Sarah, After (November 1988)
Between her school work and her magical training, the year passed quickly for Sarah. She maintained frequent contact with her friends Underground, and goblins appeared more and more frequently in her room. Sometimes they came to cause mischief, sometimes to bring comfort. She became completely used to their presence, and even missed them when they were absent many days in a row. They were simple creatures, true - and did have a real knack for causing chaos - but they were strangely warm-hearted and affectionate.
As usual, she was babysitting Toby the first Friday night in November. The previous Monday had been Halloween, and Sarah had dutifully pulled on one of her medieval dresses from her old costume box to accompany Toby through their neighborhood on his annual candy quest. Toby had insisted on dressing as an owl with a construction paper beak and a "feather" covered cloak that Sarah had cobbled together using her mother's old sewing machine from the attic.
She had gotten Toby to go to bed on time without much struggle and only one story, which was unusual. So when Sarah heard a strange thumping sound from his room about a half hour later, she became very suspicious. When she heard muffled giggling, she knew something was going on.
Sarah marched to Toby's room and threw open the door to confront him. "Toby!"
Toby was jumping on his bed, while a goblin jumped from his dresser onto the bed with him, only to be bounced off when Toby came back down on the mattress. Other goblins, probably waiting for their own turns to be bounced off, where clustered around the room, stuffing leftover Halloween candy into their mouths.
"Sarah!" Toby shouted guiltily.
"Just what do you think you're doing?" Sarah shouted back sternly. "And you! Scroot! Tepper, Jasper, Boll - what do you think you're doing, huh?"
Murmurs of "Uh-oh, the Lady! The Lady!" flowed around the room.
"You can see my friends?" Toby whispered.
"Of course I can see them! Hey, Doople - I see you. Don't try to hide behind the curtains." The tiny goblin in question pouted at Sarah but sheepishly joined a group near the closet door.
"Mommy can't see them," Toby said skeptically.
"Well, your mommy can't see a lot of things," Sarah huffed. "Okay, all goblins listen up! Toby has a bedtime for a reason. No more visits after Toby's bedtime. That's a rule! I'll see you get the bog if you break it, you hear me? Now, all of you - go home!" Some of the goblins shivered at the mention of the bog, but they all stayed still and blinked at her for a second. "All goblins! Go home...right now!"
With that, they all disappeared in ones and twos, each with a small popping noise.
Candy wrappers littered the floor, and several picture books had been knocked from Toby's shelves in the melee. Sarah sighed. "We're going to clean this up, mister, but I have some questions first."
"Okay," Toby said in a small voice.
"How often do your friends come and visit?" Sarah asked.
"A lot. More when I have candy," he grinned.
"I bet," Sarah said ruefully. "How long have they been visiting you?"
Toby shrugged. "I don't know. A long time."
"Well," Sarah said. "They visit me, too. That's probably why they visit you."
"You did know some of their names."
"I did, didn't I?"
"Yeah." The little boy looked thoughtful. "They don't always do what I say, but they listened to you."
"Why do think they did that, Toby?" Sarah looked a little thoughtful herself.
"They call you the Lady."
"Always? They never use my name?"
Toby shook his head. "I think you're their boss."
Sarah laughed then. "I'm not their boss, Toby - though I'm glad they mind me. You need to mind me, too."
Toby got a defiant gleam in his eye. "I said you were their boss, not mine."
Sarah rolled her eyes. "C'mon. Let's get this mess cleaned up, and then you need to get to bed for real before your mom and dad get home."
Toby nodded, and started to scoop candy wrappers into the trashcan while Sarah straightened up his books. "Sarah?"
"Yeah?"
Toby ran to hug his sister. "I'm going to miss you when you go live with the goblins."
Sarah squeezed him back. "Don't worry, I'm not going to go live with the goblins, buddy."
"Not yet," the little boy whispered, still holding tight.
"Oh, Toby. Is that what you think? I'm just going away to school in a few months. I'll write and call all the time, and I'll be home to visit before you know it."
"Okay." Toby finally loosened his grip. "Are you going to tell mommy about the goblins?"
"She'd never believe me, kid. I think your secret's safe. But no more visits after bedtime, okay?"
"Okay."
They finished cleaning the room in companionable silence, and Sarah went back to her room to read. As she flopped down on her bed, she thought, What exactly did the goblins say that would make Toby think I was going to live with them? But she shrugged it off as a toddler misunderstanding, and lost herself in the prose of her novel.