"I can run faster," answered Jason. "Next time you won't."

Mrs. s...o...b..chner again blew her whistle. "Recess is over. Time to go inside," she called. Then she saw Baartock and Jason. "Making friends already, Baartock? Jason, please let Baartock sit next to you and help him along today."

"Yes, Mrs. s...o...b..chner," said Jason.

"Everybody settle down," called Mrs. s...o...b..chner as she walked past the children, who were lining up.

"I'm supposed to be first today, right, Mrs. s...o...b..chner?" called a boy from the front of the line.

"All right, Jimmy," she answered.

"There. I told you so," Jimmy said loudly to the girl standing next to him.

"Don't start a fight about it, Jimmy," said Mrs. s...o...b..chner, who was now at the back of the line. "Let's walk inside quietly. No running!"

she called, as Jimmy started rushing off.

In just a few minutes, Baartock found himself sitting right next to Jason, at one of the low tables in the cla.s.sroom. Mrs. s...o...b..chner, standing in front of the cla.s.sroom was saying, "We have someone new in cla.s.s." Everybody was looking around. "Baartock, please stand up. This is his first day."

Baartock stood up, but he was embarra.s.sed. Now everybody knew this was his first day, he'd never be able to scare anybody. He was still standing, when Mrs. s...o...b..chner said, "You may sit down now, Baartock."

Jason reached up and pulled Baartock back onto his chair. A couple of children at the next table were giggling, and several others were whispering something and pointing at him. Baartock felt uncomfortable.

He wasn't really too interested in the papers that were pa.s.sed around.

But he got interested in making the marks on the paper, when Jason helped him color the worksheet. There were so many bright colors. He got so interested in coloring that he didn't pay any attention to anything else. It didn't seem very long before Mrs. s...o...b..chner said, "It's time to get everything put away now."

Jason whispered to him, "Where do you live?"

"That way," said Baartock, pointing. That was the way a troll would give directions. Just point in the direction you were supposed to go, and then walk until you got there. In spite of everything that had happened today, he knew just exactly where his home was. He had been so busy, he hadn't thought about it until now.

"Want to go home," he said.

"We all get to go home in just a few minutes, Baartock," said Mrs.

s...o...b..chner, who had been walking around making sure that everything was put away. "Everybody sits down quietly and waits for the bell."

Baartock started to ask Jason, "What's bell?" But he only got to say "What's . . .."

Mrs. s...o...b..chner was still standing behind him. "Baartock, in this cla.s.sroom, 'wait quietly' means 'no talking'."

Mrs. Jackson came into the cla.s.sroom and walked over to them. "Mrs.

s...o...b..chner, if you're finished with Baartock for today, I'd like him to come to the office now."

"Yes. We're all through. Baartock, please go with Mrs. Jackson, and we'll see you tomorrow."

When they got into the hall, Mrs. Jackson said, "Baartock, we couldn't find your file, and I do need to talk to your mother. Instead of riding on the school bus, I'm going to drive you home."

"Go home now?" asked Baartock quietly. He remembered how angry this person could sound.

"Yes. I'm going to drive you home." Just then the bell rang, and Baartock jumped three feet in the air.

Chapter 4

When Baartock and Mrs. Jackson walked out to the parking lot, Mr.

Fennis was waiting beside his car.

"Ready to go home, Baartock?" asked Mr. Fennis.

"Go home now," answered Baartock, and he started to walk away.

"Baartock! Come back here!" Mrs. Jackson's voice stopped him and he turned around.

"Not go home now?" asked Baartock.

"We're going to take you home, but we're not going to walk. We are going to drive in the car."

Walking home was exactly what Baartock had planned to do. Then he had an idea. "Don't like car. You drive. I walk," he said.

"No. Now please get in."

"You'd think he'd never ridden in car until today," commented Mr.

Fennis as he got in and closed the door. "He became positively wild when I drove him to school."

"Well, he'll behave this time, won't you Baartock. You just sit quietly while we take you home."

"Sit," said Baartock unhappily.

Mr. Fennis started the car, and Baartock started to jump, but he saw Mrs. Jackson watching him. So he just sat and looked even unhappier.

The ride this time seemed much quicker for Mr. Fennis, since Baartock wasn't jumping around in the car.

"They must live in Donald and Phyllis Howard's old house," he said as they drove down the country road. "I found him just down the road from their driveway."

"I didn't know anyone had moved in there," said Mrs. Jackson.

Just then Baartock exclaimed "Home!" pointing up the hill.

"Can we use the driveway instead, Baartock?" said Mr. Fennis. "I don't want to walk up the hill, even if you do have a shortcut." He drove on down the road a little further, then slowed even more as they came to a mailbox and a dirt driveway.

"That's funny. The 'For Sale' sign's still there," said Mrs. Jackson.

Out in the middle of the corn-stalk stubbled field was a weathered sign, 'Farm For Sale - Crow Real Estate'. "This is the only house up here. They must have just not taken the sign down yet."

Baartock sat in the back seat and didn't say anything. Mr. Fennis turned the car onto the driveway and started up the hill. This dirt road did go near his family's cave, but he never used it. Trolls almost never use roads unless there are bridges, and the bridges are to live under or hide under.

The driveway went up the hill, between the field and the woods. It didn't look as though a car had been on it for a long time. The gra.s.s growing in the middle was quite tall, and the bushes growing next to the road needed to be cut back. They sc.r.a.ped the side of the car as they went up the driveway. And there were a lot of holes that needed filling. Mr. Fennis was driving slowly, but the car still raised a cloud of dust behind them.

Up near the top of the hill, the road turned away from the woods, toward a grove of trees and the old frame house almost hidden in the trees.

"Home over there," said Baartock, pointing back into the woods, as Mr.