by Emily Rodda
She sighed. ‘If we get back,’ she added.
They had reached the bridge. The smell drifting from beneath it was so vile that Leo felt his stomach heave. Sweat broke out on his forehead. Fighting down waves of nausea, he glanced to his left. The swans hadn’t moved. Floating silently, so close together that their wings were almost touching, they were still watching the newcomers intently.
‘It smells like something died down there,’ muttered Bertha, twitching her nose in disgust.
Mimi’s eyes brightened. ‘Maybe it’s the troll,’ she whispered. ‘I mean, maybe the troll’s dead! Jim said it was very old.’
‘There’s only one way to find out,’ Leo said in a strangled voice. He moved forward.
‘Oh, that’s the spirit!’ cried Bertha warmly.
‘Leo –’ Mimi began.
But Leo had already stepped onto the bridge.
Chapter 24
Triple Treat
The boards of the bridge were loose. They shifted and rattled beneath Leo’s feet as he moved forward. It was impossible for him to walk as fast as he’d intended.
‘I do admire a man of action,’ he heard Bertha say to Mimi as they picked their way along behind him.
Leo gritted his teeth, feeling a complete fraud. Bertha thought he’d been tough and brave, leading the way onto the bridge. In fact, he’d just known that if he stayed still for a moment longer, breathing in that ghastly stench, he was going to throw up. And the thought of being sick in front of Bertha and Mimi – let alone Jim, if Jim were still watching – had been too awful to contemplate.
Anything would be better than that, he told himself. Then he reached the middle of the bridge and realised just how wrong he was.
There was a great, wallowing splash. The boards under his feet jerked upward as huge fists pounded on them from below. There was a sickening gust of the foul smell.
Choking and gasping, Leo lost his footing and stumbled backwards. Bertha cannoned into him with a squeal. Mimi screamed in terror. And the next moment, a hideous, dripping figure had swung itself over the side of the bridge and was squatting before them, scowling ferociously.
‘Who be daring to cross my bridge?’ it croaked in a rasping voice, harsh as the sound of water running down a drain.
It was the ugliest, most terrifying thing that Leo had ever seen. Not just because its lumpy, hairless body was as pale as the underside of a fish. Or because its eyes were tiny and burning red, its huge ears stuck straight out from the sides of its head and great clumps of black bristles sprouted from its flaring nostrils. Or because it wore the waterlogged, hairy, stinking skin of a goat, and brandished a long white bone in one huge hand.
Those things were bad enough. But what made Leo’s flesh creep was the sneer of evil delight that twisted the creature’s face.
The troll tapped the bone menacingly on the boards of the bridge.
A decent show of fear, and a butter cake or two …
Well, we’re not having any trouble with the fear part, Leo thought wildly. He had managed to regain his balance, he was still gripping his stick, but his knees were trembling, and his hands were shaking, too. Mimi was cowering back, her teeth chattering. Even Bertha was looking aghast, and was making no attempt to adjust her hat, which had flopped awkwardly over one eye, its ribbons loose and dangling.
Leo forced his free hand to move to his pocket. His shaking fingers found the little butter cake, and he pulled it out. It was a bit squashed. He hoped the troll wouldn’t mind.
‘Please – don’t hurt us,’ he said unsteadily. ‘Please – let us cross your bridge. We brought you this.’ He balanced the lopsided butter cake on the palm of his hand and held it out.
The troll bent forward and peered at the cake. Then suddenly it snorted contemptuously through its nose, blowing the cake off Leo’s hand. The cake sailed over the edge of the bridge and fell with a plop into the river.
‘Oh, what a waste!’ cried Bertha.
The troll looked at her and licked its lips with a thick yellow tongue.
‘Pork chops!’ it croaked.
‘How dare you!’ shrieked Bertha, and took an angry step forward.
‘No, Bertha, no!’ cried Mimi, clinging to her in terror.
The troll grinned evilly, showing a mouthful of sharp, crooked brown teeth.
Bertha froze. ‘Well, if that troll’s lost a single one of its teeth, I’m a mushroom’s auntie,’ she murmured.
Leo stared at the grinning troll. Suddenly he felt horribly certain about something.
