Karen lifted the jewels in her hands and exclaimed, “Whenever we get to where we’re going, I’m going to be filthy rich when we get there.”

  George felt one of Karen’s minions, the junkie with the knit cap, shoulder his way past him and step through the door and join her. “Don’t you mean, we’re rich?”

  “Why would I think that?” Karen asked him. “I found it. It’s mine. Go find your own treasure chest.”

  Tank stepped up beside him. “Colonel, do you think our people came this way?”

  George studied the ground. The moment they had stepped off the beach and onto the cobblestone road, all traces of the passengers were gone. Staring through the open doorway to the swamp, he didn’t see any tracks other than those belonging to Karen and her winged monkey. “I don’t see any sign of them. Maybe we should try one of the other doors before going too far into the swamp.”

  As George began to turn away, he glimpsed an especially gnarled-looking tree with broken and twisted limbs. It was moving; reaching its limbs toward Karen and friend.

  “Karen, look out!” he cried out, but it was too late. The gnarly tree limbs skewered Karen’s winged-monkey from behind and retreated back into the shadows.

  Seeing this, Karen sputtered, jumped to her feet, and ran for the door connecting the swamp to the fantasy realm.

  She almost made it, too. George reached out to her, their fingertips brushed but failed to interlock, before she, too, was snatched up by tree branches from behind and her screaming body was yanked backward. The door slammed shut so hard in George’s face that it echoed off the walls.

  George was taken aback for only a moment. He quickly stepped forward, grabbed the doorknob, and flung the door back open. But there were no signs of Karen, or her winged-monkey, or even their gnarled-tree abductors.

  “They’re gone,” Traxx breathed beside him.

  “Where’d they go?” Tank asked The Leftenant.

  Joining them, The Leftenant explained, “I’m sorry, but your friends are gone. The tree spirits have them now. I’m afraid there’s little to be done for them.”

  “Twern’t muh friends,” Dawson muttered. “Good riddance is what I say.”

  The Leftenant harrumphed. “That’s very sympathetic of you, Mr. Dawson.”

  “Thank you,” Dawson said, unaware of the sarcasm, or maybe he was. “But it’s like I told ya before, it’s Corporal.”

  Chapter 29

  “There be Trolls Here!”

  “Colonel, can I talk to you for a second?”

  George looked over at the dangerous-bearded man now standing beside him. It was the first time the man ever called him by his rank, or even by his name for that matter. After Karen and her other winged-monkey had gotten snatched up, everyone had run back to the boats. Unfortunately, something very large had smashed all the boats to bits, and even now their ruined hulls remained in tatters slightly offshore, and were already beginning to head back down river from which way they had come.

  To the dangerous bearded man standing beside him, George said, “I guess we’ll have to try one of the other two doors.”

  The bearded-man bobbed his head up and down. Offering his hand, he said, “It’s Will, by the way.”

  “What?” George asked, unsure if he had heard the man correctly. Not so much him stating his name, but the man’s tone was different.

  Shaking hands, he repeated, “The name’s Will. Like a lot of other folks here, I don’t remember my last name.” He removed a picture from his shirt pocket and showed it to him. It was of a young woman in her mid-twenties, riding a horse. “I think that’s my girlfriend or something in the photo, but I don’t remember her either.”

  Unsure how to respond, George settled for saying, “Nice to meet you, Will. And, I’m sorry about Karen.”

  “Nice to meet you too, Colonel. I mean, I know we didn’t step off on the right foot or anything, but I want you to know, me and the other guys, we didn’t all believe Karen and what she was spreading around.”

  George had gotten used to disliking this man. Now he was beginning to feel guilty about not giving him a fair shake sooner.

  Soon, with little choices left to them, they all returned to the two remaining doors.

  George chose the stainless-steel door and said, “Stand back everybody, here we go.” He opened the door and peered within. He had to squint his eyes because the light on the other side was so blinding. As his eyes adjusted, he saw a candy-striped life preserver at the end of a short pier. He could hear the lapping of the water, smell the salt in the air. It was sunny and clear on the other side, and beyond the dock was by all appearances, an endless ocean.

