Vengeful Nightmares
Chapter 19
Sarah groaned as Sharee flung open the curtains, the light stinging her sleep-sensitive eyes.
"Afternoon, sleepy-heads." the fae said loudly, pulling the covers off Sarah's bed and giving Hoggle a good shake. The dwarf snorted and sat up, his hair sticking up in comic tufts. His glare was spoiled by a wide yawn. "It's two o'clock; s'not fair that you two get to sleep late when the rest of us don't."
"Who are you?" asked Sarah.
"Sharee. You already met my cousin Allisande. She wants to take you somewhere, so if you want to eat first you'd better come down."
"Yer in a hurry." Hoggle observed, pulling on his boots and stifling a groan. He was still congested from the night before, and his head ached.
Sharee smiled sheepishly. "Well, lets just say that you two aren't the only ones running late. Alley and I slept in too. Oh, but don't call her that; she hates it!"
"Uh-hmm." The dwarf grunted, reaching for his skull cap. "Who doesn't hate havin' their names messed up?"
The fae turned to him, and seemed to be sizing him up. "Are you the one Jareth's always calling 'Higgle' and so on?"
Hoggle snorted. "Didn't know I had a fan club."
"I wouldn't call it a fan club; Alley likes to check in with the other powerful fae on occasion, and once she said she heard him call someone 'Higgle', and the guy wasn't too happy about it."
"Yeah, that was me." he frowned, heading for the wash room. Sharee seemed pleasant enough, but he really wasn't in the mood to talk. Last night was still fresh in his mind, and the last thing he wanted to deal with was a town full of the fae people.
"Stay in there for a few minutes." Sharee called.
"How come?" Hoggle asked.
"Sarah's getting dressed, silly!"
"Oh." Hoggle said, feeling stupid.
He rolled up his sleeve, and unwrapped his forearm. He still didn't understand how it could heal so quickly. He would carry those scars for the rest of his life, but the wounds actually looked good. There was only pain when he pressed on it, and that pain was so small as to be insignificant. Be nice to know what the monsters put in that stuff…they could make a killing off it.
* * *
Meanwhile, Sarah was picking out what to wear. Allisande had a rather eclectic selection to choose from, ranging from dresses and robes to pant suits, and with any amount of variations in between. Sarah even found her usual choice of attire; jeans and a poet's blouse. The only difference between that outfit and the one she had at home was the color; the jeans were black, and the blouse was a deep, wine-colored red. Sarah opted to keep the purple cloak that Jareth had given her, with the hopes of returning it someday soon. She also kept the boots, which were amazingly comfortable and warm.
"Are you sure you want to wear this shirt?" asked Sharee, who had her back to Sarah, and was studying the flimsy garment. "It's pretty cold."
"Cold doesn't bother me much when I'm a cougar." Sarah replied, stepping into a clean pair of panties. "It helps to have a built-in fur coat."
"Your animal form's a cougar?" Sharee asked, tossing the blouse over her shoulder for Sarah to catch.
"Yeah. What's yours?"
"A rabbit." Sharee curled her lip. "I don't take animal form very often."
"Why not? A rabbit sounds cute."
"Oh, it is. That's why I don't do it that often. I get tired of people wanting to pet me all the time. They forget that I'm not really a rabbit! Huh…" she laughed softly, "You know, once, when I was little, I got a spanking for biting someone!"
"No way! What'd you bite them for?" Sarah asked, trying not to laugh herself.
Sharee blushed, and laughed harder. "Someone…someone squeezed my tail and went 'beep beep'! So I bit him."
"Well, if it was a man doing it I don't blame you!" Sarah tugged her clothing into place, and sat on the bed. "At least you're not a pony. You know what they'd want then."
"Yeah, but either way I'd still be sick of carrots." Sharee sat down beside her, and offered her a peppermint. "Here, from Aboveground. I love Starlight Mints, don't you?"
"Yeah. The spearmint ones are good too." Sarah said, accepting the mint.
"Really? It comes in spearmint?"
