similar to her youngest's said, "A pinch to grow an inch."

The rest of the gathering downstairs roared with laughter, and Sara Johansson knew she'd gotten Kile straightened out...at least when it came to birthday traditions. The rest of the issues would have to wait.

# Chapter 14

# Love Actually

On the Sunday following Robert's party the family generally had a relaxing day to unwind. While Kile joined Rob on the new video game he received during his birthday party, and performed the thumb and trigger-finger movements well enough to keep up with Rob's on screen character but not much else, the family was surprised by a knock on the door.

"Robbie? There's someone at the door for you," Mom called with a funny tone in her voice.

He bounded up the stairs from the basement quickly with Kile right behind him. At the top, Robert turned and noticed Kile was still in Troll form for his view and wisely did a double check.

"Are you _glimmered_?"

"Oh, right!" Kile said, who then instantly became Little Ricky again.

They both then moved to the door. There stood Marissa. She was wearing a beautiful red satin dress with a matching hair band and her hair seemed to be done up for an event. Her cheeks seemed equally red but more by natural causes for a redhead than by makeup or any other design.

"Hi Rob!" she smiled and quickly waved her right hand, keeping her left still tucked behind her. "Can I come in for a second?"

"Oh sure!" he said, and stepped back a couple paces.

Kile also took a step or two but he was making a moderate effort to remain concealed behind Robert and was cocking his left eyebrow while tugging on his lower lip with his bony fingers. He wondered why the human girl would come to the Johansson's home after he had apparently ruined any shot of a friendship with her for Robert by his efforts on the blackboard. Could it be she'd come to get revenge?

"I'm so sorry I couldn't come yesterday," she started.

Rob interrupted a bit to ease the discomfort in an uncomfortable way that boys do. "It's no biggie. I understand."

"No, really," Marissa said tugging at her hair a bit to tuck the amber curls behind her ears. "I was going to come. I really did want to play some games. But my parents told me just Thursday night that we were going to go spend a couple days with my cousins."

"Oh..." Rob stuttered. "Okay. That's alright. I'm sure you didn't really miss much anyway."

_Holy crap!_ His mind raced. _She likes me!?_ What an awesome birthday he was having after all!

"Well, I kinda like just relaxing too. You know. With games, or movies or something," she stuttered herself, looking at the ground and swinging her one loose hand nervously. "It sounded like a good party."

Kile was becoming leery. Just what was this human up to? She was nervous about it, whatever it was, that much was clear to him. She acted just like he did whenever the Queen called him in for a meeting the last couple years.

"Oh. Yeah. That's cool," Rob responded.

"So...anyway. I was talking to Daniel this morning, and uh...he said he got you a gift certificate to help get an RC plane or something."

"Yeah. He's really awesome!"

"Well, I just thought I'd drop this by to you to help with that a little."

Marissa brought her left hand forward and presented a greeting-card sized envelope. Robert's name was written on it and there were a few little sketches she'd made on it of airplanes and helicopters and such.

"Oh! Thank you Marissa!" Robert was genuinely awed and amazed.

"Um..." Marissa hesitated again. "Don't open it quite yet, maybe. It's just a little money to help you buy something. But I gotta hurry and go to church with my family."

"Oh, okay. Yeah, that's a good idea," Rob stammered, also swinging his loose arm nervously.

"Well. Okay. Happy birthday, Robert!" She said.

Then she leaned in and gave him a peck of a kiss on his left check. When done her eyes flicked nervously at his and down again. Her face was flushed, but Rob's was quickly doing the same to match. She raised her right hand again and gave a quick flick of farewell, then turned and hurried out the door.

Rob slowly closed the door behind her watching her nearly run down the path to the waiting car at the street. Once it was all the way closed he held up the envelope and then looked up. Kile was standing, hands on hips and brow furled like he was about to chew poor Robert out for cavorting with the enemy, a true Montague fatherly chastisement for being seen with a Capulet.

Mom was standing in the kitchen archway, arms folded, smiling.

"What?" Rob shrugged.

"Nice girl," she responded.

"Yeah..." He replied. Mom smiled even more at her son's sheepish grin, flushing face and downturned eyes.

"You do know that she was hoping you would ask her to a movie, right?"

"What? What are you talking about?" Rob pleaded with his mother by body language.

"Her comment...about relaxing with games and movies and 'stuff'. You realized she was hoping you'd ask her to a movie, right?"

"Oh crap!" Rob blurted. He threw the door open, running out, waving the envelope in his hand trying to keep Marissa's father from driving away.

While he was outside, Kile turned to Mrs. Johansson. His scowl was very much condemning. It would seem Sara was part of the enemy's plan here as well.

"What is going on here?" he asked, dropping his _glimmered_ visage and voice as well.

"Ah, Kile..." She smiled and turned back to the kitchen. "My eldest boy is growing up. That's what's happening here."

Kile grumbled as he turned back to the front door to await Robert. "He's not even one-hundred yet...Not grown up at all."

When Robert returned he had a perplexed expression. He wasn't immediately communicative and was beginning to open the envelope, so Mom had to ask on her own from the kitchen.

"So? What happened? Have you got a date?"

"Uh..." Robert started. "I guess so. Her mom said she can't really go on a date-date until she's sixteen."

"Oh," Mom responded. "Well, that's probably smart."

Robert fussed a little. "Yeah, but they said if you and Ricky were with me and she wanted to go see one it would be okay."

"Well there you go!" Mrs. Johansson's smile returned. "That would be fun, and you can get to know her better too."

She winked at Robert and then went back to the items she was organizing in the kitchen.

"Moooom..." Rob whined. But then he'd gotten the envelope opened without distractions from his mother.

Inside was a twenty dollar bill. Rob whistled and stuck it in his pocket. There remained a corner sticking out so Kile eyed it carefully and poked it a bit while Robert was reading the card. The card itself had been hand-made by Marissa. She was an excellent artist and had taken the time to draw several RC hobby items like a helicopter and plane which Daniel must have told her he was interested in. There were also a couple speed boats and cars. But the most curious thing were the small red hearts drawn around the inside message she had crafted. The note itself read:

"Happy Birthday,

Robert!

I was really glad you invited me.

Sorry I missed your party.

Maybe we can just hang out sometime?"

Below which was another red heart drawn, placed just such that along with the text a preteen male would struggle for years to decide whether she meant it as a cutesy, twelve-year-old girly thing, like the hearts some girls use to dot their "I"s, or if there was more behind the hearts than that. It was a pleasurable torment and the card remained above Robert's head on a night stand for many, many years after.

# Chapter 15

# Dad's Home Coming

The Saturday just before the July Fourth holiday, Richard Johansson, Jr. arrived at the airbase just an hour and a half away. Only fourteen people disembarked the troop carrier after it came to a stop and families were permitted to gather closer. Every one of them received hugs, cheers and kisses from loved ones. Richard got his as well from all but his youngest son.

Patting what he thought was Little Ricky on the head, Dad said, "What's wrong with you, big guy? Didn't you miss me?"

Kile tried his best to form an appropriate expression and then gave Mr. Johansson a great hug, but he didn't think he should try to force tears to match Mrs. Johansson or even Robert's. His instructions were clear: just play it cool and try not to talk a whole lot. So that's what he did. Unfortunately, if Mom and Robbie had just set Kile free to act any way he might, the disguise might actually have gone over a little better. The first day, father was already suspecting something about his son, but he had feared he disappointed him or something rather than imagining a faerie folk waltzing around in a Little Ricky _glimmer_.

For dinner they went to a nicer restaurant so Dad could be celebrated home with his favorite steak and lobster tail meal. Sara Johansson was a fine chef, but lobster and crab were two items she had indicated many years earlier she would never try at home. So, there they sat in the restaurant booth, asking Richard about events in Iraq and what he'd seen or done. Marveling at the many close calls he'd experienced, and laughing at some of the jokes the various troops Dad had worked with played on each other.

A certain troll on a mission, however, became more glum as he listened. Robert and Ricky's father carried a gun, and at times had to use it. Worse, he seemed to think some of the stories of what they'd done with the guns were terribly funny, like when they teased one particular braggart in the regular army that he couldn't hit a tin can which they had attached to thin fishing wire and moved it slightly every time he got ready to pull the trigger. If Kile had been able to read between the lines, Richard simply wanted to impress his sons with some good stories, but he himself would rather not have ever had to fire one. But being a troll, he hadn't been able to. They returned home and Kile fell to sleep worrying about how he would explain to the Queen that he didn't think they should trust the humans after all. They still definitely had guns, lots of them it seemed, and they certainly weren't afraid to use them.

## ~~~

"Holy crap!" Richard whispered just inside the door of Little Ricky's room with his wife beside him after he was sure the boys had fallen to sleep. "Are you really okay with this?"

He swung his hands around the room but particularly gestured to the carved-in and blue-painted markings Kile had made in his first 48 hours in the Johansson home.

"It's alright," his wife told him softly. "What's done is done. I talked to them both, and I think they get it. Let's just leave it for now since we were going to re-carpet this next year anyway."

They exited the room and very slowly swung the door near closed again. Kile had awoken but not moved. He listened to Richard say he'd get going this summer on the wood flooring he'd promised her downstairs when they had moved in. Concerns over discipline were discussed too. Supposedly, as Richard was telling the story, Richard Sr. (aka: Grandpa Rick) would use a paddle or something on Junior when he'd been disobedient as a child and Richard suggested perhaps the same would be good for Little Ricky now, only that his little boy was so stubborn he probably wouldn't feel it anyway.

Laughter came from both Sara and Richard downstairs. "Oh your Dad never smacked you, and you know you wouldn't do it either," she said.

"Of course not," Richard conceded. "But if Grandpa was still alive he'd sure give that boy a stern lecture!"

While the couple caught up downstairs, Kile lie wondering what to do. He decided to write another message back to the queen and get the Jogah, the little forest spirits, to send it off quickly that night. He needed advice, and he also wanted to know when they were going to be making the trade back with the little human.

## ~~~

In the early morning hours, of the Sunday after Richard Johansson, Jr. returned home, Kile found the following message was returned to the back porch written in Trollish:

Give the human patriarch room.

As the humans say, don't judge a book by its cover.

After all, we have weapons for our defense too.

If you are in eminent danger, return immediately.

Watch for Goblins if you do. We have not seen more than just the one scouting pack.

Otherwise, continue to observe until we are finished indoctrinating the human male in our possession so we can return him an advocate to our goals.

Don't risk the mission.

Respect to you,

\--your Ti'eir Dorna Scharpfen.

The Queen had used the name he had created for her and which only he knew. A tear slipped down the side of his check and he resolved to complete his mission. In Kile's mind, that meant to him that he should make friends with Ricky and Robbie's father too.

When Kile retraced his steps back from the kitchen to head back to Little Ricky's room he just barely caught a glimpse of Richard Johansson doing one-armed pushups in the living room on time and threw up his _glimmer_ immediately. Now that Father was home, the little troll was going to have to remember to stretch his magic well enough to remain in disguise all the time. It had been nice to allow Sara to see him as he was for a few weeks, but now it seemed like it was time to get back to business.

"Hey, squirt!" the boys' father said between breaths. "What are you doing up so early?"

"I...just like looking outside."

"Yeah?" Dad stopped and knelt up. He laughed briefly. "Me too. Hey, maybe we should go on a hike today? You, me, and Robbie? Maybe see if Mom wants to go?"

"Oh? Yes. I like that." Kile nodded and tried hard not to seem nervous and feeling like he was failing miserably, bumbling some of the English he'd become so proficient at in the past few weeks.

"Good! Then let's get dressed when those sleepy heads get moving this morning and get to it. Best to get your exercise done while it's still the cool part of the day in July."

Kile fussed just a bit. He wanted to make conversation, but couldn't do it without kicking at the floor a bit and dropping his eyes with this big human male peering at him like King Karapace frequently did. "Yes. I like early evening time too. Lots of animals are waking up then and are nice to listen to."

Standing upright, hands on his hips and sweating slightly, Mr. Johansson said, "Yeah. Me too. I have been out in a desert so long, it's kind of different being in the woods. A little tough to sleep."

Nodding his agreement again, Kile started towards the stairs to go get a little more sleep. Mr. Johansson ruffled what he thought was Little Ricky's hair and wondered to himself silently why it felt sort of sticky.

"You know I love you, right son?"

"Oh," the troll paused on the bottom step and looked at the human father. He nodded a couple times and mumbled, "Mmm-hmm. I love you too...Mr. Johansson."

"Wuh?" Richard smiled awkwardly.

Kile sort of tip-toed around the couch and made his way past Ricky Jr. "Um...Dad," he squeeked. And then as an after-thought he giggled somewhat implishly as if he'd made the slip on purpose. He'd hoped the boys' father would just write it off as Little Ricky being weird.

While Richard watched his little boy climb the stairs awkwardly, he knew there was something out of place. _Whatever it is, I'll fix it,_ he thought. Mr. Johansson wanted to ensure his family was happy with him being home, in part because he was planning on telling them he was retiring from the military and was going to look for full time work as a nurse nearby while he started his Physician's Assistant program. He'd had enough of people hurting and wanted to do what he could to make people feel well.

Kile on the other hand was wondering why humans talked so much about love and why they organized with two parents, siblings and such. His own hatching was quite typical for a mountain troll. And the elders that raised him and those that hatched with him that year as a large communal group were perfectly happy with each other. But they never really felt the need to go around hugging each other all the time and saying so many mushy things to each other. Perhaps that was one more thing he should try to understand, he decided.

## ~~~

Eventually, the family did awake, enjoy Kile's favorite eggs and bacon yet again, and half-heartedly agreed to go on a walk with Dad through the forest. It had gotten late already, so it was quite warm. The two boys pressed to be permitted a retreat to the basement and the awaiting video game console. But no such luck. Dad was bound and determined to be as much a part of their lives as he could physically manage.

Mom and Dad talked for a while, allowing Robbie to lead them up to the much bragged-about Maple Springs Airfield. Not long into their walk a couple planes could be seen already zipping around up above town, one of them likely Daniel's. Dad talked about an occasion where a C-17A Globemaster had come in mere feet above the base and knocked down several tents and temporary towers. It was intended as a joke, but he came away thinking the pilot and co-pilot had been grounded for 18 months because of it.

"Maybe you should get a model of one of those! A real big one you can hear for miles!" Richard said to Robert.

"Yeah..." Rob replied. "I really kind of was hoping to get a helicopter to be honest."

"Oh! I see," his father replied. "Nothing wrong with that. It takes all kinds of aircraft to keep things moving."

As they continued the hike slowly Richard kept trying to make closer connections with both boys. Sara Johansson simply smiled and walked behind most of the time, admiring both husband and sons. Until she reminded herself that one of them was definitely not her son. During the climb, she decided it was probably time to make the trade back with Little Ricky, the _real_ Little Ricky, as soon as possible. Kile's efforts, or at least what he'd told Mrs. Johansson he'd done, was so far ineffective. She started thinking, perhaps it was time for her to write the message and make a few demands with it too.

But plans can change quickly. After a visit to the airfield and a visit with Daniel, the family moved up a little further on the hill, somewhat in the direction of the cut hiding the Maple Springs and the Troll cave entrance Rob and Ricky had found. In this area, Kile couldn't help but give himself away a little.

"Ricky?" Dad called at one point. "What is it you keep checking for there?"

Kile was quite a ways ahead of both Sara and Richard and Mr. Johansson had to pick up a jogging pace to catch up to the little troll and have a man-to-man conversation.

"It looks almost like your tracking or something," he continued.

"Oh?!" Kile responded nervously, tossing a scrap of bark back down on the ground. "No, no. Just looking."

"Mmmm-hmmm. That's what I mean. What are you looking for? You seem to be checking all these branch breaks and deer trails the whole way along. Are you expecting to find something?" he asked.

The one thing Kile hadn't counted on was some level of expertise from Mr. Johansson in a number of skills. Both tracking and detecting deception were something he'd gotten naturally good at, having always been on high alert for several tours of duty.

"Uh," Kile struggled for an answer and slowly started walking again towards Robert's position. "No. I, erh, just looking around."

The grin on the faux-Ricky face was a bit too large and not entirely accurate in human scale, something not terribly noticeable to most people. That's why a _glimmer_ was a fairly effective tool. But Richard Johansson seemed to be more focused, more aware than most people. Kile could feel his charade beginning to break apart.

"Hey Ricky?" Dad said, stepping after him. "Wait! Stop. Hey Ricky, stop for just a minute."

The troll turned about but kept his eyes and head turned low.

"What's going on, big man?" Mr. Johansson asked.

Kile found some sort of familial relation in Richard's face just then. He immediately longed to tell the human what was going on. To just get it all out on the table and to stop with the _glimmers_ and the lengthy deception would be such a relief. But he remembered his Queen's direction and maintained as best he could, a slight tear running down his check.

"Ricky? Are you alright?" Richard took out a handkerchief and wiped the Little Ricky face clean, but found a peculiar effect afterwards. The skin didn't gleam quite right, and his boy's face didn't feel quite right under his finger either. "Ricky? What's wrong exactly? And...why are your eyes yellow?"

_Kordva!_ thought Kile. He'd let his glimmer slip a little or didn't have it strong enough for this close conversation. He quickly threw up more defenses and tried to cover.

Mr. Johansson on the other hand rocked back to stand upon his own boot heels behind him. Something was not right. This was not his Ricky. It was a sobering thought. He couldn't quite bring that accusation to light just yet. But the realization dawned on him so quickly it was like someone had turned the lights on in a dark room.

Kile turned and quickly rejoined Robert up ahead. Richard stood and awaited his wife to catch up. When she arrived and slipped her arm through his elbow he asked, "What's going on here with Ricky?"

Sara looked at her husband. She wasn't surprised. She knew he'd catch on pretty quick, but she searched his face to see how much he had just realized. Based on the dumbfounded look she saw there she knew it was not a whole lot as of that point.

"Well..." she started. "You're just going to have to trust me, while I tell you a little story. And you aren't going to believe me anyway."

The explanation started awkwardly with her own youthful experience with Sprites, culminating with how she figured out Kile was a faerie folk. She admitted even after she saw the messages on the back door that she didn't even consider that her Little Ricky might be a troll. Trolls hated humans! Trolls ate humans! At least according to her friends among the Sprites.

