Idun and the Apples of Youth Read online

  “Happy to oblige,” said the eagle, who had finished the soup by now, and so dropped the pot. With one clawed foot, he grabbed the bowl end of the ladle as Loki swung it at him again. As Loki held fast to the handle end, the eagle chanted some sort of magic spell that went like this: “Deaked leaked geak!”

  Letting out a high-pitched screech, the eagle flapped its wings. Whoosh! Still grasping the bowl of the ladle, the eagle soared up toward the smoke hole in the ceiling above the firepit.

  Not letting go of his end, Loki got dragged up there too! “Help!” he shouted down as they neared the hole.

  Bragi and Honir began to laugh. It was a hilarious sight.

  “Help!” Loki shrieked again.

  Feeling sorry for him, Bragi yelled, “Just let go of the handle!”

  “Don’t you think I would if I could?” Loki called out. “My hands are stuck to it! Some kind of magic at work!”

  After Loki disappeared through the smoke hole, Bragi and Honir ran outside. They scooped up rocks from the ground and threw them at the eagle, trying to make it let loose of Loki. Unfortunately, half of Honir’s rocks went straight up. As they plummeted back down again, he and Bragi had to leap aside to avoid being hit. In the end, their efforts didn’t matter. Already, the kooky cook bird had flown Loki too high and too far away.

  The eagle laughed. Scree-ee! Scree-ee! It dipped lower as it started down the mountainside, causing Loki’s feet to drag on the ground and bang against boulders and trees.

  “Ow! Ow! Let me go!” the boys heard Loki cry out. But the regal eagle pretended not to hear.

  “We can’t just stand around and listen to him yelp,” said Honir.

  “Then let’s ski down and try to help!” Bragi replied.

  Quickly the two boys strapped on their skis. “So you’ve been to the Regal Eagle Café before, right?” Bragi asked Honir as they took off. They each balanced one of Loki’s skis over a shoulder as they zoomed down the mountainside, swerving around trees and boulders.

  “Yup,” Honir replied as they gained speed. “Twice.”

  “Did you actually get to eat anything either time?” Bragi asked, totally puzzled.

  “Nope,” Honir called back as they hit a straight stretch and he pulled ahead. “Forgot about that part till now.”

  Bragi’s stomach was rumbling with hunger, but Honir was Honir. No use getting mad at him for just being him. They’d simply have to wait to eat till they were back at the academy. First, they had to rescue Loki. But how?

  Much to Bragi’s surprise, as he was pondering various schemes, the eagle suddenly released Loki. Oomph! Loki fell flat on his back in the powdery snow.

  “Whoa!” yelled Bragi and Honir. They swerved to avoid running him over. Once beyond their hapless roommate, they turned the front tips of their skis inward and snowplowed to a stop. Then they skied back to the fallen boygod.

  “You okay?” Bragi asked.

  Loki sat up with a groan. “Yeah, just bruised and a little pecked.” Pointing in the direction the big bird had flown, he added, “That was no eagle. It was a giant in disguise. Told me his name was Thiazi.”

  “How did you finally overcome his magic to get free of that soup ladle handle?” Bragi asked.

  “I… uh… I dunno… I just did,” Loki said evasively. He leaped up and grabbed his skis from the other boys. “Thanks for bringing these.” Changing the subject, he added, “Let’s get back to Asgard. I’m so hungry I could eat my boots!”

  “Ditto,” said Bragi.

  “Me three,” said Honir.

  Without further discussion, the very hungry boys skied off. Looking over his shoulder, Bragi noticed that the pesky eagle had flown down to perch atop the café roof. His beak was curved in an evil, knowing smile. Bragi wondered about that smile the rest of the way down the mountainside, across the valley, and as they hiked up the Bifrost Bridge to Asgard. Could there be something Loki wasn’t telling them?

  7 V Chat

  I DUN HAD JUST TAKEN A gulp of apple juice when the Valhallateria’s double doors burst open. Boom! Startled, she looked over to see Bragi, Honir, and Loki rush into the cafeteria like they were starving. Their hair was tangled, their cheeks cherry red from the cold and wind.

