Bogamus in Space

Bogamus in Space

By Nathan A. Jones

© 2017 Nathan A. Jones. All rights reserved.

Cover illustration by Sharon Davey

© 2017 Sharon Davey. All rights reserved.

Smashwords Edition

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Bogamus and Friends Series

Bogamus the Troll

Villainous Vic

Bogamus in Space

Contents

Meet Bogamus

Boonetta

BETI

The Bashers

Bealey Bugle – Monday

The Troll Games

Foiled Again

Close Encounters

Madam Mayor

Bealey Bugle – Tuesday

At the Zoo

Bealey Welcomes the World

Freedom

Bealey Bugle – Wednesday

Strange Sheep

Ransom

BETI 2

Bealey Bugle – Thursday

Hungry Work

Bun Deliveries

The Bun Train

Lift-off

Bealey Bugle – Friday

And the Winner Is …

Home Safely

Meet Bogamus

Bogamus is a troll, and a particularly fine example of a troll for that matter. He is ten feet tall, has green skin, is thin and scrawny, with a pot belly sticking out from his middle. But he does have a good temper and a particularly nice smile. Bogamus, like all trolls, spends most of his time under his bridge where he listens for passers-by crossing overhead. When he hears someone walking over his bridge he springs out from under the bridge and, in the best trollish tradition, scares them witless. You might think this a strange way for someone to act, but then again what would you do if you found somebody climbing over your home?

Once upon a time Bogamus had a misunderstanding with the three billy goats Gruff. One of them even buffeted poor old Bogamus right off his bridge. Afterwards Bogamus had lots of adventures and at one point even left the Magical Realm and found himself in the real world. But he returned safely and now Bogamus and the three billy goats Gruff are the best of friends.

Boonetta

Bogamus dug his fingernails into the soft thick bark of a fallen tree. He heaved his long arms as hard as he could and scrabbled his legs, hauling his body to the top of the enormous tree trunk. Standing up straight on the top he looked around him. Spying an enormous boulder twenty yards along the riverbank he jumped to the ground, landed with a thud and sprinted off towards the huge rock. On reaching the boulder he reached up and grabbed onto the first handhold he saw, tugging and straining for all he was worth he pulled himself all the way to the top of the rock. As he dragged himself up he could be heard panting to himself.

‘Got to go quicker, huff puff, go to climb higher, puff huff, got to be first.’

From the top of the rock he looked down and along the riverbank. There he could see his bridge, which meant that he was near the end of his workout. Stood next to the bridge was a particularly large goat with a satchel strapped to his back. This was Bydor, the largest and strongest of the three billy goats Gruff. Bogamus climbed down the rock and ran the last few paces back to his bridge.

‘Good afternoon Bogamus,’ said Bydor.

‘Huff-puff-huff, yes a very, huff, good afternoon to you as well,’ gasped Bogamus.

‘There is a letter for you,’ said Bydor, who could lift even the heaviest package and so had been given the job of valley postman. Bydor stretched his neck back and, reaching into the satchel, picked up a letter with his teeth. He dropped the letter into Bogamus’s hand and clip-clopped off to make the rest of his deliveries.

Bogamus looked at the envelope, it was addressed to Bogamus, Bogamus’s Bridge, Magical Realm. But the letter had been all over the place on its journey. First it had been sent to the elves, who had marked it Not know by the fair folk of the Elven Woods, then it had been sent to the dwarves who had marked it The Dwarf Council lets it hereby be known that no one of this name abides in the Dwarvern Caverns. The goblins had stamped it UNKNOWN using one of their machines. Even the fairies had written on it, in delicate, curling letters, We know you? No, we no know you. Bogamus remembered the fairies and their fondness for japes and jokes.

Bogamus did not receive that many letters. Whatever was in the envelope must be very important for someone to have written it down and mailed it to him. But with all these stamps on it the letter should have arrived ages ago. Still worrying would not make it arrive any earlier, so Bogamus tore the envelope open and unfolded the letter inside. It was from his sister Salith, who lived in Troll Town with her husband Jarrid and their daughter Boonetta.

