Clumsily, knuckles dragging as his arms swung too fast against the ground, Ludo stood upright. He stretched his bent neck, looking up at the darkening sky—the afternoon was almost over, and the evening begun—but despite the forbidding atmosphere, his eyes were bright and he smiled at everything. At the dull clouds as matte gray as iron, at the slime-slick walls of the maze, and especially at her.
She answered that smile, feeling as though her face might split in half from the strain of it. "How do you feel?" she asked, running her hand over the soft, downy fur of his arm.
"Ludo better," he answered, grinning. He blinked quickly and Sarah saw him holding back tears. Her throat tightened with painful joy as he said, "Ludo healthy!"
If he got any more articulate, Sarah knew she would break down. After all the craziness, all the darkness of the last few hours, this was exactly the kind of good she needed. But she still had a job to do; she had no time to lose focus, even in happiness.
"I'm so glad, Ludo," she said, softly, patting his arm and leaning for a moment against his broad shoulder. His big arm came up and cuffed her a few times in an affectionate hug. "But listen," she stepped back, "we still have to find Hoggle, Sir Didymus, and my—" she broke off, not knowing what to call her, "and Heather," she finished. "And," she ground her teeth, "if we happen to run across Jareth along the way, so much the better. I've got more than a few things to say to that psychotic bastard."
"You should know better than to mock the one who sets the rules, Sarah," she jumped and whirled on the spot. Jareth, looking hollow-eyed and sharp-toothed as ever, stood lounging against the upright hand of a useless sundial, tracing the engraved number 6 under his booted foot. "I might be in the mood to exact a penalty."
She ignored the threat. "You know what, Jareth," she spat the name, "I don't care. You've already done your worst. You can take time away from me, drop me in the Bog, have your plants or your pigs eat me, but it can't be worse than doing what you've done to my friends. If Hoggle is as bad off as Ludo was when I find him, then—"
He lunged forward, crossing the space between them so quickly that Sarah choked on her words.
"Then what? What did I tell you about threats, girl?" he hissed. Despite them standing almost even now that she was all grown up, he still seemed to glower down at her from a great height. Sarah swallowed, lifting her chin with a sharp jerk. "If you hope to overcome the Labyrinth, you should understand its powers…and your limits."
"I'm doing pretty well so far," she replied, stepping back towards where Ludo stood, head bent and hangdog in the presence of his king. "One friend found, and I've got my magic back. Maybe you should be the one to be a bit more careful about threats."
He glared at her, mouth twisting in an expression between a grimace and a smirk. "Your arrogance," he shook his head, stepping closer, "deserves to be the death of you. If you cannot control it, it will be the death of us all."
Ludo moaned, a low animal sound of fear and distress. Sarah gripped his hand, squeezing. "He can't hurt you, Ludo. I won't let him."
"The beast is my subject," Jareth replied, crisply cutting over Ludo's distress, "Why should I harm him? No, Sarah," he sighed, "he does not fear me. He fears the disease."
"Oh, like you're a carrier," she sneered, "and not the one who set it loose on everyone. Right," she moved in front of Ludo, feeling power curl between her flexing fingers and wondering if she dared unleash it, "You know, the first time I was here, I tried to believe that things weren't as they seemed. But I don't need to doubt that you're as evil and pathetic as you seem to be. If you weren't, you couldn't have done all this just to get back at me. What did I ever do to you?"
He was silent for a long moment, and only the wind and skittering leaves pierced the emptiness between them. Then, with a smile so sad as to make even Sarah's hardened heart stutter, he said, "When you discover the truth about that, Sarah—as I know you will—I will not ask for an apology."
"What do you mean by that?" she said, sudden doubt and unknown terror gripping at her stomach and squeezing tight. Without an answer, Jareth stepped backwards and his black-shrouded form began to fade from sight.
"Jareth!" she cried, "What do you mean?"
But he was gone. To the last, his expression of weary sorrow had not changed, not wavered.
