Jake & The Giant (The Gryphon Chronicles, Book 2) (29 page)

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Wild At Heart

Meanwhile back in Midgarth, the long, lonely notes of a wolf’s howl summoned Dani and Isabelle out to the moonlit forest beyond the university.

Twigs cracked under
their careful footsteps as the girls ventured into the woods.

“Henry? Is that you?” Isabelle whispered.

“It had better be him,” Dani muttered. She did
not
want to be out here with a
regular
hungry wolf on the prowl.

Isabelle scanned the darkness nervously.
“Miss Helena? Are you here?”

Two large animal shapes stepped silently into view, their furry silhouettes silvered by moonlight.

“It’s them!” Dani pointed.

“Oh, t
hank goodness!”

The girls stepped forward into the clearing where their sha
peshifting tutor and governess awaited.

Dani did not want to admit it, but she felt an instinctual wariness about getting too close to them right now. Even though she knew it was the twins, they were rather terrifying in this form. With Henry’s fan
gs and Helena’s claws, two such animals could have torn the girls apart.

Isabelle showed no such hesitation. She rushed straight over to Helena, bent down, and hugged her. Henry wagged his tail. She hugged him next. “Oh, I’m so relieved to see you both!”

Dani ventured closer, seeing it was safe, after all.

“How are you? Is there anything you need? Anything we can do to help?” Isabelle knelt down and looked into the leopard’s glowing
eyes. She always got a particular, thoughtful expression on her face when she was reading an animal’s mind. But whatever leopard-Helena communicated to her, it obviously upset her.

Isabelle st
ared at the graceful big cat with a stricken look. “No, no!” she whispered, shaking her head.

Leopard-Helena
gave her a little lick on the forehead, as she might have done to one of her kittens.

Dani looked on worriedly. “What is it?”

Isabelle had gone pale as she turned to Dani. She looked like someone who had just been punched in the stomach. “I’m afraid…they’ve only come to say goodbye.”

“What?”

Softly, Isabelle gave voice to the thoughts and feelings she perceived in their shapeshifting governess’s mind. “It’s been years since they’ve spent this much time in their animal forms. The lure of the wild is calling them away.”

“
Away? What do you mean? They can’t just run off and leave us!” Dani said, aghast. She turned to the twins. “We need you! Lady Bradford left you in charge of us! You can’t abandon us—what are we supposed to do?”

“They can’t help it,” Izzy murmured. “They’re reverting ba
ck to nature. That’s why they needed to come and see us now. Before long, they fear they’ll be too dangerous and wild to come around us anymore. They say their human side is…fading.”

Dani refused to accept this. “Surely something can be done! We’ll contact Lady Bradford like we should have done from the start. She must
have a spell to bring them back—”

“That’s just it,” Izzy said, glancing over at her with tears in her eyes. “They don’t want to come back
anymore.”

Dani stared at Isabelle in shock.

Isabelle gazed at the shapeshifters. “It’s hard for them, they’re telling me. They try at all times to be so diligent and disciplined and conscientious about everything for our sakes—all the rules of etiquette, our lessons and activities, our food, clothes, schedules—all their responsibilities in taking care of us. But now that they’ve had a taste of the wild, they just want to be free.”

Dani
barely knew what to say. It was one thing for a student to be sick of rules and lessons, but a teacher? Henry and Helena, of all people?! They were always so proper, so correct. She never would have guessed that they sometimes longed for a freer life.

Wolf-Henry walked over to Isabelle, sat down, and offered his front paw to her like a trained dog
doing a trick.

Isabelle took his massive paw gently in her hand, but tears filled her eyes. “Do you really have to go?”

Wolf-Henry whined in regret and licked his snout.

“All right,
then,” she whispered.

“No, i
t’s not all right!” Dani exclaimed abruptly, turning to the fierce, gray wolf. “You can’t do this! Archie will be lost without you, Henry. Lady Bradford’s never going to find us new teachers we like half as well as you. Don’t you see?” Her lower lip quivered. “We love you!”

