The clue of the Missing Socks - Chapter 45, Parts 1 and 2 The final Chapter!

Sorry it took me so long to post these.  I thought I could get them done in time to be posted on Christmas day, but I didn't plan for enough time.  I had to do some other things during the day, and I didn't plan my time out very well.

 

But here you go.  I got the final chapter done.  There is a slight intro for my next story, The Mysterious Frozen Fire, at the end of Chapter 45 Part 2.

 

Read and enjoy, then tell me what you thought of my story as this concludes:

 

The Clue of the Missing Socks

 

Chapter 45, Part 1

 

          The tunnel that I was sliding down took me a down a considerable amount of distance, for I was sliding for at least a minute at a very fast pace.

 

          “Jarl!  Jarl!!” mother screamed again.  “Fredrick-.”

 

          I then heard a larger echo of air coming from behind.  My dragon must be coming after me.

 

          Thump!

 

          “Jarl speak to me!!” I heard my older sister say as I hit a wall.  I was carrying so much momentum I could not stop myself.

 

          “Oww.  I hourt mah head,” I said with a little kid voice.

 

          “Are you okay Jarl?!” mother demanded.

 

          “Oh no!” I then said.

 

          Crash!!

 

          “Okay now that one hurt,” I said calmly as Fredrick ran into me after he slid down and knocked me into the wall again.  Fredrick then licked me to see that I was safe.

 

          “Are you okay, you idiot?” Asvord the said, I could tell that the tone in her voice was now relaxed.  I noticed that since I was further away from the rest of the group, every time someone spoke there was a slight echo.

 

          “Yes I am my idiot sister,” I retorted.  “Don’t any of you try to come down here, there is not enough space.”

 

          “Well what do you see?” mother asked.

 

          “Not much, send the torch down,” I said.

 

          I then heard a small rushing noise of the torch going down the tunnel.  I then grabbed it as it came down and rested near my feet.  I grabbed it and started to examine the shute I slid down.  I slid my finger across the surface of it.  I then rubbed my fingers together.  There was a slippery substance along the whole floor of the shute.

 

          “I’m coming down there,” mother then stated.

 

          “No you’re not,” I ordered.  “There is not enough room.  Plus I don’t want you to get hurt.”

 

          “Well you didn’t,” replied Asvord with a slightly irritated tone.

 

          “Asvord, mother.  Really, I’m fine.  I was just blessed enough that I didn’t get hurt.. as much as I did.”

 

          “What?!” mother demanded.

 

          “Just a slight bump on the head,” I said then I spoke in a voice trying to imitate my sister.  “Only that on the way down and when I smacked the wall twice, it messed up my hair.  Oh the humanity.  Aw, and I also broke a nail.”

 

          I could hear everyone laughing.

 

          “Haha, very funny,” I heard my sister say.  I could just see her now.  She would be shaking her head.

 

          “Stop shaking your head at me,” I returned.

 

          “How’d you know?” she questioned.

 

          “Look I’ve been stuck with you my whole life, I should know you better than anybody,” I retorted.

 

          “What?  I’ve been stuck with you too ya know,” Asvord replied.  “I’ve had to dea-.”

 

          “Okay, okay, okay.  As much as I’d love to hear this entertainment, I think we should get back to business,” said Bergr, chuckling.

 

          “Yeah, you’re right,” I said, slightly disappointed because I was getting at Asvord good.

 

          “What do you see down there?” asked Faith.

 

          “Pretty much what Hamish has written down in his book here,” I stated.

 

          I then tried to turn the page.  My fingers were sticking together, so I rubbed some dirt on them.  If I had some water, I’d rinse my fingers off.  This is the best way to get anything sticky off your fingers or hands.  It even takes of pine sap.

 

          I tried again to turn the page, but this time the page seemed thicker than all the rest of the pages, I saw that two pages were sticking together.  I was able to peel them apart.  Hamish had some notes on this page saying, “Watch out for the decline to the wall-door, it is slippery.”

 

          “Thanks Hamish, you couldn’t say that in your entry could you,” I said to myself.  I then said out loud, “I see those pedestals Hamish was talking about.”

 

          “What do the indentations look like on them?” inquired Bergr.

 

          “Why slap my yak they look like the eggs the Steinson now has,” I said shocked.

 

          “So that is why Steinson really wants those eggs,” stated Repteil.

 

          “What are we going to do about it?” stated Cazi.

 

          “I have an idea,” I declared.

 

          “What are you going to do?” asked Tory.

