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Chapter Four:
The Sparrow Scouts
Today was a big day for Hilda, and Thomas and Johanna were both acting like they were excited parents. The young mother fit the role more than the redhead as she, quite literally, was Hilda's only parent. The only parent she knew about least. However, Thomas was just as enthusiastic about the blue-haired girl becoming part of the Sparrow Scouts. So much so that he was helping her with fastening her scarf.
"And there we go!" Thomas said, pulling his hands away from Hilda and backing away to admire the young girl in her uniform.
Dressed in the Sparrow Scouts uniform, Hilda had on a yellow shirt/jersey with a brown rhombus-shaped emblem on the left chest. A red scarf fastened with a white toggle was wrapped around her neck. Hilda also wore the girl's uniform brown skirt while wearing her black leggings.
"It's a little itchy," Hilda said, itching herself for the uncomfortable feeling of being in a uniform that felt rough against her skin.
"You get used to it." Thomas brushed it off. Hilda looked so adorable in the uniform; he felt like a proud dad to see her join the same organization he was in when he was a kid. "Come on, let's show your mom."
Thomas walked out of the room with Hilda following him as she gave her arm a little scratch. Together, the pair walked into Hilda's living room to find Johanna with her jacket on and purse strapped around her shoulder, looking at Twig with a grumpy expression as the deer fox was sleeping on a pile of dried clothes she'd thrown into a basket to fold later. Loving the feeling of warm clothes, Twig took it upon himself to make it his bed for however long it remained warm.
"You know that I have to fold those, right?" Johanna inquired as she folded her arms and looked at her daughter's pet with a raised eyebrow.
Twig grumbled and snuggled into the clothes.
Thomas stiffened his laughter and cleared his throat. Hearing him, Johanna turned around and smiled seeing him. Her heart inexplicably swelled with happiness as she looked at her friend. A phenomenon that has been happening more frequently than previously known to the mother. "Oh! Thomas, there you are," she said, her cheeks fluttering as she tried to understand what was happening to her with herself. However, the absence of her daughter got her attention. "Where's Hilda?"
"Well, I'm glad you asked, madam," Thomas said, trying to act all suavely. Smiling as he saw Johanna blushing again and giggling. "Presenting the newest member of the Sparrow Scouts, Hilda Lindquist!"
Johanna couldn't resist forming a joyful smile when she laid her eyes on her daughter, who stepped out from behind the couch and presented herself with the uniform on. Hilda tugged on her collar to make sure it was loose enough.
"Oh, look at you~!" Johanna knelt down and pulled her daughter in for a hug.
"M-Mum! Not in front of Thomas," whined the young girl. However, she felt another pair of arms hug her and Johanna.
"There, now we all are in on the awkward hug," Thomas said.
"…not helping."
Both adults laughed and pulled away from Johanna's child as she placed her hands on Hilda's shoulders, looking at her with pride. "I'm sorry, but you just reminded me of myself when I was younger," she told her daughter. "I hope you like the Sparrow Scouts as much as I did."
Thomas stood up and pulled his truck keys out of his pocket. "Alright, are you ladies ready for the meeting," he said, swinging his keys around with his finger by the key ring.
"Yes, we are," Johanna declared, holding her hand up. Thomas smiled and grasped her hand as he helped her to her feet.
Hilda, however, stood still and looked down. "So, what am I supposed to say again? What if they don't like me," Hilda asked Thomas and her mother. She had agreed to try out the Sparrow Scouts, but she still wasn't sure if it would be something she would really want to do for the long term. She was still so new to life in the town, as well as being around other kids her age. Her first attempt at making friends was a disaster, but that was because Trevor was a rotten egg. The experience, however, still affected the young girl's mind.
Thomas was confused by why Hilda—who was so unapologetic with who she was—was so concerned about what other people thought about her. "Why wouldn't they like you, blueberry?" He asked, concerned. "You're a good kid who loves adventures."
"He's right, Hilda," Johanna said. Upon seeing her daughter's face regain her smile and knowing she had her confidence back, the mother internally thanked her handsome friend. Feeling another blush appearing, Johanna quickly changed the subject and pointed at the two of them. "Now, you two better be on your best behavior."
Johanna wanted to stay and watch her daughter on her first day of being a scout, but unfortunately, she had a project due in a couple of days and didn't want to put it off any longer. Luckily, Thomas was more than happy to be there for Hilda. As he always is.
Hilda smiled and nodded. "Yes, mum."
Johanna turned to the man and said, "Thomas, did you pack the sandwiches and the apple for Hilda's lunch?"
"Yes, honey." No sooner did he say that, however, did Thomas and Johanna blush heavily after hearing what he had just said. The young man stared at the woman who he admired and secretly crushed on with wide, embarrassed eyes as she looked at him with the same expression. "I-I'm sorry, it's just, um. Slipped out. That's it."
"Oh, no, no. It's fine. No need to worry about it, sweetie," Johanna said, smiling at being called honey by the younger man. However, it was her turn to be embarrassed by what she called Thomas. "I-I-I mean, Thomas. Thomas, sweetie. No, just…Thomas."
Thomas and Johanna looked away in embarrassment with blushes on their faces, both feeling very happy and warm despite the embarrassing moment.
However, the two of them noticed they were missing one person. Turning around, they saw Hilda lifting up Twig, looking down at the clothes in the basket. When she didn't find what she was looking for, she placed her pet back down in his original spot.
"What are you doing?" Thomas asked the girl.
"Looking for my sweater," Hilda said, looking into one of the moving boxes set aside.
"You mean this one?" Johanna picked up the sweater she'd made for Hilda, which was hanging on the back of the couch.
"No, my good sweater," Hilda said, referring to her red sweater. However, seeing as how the sweater wouldn't show up anytime soon and how she'd be let to her troop meeting, she sighed and gave up the search for now. "I guess I'll just have to go with this one." She grumbled, taking Johanna's knitted sweater and slipping it on, before walking out the open door
Johanna's eyes widened, and then she frowned at her daughters. "Hey, I knitted you that sweater!" she said, following her. Thomas rolled his eyes and laughed as he followed the mother and daughter. Closing the door behind him on his way out.
The Scout Hall was a one-story wooden building just outside the urban area of Trolberg, but still within the city walls. It is one of two properties of land owned by the Sparrow Scouts, the other being a camping ground in the Huldrawood.
Outside the hall was a parking place and a flag pole. On the inside, Scout Hall contained a stage that was, among other things, used for performances of the various ceremonies that the Scouts had.
In front of the stage was room for the small audience that had gathered to witness the ceremony of welcoming Hilda into their nest. And it was at the front of this audience that Thomas and Johanna stood together. Together, they watched as Hilda stood in front of the Raven Leader and one of the scouts, the same black girl she met at the school during her tour of the city. She was holding Hilda's new scout sash. Behind them were the other scout members, standing at attention.
Closing her eyes, placing her right hand behind her back, raising her left hand, and holding up two fingers, Hilda resighted the Sparrow Scout oath.
"I promise to be trustworthy, useful, and helpful to others. To be a friend to all people, animals, and spirits. To never be a snob, to be courageous, to do a good thing every day. To smile and to whistle, and to keep the Sparrow Scout law."
After she finished the oath, Hilda opened her left eye slightly and looked at her mum and Thomas.
Both adults smiled and gave her the thumbs up.
"Now that you have taken the oath, you may wear the sash now," said the Raven Leader, a middle-aged woman with black eyes and graying hair dressed in full uniform. She turned to the girl standing beside her and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Frida, would you like to help me do the honors?"
"With pleasure, Raven Leader," said the girl.
As both girls smiled at each other, Frida approached Hilda with her new sash. Hilda bowed her head slightly and allowed her to slip the sash on her.
"Welcome to the Sparrow Scouts," Frida said, looking both happy for Hilda and proud of being able to place the sash on her. Though, she did have to straighten it out slightly.
Afterwards, she saluted Hilda. The Raven Leader and her troop followed suit and saluted their new member. Hilda then did the same, smiling at them as a feeling of acceptance filled her heart. "Thanks," she said before looking at her family.
Johanna sighed in relief. "I knew she would do great," Thomas said with a smile. The brunette giggled and nudged him.
However, the fun wasn't over just yet for Hilda. Now that she was accepted into the scouts, there was still one more thing left. The Raven Leader explained to Hilda, "It's an unofficial tradition to welcome new members with a game of…."
"STINKBALL!" shouted one of the boys. He and a few other kids picked up a red ball from the ground and started throwing them at one another. The entire room broke into a free-for-all as kids ran around, screaming and laughing while throwing balls at each other. When they got hit, they weren't tagged out. They just kept on playing and threw their ball at the other kid. And Hilda loved it, laughing and having tons of fun.
