Fablehaven I (30 page)

vivid hallucinations.

Like drugs?

More addictive than most drugs. Sampling a lotus

blossom awakens a craving that will never be silenced.

Many have wasted their lives pursuing and consuming the

petals of those bewitching flowers.

I wasn’t going to eat one.

No? Sit and smell them for a few minutes, and you’ll

end up with a petal in your mouth before you know what

you’re doing.

They proceeded in silence for a few hundred yards. The

walls of the ravine grew more sheer and rocky as they progressed.

They noticed a few other clusters of lotus blossoms.

Where is Nero? Kendra asked.

Grandma scanned the wall of the ravine. Not much

farther. He lives up on a ledge.

We have to climb up to him?

Stan said Nero lowered a rope ladder.

What’s that? Seth asked, pointing up ahead.

I’m not sure, Grandma said. A good distance down

the ravine, about twenty upright logs of increasing height

led from the edge of the stream to the wall of the ravine.

The highest log granted access to a rocky ledge. It might

be our destination. This is not what Stan described.

They arrived at the logs. The lowest was three feet tall,

the next was six feet, and each subsequent log stood

roughly three feet taller than the previous one, until the

tallest rose about sixty feet high. The logs were arranged

about three feet apart, in a staggered row. None of the logs

had any limbs. Short or tall, they were all of a similar circumference,

about eighteen inches, and they were all cut

flat across the top.

Placing a hand beside her mouth, Grandma called up

to the ledge. Nero! We would like to meet with you!

Not a good day, a voice answered, deep and silky.

Try me next week. They could not see the speaker.

We must meet today or never, Grandma insisted.

Who has such an urgent need? the resonant voice

inquired.

Ruth Sorenson and her grandchildren.

Ruth Sorenson? What is your request?

We need to find Stan.

The caretaker? Yes, I could discern his location.

Ascend the stairs and we will discuss terms.

Grandma looked around. You don’t mean these logs,

she called.

I most assuredly do.

Stan said you had a ladder.

That was before I set up these logs. No small undertaking.

Climbing them looks precarious.

Call it a filter, Nero said. A means to ensure that

those who seek my services are in earnest.

So we must climb the logs for the privilege of speaking

with you? How about we talk from down here?

Unacceptable.

Your stairs are equally unacceptable, Grandma said

firmly.

If your need is dire, you will scale them, observed the

troll.

What have you done with the ladder?

I still have it.

May we please climb it instead? I am not dressed for

an obstacle course. We’ll make it worth your while.

How about a compromise? One of you climb the logs.

Then I will lower the ladder for the other two. Final offer.

Concede or go acquire your information elsewhere.

Grandma looked at him. If anyone is climbing those

logs, it will be me. I’m taller and better able to reach from

log to log.

I have smaller feet, so the logs will feel bigger. I’ll keep

my balance easier.

Sorry, Seth. This is something I must do.

Seth dashed over to the first log, scrambled onto it

without much trouble, and, taking a jump as if he were

playing leapfrog, ended up seated atop the second log.

Grandma hurried over to the second log. You get down

from there!

Seth shakily got to his feet. Leaning forward, he placed

his hands on the third log. From his position on the second

log, the top of the third came almost to the middle of his

chest. Another leapfrog jump and he sat atop the nine-foot

log. I can do this, he said.

It won’t be so easy as you get higher, Grandma

warned. You come down and let me do it.

No way. I already have one dead grandma.

Kendra watched silently. From his seated position, Seth

shifted to his knees and rose unsteadily to his feet. He leapt

to the next log, now well out of Grandma’s reach. Kendra

was quietly glad Seth was climbing the logs. She could not

picture Grandma doing it successfully, especially dressed in

a bathrobe and slippers. At the very least, think of the terrible

places she could get splinters! And Kendra could very

clearly envision Grandma Sorenson crumpled in a lifeless

heap at the base of a log.

Seth Andrew Sorenson, you mind your grandmother!

I want you to come down from there.

Stop distracting me, he said.

It may seem like fun on these lower logs, but when you

get higher-

I climb high stuff all the time, Seth insisted. My

friends and I climb up in the bars under the bleachers at

the high school. If we fell there we could die too. He rose

to his feet. He seemed to be getting better at it. Seth

landed on the next log, straddling it for a moment before

getting to his knees.

Be careful, Grandma said. Don’t think about the

height.

I know you’re trying to help, Seth said. But please

stop talking.

Grandma came and stood by Kendra. Can he do this?

she whispered.

