The Huldra Hostility

by Michael Almich

  “Yes. They can see.” Shy answered.

  “HA! Rrrrmmmm, rrrrooooo. I too see, I know!” It rumbled as it turned back to Shy. It picked up its fiddle and began to play, ever so softly.

  Shy wondered if he should ask his questions. Should he interrupt? The fossegrimen continued the soft soothing tune. Just as last summer, Shy felt himself begin to relax. His questions no longer seemed so pressing. The fossegrimen stared at Shy as it played.

  Shy had no idea how much time had passed, but the fossegrimen finally set its instrument down on the ground next to the stool, put its huge hands on its knees and said, “A way to do two things at once you seek, young one. I cannot help you there… you must choose. The only way back for a human is with the box of power. You cannot rescue your friend and return the box. You must choose. Hmmmmm, hoooo. Remember, there are those that want it returned, and there are those that want it for themselves. Both will be drawn to its power, and neither will help you in your tasks…”

  Shy’s jaw hung open.

  “How did you know that…” He managed to stammer out.

  “Aaahhhhhh, I see, I know….” The rumbling voice paused and became quiet, almost an ominous whisper. “There is more.” It said as it furrowed its brows and looked down at his bare black feet. “You would ask more, but it is hidden…. What would you have of me? What other knowledge do you seek? I sense immense danger, but I must know.” The creature had now looked back up from its feet and had Shy fixed in its sights.

  Shy could not look away, and could sense urgency in its questions. It felt to Shy like the fossegrimen was excited by the possibilities… the possibilities of an important question that it could twist into dangerous answers.

  “I want to know… if there is a way to talk to the Lesidhe.”

  The fossegrimen’s eyebrows shot up, and it leaped to its feet!

  “If it’s true that I cannot return the book and return to this side of the waterfall, then I need the Lesidhe to defeat the Huldra!” Shy blurted all out in a jumbled haste.

  The fossegrimen seemed to force itself to relax. It exhaled loudly and sat back on its stool.

  “I have granted an answer to your first question, in exchange for the delicious gifts you have brought me. You understand the price for me to answer a second question?” He pinned Shy with the subdued eagerness in his eyes.

  Shy turned to look at the other two boys. Sam and Daniel had moved closer to Shy, but were silent. Shy looked from one to the other, and they both nodded. Shy turned back to the fossegrimen.

  “We only need to answer one riddle correctly, and then you will tell me how to summon the Lesidhe?

  A brief shudder shook the fat rolls of the creature.

  “Hmmmmm, hooooo… Should you fail to answer correctly, all three of you will pass beyond, with no return for eternity…” It ended the sentence in an ominous, whispered, rumble. It had now scooted to the edge of its stool in anticipation.

  “OK” Shy answered for all three.

  The fat of the creature’s neck rolls jiggled as it nodded and began, “I am always hungry, I must always be fed, the finger I touch, will soon turn red. What am I?”

  Shy instantly tried to think of animals, and for some reason he kept coming back to the red, demon-like horses that had chased him after he found the box last summer. He kept thinking of their manes blowing in the wind like flames. Did they need to be fed? Or did they just survive by eating those who stole the box. He was sure they were waiting for him on the other side. His forehead began to sweat.

  He turned to Daniel and Sam. Daniel was deep in though and turned away so he could continue. Shy looked to Sam, he was the expert. Sam had a vacant expression. He just shook his head at Shy!

  Now Shy began to sweat all over. He glanced back at the fossegrimen. The creature had a fevered look on its face. It wanted them to lose! Shy turned back. Daniel was bending over trying to think.

  “Hmmmmm… tick, tock… tick, tock” rumbled the fossegrimen quietly.

  The flaming horses, chasing, chasing, chasing. They were making Shy sweat worse. Sam didn’t know! Daniel didn’t know! Shy was now in full panic mode, looking around wildly, as if the answer would be painted on the cliff walls.

  “They do not know!” The giant creature chortled to itself from behind Shy.