 

          “I am going to put some rocks with weights equal to that of the eggs,” I said.

 

          “You don’t know how much the eggs way,” Asvord said.  “It might be a trap if you try to do something that is not correct.”

 

          “I know, but I can’t come back up the shute because Fredrick wouldn’t have enough room to spread his wings out to flap, let alone the fact trying to fly,” I replied.  “And there isn’t enough room to fly down to me either.  So my best bet is to open the door here and find a way back to you guys.”

 

          “Well okay,” Asvord replied hesitantly.  “Be careful.”

 

          “I will,” I said.

 

          I looked on the wall and there was a holder for a torch.  I then set the torch in the holder.  I look around for some medium sized rocks.  I found some and lifted them to feel their weight.  The two rocks I found were about the same weight of the egg, if I remembered correctly.

 

          “Here goes nothing,” I stated as I started to set the two rocks in the indentations on the pedestals at the same time.

 

          A big loud crunching sound followed by a rush of wind came through the door when it opened.

 

          “Wow,” I declared grabbing the torch and walking in.

 

          “What is it?” questioned Cazi.

 

          “This is amazing,” I continued.  “The rock on the side of the walls in this giant room reflects the light from the torch.  So there really isn’t a need for several light sources such as torches.”

 

          “Ah you rhymed, now find a way to get us in there,” demanded Asvord.

 

          I saw another holder for a torch and put mine in it.  I read some more of Hamish’s notes on the next page, while Fredrick walked in and started searching for something.  I read on the next page that there was indeed another way to get to the room that I was in.  I heard Fredrick purr.  I looked up and saw him standing by a large wall.

 

          “Hey guys,” I said talking back up the shute.  “Go back to the main tavern when we first came in.  I think I found that way in.”

 

          “Okay,” they all acknowledged.

 

          I jogged over to where Fredrick was and examined the wall next to him.  There was another pedestal with the same indentation of the other pedestals.

 

          “You’d think Hamish was the one that set this all up with all the pedestals,” I said under my breath.

 

          I looked around again for a rock that was the same size and weight as the one before.  I found it and put it on the pedestal.  It seems like these pedestals, when adding the correct weight on them, starts a mechanized system that will open doors.

 

          This time for this door, there was an even louder crunching sounds followed by another rush of wind, but stronger this time.  The door was massive as when it opened completely, the entryway stretched have the wall of the first tavern room.

 

          “Jarl,” Asvord said rushing over to me and hugging me.  “Don’t you ever do that again.”

 

          “Aren’t you afraid you’ll embarrass yourself by hugging me?” I asked.

 

          “No,” she said as she let go of me.  “I’m already embarrassed enough as it is just by you doing what you do,” she ended with a wink.

 

          “Okay now that we have had the family reunion, can we now get back to the mystery?” said Tory.

 

          “Okay,” I replied.

 

          I turned the next page in Book 2 and there was nothing more except one note by Herigar about Hamish.

 

          “Strange.  Listen to this,” I spoke then read the note in the book.  “On Hamie’s third and final trip, we had a near death situation.  Hamish nearly lost his life trying to solve the mystery.  Not to mention Hamish’s father followed us when we entered had gone back to the southwest side of the island.  We entered the tavern and were ambushed by renegading outlaw vikings.  They don’t deserve to be called vikings.  Hamish was in the tavern at the time those outlaws arrived.  A boy of his nature, even though being smart, could not escape them.  The outlaws must have heard about the treasure and came to collect.  When they saw others trying to ‘take it’, they wanted nothing of it.  If they couldn’t have the treasure, no one should.  So they caused a cave-in and then ran away like the cowards they are.  Hamish’s father was observing from a distance, but once he saw the renegading outlaws he came to the rescue.  But it was nearly too late.  The outlaws had escaped, being a man of my age, I couldn’t not get the boulders out of the way.  But Hamish I was a great warrior and made quick work of rescuing his son.  The cave-in must have opened up another tunnel that let in water from the ocean.  The tunnel was quickly filling up with water.  We barely escaped with our lives.  I told Hamish, when we walked back to the docks, solving this mystery was not worth the risk.  Hamish’s father agreed with me.  Whatever may be at the end of this mystery, is not worth the risk of losing your life”

 

          “With that, I didn’t really see Hamish after that; only on Snoggletog, once a year to visit.  I’ve tried to discourage any attempts to by Hamish or anybody for that matter, trying to continue on where we had left off.  Whoever is reading this note now, get out while you still can.  This is one mystery that must stay a mystery.”

