Two months had passed since Sarah ran the Labyrinth and won back her baby brother, Toby. During that time, some changes were made to her everyday life that showed how much she had matured in those thirteen hours away. No longer did she whine and yell about how life wasn't fair or was upset about watching Toby. Instead, she watched and played with him almost every day. Her relationship with her father and stepmother improved greatly as her attitude changed for the better. She and Karen could be seen sometimes just talking and baking in the kitchen. Life was going good for Sarah and there was nothing she would do to change it.
The only bad thing happening is her social life. She had no friends in the Aboveground and everyone here bored her. Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus are her only friends but they live in the Underground and can visit in person once a month. Any other time is by mirror. The one person, or Goblin King, that she wanted to see but never did was Jareth. Even though he kidnapped her brother and sent her into a dangerous labyrinth, he did do it all for her. After she got home, she thought about what he said and realized that he was right. He was being generous, even if she did annoy him now and then.
To get over not seeing him, Sarah took to listening to music and found a singer that soothed her hurt feelings. She didn't know why, but David Bowie's songs just got to her and soon she was a big fan. Of course Hoggle didn't like Bowie too much. Something about how he reminded him of a certain rat bastard.
Saturday was coming soon and Sarah was excited. David Bowie was having a concert in a nearby town and Karen was able to get tickets for her and Sarah to go. Her dad was going to watch Toby tonight as they went out and had a girl's night. Everything was set and her newfound patience was quickly dispersing in how far away Saturday was. Today was Wednesday so right now, she was stuck in school.
Sighing loudly, Sarah stared out the window as she sat through a lecture about the revolution. The long, boring drawl of her monotonous history teacher was lulling everyone to sleep. A few boys in her class that looked like they were paying attention had actually mastered the act of sleeping with their eyes open. She could only tell because of their glassy, unblinking stare as they looked forward at the board.
"Miss Williams!" A loud slam on her desk startled Sarah out of her thoughts. A thick history book was lying in front of her as her teacher face glared from above. "Since you find my class so boring, maybe you can tell us who lead the army," Another sigh threatened to escape her lips, annoyance bubbling to be let out. Just as she was about to tell him that she didn't know, a thought struck her mind as swift as lighting.
"Why my dear educator, you don't know?" A smile spread across her face that reminisced certain someone's. "The Goblin King, of course!" Laughs could be heard around the room as Sarah continued to grin. The teacher, whose name she remembered was Mr. Bogsworth, turned red in the face and pointed at the door to the classroom. Taking the hint, Sarah grabbed her stuff and walked out, but not before giving a bow that brought another round of laughs. Bogsworth seemed as though he was going to say something, but the door closed before she could hear the words.
'Well, I guess I have the rest of the school day free,' she thought as she walked down the hallways. History was her last class of the day and school didn't end for another 45 minutes. With nothing else to do her feet walked her towards her favorite place in the whole building: the library.
Nodding to the librarian, Sarah walked to the back of the room and into her own private corner. In this school, no one really ever came to the library, even the geeks. For some reason books just aren't that important to them.
'Why even have a library if no one will come to it?' Sarah thought to herself as she pulled a random book from the shelf. 'Not that I'm complaining. More for me, I guess.' Things were quiet for the next 10 minutes before she heard someone calling her name. Looking around showed no explanation for the voice seeing as she was the only one in the library. Finally, she found the source as she dug out her compact mirror.
Instead of her reflection, Hoggle was staring back at her with a sad expression on his wrinkled dwarfen face. A feeling of dread filled the pit of her stomach as she stared back. Something was wrong, something was very wrong. Before she could ask, however, Hoggle began to speak.
"Sarah, I don' mean ta alarm ya," he said slowly, "But I's figured it best ya heard it from me before anyone else."
"Hoggle? What's wrong?" Sarah replied, her throat going dry. "What's happened?" Hoggle looked at her and heaved a big sigh; he was starting to look older than he did moments ago.
"It's Ludo, Sarah. He's missin'." He tried to keep the sorrow from his voice and failed. "Went missin' 'bout a month o' go with not a word to no one. I's tried to find him, with some help o' course, and couldn't." Sarah was too stunned to speak. Ludo, her giant rock-calling friend that wouldn't hurt a rock, was missing. Hurt and sorrow weld up inside her and threatened to come out. "I's understand if ya don' want to be me friend anymore. What good am I if I's can't keep one outta danger."
His voice snapped Sarah out of what she was feeling in time to see the pained expression on his face. "Oh, Hoggle. What are you talking about? Of course I'm still your friend!" If she could hug him right now, she would. "Don't worry, we'll find Ludo and bring him back home in no time!" Hoggle looked doubtful but a little bit of his old sparkle returned to his eyes. They talked for a while longer before the school bell rung out to signal it's time to go home.
~~~
Days passed quickly as Sarah and Hoggle every chance they got to come up with a plan to find Ludo. She was so focused on her plans and theories that she had completely forgot about the David Bowie concert until Karen had mentioned it the day before. Now it was Friday and her worry for Ludo had to be masked for the night so Karen wouldn't suspect that something was wrong.
When Sarah had come back from the park around three o' clock to get ready for the concert she found Karen in front of her room with an expression of guilt on her face. She knew then that the concert was no longer on the agenda for the day.
"Sarah, honey, I have some bad news." Karen said as she laid a hand on Sarah's shoulder. "Your father has a last minute mandatory company party tonight and we have to go. I know you've been looking forward to this concert but I'll make it up to you. Also, don't worry about Toby; He's at your grandmothers for the weekend." Looking sad, Sarah nodded her head in agreement and walked into her room. Not going to the concert was fine with her, but Toby could have kept Ludo off her mind for a while.
An hour later, she could hear her dad and Karen start the car and drive away. Sighing, she rolled over on her bed and tried to sleep away her feelings for the time being. It eventually worked, but not the way she wanted it to. Her dreams were filled with images of Ludo and what could be happening to him.
When Sarah woke up the sky had darkened to its midnight hue and the moon hung high in the inky blackness. No stars for the night it seems. Sighing, she walked over to her vanity and looked into the mirror. Hoggle would be sleeping right now and Sir Didymus as well, no doubt.
'Maybe I could call the Goblin King...' She thought for a second before she came to her senses. 'Come one Sarah! Why would he want to talk to you? He probely hates you for beating him in the labyrinth.' Sadly, this thought made her depressed. Before she had wished away Toby, she had-had a crush on the Goblin King she imagined in her head. When she had met him in real life, he mesmerized her with his looks and personality. Even as she was put through dangers unknown and kept away from her baby brother by being put in the oubliette.
Looking back on his offer to her at the end made her regret not taking a different approach. Maybe she could have taken him up on it as long as Toby was allowed to go home. Or she could have offered herself in place of her baby brother. Either way she could have been with him. Just like a song that likes to pop into her head now and then says, it's only forever, not long at all.
"Oh, how I w-, no hope that I can forget about these feelings that I have for him." Sarah sighed as she flopped back onto her bed. "Oh Jareth, why do you haunt me so? I had a crush on you before I even knew you! And now they have developed into something even more." Sighing once again, she forced herself back to sleep, never noticing the light blue eyes that stared at her from behind the window.