  Shy tried to calm himself. He racked his brain. What kind of animal always was hungry and had to be fed, and why would it turn someone’s finger red. It made no sense, but that’s what riddles did. Why was he thinking it had to be an animal? He was on the wrong track. He heard Daniel groan from his knees now. Sam’s eyes had glossed over.

  “You do not know,” The fossegrimen rumbled louder now. “The lost wager must be paid young ones. Rhhooo, raaaahhhh….”

  “NO!” Shy yelled in anger, but panic took over as he began to feel a tug on his arms.

  Daniel and Sam also felt the invisible bonds latch onto their arms. All three began to pull back, but to no avail! They began to slide on the gravelly beach. They were being pulled to the end of the cliffs, and eventually to the waterfall!

  Shy pictured the angry horses chasing him. Something about those horses, he thought as he fought the pull. Their flaming manes… those flames would burn him. That was it! Flame!

  “Flames, fire…. FLAME!” Shy yelled at the fossegrimen. “The answer is a flame!”

  The pull stopped. Their heels had made lines on the ground. They had been pulled almost twenty feet each. Sam and Daniel had slumped to the ground when they were released from the invisible pull. Shy was pretty sure Daniel was sobbing.

  Shy was angry. He stomped back to where the fossegrimen had settled back onto its stool. It had picked up its fiddle and was making like it was tuning it.

  “Now, answer my question!” Shy demanded. “The wager must be paid!” He practically spit the words out in anger at the fossegrimen.

  “Hhhhmmm… hoooo… No need to be so angry young one. I will pay my debt. The Lesidhe can be called only on the night of the full moon. They often travel in the shape of your wolves. You can howl on the night of the next full moon… that is the only way you could reach them.”

  “Why do you say ‘could’? Why did you not say ‘can reach them’?” Shy asked, still angry. He was not in the mood for the slight twisting of words or phrases that he expected from the fossegrimen.

  “Rrrhhhmmmm… They are above you human child!” the fossegrimen seemed to return some of the anger now. “They may or may not come. Rare is the instance of the Lesidhe caring for human problems. You can try. You will need to stand at the highest point you can find, open the box, and howl. They may choose to show themselves, with the power of the box in the air, they may.”

  “What are you not telling me? What hidden surprises will there be for me?”

  The creature actually looked hurt, and would say no more. Shy stared at it, then turned suddenly and walked back to Daniel and Sam. They were huddled where Daniel had fallen.

  “Let’s go!” Shy said. The anger still boiled in his veins, but he could feel the adrenaline beginning to fade. He wanted to be back up the path as soon as possible. He motioned to Sam, and they helped Daniel up.

  “I’m OK,” The normally unflappable Daniel said. “It’s just, well… that was close. I think I could puke. I had no idea what the answer was. How did you ever get it Shy?”

  “Horses… I was thinking about horses.”

  They staggered back up to the path in the cleft of the cliffs.

  As they made their way back up to the main river gorge path, Shy allowed himself to think about the implications of what he had learned. He would need to take the box with to rescue Gust. It was the only way to get back, if that fat fiddle player could be trusted. The box would make him a target the second he crossed over to the other side of the waterfall. Doesn’t matter, he thought. He would find a way. He couldn’t leave Gust over there.

  Then he thought about the Lesidhe. Shy felt like the fossegrimen was being much trickier in this
answer. It didn’t sound like the Lesidhe would help, and maybe not even show up when called. It was really their only chance, unless, well, Shy didn’t really want to think about the other possibility…

  Chapter Nine

  “We will be OK without the axe.”

  They dusted off the Elevator and heaved themselves up into the pine needles of the Sentinel, the tallest tree around. As Sam lowered the Elevator back into position among the orange needles of the forest floor, Daniel and Shy discussed their situation in whispers.

  “So, when do we launch the rescue?” Daniel began.

  Shy loved the fact that regardless of how scared he had just been, or how dangerous the rescue would be, Daniel was ready to push on.

  “I suppose soon.”

