The Horns of Kern

  *

  The day went by quickly. Gertrude found himself ‘grandfather sitting’ for most of the day until it was time for him to leave for the committee meeting. He was happy to leave the hovel with all of the commotion and the three ladies talking incessantly about nothing. The cold air cleared his head, and he started thinking about the meeting. He was worried about what would happen.

  As it turned out, Gertrude had nothing to worry about at all. The meeting came and went with the issue of the guards getting passed unanimously. Everyone was looking forward to the celebration on the next eve. Gertrude could feel a headache coming on. After the meeting, he was closing up the market house when it had dawned on him that he had not asked anyone to the ball yet. He wondered if Toddy would be upset for asking her so late. Well, maybe he could catch up to her. He walked quickly in the direction of Bertha’s as Toddy had mentioned earlier that she was going to go visit her mother. He soon caught sight of her and called to her.

  “Toddy, please wait. I would like to talk to you.” He saw her pause and turn around. Gertrude quickly walked up to her. He noticed the lovely smile and the twinkle in her robin’s egg blue eyes. All of a sudden he could not find the words he wanted to say to her.

  “What do you want to talk about, Gertrude?” Toddy’s smile grew even broader and a sparkle of light now danced in her eyes.

  “I was…well… you know.” Gertrude grew more frustrated with himself the harder he tried. “Will you go to the ball with me next Saturs-day eve?”

  Toddy acted stunned, and a look of absolute horror sprang across her face. “OH MY! I haven’t a thing to wear!” She stopped for a moment and she saw the stunned look on Gertrude’s face. “Yes, I will go to the ball with you.” She threw herself at him and gave him a huge kiss, then grabbed him and she started whirling him through the snow, pretending to be dancing in her gown.

  Gertrude found himself humming a dance tune as the two frog trolls bounced in the snow. Out of breath, they glided to a stop and both broke into laughter. It was at that moment that something strange happened to Gertrude. He wrapped Toddy in his arms and gave her a kiss. “I love you, Toddy, and have for a long time.”

  Toddy looked at Gertrude and tears sprang to her eyes. “I love you, too.” She kissed Gertrude once again. “I should go in to see my mother now.”

  Gertrude looked into her eyes and his heart melted more. He took her hands. “I have to go also. I am sure mother is going to wonder where I am.” He escorted Toddy to her mother’s door and bid her a good night. He walked home light-hearted and found himself in front of the hovel in no time. Dinner was on the table when he entered. “Hello, Mother. Hello, Grumps.”

  “It’s about time you came in from playing with your friends, you scrawny hopper! Get washed and ready to eat.” Grumps already had a fork in one hand and a dull knife in the other. Agabus was asleep on his shoulder. “Are you finished with the preparations for the party tomorrow’s eve, Mother?”

  Winifred looked exhausted as she brought a large pot of earthworm stew to the table. “Yes, everything is ready. After the dishes are done, I still have some work to do on my dress for the ball.”

  “I will clean up after dinner, Mother, so you can work on your dress.” Gertrude could see the relief in his mother’s eyes.

  “Why is your mother making you a dress, hopper?” Grumps was eating the stew quickly and it was slopping down the front of him.

  “Gertrude would look silly in a dress, Father.” Winifred poured some root juice into their mugs.

  Grumps stopped eating and looked down the front of himself. “Jumpin’ sassafras! I am dressed…”

  Winifred just shook her head and smiled. “Tomorrow is going to be a long day, Father. You will need to go to bed early and get a good night’s rest.”

  Supper ended and Gertrude cleaned the kitchen while his mother worked on her dress. Grumps kept himself amused playing with Agabus. It wasn’t too long before Gertrude noticed how quiet it was. He turned around and found his mother with her head drooped and snoring softly. Grump’s head had found a soft blanket. He had pulled his legs up on the bench. Gertrude smiled and went about getting the sleepy trolls to their rooms, covering them up. He then readied himself for bed and crawled into its comfortable embrace. He heard a little mew and felt Agabus crawl into his beard and settle down for the night. All was well in the Tinker Hollow residence this eve.