Richard took it fairly well. He didn't faint. He didn't accuse her of lying. He just listened. Some of it was clearly being processed by Mr. Johansson for the whole remainder of the evening. But the one response he did give brought all of Mrs. Johansson's concerns spiraling back into the forefront of her thoughts.

"So...Where's my Little Ricky?"

# Chapter 16

# Grandma Has Such Big Eyes To See You With!

On the second of July, after significantly more time for Richard to process the idea of a troll living in the house had passed and many more questions about when Little Ricky would be returning had been asked, the family took a short trip north to go visit Grandma Johansson. The cousins were there again, much to Kile and Robert's chagrin, as well as a few other relatives. Great Grandma Johansson was also visiting, relaxed in a large leather recliner in the den, television blaring something about some funniest American pranks or other. She would snore roughly every once-in-a-while, but whenever one of the other adults stepped into the room and inquired how she was doing would casually look up at them and reply that she was fine, as though she'd been alert the whole time.

The boys had decided to make that room their getaway space while cousins occupied the television in the larger family room, adults chatted in the kitchen and smaller children played outside. That is until Kile got a little carried away talking about how big, (and small), some of the other faerie folk could get.

The little troll was moving about the room using his arms and hands to illustrate and provide Robert with an introductory course on Faerie races when GG seemed to sit upright in the recliner, pulling on the lever and then peering at what should have looked like a handsome, blond nine-year-old prancing about playfully.

"Boy?" She said in a raspy voice.

Kile turned somewhat startled, instantly knowing she meant him. Robert leaned over, still in his cross-legged seating position on the floor to look around the troll and see GG. She was pinching one side of her thick bi-focal glasses and sort of moving them slightly up and down, apparently to swap back and forth between the focuses.

Swallowing hard, the troll did a quick double-check to make sure his _glimmer_ was up and then replied. "Yes?"

Grandma was peering over her bifocals. Then she pushed them back up on her nose. She raised and lowered her head a couple times but transfixed the two beings before her with piercing eyes, as though she were still trying to decide which lens of the bifocal glasses she should use.

"You're Faerie folk, aren't ya?" she hissed.

Kile looked back at Robert, who could only shrug and shake his head, opened-mouthed as he was. The troll turned back and then pointed his right-hand index finger to his chest as if to ask, "Who, me?"

"Yeah, you, boy," she said as she tried to lean even further forward. "You're a Faerie, ain't ya?"

Still stunned silent, Robert finally answered for Kile. "Uh, no, GG. Why would you say that?"

"Oh stop foolin'," she grumbled. She had clenched a nearby magazine in her left hand from the nightstand during the exchange unnoticed. Now it was an attention-getter, banged on the arm of the chair.

Luckily, the chair's arm was padded under the upholstery, so no one else in the house was alerted to the conversation. Even GG seemed to realize there could be consequences for that as she seemed to keep her voice low.

"You're a Faerie, or I'm already in the grave!" She rasped again. After observing a minute longer and enjoying the awkward reaction Kile gave, she cackled pleasurably. "I think you're a troll!"

"No, no!" Kile said heatedly waving his palms before him again as he had when he first met Robert and Ricky. "I'm human. I am your great grandson!"

"Like Hell, you little twerp!" she continued to cackle.

Robert was on his feet and at her side, trying to pat her arm and calm her down. He checked over his shoulder to make sure no one was rushing in to see what her ramblings might be about. Having checked out safely he turned his attention to the matter at hand.

GG looked up at Rob as he continued, "No, Grandma. I think you must be seeing things. This is Little Ricky...you know...the spastic grandson?"

"Robbie! That ain't Ricky. I remember Ricky. Ya'll visited just a few months ago and that kid was a darling. That _thing_ on the other hand has got to be a troll, 'cuz I've never seen nothing that ugly before."

Kile's nervousness changed to a defense in a flash. "You are a rude human, lady!"

"Ha ha!" GG cackled, slapping her leg. "I knew it! So which are ya? A Mountain Troll? A Bridge Troll? Maybe you're a Dark Troll? Nah...your eyes ain't red."

"Dark Troll?" Both Kile and Robert said in unison as they looked at each other. But that puzzle would have to be addressed later.

"GG! How can you see him, then?" Rob asked.

"It's these dern bifocals I guess." She took them off and rubbed them in her dress sleeve as if to clean them.

"Those glasses let you see me?"

"Oh yeah," she continued, plopping the glasses back on her large nose. Moving her head up and down again while her eyes maintained position she explained. "Every time I catch the edge of the two lenses I can see what you _really_ look like!"

"Crap!" Robert said.

It was clearly a glitch Kile hadn't been aware of either. Perhaps there weren't too many bifocal wearers in old Europe to have tested it in the trolls' homeland. Rob couldn't recall when glasses had been invented but he was pretty sure it was Ben Franklin that invented bifocals. But even more strangely, Grandma knew what she was seeing when she saw it.

"Uh, GG? How do you know about trolls?"

That started her cackling again. "Oh, I been 'round, young man. You don't live to your 90s without seeing a thing or two."

"Well, uh...GG...we need you to keep this a secret, okay?

"Secret!?" she practically yelled. Rob worried that her voice would surely bring the adults running. "Who you think I'm gonna tell? Everyone here will say I'm crazy anyway."

It was true. At times Grandma had said a few things, things which until then Robert assumed were a little bit of crazy talk, but now he recognized might just have been experience. There had been small gossip for years, even when they lived back in Iowa, that Great Grandma Johansson may be getting a little "senile" or that perhaps she had "dementia". He hadn't even been entirely sure what those words meant, but if she started talking about trolls disguised as grandsons, the talk would surely continue.

"Listen!" she continued, "I don't think you'd better tell yer parents 'bout this critter, neither. I kept the Faeries a secret from my own kids for decades now. It's not safe to have the whole world know about 'em....Would probably start some feuding or something."

"Yeah! Yeah, you're right GG!" Rob agreed quickly.

"So you ain't gonna tell your mother or father, neither. Right?"

Robert and Kile looked at each other. For a moment they both seemed perplexed, but then Kile reasoned it out first. He smirked sideways out of the corner of his mouth.

"No, Mrs. GG. We will not tell anyone," Kile also agreed.

Robert shook his head promising as much in his own way as well. They had silently come to the same conclusion it was best not to mention Mom and Dad already knew, much the way true siblings would.

Granny leaned back in her chair again, propping her arms upon the arms of the chair as if the conversation had already exhausted her energy reserves. "It's not like Faeries are bad, mind ya....Well... most of 'em anyway. But...humans and Faeries tend not to mix very well. Just consider it a blessin' that one of 'em brought you in on the secret, Robbie."

"Oh!" Rob quickly agreed, and then turned to take in Kile in his view. "I do GG. Kile is a good friend now."

The little troll squeezed his hands together and smiled genuinely at Rob. _Friends_. Kile didn't know how well his mission to feel out the human regard for trolls would end up. But he did know his own personal mission after selecting Robert and Ricky as his contacts earlier in the Spring had finally proven to be successful. If he never got back to Machsa, he would still be happy knowing he had made a friend among humans. No more would his only friend be a secret trust between the queen and himself. This was a friendship of which he could speak openly and boisterously about. And in the future, he would too. In fact, it would later serve to unify his people in defense and in an alliance with the humans.

"That's nice," GG said, sighing. "So, where's that little cutey-pie, Ricky, anyway?"

But before Rob could even clear his throat and figure out a way to explain it, GG had fallen deep asleep.

# Chapter 17

# Shopping and a Confrontation

On the way home from the family visit, the Johansson's decided to stop at the mall. For some reason, even with the fact that it took nearly twenty minutes for Sara Johansson to explain to Kile what it was, and how it was different than keeping the skulls of pets as a remembrance of various domesticated troll animals, she thought it would be nice to get the little creature a souvenir of his stay with their family. It was probably not the best of plans, but fortunately since the second was a weekday and was therefore not quite close enough to Independence Day such that everyone were out on vacations from work, looking for movies and other entertainment at the mall just yet.

The first store they went into was mostly influenced by Robert, though Kile was the one that pressed. Video games were _not_ suitable souvenirs in mother's opinion, particularly since he was a troll, living in a cave, disconnected from electricity and civilization. But after some careful conversation on the part of the troll with help from Robert, and about forty-five minutes of testing just about every game on display, the Johanssons agreed to purchase an older, used version of a hand-held gaming system that ran on batteries or could be charged. Mother and father were still dubious of whether or not Kile had a way of charging the system, but they figured it would be easy enough for him to pilfer batteries from time to time. He got a collection of various older game cartridges for a couple dollars each too. These were all tucked into a backpack they purchased at the next shop, a large super-store and department store combined in one and attached to the Mall at one end. The backpack was among some that were screen printed by local manufacturers with various city names and logos on them from the area. Kile picked out one that proudly said, "Maple Springs," in arched lettering above a multi-colored print of a large maple tree and a stream or river flowing by it. An Elk stood opposite the tree. To the little troll it represented an amazing capacity of humans: mobile art. To the Johanssons it was a cheap solution to the souvenir question as it was basically a child's small and nearly useless backpack, priced accordingly.

They had just about concluded their shopping trip with the second purchase when on the way out of the mall Robert pointed out the custom T-Shirt shop right next to the tie store. There were a number of tie-died shirts with names emblazoned upon them in large designs.

"Hey, Kile! I bet we could get one with your name on it," Rob mentioned.

Kile, still entranced by the variety of colors and patterns on the shirts (another apparently amazing human feat of engineering, design and art) was slow to answer. "Yeeeaaahhhhh..." he drawled in a low exhale of awe.

After about ten minutes of searching through they realized they'd either have to settle for a "Richard," "Rich," or "Kyle" shirt. The attendant did indicate they can custom print a name, even if it was a mis-spelling and caused the clerk to raise one eyebrow in response. But it would take at least two days to get the order completed. The group all agreed that "Kyle" was the most suitable to send home with the little troll. It could be his "human spelling" of his name according to Ricky Jr. and be another souvenir of his time with them.

All settled up and looking forward to the "massive explosions that sound like thunder" as Rob described them in two evenings, mother and father stopped for just a moment while the boys ate a hotdog on a stick from the food court and used the $1 massage chairs. They were holding hands and relaxing, commenting on how much they were looking forward to Little Ricky's return when it happened, so they were not alerted until the security guard brought a soaking wet disguised troll and older brother back to them.

After eating his hotdog with lots of the yellow and red butter stuff squeezed all over it, Kile noticed the water fountain. There was a young man and woman sitting close together on the bench edge around it. After the couple showers he'd had in the Johansson home, this large pool whose bottom could be seen, with coins and other artifacts thrown in, was just a little too tempting. The troll jumped in.

"Kile! You can't go in there!" Rob yelled.

The couple stood up and turned around with the commotion and was nearly splashed by Kile's attempts to outrun Robert's reach into the pool to catch him.

Dashing through the water as quickly as his short little legs could carry him through the resistance of about sixteen inches of water, Kile was laughing his head off. Bathing was so fun! Especially in warm waters. He imagined what the other trolls would think if he could build a tub or shower in which they could see through the water, straight to the bottom and have no fear of drowning.

Finally, Robert jumped in too. He splashed over to Kile where the little troll had stooped to cup some water in his hands and throw it in the air. Grabbing him by the shoulders, Rob spun him and squeezed him closely, locking him in place.

Through finely gritted teeth, he whispered, "Kile! The water will give you away!"

Kile froze instantly, laughing halted. He looked at his hands. Where the water trickled down his palms and wrists he could tell immediately his _glimmer_ was going to be pierced. He wondered how much water he'd gotten on his face and body. Looking down he saw large trollish feet shimmering below the surface of the water. Silt was flowing away from him and ethereal moving clouds of the stuff slowly drifted in towards the center of the pool where the pedestal fountain drew up the water and spouted it back out the top in a small flow.

Robert looked about. The couple was staring dumb-founded, not entirely sure what they were seeing it would seem. The boy had his hands on a pair of sunglasses that had been sitting on his scalp and was flipping them down in front of his eyes, looking for a moment, and then back again. Across the food court the two young women behind the hotdog-on-a-stick shop were squinting to peer at the little kid, still half smiling and laughing about the incident, but unsure what they were witnessing too. A couple other people had slowed from further distances and observed the scene, shaking heads and muttering to their companions about ill-behaved children, but really no others seemed to be affected by a failing _glimmer_. None, it seemed, except the security guard standing just behind them, outside the ring of the fountain pool.

"C'mon. You've had your fun. Get out now and let's find your parents, before I go ahead and call in the police."

Robert turned and half dragged the troll behind him to step out of the fountain.

"Wha?" choked the security guard upon looking closer at the little boy. "What's wrong with your little brother? He looks like he has a disease or something."

"Oh? Uh..." Rob stalled for an answer. He quickly looked at Kile to assess what the guard may be seeing and realized for the most part the glimmer was holding. The image of Little Ricky was a little gray-green looking, and his nose, dripping with water seemed excessively large and bumpy. But all-in-all he was still mostly human looking. Ugly human looking.

"I'm sick..." Kile said, and produced a fake cough.

The officer looked from troll to older boy and back again, sneering. "Eeesh! Gonna probably have to have the cleaning crew come in, aren't I?"

He peered around the pair of boys at the water and noted the cloudy effect from the dirt that had washed off of Kile. _Yup_ , he thought. _Gonna have to get that sanitized._

A quick march forty seconds later and the guard cleared his throat in front of a pair of parents. "Excuse me, are these your boys?"

Two pairs of eyes popped awake instantly. Ricky Jr. closed his again, smiled and said, "They're hers."

"Thanks a lot!" Sara said, smiling too.

"Well, I think we have a bit of a problem here. They've gotten the fountain all dirty and I'm going to have to shut it down to have it cleaned. We're talking vandalism here if we want to get technical."

"Technical?" Mom replied, more seriously. Her face had quickly turned to her irritated, red-headed temperament as she stood and folded her arms glowering at the two boys. "Was there technically a sign on the fountain that prohibits wading in the fountain?"

"Well...No...It's not necessary to..."

"Well, then, technically they didn't do anything illegal did they? The spray nozzles at the water park next to the mall are there just for the purpose of splashing in them. Are you saying this fountain here, with no labels on it, is _not_ for playing in?"

Mrs. Johansson was wagging a finger at the security guard by that point. He was getting the full Red treatment, including the eyes, the scowl, the little-too-close-for-comfort lean into the conversation.

"What? No..." The guard was struggling to find a retort, but he felt he'd zeroed in on the source of the boys' bad behavior. "I mean, _yes_! It is definitely _not_ for playing in!"

"Well, then, I suggest the management of this establishment place a placard or sign or something on that fountain in several places prohibiting it, or they're going to end up with some serious liability issues!"

Kile turned to look at Robert, noticed his grin and smiled as well. The intent of mom's tirade was even more clear as she turned towards the ridiculous side, smiling faintly herself whenever the guard was sheepish enough to look away.

"In fact," she continued, "I probably need to speak to them about reimbursing me for these clothes of theirs that are probably going to shrink now. And how am I going to recompense my poor sickly son here for this trauma that _you_ have caused him?"

Mrs. Johansson had snatched Kile away from Robert's side and cradled him before her with one arm as she used the other to gesture vehemently and wag her finger in the guard's nose.

Backing away, the security guard just said, "Just keep your kids out of the fountain, ma'am. And I suggest it might be about time to leave the mall since we're closing in the next fifteen minutes or so anyway."

"We'll do that!" Mrs. Johansson said. "And I can assure you we won't be returning our patronage to this mall any time soon."

Finally standing as his massage chair finished its job, Mr. Johansson said quietly, "Well played. Worthy of the play house in Maple Springs."

Robert grinned at his father and added, "There is no theater in Maple Springs, Dad."

"Bingo!" Mom said, thumbing her finger. Then she punched her husband solidly on the shoulder.

As the family began moving towards the exit, Kile stood moderately perplexed. He watched them with a sideways smirk, sure there was some elaborate joke going on that he just hadn't quite figured out. He wondered, _has this happened before with Little Ricky?_

Turning around to observe the guard, a faint grumble about crazy people from the sticks could be heard. The guard removed his cap, scratched his head and hustled off as quickly as he could in the opposite direction.

## ~~~

On the drive home the sun had nearly set very late in the summer evening and the car's automatic headlights were on. The boys were asleep, and Mrs. Johansson herself, who was driving, would have passed the shadow she saw run across the road as one of the common quail or pheasants. But Mr. Johansson sat upright in his passenger seat instantly on edge.

"What?" Sara asked her husband.

"That thing! Did you see it?"

"The stupid bird that nearly ran into me? Yeah, I saw it."

"No," Ricky Jr. said. "That wasn't a bird. It was too fast, and...I could see right through it!"

"Oh...c'mon. How could you tell in that half a second?" Sara replied nervously. But she knew, her husband's senses were still on high alert and attuned to odd movements or sounds.

"I dunno..." Rick answered more hesitantly.

"Jogah," they heard Kile whisper from the back.

"What?" Rick asked. "What's a Jogah?"

"Messenger spirits," the troll rasped in a secretive tone. He seemed to not be comfortable discussing it. "I think we might have a message from the queen...or someone anyway."

"Are Jogah little things you can see through? I've never heard of them with the sprites," Sara said quietly. Robert was still asleep in the back seat but she followed suit with Kile's demeanor.

"That's because sprites don't know about Jogah. The Jogah don't really like sprites...they like to take over the forests they live in. Sprites can be...bullies sometimes."

"And these Jogah? Can you see right through them?" Rick asked.

"Yes. At least that's what they say. I've never seen one. Most faeries never see them."

There was silence for just a few more seconds as they finished coming down the street and pulled into their drive.

"Mmmm...maybe the message was for Marissa," Kile suggested after some thought.

"Marissa?!" Asked mom.

"Yeah...or maybe someone else too," the troll answered matter-of-factly.

Sara Johansson let the topic drop. But she made the assumption there would be a note on their back door, and unfortunately for Kile there was one waiting.

Junior had half carried, half walked his older son up to bed and returned to find Sara at the kitchen table attempting to read while Kile ate a spoonful of peanut butter with chocolate chips. He was not bothering to use _glimmer_ at all and it surprised Rick a bit since he hadn't seen the troll outright for a couple days with all of the holiday visits and activity going on.

The troll smacked his lips and brushed his free hand across his broad, toothy mouthful as he said, "I can read it for you!"