  Calling back over his shoulder he said, “I’m going to take a quick look around.”

  He felt Doctor Bob’s hand on his shoulder. “You want us to tie you off or something? That way we can pull you back if you get in trouble?”

  George shook his head. “No. I don’t want to risk anybody else getting hurt.”

  He put one foot on the threshold and waited for something to happen. When it didn’t he put his hand on the other side of the door. The image of a giant octopus reaching up out of the water and pulling him to his watery grave came to mind.

  If it can happen to Karen, it can certainly happen to me.

  Stepping out fully onto the dock, he peered back at everyone crammed in the entrance. It was almost comical seeing them all stuffed in the doorway like that. To either side of the doorway, however, was only more endless ocean.

  Unless they left by submarine, I don’t think our friends, or their captors came this way.

  Exiting the ocean realm without incident, and stepping back into the fantasy one, George reached back inside and pulled the door closed. As soon as he did, he no longer heard the sound of waves lapping against the dock.

  “You know what they say, three’s a charm,” Tank said.

  All thirty-six of them shuffled over to door number three. George did a quick inventory of everyone there. Dawson and The Leftenant were standing closest to the door. Tank, Dr. Bob, and Mrs. Belle were also standing out front. Karen’s winged monkeys…no…not winged monkeys…as fun as that was, they’re Will and the other men. George made a note to learn their names later, the rest of the men, were standing behind Mrs. Belle.

  Traxx was shaking his head back and forth. “Corporal Dawson, I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

  This time it was Dawson who reached for the door, “Why? I didn’t hear you protesting anybody opening up the other doors?” Still he was less quick to turn the doorknob. As soon as he did there was a gradual rumbling sound that was gaining in tempo. The ground began to shake beneath their feet and they all watched as the door grew up out of the ground, to approximately fourteen feet tall and widened exponentially.

  Dawson, who had fallen backward on his haunches, asked, “Dat is a big door, how we gonna open sumthin’ like dat?”

  The Leftenant pointed to a second normal door handle shaped like a lever and answered, “You turn the handle.”

  George, keeping his eyes on the doorway, helped Dawson up on his feet. “Want me to get it?”

  Dawson’s eyes flicked to The Leftenant and then back to George. “No, no. I got it.” He grasped the lever and counted off, “Ready, one, two, three!” He turned the handle and danced away as the door unlocked, and the huge door CREAKED open.

  When nothing happened Traxx said, “Ya see, I told you. They aren’t all bad.”

  George took a step forward and peered within. He saw the overall interior was a simple, medieval tavern belonging to the same fantasy motif they had seen thus far. But it took George a moment to realize what was wrong—the tavern, and everything in it, was WAYYYY to big.

  Dawson joined him in the doorway. “Oh, I don’t think we should go any farther in here. I read about this place, this here is Jack and the Giant Beanstalk sorta stuff.”

  That was as good a description as any for what they were seeing now.

  “You read a book?” The Leftenant teased. “I’m surprised you can even read.”

  George frowned. “Not now, Leftenant.”

  “Quite right, sir. My apologies.” In thinking about what she just said, she quickly clarified, “To you, sir, not Mister Dawson.”

  “Leftenant,” George repeated in a harsh whisper.

  “Let me see, you big coward,” Tank said, shoving Dawson farther within, and The Leftenant respectively.

  The Leftenant scanned the titanic surroundings. “Gentleman, far be it from me to run at the first sign of trouble but might I suggest a hasty retreat.”

  If The Leftenant had ever expressed fear over anything before, George couldn’t recall.

  “At least it appears to be empty,” Dr. Bob offered.

  He was right, the more they studied the giant tavern, the more it seemed as though they had missed the party. Empty goblets were strewn all across the floor, the fire in the hearth was smoldering, and a morning light was shining in through a nearby window.

  “Wait a sec, fellers,” Dawson said, holding his hands outstretched, blocking everyone from entering further. “Did anybody else hear that?”