"Get 'em! Get 'em!" Thomas chanted enthusiastically, making Johanna giggle at his silliness.
However, the mother, sadly, couldn't stay any longer than she would have liked to. Pulling down her sleeve and looking at her watch, Johanna saw it was almost noon. "I'm sorry, but I gotta be going now. I'll talk to you later," Johanna told Thomas before waving at Hilda. The girl waved back at her before getting pelted in the face by a ball.
"Alright, see you later," Thomas said as she walked away and headed to the exit, along with some of the other parents.
Staying with only a few parents and guardians, Thomas turned his attention to the children as the Raven Leader blew her whistle. "Alright, Sparrow Scouts, circle around," she said, stopping the game. The scouts gathered around her while she stood beside a map of Trolberg and a clipboard. "Your first badge challenge of the year is the 'Friend of the Park' badge.
Thomas smiled as he looked at the badge the Raven Leader held up. He remembered that badge being the first one he ever got. And it looked as though Hilda would be following in his footsteps.
"Earning it will require a team effort." The Raven Leader continued. "You'll be divided into teams of three and be given specific locations. Each team will be responsible for a clean-up and beautification project in Trolberg City Park. Each project must be completed in the course of one weekend." She then looked at her flock of Sparrow Scouts and held up her clipboard. "Any volunteers for team leaders?"
When she heard the call for volunteers, Frida excitedly raised her hand to be nominated as a team lead. And she was joined by many others that wanted to be leaders.
"Very good. Leaders, choose your teams," said the Raven Leader.
"I'll take Hilda!" Frida exclaimed, smiling a big grin on her face. This surprised the young girl, who looked at the black girl with a surprised expression.
"Really? Thanks," she said, grateful that Frida had picked her.
"No, thank you," Frida said, looking slightly smug as she placed her hands behind her back. "I need 20 points to earn my Level Three Friendly and Helpful badge." She then wrapped an arm around Hilda and pulled her closer by her side. Much to the blue-haired girl's confusion. Hilda looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "And you're worth at least five."
"I am," Hilda asked.
"Yep." Letting go of Hilda, Frilda stood straight and proclaimed. "Invite a new kid to join a game or an activity: five points," she said, holding up five fingers.
The Raven Leader hummed and nodded in approval. Very impressed with how knowledgeable Frida was. After writing down something on her clipboard, the woman gasped as she remembered something. "Oh, and scouts, due to new protocols, you must have an adult with you when you go out to do your assignments."
When she heard this, Hilda's eyes widened as she gasped with excitement. Whirling around, she looked at her best friend. "Thomas!" She called out to the redhead, much to his surprise. Hearing her yell her name caught Thomas off guard, as other people in the room turned to look at him. "Come over and be on our team!"
"Oh, really? Is that okay?" Thomas asked the Raven Leader as he walked up to the blue-haired girl. Hilda smiled as she looked up at him.
"Do you know him, Hilda?" Frida asked, looking up and down at Thomas with a raised eyebrow. For a moment, she thought the redhead was Hilda's father, but the way she called him by his name told her that couldn't be the case.
"Oh, you'll love him. He was a scout, too," Hilda said, gesturing to the paranormal investigator.
"Really," asked the Raven Leader, looking at Thomas with an intrigued expression.
Thomas stood at attention and saluted. "Thomas Pines, former Falcon Scout of Sparrow Scout Troop 343," he said proudly. Upon hearing that the redhead was once one of the highest-ranking scouts in the organization, the kids looked up at him in awe. Frida even looked at the man with eyes sparkling, as Thomas was at a rank she wanted to be at.
The Raven Leader was at first surprised to see a Falcon Scout standing before her. Nonetheless, she smiled and saluted him back. "Well, I'm honored to have you with us, Mr. Pines," she said.
"So, is it okay if he's our adult teammate?" Hilda asked the Raven Leader, looking hopeful she would say yes.
She glanced back at Hilda and looked up at Thomas. Usually, the Raven Leader would have wanted kids to be teamed up with their parents or a guardian. Someone they knew and trusted. Though not related, the older woman could tell that the young man was a man who was very close to the young girl. Perhaps like a father figure to her. And so, with that in mind, she smiled and said, "Well, she seems to really want you to be on her team, so I guess I can make an exception."
"Yes!" Hilda yelled and hugged Thomas's leg.
Thomas was surprised by how happy she was to have him on her team. However, he smiled and patted her on the head. "Thanks, blueberry," he smiled softly at her.
When Hilda pulled away from him, she turned to Frida and said, "Frida, this is Thomas Pines. Thomas, this is Frida."
"Hi," Thomas said, kneeling down and shaking her hand.
"An honor to meet you, Mr. Pines," Frida said with a polite tone of voice and a smile. "Thank you for contributing to the team and helping me achieve my two new badges. I'm certain that with your guidance, having earned all your badges, you'll be invaluable to future activities and trials."
Thomas glanced at Hilda before raising an eyebrow at her. She shrugged at him, so even she didn't know how to react to Frida. It was evident to him that Frida was a person obsessed with overachievement and perfection. As he had just met her, he wasn't sure what else she was like.
"Uh…no problem?" he said, standing up. "We still need one more person."
"Luckily for us, we have David!" Frida said, pointing to the boy Hilda first met at the school.
Upon hearing his name, David looked over and saw Frida waving at him. "Yes!" he said, running over to the group.
Thomas smiled at the boy. Now they had a full time. However, his attention was drawn to a ladybug that was crawling on his brown hair. "Uh, kid, you've got a bug," he said, pointing to the boy's head.
"Where!?" David quickly panicked and started swiping at his hair. But the ladybug crawled down his head and neck and hid inside his uniform.
Finding it both funny and cute, Hilda giggled at him. "It's gone now."
Blushing with embarrassment, David brushed his hair back to normal. "You're going to love being on Frida's team," he said to Hilda and Thomas with a smile. "She really knows what she's doing."
"That's good," Hilda said, smiling at the two friends, "because I've never been on any team before."
"Never?" Frida asked, looking worried at Hilda. Worried that Hilda meant not have had any friends where she came from that wanted her on their team during any kind of game or activity.
"I lived my whole life out in the wilderness. My mum and I were the only humans for miles around," Hilda explained to Frida.
The proclamation that she was from the woods got her some odd looks from both Frida and David, thinking that she was either weird or telling the truth. Though, they wouldn't have been any better. "Good…to know," Frida said cautiously.
"Don't worry; she's had her rabies shots," Thomas said jokingly, making Hilda giggle and shove his leg. "Alright, Frida, let's so what you've got."
"Right away, Mr. Pines," Filda said, eager to prove herself to the paranormal investigator.
"Oh, please. Mr. Pines is my father," Thomas said with a chuckle. "Call my Thomas."
"Oh, right," she said. Frida then pulled out a tablet from her book bag and turned it on. Opening a map of the city, she zoomed in on the Trolberg City Park. Pulling out a stylus, she circled a corner of the park that sat right next to the city wall. "This is where we will be working. Our assessment is to clean up this plot of land at the far edge of the park and plant a garden. Listen, the sooner we do this, the sooner we get that badge."
"Let's start tonight," Hilda said, eager. "Who's up for some midnight gardening?"
"Whoa there, partner. Love the enthusiasm, but we can't just rush into something without a thorough plan," Thomas told her.
"He's right," said Frida. "Organization comes first."
"And daylight is also good," David added nervously.
"And that's why, as team leader, I'll work up a project plan and see everyone in the morning," Frida said, closing her tablet and tucked it under her arm.
"Right, then we'll meet up at our building in Hilda's apartment," Thomas said, pulling out a small piece of paper and writing down the address. Then he handed it to Frida. "She lives on the top floor."
"Right. Thank you very much, Thomas," Frida said before turning and walking away. At the same time, David followed after her.
"Bye, Hilda," he said, waving her farewell.
Hilda smiled back and waved at the young boy. Thomas ruffled her hair and smiled at the young girl, who looked at him and nodded.
Johanna looked out from her window and saw Thomas' truck come to a stop and parked outside the apartment building. She smiled as Hilda hopped out of the vehicle and entered the building as Thomas walked in behind her. Returning to her cooking, Johanna lifted the lid off her curry as it boiled and bubbled. Her nose tingled with the smell of the dish. It was ready, so she pulled out three bowls.
By the time she placed two full bowls on the table, the door had opened, and Hilda ran inside. "We're home!" She announced before being greeted by Twig, who happily ran over, knocked her down, and started licking her. "Hahaha, I missed you too, Twig."
