Larrikan’s classes are a mixture of “easy and fascinating” to “dull drudgery.” He continues to enjoy the magic class and to perform well there. The mathematics class is very different for him, but he manages all right. The troll teaching the class tells them it is just the stable maths, and to get ready for harder next year. The history class nearly kills him. He struggles to read the material, to remember a mélange of human names, and has to work doubly hard to write the assignments. He is not the only one, but he is not happy to be struggling. He wants to do better.
Larrikan tends to make human friends. They find him entertaining and some clearly find him attractive. Larrikan is happy to have friends and works well with his classmates, but avoids taking any lovers. There are just too many things he doesn’t understand about how the humans do things and how their relationships work to feel comfortable doing so. Also none of them have tails to catch his eye and attract the mind.
Spring is well under way and thinking about summer when one of the trolls who works for Dämeteakfrau finds a trap near Fulk’s farm. It is clearly a trap designed to catch a Shy Folk sized person. A sturdy human adult would probably extract themselves, and a troll or dryad wouldn’t much be bothered. A Shy Folk would be good and stuck, possibly injured by the trap.
Dämeteakfrau is furious, because not only is this planned maliciousness, it could hurt a Shy Folk… or a human youth. The dryad is incensed that Fulk – who’s scent is all over the thing – would build something like this.
Larrikan has been avoiding the whole area, working other parts of the University. He carefully and stealthily goes to look at this. He reports to Dämeteakfrau that he would be surprised if any Shy Folk would be fool enough to trip the trap. In addition, Shy Folk almost always travel in pairs or even numbers. A second Shy Folk present would easily be able to defeat the trap. “It’s just stupid,” he concludes.
“Yes,” Dämeteakfrau replies, “but not because of that. I don’t think he cares about that. This isn’t a trap for passing Shy Folk. This is a trap for you.”
Larrikan’s ears go flat, and he starts to say something.
Dämeteakfrau stops him and says, “You stay away from that area. Is that clear?”
“Yes’m,” he meekly replies.
“Good. The stupid part is what will happen to Fulk when one of his neighbors children is caught or killed by something like that.”
Dämeteakfrau grows a tree through the middle of the trap, both disabling it and sending a message to Fulk.
As the summer starts in earnest the woods fill with the result of springs’ growth, and the long warm days seem perfect. Except for history classes.