‘You’re not the troll who lived under this bridge before, are you?’ he asked unsteadily.
The troll’s grin widened. It shook his head. ‘This be my bridge now,’ it said. ‘Old troll be all gone.’
‘Where did it go?’ asked Leo, trying to stop his voice trembling.
The troll patted its enormous belly, burped richly, and winked.
‘You ate the old troll?’ Bertha cried in horror. ‘How could you do that?’
‘He were pretty tough, that’s true,’ said the troll, scratching its bald head thoughtfully. ‘Took a lot of hard chewing, he did. But I got him down all right.’
It considered Mimi, Bertha and Leo, and nodded with satisfaction. ‘You three be tender, but,’ it said. ‘You be good dessert. Triple treat.’
Run! The thought rang in Leo’s mind, but he stayed rooted to the spot. They were in the very middle of the bridge. Escape was impossible. The moment he, Mimi and Bertha tried to run, the troll would be upon them. If they jumped into the water, it would follow. Either way, they’d never reach the riverbank alive.
Then he suddenly remembered the ring. The ring! It could save them! Mimi could wish them home right now! He half-turned, taking a breath to speak …
And met Bertha’s eyes.
Leo’s chest tightened. What would happen to Bertha if he and Mimi suddenly deserted her?
You know what will happen, and it can’t be helped, the cold voice of reason told him. What’s the point in all of you dying?
But Bertha’s only in danger now because she came to help us, another part of his mind argued. We can’t abandon her!
And as he hesitated, paralysed by indecision, he became aware that Bertha was whispering to him.
‘Get behind me, grab Mimi, and run back to the riverbank,’ she breathed, her mouth hardly moving. ‘I’ll hold the troll back for as long as I can. When I say go. Ready …?’
‘Aren’t you going to ask us the three questions, troll?’ Mimi’s voice was high and trembling.
Astonished, Leo looked at her. She was deathly pale. Her teeth were still chattering. But she was looking straight at the troll.
The troll’s eyes narrowed. ‘What questions?’ it asked suspiciously.
‘You ask us three questions, and if we answer them you don’t eat us and we can cross the bridge,’ said Mimi, her voice a little stronger now. ‘That’s how it’s always done. That’s the rule. Isn’t it Leo? Isn’t it, Bertha?’
‘Oh, yes,’ Leo and Bertha chorused.
The troll frowned and scratched its head. ‘I don’t know nothing about no questions,’ it said sullenly. ‘Not my fault. I never had a bridge before. Hold on a minute.’
Its tiny eyes went blank. It was obviously trying to think.
Mimi nodded slightly. This was the moment she’d been waiting for. They all began to ease themselves back, away from the troll. One step. Two …
Then abruptly the troll’s eyes cleared. ‘I got it now,’ it said slowly. ‘This be my bridge. Rules be my rules. And my rules say, dots to three questions! I hungry!’
It grinned savagely, and launched itself at Bertha.
‘Run!’ Bertha shouted at the top of her voice, bracing herself.
Then a few things happened at once.
Jim burst out of hiding and ran shouting towards the bridge, his axe held high. Another figure emerged from the shadowy willow trees on the other side of the river and raced towards the bridge, vigorously bea
ting a gong. The swans took flight, soaring up and over the bridge in a loud confusion of beating white wings.
Startled, the troll veered off course. Its stubby fingers failed to grasp Bertha’s neck, and fastened instead on the ribbons of Bertha’s hat.
Howling, it stumbled and fell, tearing the hat from Bertha’s head. The ribbons slipped from its fingers. The hat sailed over the side of the bridge, into the river.
‘My hat!’ screamed Bertha. ‘Oh, you beast!’ She hurled herself at the troll, butting it in right in the middle of its bulging belly.
The troll bellowed and curled up into a ball. ‘Run!’ shouted the man with the gong, beckoning urgently.
‘Run!’ roared Jim from the other side of the river.
Leo grabbed Mimi’s hand, dragged her over the groaning body of the troll, and ran for his life. He could hear Bertha running after them. He hoped desperately that she wouldn’t stop to try to fish her hat out of the water.
They reached the other side of the bridge. The sound of the gong was deafening. The man beating the gong was tall, sinewy and roughly dressed. His greying hair was tied back in a ponytail. He was much older than Jim, but he radiated energy and strength of purpose.
