Next chapterness. n.n Not nearly as exciting as last chapter, I'm afraid.
n.n Can't be helped, things have to be set up. n.- Hopefully it doesn't
bore you all to tears.
Disclaimer: Woot! I actually own some *people* in this chapter! Alex and Mrs. Jenkinson are both mine. Dr. Trapp is sort of mine, although that one's sort of debatable. Not that they're anywhere near as cool as the *actual* characters, but hey, it's better than nothing. n.n() I don't own anyone else, sadly enough
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
On Tuesday, Sarah's father took Merlin home from the clinic. Sarah was a bit disappointed that she'd still be in school at the time, but she was grateful that he was being released a day earlier than anticipated. She came home to find him lying on a blanket in the kitchen. His tail thumped on the tile floor as she entered, and he lifted his head to lick her proffered hand.
"Hey boy, how you doing?" She smiled and scratched him behind the ears. He certainly looked a lot better than he had when she'd visited him on Sunday. They'd been worried about internal bleeding, but as it turned out, the damage had been limited to a bit of bruising, plus a few fractured ribs and a broken foreleg to show for it. Dr. Trapp had seemed quite surprised by this; apparently, Merlin's injuries should have been much worse, and he was very lucky. Sarah was just glad that he was alright and on the road to recovery.
The woman who had hit him had called back several times since the accident, apologizing and offering to do whatever she could. She'd even gone so far as to pay Merlin's vet bill. Sarah had been angry with her at first, but her opinion of the woman quickly changed. She'd made a mistake, and now she was doing her best to make good on it. It was good to know that there were still people in the world who were willing to do that. In fact, the Williams family had invited her over for dinner that evening.
Sarah took a plate of cookies and headed up to her room, wanting to get her homework out of the way before dinner. Fortunately, she only had a few math problems to deal with, which was a little bit surprising when she thought of how inattentive she'd been all day. She grabbed the plate and settled onto her bed with her work, determined to get this little chore out of the way.
She was on the last two problems when a tap at her window broke into her concentration. She glanced up and saw nothing. Shrugging, she went back to crunching numbers. A moment later, the tapping came again. Sarah let out a sigh as she tossed her worksheets onto the bed and flounced over to the window to see what was causing the noise.
Sliding the window open, she looked out to see her next door neighbour down in her yard, with a slingshot in hand. She sighed and propped her arms on the sill as she leaned forward. "What do you want?" she yelled.
"Hey Sar, you busy?" he asked with his usual air of nonchalance. Sarah rolled her eyes. She used to play with him all the time when they were both younger, and although their interests ran in different directions now, he still liked to pester her on occasion.
"Doing homework," she called, letting her annoyance color her voice. She really hated having her concentration broken.
"Fun," he commented dryly. Sarah stuck her tongue out at him, and he gave her a lazy smirk. "You shouldn't french long-distance."
"Look, is there a reason you're bugging me right now, Alex? Because if not, I'd really like to get back to finishing my math homework." She sighed in annoyance. Her neighbour had changed a lot in the last few years, going in for some things that Sarah would rather not get involved with. He just wasn't the same person anymore.
Then again, maybe she'd been the one to change. Who knew for sure?
"Whoa, chill, Sar," Alex was saying with a shake of his head, chin-length mousey hair whipping around with the motion. "Geeze, you've gotten uptight lately. I was just gonna ask if you wanted to hang for awhile, got some buds coming into town and thought you might like to meet 'em. Who knows," he added, "You might actually have some fun."
It was Sarah's turn to shake her head, glad for an excuse. Hanging out with Alex and his stoner friends wasn't exactly her idea of a good time. "No, I can't, we've got company over for dinner tonight."
"So? Ditch the fam and come have some fun with me." He lit up a cigarette and took a long drag before continuing, "You don't get out enough, Sar. You're gonna turn into a recluse."
"I can't," Sarah repeated, "She's sort of coming to see me, so I have to be there."
