Chapter 3
Disclaimer: I don't own it. I wish I owned it. But sadly it won't happen.
A/N: I know I am later than usual for updating this story. I was on vacation and visiting family. Thank you everyone who has left comments. For those that have signed in as guests I cannot answer personally so I wanted to express my gratitude here. I really appreciate the feedback. This chapter is a little short, but again I thought it was where it came to a natural end. This tale is finished, and hopefully I will be able to update it on schedule.
A huge thank you to my beta BowieQueen! You are the best. I am so grateful for your advice and help.
Early the next morning the family gathered in the kitchen before heading out to the shore. After eating a quick breakfast of doughnuts, coffee, and milk that did little more than help to wake up the drivers, they got in their respective vehicles and started off. Karen must have been tired still because she gave the short lecture to Sarah about the importance of driving safely, and that she had to be extra careful because Toby was riding with her. This lecture was nothing new; Sarah heard it every time she drove Toby anywhere. At twenty-seven it was a bit ridiculous that it was the same lecture that Karen gave her any time she drove her brother anywhere since she was sixteen and got her license.
Sarah checked her mirrors as she got ready to pull off. She adjusted it and could have sworn that she saw the bag in the back move. She looked back, but the bag sat innocently on the bench seat in the back. Toby saw her looking at the bag.
"What's up?" he asked nervously.
"I could have sworn that I saw that bag move," Sarah said with her eyes narrowed.
"Are you high or just crazy?" he asked, trying to get her attention off the duffel bag. "Maybe mom was right. Maybe you aren't in the best frame of mind to drive with me in your car." At that Sarah swung her head around to face her brother. Bingo, thought Toby. I knew that would get her attention.
"It's nothing I guess; I must just be still a little tired," Sarah reasoned. "You didn't find a stray and pack it, did you?"
"Sarah, I promise I did not find any stray animal, and I did not put any animals in that bag, real or stuffed," Toby said truthfully. Goblins, he thought, but no stray animals.
"Ok. I just don't want to think about what dad and Karen would do if they opened your bag and something alive came out of it," Sarah said with a small laugh.
"You can say that again," Toby said under his breath.
"What did you say?" Sarah asked.
"Nothing. Can we get going?" Toby said, anxious for her to get going and stop thinking about his bag and what might be in it.
The trip was a short one down the Atlantic Coast. It only took about three hours. Sarah tried to stay behind her father, at a safe distance. It made Karen feel better that way. Toby took control of the radio, changing stations from time to time. He liked the usual grunge and alternative music that was popular with his friends, but he would also play music from the CDs that Sarah kept in her jeep. The siblings sang along with the songs and enjoyed just having some time together.
Sarah pulled into a parking spot at the gas station when her father stopped to fill up the sedan. She walked over to her father's car and asked if he or Karen needed anything from inside. Both of them declined, saying that they were less than an hour away from the beach house, and they planned to have lunch after getting there and opening the house up.
Robert had just hung the pump up when Toby strolled over. "Sarah, I need to go to the bathroom. Don't leave me." And he walked into the gas station building.
At Karen's stricken look Sarah rolled her eyes. "Karen," she assured her stepmother, "I would never leave Toby. This isn't 'Home Alone.' I have one person in my car with me, I would know if he wasn't there."
"Robert, we can wait for him and all leave together and continue as we have been." Karen touched her husband's arm.
"Dad, really, we will be five minutes behind you. The way you drive I'll probably catch up to you well before we get to Point Pleasant. You guys go on. If you do beat us you can open up the house and make sure everything is ok. You know how Toby is. He will want to eat immediately. That will just speed everything up." Sarah tried to reason with her father since she knew that was impossible with Karen.
"Karen." Robert turned to his wife, "Sarah is a safe driver. She and Toby will be right behind us. Stop worrying." He turned back to his daughter. "Catch up with us ok sweetie? We will see you at the house." With that Robert Williams got in the car and drove off.
