Chapter Three

"Amelia…Pond," Jareth said while looking in the crystal ball in his hand and his right leg dangled over the arm of the throne. He thought about the storm and what he saw in the white light as he sighed and stood up. The goblins laughed and chatted amongst themselves when he walked by them and kicked a goblin with a round face, big brown eyes, white hair and a small nose. It yelped while it flew through the air then crashed into a barrel filled with wine and its legs kicked the air. The other goblins and hobgoblins giggled while Jareth left the throne room then walked down the hallway and headed for the stairs. Walking down the stairs, he walked toward the arch then walked inside a garden and the flowers automatically bloomed around him.

"Good morning," one of the flowers said as he walked onward and the flowers drooped, softly sobbing. Jareth walked down the path when he stopped at the center of the garden and looked up at the statute sitting on the podium. Sculpted from the finest marble, the state was of a young girl with a baby boy in her arms and he sighed, brushing the hair from his eyes.

"Sarah," he whispered as he placed his hand on the podium and felt the tears in his eyes. Even though it had been years since Sarah had come to his kingdom, he still felt the love he had for her in his heart. She had solved his labyrinth to save the life of her little step-brother and, in turn, took most of his heart with her when she left. "But she didn't do it alone."

No, he knew she had help from Hoggle and he had punished Hoggle for his involvement. He had spies sweeping the forest in hope of finding the fox and sheepdog and there were also hunters out looking for any sign of the creature they were traveling with.

"I shouldn't have let her win! I should have confronted her! I should have called foul that she cheated and turned Toby into a goblin!" he yelled when he looked up at the statue and sighed. "No, that isn't what I would have done. True, she wished him away but I wouldn't have turned him. He was the bravest little thing I have ever seen. He liked my singing and even giggled when I tossed him into the air."

Jareth thought about singing Magic Dance to calm Toby down and tossing him over his shoulder, only to be caught by one of the goblins. Toby giggled and clapped his hands when it was over and raised his arms to be picked up. Jareth had picked him up and Toby snuggled against him, looking up at him with such trust in his eyes.

"Oh, those loving, trusting eyes," he sighed then thought about sitting on the throne with Toby sitting on his lap, sleeping peacefully against his chest. He just watched Toby sleeping when his heart lightened and thoughts of Toby as his heir ran through his mind. He had pictured Toby playing at his feet while he held court. He thought about teaching Toby magic and how proud he would have been when Toby performed his first trick. He knew how proud he would have been when he turned the Goblin Kingdom over to Toby then fading away in the mists.

"But that is over now," he sighed when he waved his hand and a crystal ball appeared in his hand. He gently jiggled the crystal ball when a fog appeared then cleared and the face of a twenty-four year old man appeared. He was chatting with a woman when she picked up a baby boy and the baby looked like Toby. Jareth had watched Toby grow older as the years went by but never contacted him and his heart grew colder as the years went by. Throwing the crystal ball to the ground, Jareth looked up at the statute as he balled his hands into fists and growled. "Damn you, Sarah!"

The sounds of hounds barking made the sheep dog run faster and Sir Didymus the fox bounced in the saddle. They had spent years on the run since Sarah had left and Jareth had placed a price on their heads. The hounds grew closer while the sheep dog ran faster and Sir Didymus growled.

"Steady on, Ambrosius, we are nearly there!" he shouted as the puddles exploded under Ambrosius' feet and the hounds howled behind them. Ambrosius ran toward the rocks as the muck bubbled and spit mud into the air and both of them knew it was the only way. Crossing the Bog of Eternal Stench led to freedom as they headed for the rocks and Ambrosius hopped from one rock to the other. The bog burped and spit muck all around them as they headed for the opposite shore then stopped and looked at the hounds on the other shore. The hounds yelped and whimpered as the Dark Hunters ran to the hounds and Sir Didymus smiled at them.

"Get going, you mutts!" one of the Dark Hunters shouted but the hounds paced back and forth while Sir Didymus laughed.

