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hyperpsychomaniac · 2 years

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The Curse of the Black Hound - Chapter 2

Summary: Sequel to 'Lost in the Wilderness'. Erik Ahlberg has a problem. And he’ll solve it like a man - by himself, and dragging no one he cares for needlessly into the whole confounded mess. Gerda is having none of it. She’s determined to figure out why he’s being so secretive and protect him, whether he likes it or not. But when Erik finally asks for help, he finds himself alone, with those he’d always thought would stand by him, his biggest threat.

First Chapter

***

Gerda dashed out of the coffee shop, coffees in hand. Her radio buzzed and chirped, and she clamped it to her ear. “Ja, this is…” She cut herself off with a huff. She hadn’t pressed the transmit button, and, with two coffees, couldn’t until she put at least one down.

Gerda weaved her way deftly past the patrons on the sidewalk cafe - “Excuse me.” “Pardon me.” “Safety Patrol - coming through!” - and saw Hilda at one table, sitting by herself with a book. If she wasn't on duty, she would have said hello. And, if her deputy had not just reported a problem with a Troll right outside the city’s wall.

Gerda rolled herself into the open door of the Safety Patrol vehicle, deposited both coffees into the centre tray cup holders, and tore out of her parking space to the blare of a truck’s horn. Only then was she able to send a message. “Deputy Selby, what is your status?”

“Look, my Trollish isn’t that good,” Selby replied, now considerably calmer than when he had called in his earlier plea for backup. “But I think she may just be inviting me to share a sandwich.”

Gerda took her foot off the gas. There was no need to terrify the citizens of Trolberg with her ‘on serious business’ driving when the Troll wasn’t a threat. The number of false alarms had increased as the Trolls encroached closer, now they had been allowed back into the city. Gerda was certain most of the citizens looked on this favourably. Nevertheless, Trolls were very, very big. They did not speak the same language, and miscommunication was inevitable. It was why she had insisted Safety Patrol learn Trollish.

“Okay. If you’re not in any danger, I’m calling it a night.”

“Yes ma’am. I’ll sort this out - make sure she’s not going to come wondering on inside and ask anyone else if they want to share a meal - and head home myself.”

“Night, deputy.” Gerda pulled over at the side of the road and chugged down half a coffee. It seemed she wouldn’t need both. But one wouldn’t stop her sleeping. And, with the presence of the Troll outside a nonevent, it looked like she’d get home on time. She stuffed the empty paper cup back into the cupholder, promising herself she’d be sure to remove it when she left the vehicle, and put the car back into gear.

An almighty crash sounded from the wall. Birds alighted from the nearby trees, squawking in annoyance at being disturbed right before bedtime. Dust rose, catching in the fading light.

Gerda snatched up her radio handset. “Deputy, what happened? Did your friend not like you turning down her invitation?”

“That wasn’t my Troll, ma’am,” Selby replied. “She looks as startled as I am. It’s further down the wall.”

The radio crackled, and another voice broke in. “I can see him. A big old brute just ran smack bang into the wall.”

The old bell keeper. He was still working for Safety Patrol. When Gerda had spoken to him since her promotion, he’d said he was more than happy to stay on. She’d asked him, seeing as he’d been around so long, whether he had any ideas of how Safety Patrol might be improved. It had taken three attempts before he had given her a sensible answer, instead of just grumble. And then, Gerda could not take notes fast enough - the Bell Keeper had a lot to say on where Safety Patrol fell short and what needed to change.

She had never understood why Erik fired him back when they’d tried to implement the automated belling system. It made sense to keep someone on to monitor the system, especially someone who had been around so long. She’d told Erik so, but he had insisted a machine was more reliable.

Since Erik had retired, she’d asked him why again, one night at the pub when he’d seemed rather amicable. He’d gotten all huffy and changed the subject. She’d never asked again. Sometimes, it just wasn’t worth it to contend with Erik’s moods.

“And, he’s chasing…” The Bell Keeper sighed. “Erik Ahlberg.” Somehow, even over the airwaves, his pronunciation of ‘Ahlberg’ dripped with utter scorn. “I guess he’s gone and got himself in a spot of bother.”

Gerda tensed. “What have you gone and done now, Erik?” Rescuing him after he and Hilda had got lost had been tolerable. After all, whilst Hilda had blamed him for crashing the Woff, Gerda could not quite be mad at him. He’d done his best to look out for Hilda, throwing himself in front of a Barghest and all. It had hurt him pretty badly, too.

