Gold deep in the mountain

Bang bowed to Buffy, and Bong waved for her to follow them. They walked off up the mountain, to where the trolls had just begun digging out a cave. A short distance from the cave was the opening to a tunnel. Light shone from inside.

Bang went first. Then Buffy, followed by Bong.

The tunnel wound into the mountain, its walls lit by burning torches. They went down long flights of stairs, further and further, deeper and deeper. Their footsteps echoed. Buffy was glad the trolls weren’t brumbling. The reverberation in here would burst her eardrums.

They came at last to a large chamber carved into the middle of the mountain. Two figures sat playing on a glittering, shiny heap of something golden.

One was Helmer! Thank goodness. Buffy let out a sigh of relief.

He was playing with a troll child, and together they were building a castle out of gold bars. Gold! Yes, everything down here was gold.

“Hi, Buffy!” said Helmer. “It was naughty of me to run away.”

“Yes,” said Buffy.

“Sorry,” said Helmer.

“Although it was good that you told me that the trolls are kind. I finally remembered hearing that.”

“I didn’t know what to do,” said Helmer. “I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t want my friend to be pounded by Badger.”

They hugged each other. Buffy understood perfectly.

“This is my friend, by the way,” said Helmer. “His name is Bing.”

Buffy shook the troll’s hand. She took out the last cake and gave it to Bing.

He loved the night cake topped with a miniature sugary lemon moon.

His parents smiled happily.

They all sat down on the gold heap and the young ones went on building their castle.

The trolls explained that they came from the far north, from the great forests, but they had been forced to flee with their gold and everything. And so they had ended up in this pleasant forest. They would be very happy to stay and live here in the mountain.

“Why did you save so much gold?” asked Buffy.

“To have something in store for the family that can be exchanged for necessary items,” explained Bang. “Time is so long. Do you know how old I am?”

“One thousand, three hundred years,” Buffy answered straight away. “I heard that at the police station…”

“I knew the police knew a lot, but that surprises me,” said Bang. “It costs a lot to look after a child. Bing is only one hundred years old, and it will be another four hundred before he’s grown up!”

“Gosh,” said Buffy. “How do you make the gold bars, by the way?” she asked, curious.

“Oh, gold is as soft as clay in our hands,” said Bong. “We’re strong.”

She picked up some gold nuggets and pressed them together, shaping them into a shiny gold bar.

“We can make any figure you like from gold,” said Bong.

“Gold bars are fun to play with,” said Helmer. “We should have them at kindergarten…”

Bang cleared his throat, which echoed in the chamber. He had something important to say.

“We are trolls,” he said. “We frighten animals because we are so terribly ugly…”

“No, no,” Buffy protested, lying a little. “And it’s not forbidden to be ugly.”

“We trolls have always had to keep to ourselves,” said Bong, “and that’s how it came about that we’ve saved gold to exchange for food, so we can survive.”

“That’s terrible if that’s the case,” said Buffy. “No one can help what they look like! If someone is ugly and brumbles to a certain extent, that’s their right. It’s not a crime.”

“Everyone says we are ugly,” said Bong. “And we are sensitive. We get very sad!”

“It’s not surprising you get angry if people shout at you,” said Buffy.

“I get very angry indeed,” said Bang. “Why do they shout, when we’re just getting on with our lives and talking quietly amongst ourselves? That’s when I sometimes destroy their things. Only things!”

“Trash cans!” said Buffy. ”Hmm. I get it now. But then there was me, as well...”

“What?” said both the trolls.

“I was here! The police had to investigate what was happening up on the mountain…”

“No! That was you?” said Bong.

The trolls began to wriggle.

“Was that you? We were just trying to get away from a bright light and an angry voice,” Bang said regretfully. “We ran away in terror!”

“It was by accident that we trampled on little you,” said Bong. “Yes, we did feel something soft underfoot, but we hoped it was just a small...well, a sock.”

Both trolls started to sniffle and their tears splashed onto the floor. Bong reached out and stroked Buffy’s cheek.

“Everything turned out all right,” said Buffy.

“We offer a thousand apologies for what we did!” Bang said in a soft brumble. “But we were so scared of you.”

Buffy felt a little proud.

Then the troll lifted Buffy up and hugged her.

“Careful, careful!” Buffy puffed, thinking how strong they were with the gold bars.

It felt strange to be hugged by two enormous hairy beings who smelled of clay.

“But I still don’t understand why you’ve been looking for saucepans,” Buffy said after a while.

The trolls began to explain that they wanted to eat the same sort of food as other animals. But how was it prepared? It had something to do with saucepans and bowls, they knew that much. But how was it done? They couldn’t work it out.

“The food you gave us was absolutely wonderful. We haven’t eaten for twelve years so we are a little peckish.”

“Cakes,” said Buffy. “Would you like to know how to make cakes?”

And then she had a brilliant idea.

Hmm, she thought. Sometimes you can figure out how it’s all going to end. Just as Gordon said. I’ve figured out how to solve everything now. So everyone will be happy!

And so Buffy explained it all to them in a whisper. But then she said sternly: “If we meet anyone, you must promise to be like stones. Or trees. You must be absolutely quiet, and you mustn’t look anyone straight in the eye.”

All three trolls nodded silently.