"They will never cross this foul bog, Sire!" Sir Didymus said then pulled on the reins and Ambrosius ran off. The Dark Hunters growled as they pulled on the collars of the hounds and headed for the trees.

The leaves dribbled the water onto the ground as the water formed puddles and several small bugs skittered across the surface of the puddles. The small bugs yelped as the ground started shaking and the leaves swayed back and forth. The low sound of footsteps filled the air while large hairy feet moved along the path and the long hair moved back and forth. Soft cold mud squished between the large toes while the creature moved along and its yellow eyes slowly blinked. While it walked along a small bird with blue feathers landed on one of the curved horns on the creature's head and hopped closer to the side of the creature's head.

"Good morning, Ludo," the small bird chirped.

"Mor'ing," Ludo grumbled as it lumbered along and the small bird hopped onto Ludo's head, pecking at the bugs in its fur.

"Where are you going?"

"Hun'ry," Ludo grumbled as the small bird hopped through the fur then bent down and looked at Ludo.

"You're taking a big risk, you know. I heard from Bibby that the Dark Hunters are out in force today."

"Don' care," Ludo grumbled as it walked along and the small bird sighed. All of the forest creatures knew that Ludo had been hiding since Sarah left and had brought food to it whenever it was hungry.

"Are you sure you don't want to go home and wait for Narlbo?"

"No, hun'ry now," Ludo said as it kept walking and the small bird nodded its head.

"Ok, ok, just a suggestion," the small bird said as it settled down into the fur and Ludo sighed, walking down the path.

The goblins and hobgoblins snored around him whiel Jareth sat on the throne and tapped his riding crop against the toe of his boot. He had tried to focus on what he had seen in the light as he sighed and brushed the hair out of his eyes. Getting up, he walked to the window when he sat on the sill and a crystal ball appeared in his hand. He looked at the crystal ball when he raised his hand and the crystal ball floated into the air. Concentrating, he looked into the crystal ball as it swirled around in the air and he half smiled.

"Find she who haunts me," he whispered when a fog swirled inside the crystal ball and Sarah's face appeared. "No, not her, I need you to find Amelia Pond!" He watched as the crystal ball floated into the air then flew away and he sighed, placing his head against the stone.

Watching the ducks for a few more minutes, the Doctor sighed when he got up and walked down the path. He felt terrible for how he led Amy on and wanted to explain everything to her. He wanted to tell her about Susan and how he had to let her go in the end. He wanted to tell her about all of his companions and how, in one way or another, they left him. He wanted to talk about Jamie and Zoe, about Adric, about Peri, about Martha and Donna. Most of all, he wanted to tell her about Rose. How, like her, Rose meant a great deal to him.

"No, that isn't true. Rose was everything to me," he whispered as her face appeared in front of him and he sighed. "But she is better off with John. Did he call himself that? For all I know, he called himself Alan and is NOTHING like me! Yes, that is exactly what I hoped happened! That he has rejected everything that's me and became his own man! I wouldn't put it pass him to be some wild and crazy nutter that is driving Rose absolutely bonkers!" he said with a smile and ran down the path.

"He thinks I'm lying? I know full well that he was in that forest!" Amy said as she stormed down the path and people started at her. "And I wasn't flirting with him! I really did want him! Can't he see that I DO love him?"

"But what about Rory?" she thought. "Don't you love him?"

"Of course I do!"

"Then why haven't you been wearing your engagement ring?"

"I wear it!"

"But only when you go outside. When you go home, you take it right off and place it in the box. I bet you'd like it if Rory wasn't around anymore."

"That is not true!"

"What if it came down to who you would save if you had to? Would you pick Rory over the Doctor?"

Amy sighed when she stopped near a bench and sat down. She placed her head in her hands when someone sat down next to her and she moved back, looking at the Doctor sitting next to her. Before either of them could say a word, the crystal ball floated down and swirled around them.

"Don't move," the Doctor said when he took the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and pointed the sonic screwdriver at the crystal ball.

"It's just a bubble," she said.

"No, I don't think so."

"Then what is it?"

"I don't know," the Doctor said and the crystal ball bobbed up and down.