 

          “Man, no wonder most people stopped coming to our island,” Cazi stated.  “because most of them came to look for the treasure.”

 

          “Something is telling me that our mystery and the ‘Tale of Two Taverns’ is connected in more ways than we think,” I declared.

 

          “So are we going to stop looking?” inquired Cazi.

 

          “Nope,” I said.

 

          “You read for yourself what Herigar said.  Right?” Repteil told me.

 

          “Yes, but if there is something more to the mystery and treasure that we still don’t know about, I don’t want Steinson let alone GR to get his hands on it,” I voiced.  “Especially if GR goes back and takes whatever it is that makes the treasure special back to that one guy DB.”

 

          “Are you thinking that this ‘special thing’ is a dragon?” inputted Navaro.

 

          “That is the main thing I am worried about,” I said.  “And with the notes we read earlier about the ‘black dragon’ looking something like the dragon that had been terrorizing Berk for so many years…,”

 

          “Are you saying that this treasure isn’t measured in gold or jewels, but a dragon?  But not just any dragon, a Night Fury?” asked Sapphire.

 

          “It is a possibility,” I professed.

 

          “So where do we go from here,” requested Faith.

 

          “That is one thing that has me stumped at the moment,” I uttered search this large room for anything that might be of some help.  Take some torches to light your way.  I saw several along the walls in here.”

 

          Everyone dispersed and started to search.  This room that we were in was massive.  It could probably hold two, if not three Great halls in it.  There were several columns scattered about formed by the dripping of water from stalactites to stalagmites.  There were also several of stalactites and stalagmites scattered about as well.

 

          I sat on one of those stalagmites that had a rounded top to them.  I studied what Herigar had written down on the last page in Book 2.  Something just did not seem right to me.  The way Herigar wrote the note it is if there is another place that we need to go.

 

          “What’s the matter?” asked Cazi as she came back to me after about five minutes of search the nearby walls and floor.

 

          “I don’t know, really,” I replied.  “It is just the way in which Herigar wrote this final note in Book 2.  He seems to me like he switched from helping Hamish II to not helping him too fast.  It just doesn’t feel right.”

 

          “How do you mean?” she questioned.

 

          “Well look here,” I pointed out to her in Book 2 where I read.  “This part where he talks about: ‘…followed us when we entered had gone back to the southwest side of the island…’  When we circled this island twice, I did not see any way you could enter a tavern or even a cave from the southwest side.  Also something don’t add up like: ‘…We entered the tavern and were ambushed by…’ the outlaws.  But he then said in a sentence following: ‘…Hamish was in the tavern at the time those outlaws arrived…’  Now the way that speaks to me is that Herigar first said that they both went in together and then the outlaws struck, and then somehow Herigar got outside the tavern when the outlaws arrived.”

 

          “Well maybe Herigar was a forgetful man, because he was quite old when he met Hamish,” said Cazi.  “So has Bergr told me.”

 

          “The main thing that gets me is how can Herigar and Hamish be on this island, but still be able to walk to a dock?  Because of: ‘…when we walked back to the docks…’,” I spoke.  “One other thing, if Hamish’s father took down the rocks from the cave-in to rescue his son, how come we saw the entrance to the second tavern here be completely block by a cave-in?”

 

          “I don’t know,” stated Cazi.  “Unless…,”

 

          “Unless what?” I said.

 

          “Unless this isn’t the island that the treasure is housed on,” Cazi declared.

 

          “What are you saying?”

 

          “I am saying that the treasure is back on my home island,” Cazi told me.  “That is how they could have walked back to the docks because they were on my island.”

 

          “You know, I think you’re right,” I declared.

 

          Everyone at that moment had returned.

 

          “Where do we go from here?” asked mother.

 

          “I thin-,” something dropped on my head.  “What the,” I looked up and saw I was just under a stalactite.  Then I noticed something.

 

          “Come here Meatballs,” I spoke.  “Could you have your dragon fly me up there Elsa?”

 

          “Sure, I guess,” my little sister replied, “Don’t know what you see up there.”

 

          I sat behind my little sister on Meatballs.  We fly up to the top of the ceiling in the Tavern room.

 

          “Well lookie here,” I said.  There was a false ceiling.

 

          More or less it was just big hole enough for Meatballs to hover through.  There were a ton of crystals in here.  The room was very bright.

 

          “What do you see up there?” asked Tory.

 

          “The place where those eggs must have originated from.  The two eggs that Steinson has plus the empty one that we gave Adam,” I said.