“And t
hat’s why we have to let them go,” Isabelle said softly. “We have no right to chain them.” Then she stood up.

Wolf-Henry whined
and leopard-Helena let out a mournful meow.

“
You can come back to us anytime you want. Promise you’ll be careful out there. Look after each other.”

Wolf-Henry let out another
painful whimper.

Isabelle nodded. “I will.”

“Will what?” Dani asked her, wiping away a tear, but it was quickly replaced by another.

This was too awful. It reminded her
all over again of losing her Ma to yellow fever.

Isabelle was fighting not to cry. “He wants me to tell Archie and Jake how much they mean to him, and that he’s sorry, and he’ll miss them.”

With a sad purr, leopard-Helena rubbed her feline body alongside the girls like an oversized housecat doling out her affections. But with a final tickle of her whiskers, she rejoined her brother the wolf, and they gazed one last time at their former charges.

Dani took another step, following
them, as they turned away. “Please, don’t go! Come back!”

But it was no use. They ran away and disappeared into the shadows.
The girls were left standing there in silence, until a distant, forlorn howl of farewell reduced them both to tears.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

A Match of Wits

At the giants’ feast that night, Jake sat alone out of the way, eating his giant food, and thinking about the day’s events.

After returning
from the woods and the bloody second challenge of the tournament, the boys and Red had gone back to Snorri’s cottage with their host. All of them had needed to regroup and catch their breath after that ordeal.

The third and final challenge, the test of wits, was to come soon—tonight—at this very feast. But Snorri bare
ly seemed to care.

He was
still ashamed about his choice of gifts for Princess Kaia. Somehow it would not sink into his thick skull that she had loved the illuminated manuscript.

When they
had returned to his cottage, he kept mumbling that he had something better to give her, a proper present, made of gold, but he refused to show it to the boys.

“It’s private, just between her and me!” he had insisted. “Besides, if I show you
first, you’ll ruin the surprise. Kaia deserves to see her present first!”

“All right, all right!”

The boys had backed off. Jake suspected that Snorri didn’t want to show them his other present for Kaia out of worry that someone might make fun of that, too.

So the gift remained a mystery.

Meanwhile, Archie went out to the shed to work on the Pigeon for a while, and Jake made sure that Red got something to eat.

He called the Gryphon out to the babbling stream that wrapped around Snorri’s farm. There, Red had pounced into the water and caught a baby s
almon nearly as big as himself. Seeing his fierce feathered friend devouring the fish, Jake was satisfied the meal would keep Red’s mind off Snorri’s sheep for a while longer.

Still, he hoped his sometimes-unpredictable pet did not get a craving for lamb chops when their backs were turned.

When it was time for the feast, Archie and Red had stayed behind while Jake and Snorri walked up to the village together. Even as far away as the farm, they could smell the mouth-watering scent of the giant roasted bull smoking on the open fire.

The tantalizing smell of barbecue doubled Jake’s desire to gorge himself, as usual.

Snorri, for his part, mumbled that he was too nervous about giving Kaia her mystery gift to even think about food. “I got butterflies in my stomach,” he admitted.

“Ah, d
on’t worry, whatever it is, I’m sure she’ll love it,” Jake said to humor him.

“I hope so. She always liked dogs.”

“You’re giving her a dog?”

“No! Don’t
ask me!” he warned. “I won’t tell. You’ll see later. I’m sure she’ll show you, if you ask.”

T
hey parted ways at the feast. Jake wished him luck; Snorri nodded his thanks, then marched off in a cold sweat to present his mystery gift to his ladylove.

Rather amused by the
lovesick giant’s discomfiture, Jake turned around and followed his nose in the direction of the food.

Before long, he had found an out-of-the-way perch on a giant handrail, where he proceeded to gnaw on his giant food as best he could. It was de
licious. The roast beef just fell apart. Finally, a helping of adequate size for a growing lad! Giants knew how to eat. He’d give them that. Jake chewed and smiled, smiled and chewed, and washed it down with a gulp of cider, watching everything.