Sarah's whole body shuddered with a chill that had nothing to do with the rising storm. Her lips were numb; her fingers tingled. Was it possible? Jareth was a master of insinuation, of tricks…but could he be telling a truth this time? Was she—could she be—in any way responsible for this?
"No," she murmured, tongue moving slowly to form the word. "No," she repeated. "How could I have? And I just saved Ludo…I would never, ever do this to him, to any of them."
But the doubt had been planted, and a tiny portion of her mind was now obsessively focused on the idea. Sarah shoved down the clamoring voices that argued the point back and forth, and turned to Ludo. He stood, looking at her with nothing but loving trust. If he'd understood what Jareth had implied, it was clear he believed none of it.
Her voice was a bit shaky. "Come on, Ludo," she reached for his hand, remembering how it had calmed him before, "Let's go find Hoggle. Do you know where he is?"
He nodded, floppy ears dangling before his eyes. "Hoggle sick. Like King. Like Ludo, before Sarah. Sarah help!" he beamed, "Sarah help Hoggle."
"Yes," she said, more emphatically than necessary, "I will. Let's go help him."
()()()
Sarah lost track of how long they had been walking. It was easy to do in this new Labyrinth. All former denizens of the maze, from fairies to worms and every goblin in between, had made themselves scarce. Except for eyeball lichen and Flytraps (her new name for the toothy plants that had torn her up), they ran across nothing either living or sentient.
She kept her eyes down, watching both her feet and Ludo's to avoid any more of the pitfall triggers. But even they had been scarce. Either Ludo knew a safe path to take them down, or Jareth had gotten tired of that particular game. If that were the case, Sarah thought, she had better be ready for anything.
Ludo paused, so suddenly that Sarah nearly ran into his broad back. They had run into a wall, so high it stuck above the other corridors by twice the height. Ludo looked from side to side, grunting. "Maze change," he rumbled.
"Damn," Sarah swore. "Big change or small change, do you think?"
Ludo just grunted. "Hoggle house there," he pointed. Without another word—not that he had many to command—he set off down the hallway in that general direction. Sarah shrugged, but followed. They sank into silence again, and Sarah resumed her train of thought.
Despite never wanting to think of his words again, Sarah's mind still churned over the question relentlessly. How could she have caused this? And why would she have done it, even if she could? Was Jareth lying? But then why did Ludo still insist he was ill? He had said it, even before their run-in with the ever menacing Goblin King. And Jareth—though he glowered and threatened as he'd done before—did not look quite well. If Sarah really thought about it, she could see that his skin was paler, he was thinner, and he looked exhausted.
Much as she didn't like him, but as she still thought he was lying…the idea that she might have hurt him too was upsetting.
She felt herself growing more and more morose with every step she took. It didn't help that with the approach of evening, the cold was growing more pronounced and she had nothing to keep off the chill. Sarah wrapped her arms around her shoulders and chafed her arms. It did nothing; her hands were so chilly that it felt like rubbing ice over her skin.
The corridor curved to the right. They rounded a broad corner, and kept turning. The path seemed to be following a wide corkscrew curl, and sinking deeper into the earth as it went. The path grew dark as the strip of sky above narrowed, and Sarah shuddered again. The smell of dirt and stone grew stronger, and she had a harrowing impression that they were burying themselves alive.
But if she had done this to the Labyrinth—and her shrinking heart was now positive she had, somehow—would that be any less than what she deserved? If she'd hurt people, even unconsciously, she deserved to die for that. Maybe she should just follow the path until it led her to a tiny hole in the ground, and then seal herself up inside…
Sarah slipped, hand grasping wildly for the wall as she went down. It was no good; she landed flat on her bottom with a sharp cry. Wheezing, she held out her hand to Ludo, and gasped in shock as he continued to lumber steadily away.
"Wait!" she called, struggling upright again, "Ludo!"
The pain, refreshing and invigorating as a slap, brought her to herself. "What was I thinking?" she cried, scrambling to her feet. "I didn't do this! Jareth did this! And I'm gonna fix it!"
