The Clue of the Missing Socks - Chapter 23

The Clue of the Missing Socks

Chapter 23

          There was an awkward silence after my mother revealed that a Grapple Grounder was involved with my father’s death.

          “I don’t know for sure if a Grapple Grounder had any part in your father death, but I know it was there.  I saw it,” my mother said.  “Your father and I were in two sailing ships coming back to Berk.  I was in one and Sigvald in the other.  We got separated by fog and then a band of wild dragons attacked us.  This was about a decade ago.  So we did not know then what we know about dragons now.  But enough of that, what are you guys going to do about your friends and the dragon?”

          Cullan piped in saying, “I say we should rescue are friends by force,”

          “But that would be taking a huge risk because someone might get hurt,” said Hat sitting up.

          “You feeling better Hat?” I asked.

          “Yes I am.  Ooo,” Hat grunted as he sat up.  “I am just very sore at the moment.”

          “We need to stop talking, and start taking action!” said Cullan impatiently.

          “We will,” I assured.

          “What my brother is probably thinking is that we need to get a goodnight sleep before we start off for Outcast Island.  This would give Hat a chance to feel better so he can come along with us,” said my sister.

          “Plus, we can't do much at night and we need to prepare for the trip ahead of us,” I added.

          “Alright,” said Cullan who looked slightly calmed down.  “But we better start leaving at daybreak.”

          “We will,” I answered.  “By the way, why did you come to our house instead of to your own?”

          Navaro said, “Yours was the only house with a fire lit, and it was also the closest to the way we came back.”

          “Oh,” I said.

          “What gets me,” wondered Pat.  “is why the Flightmare came back.  There is nothing here for it because Hiccup diverted it glowing food into the ocean.  Why did it come back?”

          “I don’t know,” I replied.

          “Another thing, why haven’t we seen Arvin Dale's fire?” asked my mother.

          “Well it has been cloudy at night for the past several days.  If someone had seen it, they probably would have not thought much of it and since the Flightmare has not been a threat to Berk for a while, until now,” I replied.

          “What is also strange is on this note telling us to return the dragon or else is that this note was written with the Berserker signature, but it says we have to go to Outcast Island to return it,” Asvord said.

          “That is strange,” I answered.  “Do you suppose it has anything to do with why Dagur and Alvin were here at Berk the day I was knocked out?”

          “It might.  Well I think you should all try to get some rest before you head out to Outcast Island,” said my mother.

          “You are not going to try and stop us?” asked Cullan.

          “No.  I think you should go after your friends.  Just make sure you know what you are doing before you do it, because then you might make things worse,” replied my mother.

          “Advice taken,” said Hattori.

          My mother demanded that all of my friends stay here for the night.  Then get ready for the long trip ahead of us.  My mother was arranging the bedding arrangements so Asvord and I went back upstairs to our beds.

          When we got upstairs, I saw Elsa still had not moved.  I walked over to her bed, “Elsa.  Elsa!”

          “Hmm?  What??” said Elsa, sleepy eyed.

          “You need to wake up and go to sleep,” I said.

          “Oh,” she said and went right back to sleep.  Asvord shook her head at me.

          I hardly got any sleep that night because I was busy devising a plan to rescue our friends, that and also worrying about my friends wondering if they were okay.  I still couldn't figure out why someone needs a Grapple Grounder and why is it so valuable.

          In the morning I found that I was the last to get up.  Asvord who was coming up stairs to wake me said that the others were about ready to go to their homes and pack for the trip.  She added she had already caught Elsa up to speed on what transpired earlier in the day.

          I went down stairs and met my friends.  I told them my plan for today to get the tools needed packed on their dragons and to meet at the Great Hall when they were done.

          Asvord asked me after they left, “Do you know if your plan will work or not?”

          “No, I am still working on it.  I will be able to plan better once we are there at Outcast Island and I am able to see what we are up against,” I replied.

          My two sisters and I started to pack our things together for our trip.  We didn’t pack too much though because I didn’t expect we would be gone long.  The items that we mainly packed were ropes, a few extra weapons, some tools, and some food.

          “I think that should do,” I said.

          There was a knock at the door.  I went to go see who it was.  It was Hiccup.  Hiccup came in and immediately said he was sorry to hear that my friends had been kidnapped.  I told him what my friends said happened yesterday.  I also told him I was going to take a small scout team comprised of myself, my two sisters, and some of my friends.

          “And if I am not back within a week, come for me,”

          “A week?” Hiccup asked.

          “I just wanted to give extra time because I don’t really know how long I will be, but we shouldn’t be more than three days,” I said.