  To George it sounded like two lumberjacks sawing a tree.

  ZZzzzz…. ZZzzzz…

  “What is that?” Tank asked.

  Patting George repeatedly on the shoulder, Dawson, with his eyes wide open, yelped, “Oh tarnation! We gotta go!” He bolted for the door.

  A second later a giant bowl hit the ground where Dawson had been only a few seconds ago.

  George turned, his eyes went wide, when he saw a giant troll who had been clearly sleeping one off at a table near the smoldering hearth. Still rubbing the sleepiness out of his eyes, he began pulling his legs out from beneath the table where he was sitting and getting up.

  “We got company,” Dawson said, passing back through the door. George, needing no further prompting, was right behind him.

  The rest of their party couldn’t see the giant troll but they could hear the THUMP… THUMP… THUMP… getting louder by the second.

  “Close the door!” George immediately ordered the moment he exited.

  A booming voice shouted, “FRESH MEAT!” directly behind them.

  Everyone piled their bodies against the door. Because it was so heavy it took a few moments to get it moving but eventually they were able. “Close the door, close it!” Dawson kept repeating at the top of his lungs.

  “What do you think we’re doing?” Tank grunted beside him, and then pushed with more fervor. The sound of a building collapsing on the other side was heard, and everyone screamed as the giant troll smashed his body into the door, knocking them all backward.

  Everyone who had pressed their bodies against the door went flying. One of Karen’s men flew through the air and hit the wall so hard he died on impact.

  George, sitting up from where he landed, was seeing stars. With great difficulty, he finally managed to get to his feet.

  Dawson began shouting, “He’s cut us off, he’s cut us off!”

  The giant troll, standing fourteen-feet at least, towered over them. George couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It’s gotta be a hologram or something, George thought and hoped at the same time.

  Now, fully in the corridor, it had taken a moment for the giant troll to realize he had run past them. Finally, he turned around. Spotting the dozens of Lilliputians before him, he smiled a toothless grin as he reached behind him and removed a giant club from the leather armor scabbard on his back.

  Another of Karen’s men panicked and sprinted across the giant’s path. The club hit the man like a moving bus, and killed him instantly with a sickening crunch.

  “Colonel, I would suggest that you ru…” She never finished her sentence because Dawson was already sprinting for the door that led to the swamp.

  George was about to follow after him when he realized Mrs. Belle and Traxx had fled in the wrong direction and were now cornered against the wall.

  The giant troll swung his club again and made impact with a second man. It was yet another of one of Karen’s cronies. His body flew through the air and melded with the stone wall. He now resembled a human tapestry more than a man.

  Dr. Bob began pulling on his hand, “C’mon, Colonel, let’s go.”

  The giant troll laid eyes on Mrs. Belle and Traxx. He started walking toward them.

  Mrs. Belle pulled the boy’s face to her bosom and told him, “Don’t look, honey.”

  George yelled at the top of his lungs, “Hey, you big ugly piece of troll dung! Over here!” He began waving his arms wildly.

  “What are you doing?” Dr. Bob asked, his eyes wild with fear.

  “I’ll distract them while you and Tank go grab Mrs. Belle and Traxx, and take them to the swamp.”

  Neither Bob nor Tank seemed too thrilled with this plan, but they nodded in agreement.

  The giant troll kept moving his head back and forth between George taunting him and Mrs. Belle and the boy trapped against the wall. He began to turn toward Mrs. Belle once more.

  George found a heavy piece of broken wall from where one of the giant’s swings had loosened it. He picked it up, and hurling it like a pitcher throwing a fastball, he struck the giant troll behind his right ear.

  The troll yowled in pain.

  It turned.

  When it located him, it stared at George with venomous eyes.

  “Go, go,” George whispered to his friends out the side of his mouth. And then to the giant, “Hey big ugly,” and not sure what else to say he shouted, “You’re so ugly the tide wouldn’t bring you in.”

  The giant wasn’t sure what George had said, but it was clear he understood George’s tone and the giant took a step toward him.