Apparently Sara was struggling to get through the whole text. "No, no. It says it's for me, so let me finish it."

"Okay," she continued. "It says they've had a fight? Maybe...a skirmish? Is that what this word is?"

Kile looked at the toughened parchment and nodded. "Fight. I do not know "skirmish" yet."

"So, they've had a battle, then?" Rick asked, sitting down with a glass of water.

"Yes, it sounds like it. With the goblins." Sara continued to poke through the figures and lines on the page. "The queen seems to be pleading with me to find a way to return Kile, but says it may be very dangerous. They think the goblins may be watching several of their cave entrances. OH! God, Rick! It says Little Ricky fought...vigorously?"

Kile peered again over at the parchment. "Valiantly!" he said, with a smile and a nod at Ricky Junior, proud of his human vocabulary.

"What the heck, Kile? Why would Ricky be in a fight?" Mr. Johansson asked.

"Here, Kile. I think I've got it. She wants us to make the trade as soon as we can but she says to wait for her next message to ensure they have not started a war with the goblins. She says Ricky has been in a fight and got hurt, but I don't think badly because she says he is continuing his magic lessons while they wait. I'm not sure I follow why the goblins are camping out. Are they going to attack the trolls, Kile?"

Kile was reading through the scroll. He happened to catch a few symbols that had been hidden within the main glyphs of the message. They were a warning from the queen that the goblin threat had become very serious, and though they thought they were just being observed as the goblins looked for more room on the mountain she wanted to be sure they were not going to put any of the humans at risk, including Little Ricky. She feared indiscriminate retaliation from the humans with guns.

"Yes. That is right. They will make their own scouting trips to be sure the goblins aren't moving to attack Machsa. As soon as they know they want me to return, and Little Ricky will come home."

The gaze with which he held both Sara and Richard Johansson's attention was completely sincere and for the first time exhibited some maturity beyond Little Ricky or even Robert's years. "We don't want _any_ human to be hurt. And we don't want goblins to know we have contacted you. So we must do exactly as the queen says."

"Kile..." Rick asked.

"Yes, Mr. Johansson?"

"What happens if the goblins find out we know about you?"

"Then...they might think of humans as another enemy to conquer too."

"Despite our guns and large numbers?" Sara breathed.

"Yes. If their numbers are great enough, they will try to overrun Maple Springs. There has been no interaction between humans and faeries for many decades, even centuries. Their numbers may be very large by now. No one really knows. We assumed they did not have resources in their high mountain caverns. But we don't know."

"Well...they might not get very far...but the world would definitely know about faeries _then_ ," Rick answered.

Mrs. Johansson stood and leaned against the kitchen cabinets. "Kile. Send her a reply. Tell her we're ready when she is. Rick and I will go with you to make sure everyone's safe."

Kile started to protest, but the expressions he found on both parents' faces culled it immediately. He simply nodded instead.

# Chapter 18

# Fireworks and Magic

Finally, the day Robert had been waiting for had arrived. Waking and breakfast were slow. The afternoon was filled with bike rides, water fights and various contests among the children in the neighborhood. Rocky Mountain culture was unique, there was no question, and it depended on which side of the mountains you lived as well. But The Fourth of July was celebrated in much the same way as it had been for the decade Robert could remember in Iowa. Adults, even ones that might not normally speak too much to one another, raised their hands and said hello to Mr. and Mrs. Johansson Bar-B-Queing in their side yard. A small parade made up of what felt like only three or four cars and the volunteers squirting the firehose on the one firetruck, seemed to go on for as long as the full-sized parades down in the larger cities in the valley.

It turned out the parade was lengthy for a good reason in Kile's mind. Generally, it consisted of many, many children and some adults representing local in-home and small businesses passing out candies and chocolate, even on a day quickly rising to 90 degrees. Kile was hopped up on chocolate as the small, hand-painted signs for a Beautician, a mobile Auto Repair, and a daycare/preschool passed by him. There were even several young women dressed in fine array, riding in the Mayor's 1920's Ford, one of whom had a tiara and a sash which proudly gleamed its satiny sheen and proclaimed her: Miss Maple Springs.

Of course, Kile hadn't planned on meeting royalty during the Fourth of July celebrations but he bowed none-the-less. The float queen noticed the little display herself and blew what she thought was a cute, young toe-headed boy a kiss in return. A neighboring pair of grandparents smiled and laughed. Robert, meanwhile, growled under his breath that the little troll should stand up and stop acting goofy. Mr. and Mrs. Johansson also laughed and smiled a knowing smile at one another. Ricky Jr., in his field uniform, was even contemplating what life would be like for the little faerie once he returned. He'd grown sensitive to being an outcast while he watched small Afghani children on his last tour of duty being ostracized because they'd helped the soldiers or tried to do a good turn for someone outside their own community. _Is Kile going to be welcomed home?_ he wondered.

Towards the end of the parade a small collection of girls for a community service group came along passing out various ill-tasting candies that definitely _weren't_ chocolate. Kile saw them coming but didn't actually realize Marissa was among the group until he'd first noticed Robert hedging a bit and getting that odd nervous attitude he'd had at the school bus line when he got his first taste of human male-female interaction.

While Rob was distracted for a moment, Kile approached Sara and asked a clandestine question. Then he sat down next to her, apparently scribbling a note on a scrap of paper she had pulled out of her shoulder bag.

Robert tried to act cool and disinterested. He sat down near the rest of his family, including the disguised troll, and just watched the last groups pace slowly down the road towards them and onwards to the city hall and park. Next to him Kile passed a piece of paper to Rob's mother. He caught the action out of the corner of his eye, yet was still too distracted watching Marissa out of the other corner to notice clearly what was going on. Mom nodded and passed the paper back to Kile smiling, and the visage of Little Ricky grinned back in confirmation. Had Rob been paying better attention, he would have noticed his father smirking side-ways and shaking his head slightly. Something was percolating beside him but he was totally oblivious.

Until, that is, Marissa was close by. She'd seen Rob, smiled and nodded her head and stooped a bit to toss some candy towards Little Ricky, somewhat casually and accidentally making sure a few extra pieces went towards Robert too. That's when Kile jumped up and ran into the street. He quickly pressed the note into Marissa's hand and mumbled something. Then he returned just as quickly to his seat.

While Robert tried to take in what just happened, starting with a "Wha...?" as Kile sat down, Marissa caught his eye with a wink followed by a wave.

Kile was beside himself, in his position beside Robert, giggling with satisfaction.

"What did you just do?" Rob said, somewhat heatedly.

"Nuffin!" Kile giggled.

Rob looked back at Marissa who was well on her way passing by and had stooped to the next batch of children to whom she tossed a few candy pieces. Kile opened one of the ones she'd tossed the boys and gulped it, then nearly spat it back out. It wasn't nearly as satisfactory as chocolate.

Looking back to the little troll, Robert grabbed his shoulder and growled a little more aggressively. "Kile! What did you do?"

"Relax," said his mother. "He just gave Marissa your note, that's all."

"What?!" Rob stood up again. He fussed, making as though he were going to either dash away or perhaps run up to Marissa and snatch the note back.

"Oh, relax Robbie," his father added. "I think you're going to have a guest join us to watch the fireworks at the park tonight. You should be grateful Little Rick...ehm...Kile thought of it."

After another moment of huffing, and then realizing he was clearly out-numbered three to one, he plopped down and began wondering why he hadn't thought of passing an invitation to her himself. _Because I didn't want her to think I was a doofus!_ his mind retorted almost, but not quite, out-loud.

It was only a few seconds more of pondering his dilemma that Robert realized this had been the perfect setup. If Marissa rejected the idea, it was Little Ricky's to begin with and he could just say his little brother was trying to embarrass him. If she showed up...well, then, perhaps it was all his idea from the beginning.

## ~~~

Suddenly, despite the weeks of hanging out with Robert, Kile's countenance changed to that of a three-year-old when families started gathering at the park for the town's fireworks show. Sparklers were lit here and there, and after the initial fright, the little troll was delighted. Humans certainly had powerful control over fire and the associated guns, fireworks and other marvels. He marked that in the back of his mind to relay to the Queen when his report was due. But meanwhile he couldn't help giggling outright at the various fountains and crackers going off around them just like the other toddlers nearby. Robert worried at times that Kile might not be careful in his glee and let his _glimmer_ slip.

"How does it burn metal, though, Robbie?" Kile asked at one point, making to pinch the burnt residue of a sparkler between his fingers.

"Hey, don't grab that!" Rob interrupted quickly. "You'll burn your fingers."

In truth a Mountain Troll's skin was so thick and tough it would have taken a long hold on the spent sparkler before Kile even felt any heat, let alone burn himself. But he quickly retracted his fingers on reflex, not knowing how the sparkler worked.

"Okay....But what is burning on this thing? Does the metal burn? Do you have to magic it to get it to burn?"

"No, no, goofball. It's like...gun powder or something. The metal wire inside doesn't burn, just the gun powder."

"Oooh..." Kile responded, without any real understanding. "Does gun powder look like metal?"

Robert was smiling and was about to offer to open up a lady-finger to show him the powder when Marissa came stepping between two other nearby families and their children and raised her hand smiling.

"Hi Robert!" She greeted, stopping before them.

Both boys stared dumbfoundedly at her for a second, but Robert remembered shortly his manners and stood to talk to her.

"Erhm...Hi Marissa!" Rob's voice rose much higher than he thought was cool, but he cleared his throat and tried again. "Do you want to sit with us?"

"Of course! That's why I came, silly. Remember your note?"

Together they sat down. Kile had wrapped his arms around his knees before him, and in the non- _glimmered_ view Robbie had, looked positively freaky with his huge trollish Cheshire grin. He giggled lightly to himself, lips pursed so that it came out as a very muffled hum. Robert and Marissa both either ignored or did not hear the little troll enjoying the fruits of his clever labor earlier in the day.

Marissa folded her legs crossed in front of her and put her hands together in her lap. She leaned over to Robert conspiratorially, her shoulder brushing his lightly, making Robert feel light headed in her familiarity, and whispered: "Actually...the note looked like Little Ricky might have written it?"

It was a statement, but also a question. The corners of her mouth gave away a hint of a smile trying to hide.

"Oh?" Robert replied. "Um...well, he might have done."

"It's okay," She said, smile blatant. "I don't care. I think it's cool you want me to come sit with you for fireworks even if you were too nervous to write it yourself."

Kile had to cover his mouth with one hand to keep from both blurting out that it was his plan and to stifle an outright guffaw.

"Yeah...well...I'm glad you came."

They sat quietly for a moment, both a little nervous to expose a nerve by saying too much to one another, but enjoying laughing at the children and family in the park lighting off fireworks. Then, the first town down in the valley started their volley of pyrotechnics. It was a ways across the valley floor, probably a good fifteen or twenty miles as the crow flies, but it was beautiful to watch the glowing blossoms and then hear the cracks quietly many seconds later.

Kile was enthralled. He jumped initially when the first big burst's resounding could be heard. Robert told him to stay calm because it was going to get a lot louder pretty soon. Marissa slipped one of her hands into one of Rob's. Robert did a double take before looking at her, but she smiled so kindly all he could do was smile back...and hope his hand didn't get too sweaty in the warm summer air.

While the troll witnessed his first fireworks display, eyes sparkling, Robert received his first ever kiss-on-the-mouth-from-someone-that-isn't-mom-or-Aunt-Cindy. It was a night both would remember forever.

## ~~~

On the walk home, Rick Jr. had to carry Kile slung over his shoulder. The little troll had worn himself out with a combination of fear, worry, excitement and joy. He had told the Johanssons as the city's own display had blasted above them for ten minutes or more that fireworks had to be the greatest invention humans had ever made. But his tone was still slightly nervous. Giant exploding balls of flame could very definitely be used as a weapon against the trolls he thought, and he knew he would have to report the events of July 4th to the Queen. The display, and the body-shaking rumble of explosions half a second later in town were far more impressive than anything he could have imagined previously when he'd snuck glances at the shows in prior years from the entrances to Machsa. The music playing in the park hadn't been audible up there before either and that added to and played on Kile's emotions while he listened and watched. But it had gotten to be too much, such that as the last applause faded and neighboring families lit off the remainder of their fountains, the little troll practically passed out.

"Good grief...I would say it's almost like carrying Ricky home, except that this dude weighs probably three times as much," Junior said.

"Be careful of your back, honey," Sara responded, voice muted in the quiet after the show.

Here and there crackers and small aerial-launching fountains went off about the town. When the family passed by Marissa's home the pair stopped and said their goodbyes as the rest of the Johanssons continued down the street slowly.

"Thanks for inviting me," Marissa said, finally letting go of Rob's hand.

He shrugged and brushed his palms against his pant legs nervously. "Sure. Sure. It was fun. Thanks for coming."

Marissa checked the position of the rest of the clan and moved in closely to Robert. "Rob...I need to talk to you about something important soon, but not right here or right now. Come by when you can get away from your little brother for a few minutes, okay?"

There was a sincere look upon Marissa's face when Rob agreed. "Okay. Yeah. I can do that...maybe tomorrow morning?"

Smiling again, she said, "Alright."

She gave him a peck on the cheek as she had before and both blushed as she turned and ran up the walk to her home. Robert absentmindedly rubbed his chin and then his cheek where she had kissed him as he watched her get indoors safely.

"Wow," Robert mumbled as he walked along many paces behind his mother, father and a troll who, unbeknownst to Ricky Jr., raised his head slightly, caught Robert's eye and gave him a quick wink, then laid his head back on Mr. Johansson's shoulder.

# Chapter 19

# A Time to Every Season

The next morning by 9 AM when Kile was apparently still snoozing off the late night and excitement of July Fourth, Robert dressed, ate his cereal breakfast (because he was tired of Kile's crunchy egg and bacon meals) and had headed out the door to see if he could talk to Marissa. There was no sense in delaying, and he'd had a bad thought in the middle of his sleep during the night. Marissa's "something important" might not be the same as Robert's. Instead of telling him that she really did "like him, like him" he had dreamt that she was trying to tell him that he was standing in quicksand and needed her help. It was a sobering thought and he was anxious as he approached her home to find out what she really wanted to tell him.

Robert had to ask at the door for Marissa and was greeted by a pajama'd about five-year-old who apparently still liked her toes _inside_ a good set of fuzzy PJ's...even on a summer morning. He realized he actually didn't know how many siblings Marissa had, and had no clue there were young ones still in the home. He vowed that long before they could ever transition to the official boyfriend/girlfriend stage at some point he'd need to ask a lot more questions.

"Hey, Robert!" Marissa greeted trotting down the stairs. She was pulling a hoody on, despite the forecasted 94 degrees for the day. "Let's go on a walk, if that's okay?"

"Oh, sure!" Rob answered. If he were honest, he'd go wherever Marissa told him to at that point.

## ~~~

They'd walked for a while, discussing the RC model airplane or helicopter Robert was rumored to be buying soon. Rob asked Marissa about how school had gone and apologized for embarrassing her, explaining that it was his little brother. They engaged in small talk until Marissa had led them up into the first full tree line of the forests above Maple Springs. There she took Robert by the hand, sending shivers up his back again.

"C'mon. I need to tell you something."

"Alright," he replied, a half step behind and being pulled further into the forest towards a stream he could hear running. "Where are we going?"

"I need some water. It will be easier to explain that way."

"Whu?" Rob started. But he was still being pulled aggressively in the direction Marissa wanted to go. "Why not just get a drink at home?"

She didn't look at him as she made up a ridge and over towards the stream whose burbling grew increasingly louder. "No, not like that. Follow me."

Their hands had separated as Marissa scrambled quickly down the opposite side of the ridge into a slightly wider little vale, parted casually by a meandering stream lined with a large granite boulders and the usually mossy, forest soil in between. About ten paces still out from the edge of the stream, she kicked off her tennis shoes and found a small collection of three or four boulders around which the stream slowed and pooled and made for a cool rest spot under the shade of several Quaking Aspens and a large maple. She turned her head back towards Robert and noticed his slowing steps and hesitation.

"C'mon! I want to show you this!" She said, somewhat hoarsely.

"What? The stream?" Rob murmured as he final caught up and sat on one of the boulders across from her.

She smirked a playfully evil smirk, as though she'd been taunting him, and replied, "No, not exactly. Watch this..."

Her voice had dropped to near whisper at the end. But it wasn't the tone that suddenly enthralled Robert, but the mystic way she slowly and cautiously lifted her left hand from the boulder upon which she had been propped with that hand and scooped it into the water. Although her hand was upturned and cupped, she did not lift it out of the water to drink or to show him as Rob thought she was doing. Instead she sat, waiting.

"Oh!" she said in a hushed tone, and then pushed up her sleeve as far as she possibly could towards her shoulder on that arm. "I almost forgot!"

Her smile was pleasant. She sat watching Robert with her grin as though she were awaiting a reaction. Then her mouth faltered just a bit and her eyes flicked to her hand in the water when she noticed Robert wouldn't stop staring at her and look at what she'd intended. He caught on quickly enough to look at her hand in the steam. Just in time in fact.

The water seemed to be pooling around her wrist and slowly climbing up her arm. The glistening surface of the water seemed to be creating a shield, or casing about her. It rose nearly to the edge of her sleeve before Marissa stared intently at it, as though she were willing it to stop there. And it did.

"How? How are you doing that?" Robert whispered. He moved to poke the film of water on Marissa's hand to test it.

"Wait! Don't do that," she stopped him. "I'm not sure I can keep it there if you do."

Retracting his hand as though he'd touched something hot for a split second, Rob asked again, "But how are you doing that? Do you know magic?"

It wasn't a facetious question. He'd only recently learned from his experience with Kile and his mother's story that indeed there was magic in the world. But he couldn't imagine how Marissa would know any...he was pretty sure you'd have to be a troll or a sprite to work it.

"Pretty cool, eh?" She grinned. Then, while leaving her one hand in the water, she turned her head and stretched a little to place her other palm upon the closest Aspen trunk. "Now, watch this!"

Robert did. He stared intently at her hand, waiting to see what she'd work there on the tree. Soon, he realized it had been happening since she touched the trunk but it was slow enough he just didn't notice it. Her hand was changing shades and developing small pocks marked by ridges. Inside the pockmarks her skin was turning rather dark and woody. Outside, covering the majority of her, her skin was turning a slightly green-tinted white or grey. Her hand and arm were matching the shape and color of the tree trunk with which she was in contact. Soon her fingers would virtually blend in with the tree as camouflage.

