Chapter 10: The Lost and the Kidnapped

            Lost.  He was hopelessly lost.  How was he supposed to get back to the Underground now?  He had a little boy with him, and they had no idea where they were going.  They walked around the city, looking for anything out of place, anything suspicious.  Which, there wasn't anything like that around here.  Hoggle had no idea where Didymus was.  'Stupid little rat probably got hisself lost.'  He and Sir Didymus were not exactly friends; they were "friendly" just to humor Sarah.  "Toby, you wouldn't know how to get back to Sarah's apartment, would you?" Hoggle said, lying down his pride.  "Um...no." Toby answered honestly.  "Great, just great.  I'm stuck with a little boy and I'm lost in a world I know nothing about.  I guess I'll have to send a message to Ludo telepathically and tell him we're lost," Hoggle concluded.  Toby only nodded, not quite understanding.

            A long dimly lit corridor stretched on endlessly, many doors on each side.  Sir Didymus had finally made it to the place where Jadyn's scent had been the strongest.  'This is certainly no place for a baby.  Sarah must have been right when she said something about a "black market".'  Sir Didymus mused.  He sent a message to Ludo and Hoggle to tell them he was close to discovering something.  He had made the mistake of not making himself invisible to the outside world, and a hard, callused hand clamped down firmly over his mouth. 

             "Sawah, Hoggle lost and Sir Didymus scared," Ludo spoke loudly.  "Ludo, how do you know that?" Sarah inquired, looking at him amazed.  "They tell me," Ludo explained.  "How can they tell you if they're not here?  Can you communicate with them in your head, telepathically?" Sarah asked.  "Yes."  "Where's Hoggle and Sir Didymus at?"  "Hoggle lost at the corner of Alhambra and Freeman, and Sir Didymus scared." Ludo said.  "Yes, Ludo, I know Sir Didymus is scared, which is odd, but where is he at?"  "Ludo don't know."  "Great, just great," Sarah said, not knowing she had just repeated what Hoggle had said. 

             A man.  A man was standing over him in a dark black trench coat, and a business suit underneath.  His eyes were small and cruel.  Nowhere near as cruel as the Goblin King's, but cruel just the same.  Looking around quickly, he assessed he must be in some kind of dungeon.  The man standing above him was talking, but he couldn't understand what he was saying because his head was throbbing.  "See to it this funny little creature doesn't escape.  He might be some kind of amusement to us later," Mr. Thompson commanded, and walked out of the room.  Sir Didymus had never felt fear in his life, and now he knew that he never wanted to again.

            Ludo and Sarah set out, again, to find Hoggle.  They walked to the corner of Freeman and Alhambra, to find Hoggle sitting on the ground, and Toby standing near him, with a bright red kick ball in his hands.  "Toby, is that you!" Sarah exclaimed and ran closer to her little brother.  "Sarah, yeah, it's me!" Toby hollered and discarded the ball to the ground, and gave Sarah the biggest bear hug ever.  "Oh Toby, I've missed you so much.  How did you find Hoggle?" Sarah asked.  "I was playing kick ball and my ball accidently hit him in the head," Toby explained.  "Oh, are you O.K., Hoggle?" Sarah asked worriedly, as she helped him to stand.  "Yes, I'm fine, but my pride is a bit bruised."  "Oh, Hoggle, what am I going to do with you?" Sarah asked merrily.  "Sarah, I heard what happened to Jadyn, and I'm awful sorry," Toby said.  "Thanks, Tobias.  So, what do you say, let's go get her back!" Sarah announced bravely.  Sarah, Hoggle, Ludo, and Toby walked around hurriedly searching high and low for Sir Didymus.  "I hope he's all right.  Hoggle, can you or Ludo communicate with him again?" Sarah wondered.  "I can't, but maybe Ludo can," Hoggle suggested.  "Ludo, will you please try again?" Sarah implored.  "Yes," Ludo said, as he closed his large brown eyes, and stood there silently.  Everyone passing by stopped and looked at Sarah and Toby, and they could not see Hoggle and Ludo.  Sarah and Toby were standing there looking into space to the average person.  Some kids that still believed in magic and saw what they were looking at, but paid it no heed when their parents told them to catch up to them. 

