Idun and the Apples of Youth Read online

  “No, that’s okay,” Idun replied in as bright a voice as she could manage. She’d lost her chance to own the feather cloak. Nothing else would seem quite as wonderful, even something apple-themed.

  That store had been named incorrectly, she decided as they walked away from it. It should’ve been named Sad Rags or Mad Rags. Because that’s how she’d wound up feeling after shopping in there!

  2 On the Bridge

  WHEN IDUN, FREYA, SKADE, AND Sif finally met up again a few minutes later, Idun noticed somewhat glumly that she was the only one not carrying a shopping bag.

  “Do you guys want to walk back to the academy, or should we take my cart?” Freya asked. Her fingers played with the strings of one of the pouches that dangled from her necklaces. Inside that particular pouch was a magical cat’s-eye marble. Simply by tossing the marble in the air, she could make it transform into a red cart pulled by two large tabby cats that was big enough to zoom all four of the girls through the air!

  Freya sounded lighthearted and jolly. Sure, why wouldn’t she? Idun thought enviously. She has a great new cloak!

  “Your kittycart would make the trip shorter,” said Sif as the girls left the mall. She glanced up at the mostly blue sky and took a deep breath. The air she exhaled was frosty. “But I vote we walk back. It’s a nice day.”

  “Yeah, cold and crisp, just the way I like it,” said Skade. Pulling on her mittens, she peered up at the sky too. Though a half foot of snow covered the ground, no new snow was falling. “I vote for walking. Sif and I can try out our new snow boots!” She held up her shopping bag.

  “Okay with me,” Freya agreed.

  “Me too,” said Idun. She pointed to the bag Sif carried. “So you bought a pair after all?”

  Sif nodded sheepishly. “Skade’s enthusiasm for sales is contagious. I gave in to temptation.” She and Skade sat down on a wooden bench just outside the mall to put on their new boots.

  “Ooh, what a great shade of purple!” Freya exclaimed when Skade pulled hers from her bag.

  “Isn’t it?” Skade said, admiring her purchase. “According to the sales clerk, they’re plum-violet.” She pulled off the green pair of boots she’d been wearing and placed them in her bag. Then she pulled on her new ones.

  Sif’s new boots were a sparkly gold color that matched her waist-long golden hair. “They’re beautiful,” Idun told her. “I can see why you were tempted.”

  Sif smiled, looking pleased at the compliment.

  Idun was surprised when Freya didn’t show Sif and Skade her falcon feather cloak. But then again, the other two girls were so excited about their new boots that they hadn’t asked what was in her bag. Whenever Freya did decide to show them, Idun hoped she wasn’t around. Because she didn’t think she could bear to hear Freya’s enthusiasm for the cloak. Her happiness would make Idun feel that much worse about not getting the cloak herself!

  The four friends tromped across the snow-covered ground in front of the mall to a small ramp that led onto the Bifrost Bridge. Some called the huge, gleaming arch the rainbow bridge, but since it was only made up of three colors, it wasn’t actually a complete rainbow. The people of Asgard—they were called the Aesir—had built the bridge out of fire, air, and water. Red for fire, blue for air, and green for water.

  “Ow! Just a sec,” said Sif, starting to hobble. “Rock in my boot.” Plunking down on a knee-high boulder, she began unlacing the boot.

  At the bottom of the on-ramp to the bridge was a small sign. “ ‘Beware of trolls,’ ” Freya said, reading it aloud. She glanced at her friends. “You know how trolls supposedly like to hang out under bridges and threaten anyone who tries to cross? I actually saw some once, on my way to the academy our first day of school. They were just jumping around on the ramp, laughing and having fun. Not being scary at all.”

  “I’ve heard stepping on this bridge gives trolls a hot foot, even though it feels cold to the touch,” said Sif. “Giants, too. Because they both go barefoot all the time. Its heat is what keeps them from crossing over and sneaking into Asgard.”

  “The bridge hasn’t ever bothered me,” said Skade, “maybe because I’m only half-giant. Plus, I wear boots.”

  “You know, sometimes I wonder if trolls have just gotten a bad rap,” mused Idun. “Maybe it’s unfair to think we should beware of them.”

  Skade grinned and then cupped her hands around her mouth. “Listen up, you trolls!” she yelled. “We’re not afraid of you. Come out, come out, wherever you are!”