He kept one eye on the road, expecting
at any minute to see his cousin coming along to get some dinner, with Red in tow.

As Jake
lifted his giant biscuit with both hands and took a bite, he wondered how the girls were faring back in Midgarth, and if there was any word yet of the twins.

Or
of Loki, for that matter.

Then he scanned the feast full of laughing, eating, talking, bragging giants. No one seemed overly concerned about the deaths of the visiting knights and princes. Life went on as usual. He found that curious. But, as the Norns had said, the giants followed the old ways, and the Viking p
eoples were great believers in Fate.

If F
ate decreed those blokes were supposed to get eaten by a dragon today, then that was that. So be it. No use crying over spilt milk, seemed to be their opinion. They shrugged it off and moved on with their lives.

For Jake
, it wasn’t that easy, having been there and witnessed the whole thing. Of course, loudmouth Gorm did not show any sign of regret over all the people he’d gotten killed today by his blunder.

Jake shook his head.
Maybe Gorm had woken the dragon up on purpose, knowing the beast would attack and hoping it might help him get rid of a few of his rivals.

Presently,
Gorm was holding court as usual in one corner of the feast, surrounded by his followers, telling tales of the day’s adventures, and exaggerating about everything.

T
he important thing was, the contest was now down to only two: Gorm versus Snorri.

No doubt, behind his bragging, Gorm was humiliated by t
hat fact in itself, Jake mused. It must have chafed his giant ego that against all odds, the lowly shepherd, the village idiot, was keeping pace with him.

As for Snorri, he was giving
Kaia his mystery gift even now.

Jake could see them sitting together on a bench at the far edge of the feast. He did not have Archie’s telescope on hand, or he would have spied
on them to see the object Snorri was offering her, some small trinket that he set in the palm of her hand.

It can’t be a ring!
Jake thought in surprise. No, there was no way Snorri would go proposing marriage now, when the whole point of this tournament was to determine whom the princess would marry. Besides, Snorri had mentioned the present had something to do with a dog.
Hmm…

Whatever it
was, Kaia seemed to like it. She was all smiles as she marveled over it, then Snorri seemed to go into shock when she leaned near and kissed his cheek.

“Ha!” Looking on from a distance, Jake lifted his glass of cider and sent them a private toast, then laughed and took a swig.

At last, Archie arrived, reporting that he’d made good progress on the Pigeon’s repairs. When he went up to get some food, Jake accompanied his cousin. After all, Great-Great Aunt Ramona wasn’t here to disapprove of him taking seconds.

Twilight was fading into darkness
, and the boys were just finishing their oversized meal when the Master of Ceremonies climbed the torch-lit platform where the royals sat.

He banged his baton
and called for everyone’s attention. While the whole village gathered around, King Olaf and Princess Kaia took their seats.

“Ladies and gentlemen,
” the Master of Ceremonies began, “it is time for the third and final test in our tournament for the future kingship of our people and the hand of Princess Kaia of Jugenheim. Will the two remaining contestants please come forward?”

The crowd cheered and booed variously
, depending on their preferences, as Snorri and Gorm went to stand at the foot of the platform.

Jake wasn’t sure how many in the audience were truly for Snorri, bu
t it seemed quite a few were against Gorm. The prince’s brawny followers did their best to silence his detractors, shoving and roughing up people in the crowd who booed him.

Snorri stood by,
meanwhile, stiffly waiting for the Master of Ceremonies to continue.

As for Jake and Archie, their seat on the nearby handrail gave them a goo
d view of all the proceedings.

“Hear ye, hear ye!”
the robed official resumed when the crowd’s noise quieted down. “For this final test of the rivals’ cunning, the Ice Wizard will join us to present the contestants with a riddle. You will then have twelve hours to solve this puzzle, gentlemen. It is now nine o’clock at night. At nine in the morning, you will give your answers. The first to give the correct answer wins the tournament. Let the warlock appear!”

On cue, he did—
in a sudden puff of smoke and a shower of colored sparks.

All the giants gasped to find the mysterious, robed figure
of the Ice Wizard suddenly standing on the platform in their midst.

