Words for Wednesday 25 August

Today is Wednesday, and this means that David M Gascoigne has thought out some new, challenging words for us to use, or not. And as always they are published at  Elephant's Child's blog.
  This is a challenge, where the old saying "The more the merrier" holds true, therefore: Please, remember to go back, read other peoples' stories there or follow their links back. And please leave a comment after reading. Challenges like this one thrives on interaction.

This week's prompts are:
    Formidable
    Reticent
    Naturalist
    Hoity-toity
    Ego
    Combination
          And/or     Exude
    Strident
    Copious
    Salient
    Temerity
    Euphemism

Back to the Unicorn Farm and its taciturn gardener, Tom.

Tom was a formidable gardener and naturalist, but he was reticent in the extreme, and this aroused their curiosity. He always ate alone, as did the Nisser and a few other of the more exotic teachers on the Unicorn Farm. Yet he was not hoity-toity or easily insulted like the Nisser or the fauns. He did not have an overlarge ego either, like some of the human teachers. In short he was a bit of a riddle, and Heidi, My, Rósa, and Susan took it upon themselves to spy on Tom.
The first thing they did was to go to the kitchen and find Katla, the nice, youngish Icelandic Nisselady whom they had befriended during the Christmas party last year.
First Rósa asked for some kleinur, she was a great fan, which the other three thought a bit strange, as kleinur for them was something eaten only at Christmas time. While eating the kleinur Rósa and My as planned, began talking about their lessons in botany and the gardener, Tom. They stayed and talked, while  Katla prepared the trays for the beings not coming to the Barn for lunch. They noticed that each of the trays held a glass and a carafe of some beverage, ale, juice, water or wine, only Tom's tray held nothing drinkable.
Some days later Rósa went alone down there to beg more kleinur, as she did not want to do it every day. Still Tom's tray held nothing to drink, and furthermore no soup. Rósa went spying for more days, not every day, but nw and then, and this only confirmed the missing wet substances on Tom's tray.
Heidi and My went past the Greenhouse every morning, and Heidi and Susan every day on their way home.
They never saw Tom drinking, and he was very careful when watering the plants.
Susan sought out a reason for visiting Tom in the greenhouse, she asked for help with a written essay on the magical properties on some fruits. After this visit she met with My, Rósa and Heidi in Heidi's room.
Lis cane in while they were discussing, and after listening to them for only a short while, she turned to them: "I dare bet he's an efreet!" she said. "That is the only way a combination of all this is meaningful."
"Of course," Rósa said. "His name even gives him off. Tom is not his real name, as you sure know. He is Reynir-Röskvi Raudslogason. That means something like 'lively rowan, son of red flame'. Son of red flame? clearly an efreet! Now what?"
"Do we have to do anything about it?" Susan asked. "I mean except for not pouring water over him or similar pranks. Are we obliged to tell on him? What with Nisser in the kitchen and a Kelpie in the lake, I do not think that a son of an efreet is that bad."
That's because you're not wizard-born," Lis said. "We're taught that efreets want nothing more than to burn down all human habitations, and this is why we're not allowed to play with matches and such. So as not to inadvertently call an efreet to our house."
"We - that is non-wizards - are also discouraged from playing with matches," Susan said. "Only we're told stories about how a single match burned down a whole town. Maybe these stories are only to keep children and young ones from playing with fire?"
"You might be right," Lis said, which was a big thing coming from her lips. "And he has done nothing fiery in the years we have been here, and he really is a nice person, reticent and shy, maybe, but not a bad sort."

Here I ran out of steam ... and I only used the first half of the words. I hope for more inspiration.