“I can see him from the bell tower,” the Bell Keeper continued. “I would go down and help him, but…” Even with his disdain of the former captain, he wanted to help. But he was not outfitted to take on a Troll.

“Don’t worry,” said Gerda. “I’ve got an off-road vehicle. I am heading your way.” She turned on her siren and floored it.

Why did Erik keep heading out to the Wilderness? Surely it was only a few Trolls who felt they had a bone to pick with him - much like there were only a small percentage of Trolberg citizens who detested the idea of Trolls being allowed to set foot in ‘their’ city. But those few had made a hell of a lot of noise about it. And if those few Trolls were the same, they could cause trouble for more than just Erik. He should at least have had the sense to wait until the heat died down before venturing beyond the wall.

Gerda scowled. It wasn’t the first time since his run in with the Barghest she’d found him out there. She’d spotted him walking back in one morning, a little disheveled, but none the worse for wear. All he’d tell her was that he’d been out for a walk. Which may have been reasonable, if foolish - something that wasn’t beyond Erik.

But the strange thing was, as he tried to appear chipper and blathered on, Gerda had taken in what he was wearing. The jacket sort of fitted him, but it was stretched taut across his shoulders, and she doubted he’d be able to comfortably zip it up. Erik didn’t go overboard with what he wore, but he took pride in it. He would never slum around in ill-fitting clothes. Odd, and she should have questioned it. But all she’d done was offer him a lift back home, which he’d wearily accepted.

And here he was, outside the wall again. But this time, he’d ticked off a Troll. Gerda’s fists tightened on the steering wheel. No. She could not let this slide any longer. Friend or not.

But first, she had to once again rescue him.

***

Erik ran.

Behind him, Bastel let loose a thunderous roar. Trees whipped forward under the onslaught, then quivered violently as his footfalls shook them. Each boom came closer and closer together as Bastel picked up speed. “You’re mine!”

This would be the part where the hero said something witty. Erik just swore and forced his legs to churn faster. Back towards Trolberg. And safety. And more people for an angry, vengeful Troll to crush. Good lord, he couldn’t lead this thing inside the wall. Bastel didn’t seem the sort of chap who would be kind to those innocents.

“You turned our King to pieces. I’m going to rip you limb from limb! I’ll break your bones and snap your pitiful human joints!”

Erik winced at the mental image. Suddenly understanding Troll should’ve been useful. Better than everything else that had gone wrong since coming out of the hospital. But no. He just got more fodder for his nightmares.

“Come on,” Erik begged himself. “If this damned shoulder’s going to go all tingly on me…” But as he ran, his breath became more ragged and wheezy. His body stayed useless and frail, at least as far as standing up to a Troll was concerned.

“Oh, damn it all!” At the last second, Erik made a sharp left, and instead of going back inside, ran along the outside of the wall.

Behind him, the pound of Bastel’s footfalls lost their rhythm. “Son of a…” said Bastel, or the closest Troll equivalent, and slammed into the wall with a truly thunderous boom.

Erik put a hand over his head as pebbles rained down upon him. “Where the hell is Safety Patrol!? Damned, heel dragging…”

A bell tolled. Erik’s heart lifted a little. He even risked a look back over this shoulder. Mistake. Bastel hadn’t been downed by his run in with the city wall. And the bell tower that was ringing was behind him. If anything, the sound was driving him towards Erik, and Bastel seemed mad enough that he might contend with the annoyance if it meant he could get his hands on the human he deemed responsible for his King’s destruction.

Erik wondered, briefly, if the Monster King had been hunted. Which was a stupid thing to wonder when you were running for your life. Much like carrying a big, heavy book. Erik glanced at the heavy tome, still clutched under his arm. His eyes narrowed, and he skidded to a halt and spun around.

“Hey! I may not be Safety Patrol anymore! But I can still throw the book at you!”

It was glorious. The book sailed in a perfect arc and smacked Bastel across the face, and stuck there, open across his eyes. It brought the Troll to a bewildered halt as darkness enveloped him.

“Ha!” Erik punched the air. “That’ll teach you to mess with Erik Ahlberg!”

Bastel’s chubby fingers found the book and snatched it away. Then - much like Jerry Ferguson often had before Erik hit his growth spurt - ripped the book clean in two.

Erik’s jaw dropped. “That… that was a library book!” he spluttered. “I have to return it!” He could only handle one terror at a time. He was flat out dealing with Trolls who wanted him dead. He didn’t need to contend with librarians, too.

