Free Draugr by Arthur Slade Page A

take you into town in twenty minutes.”
    We left the table and went to our room.
    â€œThis is stupid,” Michael said as he zipped his overnight bag closed. “We can’t just leave Grandpa here. Not without knowing what happened to him.”
    â€œWe don’t really have much choice,” Angie said. “Grandpa wanted us to go home. Althea wants us to go. What can we do?”
    I sat on the bed. “It just seems like something’s going on and no one’s explaining it to us because they don’t think we can handle it.”
    â€œI agree,” Michael said. “Althea and Grandpa are both keeping secrets.”
    I was starting to feel a little angry. “We have to find—”
    â€œAre you ready?” Althea asked through the half-open door. I nearly jumped out of my skin. I hadn’t heard her come upstairs. “I have the dishes done and the truck running.”
    â€œUh . . .” Michael paused. “Uh . . . yeah.”
    The door swung open. She was smiling. “Then come on. Let’s pile in and head to town.” Her voice had that fake cheeriness that sometimes crept into my parents’ voices when they were trying to get me to do something I didn’t want to do.
    We followed her downstairs and out into the driveway. It was a warm, perfect day, already starting to get a little hot. All across Gimli, families would be heading out their doors to go suntanning and boating. But we were on our way to a bus and home.
    We got into the truck. Michael sat in the tiny seat in the back. Althea looked around, left then right, as if she was afraid of running over something. Then she sighed and I thought I could hear real sadness in her voice. I glanced at her.
    â€œI was looking for Hugin,” she explained. “He usually comes with me when I go to town.”
    She took a deep breath and put the truck in reverse, turned around, and headed out onto the paved road. She went left, away from Grandpa’s cabin and towards town. She drove slowly.
    Somewhere behind us in the trees there were police officers calling for Grandpa, looking for prints, their German shepherds following scent trails that no one else could see. Would they find anything?
    I didn’t think so. I just knew it in my gut.
    We drove on. After a few minutes I remembered what I had discovered in the living room. “Althea?”
    â€œYes?” she answered.
    â€œI—I noticed some books in your study. This morning. One of them was Grettir’s saga.”
    â€œOh yes. I was reading it last night.”
    â€œIt was open to a battle scene. Is that where Grettir fights that . . . that . . .” what was the word Grandpa used? “. . .
thrall?”
    â€œYou know about Grettir and Glam?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œThat’s the point where Grettir is cursed by Glam. He says he will always see Glam’s glowing eyes before him, whenever it is dark or he is alone. So he will never be at peace.”
    â€œWhy were you reading it last night?” I asked sharply.
    â€œI . . .” She paused. “I was reading it because after I met you in my store, it reminded me that it had been a long time since I’d looked it over.”
    â€œOh,” I said. I wasn’t sure why I had asked her. “What were the other books?”
    â€œYou’re certainly inquisitive, aren’t you? Your grandpa said you were pretty sharp.” She glanced at me, smiling slightly, then looked back at the road. “They were old family histories. Just reading about my relatives and such. Nothing more than that.”
    I nodded. I wanted to ask her another question, but couldn’t think of anything that didn’t sound stupid. I was missing something somewhere.
    We passed the sign that said: “gimli 1 kilometre.” The morning sun erased all the shadows and seemed to have polished up the town, making it look clean and