  “What are we going to do about the girls? They are going to be soooo mad. They are going to demand that they come with.”

  Again, Daniel was trying not to smile thinking about how angry they would be.

  Shy caught himself smiling also.

  Sam finished hiding the Elevator, and they set off for the Hive.

  ***

  The girls were indeed angry. The next morning at breakfast, they had stopped Shy and Daniel outside of the Lodge. Portia didn’t even make eye contact with Shy, which made him surprisingly sad. He didn’t realize how much he had looked forward to seeing her.

  The boys tried the honest approach. They told the girls about Shy’s observations of Morrie and Clancy, and about how they had wanted to avoid Morrie. Shy realized at this point that no amount of explaining was going to make it better. Claire said they would tell Tad, Meg, Clancy, and everyone what was going on if they were not included in the rescue.

  To the girl’s surprise, Shy and Daniel simply agreed. When they demanded again to get the recipe for sight, again the boys agreed. Claire narrowed her eyes, but there was nothing more they could say. Daniel asked them to meet that night to make their final plans for the rescue, and then the boys backed into the Lodge…

  ***

  Shy did not leave the Lodge immediately after breakfast. He nonchalantly brought his plate up to the front, and moved towards Clancy’s office, which was next to the kitchen area. He looked around and saw that no one was watching. The few campers that were left in the Lodge, were simply dumping their plates and heading off to their activities for the day. Shy peeked into her office and looked around. He saw what he was looking for almost immediately. Her calendar! He quickly approached and studied the symbols on the calendar. They would tell him when the next full moon was.

  After a quick study, Shy determined that they had just passed a full moon. The next, it seemed, would be during the last days of camp, when they were competing in the camp games.

  Whump! The door slammed and Shy jumped.

  He turned, and there was Morrie! He had shut the door and was blocking Shy’s way out of the office.

  “Snooping in the Camp Director’s office, hmmm?”

  Shy felt his face redden.

  “I was just looking at the calendar.”

  “This is serious.” He took a step forward ominously.

  Shy backed up as far as he could, but Morrie just moved forward more. Soon he was immediately in front of Shy. His breath smelled really bad. Shy turned his head in disgust!

  “You should be punished for this transgression. Maybe you should have to stay here in the Lodge, where I can keep an eye on you?”

  At this Shy turned back to him, and looked right into those deeply evil eyes. For a split second a thought fluttered in his head, a recognition of those eyes, but then it was gone.

  “I… I just wanted to look at the calendar…” was all Shy could stutter out.

  He was leaning back over a side table, with Morrie leaning into him, when the door opened!

  “Shy! Shy!” His friends burst in, led by Henry and Sawyer.

  Sawyer pushed past Morrie to put his arm around Shy and hustled him out.

  “You gotta see this…” Sawyer was practically yelling in his excitement. The group ran out of the office with Shy in tow, as quickly as they had entered.

  Shy glanced back as they were leaving, and saw Morrie studying the calendar.

  They got outside and Shy said, “What’s going on? What do I need to see?”

  “Ahhhh… nothing. We missed you after breakfast, so we went looking. You just never know what kind of trouble you are getting in.” Sawyer said with a smile and pounded Shy on the back.

  “We saw that creepy professor had you cornered, so we had to do something…” Henry added.

  “Thanks.”

  “C’mon,” Sawyer propelled Shy uphill, “I need to practice my trout tickling, which means you need to practice your wolf howling.

  Shy thought that was a very good idea.

  ***

  That night they met the girls at the bottom of the Glamour enshrouded spiral staircase, the Unicorn Horn. The girls were evidently still harboring some ill will towards the boys. They stalked up from the path that led to Lac Igam, where the Lake cabins were, and stopped in front of Daniel and Shy with their hands on their hips.

  The two boys had discussed the best way to deal with the girls’ anger. They seemed to really want a showdown, a big blow-up fight. Daniel suggested that they simply avoid it. So, when the girls walked up, Daniel had been pitching a pinecone to Shy. Shy had flailed wildly at it with his arm extended. They both laughed, and paid very little attention to the girls in general. Shy picked up the pinecone and tossed it back to a broadly smiling Daniel. The other boys were lounging on boulders or sitting on the pine needles, watching the mock baseball game.