  “Shhh!” the other three girls hissed. Unlike Freya, Idun had never seen a troll, and she wasn’t sure she ever wanted to until they knew for sure that they weren’t scary. When no trolls appeared—scary or friendly—the four girls all laughed in relief.

  “Ready,” Sif announced. Having emptied the rock from her boot and re-laced it, she hopped up and the girls moved on.

  Just beyond the BEWARE OF TROLLS sign was a large map. It showed how the nine worlds all fit together under an enormous ash tree called Yggdrasil (also known as the World Tree). Idun had the map memorized. Still, she paused to study it.

  The gigantic tree was at the map’s center with three fat rings encircling its trunk, spaced one above the other. There were three worlds on each of the three rings.

  The first ring—the top one—included Asgard (world of the Aesir, where Idun and Sif had grown up), Vanaheim (world of the Vanir, where Freya and her brother, Frey, had come from), and Alfheim (world of the light-elves, many of whom attended the academy).

  The second ring—the one in the middle—included Midgard (world of the humans), Jotunheim (world of the frost giants, where Skade had come from), and Darkalfheim (world of the dwarfs, an underground labyrinth of tunnels and caves).

  The third ring—the bottom one—included Niflheim (world of ice and fog and home to the dead), Helheim (world also inhabited by the dead that was ruled by a hideous female monster), and Muspelheim (world of the fire giants).

  Sif gave a dramatic shudder as she, Freya, and Skade passed by Idun and the map. “Ooh, just thinking about the third ring always gives me the willies.”

  “Me too,” Idun agreed. Then she gasped as a short, squat creature suddenly appeared to join her in staring at the map. It reached out with its stubby fingers to trace the illustrated paths of Yggdrasil’s three enormous roots. One root was planted in each of the three rings at the site of a spring or well that nourished the tree.

  Yggdrasil’s health was just as important as the health of the special apple grove Idun tended. More important, really. Because the future of all worlds hung on the enormous tree’s welfare. Besides providing a link between the three rings, Yggdrasil sheltered the worlds from storms, supplied wood for building, provided a home for animals, and much, much more.

  “Can I help you find your way?” Idun asked the creature kindly. Yggdrasil was super huge—some said it could take a lifetime to walk all the way around it. It was easy to get lost in unfamiliar parts of the worlds.

  The creature whipped around to stare at her with its tiny eyes. It had a huge warty nose and skin that looked as rough as tree bark. “I’ve already found what I was looking for!” it crowed. “Four tasty students! Ringy-ding-ding! And rooty-toot-toots! I’ll grind your bones and steal your boots!”

  Idun froze in fear. Up ahead, her friends had overheard. They looked back over their shoulders.

  “Troll!” Freya yelled to Idun. “Not a friendly one! Run!”

  Idun took off. Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! As all four girls clattered over the bridge, the troll cackled and chased after them.

  “Faster! It’s gaining on us!” yelled Sif.

  When the others sped up, so did Idun. Soon she’d caught up to them.

  “Wait a second,” Skade said, after they’d put some distance between themselves and the creature. “Is that troll wearing shoes?”

  “You’re right,” said Sif, glancing back at it. “It is!”

  Idun dared to look back too. “Yellow shoes,”
she added.

  The four girls came to a dead halt. They looked at one another, their breaths heaving their chests. “Loki!” they exclaimed.

  Laughter echoed behind them as the “troll” shape-shifted into one of their fellow classmates, the boygod Loki. He’d tricked them just to give them a scare! His yellow shoes were the tip-off, though. They were magic and allowed him to race like the wind, skimming over land and water. And that’s what he did now, zooming past them on the bridge toward the academy, laughing all the way.

  “Fooled you!” he yelled back at them.

  “That guy is sooo annoying! Always making trouble,” said Sif.

  “Yeah, I scuffed my new boots because of him,” Skade complained as they followed Loki across the bridge.

  “Gosh, if only you had others back at the dorm to change into,” Freya teased lightly, making everyone grin.

  “You must have… what… a dozen pairs by now?” asked Idun.

  Skade cocked her head, considering the question. Finally, she said, “Counting my new pair, thirteen. Each is special in its own way, though.” She pointed down at her new ones. “I bought these mainly for their color. But I also have speedy boots, lightweight boots, knee-highs, shorties, fur-lined, and so on.”

