The Fossegrimen Folly

by Michael Almich

  There had been a big gathering last night when they returned. When they walked up to the Lodge, Claire and Portia had run up to greet them. Claire quickly scolded Shy, and then turned to Daniel. Portia seemed genuinely concerned and prodded Shy for every last detail of the night's events. She wanted to know everything, right from the moment she had left to find Gust. There was no doubt about it, her attention gave him a warm feeling inside.

  He looked around for her now, but she was gathered with a bunch of girls giggling and being altogether too goofy.

  The guys had also been waiting at the Lodge last night, along with most of the other Lake girls. Needless to say, it was well into morning by the time they had all gotten to bed. Clancy insisted the games start today as planned, with the opening ceremonies to begin at seven o'clock a.m. That meant here they all were, at six forty-five, sleepily assembled and waiting for Clancy.

  Gust wandered in, and headed straight for the coffee. He did catch Shy's eye as he passed, however, and gave a quick wink. When he reached the little group of counselors, he pushed Tad, and then put him in a headlock.

  By this time, Clancy had arrived. She stood up front and brought out her favorite megaphone. When she began to speak, it erupted in a high-pitched squeal, which caused all the kids to groan and cover their ears.

  "Sorry… sorry. There, better now." She had adjusted the volume. "So, welcome to the forty-eighth annual Camp Games! I bet you are all dying to know what prize will go to the victors?"

  Several of the kids perked up, but the question received a dull response in general. Shy wondered if the others just didn't care, or were simply too tired. He had been interested, even kind of excited until his event had been cancelled. All he could do now was be a cheerleader, which was depressing. He forced himself to focus back on what Clancy was saying.

  "…. So, each and every member of the winning team will get their camp fees paid for next year!"

  Shy hadn't even thought much about next year. He realized that he did want to come back if he was able. In fact, it just dawned on him that in two days, he may not ever see some of these kids again. That made him sad. Maybe if they won, all the guys would come back.

  "Your parents will be here for Parents Day tomorrow. I am sure they will be cheering you on to win the prize!"

  Shy had forgotten about Parent's Day. In all the excitement and adventure he had the past few weeks, his homesickness had gone away. He realized that, although he still missed his parents and Shep, this camp almost felt like home now.

  He struggled to remember which of his parents was coming to Parent's Day. It seemed like his mom might have mentioned it before he left, but at that point he was so angry that his summer has been stolen away from him that he hadn't listened. He knew it wouldn't be both of them. They couldn't be that close without arguing.

  "We have all the contestants, with their events, written up here. Points will be awarded for first second and third place in each event. Ten points for first place, eight for second, and six for third. Note that these events are listed in the order they will take place, by day. Times are as…."

  Clancy droned on, but Shy was no longer paying attention. His tired eyes, roved over the big board next to Clancy. Suddenly, he latched onto something that his mind struggled to understand. He had been trying to find Portia's name. He figured he could at least watch her in her event. Her event was the cross country running, the same as Daniel. It looked like it would be the last event on the second day... Parents Day. He found her name, but saw something alarming below it. His own name!

  It all came clattering back into his sleep-addled brain. Daniel had hurt his leg saving Shy. Of course he wouldn't be able to run…. And, Shy was his back-up. Immediately Shy looked over at Daniel. He must have noticed the same thing because he turned and smiled at Shy. Shy grimaced, but Daniel gave him the thumbs up. Henry, sitting between them, picked up on the exchange. He leaned in close to Shy and said, "We are counting on you Shy. The last event. You can do it!"

  Shy turned back to the board. It seemed like everyone kept telling him that. You can do it. The words echoed in his brain. He had though, hadn't he? He had done so many things that he never would have imagined. Maybe he could do this too. He had certainly become a better runner after training with Daniel all summer.

  Then, another thought occurred to him. He would be running against Portia. He wasn't sure how good of a runner she was, but he didn't want to make her feel bad by beating her.