"Oh well, your loss," Alex shrugged. "At least tag along Friday night, then. We're gonna hang out down by the river, have a big bonfire, roast a few dogs. Don't wanna miss out on that. C'mon."
Sarah dropped her forehead onto her outstretched arms, exasperated at his persistence. Try as she might, she couldn't really think of a single good excuse to turn down the offer, and besides, it did sound like fun. It was true, anyway; she didn't get out and have fun nearly as often as she ought to.
"All right," she conceded with a sigh of resignation, "Just as long as you promise you won't try and get me drunk or high or anything like that, got it?"
"Hey, no problem," Alex threw up his hands in mock surrender, the half- burned cigarette held between two fingers. "Just don't back out on me this time, alright? I don't see you enough as it is. You're gonna turn all pasty from staying in your room so much."
"Whatever," she rolled her eyes yet again at his teasing. She wasn't really in the mood for his deadpan sarcasm. "See you Friday."
Sarah slid the window shut and turned back to her homework, absently wondering what she'd just gotten herself in to.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jareth waited until the boy had crossed back over to his own yard before he hopped out of his hiding place, seething. Had that cheeky little brat actually asked -his- Sarah out on a date? And she had accepted, although it had been fairly obvious that she hadn't really wanted to.
Well, he would just have to see to it that the endeavour went less than smoothly. He couldn't let the girl, his Sarah, spend so much time around that boy. He'd seen him around her before, once or twice. Ill-mannered swine, not at all worthy to so much as be in the presence of someone like Sarah. Really, that girl had dreadful taste in the company she chose to keep. Jareth really didn't approve of the insolent youth any more than he had when he had still been fawning over Sarah. His Sarah. His to love, his to trust (however foolish that had proved to be), and his to take his revenge upon. And he simply wouldn't have some boy interfering. It was a matter of principle.
Besides, he added with a scowl, the little whelp certainly hadn't redeemed himself in Jareth's eyes by taking potshots at the banished King with that slingshot. It was a pity Sarah hadn't caught him doing -that-.
Jareth nursed the pea-sized bruises forming on his side as he mulled it over. He wasn't overly familiar with the outing the little imbecile had described, although the part about roasting dogs sounded utterly barbaric; not something he would have ever pictured Sarah taking part in. He grudgingly admitted that he had no idea what to expect. It was probably best if he waited until he could assess the situation first-hand, and then come up with a suitable scheme from there.
Either way, that little snot would have to be taught a lesson for interfering.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sarah ran to answer the door as the doorbell rang, opening it to admit her guest. Allison Jenkinson, or simply Mrs. J as she was called at work, turned out to be a cheerful, good-humored woman with sparkling dark eyes and a warm smile. She had the air of a favourite elementary school teacher, the kind of adult whom children naturally got along with, and Sarah found herself liking the woman immediately as she offered to take her coat.
"You're right on time," she told the older woman, "Dinner's just being set out."
"Thank you, dear," Mrs Jenkinson smiled and followed Sarah to the dining room.
Karen looked up from setting a steaming dish of vegetables on the table. "Mrs. Jenkinson, so glad you could make it!" She flashed a brilliant hostess smile as she moved around the table to shake the other woman's hand.
"Please, just Allison is fine," she replied, returning the handshake.
"Sarah told us about your help on Saturday," Mr. Williams said as he moved to do the same. "Thanks again."
"Oh, it was the least I could do, considering it was my fault to begin with," she waved a hand dismissively, "I really feel I should apologize again..."
"Oh, don't worry about it, really," Karen smiled as she offered her guest a seat.
"Speaking of whom, how is he?" Allison asked, "I was so glad to hear that he was released today."
"Oh, he's doing fine!" Sarah smiled, "The vet said he'd never seen such a quick recovery."
"That's wonderful to hear. I feel so relieved." Their guest sighed.
"Well," Robert announced, "Now that we're all here, let's dig in, shall we?" Everyone made various sounds of agreement as they all sat down. "It looks delicious, Karen," he told his wife, who smiled her thanks.