Johanna chuckled as Thomas walked in and closed the door. "Welcome back, you two," she greeted her friend and daughter. "How did the meeting go?"
"It went pretty good," Thomas said, smiling at the woman he secretly liked.
"It was great, Mum!" said Hilda, standing up.
"That's wonderful, Hilda. Come and sit down. Dinner is ready, and I want to hear all about it," Johanna said. As Hilda ran over to the couch and grabbed her bowl of curry from the table, Johanna noticed that Thomas was about to leave the room. "You're going to leave without at least having dinner?"
"Huh?" Thomas turned back to the mother with a confused expression. Watching as she picked up the third bowl and poured her curry into it. "Oh! Really? Thank you," he said, placing his bag down and walking over.
Thomas grabbed his bowl and sat with the mother and daughter. Both adults were set on both sides of Hilda and listened to her as she talked about her day at the troop. Explaining how she was paired up with Frida and David, her (hopefully) new friends, and their assignment to plant the garden in the park.
"I'm so happy you are enjoying the scout, Hilda," said her mother, a sense of relief washed over Johanna. Knowing that her daughter had finally found something in the city she wanted to be a part of and had enjoyed it made the brunette's worries disappear.
"So, were you a Falcon Scout too when you were a Sparrow?" Hilda said, taking another spoonful of curry into her mouth.
Johanna swallowed the curry in her mouth and said, "Well, no, but I had the most badges in my flock by the time I moved on. I still felt quite proud of that."
"That's still really impressive, Johanna," Thomas praised her, making Johanna look away with a smile and blush.
"Then I'm going to get at least one more than you, Mum," Hilda said with a smile. "Starting tomorrow."
Thomas wrapped an arm around her and brought her into a side hug. "Don't worry, Hilda. We're going to make a Falcon out of you," he said, returning to eating his curry.
Together, they continued eating and talking about their day. Tomorrow would be Hilda's second day with Sparrow Scouts, and Thomas was happy to see she was excited about it.
When the next day came, Thomas wasted no time rushing up to Johanna's room. Upon entering, he saw Hilda was wide awake, ready for her first adventure being a scout. The two hugged, and Thomas helped Johanna prepare her daughter for the day, including making lunches.
"And that's the third sandwich," Thomas said, placing the bread down on the third cucumber sandwich.
"Are you sure you don't want one," asked Johanna as she watched Thomas open his lunchbox.
"Oh, don't worry about me, Johanna," he said, showing the inside of his lunchbox to show her the sandwich inside. "I've already got a sandwich."
"Okay, just don't want you going hungry like that one time," Johanna said, smirking at him when she remembered the last time. When the redhead and Hilda returned to her old home after another day of adventuring, he was so hungry that he nearly passed out. His stomach grumbled so much that she could hear it from the kitchen.
"It was one time!" Thomas muttered.
Before the conversation could continue, the two of them heard the doorbell ringing. "I've got it!" Hilda yelled as she ran out of her room with her uniform on.
Hilda ran to the door and opened it, revealing Frida and David standing on the other side. The young black girl held a loaded binder under her arm, having stayed up all night to create a detailed plan to ensure their assignment was fulfilled to the highest level of excellence.
"Come on in," Hilda kindly said, allowing her friends to enter her apartment.
Upon entering, Frida and David walked into the kitchen area as Thomas finished placing all the sandwiches into his lunchbox. "Hey, kids! You really for today?"
"Yes, Mr. Pines—I mean, Thomas." Frida quickly corrected herself. However, when she saw Twig sleeping on the carpet in the kitchen, she gasped in awe at how cute he was. "Oh my gosh, is that a deer fox?"
Hearing someone new referring to him, Twig let out a cute grunt as he lifted his head and looked at Frida and David. "Yep, his name is Twig," Hilda said as her pet stood up and stretched his back. '
Frida gasped and said to Hilda, "I've read about them, but I've never actually seen one." She gasped as Twig approached her and David, then sat down before the young boy. "Look at those little antlers. Adorable!"
David was more cautious with the deer fox than his friend, who wasted no time petting the animal. The boy reached down and taped one of the pet's antlers, only to recoil. "And surprisingly shape," he said, while Twig looked proud of his antlers.
"Wow, you're much nicer to them the first time than me," Thomas said jokingly to the deer fox.
Hilda giggled. "Yep, he can be fierce when he needs to be." She then reached out her arms to Twig and said in a playful voice, "Can't you, boy~?"
Twig ran over to her and rubbed himself up against her legs, nuzzling himself against his master as Hilda scratched the left side of his belly. Thomas smiled at the group of kids with his arms crossed until Johanna walked over with a thermos in hand.
"Hilda, won't you introduce me to your friends," she asked her daughter, eager to meet Hilda's friends.
As Hilda smiled, she gestured towards her new friends. "Mum, this is David and Frida," she said, as both boy and girl waved.
"It's nice to meet you," Johanna said, smiling at the kids.
As Twig stretched himself on the floor, Frida bowed her head. "Likewise, Mrs. Lindquist," she said. However, her face turned serious when she opened her binder. "Just an FYI, according to my schedule, we have 30 seconds of small talk before we need to move on."
"Rude," Thomas said.
Johanna, on the other hand, said, "I get it. You've got a badge to earn. Well, Thomas has the cucumber sandwiches for everyone." She handed Thomas the thermos, to which he smiled and took it. "And I expect you to bring her back in one piece."
"Oh, come on, when have I placed Hilda in danger," Thomas asked. Only for Johanna to cross her arms and raise an eyebrow, giving him an 'Are you serious?' expression. "…good point. Uh, Alright, kids, let's get on the road."
"Yes, sir!" Frida said as she and David turned to the door. Hilda and Thomas followed after them, with Twig behind them.
After the daughter waved her mother goodbye, Thomas turned back to Johanna and smiled at the older woman. Johanna smiled back. Despite her little jab, the young mother knew he would keep Hilda safe. No matter what. It was one of the many attributes of the paranormal investigator that she admired so much. "Just make sure she has a good time," she told him.
"I'll do that, and I'll bring her home safely. Have a good day, Johanna," Thomas said, closing the door behind him as he walked out.
Johanna sighed and continued smiling. "You too."
Thomas' truck pulled up to the park. Turning off the engine, he, the kids, and Twig hopped out and walked around to the back. Opening up the truck, Thomas picked up Hilda and placed her on the truck bed. From there, the young girl helped bring down a wheelbarrow and the gardening tools they needed for their assignment. Once everything was brought out of the truck, Thomas and the others followed Frida as she led them into the park.
Before long, they made it to their destination, the Gorrill Gardens. It was a mainly wooden area, though, near the wall, it was devoid of trees. Several common plants, such as crabgrass, dandelions, and nettles, were found in abundance in Gorrill Gardens.
"Looks like nobody's set foot here in years," David said as Thomas pushed the wheelbarrow. And indeed, the boy was right. There wasn't a single sign of humans trekking into this part of the forest.
"Nobody human, anyway," Hilda said as she and Twig walked forward into the area. David and Frida glanced at one another with raised eyebrows.
Thomas set the wheelbarrow down and caught up with Hilda. Together, they approached the massive, towering wall of the city. "So this wall is supposed to keep the trolls out," the paranormal investigator asked.
"Yep. The countryside around the city is full of them," Frida said as she and David walked up to the two and Twig.
David gulped and became fearful of the idea of trolls being right outside the city. "Please, I don't like to think about it."
Frida pulled out her tablet and opened the map. "Trust me when I say we have nothing to worry about," she said with a reassuring smile. "Trolls turn into solid rock in daylight."
"It's true," Thomas said to the young boy. "Even if they surrounded us, they couldn't do anything."
"There could be hundreds of them on the other side of this wall," Hilda said.
"A…hundred?" David rubbed his arm nervously.
"Maybe thousands of them," Hilda said, continuing to freak out David. "Frozen in stone, plotting their new move, lying in wait for their chance."
"I don't want to die!" David whimpered.
"Relax," Thomas said, rolling his eyes. He walked over and ruffled the young boy's hair a bit. "We're perfectly safe. But enough standing around. Let's get this show on the road. Frida, if you may."
"Right away," Frida said, pulling out her binder from the wheelbarrow. "Let's get to work."
Excited to start working, Hilda pulled out a mallet for the wheelbarrow. Frida, however, walked over to her and took the tool from her. "Okay, then," she said excitedly as Hilda looked at her. Giving Frida a chance to drop the mallet back in the wheelbarrow. "Welcome to your first Sparrow Scout badge challenge, Hilda."
