I went the same way as Rowan as fast as I could. In the woods the air was full of buzzing and cracking like the leaves were growing in the patches of sun that got in. I saw Rowan’s red ball cap up ahead. I stayed real quiet going behind him. I climbed under and over fallen trees. The moss was soft on my knees but slippery on my shoes. Rowan was whistling a song. I never heard it before. It was weird and lonely and it made me feel empty in my middle.

We walked forever before we reached a bridge. I never been in the woods this far before, but I kept my eyes wide open and watched all over. I didn’t see no wolves like Gloria said I would. Rowan started going fast. When he got to the bridge, he pushed through the bushes and then I couldn’t see him no more.

I crawled closer and hid behind some branches. I heard Rowan laughing. When I peeked through the leaves, I saw what he was hiding. A scary man was sitting on the rocks near a fire. He had knots in his hair. There were shiny things in his beard. His face and his hands looked grimy and he wore way too much stuff for summer. He was smoking a cigarette. A skinny brown dog was next to him and it had its head on the man’s leg.

Rowan had been disappearing to go see a dirty troll and a dog. My heart started banging. Gloria was not going to like that.

The troll called out, “Hey, Magic Boy. Back again?” He knew Rowan. He even had a funny name for him.

“I brought you some shirts. They’re good shirts, but no one needs them anymore.”

Telly was coming home. I had to tell Rowan. Telly might need his shirts. He might be angry Rowan stole them off the line.

He handed the armload over to the man, and the man got a big smile. He held one out. “I’m Carl,” the man said. “But I can be a Telly too.”

“You don’t want to be a Telly,” Rowan said. “Tellys suck.”

“Okay, okay,” he laughed. “Thanks, Magic Boy. I’ll only, urh, be a Telly if Workers come.” He put the shirts down and then he pushed a wiener on a stick and stuck it in the fire.

A twig cracked under my shoe and I held my breath. The dog jumped up fast and ran over to my hiding spot. I tried to be as small as I could, but it started barking. When I peeked again, the troll was looking right at me. His eyes were tiny. Then he clapped his leg and the dog went back to him.

“Urh,” he said. It sounded like someone punched him in the middle. “A little fawn is tracking you. Can she be trusted?”