  George ran back for the beach, leading the troll away from the doors, and away from the others. As the giant troll stomped after him he recalled another of Maddie’s jokes and said over his shoulder, “You’re so ugly you make blind kids cry!”

  Almost as though he understood, the troll roared his displeasure as he quickly gained on him.

  Reaching the beach, George was tempted to dive into the water. He could see Dr. Bob and Tank leading Mrs. Belle and Traxx toward the swamp door.

  The giant troll seemed to sense that George was trapped with his back to the water. He patted the thick end of his club in the palm of his hand. George could see the skulls of other less fortunate men embedded in the wood.

  The giant reared back and swung his club down on George.

  Anticipating this, George dive-rolled out of the way of the swinging club. It had been so close the club brushed his clothes.

  This is crazy, this is crazy. He knew he wouldn’t be so lucky a second time. At least the others got away.

  The giant quickly recovered, and no matter which way George ran, the giant was quick to cut him off.

  They both knew it; he was finished.

  “Excuse me, sir, might I be of some assistance?”

  Both troll and George saw The Leftenant now standing off to one side. She pointed a finger at the giant troll and said in simpatico, “You, my roiling dung-heap. You are so ugly that your personal physician took one look at you and promptly slapped your parents with no small amount of displeasure.”

  Facing George The Leftenant asked, “How was that, sir?”

  The giant roared his most menacing roar yet.

  “Leftenant, move!”

  But The Leftenant did not move. Not even a little, and the giant’s club came crashing down squarely upon her; and The Leftenant was gone.

  “No,” George said softly.

  The giant seemed to take great pleasure in squashing her as he kept his club there for a few seconds, mushing it back and forth, all while smiling as he did so. Lifting the club back up, both he and George were surprised to see her remains were not there.

  “My, you are a dimwitted fellow, aren’t you?” The Leftenant’s disembodied voice said, taunting the giant some more. She reappeared closer to the water’s edge. “Hello… hologram.” Then to George she said, “Colonel, might I suggest you make for the swamp door. I’ve tapped into several of the nearby emitters, but I’m not sure how long…”

  SMASH. The club came down again.

  The Leftenant reappeared again, only this time, ankle deep in the water. She began another one of her taunts toward the giant. George didn’t hear her however; for he was running for the swamp door as fast as his legs would carry him.

  Chapter 30

  “Dawson’s Revelation”

  “Is everyone accounted for, then?” The Leftenant asked them, and then used her bottom lip to channel the air toward the errant blonde bangs over her eyes.

  George, Dawson, Tank, Mrs. Belle, Dr. Bob, the bearded winged monkey… er… Will, and the rest of the other troll survivors were all spread out upon the ground, panting, and trying to catch their breaths.

  They had all heard the troll pounding on the door, but thus far, he had been unable to get through. So far, the wicked trees made no move toward them as they had with Karen.

  George, standing hunched over with his hands upon his knees, gasped, “Give us…give us a second, will you, Leftenant.”

  The Leftenant gave all the humans a second glance, and finally appreciating their frailties, clasped her hands behind her back and said, “Oh, very good, sir.”

  “We lost three more good men back there,” one of Karen’s men began with animosity in his voice. Before he could muster up a full steam, Will shoved a finger in his face and barked, “Hey, Todd, knock that stuff off. We’re not split up anymore. Besides, I didn’t see you doing anything back there to help those women and children.”

  George noted that Will and Dawson caught eyes, and the Rebel soldier gave him a brief nod.

  Eventually, everyone climbed to their feet. Mrs. Belle had twisted her ankle slightly but Traxx helped her up and told her to lean on him. The older woman smiled as she did so.

  “Alright then,” The Leftenant began impatiently. “Now that break time is over, is everybody ready?” After a few grumps and groans that were mostly in approval she continued, “Very good, then. If you will all be so kind as to please line up and follow me. We shall march through this infernal bog together, and emerge out the other side victorious. Whatever you do, whatever pretty baubles you see off the footpath, do not stray from the path. Not ever.”

 

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