 

          The small room was kind of like an attic; low-lying ceiling with very little room.  I looked all around the room, and I saw something that alarmed me.  I saw a broken egg shell and liquid coming from it.

 

          “Hey guys,” I relayed.  “One of the last eggs, I’m assuming, has recently been hatched.”

 

 

 

Chapter 45, Part 2

 

          “What?!” I heard most of them say.

 

          “You can go down now, Elsa,” I spoke to my sister.

 

          “What are you saying?  Whatever type dragon was in that egg is now loose?” quizzed Navaro.

 

          “That is what I’m afraid of,” I said.

 

          I then told the group what Cazi and I had thought of about what Herigar had noted at the end of Book 2.  I left out the part where I thought Herigar was to “anxious” to stop any from coming near the mystery, because of Bergr.  I didn’t want him to think that I could have thought of that.  For one thing, I just met Bergr today and I don’t know how he would react.

 

          Everyone realized as I did that this maybe be exactly correct that the treasure is actually on the home island of Cazi and Bergr.  We all exited the tavern.  We extinguished all the torches we had previously lit and then exited the tavern.  But before we left the island, I wanted to examine the spot of the cave-in in the second tavern entrance.  I was curious about something.  I quickly examined the surrounding areas and then said we can be on our way.

 

          “Hey guys,” I said before we took off.  “The sun will be setting in about three hours.  We need to get back to their island as soon as possible.”

 

          “So what are standing around here for?” stated Tory, but didn’t expect a reply from anyone.

 

          We mounted our dragons and flew on our way back to Cazi and Bergr’s home.  It took half the time it took to fly back as it did to fly to Two Tavern Island.

 

          I motioned to the others that we would circle the island fairly high in the sky and then land where we had our previous camp.  While we circled the island, I noticed that there were hardly any people out and about.  Usually at this time of day, everyone would be going home and be getting ready for the evening meal or going to the marketplace to get the food for the meal.

 

          After that we landed at the site of our previous camp to regroup.

 

          “Do you happen to have a map of your island, Cazi, by any change?” I asked.

 

          “I do,” Bergr said.  “Here you go.”

 

          I took the map and examined it.

 

          “See look here,” I said pointing to the southwest part of the map.  “This is where I think the treasure is located.  Because in Herigar’s notes he said that they entered the tavern from the southwest side.  But he didn’t say from what island.”

 

          “I think we’ve hit on something,” Cazi stated.  “because that is an old abandoned silver mine.”

 

          “Why was it abandoned?” asked Pat.

 

          “Because they said it was so called ‘haunted’,” replied Cazi.

 

          “Then that is where the treasure is, I’m sure of it,” I expressed.

 

          “Uh didn’t you hear what Cazi said, Jarl?” questioned Cullan.  “She said that is haunted.”

 

          “So?” I uttered.

 

          “Doesn’t that scare you?” Faith also questioned.

 

          “No,” I said.  “I don’t believe in that stuff.  Ghosts in all that stuff.  Because for one thing we thought that Toothless a Night Fury, a Flightmare, and several of the Mystery Class dragons were nothing bit of a dragon but more ghostly in nature.  But in fact they turned out to be just plain old dragons.”

 

          “Okay, here’s my plan,” I then stated.

 

          “You’re always a man with a plan,” my mother told me.

 

          I smiled.

 

          “Okay we are going to do this a little bit how we did the rescue mission on Outcast Island.  Just with a few changes.  Now that we have everyone as a group, we can more easily divide into teams,” I started.

 

          Everyone was listening intently.

 

          “We have twenty people including myself and the adults here.  That means we can split up into to four even groups of five.”

 

          “Hattori, Ashley, Annett, Repteil, and Sapphire are one group.  Myself, Tory, Bergr, Cazi, and Explod are another.  Asvord, Elsa, my mother, Faith and Navaro make still another.  Then Cullan, Pat, Jack, Thoreous, and Meen make the last group of five.”

 

          “So what do you want us to do?” asked Faith.

 

          “First we’ll have names for each team.  Meen, your team will be ‘Diversion’.  And,-“

 

          “Why does she get to be team leader, Jarl?” asked Pat.

 

          “Because I said so.  Moving on.  Your team Meen will move in first and start a Diversion.  Draw out GR’s men and lead the fight away from the village to the northeast part of the island.  Do what you can to get GR’s men to follow you.  Mother, your team will be The Pin.  Once Meen’s team leads GR’s men out of the village, Pin down GR’s men by cutting them off from getting back to the village and getting help.  Try your best to keep GR’s men from coming back to the village.  When you have them pinned, Asvord, Fire a short blast into the air to cue The Hammer to come in.”