  Sif scrunched her nose. “Isn’t thirteen an unlucky number?”

  Freya nodded in agreement. “You should cut back to nine pairs,” she told Skade as she touched the necklaces that hung in a swag across her chest. “I always wear exactly nine necklaces.”

  Really? thought Idun. She’d never realized that. Made sense, though. As everyone knew, nine was a super lucky number because it matched the number of worlds in the Norse universe.

  “Or I could just find one stray boot to add to my collection,” said Skade.

  “What?” Idun, Freya, and Sif chorused.

  Skade grinned. “Thirteen pairs equals twenty-six boots, right? Add one more boot and that makes twenty-seven. And twenty-seven is three times the lucky number nine!”

  As the girls all laughed at her math logic, Skade suddenly pointed at the bag Freya was carrying. “Hey, what’d you buy?”

  “Ooh! Wait till you see. Prepare to be amazed,” Freya said, her eyes twinkling. She stopped on the bridge to open her bag.

  Idun tensed.

  Sif sent her a sideways glance. “No bag for you?”

  “Nuh-uh,” Idun said with a shrug. “Didn’t find anything I wanted.” It was a lie of course. Trying not to feel too resentful, she watched Freya pull the falcon feather cloak from her bag.

  “Ta-da!” said Freya.

  “Hooray! It’s a great flying day,” said the cloak in its “glad” voice. “Put me on and let’s hit the skies!”

  “Wow!” Skade exclaimed. “A talking cloak! Do like it said. Put it on.”

  Idun shifted from one foot to the other. If only she had told Freya she wanted to buy the cloak back in the shop. Was it too late?

  “Wait! Where did you get it?” Sif asked Freya, eyeing the cloak suspiciously. “Are you sure it’s safe to wear?”

  “Sure. Don’t worry.” As Freya explained about the talking clothes back in the Glad Rags shop, Skade and Sif examined and admired the cloak.

  Idun looked on, jealous. That cloak should have been hers! “A lady was returning it. She said it shrieked!” she blurted out.

  Freya cocked her head at Idun. “Really? You didn’t tell me that before.”

  Instantly Idun felt guilty for trying to ruin Freya’s excitement. To make up for it, she added, “I’m sure it’s fine. That nice shop lady wouldn’t have resold it to you if it wasn’t. Here, I’ll hold your other cloak for you while you put on the new one.”

  “Thanks,” Freya said with a grateful smile. She slipped off her red cloak and handed it to Idun along with her bag. Whipping her arms, she swirled the feather cloak over her shoulders. No sooner had she done this than something amazing happened. The new cloak tightened around her. Wings opened up from its sides.

  Flap! Flap! Freya took to the sky, her legs and booted feet becoming claws, and her head becoming that of a falcon with a sharp hooked beak.

  Openmouthed in surprise, Idun, Skade, and Sif stared upward as falcon-Freya made several awkward, jerky circles overhead. “EeYEE! EeYEE!”

  “You okay up there?” called Sif.

  “Freya! Get back down here!” Skade yelled. “You’ve never shape-shifted before. It’s too dangerous.”

  However, as Freya flew overhead, her circles became smoother. Her high-pitched “caws” grew calmer. She even executed a barrel roll!

  “She’s really getting the hang of flying!” said Sif, sounding impressed.

  “EeYEE! EeYEE!” cried falcon-Freya.

  “Those caws must be the ‘shrieking’ the lady who’d returned the cloak was talking about back in the store,” Idun said, thinking aloud.

  Suddenly Freya zoomed in to land on the bridge a short distance ahead of the girls. While the girls ran toward her, she managed to shrug off the cloak. Instantly she returned to her girlgoddess form.

  “Ymir’s elbows!” Skade exclaimed as she, Idun, and Sif gathered around Freya. “I can’t believe you found a shape-shifting cloak. They’re super rare!” She picked up the cloak, which had landed on the bridge. Before handing it back to Freya, she gave its feathers an admiring stroke.

  Shape-shifting cloak? thought Idun, going pale. I’ve given up a rare shape-shifting cloak? Envy pricked her again, and panic over her mistake swelled inside her. Freya would never give the cloak to her now! Plus, she’d sound like sour apples if she even asked her to.

