Ladymage ;)
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Part 26 ~ The Road Home
"Sarah!" The girl turned to face the blond woman who now confronted her.
"What," she snapped.
"Where have you been, young lady? Your father has been absolutely frantic. He even called your mother to see if you were with her," Karen glared at the bane of her existance.
"I don't know why," Sarah said quietly. "My mother would be the last person on earth to care where I was. And why does it matter, anyway? I've been at school."
"For two days, Sarah?" The woman's voice dripped with sarcasm. "The last anyone saw of you was when you left the gym with Jareth." She didn't seem to notice the now much older man standing behind her step-daughter.
"Whoops," the girl replied. "I guess I forgot about the time. I didn't have a watch on me."
"Now listen here, young lady--" Karen grabbed Sarah's arm. "I've had just about enough of your smart mouth and scatterbrained habits. Frankly, I don't give a damn where you've been or why, but I will be damned before I let a little good-for-nothing like you ruin my marriage and my life."
Sarah glared at her. "Let go of my arm," she said, in the same voice that had shaken the Goblin Lord.
Still the woman hung on, giving the dark-haired girl a shake. "You better shape up, little girl," she hissed, "or I'll have you shipped off faster than you can blink."
"Why don't I take care of that for you, then?" Sarah asked quietly. "Jareth," she tossed him the name casually, like a bone for a dog, "I know where we're going. Ready?" With no time to hear his answer, she whisked out another crystal and Karen found herself clutching empty air.
Sarah slumped against a nearby building with a sigh. She was tired, so tired. But it wouldn't do to show it in front of Jareth. She heaved herself upright once again. If she had felt the magic correctly, they should be within a block of two of her grandmother. "Come on," she ordered Jareth, the icy calm once more settling over her. "We're going this way. And for pity's sake, put some decent clothes on."
With a flick of the wrist, Jareth once more clothed himself in t-shirt and jeans and appeared a teenager to the world. He followed the girl in silence, frowning.
The pair picked their way down the sidewalk with care, avoiding the various bits of trash and other objects that littered the ground. A small, dark woman energetically swept the steps of a three-story apartment building, berating the men sitting there with equal vigour. They swatted at her lazily, grinning. When they noticed Sarah, they turned up the charm.
"Hey, muchacha," one called in Spanish. "Want to have some fun?" His companions chuckled.
"You'd have better luck asking your sister, pendejo," she called back in the same language, not even slowing her walk. The man was immediately set on by his teasing friends.
"Come on," he persisted. "I'd be much better for you than that little puppy dog you got following you. He's so young he probably don't know which end is up."
Jareth, who couldn't understand a word that was being spoken, raised an eyebrow at the man's tone. Sarah stopped dead, aghast at the implication. In spite of Jareth's breeches, she'd never really thought of him--of them--like that. Not seriously, anyway. Her face flamed. She loosed a flood of Spanish at the man, speaking so rapidly it was almost incomprehensible. When she was finished, the young man looked appropriately chagrined and his friends looked admiringly at the girl, who continued down the street at a fast pace.
Jareth, surprised, jogged after her. "What did you say to that man?" he asked her.
She stopped dead in her tracks. "I honestly have no idea," she told him, bewildered.
"Then what did he say to you?" This was certainly interesting. But at least it had brought Sarah out of her automaton state.
Her cheeks flushed once again. "I am not going to answer that," she informed him primly, and once more continued walking.
"Interesting," the Goblin King murmured, following after.
There were two more blocks of run down apartments before they came to a amazingly large, level space occupied by a number of brightly painted and unusually trimmed trailers. Covered in wood paneling and painted in solid blocks of primary and secondary colors, they resembled the classic gypsy wagons, though they obviously were not meant to be hitched to horses.
Sarah stopped and whirled to face Jareth, who nearly ran into her. "Now listen," she hissed. "While we are here, you will behave yourself. No tricks. And if you do anything, and I mean anything, to my grandmother, I will personally hang you by your toes and use you as a target for knife-throwing. Got that?" Before a highly astonished Jareth could reply, they were interrupted.
"Quienes son ustedes?" A voice challenged them, followed immediately by a belligerent-looking boy of about thirteen. "Que quieren?"
"Francisco!" A woman emerged from behind the nearest trailer. She bustled up behind the boy, grabbing his ear. "How many times do I have to tell you? We need the business. Be polite to the tourists. Ay, why was I cursed with such a son? Dios mio! Now, andele! Go help your grandfather." She shoved him in the direction she had some from, giving him a swat from behind to encourage him.
A grudging "Si, mama," was heard coming from the would-be sentry.
The woman turned to the pair and smiled. "Welcome, travelers," she said in faltering English. "Would you like your fortune told today? Or a charm?"
Sarah studied the woman closely. She was no older than mid-thirties, with large dark eyes outlined in black and a mane of thick, curly black hair that tumbled around her shoulders. "Dona Maria?" she asked tentatively.
"Yes, I'm Maria," the woman answered, "but who. . .?" She peered closely at the girl. "Madre dos Santos! It's Sarah! Libertad's granddaughter, Sarah! Welcome, nina, como estas?" Sarah found herself literally enveloped by the larger woman and hugged her back just as fiercely.
"It's good," Sarah said hoarsely. "It's so good to be home."
The crystal tears slipping down her cheeks did not go unnoticed by the Goblin Lord.
