Jake & The Giant (The Gryphon Chronicles, Book 2) (23 page)

Snorri knew he was fortunate. Only a real friend would tell you the truth
about something so indelicate.

The boys did not allow the gentle giant to leave his cottage until he had washed his face in his hands, changed into clean clothes, and brushed his teeth.

They told him to munch on a peppermint leaf to freshen his breath. He took a comb and a little scented oil and used it to smash his wiry few hairs down neatly onto his head.

In a much more presentable
state, he now received their approval. So, at last, they all rushed off to King Olaf’s great hall.

It was time
to find out what exactly had happened here in Jugenheim while Snorri had been away in Midgarth.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

A Little Madness

Meanwhile back in Midgarth, Dani sat with Isabelle at dinner that night in the banquet hall, watching people ribbing the “absentminded” scientists who had returned safely to the conference earlier that day.

Miss Langesund
in particular held onto her father’s arm as if to make certain the professor did not “wander off” like that ever again.

“
Oh, I don’t know what got into me!” he was saying. “It was such a beautiful evening last night, I suppose I got carried away and just strolled off into the woods!”

“He got carried away, all right,”
Dani remarked to Isabelle under her breath. “How can he not remember getting kidnapped by a giant?”

“The Oubliette spell is very powerful,” Isabelle whispered back.

“Well, as it turned out, I wasn’t the only one who had wandered off,” the professor continued with a chuckle. “Lo and behold, there were all the others—just as lost as I.”

“Ah, sounds like a fairytale to me!” Professor Schliemann teased his old friend, now that the two
famous archeologists were finally reunited. “I’ll bet the group of you were meeting out there in secret over some great new discovery you don’t want the rest of us to know about yet!”

“Never!” he answered. “Honestly, we all just wandered off somehow.”
He patted his belly. “Fortunately our stomachs led us back to this fine dinner!”

“I can’t believe you are making light of it after all you put me through!” Miss
Langesund chided him. “Father, you have no idea what a fright you gave us all.”

“Oh, come, daughter, you are a scientist as well. You know how easy it is to get wrapped up in your thoughts. Or perhaps you feared the trolls from your childhood bedtime stories had captured me in
the forest and eaten me, eh?”

“Oh, Father!” she scolded while the other adults
laughed. “I’ll have you know the existence of trolls has never been
dis
proved,” she added archly.

It was good to see her happy again.

Nevertheless, the girls stayed on their guard, scanning the huge dining hall for anyone who fit Jake’s description of Loki in his mad prince form.

Of course, the Lord of the Shapeshifters could appear in any form he liked, but fortunately, Dani had the Lie Detector Goggles tucked away in the satchel with Teddy on her lap.

Admittedly, it was not good manners to bring a terrier to the dinner table. But she dared not risk leaving Teddy alone back in the room, for what if Henry and Helena returned to the dorm in their wild beast forms, forgot themselves, and accidentally ate her dog?

That would never
do. Safer to keep her furry little friend with her. For now, however, there was still no sign of the twins, though the girls had watched and waited all day.

As for the boys, Dani
knew she had to account for their absence somehow, so she told Miss Langesund that Jake and Archie had caught the same illness Henry and Helena had.

It wasn’t as though she could tell the woman the truth:
“The twins have turned into animals and the boys are off on a mission to Giant World.”
They’d lock her in the loony bin.

Well, s
he didn’t like lying. But sadly, judging by what she saw through the Lie Detector Goggles, it seemed like everyone did it. She took them out for a quick, furtive glance around the room, on the hunt for Loki.

As she scanned the banquet h
all, it was rather depressing to see the lies coming out of the mouths of so many adults around them. The majority of the lies were quite small and harmless, such as: “Oh, yes, I think your invention shows great promise,” or “What a lovely dress!”

Isabelle suddenly nudged her. “What about that man over there? He looks rather shifty.”

At once, Dani raised the Lie Detector Goggles to her eyes, praying no one noticed her in possession of a stolen artifact. She made a quick assessment of the beady-eyed man that Isabelle had pointed out. Then she shook her head.

“No tattoo,” she rep
orted, but just as she hid the goggles again, Teddy let out a growl.

The little brown terrier tensed. Dani followed her dog’s gaze to a black-haired man in an opera cloak who had just co
me sauntering into the crowded banquet hall.

The mad prince!

Dani grabbed the Lie Detector Goggles, lifted them to her eyes, and peered at the man. She gasped when she saw the dark tattoo scrolled along his cheek.

At that moment, as if he felt her stare, he turned his head slowly and looked straight at he
r.

In a sec
ond, through the goggles’ magnifying lenses, she saw his coal-black eyes turn as frosty as an arctic winter night.

Dani lowered the g
oggles in sudden terror. “He saw me.” The one thing Jake had said was not to let Loki realize they were on to him. “Isabelle,” she forced out, trying to sound calm. “We have to get out of here. Now.”

“Is it Loki?”

“Yes. He looked right at me.”

Teddy started barking madly as the girls shot to their feet. The dog’s clamor earned Dani several disapproving looks and scowls from the adults at the surrounding tables.

“Bringing a dog to the table! Where does she think she is? Paris?”

Loki pivoted, tossing one side of his scarlet-lined opera cloak behind his shoulder, he started toward the girls with a look of wrath.

“Go!” Dani cried.