“You shouldn’t have killed our King!” Bastel flung the tattered remains aside and strode towards him.

Erik backed up. “We were at war! It was an accident. I mean, I meant to, but, but I didn’t…”

“You are a threat to Troll-kind,” Bastel snarled, towering over him. “A monster. And I’m happy to be the one to put you down.”

Erik threw up his hands and squeezed his eyes shut.

The wail of Safety Patrol sirens rent the air. A Safety Patrol vehicle tore up beside them, and Gerda tumbled out, light gun in hand. “Back off! I will not hesitate to use this.”

***

The big Troll roared. Only it wasn’t simply a roar. Before, Gerda may have thought it so. But his stony lips formed words, still snarls and growls, but laced with meaning. It took her a second to focus in - on understanding, not fighting this thing. She caught the word: “Vengeance.” Either that or, “Justice.” Gerda couldn’t differentiate between the two just yet. They were likely the same. “You. Protect. Him?” The last word carried a note of question, inflected upwards, just like humans did.

Gerda held the gun steady. “Ja, I protect him.”

“Gerda, help…” Erik stared up at the Troll, frozen to the spot.

“Get behind me. Now,” Gerda said curtly. She hadn’t intended to snap at him. Erik talked big, but as soon as danger showed up, he was about as useful as a cabbage. At least he did as he was told, jogging over behind her, and the gun.

The Troll watched her, breathing heavily, but he made no further move.

Gerda slowly lowered the gun to her side. “What’s your name?”

The Troll eyed the gun, then his eyes flicked back up to meet hers. “Bastel.”

“Well, Bastel,” Gerda said, imitating the name as best she could in English. “Right now, you may be outside Trolberg’s wall. But you’re still well within Safety Patrol’s jurisdiction. I can’t let you harm this man.”

“Gerda,” Erik said. “What are you doing? He wants to kill me!”

“Be quiet, Erik. I’ve got this under control.” Don’t make it worse. Gerda shut her mouth before being tempted to say that aloud.

“The mushroom is right,” Bastel growled. “I would kill him. But you’re in my way!”

“I cannot move. This is my job. And he is my friend.”

“He killed our King! Our laws demand justice/vengeance!”

“If you want your justice,” she said, giving him the benefit of the doubt. “You’ll do it outside my city.”

Bastel’s lip curved up, and he snorted. “Hmm. ‘Your city’?” And with that, he turned and faded into the night.

Gerda winced, regretting her phrasing. When had managing Safety Patrol become so hard? Maybe she couldn’t blame Erik for simplifying it so. Trolls a danger, mindless monsters; the city, the humans, to be protected. But it was more complicated than right or wrong, good and bad, humans, and everything else monsters.

“You understood him?” Erik asked.

“I’ve been learning Trollish. As have the rest of Safety Patrol.”

“You scared him too,” Erik sighed, and his shoulders drooped. “I… thanks, I guess.” He scratched at his bad shoulder. “It can’t be easy. Learning another language.”

Gerda huffed. Everyone seemed to forget she already had. “It isn’t any harder than English. At least the grammar makes more sense. Although, I don’t know why he called you a mushroom. Perhaps it’s a Troll insult or something.”

“Mushroom?” Erik harrumphed. “Gerda, he clearly said-” He paused, then squared his shoulders. “Monster.”

Gerda’s guts tightened as she looked up at Erik’s towering frame. No wonder this Troll wanted him dead. Bastel had snarled ‘monster’ with bitter anger and a faint hint of fear. Now that Erik had pointed out her error, it certainly made more sense than ‘mushroom’.

But how could he fear Erik? Even as he held himself now, trying to make himself look big, he wouldn’t look intimating to a Troll. He didn’t even look intimating to her. He was just silly old Erik. Trying too hard, like being called a monster no more upset him than if it had been mushroom.

But Erik had killed a Troll. Using Safety Patrol, and the city’s money, its tools. And its citizens’ fear and hatred, cooked up into a frenzy by his many words. He’d wielded those things as haphazardly as he’d handled the prototype light gun. And all that had made him dangerous.

But he had changed. Hadn’t he? He’d stopped before he destroyed Trolberg. But he was still the man who had killed a Troll, when Gerda had refused to do so for him. She still couldn’t comprehend how he could hate a creature enough to do that to it, as big and intimating as the Troll’s king was.

“What is wrong with you? How did you get to the place? How did you convince yourself? How?” Words she wanted to scream at him, digging her fingers into his big arms so he couldn’t escape her. But she wouldn’t. It’d be rude. It’d spoil their friendship. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer.

