Never Trust a Troll! by Kate McMullan Read Free Book Online Page A

at last. “I’ll get Sir Mort up. I’ll walk him around. Get a little java into him. He should be fit as a fiddle by tomorrow morning, and he’ll come out and fight you then. Do we have a deal?”
    “NO,” thundered Bubbles. “HE MUST COME TONIGHT. BY MIDNIGHT.”
    “Right-o!” said Mordred. “He’ll be here. Now, would you mind refilling the moat? Hate to lose my eels. My students refuse to eat anything else.”
    “NO PROBLEM,” said Bubbles.
    Mordred ran back into the castle.
    The dragon bent down toward the moat. He opened up his mouth and a gusher flowed forth. In a very short time, the moat was full again. And the eels were jumping—this time, for joy.
    Bubbles was Daisy-size again. He floated happily on the moat.
    “More tricks, Bubbles!” called Dudwin.
    “Give us another show!” called Bilge.
    “Yeah,” called Maggot.
    “We’re your fans, Bubbles!” called Aggie.
    Bubbles smiled. He stretched out on his back and began doing the flutter kick.
    The Class II lads and lasses retreated to the far side of the drawbridge to make a plan.
    “We must get rid of Bubbles before midnight,” said Erica.
    “Or Sir Mort is a goner,” added Janice.
    “What can we do?” asked Angus.
    Wiglaf spotted Grock peering out from behind the rock.
    “Hey, buddy!” the troll called, hurrying toward him.
    Wiglaf could smell the spicy scent of the troll before he reached them.
    “What smells?” asked Erica.
    “Grock,” whispered Wiglaf. “He smells like that when he gets scared.”
    “Smells like pepper,” said Angus, and he sneezed: AH-CHOO!
    Pepper! thought Wiglaf as Grock drew closer. That’s exactly what Grock smells like.
    Suddenly the parchment on the message tree came to mind again.
    “That could be it,” Wiglaf murmured to himself.
    “What could be it, Wiggie?” asked Erica.
    “Tell you later,” said Wiglaf as Grock came closer.
    Maybe, just maybe, Wiglaf understood what it meant when it said Bubbles’s secret weakness was Ah-ah-ah-ah...
    “I’m going back for my biggest lance,” said Janice.
    “I’m going to get my deluxe edition Sir Lancelot sword,” said Erica.
    “I’m going to get some stash,” said Angus.
    The three jogged off toward the drawbridge.
    “Look, buddy,” the troll said to Wiglaf.
    He opened his hand. On his palm sat a huge spider.
    “Me new pet, Webster,” said Grock. “Get it? Spider? Web-ster? Guh-huh! Guh-huh!”
    “That’s what you were doing behind the rock?” said Wiglaf. “Looking for bugs?”
    “Yah,” said Grock. “Found a friend for Crawler.”
    Wiglaf heard the sound of Dudwin and the other Class I lads and lasses cheering. Bubbles must have finished another show.
    “Grock,” said Wiglaf. “Are you afraid of dragons?”
    “Don’t make me laugh,” said Grock. “Guh-huh! Guh-huh!”
    “I am afraid of dragons,” said Wiglaf.
    “Yah?” said Grock.
    Wiglaf nodded. “Everybody is,” he said. “Except Erica, maybe,” he added. “But not everybody runs away and hides behind a rock.”
    “I was looking for bugs, wasn’t I?” said Grock.
    “Sure,” said Wiglaf. “What I’m saying is, you can be afraid and still fight a dragon. You can be a dragon slayer, Grock.”
    “I know that, don’t I?” said Grock.
    “You can be a dragon slayer tonight,” said Wiglaf.
    Grock did not look so sure anymore.
    “You can slay Bubbles, Grock,” said Wiglaf.
    The words were hardly out of his mouth when a blast of peppery scent rose from the troll. Grock was afraid.
    Wiglaf glanced up at the sky. A full moon was rising over the DSA castle. A few stars were popping out. Good. It would be easier to carry out the plan he had in mind if there was a little light.
    “Stay here, Grock,” said Wiglaf. “I’ll be right back.”
    “I be over here,” Grock said, and he scurried behind the rock again.
    Wiglaf found the Class I lads and lasses watching Bubbles’s latest water ballet performance.
    “Hi, Wiggie,” said Dudwin. “Watch