The Fossegrimen Folly

by Michael Almich

  "Yeah…. The trolls are a nasty lot. I have had a run in with them myself a few years back, but that is a story for another evening. For now, don’t go off anywhere by yourself; do not go off at night, unless approved by me or another counselor; do not thank these creatures for the work they do, except by leaving an edible treat, like a cupcake or piece of cake… those are usually safe. I will answer your questions in a minute Henry. First, I need to tell you about the creature that we will be sharing our cabins with….."

  Henry sat back onto the beanbag chair he had worked his way out of. Tad simply stared at the boys. He had paused his pacing around the fire, and now simply stood and seemingly stared into the corner where the firewood box sat. Shy looked around. His fellow campers were completely captivated by Tad’s words. It almost seemed like the fire had risen higher as he had been telling the tale. The fire actually felt nice against the cool night breeze that pushed through the screen walls. It was a perfect setting for a sort of disturbing tale. Even though he had seen examples of some of what Tad was explaining, there was a part of Shy that had a hard time believing. Trolls, really?

  Tad continued to stare, and Ralph hissed, "LOOK!"

  A small log of firewood rose into the air and began to move towards the fire. It moved in a jerky motion, swinging side to side about a foot and a half off the pine floorboards. When it reached the firepit, it rose up, over, and into the fire. No one spoke for a short time, then all at once they erupted.

  "Shhh…. Shhh…. Quiet down. You have just had a firsthand glimpse of Tom T, our nisse. A nisse is a type of Scandinavian fairy, or wight, that helps farmers to do chores on their farm. Tom T has chosen our set of cabins to be his home. He chooses to do things like helping to pick up after us, keep the fire going, clean the cabins, and keep night watch. For our part, we need to respect what he does, and try to keep our living spaces neat. When we can, he appreciates baked goods. You know, things like cookies, cupcakes, rolls, and pieces of cake… that type of thing."

  "Now you need to understand how this arrangement works. The baked goods are not payment for his services. Rather, it is just something nice we do for good ol’ Tom T. If he felt we were trying to thank him, or pay him, he would be offended, as would any of these fairy creatures. He might even take it out on us. The story I mentioned earlier of the girl in the Lake cabins, whose hair was tied up in knots to her bed, well, we figure that was the work of their nisse. It seems like each of the cabins were adopted by one of these fairies. For two years after the incident, the Lake cabins went without the services of their nisse. They, or that specific girl, must have done something to offend the nisse. So, be respectful of him by picking up after yourselves. Remember, when you get goodies… bring some back for him.

  With that, Tad pulled a chocolate chip cookie out of his pocket. He laid the morsel, which had been the evening’s dessert, on a ledge over by the woodpile. Then he ignored the cookie and came back by the fire. He chose two bean bags chairs, piled one on top of the other, and jumped onto them. Reclining, he looked up at the smoke drifting up through the hole in the roof.

  Shy was watching the cookie. The napkin it was sitting on began to rustle. Soon a disembodied arm, the size of a child’s, appeared. The arm held a carved wooden staff that was hooked on the end. The arm placed the hook over the cookie and pulled the cookie to the end of the ledge. Then, the arm raised the cookie and bites appeared out of it! It was quickly consumed. Shy looked back at Tad, who had begun to smile, and speak again.

  "Yes, a nisse can control when they appear to us or not. Usually, when he is eating something we have brought him, at least a portion of him will be visible. If you otherwise catch a glimpse of one of the fairy creatures in this camp, feel honored, because it is rare that they allow it. Even rarer are the instances of catching a glimpse of one of these creatures without them knowing it. If you do, they cannot disappear until you take your eyes off them. If you blink, or look away at a noise, or they get behind an object, the spell is broken, and they can disappear again from your sight. They use some type of a magic to hide things, including themselves, from us. We don't know much about it, but it seems like some are stronger than others in using it…. In other words, around here things aren't always what they appear to be." Tad smiled and concluded, "now… the time has come to answer your questions."

