“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 each person's electronic devices!”

“Lying is an unacceptable behavior for an administrator.” Eiske sat watching as 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 had become 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 visitors of this valley have 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 a Protectorate staff member. I’m sure she will 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 came 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."

”Yes. I wonder what other Stafriez will learn from my interactions with Aphyxians." 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 Protectorate. 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 a Protector 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?”

“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 and use passwords on it?”

“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.”

Eiske didn’t respond. “If you wouldn’t have been there, Kryn would have won. Maybe they expected to knock out the competition for him. Who knows? It’s over and you won. You’ll be able to start saving for the university.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“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 that box I gave you. Do you feel better now?"

Jal smiled.

***

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 used its wand except to practice, but included it anyway.

The three of them fished only part of the afternoon. Dirk showed Jal how to build a waterproof shelter with available materials, then demonstrated how to find mussels and catch frogs. They feasted on the fish, mussels and frog legs. After cleaning up, they sat by the fire. Dirk taught Jal and Eiske a few 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 creatures that lived in the depths of the sea and a few that lived in 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. What should it choose?

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 Taryn 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 and fell. “Eiske! Dirk! Bring your guns!” Jal yelled as the animal slid through the marsh toward Jal.

“It’s a Tijeekik!” 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 Tijeekik slithered toward Jal. Jal tried to wipe the sludge out of its eyes and stand 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, 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. I’m so tired.”

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 one 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, optilen.” There was no way it would fit in a chilling box, so they tied it to the back of Dirk’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 too 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. He gave Jal medicine to prevent infection. “I’ll try to bring some frogs home for a meal.”

At the same time, Dirk was unloading his catch of fish at the back door, then called into the house to Marlien, “We need your help. Bring some big knives.”

“How big of a knife do you need?” She was stunned when she saw the back of Dirk’s hovercraft. “What is that thing? It looks like a tijeekik from one of the kid’s fairy tale books. Dirk, when I asked you to fill the freezer with fish, this isn’t really what I had in mind.” They were cutting it up when Eiske arrived. “Please take some of this home. We’re going to be eating it for a few weeks!” she laughed.

“It wasn’t very funny, dear,” Dirk looked at her. “But I was stupid enough to take a picture. I took the picture and threw the communicator into the hovercraft. I figured that if we died, someone would at least know how!”

“I took so many shots but couldn’t hit my target. I was trying to hit its eyes, then started aiming for its head,” Eiske joined in the telling of the story.

“Those sure are ugly fisheyes!”

“Like an alligator’s.”

Marlien, Eiske, and Dirk removed the meat from the neck skin. “This is good meat. I wonder how it will taste. Who gets the skin?” Marlien asked. The neck was a sinewy green-and grey-striped leather, and the back was soft like the fur of a mink. It’s head and light-green underside was rough like an alligator’s skin.

“You can have it,” Eiske said. “Ugh. Better yet, Jal should have it and the eyes. I think the eyes can be dried, then ground up and used for a magic potion.”

Dirk responded. “Without those flaming arrows, we all would be laying there with our heads chewed off. Are the claws good for anything?”

“I have no idea,” Eiske studied the pieces that had been removed. “Yes, let’s give Jal the skin, eyes, teeth and claws.”

“I’ll bet he could get something for them at the magic shop in Dagmon.”

“He could make a coat from the skin. It will keep the water from soaking through in the winter rains and snows,” Marlien suggested. “Thanks for all the meat, Eiske. You should take half of the clams.” They argued over how many each family really needed.

“You keep them all,” Eiske pushed. “We'll take the frogs. We have a bunch of eggs to eat. Thanks for going with us, Dirk. Hopefully, the next time that we go camping it won’t be so exciting.”