  Clancy had finished her speech and everyone was getting up. Daniel limped next to Shy as Claire and Portia walked up. Claire fawned over Daniel's knee, which was wrapped up tight. Daniel seemed slightly embarrassed. Shy turned to Portia and rolled his eyes. She giggled.

  "I didn't know you were the back-up runner." She said.

  "I didn't think it would matter," he replied. "I'm not very good."

  She just smiled at him as the counselors ushered them out of the Lodge.

  The first event, tree climbing was going to start soon. Tad gathered his boys together.

  "Guys, I will be back as counselor next year. I think we had a great summer, and I would like to see you all here again. Let's win this thing, so it will be free for you next summer… OK? Sawyer I picked you for the tree climbing. Start us off well!"

  The other boys good-naturedly pushed and prodded Sawyer. They teased him that a girl had better not beat him. He responded by flexing his muscles in a wrestlers pose.

  The event took place in front of the Lodge. There were several huge, old maples and some equally old white pines in the area. Shy listened as the instructions were given. The contestants would choose a pine, climb high enough to get a pinecone, return to the ground and climb the biggest maple with the pinecone. They were told that there was a bucket high in the maple, in which they needed to deposit the pinecone. First to do so took first place, and so on.

  The four contestants lined up. Sawyer was the shortest of all of them, but Shy had seen what a good climber he was, and felt confident. The girl named Kennedi was participating for the Lake cabins, and a girl Shy didn't know was climbing for the Shore cabins. The participant for the Cave cabins was none other than Crutch McFarlane. Shy hoped Sawyer beat him, and secretly he was happy Crutch was not in his event.

  He hadn't seen Crutch in the days since their last run in on the path. In fact he had wondered if the brute had been sent home. Obviously not.

  The four lined up. Clancy used her beloved megaphone to shout, "On your mark… get set… GO!"

  Crutch and the girl from the Shore cabins initially ran to the same tree, with Crutch pushing her out of the way at the last second. She ran to a different tree but had lost precious time. Sawyer and Kennedi were both halfway up their respective pines. He was far stronger, but she had a tenacious quality about her. She was going to give Sawyer a run for his money, Shy thought. The rest of the campers were cheering for their contestant. Shy yelled Sawyer's name a few times. They had just begun their descent as Crutch grabbed his pinecone. The Shore cabin girl was lagging farther behind.

  Kennedi launched herself from the bottom branches of the pine, and shot off to the maple. Sawyer saw her and followed suit. She was too fast and began climbing before he reached the tree. Crutch appeared to have gained some time. Sawyer frantically began climbing, with Crutch on his heels. He had the pinecone in his back pocket. The strong boy must have redoubled his efforts as he caught up to Kennedi about halfway up the tree. Crutch also had used his edge in strength to pull himself almost even with the two. As Sawyer scrambled upward, Shy saw Crutch move closer and closer to Sawyer. Suddenly Shy had a real bad feeling.

  The Cave cabin bully was now right next to Sawyer and was obviously saying something. Shy saw Sawyer heatedly reply and reach for the next branch. That was when disaster struck. Crutch reached over, as Sawyer pulled himself up, and knocked the pinecone from Sawyers back pocket. It tumbled down and down. Sawyer yelled in anger, and stopped, unsure of whether to keep going, or climb down an
d get the pinecone.

  Meanwhile, Crutch moved away and headed toward Kennedi. Evidently she had either seen what happened, or suspected. They were nearing the bucket when Crutch reached for her leg. She was ready. She swiftly kicked his hand hard, and he yelped. As he paused to cradle his hand, she scrambled the last few feet and dropped her pinecone in the bucket!

  Clancy, who evidently had missed Crutch's shenanigans in the maple leaves, did see Kennedi complete the task first, and yelled into the megaphone, "Lake cabins, ten points!"

  Kennedi stuck out her tongue at Crutch as she passed him on the way down. He took his time to get second place. Sawyer was on his way down, as the slow Shore cabin girl made her way to third place.

