“I am an administrator in the school system. I have the right to look at the materials on your electronic pad.” Her voice resonated throughout the large room.

Jal muttered, “You do not! You will keep your nose out of my business.”

“I’m supposed to report to the Protectorate the items on certain people's electronic devices!”

“Lying is an unacceptable behavior for an administrator.”

Eiske, across the room, noticed that Jal’s hair became a light red.

“I’m not lying!” she nearly shouted.

“Look here!” Jal yanked the device from her grasp. It opened the “Read Me First” File. Jal read in a calm, clear voice: “It says right here, ‘It is recommended that the user of this device use passwords to protect his/her/its files. Administrators may access the download file only. School instructors in the school system that a student is registered in may access the school files only.” Jal’s eyes and hair became a blazing red.” It closed the file. “Now, you will restart this download, and I’m going to stand right here and watch.”

“How old are you? Are you registered in a school system?”

Jal looked down its nose at her. “The last time I checked, any resident and visitor of this valley had the right to use this information facility.” Jal noticed that the downloads were finished. “Please return it to me.”

“This is the property of this information center. I’m going to keep it.”

“It’s nothing like the electronic tablets this center provides. It was given to me by someone from the Protectorate Enclave. I’m sure she would have something to say about your actions.” Mrs. De Graf’s face flushed. “This incident stops right here. If you say one word about this interaction to anyone, I will know where the story came from.”

Eiske went to the counter. “Jal, is there a problem?”

“No problem, Eiske. I was just telling Mrs. DeGraf what Ulrik Van Dijk said after the race. Do you remember him?”

“I know him. I don’t recall that conversation. What was it that he said?”

“Respect is given when a person meets another person as they are. Disrespect is earned and it is learned from those around it who are disrespectful.”

“Now I remember. Yes, he’s the person who recognized that you were a Stafriez. He said that a person’s experiences are entered into a collective memory.”

“He would be an interesting person to talk with,” Jal remembered how intrigued he had been.

Jal turned to Eiske, “Let’s go. I need to pick up food for our clowder of felines.” A mother cat had wandered in one day while Eiske was milking a goat. She and four kittens now slept in the goat shed.

As they climbed into the hovercraft, Eiske laughed at Jal’s use of the word ‘clowder.’ “I’ve never heard of that before. I think around here it’s called a litter.”

“Maybe we should call them a kindle, or an intrigue?” Jal laughed. It was a low-pitched whistle. “That’s what my computer suggested. Do we give them names? Or is that left for the new owners to do?”

“Let’s name the mother. We’ll keep her. After that, the new owners can do whatever they like.”

“I think we should call the mother ‘Cat.”

“Very creative. What was that mess at the information center, Jal?”

“She tried to look at the files on my tablet! She has no business doing that. Said she did it to everyone to screen information for the Protectors. I told her no. Then she told me to turn the tablet in to her. I told her no. She backed down when I told her soneone from the Protectorate gave it to me. Eiske, it says in the “Read Me” document that certain people can only look at certain files. Isn’t that some sort of invasion of privacy? How can I be certain that no one is looking at my information?”

“That’s a good question. Is there something that you don’t want people to know?”

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“Of course. I’m tracking my finances, the books I’ve read and my notes from them, and some reports for school.”

“You can block access by using passwords.”

“I use passwords.”

“Do you upload your content to your computer?”

“Yes.”

“I should think you’d be fine.” Eiske looked over at Jal, “What is it?”

“Did the Bron boys just want to win to beat everyone? Or were they just running for the money?”

“Does it matter?”

“It seemed to me like Kleis and Obbe did that on purpose. Haerm and Geldou issued those challenges so disrespectfully. Then Mrs. DeGraf tried to look at those files, even though she had no right. It all seems so stupid. So disrespectful.”

Eiske didn’t respond right away. “Maybe they expected to knock out the competition for Kryn

. Who knows? It’s over and you won. You’ll be able to start saving for the university.”

“I’d like to give it to you to pay for the damages from the break-in.”

“No, Jal. I took care of those repairs. I used a bit of magic on them.”

“Really?”

“I kept a copy of a few books from the box I gave you.” Jal smiled. “Feel better?”

“I do!”

***

The next afternoon Eiske, Dirk and Jal made a campsite some distance away from the lake and collected a big stack of kindling and wood. Before Jal sat down to fish, it put Dirk’s old hiking belt on. This way it would have quick access to its hand axe, knife, pliers, and communicator that it had wrapped in waterproof covering. Jal hadn’t really used its wand, but included it anyway.

