When Campy turned to thank the rat he saw only the tail disappear into the dark of the cave. With relief, he turned his attention to the oak door. There was an iron ring fastened to the wood but when he pulled on it, the door didn't budge.
"Vic, see if you can find a latch or something." Campy said as he studied the door.
The Belgian did just that with a methodical look to see where the latch to the door might be. They ran their hands over the surface, felt with their fingertips along the thin edge around the door but could not locate any type of lock for the door. The only thing was the iron ring held in the grasp of what looked like a gremlin's iron hands. The little iron figure clasp wore a grin.
Girlymann was losing his patience. He gave the door a hard rap and then tug on the iron ring with both hands but the door didn't budge. Campy then placed one foot on the wall and tugged using his mammoth leg muscles as leverage. Still the door remained fast.
They both stopped their study of the door to ponder. There had to be a way and Campy searched his memory for a clue when they first entered and the door was shut behind them. All he could remember though was the eerie creaks and groans the door made as it opened and then shut after they entered. But nothing about how the troll opened the door.
Vic had sat on the floor thinking, when he turned to Campy and said, "I swear I saw that troll put an iron key into a lock on the other side but there isn't one here that I can see."
Campy thought a moment and said, "You're right, maybe it only works one way, but how do you get back if there's no keyhole on this end?"
Vic had got up from the floor and studied the gremlin clasp that held the iron ring. He put his finger on the mouth of the figurine and was immediately bit on the tip of his finger.
"Ouch! Shit what was that?" Vic looked closely at the end of his finger and found puncture wounds from teeth as if a small animal had bit him.
To be continued......
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