‘Go!’ he shouted, jerking his head towards the willow trees. ‘Get out of sight! Hurry!’
Leo and Mimi glanced over their shoulders and saw that the troll was staggering after them across the bridge, its huge hands clamped to its ears. They saw the dark figure of Jim on the other side of the river, making frantic gestures at them.
Gasping, hearts thumping, they reached the shelter of the trees. Not far away, right beside the river, was a dark little house almost hidden among feathery, drooping willow boughs. Someone was hammering wood behind the house, and smoke was drifting from its chimney, but they didn’t move any closer. Instead, screened by the soft veil of green, they looked back.
Despite the fading light, they could see the river clearly. They could see the strange man standing very upright at the end of the bridge, apparently quite unafraid, and beating his gong furiously. Facing him was the troll, bent double, hands pressed to its ears.
‘Go back, troll!’ the man bawled over the clanging of the gong. ‘The three have crossed the bridge. They’re no more business of yours!’
For a long, terrible moment the troll defied him, snarling and showing all its teeth. Then, slowly, it turned and slouched away. When it reached the middle of the bridge, it sullenly threw itself over the side, into the water.
There was a tremendous splash. Waves surged towards the riverbanks. The troll sank beneath the swirling surface, and was gone.
The man dropped his arms. The sound of the gong died away.
Bertha sighed with relief and shook her head till her ears flapped. ‘I forgot about trolls hating loud noises till that fellow came running,’ she said. ‘I suppose, living near that bridge, he keeps the gong handy in case of trouble.’
‘The swans flew away,’ Mimi panted, sinking to the ground.
‘They saw the troll attack,’ Leo said grimly. ‘They probably thought there was no need to stay. They thought we were finished. And we would have been, too, if it hadn’t been for you, Bertha.’
Bertha tried, unsuccessfully, to look modest. ‘Mimi helped,’ she said graciously. ‘Because of her, we’d managed to move away from the troll a bit. And of course Jim and that wild-looking fellow with the gong gave the nasty creature a fright.’
‘The swans startled it, too, by mistake, taking off when they did,’ said Mimi. ‘I suppose they’ve gone to report to the Blue Queen.’
‘Well, that’s worked out very well then, hasn’t it?’ exclaimed Bertha, nodding with satisfaction. ‘If the Blue Queen thinks we’re dead, she won’t be on her guard against us.’
Leo was hardly listening. He was watching the man with the gong. The man had raised his hand to wave at Jim, who was still standing at the other end of the bridge. Jim was waving back, his grin gleaming white through the dimness.
‘I’ll bet that’s the hero we’re supposed to ask for help,’ he murmured, as the man gave a final wave, turned away from the bridge, and bent to pick something up from the riverbank beside it.
‘Oh!’ Bertha squealed. ‘My hat! He found my hat!’
The man began striding towards them, carrying the gong and its beater in one hand and Bertha’s dripping hat in the other.
‘The waves the troll made when it jumped into the river must have carried my hat to shore!’ Bertha cried excitedly. ‘Oh, I hope it’s not ruined!’
She bolted out of the trees and ran to meet the man.
‘Oh, thank you kindly!’ Leo and Mimi heard her say, as they slowly followed her. ‘I don’t know what I would have done without my hat. My complexion is so delicate, you know.’
‘Of course,’ the man answered gravely. ‘The hat’s rather wet, I’m afraid, but it’ll dry nicely by the fire, I’m sure.’
He paused. ‘Am I right in thinking I’m speaking to Bertha, artist’s model and watch-pig at Jack Macdonald’s farm?’ he enquired, bowing slightly.
Bertha wriggled with pleasure. ‘Why, yes you are,’ she gushed, fluttering her eyelashes. ‘Watch-pig, wolf-fighter, artist’s model, and soon-to-be moovlie star, as a matter of fact.’
‘Really?’ the man murmured. He saw Leo and Mimi move out of the trees, and waved them back with a slight frown.
‘Don’t come out,’ he said rather curtly. ‘We can talk more safely in the house.’