  ***

  The rock-skipping event was next, down on the beach. The mighty Lake Superior was relatively calm, and good for the skippers. Henry was putting on a performance for all, and had many campers, and counselors, laughing hard at his warm-up routine. He just loved the attention, Shy thought.

  Henry came through with a first place, and by lunchtime the score stood Cave - eighteen, Lake - sixteen, Forest - ten, and Shore - six.

  There was to be two more events after lunch: the long distance swim, followed by archery. Ralph was extremely nervous for the swim, and Sawyer was very bitter about the way Crutch had cheated. That is how Shy and the other Forest boys spent their lunch… alternating between encouraging Ralph, and calming Sawyer down. Sawyer had stormed up to Clancy, after his event, to report Crutch's actions in the tree, but she was unwilling to do anything about it. He had been seething since, and Shy was sure he was plotting some sort of revenge. Tad had given Sawyer one additional event, rock climbing, since they had one less camper than the other cabins. Shy felt sorry for whoever had to face Sawyer in the rock climbing.

  ***

  After lunch the sun was high and hot. They sat on the high rocks above the Lake Superior beach. Again, the mighty lake was cooperating with its calm waters. Shy thought back several weeks to the incident on Lac Igam. The monster in those waters made him shiver, even though he hadn't actually seen it. Portia, who had sat down next to him on the rocky ledge, looked at him strangely.

  "What?" He asked.

  "You shivered. It's super hot out here today!"

  "I was just thinking about why they don't swim in your lake."

  "Oh yeah," she replied, and gave a fake shiver. "That would be a bad idea."

  Shy smiled and nodded.

  "So," she asked as Clancy started the swim race below, "Are ya nervous to race tomorrow?"

  Shy thought about it, and realized he was, but he didn't admit it to her. He wasn't sure why, but it made him feel wimpy to tell her. Instead, he changed the subject.

  "Who is that that is swimming for you guys?" He asked.

  "Penelope. She will win." Portia said confidently. "She is on her middle school swim team"

  "Looks like Henry's doing pretty well..." Shy said as he pointed.

  It was a long distance swim race. There were buoys at either end of the beach, and the contestants had to swim back and forth eight times. As it came down to the end, Ralph began to fade, but by this time he had well outdistanced all except Penelope. She began to pull away, but Shy cheered on anyway. He knew Ralph couldn't hear him, but it felt right. The other Forest cabin boys joined in.

  Soon they were chanting, "Ralphie…. Ralphie… Ralphie."

  He seemed to pick up his pace. Maybe he was able to hear them… as a group. They chanted louder. As the two leaders turned the last buoy, they were neck and neck. The guys on the rocks renewed their chant, trying to push Ralph.

  In the end, it was too close to call. They rushed down onto the rocks, as the other two contestants finished. Ralph was breathing hard, but smiling. Shy gave him back his glasses that he had been holding. The guys all congratulated him.

  "Did I win?" He puffed.

  They turned to Clancy. She lined the four up, standing between Penelope and Ralph. Holding each of their wrists, she began just like an announcer, "And the winner is … Ralph!"

  The boys cheered as Ralph smiled from ear to ear. Penelope even gave him a quick hug!

  The swimming was followed by an hour-long break as they made their way up to the archery targets on the far side of the lodge.

  As they began the final event for the day, Shy reflected that archery must be difficult. None of the contestants were very good, he thought. Sam took third behind a really tall girl from the Shore cabins and one of Crutch's buddies from the Cave cabins. The Cave boy took first and they all had to endure the bragging afterwards.

  ***

  After a big supper of different hot dishes, they tiredly trudged up to the Forest cabins, with Gust watchfully on their heels. They had ended the day in second place with twenty-six points. They trailed the Cave cabin team by two, and led the Lake girls by two. The Shore cabin team was in last place with twenty points.