          “Okay.  What gets me is why the Flightmare came back?  Though the thing I am worried about is if this viking who has apparently trained the Flightmare to a certain extent, how much damage can the Flightmare do if this viking decides to attack Berk with the Flightmare?" Hiccup said.

          Hiccup's question went unanswered as my mother entered the room from the kitchen.  My mother greeted Hiccup and then spoke to me saying, “I was going to wait for a few days before I let Hiccup give you this, but since you will be riding on Fredrick for a longer trip, but you can go get Jarl’s present now Hiccup.”

          I didn’t really know what was going, but I had a suspicion.   Hiccup walked out of my house and then came back with a big saddle.  It was a thunderdrum saddle.

          “Wow!” I exclaimed.  “A thunderdrum saddle?  Thanks.”

          Hiccup replied, “Your welcome.  I wanted to give you a gift for risking you life to save my dad.  But I didn’t know what to give.  Once you found your thunderdrum I knew right away what I needed make for you.”

          “I wonder if Fredrick will let me put this saddle on him because we basically just met,” I said, thinking.

          “I don’t know.  Usually dragons won’t let the trainers put a saddle on them because they might be too young, or in your case just met,” said Hiccup.  “But your case might be different because you have already flown on Fredrick and you two, as far as I am concerned, have hit it off perfectly and you two already have a strong bond.”

          I had gone outside immediately to show Fredrick this saddle.  My dragon me and came trotting towards me, he stopped right in front of me and I showed him the saddle.  Without hesitation, he turned to show me his back, and I was able to put the saddle on him.  He did not even move a muscle while I was putting it on him.

          Hiccup was amazed.  He had never seen a dragon that willing for the trainer to put a saddle on the dragon without putting up some sort of fight or struggle.

          With that being done, I packed my things in the saddle back that came with it.  I put the bigger things like tools and weapons behind where I would sit.  I strapped them down with some extra rope so they would be secured during flight.

          Hiccup was still amazed by what he saw.  Fredrick was just standing there as if he had done this before.

          My two sisters were still packing.  They would always take a long time for them to pack things for a three or four day trip.  I told them I would meet them at the Great Hall.

          As Hiccup and I were walking to the Great Hall, I filled him in on some more details about the kidnappings and my plan to save my friends.

          Hiccup was stunned to hear that a Flightmare was being controlled by a viking.  He thought the Flightmare would un-trainable, apparently not.

          “Do you know your part of my plan that you need to do, Hiccup?” I asked.

          “Yes I do.”

          We entered the Great Hall with our dragons and met my friends near the door  They said they had packed in a hurry so we could take off as soon as possible.  I was just about to ask them what they packed when a man entered the Great Hall.  I was completely shocked who I saw walking in.  It was Adam!

          “Hi everybody, what’s new?” said Adam.

          Everyone gasped.

          “Why of all the nerve!” said Cullan rushing over to Adam.  Cullan grabbed and Adam a slammed him up against the wall.  “Why in the world would you come back after what you did last night.”

          “Hey what is this for!” Adam demanded.  “I was just looking for Pebbles last night.  He was not here in the house when I went to bed, so I went out looking for him.”

          “Cullan!  Put him down!” I ordered.

          “What?!  Are you serious?!  Didn’t you hear what Hat said?  He saw this here.. person last night,” said Cullan as he put him down.

          “Who saw me where, when?” Adam said dusting himself off.

          “I don’t want to sound like I am trying to defend him, but it was a dark night and the man may have looked like Adam but it may not have actually been Adam,” I said.

          “Come on now Jarl.  You don’t actually believe the man, do you?” said Hattori.  “I know what I saw.”

          “Do you have anybody that can tell us that they saw you last night looking for your cat?” I asked.  By now a crowd had started to gather around us.  I saw Stoick and Gobber were among them.

          “No.  The whole village was asleep when I had gone out looking for my cat.  Why would that make any difference?” said Adam who was greatly annoyed at being accused.

          “It would make a lot of difference.  Hattori here can place you at the scene of a kidnapping which makes you an accessory after the fact,” explained Pat.

          “But I tell you I was right here in Berk looking for my cat.  I left slightly after you and your family went to bed, Jarl.  I couldn’t find my cat, so I went out looking for him.  It took me all night to find him,” said Adam, trying to make us believe what he was telling us.  “But as I was about ready to return to Berk, I found these on the ground next to Pebbles.”

          Adam showed us an axe and a couple of pans.  My friends and I immediately recognized it.  I knew who’s they were right away because she always keeps her axe and pans handy.  They were Meen’s!

Here is the link to my next chapters:  http://forum.schoolofdragons.com/content/clue-missing-socks-chapter-24-and-25