The three of them fished most of the afternoon. During a break, Dirk showed Jal how to build a waterproof shelter with available materials. He demonstrated how to find mussels and catch frogs, and they had a feast for dinner. After cleaning up, they sat by the fire.

Dirk taught Jal and Eiske a few more knots and they talked about various water monsters that Dirk had encountered. He had worked different kinds of jobs before coming to Pencadick Rill and settling down as a farmer. He told them about several that lived in the depths of the sea and a few that lived in more shallow coves along the coast. Eiske began to read on his electronic device after the fire burned low. Dirk crawled into his sleeping bag and was asleep before long. Jal sat and stared at the burning coals and tried to figure out what to do about its craft. Which craft would it be most successful at?

The following day, they filled the chilling container with yellow perch, a few largemouth bass, and a lot of catfish. Eiske and Jal filled two buckets with mussels and freshwater clams. Dirk was in no hurry to return home, and since the fishing was good, they stayed a second night and filled Eiske’s chilling container.

When Jal realized that frog legs were exceptionally good fried, it started thinking how it could get Tarryn to cook some. Jal determined that it was going to catch a bunch of frogs. It stepped carefully through the water and netted a few before bringing the bucket back to the cage reserved for them. As Jal re-entered the marsh, it had its eye on several large frogs. A chill went over Jal’s body, as well as a sense that things were not right.

It hurriedly sloshed back toward the beach. When Jal turned to carry the frogs and net to the hovercraft, it saw a pair of yellow eyes poking out of the water. “It’s a crocodile!” Jal thought as it tried not to panic. Carefully, Jal stepped backward. “Eiske! Dirk! Bring your guns!” Jal yelled as the animal slid through the marsh toward Jal.

“It’s a tiljeekik!” Dirk shouted.

The creature stretched its lengthy neck and raised its reptilian head high above the water. Jal shrieked in panic when it saw the large teeth. Spewing water out of its mouth, the tiljeekik slithered toward Jal. Jal fell in the mud, and tried to wipe the sludge out of its eyes as it stood up. A bunch of gunshots rang out, and the animal reached out its pincers. “Aim for its eyes, Eiske!” Dirk yelled.

Jal reached for its wand. “Stropdas!” Jal shouted. The Tijeekik was twisted into a knot. “That’ll tie him up for a bit.” Jal turned and ran, muddy and slopping wet, and felt something hit its leg. Without any thought, Jal aimed at the beast’s face, “Piljer!” An arrow of fire shot from Jal’s wand. It landed in the tiljeekik’s mouth. The beast tried to shoot out more water. Instead, clouds of steam came out of its nostrils.

“Another one, Jal!” Eiske yelled.

“Piljer!”

“Once more!”

The animal was only a few meters away. “Piljer!”

The great monster’s head hit the sandy beach, and the force of its long neck made a huge wave in the water. Jal jumped backward and fell into the grass.

“Is it dead?” Jal gasped. “Eiske, grab my axe and tell it to cut!” Eiske took the axe. “Cut its head off!”

“I can’t remember the spell!”

“Snee,” Jal whispered.

Eiske told the axe to cut, then ran to Jal. “Are you okay?”

“No. It got me with a claw.”

While the axe chopped away at the tiljeekik’s neck, Eiske looked at Jal’s leg. Eiske got the bleeding stopped and put a temporary bandage on. “This cut’s deep. I think we need to take you home and treat you with some antiseptics and antibiotics.”

Eiske and Dirk tried to pull the carcass onto the grass. Using axes, they cut off the pincers. The Tiljeek was nearly five meters long and Eiske guessed that it weighed about two hundred kilograms. “Wow,” Dirk muttered. “Let’s take this thing to my place, and Marlien can tell us how to clean it.”

It was too big for them to move. “Eiske, use your magic,” Jal said. “Lift, as optilen.” Jal was so tired, and wasn't very helpful.

There was no way the tiljeekik would fit in a chilling box, so they tied it to the back of Eiske’s hovercraft and shoved the pincers in where they would fit. "I’ll take Jal home, get it settled, and then come to your place to help cut meat.” Eiske told Dirk.

At home, Jal took a shower, pulled some sleeping clothes on, and went to the medical rooms. Eiske carefully cleaned out the wound, stitched it shut and covered it carefully with a bandage. “I’ll try to bring some frogs home for a meal.”

“