"So, Allison," Karen began conversationally as she served herself some potatoes, "What do you do for a living?"
"Well, I'm a librarian, actually," Allison told them, "I used to work for a big corporate firm, but the inherent office politics got to be a bit much after awhile. My husband still enjoys it, though. That's where I met him," she added as she passed the salt.
"Oh, a librarian," Robert commented, taking a bite of chicken, "That sounds like an interesting line of work."
"Well, not so much 'interesting' as relaxing without being boring." Allison laughed, "It's certainly different. There's not really a lot involved other than cataloging books and keeping track of loans. I do get to read to groups of children every Tuesday and Thursday, though." She sighed wistfully, "Always wanted kids of my own, but Jeff and I never managed to have any. Anyway," she continued as she speared a potato, "I figure it's something I can do until I retire, at any rate. Not too much stress involved in shelving books."
"That sounds like a good job for you, Sarah," her father commented none-too- subtly. Sarah squashed the urge to argue. Karen had decided recently that her stepdaughter needed a paying job, and of course, Sarah's father always agreed with whatever his wife wanted. She really was playing on a one- person team sometimes.
"Actually, now that you mention it, we do have some openings for part-time assistants," Allison supplied helpfully. "I'm sure Sarah would do well at it."
"There you go, Sarah, why don't you take her up on it?" Robert pressed.
Sarah sighed. If it wasn't one of her parents, it was all the adults in the vicinity. It just wasn't fair.. she caught herself thinking that and smiled wryly. Jareth would have a fit if he ever heard her utter that particular phrase... she firmly pushed all thoughts of the Labyrinth's ruler out of her mind.
Come to think of it, though, the job did sound appealing. She'd have constant access to all those books, and be in one of her favourite places all the time. It sounded like something she could do easily, and Allison had said that there was very little stress involved. And it would be nice to have some extra pocket money. Most importantly, it would get her father and stepmother off of her back for a while.
She turned to Allison with a smile. "You know, I may just take you up on that, after all."
Disclaimer: Woot! I actually own some *people* in this chapter! Alex and Mrs. Jenkinson are both mine. Dr. Trapp is sort of mine, although that one's sort of debatable. Not that they're anywhere near as cool as the *actual* characters, but hey, it's better than nothing. n.n() I don't own anyone else, sadly enough
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
On Tuesday, Sarah's father took Merlin home from the clinic. Sarah was a bit disappointed that she'd still be in school at the time, but she was grateful that he was being released a day earlier than anticipated. She came home to find him lying on a blanket in the kitchen. His tail thumped on the tile floor as she entered, and he lifted his head to lick her proffered hand.
"Hey boy, how you doing?" She smiled and scratched him behind the ears. He certainly looked a lot better than he had when she'd visited him on Sunday. They'd been worried about internal bleeding, but as it turned out, the damage had been limited to a bit of bruising, plus a few fractured ribs and a broken foreleg to show for it. Dr. Trapp had seemed quite surprised by this; apparently, Merlin's injuries should have been much worse, and he was very lucky. Sarah was just glad that he was alright and on the road to recovery.
The woman who had hit him had called back several times since the accident, apologizing and offering to do whatever she could. She'd even gone so far as to pay Merlin's vet bill. Sarah had been angry with her at first, but her opinion of the woman quickly changed. She'd made a mistake, and now she was doing her best to make good on it. It was good to know that there were still people in the world who were willing to do that. In fact, the Williams family had invited her over for dinner that evening.
Sarah took a plate of cookies and headed up to her room, wanting to get her homework out of the way before dinner. Fortunately, she only had a few math problems to deal with, which was a little bit surprising when she thought of how inattentive she'd been all day. She grabbed the plate and settled onto her bed with her work, determined to get this little chore out of the way.