"When do we start?" Hilda said, eager to start.
"In a minute, and we'll start and finish with my super detailed action plan," Frida said, holding up her baby-blue binder with the Sparrow Scout's logo on it and a row of stars going down the spine.
Frida looked at the others with a big grin on her face. Thomas, Hilda, and David stared at her before the blue-haired girl broke the silence when she whispered to the boys. "I think she was raised by elves."
David laughed a bit and said, "Definitely."
"It would explain a lot," Thomas said with a smirk, remembering his cousin Sherman when he was younger. "Alright, Frida. Let's see what you've got."
And so began a long, hard day of labor work to renovate the park.
The first thing that they did was take a picture of the area. Frida did this with a Polaroid camera she pulled out of her backpack. She snapped a picture of the site, and the photo instantly printed out. Once she gave it a good shake, Frida opened her binder to the page for a before and after photo, placing the photo she'd taken under the before label.
Next was the actual work, starting with the leaves. Thomas, being the strongest of the four of them, did most of the work. The kids sat back as the red-haired man removed his leather jacket and raked away at the leaves. Within minutes, he had a medium size pile forming. However, not wanting to see her best friend/secret father figure do all the work, Hilda grabbed her own rake and began raking beside him. Thomas looked at her in surprise at first before smiling and continued raking with her. Frida and David glanced at one another, smiled, and grabbed their rakes.
Up next were the weeds. Most were easy to get out, but there were some that were much harder.
"Thomas, can you give me a hand?" Hilda called over her friend while on her knees, holding one of the weeds.
Thomas walked over and knelt on the other side of the weed. "Don't worry, I've got this," he said confidently. Spitting into his hands and rubbing them together, the man grabbed the weed and gave it a hard pull. Groaning as he strained to get the plant out of the ground.
And eventually, he did and fell on his back after yanking out the weed. Pulling out a large chunk of the earth from the ground as well. Hilda, Frida, and David laughed at him before Twig came over and licked Thomas's face. Making him laugh along with them.
Next came the setting of the garden. The stakes were placed into the ground by David, and Thomas hit them with the mallet, stabbing them into the ground. Then Hilda came over and looped the rope they brought around it. This process repeated over and over as they created square sections for new plants.
Frida stood a few feet from them with her action plan. Smiling at the process they've made in a short amount of time, the young girl checked off the step on the list and closed the binder. Smiling with her eyes closed; looking to be very satisfied by how close they were to completing their assignment. "Phase one, complete!"
"Wow, she is efficient," Hilda said, amazed by Frida's orderly nature. Thomas thought she was, too, before returning to hammering in a stake. Once he was finished, the blue-haired girl placed the rope on it. Finishing the last square.
"Alright, kids, let's get this stuff to the mulcher," Thomas said to the other kids as he stood up and dusted himself off. With Hilda following behind him, the redhead walked up the wheelbarrow. Recoiling when he got a whiff of the weeds. "Whoooa! Those weeds are stinky."
David came over and took a sniff of the weeds. "Ah! I kind of like it."
"Ugh!" Frida looked at him in disgust and said, "Let's get them to the mulching center before it closes."
"Right, let's get back to the truck," Thomas said.
Together, he and the kids started walking back to the truck with their load. Neither of them knew the forces that were about to be unleashed, thanks to their garden. The dirt under one of the stakes stunned rose out of the ground, and a pair of eyes opened. Glaring and growling furiously.
The Next Day
Thomas' truck drove down the road to the park again the following day. Inside were Hilda and her friends and Twig. However, joining them was a person that wanted to see their progress.
"You know you didn't have to come along, Johanna," Thomas said as he looked at his crush. Johanna sat in the passenger seat with an excited smile as a bag of gardening tools. Having had her own experiences with gardening, she wanted to help her daughter and her friends.
"Oh, so you know how to garden?" Johanna looked at Thomas with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. Giggling, she said, "It's okay. Besides, I want to see what you and the kids have been up to."
"So you wanted to spy on your daughter," Thomas joked. Johanna scoffed and slapped his shoulder, making him laugh with her.
In the back, Hilda, Frida, and David watched the two adults from the backseat. Twig was lying on his owner's lap, sleeping peacefully as he waited for them to arrive at the park. "Psst, Hilda," Frida said, getting Hilda to look at her. "Does Thomas…like your mum?"
"Of course he does," Hilda said, not fully understanding what Frida meant.
"Aw~! Are they gonna get married," Frida asked, still keeping her voice down as the two adults talked to one another.
Hilda became confused and looked at her friend with a raised eyebrow. "Why?"
It was Frida's turn to be confused. "Well, because they love each other, right?"
"What? No, they're not," Hilda said, frowning.
"But look at them," Frida whispered, pointing to Thomas and Johanna. As the younger man drove the truck, both adults were lost in their own little world together. While focused on the road, Thomas was clearly more interested in talking to Johanna as they smiled and laughed with each other. "It's like they're a couple."
The blue-haired girl watched her mum talking with Thomas and laughing when he made a joke. She had not noticed it before, but they looked so happy together. It reminded her of couples in movies and tv shows. Seeing them being like that made a smile form on Hilda's lips. "You think they love each other," she asked her friend.
"I'm certain of it. But…are you okay with it?" Frida questioned the girl, hesitant. "I mean, if Thomas and your mum get together…well, that'll make him your new dad?"
"REALLY!?" Hilda yelled with a shocked and joyful expression. The sudden shout startled everyone in the truck, even Twig, as Thomas slammed on the brakes and stopped the truck.
"What?! What is it?!" Thomas yelled as he and Johanna looked back at the kids, worried that something had happened, and it scared both the mom of the girl and the young man.
Hilda blushed with embarrassment as she looked at her friends. Frida and David were shocked by her sudden outburst, though David didn't know what was happening. "I…I was just…reacting to something shocking Frida told me about…" Hilda looked at Frida again, but all she did was shrug. "Pinecones! She was telling me something exciting about pinecones." The blue-haired girl laughed nervously.
Thomas and Johanna looked at the daughter with confused looks on their faces. "Well, okay? We're here, by the way," Thomas said, putting the truck into park as it sat in one of the parking spaces.
They hopped out of the car together and grabbed their supplies from the truck bed. Johanna smiled as she held up a lunch bag and pulled out of her sandwiches. "Anyone wants a sandwich?"
"Yes, please!" Hilda said, running over and taking a sandwich from the bag.
Frida and David walked over and grabbed their own cucumber sandwiches. "Thank you so much, Mrs. Lindquist," said the girl as she bit down on her lunch.
"Oh! Please, call me Johanna," the young mother said, blushing at how being called Mrs. Lindquist made her feel old.
"Well then, Mrs. Lindquist, shall we," Thomas said in a suave voice as he held out his arm to the trail. Johanna giggled and started following beside him as the group entered the park. Going down the same trail they took yesterday.
As they approached the area they were working on, Frida opened her action plan binder and took another bit of her sandwich. "Alright, so the first thing I think we should do is…" Frida stopped when she looked up, and her face turned to an expression of horror as she dropped her sandwich.
Confused, Thomas looked up and saw what she was devastated about. "What the hell!" he yelled.
The garden that they had set up yesterday had been completely destroyed. The stakes were pulled out of the ground and thrown away across the garden, leaving gaping holes in the ground where they once were. The ropes were also thrown everywhere across the arena and even in the trees.
"Oh no!" Johanna gasped, placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder with a horrified look on her face.
"All our work!" Hilda said in sorrow as Thomas picked up one of the ropes and examined it.
"That's weird, right," David asked, taking a bite of his sandwich.
"It's more than just weird," Thomas said, examining the end of the rope he'd just picked up. "Someone cut this rope."
"Who would want to ruin our work?" said Frida.
Thomas was about to respond when he caught a glimpse of something running through the bushes. He gasped and looked at the vegetation in surprise, seeing the leaves of the bushes rustling as whatever was in it moved to the right. The others had also seen the movement, with Twig growling as his cackles began to rise.
The creature dashed behind the group a few meters away from them. Hilda and Johanna looked behind their back to see what it was. But it was already gone. "Uh, Thomas," Johanna said, moving closer to him with a frightened expression.
Thomas looked around the area as he reached for his hatchet. The man pulled it out and looked at another bush as it started rustling around.
"What's that," David asked, shaking in fear.
"Don't know. Johanna, kids, stay behind me," Thomas ordered the others as he stood ready to attack. Twig stood beside him, ready to fight back as well. Johanna nodded and grabbed the kids, pulling them to her as they all stared at the bush.
