Evan stood in the middle of the brook, arms akimbo, glaring down at the bright, clear water. First his potatoes, and now the little thief was playing with his fish traps! It was empty even of bait, floating in the middle of the stream like a fallen branch. “You know those fish were for you anyway!” he called into the trees. “I was going to clean them for you!” He hopped out of the stream and onto one of the rocks, gripping at it with his bare feet. He looked down to check his balance and stopped, thoughtful. The footprint he’d seen had been bare. “Do you have shoes?” he shouted. “I have an extra pair of shoes! They won’t fit without some adjustments so it would be nice if you would come say hello!”
Speech over, Evan strode to the edge of the brook--his legs were so long he only needed to use every other rock. When he made land and slipped his wet feet into his sandals, he stopped and swung back around. “By the way!” he called. “Don’t mess with my plants anymore--you won’t like what happens. I’ll leave you food and if you need anything else, ask for it!” Voice dropping back to a conversational tone, he added, “Back in my day, even enchanted mortals had manners.”
He scooped up a nearby rock which had a sunning garter snake on it and muttered to it all the way back to his hut. When he arrived, he put down the rock next to his garden and strode inside. If he was going to ward the rest of his things before dark and put together a meal for his little thief, he’d have to get started.