  Only moments ago she’d plonked down at this table, sitting across from Yanis, a light-elf girl with sunny yellow hair, and Malfrid, a red-haired human girl. She hadn’t sat with them this year so far. Both girls were nice, if a little giggly. By joining their table, Idun was following the rule about having at least one daily meal with others she didn’t usually sit with.

  Her roomies were doing the same. Skade was sitting with some of her frosty girlgiant friends from Jotunheim and two light-elf boys. Freya, with her brother, Frey, and boys named Njord and Kvasir (all Vanir) plus a couple of Aesir kids. Since the Vanir and Aesir had been enemies during the war, that was pretty cool. And Sif was seated with some dwarfs from the world of Darkalfheim.

  “I know we’re supposed to forge friendships among the different worlds,” Yanis said now, pulling Idun’s attention. “But I’m glad no fire giants go to school here. I’d be afraid to befriend them.”

  “Don’t worry. I heard they aren’t allowed out of Muspelheim,” said Malfrid.

  “Good thing,” Idun commented. “Their abilities with fire might come in handy with cooking in the V kitchen, though.”

  “Or maybe not, since those fire giants burn whatever they touch!” said Yanis, her eyes wide.

  Idun nodded. “True.” No one she knew had ever seen a fire giant, but they’d all heard horrible stories about them.

  “Hey, nothing wrong with a little fire,” said a voice. The girls looked up to see Loki standing near their table. “Mind if I sit with you?” he asked, surprising all three girls. Without waiting for a reply, he plopped into the empty chair on Idun’s right. Immediately he grabbed a bread roll from a basket that sat at the center of the table and gobbled it down. “I’m the boygod of fire, remember?” he said, while reaching for a second roll. “Unrelated to fire giants, of course.”

  Although this wasn’t actually funny, Yanis and Malfrid giggled.

  “Okay if I sit with you guys too?” Bragi asked Idun. He gestured to the chair on her other side. He’d followed Loki over while Honir had gone to sit elsewhere.

  “Nope. Sorry. You know Odin’s rule,” Loki told him. He’d gobbled down his second roll even faster than the first. “We’re supposed to mingle, remember? You were at my same table at breakfast and lunch, so sit somewhere else.” He flicked his fingers, indicating that Bragi should go, then grabbed a third roll since the Valkyries hadn’t yet appeared with their food trays.

  “Suddenly you’re a rule-follower?” Bragi asked, laughing. But he smiled gamely at Idun and the other two girls. “Later,” he told them all. Then he headed off to another table.

  The minute he left, Yanis and Malfrid giggled again, sending glances Bragi’s way. They were acting like they were crushing on him! Though she couldn’t have said just why, Idun did not like the idea. It’s none of your beeswax if they like him, she told herself.

  She tuned them out and turned to Loki with a bright smile. “I’m glad you’re here because I actually want to talk to you.” For a brief moment she wasn’t sure he’d heard her. His eyes were glued to the Valkyries, who had just appeared from the kitchen and begun to fly about the room setting places and handing out steaming plates of roast pork, potatoes, peas, and apple fritters. “Hello?” She snapped her fingers to get his attention.

  Loki turned her way as a Valkyrie appeared at their table. “Sorry, Idun. I heard you. And I want to talk to you too.” He snagged a plate of food from the Valkyrie’s tray before she could hand them around. She scowled but didn’t scold him as she passed plates to the three girls.

  “Oh? What about?” Idun asked digging in to her food. A little pang of dismay struck her when she noticed Yanis take a couple of bites of her apple fritter, then push it to the far side of her plate. Same with Malfrid. Th
eir actions reminded her of her friends seeming disinterested in her apple chips this morning. What was going on with everybody and her apples all of a sudden, anyway?

  “You go first,” Loki said to Idun, around a mouthful of pork and potato. “If I don’t eat, I’ll keel over. Honir forgot to bring snacks on our ski trip.” With that, he stuffed his entire fritter into his mouth. At least he was eating her apples, but then he was pretty much gobbling everything in sight.

  “Okay,” said Idun, staring in amazement at the way he was shoveling food down. While his mouth was full, it gave her the perfect opportunity to tell him about the good deed she had in mind for them. She glanced over at Yanis and Malfrid to see if they were listening in. She didn’t really want anyone else to hear about her idea. Not yet, anyway.