Sarah walked into the gas station and poked around while she waited for Toby. She picked out a bottle of pop and some chips to snack on the rest of the way. She glanced over the selection to see if she could find something she knew Toby would like. He appeared from the back where the restrooms were and joined her at the rack of chips.
"Dad and Karen left. If you want something to eat or drink, grab it quickly. Your mom will freak out if we are too far behind them, and do something drastic like call out the state police or the FBI to look for us." Sarah joked, nudging his side.
Toby quickly grabbed several small bags of chips and a bottle of pop from the cooler. Sarah looked at the amount that he had in his arms and shook her head. Teenage boys! she thought. Where does he put it all? She paid for their purchases, and they walked to the jeep. They opened the doors and climbed in getting settled and putting on seat belts. Toby opened one of the bags of spicy chips and the smell permeated the small space.
"Uh, Tobes? Why did you get those things? You know I can't stand them. Now I have to smell them," Sarah complained.
"Ok, Grandma. Anyway, they will be gone in a minute." Toby replied, shoving several in his mouth. The unnatural red-colored dust staining his fingers.
While the siblings were bantering back and forth they were oblivious to anything else that might be going on in the jeep. Sarah turned on the car and put it in reverse, her foot still on the brake. She reached up to adjust her mirror. She pulled it a bit too hard and it angled down too far. She was about to push it back up when she found herself looking into a green face with two huge black eyes.
Her foot went off the brake and instantly slammed it back on causing herself and Toby to be thrown forward against their seatbelts. The movement also caused the duffle on the back seat to fall onto the floor. As it hit there was a definite "Oof!" that came from it.
Sarah threw the jeep back into park, and spun around in the seat, and looked into the back. She was greeted by the sight of the small green goblin on the floor of the backseat with the large duffle bag on top of him where it landed after rolling off the seat. Looking closer she definitely saw the duffel bag moving. The undulating movements made it look like a large snake.
"Hi, Zot," she said to the slightly squished goblin. "It's been a while. Please excuse me." Her voice was a bit too bright and happy. Toby knew he was in for it.
She took a breath, resisting the urge to start yelling. Turning to look at her brother she opened her mouth."10…9…8….7…" slowly counting backward to 1. Toby was well aware that if she was counting that meant that she was trying to keep it together, and it would not be smart to interrupt the countdown. He sat there looking first up at his sister and then down at his lap waiting for the inevitable blow-up.
"Tobias Williams!"
Oh no, thought Toby Tobias. he is pissed. "Why is there a goblin in the back seat of my jeep? And what the hell is moving in your bag?" Sarah's voice was low and had the 'don't-mess-with-me' sound that Toby had only heard a few times in his life.
"The goblins wanted to come along on vacation with us. They were worried that we wouldn't have fun. I didn't know until I saw them in my bags." Toby was talking fast, getting it all out in one breath.
"So instead of sending them back to the Underground, you thought it was a brilliant idea and tucked them into my jeep?" Sarah's tone was becoming a bit louder and more shrill.
"I don't know. They made some good points. What will it hurt Sarah? They are little, they won't take up much space. I'll make sure that I feed them." Toby's head nodded as he spoke, making him look a little like a bobblehead.
"They are goblins, Toby. Not a dog. Karen and Dad are going to flip. Karen will have an aneurism, and Dad will probably have the big one. Great Toby we may have just killed our parents." Sarah was on a roll now.
"Chill, Sarah! No one will be having a stroke or a heart attack or anything. Mom and Dad won't even know they are there. Mom hates going into my room. This trip won't be any different. We will hide them out there, and it will be fun to have them around for the week. They didn't bring any chickens, so we don't have to worry about that. You said that you wanted something fun to happen on this trip. What can be more fun than goblins?" Toby realized how weird it was trying to argue logic when it involved goblins.
While they were talking Zot was having a harder time breathing underneath the weight of the bag full of goblins. Those goblins were keeping quiet knowing enough about self-preservation that this was not the time to interject anything. Zot's face however was turning from its usual green to a shade of light purple.