 

          “Hatt, your team, Hammer, will engage the rest of GR’s men, and keep them occupied while my team, Socks, goes after the cave.  I don’t expect GR to send all of his men out, just the majority of them.  This will even the odds in our favor.  With GR’s forces divided, we will be able to get to the entrance of the real tavern this whole mystery has been about.  My team will go into the cave and recover whatever is in there that GR wants so badly,” I concluded.  “Everybody with me?”

 

          “Yes!” everyone cheered.

 

          “Move out!”  I then voiced.

 

          My plan started going into action.  We all mounted our dragons and flew to a safe distance above the island.  Diversion then flew in a started their part of the plan.  It was getting darker outside, but there were no clouds in the sky now so there would be some more time of sunlight to be shown.

 

          I motioned The Pin to go ahead and move in as I saw just as I expected most of GR’s men chasing Diversion.

 

          “Okay this is where we split up,” I voiced motioning The Hammer to move in.

 

          I gave The Hammer enough time to move in, about five minutes.  They quickly had the rest of GR’s men’s attention.

 

          “One last thing,” I said.  “Cazi stay up here, wait here three minutes and then as quiet as you can come fly down to the entrance of the cave.”

 

          “Why should I do that?  What would that be accomplishing?” pondered Cazi.

 

          “You’ll know it when you see what happens down there,” I replied.

 

          “You ready guys?” I asked my team.

 

          “We’re ready as we’ll ever be,” Bergr said as he was sitting behind me on Fredrick.

 

          We then flew down in nearly a straight dive.

 

          “Ahhh!” Bergr screamed as we dove down.

 

          “Not quite used to dragon flying are you, Bergr,” I said loudly so he could hear me.

 

          “No!” He replied.  “At least not for the sharp dives.”

 

          We were at the site of the southwest cave entrance in minutes.  We could hear all the commotion of the battles taking place.

 

          “Do you think we’ll have to battle anyone?” asked Explod as we landed on the beach.

 

          “I can answer that question for you,” said a high toned voice coming from the forest nearby.  “Yes you will.”

 

          “I kind of figured you would show up before we could get into the cave,” I said with slight disgust.

 

          “Oh so you finally figured it out that this cave was the actual cave now,” stated GR with a weird calm tone.  “And you had to go all out of your way just for nothing to that useless island.. uh what is it called again?”

 

          “Two Tavern?” Bergr suggested.

 

          “Ah yes, good ‘ol Two Tavern.  It is beautiful this time of year,” stated GR.

 

          “Oh kay, and this is conversation is going where exactly?” I wondered.

 

          “Oh I’m sorry.  I got a little side tracked.  I was about to say that you will have to come with me, again,” said GR mockingly.

 

          “You know what happened the last time you said that,” I replied.

 

          “You escaped, but there is no escaping this time,” GR retorted.

 

          “Well I don’t plan to escape, I plan to stop you and your men,” I stated.

 

          “You must be joking,” GR chuckled.  “I haven’t heard a good joke in a long time.  Really?  You and a bunch of kids flying silly dragons cannot stop me.”

 

          Just then a huge crackling noise sounded.

 

          “Oh there you went and did it,” Cazi yelled as she flew in on Sparklebolt.  “Never call a skrill ‘silly’.”

 

          “What?!” GR called out.

 

          Several of GR’s men were stunned by Sparklebolt’s electric shock blast.

 

          “That is it, no more Mister Nice Guy,” GR uttered.

 

          “Oh so before all this you were playing the Nice Guy?” I replied.

 

          GR reach for his sword and rushed me.  I couldn’t fight him with my bow.  So I reach for my sword in my holder on my saddle on Fredrick and swung my sword just in time to block his charge.

 

          We had a several minutes of exchanges in a sword dual.

 

          “Very impressive you handle yourself quite well as a swordsman,” GR stated.

 

          “Well not my weapon of choice, but it doesn’t hurt to know how to use one,” I replied.

 

          “Yes but unfortunately I have a deadline to reach,” GR said and then out of now where a red streak knocked my sword out of my hand.

 

          It was the older of the two Grapple Grounders.

 

          “Now what are you going to do?” asked GR.

 

          “Do what you least expect,” I said as I bent down and then through sand in his eyes.