Isabelle was on her feet, rushing for the door, reaching back to grab Dani’s hand to make sure they didn’t lose each other. But when Dani glanced back over her shoulder, she saw that Loki had stopped chasing them.

The trickster god had halted in its tracks, staring at Professor Langesund.

Slowly he scanned the other returned scientists, a look of rage passing over his sharp features.

“Hold on,” Dani murmured to Isabelle. “Something else has got his attention.”

Isabelle paused.

The girls watched as Loki seemed to put it together in his mind, recognizing the scientists that the giant had abducted.

With a final warning glare at
the girls, he seemed to decide they were not his top priority after all.

Though
his cold look promised dire punishment to come, he abandoned the chase for now. Turning around, he headed for the row of doors on the other side of the banquet hall.

“Come on!” Dani tugged on Isabelle’s arm. “Let’s go see what he’s up to!”

“Follow him? Dani! I’m not sure that’s such a good idea—”

“
Right. You stay here. You’ll be safer inside. I’m going after him.” Not waiting for her to protest, Dani followed Loki cautiously from several yards behind.

The trickster god marched
toward the doors that led out onto the terrace overlooking the garden. When he disappeared outside into the night, Dani crept up to the edge of the doorway to spy on him.

Then she witnessed
something she never expected to see.

There were a few adults out on the terrace chatting in
small groups under the stars. Gentlemen smoking, ladies sipping wine. Loki strode out, ignoring them all, as if he was past caring who saw him. Halfway across the terrace, he turned himself into a crow right before their eyes and flew away with a piercing caw like an angry, mocking laugh.

Dani
was left staring at the dark sky, slack-jawed and dreading to wonder where he was off to now.

Fool!
That oversized nincompoop!

Loki could hardly w
ait to hear what excuses the bumbling boob Snorri would make to explain how the “brains” had escaped.

As the crow flies, it was only a few minutes up the moun
tain to the cave, and as he winged his way through the night, the annoyed god entertained several possibilities of what he might turn Snorri into to punish him for his incompetence.

Not permanently, of course. J
ust long enough to make himself feel better. Vent his frustration with his hapless henchman.

If this was a foretaste of what it was going to be like working with giants, he was
not sure he had the patience. He was going to have to learn how to speak
slooooowly
and simplify all of his instructions until they were foolproof. Surely not all giants could be this thick, he mused. Unfortunately, for now, Snorri the Shepherd was the only giant available, so he supposed he’d just have to make do with the dunderhead.

B
ut when Loki reached the rocky mountaintop where Snorri had made camp, he found the place deserted. The extinguished campfire was not a good sign. The ashes were long cold.

Landing on the mountain, Loki turned himself back into his usual human form, smoothed his clothes, and didn’t miss a step, marching directly into the
dark cave.

He held up his hand and
caused a bright flame to appear on his fingertip, lighting his way into the pitch-dark tunnel.

B
ut by the time Loki stepped into the large, rounded cavern, he confirmed in a glance that the place had indeed been abandoned.

Empty cages. No sign of Snorri.

He turned with eyes full of flaming rage, then tipped his head back and roared in frustration.

“By Fenrir’s claws and the deepest depths of
Neiflheim!” he cursed under his breath, and finally got his temper under control.

Snorri
must have run away in terror after his failure.

So, where did he
go?
Loki mused as he sauntered back outside and stared up thoughtfully at the starry sky.

The answer came to him at once.
No great mystery, really.

The frightened giant
would’ve most likely gone running home to Jugenheim.

A
cunning gleam came into Loki’s dark eyes as he considered his next move. If he could catch up to the giant on his way home and follow him, then Snorri would unwittingly lead him to the place where Odin’s seal between the worlds was broken—the hole where the big, lovesick dunce had fallen through. For if Snorri could get out, then that meant
he
could get in.

A sly smile curved his lips.
Why, he might soon have his army of giants yet!

Of course, Odin and Thor would rage if they found out about his
forbidden trespass into Jugenheim. But by then, it would be too late for them to do anything about it.

Y
es…

Loki made up his mind.
Forget that idiot shepherd. I’ll sneak into Jugenheim and find some other giant who’ll cooperate with me. And it’ll be a proper giant this time—the normal sort of giant—who appreciates a good brawl with mayhem and destruction.

With that, Loki turned
himself into a falcon and soared through the air, heading for Yggdrasil.

Under the cover of darkness,
he flew higher and higher; as a falcon, he could reach much greater altitudes than he could as a crow.

At the next mountain, he saw the Norns far below
, weaving their tedious Tapestry of Fate by candlelight. The Wyrd sisters didn’t see him. Even if they had, they didn’t worry him. He outranked them. They were only witches, after all. Hardly a problem for a mighty Norse god.

Up and up he circled, finally passing the huge trunk of Yggdrasil and flying up into the canopy, weaving through the branches. His wings were growing tired as he passed the gates of world after world, following signs for Jugenheim.

Finally, when he was so exhausted that he could barely flap his sleek brown wings anymore, in the distance, he saw tiny pinpricks of light coming down from above, sprinkling the wide branch ahead of him.

With his last ounce of strength, he flew toward it.

He landed on the branch, panting through his little hooked beak.

W
hat he saw when he looked up filled him with excitement. Little cracks and crevices surrounded the underside of a massive boulder.