"Yeah…Oh, jeez! Poor Hoggle's still in the bathroom." It had been about ten minutes, and she imagined that he must have been pretty bored by then.
Just then, Hoggle knocked on the door and asked, "Can I come out now?"
"Yeah," Sharee called, "You want a peppermint?"
The door opened, and Hoggle came out. "Huh?"
"A peppermint. You want one?" she repeated.
"No thanks." He put his hands behind his back, and shifted nervously. "Say, um…sorry fer bein' a bit short with ya earlier. I ain't exactly a mornin' person." He said, never mind the fact that morning had been over for a few hours already.
"You and me both." Sharee smiled. "Come on, lets get something to eat."
Hoggle, who had hardly eaten a thing in two days, forgot everything else at the prospect of food.
* * *
"Good, you're up." Said Allisande, who was stirring a large pot of what they at first took to be oatmeal. "Help yourselves to the toast and honey; this'll be done soon."
"What is it?" asked Hoggle.
"Never seen grits before?" she quirked a brow.
"Um…no." Hoggle shook his head dubiously.
"It's good." She replied, going back to work. Hoggle looked up at Sarah.
"You ever had that before?" he asked her.
"Yeah. Don't worry, it's nothing like Chinese food." Sarah told him with a smirk. "Hey, there's strawberries too."
"Where'd you get strawberries in the dead of winter?" asked Hoggle, suspiciously eyeing the fruit. After seeing what the peach had done to Sarah, he was wary of conjured food.
"From the Aboveground." Said Allisande, dishing up the grits and putting the bowls on the table. She went to get spoons, and continued, "You'd be surprised what they have available this time of year. I heard they fly most of it in from California and other warm places. That's at the other side of the continent Sarah lives on." She explained before Hoggle could ask what or where California was.
"You go Aboveground an awful lot?" asked Hoggle.
"You'd be surprised. In fact, that's where I got the outfit Sarah's wearing right now. There's only so much to see here, and when you live long enough to see it all several times, life gets a bit boring."
Sharee giggled, and Allisande asked her what was so funny. "Oh," Sharee shook her head, "I was just remembering the time Animal Control shot you in the backside with one of those tranquilizer darts. Bet you weren't bored then."
Allisande gave her the skunk-eye. "I shouldn't have told you about that." she turned to Sarah and Hoggle, and explained, "I only told her that story so she wouldn't be getting herself in trouble there."
"Wait," said Sarah, "How did you manage to get shot in the butt?"
Allisande smirked. "Shut up and eat."
Hoggle was having a hard time keeping a straight face. Sharee whooped and hit the tabletop.
"No, see, what happened was the green sister, Mia, thought it would be funny to stick me Aboveground unable to change back. She put me in the middle of New York frieken' City." Allisande grumbled, biting savagely into a piece of toast. Except for the twinkle in her eye, it was hard to tell that she wasn't really annoyed.
"Cor." Hoggle shook his head. "At least she didn't dump ya in the Bog of Eternal Stench."
"She's a little smarter than that." Allisande remarked, "She likes a good joke, but I don't think she has a death wish."
"I hope not." Sarah said, "I wouldn't wish the Bog on anyone."
"Amen." Hoggle muttered, munching his toast.
"Now," Allisande sighed, absently stirring her grits, "We should talk about our plans for the day. We have a lot of walking to do, since I can only transport myself. I've never been able to transport a group. Simple fact, all fae powers vary. We'll be traveling in a tight group, no stragglers. Any questions?"
"Where are we going, exactly?" asked Sarah.
"To talk to someone I know. It'd take too long to explain. It's best you just find out."
* * *
Sarah and Hoggle were upstairs getting their gear, and when Hoggle stooped to pick up his pack, his knife clattered to the floor. Both he and Sarah stared for a moment, and then Hoggle picked it up. "Hardy-har-har." He muttered. "Someone thinks they're funny."
"But I left it behind." Sarah argued, thinking he meant her.
"Not talkin' 'bout you. I's talkin' 'bout them. They're never gonna quit!" he tossed it on the bed, and went back to getting his things together.