Marissa permitted the contact to hold as she smiled at Robert and gauged his reaction. Her hair seemed to be growing tiny buds of aspen leaves. Her face became somewhat woody looking and shaded the same colors, eyes turning a dark, earthy-looking hazel in the iris and the pale bark-color in the whites. She was literally turning into a tree.

"Marissa!" he whispered in a dry, irritated voice. "Stop!... Marissa stop! Please, before you turn into a tree and can't move!"

She removed her hand from the tree trunk first. Color, human color, began returning almost immediately. A few leaves fell from her hair as they might in the Autumn. Her eyes returned to normal almost immediately. In the last half-second or so of transformation she pulled her hand out of the water and shook it off, the surface wrap around her splashing back into the pool or upon the nearby boulders upon which they sat.

"So?" she smiled. "What d'ya think?"

Robert was shaking his head and still trying to take it in. He looked at the water spots on the rocks, a little afraid to touch them. Then he peered at the tree. He returned his gaze to the smirking redhead before him. "Uh... nice trick, Marissa!"

She blew him a raspberry. "Idiot."

They both laughed, and Robert seemed much more comfortable after that. She tried her luck again. "But what do you think? Can you believe what I just showed you?"

"Oh? Uh..." he pulled his red cap out of his back pocket he happened to have had tucked into when they left and placed it on his head. "I think that's pretty cool. I don't know anyone that can do that."

He meant it too. He was trying to play through all the conversations he'd had with Kile about trolls and magic and other faerie folk races and did not think he'd heard of anyone controlling water or disguising themselves as a tree before.

"Well...what I mean is, if I were to explain this to you...would you trust me that I'm telling you the truth?"

"Yes!" Robert replied quickly and matter-of-factly. He had determined in that moment that he'd trust Marissa with anything from now on. The idea of sharing some knowledge of Kile and the troll city was already playing across his mind when she continued.

"Well, I want you to know what I am. And I thought that probably the easiest way to get you to believe me was to show you that."

"Ok," he nodded.

Marissa pulled his hands into hers. Despite the tree trunk adaptation, they were still soft, smooth and warm.

"I am part faerie."

While Marissa wasn't sure what the repeated blinks and then blank stare equated in Robert's understanding, he was merely trying to figure out what the right way to respond might be. He wagered it would be best to keep quiet about what he knew for a bit longer.

"See," Marissa continued uncomfortably. "I'm like, part wood Sprite, um, on my Mother's side I think."

"Oh?" It was all Robert could comfortably manage with the conflict in his mind still undecided.

"Yeah. And... um...On my father's side I think it's like one-eighth pixie or something."

"Oh?" Robert was developing an expertise on replying to part-non-human-potential-girlfriend admissions. Apparently, it was best handled by a sort of finesse with tone and timeliness in the delivery of that single word.

"Yeah. I'm not really sure about that part. He doesn't like to talk about it. He just says, all the good parts of us kids come from Mom and stops talking about it."

Marissa looked back at Robert's face after the nervous explanation and saw something she was unsure of there. She looked away again and took back one of her hands to pull some strands of auburn hair back around her ear to hold them in place. As she looked back at Robert sheepishly she awaited his response.

None came. But another realization did.

"Ewe!" she said looking down at Robert's hands and turning them over in hers. Robert! Your hands are all sweaty!"

"Oh! Uhm..." he quickly pulled them back and swiped them several times on the front of his shirt. "Sorry about that."

She pulled her hands back, clasped them together and rested them on one knee.

"Well..." Robert said, equally sheepishly, "I'm glad you told me."

"Yeah."

"Yeah," he nodded in agreement.

They sat quietly, and uncomfortably again for a few seconds before either continued.

"So..." Robert said. "Uh...does that mean you're not allowed to date humans?"

Marissa snickered so suddenly and humorously that she snorted as she caught her breath afterwards. Robert thought it was both funny and cute at the same time. While Marissa tried to stifle it with her hands, the two laughed together again.

"Yes! Yes, we can still go on dates," she finally replied.

"Oh," Rob said, still smiling. "Good. I...was kinda hoping we weren't...like, having our first breakup or something."

She snorted again, and the laughing continued.

When they finally settled down, Marissa seemed to remember an objective in their hike.

"So, Robert?"

"Yeah?"

"I wanted to show you that so you'd believe. So that when I tell you something you'd know I wasn't just making it up."

"Okay," Rob felt awkward again. He'd trust her, but what was it she'd need to tell him beyond being a faerie folk? Was she also a demon or something crazy?

"See...it's about your little brother."

Robert's back went instantly straight. His body felt a chill though his hands were still sweaty.

"Yeah? What about him?" He plied hesitantly.

"Well...I have to tell you, he's not your little brother."

"He's not?" Rob was unsure where she was going with this.

"Yeah. I mean...he was. You _definitely_ have a little brother. And, uh...he's definitely a little monster. But...the person living in your house this summer is _not_ your brother."

Marissa stopped to watch Robert's face again to see what he'd do as she explained this. His lips were pursed and there was a bit of a scowl on his forehead. She wasn't sure what that meant. Was Robert actually angry at her for telling him?

"Well...here's the thing: I think that Little Ricky is actually a troll disguised as Little Ricky."

"Yeah?" Rob said. His face relaxing somewhat.

"Yeah! I really do. I mean, I can't see him like some faeries can, but my mom says some of the things I've noticed about him in the last few weeks could be that he's using a type of magic called _glimmer_. I'm pretty sure that's a troll you got there disguised as your brother."

"So...you can't see him," Robert replied hesitantly, "but you're pretty sure he's a troll?"

"Yes."

"Well...what makes you think that then?"

Marissa was stymied a little that this is how she was having to get at it. It wasn't so much hard-core evidence after all. But everything was adding up.

"I dunno. It's like his drawing on the board at school..."

"Oh yeah..." Robert looked dejected, and Marissa found herself feeling badly for him about it again.

"No, I mean, that drawing and sort of the way the letters were written and stuff...that's kind of the way trolls write."

"Oh?" Robert perked up. He was learning a few things that might help to keep Kile a secret just a little longer before they exchanged him back for the real Richard Johansson, III.

"Yeah," Marissa hemmed and hawed a little more. "It's like, even the way he moves sometimes. He doesn't seem to quite fit in the Little Ricky body he's wearing...kind of like clothes that are really the wrong size."

"I see."

"And then...sometimes...I think I can see this _glimmer_ I'm talking about not working right."

"Oh? When would that have happened?"

Marissa gave him a curious look. "Well...one night last week I was walking by and I noticed Ricky going out the back towards the tree line. He was carrying something. But when he turned back and went into the house it..."

"Yeah?!" Robert was intent on figuring this out.

"Well...I don't think he had his _glimmer_ on at all. He _looked_ like a troll...from that distance."

Robert was nodding. Marissa returned to the odd look. Something wasn't right here. Rob's reaction wasn't at all like what she was expecting, nor what her mother warned her of when they talked about how stubborn humans were in believing.

She stood up and put her hands on her hips, akimbo, with a scowl on her own face. "You already know, don't you!?"

"Whoa! Whoa! Not so loud," Rob said, reflexively looking around the forest and at the nearby ridge separating them from the nearest neighborhood.

"Whad'ya mean, not so loud?" Marissa retorted. "You're telling me you've known this _whole_ time that Little Ricky's gone?!!"

Robert stood himself. "No! Wait! What are you going on about? Yes, we made a trade. He _is_ a troll and so, yes, I know he's been disguising himself as Little Ricky. But it's just for a little while longer."

"Robert!! Don't you realize what I'm saying? Trolls _eat_ humans!" Marissa was practically screaming.

"OH!! No, Marissa!" He placed his hands on her shoulders trying to calm her down. She swatted both off her with her own in frustration. "They don't! They don't eat humans anymore."

"Yes they do! I have an uncle that was eaten by a bridge troll not very far up from the reservoir before I was born!"

"What? Really? But, Marissa, Kile's not a Bridge Troll. He's a Mountain Troll!"

"That doesn't matter! All trolls eat humans!" She was nearing tears.

"Look, Marissa," Robert tried his hands on her shoulders again. "They're not going to eat him. I promise. I've actually been to their city. I've even talked to their King and Queen."

"What?" Marissa was distracted from her hysteria finally. "You went to a troll city? You mean, they took you underground?"

"Yes! And believe me, none of them are going to eat Little Ricky. Well...one of them might if he got the chance," Rob said only half humorously, remembering Dronosh. "But, really. Mountain Trolls don't want to eat humans. They only did it a long time ago because humans fought with them."

"Really?" Marissa heaved her reply, shaking off tears.

"Yes, really!"

"That's not what my mother has always taught me, though."

Marissa stepped closer to Robert and despite being a couple inches taller than him, placed her head on his shoulders. Robert tried to give her a hug, still entirely uncomfortable with that, not quite knowing what to do around a girl.

"No, it's true. They're not going to eat him. We even got a letter from him just a couple weeks ago."

"Well, that's good." She swiped a hand at her eyes quickly and returned her head back to Rob's shoulder. Her body shuddered. Robert would never quite understand why that was for many more years, but she was suddenly relieved of several days in a row of realization that Robert's brother might be dead and that she was the only one who knew it or could tell the Johanssons about it.

Robert patted her back in a very uncomfortable, very male manner with a solid slap. "It's alright," he said. "He's coming back really soon."

They then stood apart, Marissa wiping at her eyes, Rob looking about at their feet unsure of what to do or say next.

"Okay."

"So...are we good?" Rob asked.

She took one of his hands in hers and started walking back towards town. "Yeah. We're good."

"You know," Rob continued as they walked. "That's actually kind of why Kile is here with us. Their Queen wants to know if it's safe to make contact with humans again."

"Hmmm," Marissa nodded. Then she made a realization. "So his name is Kyle?"

"Yeah. Kile. Except he spells it weird I think. He says it means 'tickle' in his own language. I guess that's sort of supposed to be an insult...'cause he's a sort of small troll."

Marissa smiled and flicked away the last tear from her cheek. "Oh yeah? A cute name like 'tickle' is supposed to be an insult?"

"Yeah...well...it's not a very tough troll name. I think I get it. It's kind of like that high school kid, Jean-Michael, that was calling me 'Priscilla' all the time when we first moved here."

"Oh yeah!" Marissa perked up, laughing slightly. "I remember that! That _was_ actually kind of funny."

"Well...at least he stopped calling me that. I don't think they're ever going to change Kile's name."

"Hmmm," Marissa murmured. "Remind me to tell you why he stopped calling you that sometime..."

Rob stopped and pulled her hand so she'd turn to look at him. They'd regained the tarmac and had nearly gotten back home when he gave her the quizzical look.

"...But not right now," she finished. She tugged on his hand and they moved quickly towards the house.

## ~~~

Sara Johansson was in the kitchen working on a pan of "crunchy eggs" for Kile while he sat at the table fussing over his bacon when Robert and Marissa came in through the back door. They were still holding hands.

"Haiiii—eeee, Marissa!" Kile teased as he waggled his fingers in a sort of flamboyant greeting wave.

"Hi Kile," Marissa said casually.

The little troll dropped his glass from which he was drinking orange juice and it broke upon the tile floor. Mother turned startled, but not by the glass. She reserved a straight face as she assessed the situation but it was clear she had bristled considerably.

Mrs. Johansson turned from the stove top, keeping her eye to the young couple standing just inside the back door and scooped the eggs onto Kile's plate. The troll's mouth opened and closed as though he were trying to speak but the sound was on mute. He flipped his hand towards Sara in a questioning gesture and then back to Marissa, pointing, his _glimmer_ in full force after a quick double check on his part.

Returning to the stove top quietly, mother asked, "Robert, did you tell your friend here something you shouldn't have?"

"Nope! She figured it out all on her own," he said, smiling, and apparently fairly proud of how intelligent his associates were. He couldn't wait to tell Mom later all about Marissa. It would certainly top her stories about sprites by a landslide. What's better than knowing a faerie? _Being one_ , he thought.

A lengthy conversation ensued. One in which the primary topic revolved around the one individual completely lost by it all. Kile came to a sense that, yes, it truly was time to trade back with Ricky and get life back to normal for everyone involved.

# Chapter 20

# The Warner Brothers Rise!

The next day, Kile and Robert convinced Mr. Johansson to take them to the hobby shop since there may only be a couple days left before the little troll went home. They wanted to see if Rob had managed to collect enough from Daniel, Marissa and some repeated raids of couch cushions both at home, and at Grandma's previously to purchase the helicopter Rob wanted. Sure enough, once they arrived, Rob had enough to buy a modest 32" helicopter model, but did not have the money to purchase the four-channel radio controller he'd need to fly it.

"What if I gave you some of these?" the disguised little troll asked the elderly man at the RC counter. "Would that be enough?"

Kile dropped three rough looking coins on the counter. Ricky Jr. smiled at first but then he, as with the two other humans about him looked closely. The coins were not US mint at all. They looked like old, worn doubloons or maybe some Native American or South American treasure coins he'd seen in various adventure movies. They had various markings on them and each had a hole or two around the circumference, as though they might have been hung from a necklace or something originally.

"Are these what they look like they are?" the gentleman asked, pointing at them reverently, looking from boy to father.

Kile merely nodded. The clerk picked them up and adjusted his glasses to look at them carefully.

"Young man, I happen to be a coin and antiquities collector too. That's sort of how I came by running this hobby shop actually. But even I can be fooled. How did you find these?"

"My qu... My...Aunt gave to me as a gift," Kile responded.

"Really? Well...even if these are fake...if they're solid gold I'm sure we can come to an agreement on that helicopter there." The corner of the old man's mouth was glistening and his eyes gleamed. "May I just take one of these in back and test it really quickly for content?"

Kile nodded again. When the man looked to father for confirmation, Rick Jr. just shrugged and raised one hand palm up gesturing for him to go ahead.

Upon his return the man seemed more than happy to negotiate. "I'll tell you what...since these seem to be actual Aztec coins...I'll give you _any_ helicopter in the store and _any_ controller you want. Don't be shy. You pick out any of them you want and I'll accept these three coins as payment. And you can keep your gift cards for a future purchase."

As the trio entered Dad's car and buckled, Robert asked, "Kile? Where did you get those coins?"

"Oh...I dunno. They were just laying around in the treasure room at Machsa. The queen gave me some in case I needed to barter for anything while I was living with humans."

"I think those things might have been worth a lot more than just a helicopter," Rick Jr. said.

"Yeah... Thank you Kile! I really appreciate it," Rob said. He smiled as the Little Ricky disguise smiled back at him. Whenever it happened, he was definitely going to be sorry to see Kile go home.

## ~~~

When they got home, the two boys and Rick worked through lunch to assemble the helicopter. Robert had settled on a model of a military copter called the Chinook with twin rotors. He really wanted the model Apache, but Dad insisted that they start with a little cheaper model that they wouldn't regret too badly if it had an accident. And as he pondered, Rob thought it might be cool to have a truly large copter to land in the Maple Springs Airfield. It was likely to get a lot of attention since there was nothing else like it he'd seen flying in and out of the little meadow above town.

Kile was practically turning cartwheels, or trying to with his lengthy arms and short legs in the back yard as Robert first spun up the blades on the twin-rotored, bulky helicopter. The thing had not been painted yet, but since the whole fuselage was molded in a military green the boys wanted to try it out as soon as possible. Mom and Dad were watching too as it slowly raised from the cement patio. Rob was determined to take it slow and make sure he understood how flight with his controller would work, especially after all the cautions his father had given him.

"Look at it Robbie!" Kile shouted.

"I am, ya doofus!" The "D" word had now become a term of endearment between the two, and more likely than not, would be used equally so with Little Ricky when he returned. Both boys were smiling.

"It's huge! It looks like an eagle!" Kile continued.

The lengthy Chinook certainly was large. It was also intimidating to have such a bulky plastic model hovering in the middle of the yard. Even Evan's old glider model that had a 47" wingspan was going to over-all look small next to the military copter taking off and landing in the Maple Springs Airfield. Rob was very pleased with his selection. He was much more a copter guy than a plane guy.

As Robert slowly edge the right hand stick upwards the helicopter pitched ever so slightly and moved forward a few feet. He let the stick retract by spring into its centered position and as the helicopter stopped its own forward motion he then flicked the same stick to the right. The helicopter turned to the right and stopped when Rob released it pointing straight at them at about eight or nine feet off the lawn.

"Wow! It's like one of those robots on the movies you showed me, Robbie!" Kile sidled up to Rob and stood mesmerized.

The two stood in place as Robert motioned the copter straight towards them and had it pass over their heads slowly. The racket from the blades was exciting and the downdraft blew in their faces as it passed overhead. For the first time in his life, Robert discovered the joy of controlling a machine, and for the first time in Kile's he could make the connection between the assemblage of parts to make a whole. For him, cars and airplanes no longer held the mystic of human "magic" but carried a whole new level of excitement. It would be something that stuck with him for a decade until he had an opportunity to try driving both a motorcycle and a snowmobile.

Once the copter had circled around and hovered in front of the boys from the starting position, Robert relaxed his hold on the controller. He caught his father's eye, who, while sipping his iced tea, gave his oldest son a nod to confirm. Whatever resulted from what Rob was considering, he knew Dad would make sure they could recover. In the back of his mind, he sort of registered that even in a worst-case scenario, he might end up just having to get a new helicopter and try something different.

"Kile?" the boy asked without looking.

"Yeah?" the troll said, still breathlessly watching the hovering copter.

"Would you like to give it a try?"

At first Kile did nothing, he just keep marveling at the flying monstrosity. Then he slowly turned to look at his human brother. He licked his lips and smiled faintly. "Do you mean it, Robert? I'm not as good at controlling things as you are."

"Yes. I want you to take a turn," Rob looked down at the little faerie and smiled. He patted him on the head. "Besides...if I can't trust you, who helped me get it and build it, I definitely won't be able to trust Little Ricky. And you think I'm going to be able to keep his hands off?"

"Thank you!" Kile said with an itch and a tingle in his throat. He took the controller from Robert gingerly. "I'm nervous."

The troll's glance flicked from Robert to the hovering toy while the human gave him a few instructions. When ready, they laughed when the helicopter zoomed considerably quicker than either expected towards them. Despite being a couple feet above them still, they both ducked, and then laughed together when they stood and turned to regain control and help Kile fly around the yard in a circuit.