  One hand shot up immediately, behind Tad.

  "Yes Henry?" Tad guessed without even turning around.

  "So what was it that pushed us, or made us try the jump into the Hive earlier tonight?"

  "That was Tom T. He is a good judge of character, and doesn’t really have the patience for those who hesitate. He can be rather…. aggressive…. at times."

  "So, he can talk?" Finn spoke up.

  "Well, some of you may have heard him say a few words. He may open up more once he gets to know you better and trust you more. Truthfully, though, he is rather bossy. OUCH!"

  Tad jumped up out of his bean bag, rubbing his ribs.

  "OK, maybe bossy is the wrong way to say it," Tad said as he gingerly sat back down. "Let’s just say he sees a situation clearly and speaks his mind."

  "Tell us more about the trolls," Sampson said, trying to make his voice sound deeper and braver.

  "That's a long story. It’s late, and it would take us a whole evening…. Not tonight. Two more questions, then it is off to bed. We have an early morning tomorrow. We are going to have our first practice at the events for the end of summer competitions. Did I tell you guys? Each of you will need to pick one event to compete in against the other cabins. We call them the Camp Games. It’s really kind of a big deal, so I want us to decide who is doing what early on. That way we can practice and bring home the Camp Games trophy for the Forest Cabins!

  "Two more questions, then we are done for the night," he said.

  "What is a will-o-wisp?" Shy finally found his voice and spoke up before the others.

  "That is a good question Shy," Tad stood once again. "Some say a will-o-wisp is a fairy creature that appears as a light in the forest or marsh, and lures people off until they are hopelessly lost. Some say it will lead one who is lost back onto their path, or help those in trouble. Some even say it is a creature that marks the site of buried treasure. I don’t know what the truth is, but this camp adjoins a very, very large national forest. You could hike for days and not find your way out if you get lost. Don’t follow any lights in the woods, and if you get lost stay where you are at and we will find you."

  Tad paused expectantly, waiting for the final question. Sawyer’s hand shot up.

  "Go ahead Sawyer," Tad said, now slightly impatient.

  "You said something about a creature of the forest… a huldry or something. Can it get to us up in our cabins?"

  "A huldra…. And, no, it cannot get to you up in our cabins. From what we can tell, the fairy creatures do not sleep. Tom T keeps watch every night, prowling the walkways of our cabins. I'm not sure if he protects us with some kind of magic spells, or if he is just that good of a watcher. We would know before any creature even got close, though... I know that.

  "The huldra is said to be a dangerous creature though," Tad continued. "They say she takes the shape of a woman or girl, and a very pretty one at that. Two significant things give her away: the first is that she has a cow’s tail. She will usually appear, they say, in a skirt or dress, and has the tail tucked up under it. The other way to identify a huldra is that from behind she will appear hollow, like an old hollow tree trunk. She lives in the forest, and she usually appears out of the morning fog or mist. Some say she is bound to a particular forest, and cannot leave until she finds a man to marry her. Once she gets married, the story goes, she becomes very ugly, but kind…. Oh, and at that time she supposedly loses her tail. She is supposedly very tricky and cunning, and if the man or boy she meets refuses to marry her, she finds a way to make sure they never leave the forest. The stories say that the only way a man can break her spell is to view her from behind."

/>   "Now, keep in mind… I have never seen a huldra. However, long ago, parts of this forest were regularly logged. There are many tales of lumberjacks meeting a huldra. Many of those stories end with the lumberjacks never being seen or heard from again."

  Sawyer shivered, eyes wide. Tad stood up and said, "OK off to bed. I will walk each cabin group to their hammocks this first night, to make sure you know your way. We will start with Eagle cabin. C’mon Sam and Daniel."

  The two tall boys followed Tad to the north wall of the cabin. There Tad pushed on a solid portion of the wall, and it tumbled outward. The three walked across and into the darkness.

