Baartock

by Laura Dent Crane

  Chapter 16

  The sun started to come through the clouds, and Baartock moved hisstool outside the cave. He was just about to get back to work, when heheard someone coming up the hill. He put his pencil box and worksheetson the stool and went inside to tell his mother. They were just comingout of the cave when Mrs. Jackson and Mrs. Stogbuchner came into theclearing.

  "Hello, Mrs. Slinurp. Hello, Baartock," called Mrs. Jackson. ToBaartock's mother, she said, "This is Baartock's teacher, Mrs.Stogbuchner."

  "I'm pleased to meet you," said Mrs. Stogbuchner. "I told Baartockthat I wanted to meet you this week."

  No-one asked if Baartock had remembered to tell his mother, but the wayshe looked at him said that he had forgotten.

  "I hope we're not coming at a bad time," Mrs. Jackson said. "No," said his mother. "You want to talk?"

  "Baartock, I see you've been doing some school work. I think that's avery good," said Mrs. Stogbuchner, looking at the worksheets. Then shefollowed his mother and Mrs. Jackson into the cave.

  Baartock thought about checking his bridge again, but it was nearlylunch time, and after lunch maybe his father could help him work on it.So he sat back down in the sun, and kept working on the papers. Hecould hear the adults' voices, but he couldn't hear what they weresaying.

  After a while he decided he was hungry and went to look for his lunchbag. He remembered putting it in the kitchen, so he went to get it.The adults were still talking, and he didn't think they had evennoticed him, until Mrs. Jackson said, "Baartock, something happened tothe bridge we looked at."

  Suddenly, there was a booming voice, coming from the back of the cave."What happen bridge?" Baartock's father was awake, and coming out ofthe bedroom. The word 'bridge' would wake most trolls from a soundsleep.

  Meeting just one adult troll for the first time had been a surprise forMrs. Stogbuchner, and even Mrs. Jackson hadn't met his father. AndBaartock's father was bigger and angrier looking than most trolls, eventhough he wasn't any meaner than Baartock's mother. But they didn't know whether to stay or run. Before they coulddecide, Baartock's father was in the living room saying, "What happenbridge?" again.

  His mother saw just how scared the humans were, and said, "Wait. Shetell."

  "There was just too much water," began Mrs. Jackson, not sure what hewanted to know. "It collapsed. It fell down. There's no more bridgein town."

  Baartock had told his father about the bridge, of course. And what hehad thought of a human-built bridge. He wasn't really surprised that ithad fallen down.

  "Where bridge?" asked his father.

  Baartock was just about to tell him, when Mrs. Jackson asked, "You wantto see the bridge?"

  "You show me bridge," replied his father. "You show me bridge now?"

  Just as suddenly as his father had appeared, they were going out of thecave. Baartock grabbed his lunch bag and followed them out. They wentdown the hill toward the 'old Howard house'.

  "We'll have to go the long way around," said Mrs. Jackson. "Your roadis flooded too."

  That didn't matter to his father and they kept walking down the hill.When they got to the car, there was a problem trying to figure outwhere they were all to sit. Mrs. Jackson had to slide the front seatup, so the three trolls could sit in the back. If they hadn't beentrolls, they wouldn't have been able to squeeze in. But trolls canbend to fit into tight places. Soon they were all inside and Mrs.Jackson was driving.

  Baartock opened his lunch bag to get something to eat. His father hadsome too, but his mother said she wasn't hungry. Neither Mrs. Jacksonor Mrs. Stogbuchner wanted any either.

  Riding in a car for the first time didn't seem to bother Baartock'sfather. Maybe it was because he was going to see the bridge, or maybeit just didn't bother him.

  They did have to go the long way around, but eventually they got towhere the bridge had been. There were lots of kids standing around andsome adults too. There were big orange painted barrels blocking theroad, so people wouldn't drive their cars too close. Mrs. Jackson hadto park her car down the block. They got out of the car and went overto look. Baartock thought he saw Jason, but he wasn't sure. Besides,seeing the bridge was more important, right then.

  The water hadn't really gotten that high, though the stream was movingvery quickly. It was easy to see what had happened. The water hadwashed away the dirt around the supports, and then the supports hadstarted to move, and the span had fallen down. It was lying, brokenand twisted, in the rushing water.

  Baartock's mother was interested, but she could see what she wantedfrom where she was standing. Baartock and his father walked right tothe edge to examine the wreckage.

  "Don't get so close to the edge!" a man in uniform shouted at them. Hestarted to come over to tell them to move back.

  "I look at bridge," Baartock's father growled at the man.

  "Yes sir," said the man, backing away. Most of the other humans nearbybacked away also.

  His father looked at the way the bridge had been built from where hewas standing, then suddenly, he jumped into the stream.

  "Hey! Help him! Get a rope, somebody!" the man in uniform wasshouting. He came rushing to the edge to find Baartock's fatherstanding, quite calmly, waist deep in the rushing water, examiningwhere the supports had been.

  "Hey! Catch this," the man shouted, starting to throw the rope.

  "Stop!" Baartock's mother had come over. "He working. You stop or heget angry."

  "But he's going to . . ." the man started to say, looking up at her.

  "You stop," his mother said again.

  "Yes ma'am," the man said, and he took the rope and went back where hehad been standing. He just stood there watching, and not knowing whatto do.

  Mrs. Jackson went over to talk to him. Soon the man walked over to hiscar and got out a blanket and gave it to Mrs. Jackson.

  When he had seen enough, Baartock's father climbed up on the brokenbridge span and calmly stepped up onto the road. Several people in thecrowd cheered when he came up, but he didn't seem to notice.

  "Where she?" he asked.

  Baartock pointed out Mrs. Jackson, still standing next to the man inuniform. They all walked over to her. Mrs. Jackson handed him theblanket, and he used it to dry off.

  "Can fix," his father said. "Build right this time. Not fall downagain."

  "You can build a new bridge?" asked Mrs. Jackson.

  Baartock thought that was a silly question. He had been sure that hecould have built a better bridge, and he wasn't even old enough to havea name. "Hey! Baartock!" came a shout from the crowd. Jason wasstanding there waving at him.

  Baartock waved back. The adults were talking about things that didn'tseem to have anything to do with building bridges, so he went over totalk to Jason.

  "Isn't this really something. Are those your folks? Everybody was suresurprised when your dad jumped in like that," Jason just went on in arush. "Your dad knows about bridges?"

  "Can build better bridge," Baartock answered.

  Soon, Baartock's mother called him over and they got back in the carand went home.