Rick turned to his wife and put his free arm around her shoulder, smiling. "You know? You've raised a good boy there."

"Yes," Sara replied. "I think he's growing up to be a good young man."

"Probably about time we figure out how the other one's coming along, then, don't you think?"

Mrs. Johansson's smile faltered just a bit. But she made herself stalwart and replied, "Yes. I agree. How will we do it?"

"I'm going to go with them."

Mother looked at father considering how that might go over. He continued before she could determine a response.

"And I'll be taking my rifle," he said, taking one last sip of his drink and then looking at his companion.

She looked at his face for a moment. Then she added, "And I'm going too."

He nodded. "Thought you might. We need to develop a strategy for any contingencies then."

Before the evening fell too dark or the battery on the helicopter ran down, Mom ran into the home and brought back out a camera. She was glad Kile didn't have his _glimmer_ active, and took several photos to keep in the family scrap book.

# Chapter 21

# Marissa and the Going Home Party

The official weekend had started the next day with Mr. Johansson sitting the boys down in the morning and reviewing what they must accomplish. Sunday was the day to get Little Ricky back. Kile had protested a little at first, since he'd not had another communication, but Mrs. Johansson was taking care of that in the kitchen with her own message to the troll queen as the day got started. When all three had come to an agreed understanding, they joined her there.

"Please, Sara. May I at least make sure you're translating it correctly?" Kile asked humbly.

"It's alright Kile! It's here in English too. If she misses anything I've told her at the beginning to read it in English too."

"Yes, but she may not read English all that well yet. I think I read it best of all trolls now, and I don't understand everything."

Sara wouldn't relent. "I don't want you picking through this, Kile. Besides, it's from one mother to another. She'll figure out what I mean."

After thinking about it for a moment, Kile asked, "Well, may I write a message from myself to go with it?" His troll ears itched in anticipation while he waited.

Mother and Father looked to one another. As he had with his son, Rick Jr. just nodded and Sara knew he was agreeable to trusting the little troll.

"Alright, Kile. You write a note, and then let me see it. Okay?"

He hesitated, finger on his lips for a moment. "Uh...okay."

Together they sat at the table writing, while Robert and his father considered on a geographical map how best to get to the cave and provide protection. When Kile was done writing his own message, he joined them, and helped to point out areas of cover.

"Yes, Kile. But our goal here isn't necessarily to be as stealthy as possible. I think we need to stay up on top or near the ridges so that if anything...any goblins were to attack we'd have the high ground," Dad argued.

"But Mr. Johansson! If you don't hide and we _do_ find goblins, there will be so many the high ground won't help you at all. They'll _swarm_ over us!" Kile retorted.

"Kile?!" Mom interrupted. "What is this here about guns in your message?"

Kile looked away from the other conversation timidly. "I...erhm...I want them to know that they should not surprise us or try to meet us in the forest in case...maybe?...we have an accident or something?"

"I'm not going to have any accidents, Kile," Rick interjected. "I'm about the best shot in my unit and I don't have an itchy trigger finger."

Kile looked at Robert on the last comment, nose scrunched and eyes wide in question.

"It means he doesn't just shoot, he makes sure he has to fire before his finger is on the trigger," Robert tried to explain.

Kile still wasn't sure what the slang meant, but he did understand that Richard Johansson Jr. thought he was going to be pretty careful. But it wasn't enough.

"Mr. Johansson? Do you know what trolls look like?" he asked.

"Don't they look like you?" Rick shrugged.

"Not really. I'm...sort of small still."

"Alright, I'll watch out for bigger versions of you," Rick joked and popped a couple chips into his mouth from the bowl on the table.

"No...That's not good enough." Kile's expression was intent. "Trolls are very, very much bigger than I am normally. Will you shoot if something bigger than a bear comes rushing at you?"

"Well, if they come rushing at us we'll probably want to defend ourselves, won't we?" Rick looked at Robert.

The young boy was no help though, because he really wasn't comfortable with the idea of his father knowing what to shoot and what not to considering his own trepidation when he first met the troll family under the mountain. They were indeed very intimidating. He shrugged in response.

"No, Mr. Johansson. Trolls charge for more than one reason. It's true they charge because they're so big it makes for a pretty strong way to break through a bunch of goblins...or humans. But if we're being attacked, they may also charge to grab us on a run and carry us away in safety. Think of it like that football game Robert watched. During a retreat or a move mountain trolls practice something that you might call a _scoop_ in your language. They run through pushing past all the enemies and scoop up the smaller trolls. Infants, lady trolls...me. It can be used for a rescue too."

"How's that about charging humans?" Sara asked, listening intently as well.

"Like football, the players grab the ball and tuck it in close to protect it and run. Trolls will do the same thing. Once, when I'd gotten cornered by a mountain lion, Dronosh came running through the forest and grabbed me. It surprised me and scared me as much as the lion, but just as he tucked me under his arm the lion pounced. I don't know what happened, but I heard it scream when Dronosh blocked it, and I didn't get hurt at all," Kile mustered all the sincerity his awkward football-shaped face could muster. "Both maneuvers, attack or rescue, are scary, but will you know which one my family is making when they come running at us?"

"Well..." Rick pondered the information, filing it away into his trained mind. "Now that I know, I would not shoot."

"Yes!" Kile continued. "But do you know the difference between a Goblin and a Troll?"

"Well...No. But...Robert's seen them, hasn't he? I'm sure we'll be able to figure it out alright."

The troll grimaced. "And do you know the difference between a green Bridge Troll and a Mountain Troll?"

"Green?" Rick asked.

"Don't ask, Dad," Rob said, then looked at Kile and smiled. "Apparently, Kile is a little prejudiced against Bridge Trolls still."

The little troll scowled. "Am not!" He waved his index finger at the parent though anyway and added, "But you can shoot them—they _are_ enemies."

"Of whom?" the adult muttered seriously. Rick moved the water cup around between his two hands. "Kile, I can't say I know the difference, but I am pretty attuned to telling an enemy apart from a friend, so I think we'd be _much_ better off carrying a gun than not carrying one."

Kile folded his arms and leaned back in his chair. Ricky Jr. did the same unconsciously. Robert followed suite only slightly more consciously after observing them both.

"Well...then I guess you better not shoot unless I tell you it's okay," Kile mumbled.

"Agreed."

After a moment or two, Sara asked, "What do we do if we run into Goblins on the way back? We won't have Kile then, will we?"

Kile started to speak, but then shook his head. "Queen Isabel wants me to come straight back and not go out again until we resolve the situation with the Goblins. I doubt she'll let me escort you back. Maybe Dronosh or one of the bigger Trolls can go with you, but I wouldn't count on it, depending on how they're feeling about everything going on right now."

"Yes," Rick replied, lifting his water to his mouth again. "I wouldn't want to expose my troop to an unknown while I'm dealing with a threat from a known enemy. I imagine your leaders won't want to introduce a human situation when they're busy taking care of a Goblin one."

All four sat for a moment, staring down at the map, contemplating.

Then Robert spoke up. "It's too bad Marissa couldn't help us."

Sara stopped mid-lift of a cup to her lips. "What would she do?"

"Well...since she's part faerie...and she probably knows more about them than we do, she could help us make our way back after we get Ricky."

Kile smirked and folded his arms once again. "And you might get to hold her hand too."

"Hey! I wasn't thinking that at all."

Mother and Father's face both reflected that they knew that probably wasn't entirely true.

Then a knock came at the front door. It startled them all. Junior's right hand reflexively went to his hip, but of course his weapon was still safely locked in the gun safe upstairs. He felt a strong twinge of guilt when he caught Kile's look across the table for his knee-jerk reaction.

All arose from the table, but Mother proceeded to the living room and opened the door. From the opening, still hidden from view, the boys in the kitchen heard a familiar female voice.

"Hi Mrs. Johansson. I'm here to help you get Ricky home." As Sara invited her in and she stepped into the room, Marissa added, "And I guess help get your Troll back to his too."

## ~~~

As the assembly of five poured over the map Rick had spread out, Marissa explained her appearance.

"Actually, no, it's not like my ears were burning really. It's more like the idea of what you were saying comes to me. Since trees and stones don't actually have ears it isn't as though they can repeat exactly what you said word for word."

"So then, which tree were you out there that you could hear us inside?" Mrs. Johansson asked the young girl.

"No, no. I just had the trees relay what your little Ficus in the corner of your living room was getting. It does take a little time, but I could tell early on you were going to need my help." She smiled at Robert, "I didn't know Rob had actually said my name because I was already on my way over...at least until you said so just now."

Robert wished he'd not asked the question a few minutes earlier amid the curiosity of the Johansson family at large. He blushed a little at having given away that he'd been speaking of her.

To redirect the attention he asked, "How long have you been listening in on us anyway?"

"Oh! Just since we talked yesterday. It's not like I was spying on you!" Marissa retorted defensively.

"Hmmm..." Rick said through his hands clasped together in front of his mouth. "It sort of seems that way."

"No, you don't understand. I was just listening to see what you were going to do about Ricky. If it wasn't about that I really didn't pay attention," a bit of his own mother's red-headed temperament seemed to be showing through Marissa's beautiful countenance. "It's not like I really care about all that boy stuff anyway. And...it really does take the trees a long time to get an idea across."

"What boy stuff?" Kile asked, folding his arms in front of his chest as he had earlier in the table conversation.

"Like the helicopter and stuff..." Marissa realized she'd let slip a little too much information.

While all three "men" at the table smirked at each other and Dad nodded accusingly, Mrs. Johansson came to the rescue.

"You know, it's not like we girls don't need a little information about you crazy boys. So lay off!" she said.

"Thank you Mrs. Johansson," Marissa mumbled and then picked up the cup of lemonade she'd been given and took a few sips.

"What kind of information?" Robert pushed.

"Well, I'm certain I don't know what all you and Marissa have talked about, but if a young lady wanted a certain young man to notice her, she's probably got to be fairly versed about the _toys_ he's interested in! Why do you think I let your dad go on so much about motorcycles? I've got to stay connected to him somehow or he'd be out in the garage playing all the time."

"That's probably true," Rick nodded and smiled, also taking a sip of his own lemonade.

Kile and Robert looked at each other and giggled a little.

"Do you happen to know anything about fashion or hair styles?" Mom said, looking straight at Robert. Then, while still holding his gaze, she swatted her husband's shoulder and asked a question probably more directed to him. "And do you ever listen to me tell you about a romantic comedy I want to go see? NO! Of course not! So, give a girl a break if she was just trying to learn a little more about you!"

Marissa had increasingly slunk into the depths of her little kitchen chair about as far as she could go while Mom had berated the boys. She mumbled a "Thank you, Mrs. Johansson" again, considerably more meagerly. Mom nodded curtly and offered a "you're welcome." Robert looked to Dad for support, which in turn just snickered and shook his head. Robert wasn't sure if that was a refusal to help or a revel in the fact that it wasn't entirely him taking the heat from Red for once.

"And that brings us to our next question," Mom moved forward more calmly. "What are your parents going to think about this Marissa?"

"Well..." Marissa looked around the room for support for what looked like may be her own argument with Mrs. Johansson. Finding none, she decided to come clean. "My dad really doesn't know anything. But he's away this weekend anyway. But I kinda told my Mom what's going on and she knows I'm planning on going with you up the mountain."

"Is that right?" Mr. Johansson spoke up. "And what happens if you get hurt. Does your Mom realize exactly what we're dealing with?"

"Um...Yes. I think she does, actually." Marissa turned awkwardly and looked at the Ficus in the corner. It dropped a leaf but otherwise did not appear to be respondent.

All of the Johanssons understood her meaning though. One or two wondered if perhaps her mother was able to keep tabs on them as they went about their little escapade through the forest. If so that could come in handy...if something really terrible happened. But the thought was tucked away for the time being.

"Alright then..." said Rick Jr. "Let's figure out how we're going to make this trip."

The planning included supplies, a route and a backup route to get above the cliff face beyond the troll cave entrance and enter another at higher elevation if it became necessary, some food and drink, and some calls to each other in case anyone become separated. They agreed they'd await a return message from the Troll Queen this evening, but if no other input was to be had, they'd leave at 8:00 AM the following morning. At the last moment, after Marissa had returned home and the supplies and bags had been stacked at the back door, Kile made a suggestion.

"Let's bring the helicopter!"

"What?! No...I'm not going to bring that along. It's too big and we're not going to have time to play anyway!" Robert responded.

Dad was in the kitchen and merely stood, waiting to hear the rest of the idea from Kile.

"But it's perfect! I mean, what if we meet someone on the way, especially by the meadow and they're wondering why we're all up there?" Kile retorted. "We could tell them we are all just going up as a family to watch you try out the helicopter."

"Hmmm..." Rick said. "Seems like a good idea actually."

"Aaaanndddd..." Kile continued. "If we do hear some Goblins...or something else...maybe we could use it to distract them, or maybe scare them away?"

Robert looked from troll to father. He could see they were in agreement, so he shrugged and nodded. Maybe it would be a good chance to really try it out too. He found himself wishing he'd had a small wireless camera or something that they could use to spy with the copter. But he didn't and they had no more time to go purchase one or setup Mom's laptop to make use of it.

After a small dinner, the Johanssons and a troll all went to bed. But none of them really slept until late into the early morning hours.

# Chapter 22

# The Climb

That weekend the overnight temperatures had dropped significantly more than the rest of the first week of July had been. Rob guessed it may still get into the middle or even upper 80's but at 7:00 in the morning when Mom roused both he and Kile for one last round of crunchy eggs and bacon it felt chilly outside the back door.

The Johanssons, including one integrated foster troll, strapped on their backpacks and other gear over some hoodies, caps and some hiking boots for all except Kile himself. There had been a great deal of discussion regarding what to bring at the table the night previously. Rick Jr. was beside himself on the decision. The sergeant in him kept proposing that the distance was minimal and they should travel light and quickly. But the Medic in him kept speaking up and reminding him that since they really don't have any idea what could happen along the way they should carry as many supplies as possible. The heavier packs would also make it more difficult to be stealthy but he thought by utilizing the skills on his team the troll and the part-faerie could manage to alert them when danger was near. And of course, he reasoned, they could always drop the packs and run if they had to.

After waiting later than they had intended by ten minutes already, Rick Jr., Kile and Robbie stepped into the back yard while Sara wrapped up some inside prep and awaited Marissa. It wasn't long before she heard Robert calling, "Mom! Come on outside!"

"What is it?" Sara asked as she stepped outside and shrugged her last backpack strap onto her left shoulder.

"Shhh!" Rick said, finger to his lips.

All three boys were smiling. Mom did as she was asked for a few seconds. She looked around the yard and then tried to search tree line. Finally her patience drew short.

"What are we waiting for?" she rasped loudly.

"Check it out, honey," Dad suggested again, grinning. "We heard Marissa's voice, but we can't see her. She said we have to find her."

"Really?!" Mother stomped a few paces further into the yard to stand beside her husband. "Marissa, I don't think this is the time, dear."

"Sure it is!" Marissa's voice floated back quietly. "This is how I'm going to help."

"I saw her, but not until she spoke," Rick spoke quietly.

"Yeah! Where is she?" Kile growled.

"Dad, tell us how you can see her?" Robbie added.

Rick gave his wife some time to see if she could figure out where Marissa was hiding. She couldn't do it. "I take it she's disguised as a tree, then?"

"Yes..." Rick was still grinning.

"Tell us Dad!" Rob smiled back.

"Alright. The only reason I noticed it's that she's totally out of place. Otherwise she looks just like a Quaky."

Kile, Rob and Mom all stared at the clump of trees that had been planted in the far corner near some bushes by a previous owner of the home. They'd all grown to full sized trees and had about 8 inch trunks, but one seemed to be kind of leaning or perhaps even slightly hiding behind the largest of them.

"There were only three trees there when we moved in," Rick smirked. "The fourth one looks a little human shaped too, doesn't it?"

In truth it did not. To everyone else in the group it was just another tree, but then it shook and many leaves fell from its branches and within seconds Marissa had formed out of the trunk and approached them in the yard.

"Pretty slick, huh?" She said grinning back at the group.

"I'll say," Rick spoke up. Robert whistled and Kile giggled, bouncing up and down on his broad feet before he continued. "If I wasn't familiar with the territory you'd have got me too. I think you've got an edge up there in the forests."

"But Marissa, sweety? Where is your pack?" Sara asked. She wasn't quite as keen on being fooled like that, particularly because the safety of her youngest son was still in question.

"Well, I started thinking about what we decided last night. I realized that my help mostly comes from me being able to disguise myself. I can't really do that with a pack hanging off my back very well. I can only hide so much," she said with a shrug.

Neither Rick nor Sara offered any resistance. It seemed like a reasonable idea. Kile on the other hand waggled his fingers and greeted her with his Cheshire grin and Robert awkwardly mumbled a hello. She put him at ease as she grabbed his hand in hers when they went to follow the parents into the forest.

## ~~~

Although at first the trip through the forest was a quiet one, the little group realized after about ten or fifteen minutes of climbing that there wasn't really anything they should be terribly cautious about. At least not for a while. And the conversation opened up a little.

"So...how did you change into a tree in our yard? It kinda seemed like you needed water to do that," Rob asked.

Kile harrumphed and glared suspiciously at her while she answered. He was still having troubles getting past the idea that he was supposed to trust a part-pixie, and the reflex came naturally.

"Well, your sprinklers must have gone on last night. There was a little pool of mud near those trees and I decided to see if I could do it instead of coming inside."

"Hmmm," Robert seemed to agree. "Can I ask you, does it hurt?"

"No. Not at all," Marissa smiled as she shook her head. "It's a little different though. It's like...sounds get muffled. It's almost like once I change all the way that I'm hearing through my leaves or something....I dunno how to describe it exactly."

"But you could hear us talking, right?" Kile asked as he trudged along behind them trying to keep up.

"Sort of. I mean, yes, I heard the words. But they were sort of quiet. I could hear the breeze better actually."

"So maybe that's why you think you can hear through your leaves? The movement is what you're hearing?" Rob suggested.

"Maybe. But I can also kind of feel what the ground right around me was doing. For instance, it seemed like I could hear bugs moving around. And...this might sound a little weird..."

Rob waited for a continued explanation, but when Marissa slowed with discomfort on the topic he had to prompt her. "It's okay...it can't be any more weird than you being a faerie I don't think."