  "I’ll be back for Jay cabin next," Tad’s voice trailed off into the night.

  Upon closer inspection, Shy found that the new exit was hinged at the bottom, so that it could be pulled back into place again as a wall with a rope that was strung through a pulley, and tied inside. So, there was one way into the Hive by jumping, and two ways out: hidden door, and zip line.

  As the remaining boys milled about the Hive, waiting for Tad to return, anxiety began to creep up inside Shy again. He again felt the pangs of missing his mom and Shep. Bothering him more than those worries, though, was the fact that he had no one to stay in his cabin with him. Just like its name, the Raven, felt isolated and lonely.

  Just then, Tad landed back into the Hive with a boom.

  "Ralph, Henry, let’s go!"

  They walked across the newly formed north wall walkway, Henry jabbering about what he would do if he came across a huldra.

  Shy couldn’t help but smile. He felt like Henry wasn’t really that brave, but he could sure talk a good game. Shy would be fine by himself, wouldn’t he? He had slept outside in his tent back home, by himself. Of course, he wasn’t really by himself… he had had Shep with him. Ol’ faithful Shep would take down a bear just to protect him, Shy was sure of it.

  Shy stood by the east wall of the Hive and looked out. In the darkness, he thought he saw a light. He pressed his eyes up to the black screen and used his hands to shield out the light from inside the cabin. There was a light! Far down below, in the distance, it bobbed behind trees and back again as it made its way towards the west.

  BAM! Again Tad’s big feet slapped out the signal that he had returned.

  "OK…. Finn and Sawyer, you two are next. Shy, be ready, I’ll be back in a snap."

  "Tad, wait, there’s a light…"

  "Shy, I’ll be back soon!" He interrupted Shy with his yell that trailed off.

  Shy was alone now. He looked back out the east side, but could see nothing. He went to the north wall exit and squinted off into the dark. Sure enough, he could see the light again! It was still making its way to the west. Shy watched silently. He was too frightened to move. After all that he had taken in today: will-o-wisps, huldra, fossegrimen, sprites, nisse…. He doubted he would sleep at all tonight. Especially since he would be alone. Tad had said not to follow the light. Shy was so scared he was rooted to the spot. No worries about him following some creepy light down in the forest night!

  Yet, he did wonder where it was going and what it was. It had moved beyond the sightlines of his current vantage point. Scared as he was, he felt better with it in sight, rather than where he could not keep an eye on it. He slid over a few screens to the west, and peered out again.

  He was relieved when he picked up its progress again. It was now heading away from the Forest cabins, still westward. Suddenly it stopped! Shy’s imagination carried him away, and he imagined a huge, horrible creature, carrying a lantern. In Shy's imagination this monster slowly turned back towards Shy, and sniffed the air, like he had caught Shy's scent.

  "WHAM!"

  "Auugghh!" Shy screamed as he stumbled backward from the screen and fell flat on his back.

  There was Tad, smiling that half smile as always.

  "What were you looking at?" He asked.

  "There was a light moving… in the forest…. Out there!" Shy hopped back up and pressed his face back against the screen, while Tad walked over. Tad also looked out.

  "I don’t see anything. Are you sure? Or, did our talk tonight just scare you?"

  "No, I really saw it! I tried to tell you before you took Finn and Sawyer, but you just left," he said accusingly. "It started out that direction, and walked all the way off into this direction," Shy stated as his arm swung from east to west.

  Tad was quiet for a moment, and then began to speak softly.

  "Did you feel an urge to follow it?"

  Shy answered by shaking his head back and forth. Tad looked out the screen again for a long time. Finally, he turned back to Shy.

  "Well, it could have been a will-o-wisp, but it could have been other things too. I think that not only do the fairy creatures of this forest not sleep, but they know of human sight limitations in the dark, and that humans are more easily frightened and confused in the dark. So, they tend to try to pull their pranks after dark.