"AAAAAAAAHH!" Yelled the creature as it ran out of the bush and charged at the group with a shovel. Revealing it to be a small humanoid creature with features that resemble plants from the Allium genus, including a head resembling an onion. It was 1.5 foot ( ~0.45m ) tall, bipedal, and had two arms with hands and feet with no toes.
Thomas glared at the creature as it charged at him, watching as it was about to hit him with the shovel. However, he didn't give him the chance and sidestepped, letting the creature go past him. The vegetable-like being was surprised by this, and Thomas took the opening to kick the creature in the back of the head like a football. Sending it flying into a tree as it dropped the shovel.
The creature hit the tree with a thumb and fell to the ground. Its eyes spiraled for a second before shaking its head to regain its grip on reality.
However, that's when Twig stalked up to it, growling menacingly at the creature, and scaring it great. "Ah! Call off the beast!" He said in a male voice while pushing himself away from Twig. However, all he did was dig up the ground with his feet as he pushed his back against the tree.
Thomas glanced at Hilda, and the young girl nodded. Giving him the go-ahead to command her pet. "Stand down, boy," he commanded with a smirk.
Twig growled at the vermin for a second before sitting down and turning his head away with a huff. Then the deer fox looked back at the thing and narrowed his eyes. Daring him to try something.
"Why did you attack us?" Johanna glared at the vermin as Hilda looked ready to throw down.
"And did you vandalize our project," asked Frida, fists on her hips.
The creature looked past the deer fox and glared at her and Hilda's mum. "Did you dig up my friends?"
This threw off the whole group as Thomas and the young Sparrow Scouts looked at each other in confusion. "You're…friends," Thomas asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Wait a minute." David saw something that caught his attention. He walked up to the creature and saw it was one of the wooden stakes used by the kids for their garden project. He knelt down and looked at the creature. Then the young boy took a sniff of the air. "You're one of the stinky weeds from yesterday," he said with wide eyes.
"Stinky weeds!?" The little creature exclaimed, indignant and angry at what he was called. He walked under David's legs and marched to the two girls and two adults. "How insulting! We're not weeds. We are Vittra!"
"I didn't know Vittra lived in this region," Thomas said, having read about the creatures in the journal.
"Vittra? What's a Vittra?" Johanna asked.
The Vittra sighed and said in annoyance, "Typical above-grounders."
"Easy, pal," Thomas said in Johanna's defense. He then turned to the mother. "The Vittra are a subterranean species that live underground. From what I read about them, they come up to the surface once a year to hibernate and get some sunlight."
"That's right! But then you come along and yank us out of the dirt we live in!" The Vittra yelled, pointing at the humans. "You're a bunch of hooligans!"
"We are Sparrow Scouts, friendly and helpful to all," Frida said, trying to defuse the situation after being called a 'hooligan.'
"Most of the time," Thomas said.
The Vittra scoffed and walked up to them. "'Friendly and helpful'? Ha!"
"We made a mistake," Hilda said, genuinely guilty about taking away the Vittra's friends.
Frida, however, wasn't so willing to admit her fault. "W-Well, I don't usually make mistakes," she said, rubbing her left arm and looking away with an expression of denial.
"Well, there's a first time for everything, kid," Thomas said, frowning at her. Making her feel even more embarrassed.
"That's right! And your first mistake was a real whopper!" yelled the Vittra.
"I—We—My team—" Frida stammered for a moment as she twisted her sash, trying to come up with a response that didn't paint herself in too much of a bad light while still admitting her wrongdoing.
Johanna took over and said to the Vittra, "Look, my daughter and her friends didn't know."
"Didn't care is more like it!" the Vittra countered, still heated up.
"Hey!" Thomas yelled, startling the Vittra as he grabbed him by the stake in his head and held him up to eye level. The Vittra struggled to get away but stopped then Thomas glared at him, making him shrink in fear. "Listen, you little asshole, it was an accident. Get it through your fat head! We do care about your friends. We never would have pulled them out of the ground if we knew."
"Thomas, calm down," Johanna said, placing her hands on the younger man's arms.
"He's right!" Frida ran over beside him and took off her sash to show off one of her badges. "Caring is my main extracurricular activity. That's why I have all of these badges, because I care…a lot." Frida held out her sash as she presented all the badges that she won.
"Not helping," Thomas said. From where he was standing, Frida did care, but only about getting the badges. Not truly understanding why she earned them.
"Okay, let's all just calm down," Johanna said. "I'm sure that's something we do to reverse this."
For a moment, the Vittra thought to himself. "Yeah, well—HA!"
Suddenly, the Vittra pushed on Thomas' hand and pulled the stake out of his head. Freeing himself and falling to the ground. Then he grabbed Frida's sash and made a run for it. Swinging the sash around like a lasso.
This sudden action startled the group; however, Frida quickly recovered from her shock and ran after the Vittra. "Give that back!"
Frida watched the Vittra as he ran towards David. The young boy yelped as the creature ran under him and hid behind his legs. The Vittra laughed as Frida ran at him, but he whipped at her with the sash, hitting her in the hand. "Ow!" she yelped and held her hand in pain. Giving the Vittra a chance to run under the girl's legs and trip her.
"Eat dirt!" He laughed at the young girl. Thomas and Johanna jumped in front of him, but the Vittra dodged them when they tried to grab him.
He ran past Hilda, who just stood by, unsure of what to do or why Frida was so dead set on getting back her badges. Frida got back up and ran after the Vittra as he ran for a large hole in the ground near the wall. She tried to grab him, but the little creature jumped out of her reach and dived into the hole. Blowing a raspberry at Frida as she looked down at him in horror.
"You'll never catch me!" yelled the Vittra, disappearing in the dark underground tunnel as his voice echoed.
"I will, too!" Frida shouted as she got ready to jump into the large hole. However, Thomas ran over and grabbed her arm. Stopping her from going in. "Let me go!"
"Don't go down there! You never know what's down there!" Thomas exclaimed.
"I don't care! That's every badge I've ever earned in my life!" Frida yanked her arm out of his grip and jumped. Thomas gasped and tried to grab her, but the young girl was already dropping into the hole and sliding into the dark abyss.
"Frida!" Thomas yelled, staring down into the hole with wide, horror-filled eyes. He couldn't see where she was anymore.
Hilda, David, Johanna, and Twig ran to the hole and looked down into it with Thomas. "Frida!" Hilda called out to her friend, but got no response.
"What are we going to do?!" Johanna exclaimed, looking at Thomas.
"Frida would know what to do, but she's not here to do it," said David, freaking out.
"Yeah? Well, she's not." Thomas got up and walked over to the wheelbarrow. In it, he grabbed a long piece of rope. "We're going to have to get her back."
Hilda grinned with determination and excitement. "Right!"
Approaching Johanan, Thomas handed her one end of the rope and threw the rest into the hole. "I'm taking Hilda with me. You and David, stay up top and mind the rope," he said, giving her a walkie-talkie as well.
"Wait, you're just going to be leaving us here all alone?" David said, cowarding.
"Oh, man up, kid. You've got Johanna with you," Thomas said, gesturing to his crush.
"Whatever you do, don't let go of your end," Hilda told her mum and David as Twig sat beside them. "When we get Frida back, we'll need it to get back up."
"Alright, grab on, and we'll lower you down," Johanna said, nodding to the rope.
"No thanks. I'd rather jump."
"Okay–wait, what?!" Johanna exclaimed. She tried to grab her daughter, but Hilda had already leaped into the hole and began falling into the underground tunnel. "Hilda!"
"Don't worry, I'm right behind her," Thomas said, jumping in after Hilda. Sliding on the dirt as he descended into the hole
"Be safe," Johanna whispered, watching as he disappeared into the hole. She turned to David and held up the rope. "Okay, David, just keep a good grip on the rope."
"That's easy enough," he said, grabbing the rope. However, the pressure was becoming too much for him. "Although, my hands tend to get sweaty when I'm nervous, which makes them slippery, which could be a problem—"
"David," Johanna said, looking at the boy worriedly.
David would have freaked out more, but his eyes saw something that caught his attention. "Whoa! That's a cool rock," he said, dropping the rope and walking away to pick up the nut-shaped rock.
"Uh, David?"
David turned back to Johanna and smiled. "Good idea. You handle the rope; I'll handle the meaningless distractions." He then spotted something else that caught his fancy and walked off to it. "Oh, look."
Johanna and Twig looked at one another. The woman sighed exasperatedly.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!" Thomas screamed as he slid down the hole until he finally reached the bottom. He fell out of the tunnel and down on the ground with a thud. "Ugh."