Dear Bogamus,

At this time of year Troll Town is not the best place for a growing girl like your niece Boonetta. The heat and the city fumes seem to be sapping her strength. Living in the city her skin has become so pale, not the healthy, vibrant green that it should be. Jarrid and I were thinking that it would be good for her to see some of the country. Getting some exercise in the clean mountain air would do her the world of good. I hope you don’t think that we’re imposing but we were wondering whether she could spend some time with you? I hear that you’ve done some lovely things to your bridge and I’m sure that she would have a marvellous time staying with you for, say, a week. She will be arriving on Sunday afternoon.

Your loving sister,

Salith

Sunday afternoon! But that is today! Slowly Bogamus lowered the letter, revealing a figure that at first seemed to be a smaller reflection of himself. The figure was seven feet tall and had black hair tied into bunches with pink ribbons. In one hand was a suitcase, while in the other hand they held a pink teddy bear by one of its legs.

‘Hello Uncle Bogamus,’ said the figure.

‘Er … hello Boonetta,’ replied Bogamus.

‘It’s all right Uncle Bogamus, you can call me Boo. Everyone calls me Boo. Mummy and daddy say that Teddy and me are going to stay with you for a week. Apparently, I need some mountain air to do me good.’

Bogamus folded up the letter and put it in his pocket.

‘Yes,’ said Bogamus, ‘that’s right.’

‘Uncle Bogamus, why are you sweating?’ asked Boo.

‘Because I’ve been getting the mountain air.’

‘Really, will mountain air do the same to me?’

‘Well that all depends on how much mountain air you get. Just lately I’ve been getting quite a lot.’

Boonetta frowned and said ‘But Uncle Bogamus, why have you been getting so much mountain air? And why does it make you so warm?’

‘That’s because I am in training.’

‘In training? What are you training for Uncle Bogamus?’

‘The Troll Games!’

The Troll Games were an annual contest to see which troll was the best at running, jumping, climbing, roaring, throwing and all manner of other trollish things. The winners at the Troll Games were celebrated as heroes for the rest of the year. Everyone wanted to be a winner at the Troll Games or to claim that they knew somebody who had been a winner at the Troll Games.

‘Uncle Bogamus, you are going to be in the Troll Games!’ cried Boonetta. ‘Does this mean that Teddy and me are also going to the Troll Games?’ Boo waved her pink teddy bear by its leg over her head.

‘Yes, it does,’ replied Bogamus.

‘Hooray!’ shouted Boo.

That evening Bogamus made a delicious traditional trollish meal. Cooked up were pink worms wriggling away, yellow blobs that bobbed up and down and green swirls that turned and twisted around and around in the cooking pot. This was a trollish meal for champions. At Boo’s insistence Bogamus even set out a small bowl of trollish food for Teddy, although he did not seem particularly hungry and Boo had to help him finish it.

When the meal was over Bogamus told Boo stories of his adventures and how he had met fairies, battled with an enchanter and even travelled to the real world but had managed to make his way back to his bridge in the heart of the Magical Realm. When the stories were over it was dark and time for bed. Boo went to sleep with thoughts of the Troll Games and Uncle Bogamus’s adventures swirling through her mind.

BETI

Bogamus lived high up in the mountains of the Magical Realm, a place where dainty fairies and ferocious dragons are as real as Sunday lunch or your home’s front door. You might think that such a place exists only in your imagination or at the end of your dreams, but you would be wrong. In fact, it is a real place that can be found on the Earth, you just need to know how to get there. With the right directions, you or I could arrive at the edge of the Magical Realm in no time at all. But very few people know where the gateways between the Magical Realm and the real world are and so the creatures of the Magical Realm stay in the Magical Realm and the people of the real world stay