"Are you going to leave it here?" asked Sarah.
"What's the point?" he said bitterly, "They'll just find a way to put it back again. But I…I don't wanna carry it, though. Here," he reached into his vest, and drew out a small leather sheath. "you keep it. I don't think I want it back."
Sarah took it silently, and put the two items in her pack. She realized that he was giving them to her because he didn't trust himself. Sarah could almost feel his anger as it seethed to the surface, and was relieved when it receded back. The relief wasn't complete; she sensed a conflict in him that hadn't been there a week ago. Though the dreams only threatened him at night, he was literally fighting for his life all the time. Sarah felt her breakfast turn into a hard, concrete lump in her belly, and she hoped fervently that he would not lose that battle.
* * *
"Will anyone stop us?" asked Sarah of Sharee, who had insisted that she be allowed to come along.
"They'll certainly be suspicious of you and your friend, but I doubt they'd bother with Alley." The young fae replied, dodging a swat from Allisande that, though it was intended to miss, carried the message of her displeasure. The older fae said nothing, however, and they continued on in silence.
For Sarah, the silence was piercing. Not only were there very few fae on the street, but Hoggle seemed more subdued than usual. Now that she thought of it, his hangdog look and reluctant tread reminded her strongly of how he had looked while working up the nerve to give her the drugged peach. When he caught her looking at him, he shook his head in negation. No, the motion said, nothing's wrong with me.
Occasionally, Sarah had to widen her stride to keep up with Allisande and Sharee, and Hoggle had no choice but to jog. At their first rest stop, Sarah offered to turn cougar and give him a break, but he shook his head.
"Done lots more walkin' than this in the Labyrinth. You just pay attention to yer task." He told her, feigning indignation, "I kin keep up."
In all fairness, Hoggle was very capable of keeping up. For nearly thirteen hours, not counting the few that Jareth had shaved off the clock for Sarah's insolent remark, or the time he spent sitting in the Oubliette after taking the shortcut so that he could lead her back to the beginning, he had kept up a steady pace. Plus, he hadn't seemed tired as he, Sarah, and the others had celebrated Toby's successful rescue that night. Though not especially strong, dwarves were indeed tougher than they looked.
Even so, Hoggle had suffered much more on this quest than she had.
* * *
It was dark by the time they reached their destination. The house was different from many of the other fae dwellings; it reminded Sarah of the house from the book Green Gables, simple, yet practical and cozy. The gabled house had a small front yard with an apple tree that was heavy with fruit, an oddity for this time of year, and perched on one of the lower branches was one of the most magnificent, massive birds of prey Sarah had ever seen. Sarah had never heard of harpy eagles before, but she knew that she would never forget this first sighting of one. The smallest claws on either of its taloned feet were at least as long as her thumb, and razor sharp. The bird seemed to be a bluish-gray, but in the bad light it was hard to tell. On its head was a crest of feathers, not stiff like a cockatoo's crest, but soft and somewhat wispy. The bird seemed to recognize Allisande and Sharee, but it regarded Sarah and Hoggle with mixed curiosity and suspicion. One got the impression that it saved its hostility for when there was a valid reason to employ it.
Allisande motioned for them to stop, and approached the bird. She spoke quietly to it, as if the conversation required extreme privacy. They saw the bird shake its head once, nod twice, shake its head again, nod again, and give a clucking squeal. It fixed Sarah with its amber eyes, and she was unable to look away. The bird nodded once more, decisively, and hopped to the ground with a thump. It was at least an eight foot drop, but the bird showed no signs of having jumped more than two. The bird began to grow, and its feathers melded with its flesh and became clothing. The wings extended into arms, and fingers sprouted beyond the wrist joints. The taloned feet became boots, and before they could blink, a tall fae man was standing before them. The man smiled, and approached Sarah.
"Now much is made clear." He said, bringing her hand to his lips and kissing the back of it. "I am honored to meet the lovely thief who has so cleverly stolen Jareth's heart!"