"Thomas!" Hilda ran over to his side.
"Hey, blueberry," Thomas groaned as he sat up and rubbed the back of his head. He opened his eyes and saw the area he was in. "Whoa."
He and Hilda were standing inside an extensive underground system that consisted of many tunnels going in many directions. On the walls and ceiling were rocks and roots. And hanging from the ceiling of the cave walls were what appeared to be hundreds of hanging vegetables covered in dirt.
Large enough to crawl on his hands and knees, Thomas crawled over to one of the hanging vegetables and wiped away some of the dirt. Revealing a Vittra's face underneath as the little creature snored and slept.
"Ew," said Hilda, grimacing at the sight of the Vittra sleeping.
"Let's let them see," Thomas said before he crawled down one of the tunnels of the cave system. Pushing aside the sleeping Vittra. "Frida! Damn, it reeks down here."
Able to walk through the tunnels of the cave system, Hilda followed beside her best friend. "Frida!" called out the young girl. But once they got past the Vittras, the two friends came into another chamber of the tunnel system. One that had multiple tunnels leading to different levels and areas of the system.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Thomas said. "It's like New York all over again!"
Hilda looked at her friend with a raised eyebrow. "What happened in New York?"
"I don't want to talk about it," said the country boy.
"Don't worry. I have an idea so we don't get lost," Hilda said, pulling out her sandwich. She then pulled off a small piece of the bread and dropped it on the ground.
Thomas smiled and ruffled her head. "Good thinking, Hilda," he said. Hilda giggled and pushed his hand back.
Together, they went further into the tunnels as Hilda left behind a trail of breadcrumbs. Luckily this part of the cave was tall enough for Thomas to stand on his feet with a slight bend of his back. "Frida?" Thomas called out, his voice echoing into the tunnels.
However, as the two walked away, they didn't know they were being followed.
"Frida?" Hilda called out again as she pulled off another piece of bread and dropped it. However, Thomas stopped when he heard something behind them and looked behind himself.
"Uh, Hilda," he said. Hilda stopped and turned around as well. Her jaw dropped at what she saw.
The Vittra was wearing Frida's sash and happily munching on the breadcrumbs that Hilda dropped. Shoving another piece of bread into his mouth and starting to chew on it. However, when he looked up, the Vittra saw Thomas and Hilda looking at him. Both were weirded out by the little creature.
Seeing he's been caught, the Vittra shoved the crumbs he's been holding on in his mouth and stole Hilda's sandwich. Stuffing it in his mouth and devouring it. "Looking for that other girl," he asked.
"Where is she," Thomas asked, glaring at the Vittra.
"Around."
"That's not an answer."
"I know." And just like that, the Vittra turned and ran away.
"Hey! Wait!" Hilda yelled as she and Thomas chased after the Vittra. Following him back up the tunnel and forcing Thomas to crawl again.
Luckily the next chamber then found themself in allowed him to stand, and there was some light coming in from one hole. But there were other holes that he could have gone through.
Hilda ran over to one tunnel while Thomas walked over to another. However, before he could look into it, the little gremlin ran out of the tunnel and underneath his legs, nearly tripping the young paranormal detective as Hilda went after the Vittra. Thomas quickly flipped over and ran to the tunnel she went through, getting on his hands and knees to crawl through it.
Hilda and Thomas came out the other side and saw only two other ways. "You go that way! I'll take this way!" he ordered the young girl, crawling into the tunnel on the left. Hilda ran into the tunnel on the right. "Would have been nice to have the drone."
Thomas followed the tunnel up to the surface, grunting as he crawled his way back up to the surface. His walkie-talkie went off just as he popped his head out of the hole. "Thomas? How's it going? Did you find Frida?"
Smiling when he heard the beautiful woman's voice, Thomas looked at what was in front of him as he grabbed the radio. "Working on it, but…" he paused as he looked at the massive wall of Trolberg. "I think I'm on the other side of the wall."
"How do you know?"
"Well…" Thomas turned around, and his heart stopped.
A troll was right in front of him. Petrified in the daylight.
"AAAAAAAH!" Thomas yelled as he fell back into the tunnel.
On the other side of the wall, Johanna gasped when she heard Thomas scream and feared the worst. "Thomas, are you okay," she asked into the walkie-talkie.
Thomas sat on the ground, breathing heavily for a moment before letting out a sigh of relief. He grabbed the walkie-talkie and held it to his mouth. "Yeah, I'm good. But let's hope the troll doesn't use that hole to get into the city."
"What troll? Where's Hilda? Is she still with you?"
"...uh…"
"Thomas!"
"We split up!" Thomas said, crawling back through the tunnel and coming out into the cave he and Hilda split up in. He then crawled into the tunnel she went through. "Hilda's capable of taking care of herself, you know."
"Yes, but you're always there to keep her safe."
Thomas ran into another part of the cave system. "Johanna, you know I wouldn't let her go alone if I thought she would be in danger. She's been taking care of herself long before I came around."
"I know. But…I like knowing my daughter's with someone who can keep her safe. You know that, right?"
"I always will, Johanna," Thomas said with a blush.
However, he stopped when a cow the size of a small dog ran past him, mooing.
"...was that a cow?"
"A cow the size of a dog," Thomas said into the walkie-talkie. "Gonna have to come back to look into that."
However, the weirdness didn't end there, as a herd of cattle came running into the cave. One of them had the Vittra he was looking for standing on its back, waving Frida's sash around like a lasso. "Yeehaw! Ha ha!" The Vittra laughed before jumping onto a large piece of a root and diving into another hole.
Thomas watched the herd pass by until he saw Hilda running towards him. Having chased after the Vittra while he was riding the cattle. She stopped behind him and panted for a moment. "Found Hilda. Talk to you later," he said into the radio before clipping it back onto his belt.
They both heard the Vittra laughing at them mockingly in the walls of the tunnel and looked up. Seeing it was coming from two holes. That's when they saw him going down a root as if it were a slide. Hilda quickly ran into one of the holes and slid down the root after the Vittra, with Thomas following her.
Thomas gritted his teeth as he slid down the root. He nearly got stuck on one of the turns but quickly freed himself.
When he reached the bottom, Hilda was waiting for him. That's when they both heard a door closing and turned their heads. Seeing that it came from the only door around. "Alright, now I'm pissed!" Thomas exclaimed, pulling out his hatchet and marching to the door.
Thomas kicked the door open and glared at the Vittra inside. However, his eyes widened in shock.
It was a completely different Vittra, painting a portrait of the cow standing in front of them with a Hawaiian shirt and a sun hat.
"Whoops." Thomas quickly closed the door.
"Thomas!" Hilda yelled, pointing to the Vittra they were after as he ran down a corner. The blue-haired girl rushed after him and rounded the corner as well.
Thomas watched as they came out of another corner, having gone down in a circle. The Vittra opened a door and ran inside the home as Hilda rushed to catch him. But she was cut off when the door slammed on her. While Hilda was trying to pull on the knob, Thomas saw the home had a window with the lights on inside.
Seeing his chance to get the Vittra, he held up his hatchet and waited. Luckily for him, the Vittra was enjoying making a fool out of his friend. He climbed out the window and smirked at Hilda before jumping and bouncing off her head.
That's when Thomas threw the hatchet and hit the Vittra in the left side of the head. His little body slammed against the wall and fell to the ground. Groaning in pain of having an ax embedded in your skull.
"Hook, line, and fuckin' sinker! I still got it!" Thomas yelled with a grin as he pumped his fist.
Hilda looked at the Vittra with concern. "Is he okay," she asked as Thomas approached the vegetable creature.
Luckily for her, the Vittra groaned as he sat up and tried to rub his head. However, he felt the handle of the ax in his head. "You could've killed me!" he yelled at Thomas…
…only for the redhead to pin him down under his foot.
The Vittra tried to get out from under his boot, but Thomas applied more pressure and leaned down, grabbing his hatchet with his right hand. "We tried doing this the nice way; now we do it the Thomas way," the paranormal investigator said, curling the fingers of his left hand and cracking them.
The Vittra looked nervous for a second before holding up his hands. "Wait, wait! Let's cut a deal," he said, reaching out to Thomas.
Thomas and Hilda looked at one another. "We're listening," the girl told the Vittra.
"And you better not fuck us over." Thomas applied more pressure.
"Ow! Ow! Ow! Okay!" The Vittra said in pain, before Thomas loosened his foot on him. "Alright, I'll help you find that irritating girl, if you return my friends."