"True," she smiled. "But...I think I actually heard a bird talking."

Kile snorted. "Birds talking! Ha! Birds are stupid animals, they don't talk. Now...wolves! Wolves talk!"

"No really, Kile! Maybe you can explain to me how animals actually do it then. Because I wasn't hearing words exactly, but I swear as that little bird landed in the tree next to me I felt like someone was saying "fire!" over and over again."

"Oh..." Kile responded somewhat more seriously. "I did see that bird while we looked for you. It looked tasty. I haven't had any birds since I came down with Robbie."

"That's not what the other trees said," Marissa turned to respond with a mock grin on her face. Kile wasn't sure whether she was telling the truth or not and stumbled a bit on his response.

"Eweee..." Rob said, half-heartedly at Kile's appetite.

Marissa continued, "Anyway...I'm not sure what's going on. It felt like that little bird was scared. And then the other trees started repeating the same thing: fire. Fire. I don't see or smell any right now, so I guess we just wait and see. But it seemed like the trees were worried about what this particular fire meant."

"Or you don't speak bird very well yet..." Kile suggested.

## ~~~

Travel past the Maple Springs Airfield was relatively uneventful. Daniel and a couple other boys were up there already prepping their planes. But there wasn't a whole lot of conversation. The family passed by with Kile under full _glimmer_ and it must have just appeared to be a family outing. Dan didn't seem too interested in pursuing helicopter or plane conversations with everyone else around at the time, but he did wave and smile at the boys.

After the first few ridge climbs Kile was getting a little tired. Moving through tight trees was easier for him and he could move much faster than any of the humans, but generally on the paths and deer tracks they were following his short legs meant he was running out of steam long distance on an uphill climb. At the rise in elevation and being both hidden in the forest shade and close to the residue of the colder downdraft from the mountain over night the hoodies were still a requirement. Dad had them take a rest and sip some water about an hour and a half up the mountain.

"It's so beautiful up here, Rick," Sara suggested. She'd climbed up on top of one of the larger boulders and could catch glimpses of the lake and the rest of the valley far below.

"Yeah, Mom, it's..." Robbie started but then he was cut off.

An incredible howl echoed through the trees from some ways off still. The entire family froze. Kile's eyes flickered back and forth watching the trees. Marissa's hand froze mid-way lifting a water bottle to her lips and she listened as well.

When it was clear nothing was dashing out of the woods towards them, Sara Johansson hopped down the rocks and landed next to her husband, boots thudding lightly in the soft soil. "What was that?"

Robert knew, but held his tongue since he and Kile had never fully come clean about the trip into the forest to see the wolves. Rick Jr. responded instead. "Cougar."

A moment's hesitation later and Sara asked again with her hands clenched tightly on Rick's upper arm, "What do we do?"

"Nothing," he responded and turned back around to the group, attempting to appear relaxed. "A cougar isn't going to want to go anywhere near such a large group as we have here."

But then the sound repeated, even more desperately the second time. It was followed shortly by a sharp crack. If Robert had to guess he would have said it was a nearby lady-finger popping. But Dad recognized the sound. It was a whip. Something unnatural was going on further up the mountain cut he had been planning to follow up to the cliff face and spring area and he recognized he'd better start developing a plan.

"Marissa?" he said.

"Yes?" the young girl answered, stepping up to answer and handing her water bottle back to Robert to put in his pack.

"No, keep that, will you?" Rick added. "You're with me for a moment."

"What is it?" Sara asked again.

"Dunno yet. Just want to take a look though," Rick said, flashing his most winning smile. Mother knew something wasn't right whenever he was that casual.

As Rick and Marissa headed up the ridge on the opposite side of the cut, mother quietly said, "Be careful, Rick."

## ~~~

"So...what are we doing, Mr. Johannson?" Marissa asked, struggling to keep her breath as she kept up with the fast moving soldier.

"I need you to do some reconnaissance."

"Oh..." she puffed clambering up the boulders they'd come across.

Once Rick Jr. crested the small ridge of boulders he quickly turned back and motioned with his index finger to be quiet. Marissa made the rest of the climb much more slowly and quietly and joined him at his side. He was lying low with his eyes just peering over. She tried to mimic him, carefully setting the water bottle down next to her.

As she settled into position she could not see why it was that Mr. Johansson had stopped. He turned slowly and noticed the child's blank stare. He pointed higher up and to the left, towards a very tall mountain rift that rose up higher than the other rises in the area and shadowed the section of the forest directly ahead of them underneath it. If one could manage to negotiate the narrow ridgeback leading to it, it would be the most direct route to the area of the springs and the troll cave where they were headed. There, slowly rising out from the forests probably a quarter mile up the ridge, a lazy column of smoke moved gently in the breeze. Mr. Johansson knew the area was already into national forest land, and though it was possible to get special permits for this area to camp or to start a fire, it was more likely to be something devious, since the hunters frequented this mountain face in the Fall and did not like much in the way of human indicators near their deer tracks. He needed a better understanding of what was going on.

"I need your help, if you are up to it."

"Okay. I think I am," Marissa whispered back.

"I want you to get down in that valley there and trace that small stream up closer to where that fire is coming from."

"Yes, sir!" Marissa was happy to be of service since she hadn't been too sure how she'd fit in the group initially and was therefore also happy to be the soldier Mr. Johansson needed right then.

"I understand you could probably use that water in your bottle there and a tree to disguise yourself pretty well and just watch for me, right?"

"Yes sir. I can do that, easy," Marissa replied, positively enough to hide her fear even from Mr. Johansson relatively well.

"But I have to admit, I'm a little worried about you."

"About what? If they're goblins?"

"Well," the father figure answered. "Yes, that too. But I'm worried I don't know how well you can navigate the forest and get back to us safely. How well do you know the way? Does your...magic stuff, sort of give you an edge?"

"Oh, yes sir! I know exactly where I am. And if I get stuck I can just ask the trees!" she replied.

"Good. Then I need you to get up that valley and get as close as you can but stay at a safe distance. Then get disguised. I want you to sit and listen to what's going on there. Tell me what's the deal with the cougar and who it is that's up there. That big cat sounds like it's in pain or something, and that would not be good to run into."

"Yes, sir!" She responded again and gave a quick nod.

"Don't say that. I'm not your commanding officer."

Marissa looked at Rick Junior with a puzzled expression trying to work it out. "What should I call you then? Mr. Johansson?"

"Hmmm..." He mulled. He'd always had a problem with young people calling their elders by their first name, and she had a good point; he didn't like being called "mister" anything either. "Never mind. You call me whatever you want."

"Yes, sir!"

And with that she was off.

"Marissa!" He rasped and she turned just enough to listen. "I'll wait twenty minutes. If you can't get back safely, stay there until you can. Then meet us back at the house as soon as it's safe to get away."

She gave him a cocked eyebrow as if to question the command to go home. But he just shook his head slightly and she nodded hers.

Rick backed down the rocks and waited for a few minutes, listening for any further noises but didn't hear much, although there were occasionally twigs breaking and some guttural noises. He presumed those were whoever was on the mountain lighting a fire, and not a young faerie girl who should be better skilled at sneaking around among the trees.

He turned and headed back to the rest of the group.

## ~~~

"But Dad, you didn't just leave her there did you?"

"Rick?" Mrs. Johansson questioned nervously.

"Relax. She's probably the safest of all of us. She's able to disguise herself perfectly, you said. And she's not heading any further into their path than we would be going. We'll wait for a few minutes, but if she doesn't come back we need to start heading up. We'll take the next ridge over to the north to keep away from whatever is up there."

When Rick checked his watch and it had been just shy of twenty minutes since he'd left Marissa and they had not heard any further noises, he determined it was time to move on and get on the next ridge further away. He wanted to maintain the high ground, but felt like he needed to be out of view and earshot. If Marissa hadn't returned that meant she (wisely) had determined it was not safe to be moving around the goblin camp at all, and so he meant not to.

"C'mon. Let's go ahead. She will meet us back at the house as soon as she can get away."

"Rick?" Sara asked, voice high. "We can't just leave that young girl there! We've got to help her if she's in danger."

"Honey, trust me. I really think she's safer than we are. I told her to hold still if she couldn't get away without being seen and she seems like a smart kid."

"Yes, but..." Robbie started to add.

"No! Listen. I sent her because she is one of them, right Kile?"

Kile looked around at the other faces before responding. But he did eventually nod his head timidly in agreement. "Yes. Marissa should be very safe. Both Pixies and Sprites are _very_ good in the forests. She should be fine."

Mr. Johansson continued. "Then let's go. If we move fast, get Little Ricky back and get Kile back to his family, then we're done. No fights. No concerns. You all said that goblins and trolls are afraid of interacting with humans anyway, right? So...we use that to our advantage. Let's make it so they never even know we were here."

Grudgingly the other three shouldered their packs and picked up their water bottles and other items and got ready to follow father to the next ridge. He directed them to be very quiet for a while and that meant moving a little slower than they had to that point, but he still kept a pretty quick pace wherever the ground was solid enough to prevent too much noise.

Tracing the further ridge turned out to be a benefit. The trees were mostly Aspen's on it and to either side below which permitted quick movement. They had grown in such a pattern that Rick felt as though he'd be able to hear any movement easily. And it happened to tie back in eventually at a more flat foothill at the top of the cut on its south side to the ridge he originally planned to follow. From where the two ridges plateaued together he lead them south again and headed straight towards the top of the cliff face he'd pointed out to Marissa earlier.

As the family passed over the last of the giant dark stone to the obscurity of the forests just south and east of it towards the Troll cave and Maple Springs themselves, Rick paused and looked out to the valley immediately below them.

"What is it, Dad?" Robert asked from the tree line.

"The smoke. It's gone now," father replied. His tension had obviously increased, despite his effort to remain calm. He began wondering if he'd made a mistake about Marissa and contemplated rushing down into the valley from the ridge on the far south of it and burst in, guns blazing to make sure she could get away.

"Dad..."

Rick stood for a moment in silence still contemplating. Then he turned and walked to his family within the trees.

"Dad, that's the valley and ridge I think Little Ricky and I took when we first came up here looking for the springs."

Father gave son a worrisome look quickly covered with determination and said, "Yeah...well, I think its goblin territory now."

Kile stood alongside Sara wringing his hands and shaking his head. "No, no, no. That's _our_ territory. They would not dare to trespass here!..."

The last was a question almost. Rick Jr. shook his head yet again and engaged the troll in a little conversation to keep him on task.

"Kile, if you were to ask any other human down there in Maple Springs whose territory it was I'm pretty sure you'd hear it was ours...and that's if they were even willing to acknowledge you exist. Gonna end up in a fight anyway around it, no matter what you learned from your stay with us, don't you think?"

The little troll dropped the last of any glimmer he'd been maintaining past the airfield and nodded his head sadly. His lips were curled and his eyes glistened as though he were about to cry. He wrung his hands tightly turning them pinkish through his grey-green skin tone. _Maybe it's better this way?_ He thought. Perhaps the goblins would engage the humans and then, one way or another, at least there'd only be one potential enemy to deal with.

But he thought better of it. For one, he realized, the humans were bound to win out because there were so many. And they were so powerful. They had such a variety of weapons and vehicles and technology even an attacking swarm of goblins wouldn't get far. Perhaps Maple Springs would be in danger, but then the rest of the humans would come. And they would wipe them out... goblin and troll.

And secondly, Kile realized...he loved Robert and his family. The Johanssons were family as the humans described it, not as the trolls spoke of their clan at all. It was probably the very reason their race had filled the Earth so, and it was the very reason he wanted to stay with them. Whether or not any faerie conflict was imminent, he intended to make humans and trolls family if he had any capacity to do so. He only hoped the Queen would continue to see it the same.

## ~~~

Finally, Robert and Kile recognized the near proximity of the troll entrance and said so to both of the Johanssons.

"Thank goodness," Sara breathed. They clambered through the thick trees and over a few boulders near the clearing before it and sure enough they could discern the ever so slightly glowing blue energy of the markings inside.

Mother dropped her pack and Kile quickly followed suite. Rob seemed to subconsciously be awaiting his father's direction, who was busy looking about and scanning the area immediately around the entrance.

"Kile? Didn't you two say there would be a guard here? A really _big_ troll named Donut? Or something like that?"

"Dronosh," Kile nodded. "Yes. He should be here somewhere."

Suddenly, several crashes and broken twigs resounded in the forest to their South West and father motioned them all behind a collection of large boulders near the perimeter of the clearing. Kile turned to the sound and stood, smiling.

"Kile!" Robert hissed. "Get down!"

Kile looked briefly at the trio huddled behind the rocks and then pointed his upturned hand with index finger extended towards the sounds, shrugged and said, "Dronosh!"

Instead, practically falling out of the thick tree line a beautiful young red-headed human tripped into his arms startling him. He dropped her to the ground immediately and hissed at her, "Marissa?!"

On her hands and knees, she looked up at him and at first squealed, "Eeeeya?!"

Then she recognized what she'd bumped into. She stood quickly and looked about for the family. Seeing them she took a few more quick steps and then squawked at them in a tired and raspy voice as though she had a throat full of bark, "They're coming!"

Kile turned and looked into the forest. As Rick Jr. motioned Marissa to join them behind the boulders a deep guttural, animalistic howl resounded not nearly as far away as any of them hoped. The little troll waddled over and cowered with them too.

"Where Dronosh?" he asked in a whine. His English seemed to be reverting in the situation.

"What happened, Marissa?" Mrs. Johansson asked in a whisper.

Rick watched for her answer. The girl was still trying to catch her breath, shoulders heaving, eyes watering.

"I...think...they can smell me!" she finally got out.

"Damn!" Rick cursed. "Didn't think of that."

For a few seconds everyone seemed to be pondering on their own what best to do next. Robert looked Marissa in the eye and asked in a low voice, "Goblins?"

Marissa simply nodded, still breathing heavily.

"Let's enter the caves!" Kile excitedly whispered.

"Yeah!" Rob confirmed.

"Wait! I don't want to go waltzing in there unless your family knows we're coming. I don't like the sound of surprising a potential enemy at their dinner table," Rick suggested.

"What do we do then, Rick?" his wife asked.

For a moment, he thought. Then he began opening his large military style pack. From inside the main, large compartment he pulled out all nearly three feet of Robert's Chinook and the controller after.

Both troll and boy grinned. Rob asked, "Whoa! So, you _did_ bring it! What did you bring it for, Dad?"

"Thought you and Kile might like to show Little Ricky together."

He continued to prepare the copter by folding out and locking in place all the rotors, flipping the batteries around in the controller into the right position and handing it to Robert, and then removing his army-issued rifle from his back and checking the clip.

"Do you really need that?" Sara asked. Kile sat beside her eyes nervously flicking from Rick to Sara and to the gun.

"Yes. I think so."

As Rick set his M-16 against the base of the boulders so as to prevent it from pointing at anyone, he pulled his handgun out as well from a holster tucked under his shirt, and then pulled back the slide on it. As he checked over the guns and equipment he engaged Kile again, to ensure none of his party were going to panic in the case he had to start firing.

"So, tell me, honestly Kile. Is there any good Goblin?" he asked.

Kile still stared at the M9 in the soldier's hand, heart beating rapidly. But he did finally answer. "No, Mr. Johansson. They are very much like animals. No faerie has ever seen a goblin act in any other way but to destroy."

"This is important, Kile. If it comes to I have to decide whether or not to shoot I can't be thinking about whether or not they're innocent, or...just following orders. Or anything else. I can't have it be a case where you just don't like them, like the bridge trolls or something. I gotta know these are mortal enemies who will not spare us."

The troll's face grew very serious and he nodded twice. "Goblins are the enemy of nature. They only consume."

Rick nodded and leaned back against the rock. Kile could sense he needed to extend more, so he rose and waddled over to the older human and placed his hands upon his forearm.

"Goblins come from darkness. Most faerie folk don't even think they have souls. They're like animals or trees. If they attack, you _must_ defend yourself."

Rick nodded a thank you to the troll and he waddled back to Sara's side to sit down. Marissa, whose breathing had finally calmed down mumbled under her breath, "Animals and trees have souls."

Kile merely looked at her expressionless not sure what to say. She scowled at him.

The racket in the forest grew closer and then the big cat's howl came again, far too closely for Rick's comfort.

"Okay. Here's what we're going to do. Since supposedly goblins and faeries don't like to interact with humans," he started. He gave Kile a sideways look. "...we're going to make them think there's a big bunch of humans camped up right here. That ought to scare them off, and it should also make them think twice about checking this area for trolls, right Kile?"

Kile only gave him a hesitant look. He wasn't sure what to think of the plan.

"So! Robert, when they get really close, I want you to fly that copter around here. If they see the kind of things humans have maybe they'll think twice about coming any closer.

Then the rest of us are all going to talk loudly. About anything. About hunting, or fireworks. Whatever you want to. We just need to make it seem like there's a lot of us. We're sort of marking our territory. Get it?"

Sara and Marissa nodded. Kile looked around and followed as well, nodding his head vigorously.

And so the ruse began. As the goblins neared right up towards the tree line a large model of a Chinook helicopter rose above the boulders and hovered momentarily, and then moved along the tree line. Laughter and shouts resounded and echoed off the rocks as well. Twenty pairs of beady black eyes stared at the odd flying machine, some cowering as it slowly moved past their positions. None of them were quite willing to risk entering the sunlit clearing ahead of them to survey the human party before them.

A few goblins had taken the initiative to start backing away from the area to which they'd traced the odd human smell seemingly running from them earlier. But then their leader's voice scratched the still air between the trees and overpowered the ruckus from the human flying device in the clearing ahead. It chattered and scolded and told them to move up.

The unlucky cat wrangler was assigned the task to enter the hated sunlight and investigate the number and nature of the humans there. A pair of archer goblins nocked their arrows and then their mate lit the poisoned tips on fire. Better to cover every base with the humans. If the tip missed its mark, and the poison didn't do one in, perhaps flame would catch grasses or human in its grip and do the job.

Both archers lobbed their heavy arrows over the rocks and bounced them off the more disguised side of the cave entrance boulders. They landed on the soil in front of Rick. Kile squealed in fright and hunkered against the rocks next to Mr. Johnasson.

"So, that's how it is, then," the soldier nodded. He looked to his wife who first wrapped one arm around Marissa and then the other around Robert. She nodded in return.