  "It’s strange that you have seen something like this already. Most campers count themselves lucky to have even one sighting of something fey. Fey means a fairy, or mythical creature. Viewing true fairy creatures will play games with your mind. It is almost like some of them have a power to make you see something that isn’t really there, or vice-versa. I think that is how they are able to stay invisible to us. Tell me what you felt when you were watching it."

  "Scared," Shy shrugged. "Mostly just scared. I remembered your warning about following the lights. I thought it was a stupid thing to say, because at that point I felt too scared to follow anything." He looked up at Tad to see if he had spoken too harshly. When Tad said nothing, he continued. "Then, after you left with Finn and Sawyer, I watched it again. I felt like I could see it way off in the distance. I imagined that it was sniffing for me. It seemed like it turned, held up a lantern, and looked back right at me. That was when you came back, and I jumped."

  Shy felt foolish for telling Tad something that, after repeating it now, sure seemed like his imagination. Again Tad was quiet for a few minutes. Finally, he turned back to Shy.

  "I am sorry, Shy. I should have stopped and listened to you when you tried to tell me. This is the type of thing that we as counselors need to be aware of. Promise me that you will tell me again if you ever see any more strange things? Even if it makes you feel embarrassed?"

  Shy nodded his agreement.

  "Remember believe in yourself, and others will too. Now, it’s off to bed for us. Follow me!" Tad had returned to his usual tone.

  They crossed the north walkway that exited from the Hive, and Tad turned. He pulled the wall panel back into the upright position, and swung the rope back to the Hive. No one would be able to get in that way until the wall panel was lowered from inside.

  Tad took them on a different route back to the Raven. Shy was beginning to realize that there were so many different interconnecting walkways and paths that there must be dozens of different routes from one place to another. What a great place to play tag, or hide-and-seek, Shy thought.

  Soon they arrived back at the same stairwell Tad had brought Shy to earlier that evening. He clambered up the stairs, realizing how tired he was, and that it must be really late. Reaching the platform, Shy pushed on the knothole and looking back to make sure Tad was still with him, he hopped onto the slide. Even after a long day, this late at night, it was exhilarating to slide across the empty space between trees!

  Tad landed just after Shy in the Raven. He motioned for Shy to climb into the hammock, which Shy attempted, but was promptly deposited onto the floor. Tad chuckled. Shy popped up and tried again, very carefully. Once he was finally settled, he turned back towards Tad and was surprised to see him climbing into the other hammock he had set up earlier.

  "Are you staying here?" Shy asked, not allowing himself to get his hopes up.

  "Yup, you didn’t think I would allow you to stay here by yourself did you?"

  Shy didn’t know how to answer, because that is exactly what he had t
hought.

  "I will be here with you for the whole eight weeks, unless we get another camper. Usually I sleep in the Hive, but since you didn’t have a roommate, I thought I would stay here. OK with you?"

  "Yep," Shy stated happily. Now his homesickness didn’t seem to be hitting him quite so hard. He drifted off thinking of Shep sitting on the front porch, waiting for him.

  Chapter Three:

  "I thought I heard….. music,"

  Shy’s second day at camp began by being woken up by Tad, who then rushed off to wake the other boys. Shy brushed his teeth at a washbasin that he had not noticed previously, and not finding anywhere to spit the toothpaste, he simply swallowed it! He then put on some fresh clothes, threw his dirty ones on the floor, and went to the trapdoor. He pulled it open and looked down. In the early morning light, he was able to clearly see how far above the ground he actually was. It amazed him, and made him more nervous for this second time through the trap door than he was on his first time through. Still, it was the only way out, unless he tried to climb the slide, but that had probably reset itself, and he would be stuck under the platform. The trapdoor was fun yesterday, and the daylight shouldn’t change that, so he took a deep breath and jumped. Smiling, he bounced on the net a few times before climbing off. He set off to find his way to the Hive.