Thomas looked at the Vittra in disbelief before stepping on him harder in anger, making the Vittra yell in pain. "That's what we were always going to do, you little asshole!" He then yanked the ax out of his head and took his foot off him. The Vittra yelled in pain again and rubbed his head as the wound closed and healed quickly. "We were always going to get your friends. But then you had to be difficult and take Frida's sash. You led us down here when you could have been helping us get your friends. For all we know, they could be getting mulched right about now!"
The moment he heard that, the Vittra's eyes widened with fear and terror. "M-Mulched?!"
However, that's when a younger Vittra walked in on their conversation. "Hey, mister."
"Shut up, little kid!" yelled the first Vittra.
"I found something weird."
"...okay."
Frida was alive; she was just stuck in a hole with her rear end sticking out. Kicking her legs wildly as she tried to get herself free.
"Frida!" Hilda exclaimed when she saw the predicament her friend was in. She ran over and tried to pull her out by her legs. However, Frida wouldn't come out, and Hilda gave out after a few seconds. "You really wedged yourself in there."
"Well, that's what you get for using an old rabbit hole instead of a proper Vittra tunnel," said the Vittra in a smug tone.
"Oh, shut up," Thomas said, walking up to the young black girl.
Frida said from the other side, "It's not always easy to tell the difference."
"You never even see a Vittra before," Thomas said.
"…Well, I-I know what a rabbit hole looks like, but I just can't see well down here," Frida said in embarrassment.
The Vittra walked over and acted all high and mighty. "Or perhaps you're not as smart as you think you are."
Frida gasped and kicked her legs again. "You're very rude!"
"And you have all the charm of a rock-chewing slug!" yelled the Vittra as he pointed to said slug. Thomas and Hilda looked and saw the slug eating a rock before burping.
"Everyone, shut up!" Thomas ordered and grabbed Frida's leg. He pulled on the girl with all his might and yanked her free of the hole. However, they both ended up falling back against the wall of the tunnel they were in. Thomas picked himself back up and whipped the dirt off his jacket. "Alright, let's get out of here."
"Wait! We have to…" Frida looked up and saw the Vittra wearing her sash. Indignant, she stood up and started yelling at him. "You have no right to wear that!"
The Vittra, however, wasn't having it. "Oh, I'll wear it until I get my friends back!" he yelled back at her.
"What?!" Frida looked at Thomas and Hilda.
"Deal, now let's go so we can fix this mess!" Thomas said. Together, the group ran down the tunnel to the entrance they came in from.
"Bye, mister," said the little Vittra kid, waving at Thomas and the kids.
Johanna was looking at the sky and was becoming worried. They've been down in the tunnel for hours now. David was just looking at his weird-looking rock while she was just sitting on the ground with Twig, holding the rope.
However, the wait was over when she felt the rope tugging. "Mum! We're coming back up!" Johanna gasped when she heard her daughter's voice again.
"Right!" The mother said, standing up and holding onto the rope as she twisted it around her arm and looped it around her waist. "David, get over here and help them up!"
"Right," said the boy, and he ran over to the hole and waited.
Johanna dug in her feet as she felt the rope getting pulled. Then it got heavier again. Indicating that her daughter and Frida were on their way up the hole. Luckily, she was strong enough to hold onto the rope as Hilda and Frida pulled themself out of the tunnel and back to the surface, where they collapsed on the ground and panted for a moment.
Her pet instantly greeted Hilda, who ran over and licked her face. "Twig! I'm so happy to see you, too," she said, petting him.
"Hilda, where's Thomas," Johanna asked, worried about her friend.
"I'm coming up!" Thomas said from within the tunnel, tugging on the rope.
Johanna's eyes widened. "Oh my. Girls, David, come over here and help me pull him out," she told the kids, knowing that it would take more than her to pull out the man.
Hilda, Frida, and David came over and grabbed onto the rope, standing in front of Johanna. Together, the four of them pulled with all their might while walking backwards, grunting as they strained to pull Thomas out. However, they eventually brought him out, with the Vittra standing on his shoulders before jumping off.
Crawling onto the grassy ground, Thomas panted in exhaustion before Johanna dropped the rope and ran over to him. Hugging him as she smiled in relief. Thomas blushed and looked at her in surprise before Johanna pulled away. Blushing with embarrassment, she looked away, tugging a strain of hair behind her ear.
"Uh, sorry, I was just worried," Johanna said sheepishly. She then turned to her daughter and hugged Hilda, who happily returned the favor.
"I can't believe you found her," David said to Thomas and Hilda. However, he flinched when he saw the Vittra standing next to him.
Hilda pulled away from her mum's arms and smiled at the boy. "He helped us," she said, much to the shock of the mother and David.
The Vittra shrugged and said, "Hey, we made a deal."
Frida, sighing, stood up and wiped the dust off her uniform. "And now we're going to fail the badge challenge, thanks to your deal," she said to the Vittra, Thomas, and Hilda.
"Who cares about a stupid badge?" Thomas said, rolling his eyes at her. He stood up and looked at the others. "Part of being a Sparrow Scout is humility and fixing mistakes you've made—in and out of uniform. This mess happened before we violated the Vittras' home and took their people away. Now we're going to have to bring them back."
Frida looked away in guilt, knowing that he was right. Even if she didn't like to admit it, she made a mistake, and she had to make it right. "Y-You're right," she said. Then she turned back to Hilda. "And thank you, both of you, for coming after me. That was really brave of you. It's just…this wasn't part of my action plan. So, I freak out a little."
"Or a lot!" The Vittra commented, earning him a side glare from Frida.
Hilda smiled kindly at her friend and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Frida. If there's I learned from Thomas is that not all plans go smoothly," she said, turning to the man she saw as her father figure. Smiling at him lovingly. "But that's when you make a new plan."
"That's right, blueberry," Thomas said, placing his hand on her head. "The new plan is to save the Vittra from the Big Chipper and stick them back in the ground."
"You're really going to do that? All by yourselves," David asked the two.
"Nope." Johanna walked over with a smile as she stood beside Thomas and grasped his hand in hers. "I'm going with you," she said, looking at him as he blushed.
Frida then placed her hand on David's shoulder. "Count David and I in," she proclaimed.
"Wait, really," asked David nervously.
"And I'm coming too," said the Vittra. Then he whistled loudly, and a small cow ran out of the tunnel.
"That's the spirit!" Thomas said with a chuckle as the cow stopped in front of the group. "We're all in this together."
"Ugh! Not really," said the Vittra, much to the confusion of the humans. He then hopped on the back of the cow. "I'm in it to make sure you lot don't mess it up. Giddyup! Hyah!"
The humans and Twig watched the Vittra ride off on the cow. Then they glanced at one another.
"Let's just go," Thomas said.
The Big Chipper was, as the mulching manager had gone into detail about yesterday, a towering state-of-the-art mulching machine with a titanium frame, automatic conveyor belt, and razor-sharp mulching teeth that ripped apart anything that was brought up to it. What came out was dumped straight into the Big Chipper's big dumper.
And if Thomas and his friends didn't get to it in time, the Vittra's friends were going to be chewed up by the Big Chipper.
The moment the truck skidded to a stop in front of the mulcher's gate, the humans and Twig jumped out of the vehicle and ran towards it. Thomas grabbed onto the lock and chains and pulled on them. But it was no use.
"We're too late," Johanna said. "It's closed for the night."
"Maybe we could come back tomorrow," David suggested. Everyone else gave him deadpanned looks.
"Look!" The Vittra yelled, pointing to the Big Chipper.
The others turned around and saw the Vittras they were there to save were already on the conveyor belt. Sleeping soundly on their ride up to the top and towards the rolling teeth of the mulcher.
Thomas' shocked expression turned into a look of determination. "We're not giving up yet," he said, pulling out his hatchet and swinging it down on the U-shaped bar of the lock. Breaking it off and quickly started pulling off the chains.
"Thomas!" Johanna gasped, looking at him in disappointment.
"What? Did you have any other ideas for getting in?" Thomas questioned before yanking off the chains and kicking open the metal gate. "Come on!"
The two adults, three kids, deer fox, and cow riding Vittra charged towards the Big Chipper. "Can't we turn it off," Hilda asked.
"Uh…" Johanna went to the mulcher's controls and frantically looked over the buttons and levers. That's when she saw a big red button. "Oh!"
She pressed on it, and the machine came to a stop. Everyone sighed in relief, and Johanna pulled down a lever. The conveyor belt was put in reverse, and the dirt-covered Vittras were pulled back down.
Thomas looked at Johanna in amazement. "How did you know that would work?"