Rick Johansson engaged his training. He lay against one of the lower boulders to the side of where they'd been hiding and flipped the safety switch on his rifle to fire only one bullet per pull. Then he waited.

Soon, the cat-wrangler crept from the edge of the forest a little further to the east than Rick had expect and he had to reposition himself again.

"Robert?" he whispered.

"Yeah, Dad?" the boy responded quietly.

"You don't happen to have any of those firecrackers we talked about last night maybe bringing, do you?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Light one and toss it over the boulders and into the forest. Tell me when you're tossing it."

Rob did as he was told with a little help from his mother. He flicked his lighter several times nervously before it caught and then he touched it to the end of one cracker he pulled out.

"Go!" he said, as he tossed it over.

Within a second they all heard the sharp, tinny burst of a firecracker, immediately followed by the slightly deeper and more penetrating crack of Rick's M-16.

Rob and Kile leaned over to peer around Mr. Johansson and the large boulder. A glistening and grotesquely shaped frog-rat body, loosely wrapped in tattered leathers rolled onto its back from its side on the ground. A very large cougar a few feet away turned to investigate and realized its braided leather leash had suddenly gone limp. It raced away with one sharp howl into the forest on the other side of the clearing. One goblin down.

It seemingly took a moment for the rest of the goblins to realize what had happened between the crack nearby and then the site of their comrade falling heavily to the ground, cat escaping their possession. Several let out hoots that sounded like howler monkeys Rob had seen on TV once and began retreating through the forest. Their leader howled a lengthy screech that seemed to reverberate off the rock around the Johanssons and then he paced after them on all fours.

Their ruse seemed to work and Rick rotated around so he could rest his back against one of the larger boulders again, rifle upturned and safety engaged again. Everyone else breathed a sigh of relief at once. Robert turned to Kile and together they said, "Where's the bear?"

Rick looked at them suspiciously, along with the two women. Sara looked at her son and repeated, "Bear?"

The blank stare she got from both boys was enough. This would be a topic that would come up later.

# Chapter 23

# Returned

A few minutes later, after Kile reminded Robert his Chinook was still hovering around near the tree line on the west side of the clearing, they landed it and carefully prepared it and stored it into Dad's pack again. The boys were even more proud than before of their choice to go helicopter rather than airplane. It wasn't just different, it was anti-goblin!

The group of five were just settling their nervous laughs and collecting their thoughts, preparing to enter the troll caves when the ominous sound began thudding to their ears and through the boulders upon which they leaned. Several thuds softly shook the earth for a few seconds and then stopped. Everyone looked to one another, Kile's face perking up somewhat but still just as surprised as the others were nervous. Then the thudding resumed.

Around the corner of the piled borders protecting the entrance to the troll cave came a monstrously large, bloated and pink creature that must, by Rick's estimation, be at near 14 feet tall. It carried a great staff and upon its head was a fairly crude looking golden crown. As it turned and saw the humans and little troll it grinned and started thudding in their direction. Behind it a second, and then a third colossus creature, only slightly less large, and certainly not much less muscled, thudded along behind him.

Stomping nearly right up upon Rick Jr. and the rest of the human group, Rick's finger twitched as he carefully rested his hand upon the grip of the M-16.

"Friend," Kile whispered cautiously to Mr. Johansson.

Rick Jr. nodded ever so slightly. Still the same the beast noticed the weapon and glanced at it momentarily, grin dropping only slightly. The trio of adult trolls stopped within inches of Rick and King Karapace bent low to address the human. His voice rumbled something in Trollish and then he stood erect again, outstretching his arms to either direction. He then turned to Kile and spoke.

"T'raeri nang'thul, Kile?"

Kile nodded in return and smiled.

Home at last. Despite his desire to stay with Robert, Kile was relieved to be back home at last.

The second largest troll, slightly darker in color than the King stepped sideways a bit and seemed to be glancing around the glen and into the depths of the thick tree line. He returned his gaze to the human father and pointed at the gun. Then slowly he pointed to the drying husk in the middle of the glade, and back at Rick again.

Rick nodded slowly. Dronosh paused for a moment, then grinned. He nodded and raised both hands in fists before him. He struggled doing so, but managed to raise both thumbs and then smile again.

Human father returned the gesture and stood up, smiling as well. Sara, Marissa and Robert all rose. Robert grinned, happy to see the King in good spirits, and that Dronosh was not ready to eat them this time.

Then the third troll stepped around the King as Karapace continued to have a small discussion with Kile in Trollish. He placed a very large palm upon the man's head, patting slightly and with his other hand pointed an index finger at his chest. "Pet's father?" he said looking back at Dronosh.

Dronosh nodded an agreement and smiled. The third troll, Scrimp, grinned too and then removed his giant hand from the human's scalp. He held it up to his friend and made a sort of pinching gesture with his forefinger and thumb, leaving a couple inches between the two. Both Scrimp and Dronosh laughed. When satisfied Scrimp placed both of his hands upon the human's shoulders and then pulled him in, pressing Rick's face into his chest. Once in that position, he attempted to lightly swat the human male's back with one palm, and then stood him back in his original position.

One thing Rick had learned about first meetings with locals is that one never lets on when a soldier is not entirely comfortable. The slap on his back had hurt like he'd been swatted with a baseball bat a couple times, but he smiled all the same. He stuck his right hand out. Scrimp turned to Dronosh one more time, received a smile and nod and gave the same right back to the other troll and then turned and shook Rick's hand. By the time the trollish palm engulfed the human's entire forearm it was more like he was shaking his entire body, but at least he wasn't lifting the figure entirely off the ground as Little Ricky had received months before.

When the greetings were completed, King Karapace turned to Sara and Rick and pronounced, as best he could, "Thank you. We return Richard."

Stepping away, the family could see a smallish, Kile-shaped shadow creeping out the entrance, and then, hand in hand with the female troll leading him, came Little Ricky.

Sara ran to her boy and hugged him, crying and lifting him from the ground. Rick stood beside them both and wrapped his arms around the pair as well. Robert and Kile joined them and did their best to enclose them with a ring of smaller arms.

After several seconds of kisses from Mother on his forehead, Ricky said, "Okay! Okay, Mom! I'm fine. You can stop now."

She laughed and swiped at her tears, setting him back on the ground.

"Man!... Not in front of my friends, Mom!" the little boy said.

Robert and Kile both giggled. Behind them, they could hear Scrimp chuckling too in his deep trollish baritone voice. As the King presided over the reuniting he smiled pleasantly as well. In that moment, Kile knew there could be a treaty between his kind and the humans. Mission: Successful! He could not wait to tell the Queen.

Karapace was about to invite the humans into the cave to see what Little Ricky had experienced and to give a tour of his great city. But then came the goblins' hooting rally cries. He turned, fixed Rick Jr.'s eyes and said, as clearly as he could muster in the human speech, "Must go now."

The trio of large trolls nearly had to drag Kile towards the cave as he kept turning and waving farewell. The last thing he said as they disappeared out of site into their cave was, "Use the Jogah!"

## ~~~

For the first several minutes of the Johansson's flight down the mountain they could hear the growls, clicks, and hoots of the goblins every once in a while and it seemed for the most part that they were falling behind. In Rick's mind they only needed to get relatively close to town where humans had made more of an encroachment up on the mountain, say, perhaps the airfield, and the goblins _should_ stop following. In Little Ricky's mind, he had a completely different idea on how to handle goblins.

"Wait! Mom! I can stop them! Just let me try!" he yelled.

"Quiet Ricky!" Junior huffed. He was half dragging and half carrying Little Ricky at times, moving as quickly as he could through the trees.

Mom spoke up, breathing heavily, "Not now Ricky. Just let us get home! And for Pete's sake, stay quiet!"

"But, that won't help..." Little Ricky started, but at that moment he was hoisted over his father's shoulder and could raise his voice loud enough to be heard again.

Marissa and Robert were at times leading the way, mostly because they were smaller and lighter and able to scramble through the trees and over rocks more quickly. Occasionally father or mother would have to give them a little direction in a hoarse whisper, but for the most part it was a downhill race to get as far away from the goblins in as short a time as possible.

As they slipped into the main cut in the mountain that led straight towards the Maple Springs Airfield their hiking boots all sloshed through a slightly larger stream making more noise than Dad would have liked but they were within minutes of breaking cover into the Airfield and they could still hear occasional hoots.

Then a deep, penetrating howl sent shivers up their spines just at the little vale opened up a bit and flattened at the bottom. A crash sounded through the forest that might have been an entire oak tree being ripped from the ground and thrown from all the racket it created. Suddenly the goblin hoots rang out all around them and they knew they had not thwarted the following throng of goblins at all. It sounded, in fact, as though they were on a man hunt, and Robert began wondering if shooting one of them at the cave clearing was the best idea for having bought time or scared them off for a few minutes.

Shadows leapt here and there between the trees at them at full pace. It looked vaguely like a swarm of frogs rushing from a river. The humans turned and ran. Mother's exclamation was not needed but it topped the weird guttural grunts and squeals coming from the goblins. "RUN! NOW!"

As they rushed through the forest on the moist soil the goblins where clearly picking up speed. Another giant crash followed by a roar echoed about and trod upon the voices of goblins and humans alike. Something big was coming.

Junior pulled his sidearm while still carrying Little Ricky and turned just enough in both directions during their rush to fire a few rounds without specific aim as a deterrent. Robert and Marissa turned at the first sounds of the cracking and on the second round watched as one of the goblins crumpled to the ground and several others around him scattered.

In small sections some of the goblins seemed to howl in surprise and turn away, but their apparent leader would begin a barking noise from the middle of the main goblin rush and the holes would soon be filled. There was no doubt, they were out for blood this time.

Then, something whizzed right past Robert's head. A few steps ahead he noticed a heavy stick or something strike a tree and penetrate it with a crash. As he passed it something clicked in his mind about the heavy, straight rod poking through the Aspen. They were firing on the humans now!

"Arrows!" He shouted. "They're shooting arrows!"

He and Marissa towards the front looked about quickly. It seemed everyone was still with them. Mom, Dad, Little Ricky on his shoulder. So far so good. Then he heard the unmistakable sound of another thick arrow whistling through the wind. Father returned a couple more rounds back at the group and Rob heard a deathly screech. Another one down.

_But how many are there?_ his mind raced. There had to be dozens. Twenty? Could there only be twenty? It seemed like far more than that. Maybe fifty. Maybe even a hundred goblins bubbling and burbling through the forest at high speed like a corrosive acid spill engulfing everything it spills across.

Finally, the Maple Springs Airfield came into view. It was another good ten or fifteen seconds out at their current pace but Robert could see the gap through the thinning trees and he thought he heard Dan's big B-52 bomber buzzing around too.

Suddenly, from the East and South, slightly behind them came several large crashing forms through the Aspens. They growled and grunted. Dad stopped firing his sidearm, but all kept running. Then, with a great howl, Dronosh came crashing through the eastern line of goblins, scattering them and tossing many into the trees with wide swings of a his giant arms. He was moving fast and closing on their position. Several of the goblins nearly catching up to the humans turned and saw the goliath coming and halted, their leader barking angrily at them all the while.

As Dronosh turned away from the mass somewhat to make for the humans, Rob saw Scrimp taking up the rear and bursting through the goblins as well. Instead of swinging giant arms in front of him as he ran, Scrimp was actually grabbing goblins left and right and throwing them as hard as he could at the trees. Every one of them went limp and in some Robert could hear bones snapping like twigs.

Then Dronosh was upon their group. He scooped up first Sara Johansson under his right arm, and then closing on Rick Jr. he scooped up both he and the little boy on his shoulder under his left. He made for the airfield. Quickly behind came Scrimp. He ran right between the two adolescents and grabbed them both under his arms at the same time and he too made for the airfield with Robert and Marissa. The ground seemed to thunder with the pounding of their four feet upon it, and the goblins definitely seemed to be slowing.

## ~~~

In the airfield, a crashing and howling racket was approaching Dan's position quickly. He at first tried to ignore it and continued to round his plane around the west edge of the airfield. But the noise was growing insistent. He thought he'd probably better check it out and his momentary glances into the forest hadn't yielded any information yet.

Quickly he turned the B-52 towards him and brought it in for a landing. As the noises picked up and then some distal crashing could be heard in the trees, he hastened his movements, detaching the wings of his plane and packing it into the little back-strap carrying device he'd made for it. As he stood and turned to the south to see if he could make out the source of the noises he saw two hulking masses burst from out of the trees.

He stood open mouthed as the giants stomped into the airfield at full run...and they were carrying something.

"Run!" Robert yelled from under the arm of his slightly smaller giant. "Run, Dan!"

Daniel stared blankly as the giants quickly made up the gap between them in the field. Then another voice rang out.

"DANIEL! Run! Get across to the other side of the field!"

It was Mr. Johansson. But what were they doing being carried around like sheep for dinner in the movie he'd recently seen about giants? And why were these giants so weird looking? They weren't of human proportions at all...even for their incredible size. Their legs were too short and stocky and their chests and arms were _enormous_!

"Mr. Johansson?" Dan asked, much more quietly than could possibly be effective with all the ruckus going on.

"Run Daniel! You've got to run right now!" Mrs. J. screamed at him.

Then he heard the hoots, howls and screeching behind them. He leaned slightly to try to peer around the giants thudding towards him quickly. In the trees several shadows, maybe even a couple hundred of them had smashed into the tree line and bounced and hopped along it waving arms and seemingly cursing at them.

A couple nocked heavy arrows and shot them towards the approaching giants and Daniel. They were relatively ineffective for the distance was too far for such heavy arrows but one impaling the ground near where Dan stood was enough to finally bring him out of his trance.

He turned and ran as fast as he ever had towards the northern side of the airfield, zigging and zagging slightly as he went, subconsciously also trying to make an effort to keep the giants following him between he and the arrow shooters. He ducked into the opposing tree line just as the giants caught up and did the same.

As they positioned themselves a few feet back from the edge of the meadow behind a couple clumps of Aspens and a large oak tree, the giants set their human cargo down, who did the same as they did. Daniel on the other hand after a few seconds of trying to gauge what was across the field looked to his left at Dronosh and to his right at Scrimp and tried to reason out for himself whether it was a good time to faint or not.

## ~~~

With everyone safe on the ground, Kile, released his hold on the scruff at Scrimps neck and slid down his back to land on the ground. Waving his hand at the group the little troll said, "Long time, no see!"

If ever Kile understood the nuance of human sarcasm, that was the one time for certain. Robert and Marissa laughed and huffed at the same time, nearly at tears from the intensity of their adventure and from the relief at seeing their friend again. Junior and Sara also smiled, Sara covering her mouth slightly to hide her own relief from showing too much. Little Ricky just stared, open mouthed.

"Man, am I glad to see you Kile!" Robert said and gave the little troll a great hug, lifting him from the ground, heavy though he was.

"We saw them start the hunt!" Kile explained. "They didn't care at all about the cave entrance. You're plan worked great, Mr. Johansson! But when they caught your smell they headed straight for you."

"Told you," Marissa breathed heavily but smiled all the same.

"Yes! They were on a kill hunt. They mean to destroy all of you!"

Then that giant, tree-ripping crash and a terrible, deep howl resounded from across the airfield. All turned and looked.

"Oh... _and_ they have a Bridge Troll with them," Kile finished casually.

Dronosh and Scrimp looked at each other wide-eyed and then returned to watching the field. Sure enough, something massive stomped slowly up to the tree line and then parted six or seven of the Aspens like twigs.

Its head had to have been at least twenty feet above the ground. It stood up practically in the canopy, the tallest of the Aspens only being thirty feet tall or so. It's shoulders seemed nearly twice as wide as Dronosh's and it's arms were like great redwood trees, finished with a very powerful looking pair of palms like the root clump to one of the great towering trees themselves. The skin was dark forest green, teeth large enough to be seen a couple hundred yards reflecting yellow in the late afternoon sunlight. Its eyes were too small and too beady to be seen. Giant horns started above its very sloped forehead and swooped back over the scalp towards its back.

Rick asked under his breath, alarmed, "What on Earth is that thing?"

"That..." said Kile in a monotone, "Is a Bridge Troll."

"HOLY CRAP!" Little Ricky blurted out uncontrollably.

Kile turned to Robert and Daniel who had joined his friend at his side. "I told you about them, didn't I? Now do you believe me?"

Across the field the grotesque Bridge Troll raised its massive arms and flexed them, bending forward and howling in an incredibly piercing yet low-pitched ferocious belch.

Rick took up position behind a boulder and checked the safety on his rifle.

"What do we do now?" he asked.

When no one else responded, he looked at the larger troll beside him. Dronosh just shrugged and raised his hands palm up shaking his head. He looked to his comrade. Rick turned his head just in time to see Scrimp also shrug and turn back to watch the field.

"Great."

"Now might be a good time for humans to bring very big guns," Kile said from behind his bush nodding his head.

Rick just shook his.

# Chapter 24

# Battle Royale

"Why are the goblins just hiding over there in the forest? Why did they stop?" Rick asked Kile.

"They don't like sunlight. They won't come out I don't think," the little troll answered.

"Well then, how long before they figure out they can go around the field?" father asked.

"Hmmm..." Kile pondered, tapping his teeth with his black nail on his index finger. "Not sure they will. Goblins are not very smart. That's why they fight like army ants. No...strategy?"

He looked at each of the humans hoping to confirm he used the right word.

"They smell you from across the field. They will wait until sun down and come across the field."

"I see," Rick said, still unsure. Even if the goblin leader wasn't that bright he was certainly tenacious and he couldn't risk the assessment. He worked to come up with a plan, mostly because he wasn't sure they'd stop at town's edge, unless, as Kile had suggested, the humans worked together to turn them back with their superior weapons.

Then the leader began barking again. The entire mass of goblins began moving and broiling at the edge of the forest, clicking, hissing and grunting loudly. Finally, they moved. They pushed out into the field despite the sunlight, the bridge troll just ahead of them.

"Uh, I haven't seen them do that before..." Kile muttered, eyes wide. The goblins did seem to be squinting and some raised their arms in front of their eyes. But the sunlight did not seem to be a major roadblock for them this time.

Rick stood on his feet and shouldered the M-16. He flipped the safety to three-round bursts and lined his sites. CRACK-CRACK-CRACK! The weapon burst in rapid succession. Just outside the tree line two goblins fell, one immediately behind the other. CRACK-CRACK-CRACK aimed a little further down the line. By then all the other humans and trolls alike next to Rick had palmed their ears and peered to watch the results.