  Freya was beaming. “Cloaks like this one are rare.” She folded it neatly over her arm, her fingers straightening its feathers.

  “Rare,” the cloak echoed happily.

  Clearly, you had to be wearing the special cloak to activate its transformational magic. Maybe it wasn’t too late. What if Idun grabbed it and put it on now herself? Would it switch its loyalty to her?

  “I wonder if its powers would work for anyone wearing it,” said Sif, practically reading her mind.

  “Obeya only Freya,” the cloak singsonged.

  This made Freya laugh merrily. Quick as a wink, she bagged her feather cloak and put on her red wool one.

  Frustration filled Idun anew. How had a morning that had started off so well ended up so crummy?

  As they started walking again, Freya leaned over and gave Idun a quick hug. “It’s thanks to Idun that I got the cloak. She’s the one who pointed it out to me.”

  “Did you guess it was a shape-shifting cloak?” Sif asked Idun.

  “No,” Idun admitted dully. “The shopkeeper didn’t mention that.”

  “I bet she didn’t know,” Freya added. “She was a human Midgardian, and they can’t shape-shift. It probably didn’t even occur to her that the cloak could be something really special.”

  Skade cocked her head. “But you said her shop was full of talking clothes. That’s pretty special right there.”

  “The shop’s sign said she accepted secondhand clothes from goddesses, gods, giants, or elves,” said Idun. “Maybe a giant or goddess customer helped her out by casting a talking spell over her stock. I’m guessing that whoever gave her that cloak had no idea it was a shape-shifting one.”

  Sif nodded. “Yeah, if they’d known, they would’ve kept it.”

  “And if the shopkeeper knew, she wouldn’t have sold it to me so cheap,” Freya said.

  Skade’s eyes lit up. “So you got it at a discount?”

  “Fifty percent off,” Freya told her proudly.

  “Wow!” Skade, queen of the sales, looked impressed. “I wonder if she sells used ski boots.”

  “Hey, there’s Heimdall,” said Sif. She nodded ahead toward the end of the bridge where the exceedingly tall, broad-shouldered, gold-toothed, pointy-bearded Asgard Academy security guard stood. Dressed in uniform, he carried an enormous sword at his side.

  Idun eyed the huge horn that was slung across his shoulder by a le
ather strap. It was shaped like a ram’s horn and made of polished gold. Whenever Heimdall blew on it to mark the beginnings and endings of mealtimes and classes, the sound was extremely loud.

  “Who’s that talking to him?” Idun wondered, pointing at two boys standing with their backs toward the girls.

  “Black hair and… yellow shoes? One of them is that fake-troll boygod, Loki!” sputtered Skade. Just then Loki rose in his magic shoes to hover a few inches above the ground before lowering again.

  “Typical,” said Sif. “First he scares us half to death. Then he hangs around at the end of the bridge like he didn’t do anything wrong and we have no reason to be mad.”

  “I think he’s forgotten all about us. Let’s sneak up and give him a scare this time,” suggested Freya.

  Since Heimdall was concentrating on whatever the boys were saying and the boys’ backs were still turned away from the girls, none of the three noticed the girls’ approach.

  Cool. Idun was curious to overhear what they were talking about.

  “So exactly how long does it take to grow a beard like yours?” the boy with Loki was asking Heimdall. Noting his curly brown hair, Idun decided it must be their classmate Bragi.

  The four girls grinned at one another. So this was the sort of stuff boys talked about when no girls were around?

  “And when did you get whiskers? Like, how old were you when you grew some, I mean?” they heard Loki ask the guard.

  Before Heimdall could reply, Bragi butted in. “Is there a way to grow your beard a certain color?” he asked. “Think I could grow a gray one like Odin’s? That would be awesome! I could braid it and maybe keep a bird’s nest in there.”

  The girls stifled giggles. Picturing Loki and Bragi with beards was a funny idea. Especially bird’s nest beards!

  Heimdall lifted an eyebrow at the boys. “I wouldn’t be in such a big hurry to grow up if I were you.” Known for his keen eyesight and hearing, but not for his sense of humor, he added, “Grown-ups have to shoulder lots of responsibilities that I don’t think you’re ready for.”