“Blimey!
” Jake stared, wide-eyed.

The enchanter was an imp
osing yet bizarre figure in scruffy, hanging robes and horned headgear.

He wore a kind of skullcap adorne
d with the curled antlers. His cloak was trimmed with gray fur and he carried a tall oak staff with a gemstone in its gnarled end. His long gray beard was braided in two thin strands, but the most startling aspect of his appearance was that his face was covered in tattoos: intricate swirls of indigo and black, runes and arcane symbols of mystic power.

These, above all, gave Jake a start.

He knew by now that tattoos were popular among all the Viking folk. But the only person he’d seen with ink on his face before was Loki.

It ca
n’t be,
he thought, his heart pounding. Loki was still back on earth causing trouble at the campus.

Wasn’t he?

The Master of Ceremonies stepped out of the way with a polite gesture, presenting the shaman to the crowd.

The
old Ice Wizard shuffled to the edge of the platform, looming over the two contestants.

The whole village waited, holding their breath,
as the warlock delivered his riddle in a weird, singsong voice: “What has four wings but doesn’t fly, stands twelve feet above the pool, but never swims, and though surrounded by wisdom, is often vacant?”

You could have heard a pin drop as these words were uttered.

For a long moment afterward, no one said a word, pondering the mystery.

“Now
you have my riddle!” the Ice Wizard proclaimed with a cackle. “If neither of you can solve it by this time tomorrow night, then you both lose, and I win the princess and the crown!”

“What?” Kaia breathe
d, starting forward in her chair.

The wizard
simply floated down from the platform and began hobbling away.

Kaia had gone ashen.
The boys glanced at each other, appalled.

Even the king looked shaken. “
What is the meaning of this? I never approved this,” he exclaimed to the Master of Ceremonies, who stammered with shock.

“I-I didn’t know he was
going to say that, sire! Honestly! I only called him in because I-I thought he’d be a n-neutral third party!”

“Well, c
all him back and tell him no,” the king ordered. “I don’t care about his magical powers. That weirdo will never marry my daughter nor take my crown—not under any circumstances! How could you let this happen? He’s too bizarre, living out there in an ice cave by himself. It isn’t natural!”

“But sire!” The Master of Ceremonies blanched. “Y-you want me to c
ross the Ice Wizard?”

“You heard me,” King Olaf answered in a steely tone.

The Master of Ceremonies was starting to panic. This was even worse than a dragon on the loose. “But what if he gets angry and casts a curse on the village? Or turns us all into something dreadful? Please, sire, I beg you! Let’s just give Prince Gorm a chance to solve the riddle fair and square before we risk angering someone as dangerous as a warlock!”

King Olaf
glowered at him, then glanced over at his favorite. “Gorm?” he said ominously. “Do not let me down.”

“I won’t, s
ire.” Prince Gorm marched away.

Meanwhile
, Kaia glared at her father for ignoring Snorri altogether. “There’s another person in this contest, Father!”

“For a test
of wits? Please,” the king retorted.

She gave him a truculent look
while Gorm hurried after the warlock. “Pray, good enchanter!”

“What do you want?” the
Ice Wizard snapped.

“Can’t you give us one more
clue?”

When the sorcerer glanced over his shoulder in surprise, Jake felt there was something familiar about the scornful twinkle in his eyes.

“I should think not! You’re just going to have to use your brains! Don’t cry, I know it’s difficult for you,” the warlock taunted. “Just do your best.”

Gorm glowere
d at the insult, but even he did not dare risk angering this mysterious outsider.

“Come on,” Kaia muttered
, gathering Snorri and the boys. With Red in tow, she led them into the backroom of her father’s great hall, where she’d been spinning on her loom the first time they had met her.

There, in privacy, they put their heads together to
work on solving the riddle. Archie had quickly written it down so they wouldn’t forget the question.

Snorri stared at the ground, loo
king slightly queasy, but he still attempted to reassure her. “Don’t worry, Your Highness. You won’t have to marry him. Better Gorm should win you than that weirdo.”