‘And we can dry my hat at the same time,’ Bertha said. She cleared her throat delicately. ‘And perhaps – since fighting trolls always makes me rather peckish – we could have a little snack?’
The man smiled at her, and his weather-beaten face suddenly looked much younger. ‘I’m sure I can find something,’ he agreed.
He led the way to the house, opened the door, and stood back as they moved gratefully inside.
The room they entered was very dim. At first, Leo could see only the shapes of furniture and a fire glowing on one side of the room. There was a delicious smell of something savoury cooking.
‘Wak, wak, wak,’ chuckled a harsh, horribly familiar voice.
Leo, Mimi and Bertha stopped dead.
‘What was that?’ Bertha gasped, looking around blindly.
The door slammed shut behind them. They heard the sound of the key turning in the lock.
‘Oh, no,’ Mimi muttered.
Leo blinked frantically, trying to see. Dimly he made out Freda the duck staring at him belligerently from the hearthrug. And right beside her, slowly rising from an armchair, was Conker.
Chapter 25
The House by the River
Leo spun around, but there was no escape. The door was shut and locked, and the man with the gong was standing against it, slipping the key into his pocket.
‘Got them!’ quacked the duck triumphantly.
This can’t be happening, Leo thought, numb with shock. After what Jim said … after all we’ve been through …
Bertha shouldered past him and faced the man, her head lowered threateningly.
‘Stand aside,’ she said, in a low, frightening voice that Leo barely recognised.
There was a swift movement in the shadows, and the next moment the man was no longer alone. Tye the Terlamaine stood beside him, her golden eyes gleaming, her dagger in her hand.
‘Oh, my liver, lungs and left big toe!’ muttered Conker, snatching up a piece of firewood and scrambling to join them.
Leo’s numbness vanished, swamped by a wave of anger. His only weapon was the stick Jim had given him. Well, it would have to do. He raised the stick and stepped forward to stand beside Bertha. Through the gloom, he saw Mimi’s pale face appear on Bertha’s other side. Mimi’s mouth was a straight, hard line. She was also brandishing her stick.
‘Stand aside,’ Bertha said again.
‘Shut your mouth, pig,’ hissed the Terlamaine. ‘Do you know who you are speaking to?’
‘Do you know
who you are speaking to, tiger-woman?’ shrieked Bertha, bristling. ‘Shut your own mouth!’
The man sighed. ‘There’s no need for this,’ he said. ‘There’s been a mistake. Mimi and Leo misunderstood –’
‘Conker’s fault,’ quacked the duck. Conker glared at her.
The man looked from Leo to Mimi and back to Leo again. ‘Conker meant you no harm,’ he said. ‘If all had gone well, he, Tye and Freda would have brought you safely to me. Unfortunately –’
‘How did I know they’d run off?’ Conker interrupted in injured tones. ‘I thought they trusted me. After all I’d done for them …’
Bertha looked at Leo enquiringly. He shook his head in confusion.
‘It is not surprising that the Langlanders lost their faith in you, Conker,’ said Tye in her deep, husky voice. ‘You pushed them into the Gap without telling them what it was, and there are no Gaps where they come from, you know that.’
‘Yes, well,’ grumbled Conker, ‘I forgot, didn’t I? A person can’t remember everything.’
‘There are no Gaps on the coast?’ Bertha exclaimed. ‘Why, I had no idea! What a very amazing place the coast must be! No Gaps, no witches, moovlies …’
The man, Tye and Conker all looked quickly at Mimi and Leo.
‘What?’ demanded Bertha, glancing around. ‘What did I say?’
‘Oh, nothing, nothing!’ Conker babbled. ‘Just – well, yes, the coast is a very amazing place. Parts of the coast, anyway – the part where our young friends come from, obviously, and –’
‘Quiet!’ the man cut in loudly.
Conker shut his mouth with a snap. ‘Well, I’m sorry I gave you a fright, but what else was I to do?’ he said to Leo and Mimi rather sulkily. ‘I had to get you out of there before any more folk saw you, and I was under orders not to tell anyone about that Gap. So when old Pop suddenly turned up, just as I’d got the door open, I –’
‘You panicked,’ Tye said curtly. ‘You pushed them in without a word. They found themselves alone in Flitter Wood – and look what that led to!’
