by Gavin Green
***
Gideon listened with only passing interest when Jane again commented on the recent event of her mam’s rough abduction by a trio of men and taken to Kate’s boyfriends’ house. Jane was even more enamored of the big American when told the story by her sister, and shocked to hear of such violence in their quiet lives. On her and the family’s visit out to Mr. Lynch’s cottage not long ago, she had trouble imagining bad things happening in such a serene place.
Jane sat at her desk with a notebook of lyrics, and turned to her magical friend. “I don’t even know much about where Brody came from. Kate told me he’ll be taking her there in the spring. That sounds like such fun. I’d like to visit the states sometime.”
Gideon sat on a huge pile of pillows, taking big bites of biscuits dripping with honey. “Grand journey, the Americas,” he said around chewing. “I hear of grand things to see, but you must watch your step there, so I hear. Thirty-foot snakes in the south that circle and crush you, and giant bears in the north that’ll swallow you whole. Space aliens land in the east, which is why all the folk carry bombs and muskets. And to the west, the land is alive, waiting to crack open and devour all it can, I tell ye true.”
Jane laughed. “That must be why so many go there; a grand journey, indeed. So, you’ve never gone on holiday to the states, Gideon?”
He cleared his throat with a sip of water before answering. “Only to the Canada area, lil’ Jane, and to there not long, I tell ye. The mountain wolves turned into ugly people with grand furs and back again, full of spite and a hunger greater than mine. They ran me to the plains, they did. Then came to me a great moose, the king of his kind, and huge for it. He spoke in more languages than I could count, ‘til he came upon the old tongue, and I found his words. I tell ye true, he said for me to get back home, for my warm heart might melt the ice and snow of his land, and then what would they do?"
Gideon paused to drip honey on another biscuit, then resumed his tale. "So I went to the cold shore, I did, and there met by seals. Two of them changed into maidens, and one bid me come into the water and frolic. The other, though, she asked that I stay so my heroic heart might shine on the others, and make them brave the deep for better fish. Heart torn, I stood there sad on the shore until a whale came and took pity on me. It brought me back to this land, letting me ride on its back all the way. A strange land, so says I.”
Jane grinned and shook her head. “Then I surely want to go and meet the moose king!” She giggled again, and then asked, “Tell me, Gideon… if you’re not from over the Atlantic, and you’re not from here, then where did you come from?”
Gideon licked his fingers, set down the empty plate, and wiggled into the comfort of the cushions. “I come from a land of giants, and was one me self upon a time.”
Jane couldn’t help but smirk. “Is that a fact?”
“I tell ye true, lil’ Jane. I was a warrior, I was, and great among my own. But little did I know that I kept stealing the hearts of the womenfolk, and made the others sore and jealous. Then a princess came to a field of a mighty battle where I had bested foes left and right, I did. The fair noble fell enamored as others had before."
"How could she not, sure," Jane interjected, smiling.
"Aye, true, but her lord would not allow such a thing. So he told the others to do away with me, and they tried and tried. At a loss to dispatch me, they all come upon me at once and squashed me down to this size. The big lord, in fear that I might grow back, gave a mighty swing of his armored boot and sent me to flyin’, I tell ya. I bounced once in Scotland, creatin’ the Ullapool crater with it, and finally came to rest here. This land, bein’ so small... Well, it wouldn’t be fair, me bein’ a giant among ye. So I stay small to put all at ease, only keepin’ me big heart as proof, I tell ye true.”
“And an appetite to match, don’t forget that.”
Gideon smiled in spite of himself. "I have an appetite for life, lil' Jane. Food just happens to be one of the best parts of it. Now, to me defense, I know of some trolls that can eat five times their own weight in one sitting, and still charge off to battle."
Jane's eyebrows rose. "Trolls? You keep company with big, ugly beasts, Gideon? My, you are brave."
The little morpher slowly shook his head as he picked crumbs from his coat. "Ye speak of ogres - dim and mean-spirited beasts are they. Trolls are about the opposite; still large, mostly, but full of virtue and honor. Oath-keepers to their last drop of life, I tell ya."
Jane frowned while she absently studied a teddy bear. "So are trolls another kind of fair folk, like you said you are?"
Gideon, knowing his words wouldn't pass beyond the door, answered without reservation. "There'll be many types of us Other Crowd, or Ancient Ones, if ye care for those names. Trolls be one, and sprites and dryads and the Fair - or elves, by a simpler term - them and a few others, to boot. We be of the high races. Those other, like ogres, gnomes, and pixies… they be of low caste. They be, well, simpler; not altogether bright, limited in skills, I'd say."
Jane's frown grew even deeper. "It all sounds so complicated." She looked over to him. "What about leprechauns? Is that what you are?"
He smiled. "No, no, lil' Jane, I'm no happy trickster. Aye, there be leprechauns, but keep to their own affairs, they do. Their cousins, though, the redcaps..." Gideon shuddered. "A gruesome folk, they be. I refrain from telling any of their tales, lest they poison your dreams."
Jane pondered a thought as she fluffed the bear's fur. "Well, I wouldn't mind catching a little green faery for his gold."
"Nay, dear Jane, be treading lightly when dealing with the Other Crowd. There's always a price to be paid for such. We be a near-timeless folk, and games to be played can turn wicked for lack of other entertainments."
She looked back to him with laughter in her eyes. "But you're one of the Other Crowd, Gideon. Is there some price I'll have to pay for your friendship?"
He returned her mirth, saying, "Bring me a large shepherd's pie and a pint of rum, and I'll forget your debt... for now."
