"They must live in Donald and Phyllis Howard's old house," he said as they drove down the country road. "I found him just down the road from their driveway."
"I didn't know anyone had moved in there," said Mrs. Jackson.
Just then Baartock exclaimed "Home!" pointing up the hill.
"Can we use the driveway instead, Baartock?" said Mr. Fennis. "I don't want to walk up the hill, even if you do have a shortcut." He drove on down the road a little further, then slowed even more as they came to a mailbox and a dirt driveway.
"That's funny. The 'For Sale' sign's still there," said Mrs. Jackson. Out in the middle of the corn-stalk stubbled field was a weathered sign, 'Farm For Sale - Crow Real Estate'. "This is the only house up here. They must have just not taken the sign down yet."
Baartock sat in the back seat and didn't say anything. Mr. Fennis turned the car onto the driveway and started up the hill. This dirt road did go near his family's cave, but he never used it. Trolls almost never use roads unless there are bridges, and the bridges are to live under or hide under.
The driveway went up the hill, between the field and the woods. It didn't look as though a car had been on it for a long time. The grass growing in the middle was quite tall, and the bushes growing next to the road needed to be cut back. They scraped the side of the car as they went up the driveway. And there were a lot of holes that needed filling. Mr. Fennis was driving slowly, but the car still raised a cloud of dust behind them.
Up near the top of the hill, the road turned away from the woods, toward a grove of trees and the old frame house almost hidden in the trees.
"Home over there," said Baartock, pointing back into the woods, as Mr. Fennis was about to turn toward the house.
"But there aren't any houses in the woods," said Mrs. Jackson.