 

          While GR stood dazed, I ran over to Fredrick and told him to go help the others.  He didn’t want to go, but then I grabbed his face and looked into his eyes.  Fredrick must have sensed that I wanted him to trust me as he fly off and went to go help the rest of the Socks team.

 

          Several of GR’s men then rushed me and grabbed me from both sides.

 

          “Ha we got you now,” said a third man coming over.

 

          He threw a right cross, but I ducked.  The punch landed square on the guy that was holding my right arm.  He was out cold.  I swung my right leg and kicked the guy holding my right arm.  He then stumbled over backwards, tripping over Cazi’s left leg who was right there in a fight of her own.  My guy tripped over Cazi’s leg, stumbled, and knocked out the guys fight Cazi.

 

          “Why you little…,” started the guy who tried to punch me and drew his swoard

 

          Just then Fredrick fired at the guy who drew his sword on me.  The guy went flying and landed ten feet in front of me, losing his sword in the process.  He got up dazed, but I ran, jumped and pushed of a stone that was nearby and landed a flying punch on the guys face.  He was out cold.  I shook out my hand as that punch kind of hurt.

 

          I turned back to see GR running in to the cave that I need to get in.  Three more of GR’s men rushed me.

 

          “Come on man,” I stated and sighed.  “These guys keep coming.”

 

          The first guy rushed me dove down and took out his legs from beneth him.  The second guy saw me do that, so stopped and through a left uppercut.  I defended the punch by leaning back.  The punch nearly clipped my nose.  But then I shoved his elbow in the air which carried his momentum of the punch and he ended up punching himself in the face.  This knocked him back, running into the third guy coming from behind which found himself knocked out by the second guy who punched himself.

 

          “Man you guys are easy to defeat,” I joked taking of his helmet.  I recognized him as an Outcast soldier.  “Well no wonder.  GR got some the Outcasts to join his side.  GR’s own men I know our more skilled, but they must be occupied with The Hammer, The Pin, and Diversion.

 

          I ran as quickly as I could over the sand to the entrance of the cave.  I saw that my friends had things well in hand.  Before I entered I drew my bow with an arrow and then entered the cave.

 

          “GR, I know you’re in here,” I said.  The cave was poorly lit due to only a couple of torches being lit.  “Look you are going to lose, your forces are outmatched.  Your Outcast allies are no match for the skills of my friends and family.  And your men are no match for the teamwork of all the riders and their dragons.  So give up.”

 

          “You of all people should know the answer to that,” came an echoing voice from the further in the cave.

 

          “I do, but still,” I replied.

 

           “What have you to gain by claiming the treasure in this cave?” I asked.

 

          “Treasure.  Ha, you really don’t know what you’re up against do you,” GR spoke as his voice sounded closer as I continued to walk into the cave.

 

          “Okay then the treasure must be a dragon then,” I stated.

 

          “Very good,” GR said as I saw a shadow come out from the corner.  “You have better sense then I gave you credit for.”

 

          “Thanks, I think,” I said.

 

          “But this isn’t just any dragon,” GR said coming into the light.  “This is an alpha species.  Meet the titan of Grapple Grounders.”

 

          I gasped as a much larger blue and yellow Grapple Ground came into view.

 

          “This is what this mystery Two Taverns has been all about,” GR spoke as the titan Grapple Ground crept closer to me.  I lowered my bow as a hope to show the new dragon I’m not a threat.

 

          “Yes, you won’t be needing that,” GR said.  “Besides I don’t care about my men, the Outcasts, or your friends and family.  All I care about is pleasing my master, the great and only dragon master of all.”

 

          “But before I end your life, I think you have a right to know,” GR expressed.

 

          “You’re just full of surprises,” I said under my breath.

 

          “I know what happened to your father on that ship,” GR alleged.

 

          “What?!” I said shocked.

 

          “I do indeed,” GR announced.  “I was trying to get that egg your mother and father had, but they turned down all of my offers.  So I then hired some of the renegading vikings to sabotage your parents ship on the way home to get that egg.  My attempts failed, as your mother escaped.  The first mate of the renegading vikings reported back to me what happened, and that your father was thrown overboard.”

 

          “No,” I expressed.  “You’re lying.”

 

          “Am I?” GR voiced.  “I knew that egg your father gave your mother for their anniversary was empty.  But it I needed it to study to find out where the rest of the eggs were.  That was the only sighting of that egg I had seen for years and years.  Until just recently when I hooked up with Steinson and his brother, did I think could continue on my quest.  I found that Steinson had the two eggs.  This solved my problem.  However, I needed to continue to keep those brothers in the dark, but Adam found out.  So I ‘spilled the beans’ to Steinson.  He found no problem with what I was doing.  Though I didn’t tell him why and how I got to this point.  Steinson just saw the money that could be made from this deal.  Adam didn’t agree, and well you probably know the rest from there.”

