Troll Brother

by P. Edward Auman

  ~~~

  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 happene
d 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 some
thing 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.”