  That night he placed a bag of popcorn on the floor by his clothes. It was leftover from the after-event celebrations, but he needed something to help draw Tom T out. He wanted to talk to him, but hadn't seen him since the events with the trolls. The nisse had really saved them all, and although fey creatures like Tom T wouldn't appreciate thanks, Shy still wanted to talk about what happened, and ask once again what he should do with the box. He could feel it there, in his pillowcase. He happily lay down in his hammock and waited. Time went by, and although Tad wasn't yet back in the cabin, Shy felt himself drifting off. It had been a long day and there was a cool breeze blowing through the screened walls.

  He wasn't sure if his eyelids had been shut for a second or an hour, but a munching noise woke him. His vision instantly snapped, and there was the hairy, drab nisse, munching away at the popcorn with a scowl on his face.

  "Not good, Shylock…. Not good," he said as he reached into the popcorn again. "Too salty. Burned too it is."

  Shy realized he was talking about the popcorn.

  "Popcorn's supposed to be salty… Listen, Tom T, the other night, with the trolls, what you did, well, it was pretty brave."

  "Stupid trolls. They are not even smart enough to create much Glamour. They used all their magic on the cage, and had none left for themselves. Shylock," he looked up from licking his hairy little fingers, "you must understand. The trolls do not do this on their own. They may bang you over the head at night and throw you in their pot, but not when the sun shines. They do not make plans. Last night was not their idea. Do you understand?"

  "Kinda. So what do I do? I wanna give the box back."

  The nisse's eyes became beady and pierced into Shy. "You are obligated now Shylock. I have saved you, and you owe it to those of us that work for good. You owe it to us to ensure this box does not get into Unseelie hands. The evil forces at work could never have removed the box from the lake. Don't you see? It was protected. Not from humans, but from the Unseelie."

  Shy must have looked bewildered for the nisse began to get agitated.

  "They could not get it from the lake. The protection enchantments forbade it, but not for you. There was no magic to stop you. The only way to protect it from humans was to hide it. Your ability to see, Shylock… your ability to see through the Glamour allowed you to get this box. Once they realized you had this ability, they used you. Now they will take it from you and steal its magic to command the Seelie… Those of us who help you… we will be enslaved." He ended his speech with a dejected sigh, like the future he saw was unavoidable.

  "What can I do?" Shy asked again. "Can't I just put the box back?"

  The nisse looked back at Shy. "You must. Shylock you must. The Unseelie, the old forces of evil have seen. They are beginning to come. You owe those of us who have worked with and for humans for so long. Beware, for the forces of Unseelie are stronger. Much old Seelie magics were used to protect the box you now hold. The Unseelie will not allow you to keep it, for it would be the end of the fey if humans were allowed the power of sight. Also, they will not allow you to give
it back for they want the old magic it contains… that was used to protect it. They gather to take it from you."

  "But… if I pass through the waterfall to put it back, I will be stuck in that world. How can I ever get back? And the demon horses, the protectors, they will be waiting… How can I return it?"

  "You can, you must. You must find a way"

  And with that he was gone, and so was Shy's good night of sleep.

  Chapter Sixteen:

  "We WILL find it."

  Shy tossed and turned much of the night, worrying what he was going to do with the box. He was sure his friends would help him if he asked. Tad returned to the room late and left early. He had been setting up events for the final day of the Camp Games. Shy heard him leave, but was so tired that he just lay in his hammock and drifted off instead of getting up. Finally he awoke to yelling from outside the cabin.

  "Shy! Shy! Let's go!"

  He opened the trap door and stuck out his head. There was Ralph and Henry, on the platform just off the net.

  "C'mon! Some of the parents are starting to show! Everyone else has zipped down to the lodge. Pack your bags quick; the nisse will bring 'em down. We'll meet you there. We're gonna win this thing…" Ralph yelled over his shoulder as he and Henry bolted for the Hive and the zip line.

  Shy looked back at his bag and pile of clothes in the corner. Evidently Tom T had returned during the night with his clean clothes. Shy went over and stuffed them all into his oversized duffle bag. He looked at his pillow. Should he take the box with him now? Or, should he wait and dig it out of his bag later, before he left?