  Daniel went into his wind-up for another pitch, and as he released, Claire stepped between the boys and snatched the pinecone from midair.

  “We want some of your potion… like you promised. NOW!” She demanded.

  Daniel glanced at Shy, and Shy could tell the boy was smiling inside because this was going exactly as he had planned. Daniel turned to Ralph, and gave him a head nod in the directions of the girls.

  The small boy with glasses had climbed up onto the low branch of one of the surrounding pines. He clambered down from his perch and approached the girls. He had the potion pouch in his hands, and stopped in front of Claire.

  This was the part of the plan that didn’t come natural. Daniel had coached Ralph to be commanding. Take charge and stay in charge.

  “Close your eyes.” Ralph’s tone allowed no argument from the taller girl. Although she raised her eyebrows, she did as he said.

  Ralph opened the small jar and then reached up and put a thin swipe of the sticky potion across her eyelids. Then he moved onto Portia, who was now watching Claire as she opened her eyes.

  Ralph tried his commanding tone a second time, but Portia ignored him. She continued to watch Claire. Shorter, brown haired Arya had also moved up. She was followed by Kennedi.

  Ralph tried again, but it was useless. He had lost control. The girls all began to pelt Claire with questions, and Ralph backed off. Daniel was shaking his head, but Sawyer and Finn were chuckling. As Shy looked around he felt something; it was like he was being watched. He wondered where Eddie was.

  Just then Claire let out a small shriek! Shy instantly looked in the direction she was staring, thinking that a troll, goblin, or worse yet, a Red, was sneaking up on their gathering. As he swept his vision right and left, there was nothing in sight. He looked back to Claire, who now had her hand over her mouth. Shy realized at that point that she must have seen past the Glamour induced image of the giant tree and seen the spiral staircase. He smiled… just wait until she sees some of the creatures, he thought.

  Claire was being bombarded with questions from the girls, and Finn and Sawyer were outright laughing at the spectacle. Daniel was even smirking.

  Claire was doing her best to answer the onslaught of questions. Shy could tell that Portia was frustrated. She finally glanced over at Shy and met his eyes. He nodded towards Ralph ever so slightly. She took the hin
t and walked over to him and closed her eyes.

  Ralph repeated his earlier process and Portia quickly opened her eyes and looked around. It took a few seconds, Shy knew, for someone to feel the Glamour with their vision and then find the way to push through it to reveal the truth.

  He continued to watch her closely as Ralph now moved on to the other girls and regained control. Portia pursed her rosebud lips and let out a low whistle. She has seen the stairs. Shy was fascinated by watching her. It wasn’t just him, he was sure, she was radiant. He felt like he could just watch her all day.

  She turned suddenly and saw him looking at her, and he reddened. She smiled and walked over. The smile felt like he was lifted up off the ground. She put her arm around him, and her skin felt cool and smooth where it contacted his.

  “Why didn’t you guys wait for us? Really?” She asked.

  “It was… we were… Morrie.” He jumbled out. “We didn’t lie to you…. I saw that Morrie wasn’t at the beach, and we were worried he would find us and stop us.”

  “But why?” She prodded. “Why would he stop you?”

  “I’m not sure.” Shy admitted. “Don’t you notice anything weird about him? He is always on my case. I have had several times now where he has stopped me and either threatened me or been very unfriendly. He makes Clancy act strange too. It was almost like he had her in a trance at times… I know it sounds crazy, but there is something bad in his eyes… I can see it.”

  She squeezed him and said, “OK, I believe you. I will try to pay attention to him from now on.”

  Shy looked around. He had quite a crew to rely on now for this rescue. Just maybe it would work. Maybe they could get in and back and save Gust. Then he would work on calling the Lesidhe. It will work, he kept telling himself. As if in response, Portia squeezed against him.