Page 12 of Earth-Bound

With a sinking feeling, I realised I’d been overly hasty in showing myself. I was stronger than I was but not strong enough, not yet. I’d put myself in danger.

“What do you want?” Broadmire growled.

“Want? I don’t want anything; I was just introducing myself.”

“Where’d you come from?”

“Uh.” I hesitated. I didn’t want to tell the troll about my tree. He could probably fell it before sunset, if he wanted.

“Broadmire! The poor man’s just trying to make conversation.”

“Yeah? Where’d he come from, then?”

Randall didn’t have an answer to that.

Broadmire’s fists clenched tighter. “Who sent you?”

“I just wanted to say hello,” I insisted. “It seemed rude to let you talk to me without replying.”

There was a moment of silence as both of my friends absorbed that information.

Then Randall peered round Broadmire again, peeking out like a cuckoo in a clock. “What do you mean we were talking to you?”

“Well, you were talking…” I gestured at my tree. I was feeling drained already. This had been a terrible idea. I should have left it another week before trying to speak to anybody.

Before me, Randall’s face bloomed bright red and he said, “You mean you’ve been in that tree all along?”

I nodded.

Randall disappeared behind his mate again and I heard him moan. “Oh God, how embarrassing. I can’t believe you’ve heard me talking to a tree.”

“Your mate heard,” I pointed out. It was strange to talk to a man who was completely concealed from my view by a large, troll chest.

“Broadmire doesn’t count.” The troll’s face twitched as an emotion flickered across it but it was gone too quickly for me to identify and then he was back to scowling at me. Randall continued. “I don’t mind Broadmire knowing the weird things I do. I don’t wanteveryoneto know, though.”

This time, I could identify the emotion that spread across Broadmire’s face. It was satisfaction.

I cleared my throat. “I didn’t mean to deceive you. I was stuck inside the tree, you see, and couldn’t get out or speak toyou. It’s only because you pulled those spells off that I got out and it’s taken me a few days.”

“So you’ve been in there all this time?”

“Yes.”

Randall groaned again.

“I really don’t see that it’s anything to be embarrassed about. I am most grateful that you undid the curse which bound me to the tree.”

He peeped out from behind his mate again and I caught sight of his blue-green eyes.

“Who put that curse on you?”

“A witch called Mulgrave. Simon Mulgrave.”

“Where is he now?” Randall looked around as though expecting him to jump out at them.

I gestured at the house. “He used to live there. I suppose he’s dead now. He was very old, even back then. And it must have taken a lot of his energy to bind me to the apple tree. I can’t imagine he’d have survived long after.”

Randall shuffled round his mate to look up at his face and the troll apparently trusted me enough to let his mate into my sight because he didn’t move between us again.

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