Mrs. Jackson had decided that was just the way trolls were. With bridges, they were all business.
"Good morning," said Baartock. He thought any morning he could go help work on a bridge was a good morning.
They got into the car. Baartock sat in the front and put on the seat belt. His father stretched out along the back seat. He wasn't squeezed into the back, like he had been the day before. They still had to drive the long way around, but it wasn't too long before Mrs. Jackson was parking the car.
There wasn't a crowd at the bridge, it was too early in the morning. The man in uniform was there again. He didn't say anything to Baartock's father, but he did wave to Mrs. Jackson, and she waved back.
His father didn't want to waste any time getting started replacing the old bridge. As soon as they got there, he climbed out of the car and carrying his bag of tools, went to the edge of the road. He jumped down into the water, and Baartock started handing him hammers and chisels, as he called for them. He would dry and put away the ones that his father was finished with and threw back to him.
While they were working, people came to watch, but the man in uniform kept them back. Jason came down too, but the man wouldn't let him come over.
At lunch time, his father climbed back up and dried himself off with the blanket, and they sat under a tree to eat. Baartock was hungry, but his father ate four sandwiches to his one. Lunch was quickly over, and they were ready to go back to work.
This time, after his father jumped down, he told Baartock to hand him the bag of tools. Then he walked carefully through the rushing stream, across the wrecked bridge to the other side and tossed the bag up on the road. Then he came back and told Baartock to climb onto his shoulders. He crossed the stream again, and Baartock scrambled up the other side. Then just as before, he handed down tools or put them away.
During the afternoon, a man came to talk to Baartock's father. He was on the other side, and Baartock couldn't hear what they were talking about. After a while, the man left and his father came back to work.
"Stone," his father said. That was enough. Baartock knew they had been talking about how much stone would be needed to rebuild the bridge. His father was going to rebuild the bridge the right way, the troll way, with stone and not concrete.