She was on the last two problems when a tap at her window broke into her concentration. She glanced up and saw nothing. Shrugging, she went back to crunching numbers. A moment later, the tapping came again. Sarah let out a sigh as she tossed her worksheets onto the bed and flounced over to the window to see what was causing the noise.
Sliding the window open, she looked out to see her next door neighbour down in her yard, with a slingshot in hand. She sighed and propped her arms on the sill as she leaned forward. "What do you want?" she yelled.
"Hey Sar, you busy?" he asked with his usual air of nonchalance. Sarah rolled her eyes. She used to play with him all the time when they were both younger, and although their interests ran in different directions now, he still liked to pester her on occasion.
"Doing homework," she called, letting her annoyance color her voice. She really hated having her concentration broken.
"Fun," he commented dryly. Sarah stuck her tongue out at him, and he gave her a lazy smirk. "You shouldn't french long-distance."
"Look, is there a reason you're bugging me right now, Alex? Because if not, I'd really like to get back to finishing my math homework." She sighed in annoyance. Her neighbour had changed a lot in the last few years, going in for some things that Sarah would rather not get involved with. He just wasn't the same person anymore.
Then again, maybe she'd been the one to change. Who knew for sure?
"Whoa, chill, Sar," Alex was saying with a shake of his head, chin-length mousey hair whipping around with the motion. "Geeze, you've gotten uptight lately. I was just gonna ask if you wanted to hang for awhile, got some buds coming into town and thought you might like to meet 'em. Who knows," he added, "You might actually have some fun."
It was Sarah's turn to shake her head, glad for an excuse. Hanging out with Alex and his stoner friends wasn't exactly her idea of a good time. "No, I can't, we've got company over for dinner tonight."
"So? Ditch the fam and come have some fun with me." He lit up a cigarette and took a long drag before continuing, "You don't get out enough, Sar. You're gonna turn into a recluse."
"I can't," Sarah repeated, "She's sort of coming to see me, so I have to be there."
"Oh well, your loss," Alex shrugged. "At least tag along Friday night, then. We're gonna hang out down by the river, have a big bonfire, roast a few dogs. Don't wanna miss out on that. C'mon."
Sarah dropped her forehead onto her outstretched arms, exasperated at his persistence. Try as she might, she couldn't really think of a single good excuse to turn down the offer, and besides, it did sound like fun. It was true, anyway; she didn't get out and have fun nearly as often as she ought to.
"All right," she conceded with a sigh of resignation, "Just as long as you promise you won't try and get me drunk or high or anything like that, got it?"
"Hey, no problem," Alex threw up his hands in mock surrender, the half- burned cigarette held between two fingers. "Just don't back out on me this time, alright? I don't see you enough as it is. You're gonna turn all pasty from staying in your room so much."
"Whatever," she rolled her eyes yet again at his teasing. She wasn't really in the mood for his deadpan sarcasm. "See you Friday."
Sarah slid the window shut and turned back to her homework, absently wondering what she'd just gotten herself in to.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jareth waited until the boy had crossed back over to his own yard before he hopped out of his hiding place, seething. Had that cheeky little brat actually asked -his- Sarah out on a date? And she had accepted, although it had been fairly obvious that she hadn't really wanted to.
Well, he would just have to see to it that the endeavour went less than smoothly. He couldn't let the girl, his Sarah, spend so much time around that boy. He'd seen him around her before, once or twice. Ill-mannered swine, not at all worthy to so much as be in the presence of someone like Sarah. Really, that girl had dreadful taste in the company she chose to keep. Jareth really didn't approve of the insolent youth any more than he had when he had still been fawning over Sarah. His Sarah. His to love, his to trust (however foolish that had proved to be), and his to take his revenge upon. And he simply wouldn't have some boy interfering. It was a matter of principle.
Besides, he added with a scowl, the little whelp certainly hadn't redeemed himself in Jareth's eyes by taking potshots at the banished King with that slingshot. It was a pity Sarah hadn't caught him doing -that-.