He has a good chance. He’s really brave, and pretty

athletic. The height might not get to him. I would freak

out.

Kendra wanted to look away. She did not want to see

him fall. But she could not take her eyes from her brother

as he leapfrogged from log to log, higher and higher. As he

jumped to the thirteenth, almost forty feet high now, he

leaned precariously to one side. Chills raced through

Kendra as if she were the one losing her balance. Seth

gripped with his legs and leaned the other way, regaining

his equilibrium. Kendra could breathe again.

Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen. Kendra glanced at Grandma.

He was going to make it! Seventeen. He got to his feet,

wobbling a bit, hands out to either side. These tall ones

shake a little, he called down.

Seth leapfrogged to the next log and landed awkwardly,

teetering too far to one side. For a moment he hovered on

the brink of regaining his balance. Every muscle in

Kendra’s body clenched in horror. Arms pinwheeling, Seth

fell. Kendra shrieked. She could not look away.

Something flashed from the ledge-a slender, black

chain with a metal weight at the end. The chain coiled

around one of Seth’s legs. Instead of falling to the ground,

he swung into the cliff, colliding roughly with the stone

wall.

For the first time Kendra had a view of Nero. Built like

a man, the troll had reptilian features. A few bright yellow

markings decorated his glossy black body. He held in a

webbed hand the chain from which Seth dangled. Muscles

bunching powerfully, Nero hauled Seth up to the ledge.

They passed out of sight, and then a rope ladder unfurled

from the ledge, unwinding all the way to the base of the

cliff.

Are you okay? Kendra yelled up at Seth.

I’m fine, he answered. Just had the wind knocked

out of me.

Grandma started up the ladder. Kendra followed,

forcing herself to focus on grabbing the next rung, denying

the impulse to look down. At length she reached the ledge.

She moved to the rear of the ledge, standing beside the low

mouth of a dark cave from which wafted a cool draft.

Nero looked even more intimidating up close. Tiny,

sleek scales covered his sinuous body. Though he was not

much taller than Grandma, the thickness of his brawny

physique made him seem massive. He had a snout rather

than a nose, and bulging eyes that never blinked. A row of

sharp spines ran from the center of his forehead to the

small of his back.

Thank you for rescuing Seth, Grandma said.

I told myself, if the boy makes it past fifteen logs, I will

assist him if he falls. I admit that I am curious to hear what

you would exchange to learn the location of your husband.

His voice was suave and rich.

Tell us what you have in mind, Grandma said.

A long, gray tongue popped out of his mouth and

licked his right eye. You would have me speak first? So be

it. I do not ask much, an insignificant trifle for the proprietress

of this illustrious preserve. Six coffers of gold, twelve

puncheons of silver, three casks of uncut gems, and a

bucket of opals.

Kendra looked at Grandma. Could she possibly own

that much treasure?

A reasonable sum, Grandma said. Unfortunately, we

have brought no such riches with us.

I can wait while you retrieve the payment, if you leave

the girl as collateral.

Regrettably we lack the time to shuttle treasure to

you, unless you would reveal Stan’s location before receiving

compensation.

Nero licked his left eye and grinned, a hideous sight

that displayed double rows of needle teeth. I must be paid

in full before fulfilling your request.

Grandma folded her arms. I take it you already possess

great caches of treasure. It surprises me that such a meager

financial offering as I could supply would entice you to

trade.

Go on, he said.

You are offering us a service. Perhaps we should repay

you with a service as well.

Nero nodded thoughtfully. Possible. The boy has some

spirit. Indenture him to me for fifty years.

Seth looked desperately at Grandma.

Grandma frowned. I hope to leave the possibility of

future business open, therefore I do not wish to leave you

feeling slighted. The boy has spirit, but little ability. You

would assume the burden of training him as a servant, and

find yourself yoked to his incompetence. You would add

more value to his life through education than he would to

yours through service.

Your candor is appreciated, Nero said, although you

have much to learn about bargaining. I begin to wonder

whether you have anything of value to offer. If not, our discussion

will not end well.

You speak of value, Grandma said. I ask, what value

is treasure to a wealthy troll? The more riches he possesses,

the less each new acquisition improves his total worth. A bar

of gold means much more to a pauper than to a king. I also

question what value a frail human servant would have to a

master infinitely more wise and capable? Consider the situation.

We want you to render a service of value to us, something

we cannot do for ourselves. You should expect no less.

I agree. Take care. Your words are spreading a net at

your feet. A lethal edge was creeping into his voice.