 

          “But I still can’t figure out how you got onto my trail?” GR questioned.

 

          “Trolls,” I said calmly nodding my head.

 

          “Trolls?  You are just full of jokes today,” GR said.

 

          “It’s true,” I said holding my bow in my right hand and turned slightly away from GR to shield what I was doing in my left hand.  “Though, your big mistake was using a Grapple Grounder in your thefts during the business that Steinson was in.  The Grounder is polydactyl dragon.”

 

          “Poly did what with her dragon?”

 

          “No stupid, polydactyl.  This means your dragon had an extra claw on at least one foot.  In your case, the Grounder had an extra claw on each foot.”

 

          “Interesting, never noticed that before,” GR considered.  “But I know you better than that, you are stalling for something.”

 

          “Who me?” I replied.  “I’m just trying to figure you out.  You put out all this effort just for a dragon?”

 

          “Yes, my master has big plans for dragons of this species.  My master doesn’t take kindly to delays.  That is why I’ve been all of this for ‘just a dragon’.  This is what you get when you delay.”  GR then lowered the top of his shirt to reveal what looked like a slightly rectangled shape which was burned onto his skin.   “If I delay one more time, he won’t act to kindly to me.”

 

          “Well I can put your fears to rest, because you won’t be going anywhere,” I expressed.

 

          “Now how come?”

 

          “Because while I had both your red Grapple Grounders, I know one thing:  They absolutely love Dragon Nip and they can’t get enough of it,” I mentioned as I took out a huge bundle of Dragon Nip from my right pocket.  Both the older red Grapple Grounder that was there and the titan blue and yellow Grapple Grounder all rushed over at me like baby dragons wanting attention.  I gave Aqua Blue some Dragon nip and Grouchy his Dragon Nip.

 

          “What do you think of that Aqua Blue?” I spoke with a puppy voice.  Whenever you meet a new dragon and you start to make strides to be his friend, sometimes the dragon will respond better if you give it a name.  That I learned from Hiccup.  Aqua Blue just wagged his tail and thumbed his back leg.  “You’re just a big old nice guy aren’t you?  Yes you are,” I said playfully.  I started scratching all over the big blue dragon’s neck.  He, or she I can’t quite tell really, fell in love with me instantly.

 

          “How did you do that?” asked GR in amazement.

 

          “I guess you haven’t heard the news:  You can now train a dragon to be your best friend for life,” I said as I gave the Grounders the rest of my Dragon Nip.

 

          “Well I don’t care I need that dragon to-,” GR started, but was cut down by a pan to the head, again.

 

          “Meen?” I tested the new comer.

 

          “Nope just me Adam,” said the man.

 

          “Adam?  Why do you have a pan?” I quizzed.

 

          “When I saw what your friend Meen’s pan does to people, especially GR here, I just had to have one.  Good thing he wears a helmet, huh.  I’ve been waiting to do that for a long time,” replied Adam.

 

          “I guess I didn’t need you after all,” I added.

 

          “Oh, though you don’t know it, I did persuade GR to not follow you as I said, hoping actually, that whatever you found would lead you back here,” whistled Adam.  “Boy was I glad I was right on that.”  Adam then picked up GR and dragged him outside with us.  I picked up my bow and arrow on the way out.

 

          When we came outside, I found that all of my friends now were over here finishing off the last of the enemy vikings.

 

          “Well did you miss a whale of a fight,” relayed Cazi.  “This one guy had me dead to rights but I grabbed his right arm, used leveraged, and flung him over and knocked out another viking.  I was also in a pretty epic dual with another guy with a sword that I had picked up.   We kept going back and forth until Meen ‘dropped in’ and her little friends said, ‘Hello,’ again.  But enough about my epic-ness, how’d you make out?”

 

          “Well see for yourself,” I said pointing to Aqua Blue.  “I give you Aqua Blue, the titan wing Grapple Grounder.”

 

          “Aw he’s cute,” Elsa ran over to play with the new Grounder.

 

          “So that is what this whole mystery was about, a dragon?” Steinson said as he was tied up nearby.  “What kind of treasure is that?”