             Finally, Ludo came out of his trance, and told them what Sir Didymus had said.  "Didymus trapped in a building in a room with no light.  Some man came to harm him, and he doesn't know how to escape," Ludo relayed to them.  "Ludo, did he say what building?" Sarah urgently asked.  /spanspan style="font-size:14""Didymus said it had a gargoyle on the outside, and it was not far from where we are at," Ludo replied.  "Sarah,"Toby announced, "I think I know what building he is in."  "Lead the way kiddo," Sarah commanded.  "He knows the way to a mysterious building, but not the way to Sarah's apartment," Hoggle murmured.  They picked up their pace, and practically ran to keep up with Toby.  Ludo had a time with this, but he managed, and Sarah had to grab a hold of his hand to get him to move faster.  She was in a hurry to find her baby, and she really didn't care what other people thought at this point. 

           Out of breath and tired, they all collapsed on the steps of a stucco building that looked ordinary, and not out of place.  'Just like they would want it to look so no one would suspect anything,' Sarah thought, putting two and two together.  "This is exactly the type of building that wouldn't draw anyone's attention in any way," Sarah spoke her thoughts aloud.  They all stood one by one and slowly entered the gloomy building.  The door creaked open, even though they were cautious when they opened it.  Sarah was the first one in, followed by Hoggle, Toby, and then Ludo, who was a little scared of this place.  "Didymus this way," Ludo said, as he pointed to a hallway branching off to the right of the main one.  "All right, Hoggle and I will go down that way, and Ludo, you take Toby and keep going straight.  We'll meet back here.  Holler if you find anything," Sarah said, taking charge.  After all, she was the only adult.  "Sarah, be careful," Toby said, as he walked away with Ludo.  "I will, Toby, I will.  Le'ts get this over with, Hoggle."  The hallway came to a sudden end with three doors at the side.  Hoggle pointed to the middle door, and Sarah followed him through it.

          Sir Didymus heard a noise.  He cowered back into the corner, hoping against hope it wasn't that Mr. Thompson fellow.  He was such a disagreeable person.  The door slowly opened to reveal a wrinkled hand and a body that was closed to the ground.  Sir Didymus started to see Hoggle and Sarah enter the room.  "My lady, you have come to rescue me," Sir Didymus stated.  "Of course, Didymus.  Oh God, what have they done to you?" Sarah asked, as she noticed the large gash on the side of his head.  Sir Didymus always the brave knight replied, "Tis a scratch."  "No, Didymus, this time I'm afraid it's not," Hoggle explained.  "Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise," said a very annoyed and sarcastic voice from the doorway.  "Who are you?" Sarah inquired.  "I should ask you the same thing.  I'm Mr. Thompson; I own this place.  And you, my dear, are trespassing."  "Let my friends go, now!" Sarah all but screamed.  "And my daughter," Sarah added.  "Daughter?  Let me know which one she is out of the thousands I get every day," he said coldly.  "You bastard!" Sarah screamed, and lunged for him, but she was quickly stopped by what could only be his bodyguards.  "Have the midget bound and gagged beside the creature, adn take her to my office, quickly," Mr. Thompson commanded. 

           Upon entering the office, Sarah noticed two things that were horribly wrong.  One was Ludo and Toby were already there, tied up, and two was that Jadyn wasn't there.  "Where's my daughter you creep!" Sarah screamed at him.  "Oh, she was already shipped to a couple of loving parents, too bad.  But, you can always get her back, if you happen to offer a larger sum of money than them," he explained.  "Look, tell you what I'll do.  Give her back now, and I won't kill you!" Sarah screamed as she lunged for him, again, but was stopped by a large pair of hands.  "No, I'll tell you what I'll do.  Be a good girl, and walk out of here and pretend nothing happened, and I won't hurt your friends, much," Mr. Thompson replied sadistically.  "All right, that's it!  You're in trouble now mister," Sarah said, as she stood and screamed, "Jareth, I need you, now!"