The Clue of the Missing Socks - Chapter 5

I would have posted this chapter on Thursday night, but my internet was not working correctly.  I also had a basketball tournament to go to on Friday through Saturday, so I couldn't post this chapter, until now.

Please comment on what you think of my book so far.  I really like comments, even if it is just a few words.  It really encourages me to keep writing.

The Clue of the Missing Socks

Chapter 5

          “Well what could it be but a troll?” asked Gobber.

          “It could any number of things though,” said Hiccup.  “What I’d like to know is if there was anything left at the scene of the crime.”

          “Like a footprint or a piece of cloth, stuff like that,” I suggested.

          “Exactly,” replied Hiccup.

          As that was said, Gobber decided he would go get the materials to start making the parts for the catapults.  After he had gone, I told Hiccup about the Nora and her stolen necklace and cabbage.

          “Hey why don’t we go back to the spot of the robbery and see if we can spot anything out the ordinary,” I asked.

          “With you being out in the sun will be one thing out of the ordinary,” teased Asvord.  I just rolled my eyes.

          I introduced myself and my sisters as we all walked back to the scene of the robbery.

          “My name is Jarl Moller, and these are my sisters Asvord and Elsa,” as pointed to each of them they said, “Hello.”

          It took a couple of minutes to get there so in the mean time we just talked back and forth about our families.  Hiccup mentioned that he had met my mother briefly at a town meeting at the Great Hall.  That meeting was about who would fill the new spot as seamstress of Berk.  That was my Mom’s first time as an official seamstress; because since I could remember she has had a reputation for mending clothes at a very good quality.  We were almost there when I noticed Toothless was walking right next to me.

          “Do you think Toothless likes me?”

          “Hey bud,” Toothless snorted telling him, “I am listening.”  Hiccup asked him, “Do you like Jarl and his sisters?”  Toothless snorted and licked me in approval.  “Yeah, he likes you.”  Hiccup said as I wiped the saliva from my face.

          “We are here.  I think we should split up and search the general area and see if there is anything that could lead to a clue.  You two girls go search the house and Hiccup and I will search out here.”  I ordered.

          Asvord then bowed and said, “Yes, your majesty.”  Elsa giggled as she followed her sister into Nora’s house.  I just rolled my eyes again.

          Hiccup and I started to look around the yard out in front.  We had been looking around for a few minutes when I realized one thing.  If Nora was attacked by a “troll”, wouldn’t there be troll-like footprints.  But, alas, there were only human footprints around where Nora fell.

           “Hiccup, come look at this,” I said.  I then squatted down to get a closer look at the tracks left by Nora and her attacker.  “I thought there would be troll-like footprints or some type of animal prints.”

          “Yes, I thought there were going to be troll tracks as well,” Hiccup agreed as he squatted down next to me.  “Though when you told me of the incident, my first guess was a troll came, made her trip, then fall, and the blow to the head came when she fell to the ground.  But when you said that the blow to her head was before she fell, it started to puzzle me.  It may have not been a troll that took her cabbage.”

          “I guess I jumped to a conclusion by expecting troll prints at the site of the robbery,” I admitted.  I started to look in a wider circle around where Nora fell.  I noticed another pair of tracks.  They were quite different from human footprints.  The impression on the ground was quite interesting.

          “Hiccup look at those tracks,” I said as I stood up and walked over to the spot where the cabbage crates landed when Nora fell.  “These tracks look like a small dragon’s footprint.”

          Hiccup came over and examined the tracks.  He studied them for a moment and then said, “They look very much like a Terrible Terror footprint, but there is something different though.”  Hiccup paused for a few minutes to think.

          “We know another viking came from behind Nora and struck her on the head with some blunt object.  The other viking probably saw Nora’s necklace and thought that it might valuable.  Though to me, that doesn’t sound like anybody I know on Berk,” I said to Hiccup as he was still thinking about the new tracks.  “But moving on, the other viking had Nora’s necklace and then the viking saw the other thing that made the second pair of tracks.  He got frightened and then hurried away.  I think he ran away because the steps the viking took are further apart from each other.  One more thing, the robber is of a heavier build; so that would mean that the robber is older or taller and of a bigger build.  This would make the robber’s foot depression in the dirt deeper.”

          When I finished, Hiccup then exclaimed, “I got it! I know why the tracks seem so familiar but seem so different.  Look at the tracks closer Jarl.”  I looked closer.

          “The extra claw!” Hiccup and I said at the same time.

Here is a link to chapter 6:  http://forum.schoolofdragons.com/content/clue-missing-socks-chapter-6