"Lady Sarah," he managed to gasp out.
"Oh, Zot!" Sarah quickly unclicked her seatbelt and turned around to kneel on her seat to wrestle the heavy bag off of the small goblin. "Are you ok, buddy?" She asked him. Sarah knew that goblins were fairly indestructible, but was not sure what loss of air would do to him. After Sarah had put the bag back on the seat the heads of the other four goblins poked out of the unzipped opening of the bag.
"Me fine Lady Sarah. You not happy to see us?" He looked so crestfallen that Sarah felt her anger slipping away.
"No, of course, I'm happy to see you guys. I just was not expecting to see you guys in my jeep, on our way to the shore." She spoke in a slow quiet voice. "We just have to figure out what to do about you, and quickly. Dad and Karen are expecting us to be right behind them." Sarah turned back around and started tapping on the steering wheel.
"I think the answer is obvious," Toby interjected. "They come to the beach house with us, we have a good time, they come home with us and then go back through the portal in your room. Easy peasy." Toby looked way too happy with himself.
Sarah turned to look at her brother again. "Are you nuts? Where are you going to keep them? How are they going to eat? How are you going to keep your mom and dad from finding out about them?" Sarah asked what she thought were the most important questions.
"They will stay in my room, in the closet or under the bed, no problem. I will slip food into them. It can't be that hard. Mom always overstocks the kitchen for the time we are there. And the guys know they have to be quiet. Right guys?" Toby threw things back to the goblins, who had been looking at the conversation with the siblings like they were watching a tennis match. Quickly they started nodding their heads in agreement to whatever Toby had said.
"Does 'You know who' know where these guys are?" Sarah was careful not to use his name. It didn't always work, but inviting the Goblin King to the party was not what she intended to do at this moment.
"I don't know," Toby answered honestly "Guys, does the king know you came for a visit?" He looked at the goblins in the back.
They shook their heads and Scoots spoke up. "No Kingy no know we here."
"Yeah, Kingy no like it if he knew we here," Squib said helpfully.
"Shut up!" All the goblins said together looking at Squib.
"Great! You guys snuck out. Ok well, that means that we might get a visit from you know who when he realizes that you guys are gone and starts looking." Sarah shook her head again. "When he shows up you get to deal with him," Sarah told her brother.
"Sure, Sis." Toby would agree with anything. She had given in. The goblins could stay. "Get back in the bag, Zot," he told the goblin. "I'll zip it up when we get there, but just in case you should stay hidden."
Toby turned back around and Sarah was leaning her head against her hands on the steering wheel muttering to herself. After a minute she straightened, put her seatbelt on, and put the car back into reverse. She pulled out of the lot and got back on the road to Point Pleasant.
The rest of the ride was uneventful. Well, uneventful as it could be with a jeep full of goblins. They asked a lot of questions. Finally, Sarah turned the music up on the CD player and they happily sang along when they could. Hanging out with Toby over the years made them familiar with a lot of the above-ground music he preferred.
The smell of the ocean invaded the car and seagulls cried overhead as Sarah slowly navigated the streets in town. They drove to the neighborhood that included their small beach house. It had been in the family's getaway for as long as Sarah could remember. They spent at least one week every year at the house; most years would include several small trips to the beach.
The house was a small beach bungalow. It had three small bedrooms with two bathrooms. It had a small open plan kitchen living and dining area. The big draw was that it sat right on the beach. Walking out the back door you can see the sand and the ocean just across a small public access area.
Sarah pulled into the driveway and saw her father's sedan was already there. Toby quickly unbuckled and turned to zip up the bag full of goblins. He reminded them to stay quiet until he let them out again. Sarah had taken off her seatbelt and had exited the jeep. She and Toby grabbed bags and headed to the house. Well, she thought. Goblins on the Jersey Shore, this should be interesting or disastrous…or both.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who has read. Please review (shameless begging).