  At that moment, the two girls spotted Bragi heading for Heidrun. They drank the contents of their hrimkalders fast, then jumped up and went to join him at the fountain for a refill.

  Idun felt strangely annoyed as she watched them chatting with Bragi. Shaking her head to clear it, she chided herself for wasting time worrying over what those girls were up to. Now was her chance, while Loki’s mouth was full and her tablemates were gone, to convince the boygod to help her carry out her good deed plan.

  Quickly she said, “I was wondering… would you come with me to plant apple seeds down in Midgard? Like, maybe tomorrow morning?”

  Loki gulped down another huge bite of roast pork. “I thought magic apples couldn’t grow from seeds,” he said in surprise.

  “They can’t. We’d be planting regular apple seeds,” Idun explained. “Starting a new regular apple orchard to help out the humans in Midgard.”

  “Ha! Why would I want to help them?” Loki asked. Switching his empty plate for Yanis’s full one, he began shoveling down her potatoes mixed with peas.

  Knowing Loki, Idun had anticipated that he might ask such a question. So now she spoke the ready answer that she’d practiced in her head. “I don’t know if you realize it,” she said gently, so as not to hurt his feelings, “but you’ve got kind of a bad reputation here at the academy.”

  Loki’s eyebrows rose at this. While his mouth was still full of food, making it hard for him to reply, Idun raced on. “Some people think you’ll never change, but I don’t believe that. I’m positive you have a good heart. And helping to plant seeds in Midgard will prove it. Besides,” she enthused, “it feels great to do stuff for others. You’ll see!”

  She’d come to the end of her well-practiced little speech. Suddenly unsure of the effect it would have on Loki, she braced for a snarky reply. But none came.

  Instead, in a sincere-sounding voice, he said, “Thanks, Idun. It’s super nice of you to try to help me. Especially since no one else around here does. I can’t say if you’re right about me having a good heart, but okay, I’ll give it a shot. I’ll help plant seeds.” Giving her his most winning smile, he reached over with his fork and nabbed the fritter from Malfrid’s plate.

  “You will?” Wow! Idun couldn’t believe how easy it had been to convince him. Yay! She was kind of surprised and skeptical at his description of how others here at Asgard Academy treated him, though. Bragi was nice to him, at least.

  Loki shrugged. “Yeah, why not? Long as we don’t start too early. I need my beauty sleep,” he joked. Having cleaned his and Yanis’s plates, he now snagged a new one heaped with food off the large platter of a passing Valkyrie.

  As he dug in to the new plate, Idun thoughtfully grabbed another full one for Yanis, too. “Okay, so when is a good time?” she asked eagerly. If she didn’t pin Loki down now, she was afraid he might back out.

  “I don’t know. Around nine? We could meet at your grove, so you could pick your apples before we leave.” He smiled at her.

  “Sure.” Idun smiled back, pleased. At least someone around here still appreciated her apples!

  “One thing,” Loki said. “Don’t tell anyone about this seed planting plan, okay? I don’t want people to think I’m a good deed doer.” He grinned. “Let people find out on their own so it’s not like I’m bragging.”

  “Oh, okay,” Idun agreed. Before they could talk more, Yanis and Malfrid returned to the table, their refilled hrimkalders brimming with apple juice.

  “What? You didn’t bring any for me?” Loki teased Yanis.

  The elfgirl laughed a merry, bubbly laugh. “Just a sec!” After setting down her hrimkalder, she skipped, cartwheeled, and twirled her way back to Heidrun to get a glass of juice for Loki. Light-elves were like that—lighthearted.

  Idun had to admire the boygod of fire sometimes. Unlike her, when there was something Loki wanted, he had no trouble saying so. He didn’t worry about appearing selfish. And more often than not this mischievous boy could get others to happily do what he wanted.

  Since the girls were back now, was Bragi at his table too? Idun sneaked a peek. He was. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed him looking at her and Loki with a concerned—or maybe unhappy —look on his face. He wasn’t close enough to have heard what they’d been talking about. So why the frown? Did he maybe think that she and Loki were crushing on each other?

  For some reason, she wished she could go over and tell Bragi that they weren’t. But what if she’d read him wrong? He might just look at her like she was weird and say, Who cares if you guys are crushing? Not me!