Johanna giggled behind her hand and pointed to the control panel. "They labeled everything," she said, as the panel was indeed labeled with what each button and lever were meant for.
"….Oh." Thomas laughed sheepishly with a big blush on his cheeks. The two adults blushed and looked away from each other, not realizing that Hilda was watching, with her eyes widening for a moment before she smiled at them. Thinking that perhaps Frida was right.
"This has to be worth at least one hundred points for the Saving the Vittra badge," Frida said jokingly.
Hearing this, Hilda gasped with excitement and smiled a big grin. "Really?"
"…No. There is no badge for that."
Hilda then said, "Well, there should be."
Thomas and Johanna laughed together as they grabbed a Vittra when they arrived at the bottom of the conveyor belt. "Well, we should get these guys back home," said the man.
The sun had already gone down when they arrived at the mulcher, and now the moon was high in the sky when they returned to the park. The young Sparrow Scouts carried a Vittra and placed them back into their respective holes. Returning them to where they had been sleeping when they pulled them out. Then they gently moved the dirt back around their leaves.
"I'm honestly amazed that your friends slept through all of this," Johanna said to the original Vittra wearing Frida's sash.
"Ha! There's not much that can wake a hibernating Vittra…except pounding a stake in its head," he said, giving Thomas a sour look.
The redhead rubbed the back of his head and said, "Yeah, sorry about that."
After placing her Vittra back in its hole, Frida turned around and said to the little creature. "You have to admit, above-grounders aren't as bad as you thought," she said, hoping to get the Vittra to lighten up.
"You pulled up my friends in the first place, so don't expect me to give you a pat on the back for bringing them back!" He harshly told the young girl.
At first, Frida was shocked, but knew that he was right. She sighed and looked away in shame.
Seeing the genuine expression on her face, the Vittra lightened up as he said, "Uh…but, a deal's a deal." As he approached the young girl, the Vittra pulled off the sash and held it out for her. "Here."
Frida gasped happily and took back her sash. Having held up his end of the deal, the Vittra jumped, blew a raspberry at her, and landed back in his hole. Returning to his hibernation.
While put off by the rude little vegetable creature, Frida turned her attention back down to her sash. However, her smile turned upside down when she saw the spot she'd been saving for the 'Friend of the Park' badge. Frida was never going to get that badge, not with how little she and others were able to do. Sighing, she placed her sash back on and pulled out her camera.
The group walked away before turning back. Standing in the spot when Frida took the first picture. Holding up the camera, she snapped the final picture. No one felt exactly happy at that moment, but it was all they had to show for their work. They had to turn it in and face the music.
The next day, Johanna came with Thomas and the kids. She watched from her seat in the room as her daughter's group presented their first picture to the Raven Leader.
"Oh, I remember this place. But I'm sure that you were able to complete your group's assignment, Frida," the elderly woman said, already making Frida flinch with her high expectations of her. Given how much Frida has accomplished in the past.
"Not…exactly." Thomas said, handing her the final photo with the label 'After' on it.
The Raven Leader took the picture and took a moment to look at it. Her smile turned into a look of surprise and confusion.
"You see…we ran into a bit of a problem," Thomas said, pulling out his journal and opening it to a page he had just made himself last night. It was a new entry on the Vittra and the information he had learned about them. "As it turned out, a colony of Vittra was living underneath that plot of land, and we had accidentally pulled a few of them out. The Vittra weren't happy about it and wanted us to bring their friends back. So…we did, but didn't have enough time to do the rest of the assignment."
The Raven Leader was stunned to learn of this incident and wondered if it was really true. Even if he was a former Falcon Scout, it sounded ludicrous. But from what she saw in the journal and the looks on the faces of her scouts, the Raven Leader did not doubt that they were being truthful with her.
However, with a sad sigh, she said, "I…I'm sorry, what you kids have done was the right thing to do, and I'm proud of you...but the rules are still the rules. I'm afraid that I can't pass you on the assigned badge challenge."
This crushed the team, but they were expecting this to happen.
At the end of the meeting, the kids were released from the Scout Hall and walked outside with Johanna and Thomas. "I'm so sorry about your first badge, Hilda," Johanna said, looking down at her daughter with a sympathetic look. She knew how much she wanted to get her first badge, so it must have been hard on her.
"It's okay, Mum," the blue-haired girl said, looking up at her mother as she walked by her side. "That just means the next badge will be my first one. Like a 'Friend of the Vittra' badge."
Thomas laughed and said, "I don't think there is a badge like that, blueberry."
Hilda, however, said with a grin, "Well, there should be. And maybe we just need to invent it."
This made the others laugh together. That's when Frida stopped and said to the others, "I've had time to think about it last night, and upon further analysis, I've concluded that as failures go, ours was a pretty successful failure."
She pulled out another photo and handed it to Hilda. Curious, Hilda took the photo and looked at it. Smiling when she saw what was on it.
It was a picture they all took together of each other. Frida was holding the camera. Thomas held David and Hilda around his arms, with the blue-haired girl giving the young boy bunny ears. All of them were smiling and having a good time together.
"I've got to go home. I'll see you guys at school tomorrow!" David said, turning around and running off.
"I have to go, too. See you tomorrow, Hilda!" Frida said before she left as well. Leaving the small little family together.
Seeing Hilda's new friends, Johanna smiled at them, glad that Hilda had made such wonderful friends. She then turned her head to Thomas and Hilda. "Alright, you two, let's go home."
Thomas once again had dinner with Johanna and Hilda. And once again, he was gently placing her into bed. Smiling at the young girl as he placed the covers over her. All while Twig was sleeping at the end of the bed. Quickly and quietly, he and Johanna left the bedroom.
The redhead stepped outside Johanna's apartment and faced the stunningly beautiful woman. "Dinner was absolutely delicious, Johanna. Thank you," he said.
"And thank you for looking after my daughter," Johanna said, smiling at him.
"You know you don't have to keep thanking me for that," he said with a small laugh.
"I know, but I just can't help it," said the blushing mother as she brushed a strand of hair back behind her ear. "You know, now that Hilda has her new friends, what will you do now? I know you came around to hang out with her, but with school starting and with Frida and David, what will you do in your free time?"
Thomas thought about it for a moment. "I guess I'll just have to hang out with you," he said, much to the older woman's surprise.
"O-Oh! Come on now. Why would you want to hang out with a boring woman like me?" Johanna said, looking down with a small smile.
"Johanna, you're anything but boring." Thomas blushed for a second as he rubbed the back of his head and turned his head away. "And w-well…it's because I like you, Johanna," he confessed. "You're my friend and I-I like being around you and Hilda… a lot."
Johanna's smile intensified as her heart rate increased from the touching confession. The brunette mother didn't quite know why her body was acting this way, but something about Thomas's confession made her feel warm and fuzzy inside.
"I should be heading to bed," he said. "Good night, Johanna."
"Good night, dear," Johanna replied as she watched Thomas walk away. Then she closed the door and walked into the living room. She grabbed her tea cup and took a drink from it.
However, her mind was lost elsewhere. She was thinking back to all the times she'd been with Thomas and how he's been able to make her smile and feel so happy. Thomas' words made her heart feel all warm and fuzzy in a way she hadn't felt in a long time. Not since Anders, yet it felt more incredible than what she felt for him when they were together.
In fact, thinking back to all her moments alone with Thomas brought a smile to Johanna's face. He was just so charming and funny and kind. But her feelings for him truly started to intensify when he came to help her and Hilda with the elves. After that day, she didn't know why, but her feelings for the paranormal investigator had become stronger. And the mother had a feeling it went the other way. The way he acted around her, the way he would take quick glances at her figure when he thought she wasn't noticing, was evidence enough.
Johanna soon realized that she did indeed like Thomas…as more than just a friend.
However, in David's bedroom, the young boy was tucking himself into bed. He let out a loud yawn in his pajamas as he stretched his arms out over his head. He then picked up the rock he found yesterday and placed it on his nightstand. "Good night, little rock," he said to it, patting the rock. Then he turned off his lamp and patted the head of his giraffe plushie. "Good night, Bertrand."
David then laid his head down and fell asleep. Nothing happened in the room for a few seconds, and all was peaceful….
…until the rock started shaking.
AN: And that was the fourth chapter of the story! There's not much to say other than we got to have more family moments, and Thomas and Johanna's relationship is progressing remarkably well.
As for Hilda and Johanna, I decided to give them a last name. I settled on Lindquist because it is composed of the elements lind 'lime tree' + quist, an old or ornamental spelling of kvist 'twig'. I figured it would be fitting since Thomas' family is named after a tree.
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and I hope to see you again soon.