Jareth nursed the pea-sized bruises forming on his side as he mulled it over. He wasn't overly familiar with the outing the little imbecile had described, although the part about roasting dogs sounded utterly barbaric; not something he would have ever pictured Sarah taking part in. He grudgingly admitted that he had no idea what to expect. It was probably best if he waited until he could assess the situation first-hand, and then come up with a suitable scheme from there.
Either way, that little snot would have to be taught a lesson for interfering.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sarah ran to answer the door as the doorbell rang, opening it to admit her guest. Allison Jenkinson, or simply Mrs. J as she was called at work, turned out to be a cheerful, good-humored woman with sparkling dark eyes and a warm smile. She had the air of a favourite elementary school teacher, the kind of adult whom children naturally got along with, and Sarah found herself liking the woman immediately as she offered to take her coat.
"You're right on time," she told the older woman, "Dinner's just being set out."
"Thank you, dear," Mrs Jenkinson smiled and followed Sarah to the dining room.
Karen looked up from setting a steaming dish of vegetables on the table. "Mrs. Jenkinson, so glad you could make it!" She flashed a brilliant hostess smile as she moved around the table to shake the other woman's hand.
"Please, just Allison is fine," she replied, returning the handshake.
"Sarah told us about your help on Saturday," Mr. Williams said as he moved to do the same. "Thanks again."
"Oh, it was the least I could do, considering it was my fault to begin with," she waved a hand dismissively, "I really feel I should apologize again..."
"Oh, don't worry about it, really," Karen smiled as she offered her guest a seat.
"Speaking of whom, how is he?" Allison asked, "I was so glad to hear that he was released today."
"Oh, he's doing fine!" Sarah smiled, "The vet said he'd never seen such a quick recovery."
"That's wonderful to hear. I feel so relieved." Their guest sighed.
"Well," Robert announced, "Now that we're all here, let's dig in, shall we?" Everyone made various sounds of agreement as they all sat down. "It looks delicious, Karen," he told his wife, who smiled her thanks.
"So, Allison," Karen began conversationally as she served herself some potatoes, "What do you do for a living?"
"Well, I'm a librarian, actually," Allison told them, "I used to work for a big corporate firm, but the inherent office politics got to be a bit much after awhile. My husband still enjoys it, though. That's where I met him," she added as she passed the salt.
"Oh, a librarian," Robert commented, taking a bite of chicken, "That sounds like an interesting line of work."
"Well, not so much 'interesting' as relaxing without being boring." Allison laughed, "It's certainly different. There's not really a lot involved other than cataloging books and keeping track of loans. I do get to read to groups of children every Tuesday and Thursday, though." She sighed wistfully, "Always wanted kids of my own, but Jeff and I never managed to have any. Anyway," she continued as she speared a potato, "I figure it's something I can do until I retire, at any rate. Not too much stress involved in shelving books."
"That sounds like a good job for you, Sarah," her father commented none-too- subtly. Sarah squashed the urge to argue. Karen had decided recently that her stepdaughter needed a paying job, and of course, Sarah's father always agreed with whatever his wife wanted. She really was playing on a one- person team sometimes.
"Actually, now that you mention it, we do have some openings for part-time assistants," Allison supplied helpfully. "I'm sure Sarah would do well at it."
"There you go, Sarah, why don't you take her up on it?" Robert pressed.
Sarah sighed. If it wasn't one of her parents, it was all the adults in the vicinity. It just wasn't fair.. she caught herself thinking that and smiled wryly. Jareth would have a fit if he ever heard her utter that particular phrase... she firmly pushed all thoughts of the Labyrinth's ruler out of her mind.
Come to think of it, though, the job did sound appealing. She'd have constant access to all those books, and be in one of her favourite places all the time. It sounded like something she could do easily, and Allison had said that there was very little stress involved. And it would be nice to have some extra pocket money. Most importantly, it would get her father and stepmother off of her back for a while.
She turned to Allison with a smile. "You know, I may just take you up on that, after all."