  Instead, she promised herself that as soon as she and Loki were back from Midgard tomorrow, she’d find Bragi and explain about her good deed plan. (But since Loki didn’t want everyone to know about it, she’d also swear Bragi to secrecy.) Fingers crossed that she’d be able say that their seed planting had gone great.

  Idun’s eyes shifted to Freya’s table as that girlgoddess rose to leave. Noticing the uneaten apple remains on everyone’s plates, her throat tightened. Freya and her brother and friends had eaten barely enough apple to feel the effects of its youthful powers. Do a good deed, and you’ll get what you need. What she needed right now was to know why no one was eating her apples!

  When Freya, Sif, and Skade beckoned to her from the door a few seconds later, Idun quickly said goodbye to Loki, Yanis, and Malfrid. Leaving her empty plate on the table, she went to join her friends. She was planning to ask them her apple question on the way to Vingolf Hall, but before she got a chance, they all split off in different directions to go do different activities. It was only as she entered their dorm alone a few minutes later that she realized Loki had never told her what it was he’d wanted to talk to her about.

  8 Loki Helps Out

  IDUN WAS ALREADY PICKING HER golden apples of youth when Loki arrived in her cozy little nine-tree apple grove the next morning. Knowing it would be crisp and cold during the early morning hours, she’d worn her warmest wool stockings and snow boots. And she’d wrapped herself in her forest-green wool cloak, the hem of which she’d decorated with a border of embroidered apple blossoms. It was reversible, so she could also wear it with its red side out when she chose.

  She stretched an arm up and a branch bowed low to meet her reaching hand. Snap! As the precious apple came away in her palm, the tree branch, lighter now without the apple’s weight, bounced upward again, its leaves rustling.

  She greeted Loki with a smile as she placed the apple she’d just picked alongside the others in her eski. “You’re right on time.”

  Strung around her neck were two leather pouches. After lifting one free, she held it out to him. “Here,” she said.

  “What’s this?” he asked, looking puzzled as he took it.

  “Your half of the apple seeds,” she explained. Then she tugged her favorite knit hat—the yellow one with the brown felt stem and green felt leaf—down to cover the tops of her cold ears. “I gather them whenever I’m out walking and come upon apple trees—non-magic ones, I mean,” she explained further.

  When Loki still appeared confused, she added, “These are the seeds we’ll be scattering down in Midgard today, remember?” Could he have forgotten already?
Why did he think they were meeting here if not for that?

  “Oh, yeah!” Loki exclaimed. “Those seeds. Sure, I remember. Just got a lot on my mind is all.” Without bothering to look inside his pouch, he lowered its string over his head till the pouch hung around his neck. Then, eyeing the decorative painting she’d done on the front of her eski, he nodded appreciatively. “You’re a good artist.”

  “Thanks,” said Idun. Though pleased at the compliment, she knew that Loki rarely gave one unless he wanted something from someone. So when he gazed longingly at the golden apples in her half-full eski, she gestured toward them, saying, “Want one?”

  He patted his stomach. “Yeah, but I’m full, so I’ll wait till later. We’re taking them all with us to Midgard, right?”

  “Huh?” Idun said in surprise. “I thought we’d drop most of them at the V kitchen before we head out.” She gave her eski a tap, causing its sled runners to drop from its flat bottom. “A stop there won’t take too long.”

  Frowning, Loki grabbed onto her eski and wheeled it around to head for the bridge that would take them to Midgard. “But the kitchen’s in the opposite direction. Let’s just get going. I’ll push.”

  “Well, we could just leave the eski here instead,” she said, scurrying after him as he took off for the Bifrost Bridge. “No one will mess with it. I mean, we don’t need to bring all of my apples.”

  “ ’Scuse me? You saw me wolfing down dinner last night, right? I have a humongous appetite.” He nodded at the contents of her decorated cart. “If we didn’t have to share with the rest of the boygods and girlgoddesses around here, I could probably devour all these scrumptious apples myself! Anyway, it’ll be more fun with your eski. C’mon!” He began running with the cart, kicking his heels out behind him in an exaggerated way that was obviously meant to make her laugh.