"Hello, Mrs. Slinurp. Hello, Baartock," called Mrs. Jackson. To Baartock's mother, she said, "This is Baartock's teacher, Mrs. Stogbuchner."
"I'm pleased to meet you," said Mrs. Stogbuchner. "I told Baartock that I wanted to meet you this week."
No-one asked if Baartock had remembered to tell his mother, but the way she looked at him said that he had forgotten.
"I hope we're not coming at a bad time," Mrs. Jackson said. "No," said his mother. "You want to talk?"
"Baartock, I see you've been doing some school work. I think that's a very good," said Mrs. Stogbuchner, looking at the worksheets. Then she followed his mother and Mrs. Jackson into the cave.
Baartock thought about checking his bridge again, but it was nearly lunch time, and after lunch maybe his father could help him work on it. So he sat back down in the sun, and kept working on the papers. He could hear the adults' voices, but he couldn't hear what they were saying.
After a while he decided he was hungry and went to look for his lunch bag. He remembered putting it in the kitchen, so he went to get it. The adults were still talking, and he didn't think they had even noticed him, until Mrs. Jackson said, "Baartock, something happened to the bridge we looked at."
Suddenly, there was a booming voice, coming from the back of the cave. "What happen bridge?" Baartock's father was awake, and coming out of the bedroom. The word 'bridge' would wake most trolls from a sound sleep.
Meeting just one adult troll for the first time had been a surprise for Mrs. Stogbuchner, and even Mrs. Jackson hadn't met his father. And Baartock's father was bigger and angrier looking than most trolls, even though he wasn't any meaner than Baartock's mother. But they didn't know whether to stay or run. Before they could
decide, Baartock's father was in the living room saying, "What happen bridge?" again.
His mother saw just how scared the humans were, and said, "Wait. She tell."