Another burst towards the opposite end of the line of goblins and another slimy body fell. The charge was halted. Goblins stalled looking around and those near them stared at their several fallen comrades. CRACK-CRACK-CRACK came a fourth burst from Rick's gun and still more goblins fell.

"I only have a couple clips, guys," Junior stated and took up aim at the middle of the goblin column again, which had turned and began retreating into the forest. "Got any suggestions?"

None came, so he changed his tactic about the time he needed a reload. As he dropped the spent clip he asked, "Alright. Kile? Can you tell which one the leader is? I've heard him, but I haven't actually seen him."

"Mmmm...usually, they wear red markings," the troll replied. "It's a sign of their conquests...like blood from their enemies. At least that's what they say about them from the old days."

Rick looked at Dronosh to confirm, who nodded and grimaced. With the new clip loaded he held his fire and awaited the goblins' reaction. The giant Bridge Troll had taken several thunderous stomps into the field before he realized his goblin alliance had deserted him. It turned and looked at the tree line for direction. Apparently the Bridge Troll was not the brightest military mind either, standing back exposed.

Then the goblin leader could be heard barking orders again.

"Do I shoot him?" Rick asked nervously, flicking the safety back to three-round bursts again.

"Yes!" cried Kile. "You can shoot Bridge Trolls!"

But then Dronosh extended his large hand and patted Rick's weapon pointing it downwards. When Rick looked up the larger troll was merely shaking his head. He then looked at Kile and mumbled something in Trollish.

Kile's enthusiasm dropped a little. "Dronosh says if you shoot his back with that it won't really hurt him. He'll just get angry."

The little troll thought about it for a moment. "You don't have a _bigger_ gun with you do you?"

Little Ricky laughed a little at the small troll's suggestion.

"Robert?" Dad asked.

"Yes?"

"I want you try your helicopter again. Let's just see if we can scare them off like we did before."

Within about thirty seconds Rob had the helicopter in the air and moving out of the trees. The Bridge Troll meanwhile seemed to be gesturing like he was arguing with the goblin leader and was thoroughly distracted during the preparation.

As the helicopter made its way across the field, it finally caught the giant's attention. He turned and eyed it suspiciously. From the collection of goblins one of them fired a heavy bolt at the helicopter, nearly clipping it.

"Think I found the leader," Rick said, eyeing down the sites of his gun. "But I don't think I can hit him from here without getting through a whole bunch more of them."

Another arrow was fired within a few seconds, and Rick confirmed: the archer was wearing a reddish sort of head wrap alright. Perhaps if he could take that one down they could end the skirmish and send the rest packing.

Then the great Bridge Troll reached out and snatched the helicopter from the air, its plastic body collapsing and shattering immediately between the stump-like fingers of the beast. It brought it to its mouth and tried to smash it all in in one bite. Fragments of helicopter were spat back out immediately as though it were a sour apple that surprised the partaker. Turning to the humans and trolls on the north side the creature hunkered down and howled at them. Then, as the goblin leader barked some encouragement, it began trotting towards them again.

"My turn!" Little Ricky said.

He stood up in full site between a couple Aspens and cupped his hands in front of him, then spread them apart like he was trying to demonstrate a firework bursting. Before the Bridge Troll a brilliant flash of light strobed the field and the troll halted for a moment swatting at the air before him. But it wasn't long before the thing regained his balance and peered into the trees, looking for his targets again.

"Well..." Little Ricky smirked. "It works on deer pretty well. Kinda thought it might scare him off."

Dronosh and Scrimp chuckled slightly at the idea. Rick patted his boy on the head and thanked him for the effort. The Bridge Troll started thundering towards them.

Looking around and then to his parents, Robert said, "Where's Marissa?...And Kile?"

They were gone. He looked down the hill and did not see any trace of them. A thought occurred just then: Kile could _shimmer_ and Marissa could disguise herself...if she'd had water still. So maybe they'd just gotten into a safe place.

"I think we need to leave!" Rob shouted to the others, but Rick checked about him quickly and decided against it. The trees had thinned too much and the huge Bridge Troll would barely be slowed by them. He'd squash them within a couple minutes of trying to run. And he did not want to break up ranks as he would a military command to scatter the giant's targets before him. This was family. You don't risk one to save the others. _We stick together_! He thought.

Raising the M-16 again he popped four squeezes at the Bridge Troll. Dust and a little blood spurted first from its forehead, then immediately across the chest in two places. When the thing seemed to simply become enraged and hunker down for a full run at the shooter, Rick sent the last burst at its knees. Nothing seemed to slow it at all. This was the end it seemed and he made ready to be the sacrifice and send the rest of his troop scattering.

Then a little boy's voice rang out across the meadow. Quickly a wall of flame rose up before the Bridge Troll about five of its paces ahead. It had made it nearly two-thirds of the way across the field and the flame stalled it just in time.

Mr. and Mrs. Johansson looked to their right to see Little Ricky standing on a pine or spruce tree trunk that had been knocked over by wind or some other force. His hands were raised and splayed out above his head and he was screaming something that sounded like it must be in Trollish. The flames in the field grew louder.

As they watched, Rob decided the flames must be an illusion because the burn did not progress at all, but the Bridge Troll was definitely reacting to them as if they were hot. Perhaps Ricky had learned to push the effect of the illusion further into the beast's mind the way Kile used _glimmer_ to hide himself in others' minds.

It soon seemed the Bridge Troll was figuring out the illusion too. It squatted down on its haunches, pulled its great arms back like they were spring-loaded and howled at the fire. Then it dashed through them. It neared 100 feet. Then 50.

Rick pointed the rifle directly into the Bridge Troll's face to see if he could blind it, and then it suddenly fell to its side, knocked several yards as though some giant bat had taken a swing at it.

From the direction of the impact a swirling shimmer moved towards the giant Bridge Troll. Then the _shimmer_ spell dropped completely. King Karapace looked at the group in the tree line and nodded.

Dronosh looked to Rick and held out his palm. "Friend!" he said loudly as he'd heard Kile say earlier.

Daniel uttered another small curse from his position several feet behind the Johanssons and trolls and Scrimp turned and smiled at him.

Rick waited, gun raised to see what would happen. As the mighty King of the Mountain Trolls approached the Bridge Troll he raised his staff and then was booted by one of its feet several yards back in the direction from which he came.

Quickly the Bridge Troll rose from its position and then faced King Karapace, hunkering down and howling as he had at the flames. It was going to charge. The King spun around, swinging his staff with its rough, knobby end in a full round and struck the beast across its jaw as it finished the threatening growl.

The blow must have struck hard. Rob thought perhaps it had dislocated the beast's jaw. He waited to see if by chance it might keel over unconscious. King Karapace seemed to be doing the same. Finally recovering the giant swiped at its head and face a few times. Then it stood full height, raised its arms as high as it could and formed fists as though it were going to literally pound the Mountain Troll king straight into the ground.

Rick took his opportunity. He'd fired twelve rounds with the four bursts seconds earlier. He couldn't remember how many he'd fired before that. He squeezed the trigger three times, each producing the CRACK-CRACK-CRACK. The triple crack resounded twice more and then on the fourth pull only one CRACK! He'd emptied the rest of his clip into the giant troll's armpit hoping to find an artery or something vulnerable.

The creature howled in immense pain and its left arm above the large number of entrance wounds dropped. It took two steps to turn towards its attacker, mewling in pain. Then with his giant palm on his good arm the troll clutched at his chest. Rick had done it.

Bridge Trolls weigh roughly the same as a city bus. When the green troll hit the ground it seemed to thunder under the feet of the humans and trolls in the tree line. But it was downed. No more would this creature aid the goblins in their threat. And once other humans learned of its giant carcass lying in the Maple Springs Airfield, no more would they live in secret from the race quickly encroaching upon its territory. Rick wondered silently how many more lived in the Rockies.

As King Karapace nodded his approval at Rick, he then beckoned all of the group out into the field. Rick shouldered his rifle and the rest lifted their packs and joined Scrimp and Dronosh in the meadow's edge.

"But guys? Where's Marissa and Kile," Robert asked as he looked around stepping into the sunlight too.

"We'll find them, don't worry," Rick said.

Little Ricky hopped down from his fallen tree and ran into the field to stand beside the king. As he arrived, the King smiled and gave him a thumbs up, which was promptly returned. Then looking about the group he gestured with his other arm, pointing the staff at the tree line to the south.

There in shadows they could hear the goblins squealing and barking as though angry or frustrated. Some sounded as though they were choking. Robert peered as sharply into the woods as he could and what he saw surprised even him after all the events he'd witnessed during that summer. Kile was just shaking off his _shimmer_ and apparently had extended it to Marissa as well. She stood right at the tree line, arms extended and concentrating as she faced away from them into the woods harboring the hordes of goblins.

Tree limbs, roots, vines from the forest floor were all moving and grappling with the goblins. A few had broken loose and made a run back up the mountain side, but most were struggling or already dead in the grip of tightening foliage about their necks and bodies. Marissa had found a way to control all of the vegetation about her and was dispatching the horrid little tree-frog beasts with them.

As the last of the goblins could be heard far off retreating up the mountain, Robert knew the battle had been won. But if the goblins were seeking territory, he also knew it would only be a matter of time before more humans would be involved and Maple Springs might be engulfed in a faerie war zone.

# Chapter 25

# Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity-Jig

After a good night's rest, Little Ricky was at it again, but no more with little scouter's fires on the kitchen tile. He was in the yard practicing his newly minted magic skills.

Inside, the other Johanssons, Marissa, and a trepidatious Daniel sat around a table smiling and considerably more comfortably discussing Ricky's homecoming than they had talked just two nights before about their venture up the mountain.

"So, I wouldn't worry about it, Robbie. I'm pretty sure we'll be seeing Kile fairly often," Mrs. Johansson reassured.

"Look at him out there!" Marissa said. "Ricky is so cute! Practicing magic. I might just have to go out there and teach him a lesson or two about trees. Waddya think, Rob?"

Robert, who still wasn't quite accustomed to holding a girls hand for the length of time which Marissa seemed comfortable with it, replied hesitantly, "I'm not sure you're going to want to tease him, Marissa. He was telling me some of the stuff he learned while he was with the trolls and he might just be a force to be reckoned with."

"But you did an amazing job, soldier," Rick Junior said, patting her shoulder.

"Thank you, sir," she said, smiling.

For now, the world was put right. Daniel sat sipping a lemonade Mrs. Johansson had given him, wondering how he would ever try to explain what he saw the day before should he ever have to. He'd already gone up early that morning to inspect the Airfield and found that the Bridge Troll had been removed. Although it must have taken at least a couple of them to do it, he imagined it was the big guys that seemed to be on their side that took it. He had already mentioned to the Johanssons and Marissa when he arrived that the body and even the goblins seemed to be all removed already. But no one else seemed to think it was that big of a deal.

"We'll tell the rest of the town when it becomes necessary," the adults had determined. "No one would believe us right now anyway...maybe even with a giant Bridge Troll's lying in the middle of the field."

So, life returned to normal. At least to as near a normal as those who'd had a Mountain Troll living among them could ever be.

# Epilogue

"So are you telling me that you think my daughter is a...faerie? Some sort of magical creature?" Marissa's mother accused the agent dressed in black.

_What group was he from, again?_ Rob was wondering. _The IPMA? Is that what he said?_

Ricky, Robert and Dan had stopped for a visit with Marissa a couple weeks later and shortly after entering the home and sitting down to some cookies Marissa's mother had just pulled out of the oven a knock at the door came.

"Well...ehmm..." The man in the suit, entirely too warm for late July, stumbled. "I suppose, yes. That is what we're suggesting."

"Look!" she said, rising from her chair, the four children watching her nervously, "You can't come barging into my home and start spouting crazy stories about my children being some sort of mutant magic creature or something and expect to _not_ be kicked out! Should I call the sheriff right now, or will you be leaving on your own?"

Mrs. Flemming stood much the same as Robert's mother would, arms akimbo, toe tapping the hardwood flooring. She was fuming and the agent seemed to recognize it. He stood quickly and made to leave.

"You know, Mrs. Flemming...it's not as though we don't already have a file on you," he smiled in very much unfriendly manner.

For a moment, just a brief moment, Marissa's mother seemed startled. But if she had been the fear of it flew from her face immediately. She then started pointing her finger deep into the agent's chest as hard as she could and explained what a mother living on a mountain slope would do to a city man such as himself if he didn't get out of her home and head straight back down and enter the freeway in the next two minutes on that six mile drive.

Backing out of the doorway was ungraceful. What the kids wouldn't have given later to have seen Agent A's look as the door was slammed in his face, but alas they could not. When they heard his steps creak off the porch and mother stormed angrily into the kitchen to call her husband at work and tell him what had just happened, the kids resumed their conversation.

"So! Can we read Kile's message _now_!!" Ricky blurted.

They agreed and Ricky began translating out loud.

## ~~~

# THE END

## About the Author

P. Edward Auman is rumored to be a member of the mysterious, but government-funded Institution for the Preservation of Magical Artifacts (IPMA) and therefore first came into contact with Faerie Folk in the pursuit of a pixie stick. Unlike the sugar-filled variety available in retail chains and on mobile ice cream vending vehicles, Pixie Sticks are rumored to harbor great power for the restoration of flora and fauna in the natural environment. It was during this assignment that Eddie was privy to the narrative of the Johanssons and the youngest troll in the Rocky Mountains, Kile. Additionally, Eddie has been known for patenting many "better mouse traps" for the apprehension and retention of mythical and unnatural beings. However, the activity for which Eddie is most famously known is his creation of 43 clones to assist him in all of his many ventures. 42 clones survive today, following a mishap with a gene-splice bio-fuel algae agent, to which Eddie responded, "42's probably good enough. It is the normally accepted answer to the Universe and everything in it anyway."

About the Artist, Jordan C. Brun

Jordan Christopher Brun was born in Warren, MI and has lived in both the Midwest and the Western United States. He began working as a freelance Visual Artist with a commission for a local entrepreneurs'' association after his illustrations and 3D work won some high school awards in his hometown of Northville, MI. After graduating from Michigan State University with a BFA in Art Education and a minor in Visual Arts, he continued to develop a variety of styles with various media while teaching at the Plymouth Canton Educational Park, an educational campus of over 6,000 high school students where he taught various 2D design programs including Foundations, Painting, Drawing, Mixed Media and Photography.

Jordan earned his Master's in Art Education from Eastern Michigan University and stayed in Michigan for a few more years, working on a number of independent films and community projects as an Art Director and Artist. In 2012, Jordan moved to Utah where he currently lives in Springville, otherwise known as the "Art City", and teaches Visual Arts at Mt. Nebo Junior High School, both within Utah Valley. He is a collaborator of Authors, regularly displays his work in galleries, and completes numerous freelance pieces while donating a number of his works to charitable causes and benefits.

Discover Other Titles By the Author at Smashwords.com and most eBook Retailers

The Old Silk Hat, A Frosty The Snowman Prequel – Released 12/23/2012

Speak Rain – Released 1/27/2013

Troll Brother, Book 1 Trolls Series – Released 7/6/2013

Little Brother Troll, Book 2 Trolls Series – TBR Fall/Winter 2013

Untitled, Sprites Book 1 – 2014

Untitled, Trolls Book 3 – 2014

Untitled, Trolls Book 4 – 2014

And many more coming 2013-2015!

Connect with Me Online:

www.PEdwardAuman.com

www.TrollBrother.com

<http://facebook.com/pedward.auman>

<http://facebook.com/trollbrotherbooks>

@PEdwardAuman on Twitter

Sample: "Little Brother Troll: Troll Brother Book 2"

As he lie in his bed looking up at the cavern ceiling, pondering the scolding he had received from the matron, Ricky wondered if maybe his time with the trolls was being extended solely as a punishment. Perhaps if he could master the spells more quickly they'd be more willing to let him return to his family? It's not as though he was in a rush, when thinking about it logically. He was having fun. He was learning amazing things. But for a nearly ten-year-old to be away from home for so many weeks was excruciated. As all preteens who mostly weren't quite brave enough to admit it, he missed his Mommy.

So it was in that moment that Ricky resolved to do his best on every lesson. To outpace his instructors. He would become a master at every skill. He placed the pebble he had kept in his pocket from the day's lesson on the floor and sat down, cross-legged in front of it and began concentrating. In the first attempt, the rock twisted and spun its position not quite 90 degrees. It was a start. That was better than early with the matron standing over his shoulder hounding him. Maybe he simply needed some quiet so he could concentrate?

Over the next hour, as the trolls in the neighboring sleeping holes slowly crept into their own beds for the night, Ricky had progressed to the point he could make the pebble glow slightly each time he tried the _breakroc_ command. He only realized this after the lights out command down the hallway.

Two hours into the night the rock would spark, hop off the ground and then the glow would pulsate for several seconds before the life ember within it would relax and cool down again. The pebble was very hot to the touch each time he managed this and for the hour after he accomplished the behavior the first time he would palm it for a second or two and see if it was any hotter than the time before.

After four hours, Ricky leaned his back against the bed and stretched his arms and cricked his neck. He realized with some amount of pride that it had been the longest he'd ever sat in one place and focused on something. For a nine-year-old that was a fairly major feat, unless of course it involved playing a first person shooter on their game console. For Ricky, it was particularly impressive since he'd never managed to sit still that long, even for the said video game.

He decided to try a new approach. He relaxed, flopped his legs out before him as it had been nearly an hour and half since the last time he'd stretched them before settling in to practice some more. Then he closed his eyes and concentrated on the pebble. It was important to focus on the specific stone he was working with, and not just stone in general. Each one had a life of its own and required a direct, personal interaction in order for _breakroc_ to work.

Then he opened his eyes one last time and looked at the pebble on the floor with tired eyes. He mumbled the spell casually. "Baeroc!"

And it burst. Two halves went flying into opposite corners of the room with a small crack and then a rattle of stone being tossed stone. Upon the floor where the pebble had sat were a couple glowing embers in the dark and Ricky could just catch a few tiny broken pieces left behind by the two halves. He had done it. _Breakroc_ was now his spell to command.

In that realization a large grin spread across Richard Johansson, III's face, very much like the wide Cheshire grin Kile wore at times around Robert back home.