 

          “I think one of the best kind,” I expressed.  “The chance at having a friendship with a pet or anything for that matter.  That is one of the best treasures a man or woman could ever have:  Friendship.  Making new friends along the way in your life,” I said looking at Explod, Reptiel, Faith, Cazi, Bergr, and Annett.  “Because friendship is one of the purest treasures a person can experience.  There is no limit to how good it can be.”

 

          With that being said and the mystery of the “Missing Socks” was now over, I thanked all of my friends for the support and the helpfulness of each one during the first mystery I had solved.

 

          “So I guess that this is, Goodbye then?” asked Bergr.

 

          “No it ain’t,” I said.  “How about you guys come over to Berk to have a celebration of our new friends?”

 

          “Sure we’d be glad to,” said Cazi and Bergr.

 

          Before we left for Berk, the leaders of Cazi’s clan came up to me and the rest of my friends and thanked us for helping them out; and maybe sometime in the future they could return the favor.  They also said that they’ll take care of all GR’s men.

 

          “Maybe there is something to this ‘dragon training’ thing after all,” the chief of the clan said.

 

          We then mounted our dragons and flew home.

 

          We then arrived back on Berk just in time for sunset.  And it was a beauty.  Stoick greeted us with a warm welcome and indeed threw a celebration in the Great Hall.

 

          After a few hours of eating and singing and dancing, mostly bad except for my friends they did fine it was the guys like Gobber who made it hard to look at, I stepped back and thought of what I had accomplished.  And it all started out by just helping out my friend.  Even though the “treasure” does not have any money value, what it does have is something that is priceless:  The making of Friendship with both dragons and vikings that will last a lifetime.

 

 

------------

 

          “What ya writing down there Jarl?” asked a voice coming from behind me.  “Oh, hi mother.  I was just writing down the few days of The Clue of the Missing Socks.”

 

          “Your first mystery, and what a mystery it was,” said my mother who sat down on my bed.

 

          “In the months since, I’ve had numerous ‘mysteries’ if you can call them that,” I started.

 

          My mother noticed I wasn’t looking that well.

 

          “What’s wrong son?” she asked.

 

          “It is just for some reason I feel I missed something,” I told her.

 

          “Jarl, you’ve solved the mystery.  You are now being a great help to you village and the surrounding clans.  You showed Cazi’s clan that Dragon Training is helpful.  You showed everyone that if a friend is in need, just don’t think that he is blaming something like ‘trolls’ as Gobber did.  Help that friend out and get to the bottom of things; and don’t stop until you do.  You also showed that if someone goes astray, it is never too late to bring them back to you; as when you helped Annett get her family back together.  You showed that if you put your mind to something you can do it, like writing down your adventures so that others could read them.”

 

          “I know,” I said.  “But now that it is Snoggletog, I keep thinking about what GR said about father.  Something bugs me about that.”

 

          “Look, you are fine.  Your father will always be with us,” my mother said and then hugged me.  “You are just lonely for the friendship of your father.”

 

          There was then a knock on the door.

 

          “Come on let’s go see who it is,” mother said as we got up.

 

          We walked down stairs and I opened the door.

 

          “Happy Snoggletog Jarl!” A great big crowd said.

 

          “What in the world?”I expressed walking outside.

 

          “You know the holiday we celebrate every year about this time?” Elsa stated, with a little bit of teasing behind it.  “Does that ring any bells?  Get it?”

 

          “We heard that you need some cheering up, Jarl, so we invited all of your friends over for a Snoggletog party.  Even Cazi and Bergr, Annett, and Steinson were able to come,” said Asvord.

 

          “I am so glad that you kept with it and got me to come to my senses, how could I ever repay you,” Vemund told me.

 

          “I think you just did, having a friendship is the best thing that a guy could have,” stated Hiccup.  The other Academy riders had come too.  “Being given a second to have that friendship with your friends and your family.”

 

          We all went in and had a Snoggletog party.  We all had a great time, though no one touched the yaknog.

 

          Then while we were sitting around the fire reminiscing on our adventures we had a few months ago, Gobber than entered the house.

 

          “What is it Gobber?” my mother asked.

 

          “I tell ya what’s the matter, those trolls are at it again,” he voiced.

 

          “Gobber how many times do we have to tell you this,” said Tuffnut.  “Trolls didn’t steal your socks, me and my sis didn’t for a time, the Grounders that Gudrod Rador-mer-call-it had took them.”

 

          “It ain’t my socks this time,” Gobber replied.  “It is my shirts.  You gotta help me find the cul-prints Jarl, you did it once before you can do it again.”

 

          “Oh no, here we go again,” I said laughing.