Her ankle gave a piercing twinge with every step, but she welcomed the pain. If nothing else, it kept away those black thoughts that had built such a nest in her heart. "Ludo!" she called out again, jogging now to make up the space between them. "Wait for me!"
As she drew near, she saw that the beast was shaking like a leaf as he moved. His very fur trembled with the violence of it. She stepped in front of him, laying her hands gently on his shoulders; he stopped, but gave no impression that he either saw or heard her.
His eyes were half-closed, the light in them dulled with some internal fear. Fear…
"We're in another trap," Sarah breathed, staring at the sky. How far had they traveled on this path, going in circles, growing more and more enmeshed in their festering thoughts as they went? A few minutes ago, she had been willing to walk that path forever! No wonder Ludo didn't flinch when she fell; he was a prisoner of his mind, just as she had been.
"Ludo," she said, shaking his shoulders, "wake up. You have to wake up."
No response. She groaned. Pain had snapped her out of it; maybe it would do the same for him. So, wincing on his behalf, she raised her foot and brought it down as hard as possible on his big toe.
The stones around them jittered as he roared in pain and surprise. But his eyes were open and aware, and when he looked at Sarah he seemed to understand what she did. "Trap," he moaned. "Ludo scared."
"I know, Ludo," she squeezed his arm, feeling at every second the buzzards of doubt and fear circling around her, ready to nest inside her once more. If they didn't get out of here, and soon, they would both fall prey to the trap once more. "We have to get out of here," she tugged him back the way they'd come, dragging him forward as quickly as he could go. But his feet weren't willing; he was shaking his head.
"Hoggle home there," he pointed emphatically. "Sarah help Hoggle. Hoggle sick."
"I know," she pulled again; it was useless as trying to move a skyscraper, "but we need to find another way. We can't stay here."
"Hoggle sick," Ludo repeated, bellowing the words. "Sarah…help…Hoggle!"
The roar grew louder, grew higher, and Sarah knew what he was going to do. Already the rocks were answering his call; the walls in front of them were shattering, breaking. Sheets of granite and chunks of crumbling mortar rushed to Ludo's feet, and there was now a path for them; a steep one, but it led straight out of the sinkhole and up, back into the Labyrinth.
Sarah, more agile and faster, climbed up first and helped Ludo up the trickier parts. The sharp stones tore through her socks, and between her sprained ankle and cut feet, she was barely able to hobble by the time they reached the top. When they did, Ludo swept her up into his arms and carried her along. Sarah had enough time to peek back over his shoulder and see the trap in its entirety, curling straight into the ground like a seashell.
At the bottom, it was black as night. The idea of being trapped there forever, at the mercy of her mind's darkest thoughts and constant self-recrimination…Sarah swallowed hard and turned away.
Ludo was walking fast, almost trotting now that he had his bearings back. After another few minutes, they came to a wide path that bordered the hedge maze. A few rough-and-tumble houses and lean-tos—big enough to hold maybe one or two goblins apiece—littered the area. Junk piles lay between them, filled with dry bones, scraps of rotted cloth, and bits of wood. Maybe it was her imagination, but Sarah could swear she saw a Snickers wrapper there too.
A section of the hedges had been torn down, the twigs and branches used to weave a crude nest. Ludo flopped down there with a sigh, after gently placing Sarah down on her wobbling feet.
"Home," he rolled over in the next, the broken branches creaking feebly under his weight. "Ludo home."
She smiled to see him happy—or happier. "It's very nice," she said, and indeed, with the overhanging canopy of the hedge border still intact to give cover and shade, and the company of other goblins, it did seem that way. "But where is Hoggle's home?"
Ludo got up immediately, with his usual stretch and groan. "Here," he said, and took her down the hall to the left. A slightly larger shack stood there, right where the hedge opened up to the rest of the maze. Sarah peeked in the window, under the strip of fraying oiled paper that covered it, and sighed. "No one's there."
But Ludo hadn't stopped. She followed his lumbering behind as he went through the hedge, and followed his long arm as he pointed. His voice was heavy as he said, "Hoggle there."
Sarah saw. And she screamed.