“Will you stop looking at me like that? You know, you have a habit of zoning out and it’s really a little unsettling sometimes.”

Gerda blinked. “I…” And as she pulled her mind back to the moment, she frowned. “Wait a minute, how do you understand what the Troll said?”

“Er…” Erik flushed. “I, er, um, Hilda! Yes, Hilda taught me a few words of Trollish. I did figure… well,” he rubbed at the back of his neck. “I suppose I wanted to know how to say ‘sorry’ to them. And, er, it’d be good to understand their response. You know, the difference between ‘I forgive you’ and ‘I’m going to rip your arms off’.”

“Oh, right.” The knot in Gerda’s stomach undid itself. Erik had changed. She reached out and squeezed his arm. “Hey, I am glad you’re trying to understand them better. But it’s dangerous for you out here. The same as the last time I found you out here. Why are you here, anyway?”

Erik wouldn’t look at her. He looked instead towards the moon peeking up on the horizon, round and full, glowing brightly even in the dim light of dusk. Then down at his hands. “I… well, nothing I guess.”

“Erik, that Troll wanted you dead! Nothing isn’t good enough.”

Erik stooped and came up with the tattered book cover in his hand. “I was reading this. Guess I got distracted.” He flicked through the remaining pages and sighed heavily. “I suppose I’d better return it. Pretty sure my borrowing privileges are going to be revoked.”

It wasn’t much of an explanation. “Do you want a ride home?”

“Your shift is up. You should get home too, and…”

“Erik, part of my job is seeing you home safe. Especially as I don’t trust you’ll get there on your own.”

“So not asking, huh?”

“I don’t want to see you get hurt. Anymore than you have been already.”

Erik sighed and looked away, thrusting his hands deep in his pockets. “Gerda…”

Erik had always been so forthright and in your face. He’d had a spark, which had initially drawn Gerda to the new Captain who wasn’t afraid to set Safety Patrol on a new, better course. She wasn’t sure if it was because they were closer now, or something was going on that had him down in the dumps. Something he wouldn’t share with her. But now, sometimes, he would let his guard down. And when he did, he looked lost, and a little sad.

“I’m perfectly fine. And a grown man. You don’t need to worry about me.”

Oh. How she wished.

The drive back to Erik’s place was quiet. Erik leaned an elbow on the window, looking out at Trolberg’s lights. The only time he’d been completely silent on any of the many times he’d been in a Safety Patrol vehicle with her was when he’d dozed off. What was wrong with him?

Gerda was struck with the sudden urge to grasp his hand, ask him what was going on. Another small part still wanted to shake him, because that might be the level of physical contact required to rattle loose an answer.

“Thanks for the lift,” he said, unclipping his seatbelt.

“Erik,” Gerda said, bringing his attention back to her. No physical contact needed. “Will you please tell me why you were out there?”

Erik looked away. “It’s private.”

She would not push. Even if the curt reply hurt a little. “Okay, but whatever the reason, you need to be careful wandering out into the Wilderness, especially after dark.”

“Gerda,” he said, a growl creeping into his voice. “I said I’m fine. I can look after myself.”

Gerda seriously doubted that. But it was not her only concern. “You’re not only putting yourself in danger. If I, or Safety Patrol, have to come after you. I don’t want you putting my people in danger, too. Your actions have consequences.”

Erik let out a short laugh. “Oh believe me, you do not need to lecture me on consequences.”

“Good. Then I won’t. Look, if you’re in danger, or get yourself in trouble, I will always be there for you. But, if you’re deliberately going out there for no reason and I or anyone from Safety Patrol have to put themselves in danger or waste resources, for something that you should know to avoid…”

Erik’s frown was deepening, but Gerda plowed ahead.

“I will fine or arrest you if I have to.”

Erik snorted and made for the door handle. Gerda didn’t think it was fair to actually lock him in, despite how serious she was about this. She unlatched the vehicle from her side, so he could get out. “You know Safety Patrol has the right to—”

“Yes, I know!”

“Erik…”

“Message received, all right? Good night, deputy.” Erik headed up the garden path towards his cottage, grumbling and fumbling in his pockets for keys.

Gerda waited at the kerbside until he’d unlatched his front door and pulled it in behind him. He couldn’t stop her from doing that. But, if all she could do was make sure he got through his front door safely, well, it just didn’t feel good enough. Something else was going on, but Gerda was stumped what she could do if Erik wouldn’t open up and let her help.

***

Chapter 3

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