Chapter XI
Immediately after Sarah and the the goblins had completed their ascension of the stairs, Sarah's vision blurred and darkened. She could see nothing. She stopped suddenly, despite the persistent shove of the goblin at her back, and flailed about a moment before it finally dawned on her what was happening. Jareth had taken away her sight through the use of his magic. Most likely it was due to the fact that he did not wish her to see her surroundings and escape.
The goblins snickered at her reaction to the loss, but kept on in their tunnel-visioned pursuit.
She no longer fought the grotesque stooges, but allowed them to lead her through winding corridors effortlessly. She felt a great deal of aprehension in entrusting herself to them, but, knowing she had no choice, she thought of her worry as little as possible.
She heard the voices of goblins in rooms surrounding her and turned her head toward the source of a loud goblin scream. At first she was taken aback by the deathly shriek, but felt no more apprehension when she heard it was due to the fact that someone had been hit in the rear end by a dart intended for a chicken. "Serves 'em right for messing with a chicken like that," she mumbled to herself. "No talkin'!" shouted her burly-voiced arm-gripper with, what Sarah could discern, was said with no covert pleasure. Sarah replied in a similar tone, showing more contempt, "Oh, get over yourself." The stooge entrusted with her other arm immediately took share in the masculine sport of verbally abusing the prisoner and added, "He told ya to keep quiet, so I advise that ya does so." She saw no further profit in participating in their stupidity and remained silent.
She heard the one to her left whisper to the goblin behind himself, "I ain't over myself, am I?"
"No sir," replied the one at the rear, whose voice was meekest of the two, "I should dare say that ye are a bit beside yourself." Her left escort paused a moment before continuing, "Beside myself you say? Then I am not standing here?"
"That ye are, my good fellow, but beside yerself as well, as, I know you should take my word as good and true, there appears to be two of you, and one is a bit to the right and over yerself."
"Then I am over myself?" the other said.
"Well, now that I rethink, you must be, because one of you is bobbing his head about in a dull fashion, spinning and dancing about the other, and looking down upon you as if ye are a knave. Tis true what she says, ye must be over yerself." To her left came silence, and then a start, "You are drunk, if I do swear it!"
"If you do not swear it, then I am not drunk?" the other asked mockingly.
"You are drunk whether or not I swear it, for only a drunk speaks such foolery as you, and I would know, for I am quite drunk at the moment myself, and I thinks I see you spinning just as madly as you see me! So I am now beside myself, and you,and you," he pointed to the left of him, "and we are both over ourselves, so that what she says is true,..."
"Aye, your logic astounds me dear sir," replied his cohort, "but how does that bring us to the chicken?"
"Why, I don't know, I think I sees her lay an egg at being shot. What of the chicken?"
"How comes you to know the egg came after the chicken was shot? You are quite drunk, my good fellow, and the chicken could ha' come before." The left drunk began to shake profusely at the thought and said, "My poor brain can't figure this one! How is it for an egg to come before a chicken? Or a chicken after an egg? And what the hey does it matter anyway!"
"Now, look, don't rile yerself so, for you are twice beside yourself with anger. I think I will leave you at peace."
Sarah shook her head at their antics and perked her ears for the voices of her friends, knowing deep down that Jareth would not make things so easy for her. He had said he wouldn't.
The ground felt like mortared stone against the rubber of her sneakers, and there was a slight echo to every sound. As the goblins pushed her around a corner, she was taken aback by a sudden aroma of food. As the hallway grew longer and some stairs were ascended, the aroma had strengthened and the sound of chatting voices became louder. To spite Sarah's curiosity, the Goblins turned her down another corridor, away from the smells and commotion. Two more stairways were mounted before the long journey ended and the goblins halted in their endless, silent walking.
The goblins took their firm grip off of her arms. Escape crossed her mind, but it would be impossible to run away while blinded. She heard the jingle of metal keys as they were turned in a lock; she shuddered at the piercing squeak of a door that needed its hinges oiled badly. They shoved her inconsiderately into the room and she landed on her backside, the cold floor stinging her hands. She rather expected that she was in a slimy dungeon without a window.
The door closed and she heard the jingling of the keys once again as the door was locked. With her ears she picked up a soft sliding sound and then a click.
"Uh...Our king wants ye to get ready for dinner...Put on the dress in yonder closet and be ready by the time the clock strikes nine...And do not dare try anything foolish, or I shall apprehend thee..." the goblin explained from the other side of the door. She could here the other two snicker at his last remark.
"I shall return for thee in a short while."
She heard the sliding noise and then the click again, and all was silent. Just as she began to wonder if she was permanently blinded, her vision returned.
The quarters were nothing like what she had expected. The room was very large and extremely well lit. In the center of the room was a king-size bed with a beautiful canopy and curtains made of chiffon. The bedspread was of satin and the sheets, she noted with surprise as she approached the mahogany bed, were made of silk. She caressed them wonderingly while looking about the room. To one side was a dresser and a carved, gold-framed mirror. On the other was a closet with the same golden carvings. Behind the bed a couple of yards was a wall made up completely of stained glass.
Her eyes widened at the sight of the wall and she stood in front of it to examine the pictures. It was about thirty-five feet wide and twenty feet tall, and was enclosed by an intricately designed archway. In the center of the bottom was a cut-glass picture of the castle and the Goblin City. It took up about a mere total of five square feet. It was surrounded on all sides by a lush, green forest which ran three feet from the castle in all directions. Behind the forest was a mountain that continued about three feet from the forest and then the last image, which took up the rest of the space, was one of three sandy-colored plateaus. The plateau in the center was the largest of the three, and directly above the largest the sun could be seen. The plateaus took up over half of the wall.
Sarah couldn't imagine why Jareth had put plateaus above his own castle. What was so special about them?
She pushed the question aside and went to the dresser and sat down in the seat in front of it. She looked at the carvings on the frame of the mirror. In the center of the top was the castle and the Goblin City. The rest of the frame was covered with magnificent flowers and other little pictures. The frame itself seemed to tell a story with its carvings, but, as she looked at the reflection of the clock in the mirror, she decided that she didn't have time to examine them. It was already 8:30.
One particular carving caught her eye, though. It was that of a hand holding a crystal ball. Sarah glanced at the chain hanging from her neck and the pendant the hung from it. The pendant was identical to the carving. Besides the castle, the hand with the glass sphere was the largest carving in the gold frame. It brought an idea to her.
"Maybe..." she whispered to herself thoughtfully. "Maybe I can use the mirror to find out where Hoggle and the others are. Jareth used to use the glass spheres to spy on me, as I recall, so maybe mirrors could do the same thing. It wouldn't hurt to try..."
She closed her eyes then opened them again.
"Nothing. I guess I need to concentrate harder. I might need to keep my eyes open to catch it. Okay, here goes..."
She thought of her friends, squeezing all thoughts from her mind and keeping those of her companions, but it still wouldn't work.
"Oh well," she said to herself with a sigh. "I'd better get dressed. The sooner I find out what Jareth wants, the better."
She rose from her seat at the dresser and slowly walked to the closet at the other side of the room. She felt almost like a princess preparing for a ball...
Almost. The thought of the possible doom she and her friends were going to face crowded into her mind and fought any pleasantness associated with her surroundings away.
"Reality suffocates me once again," she mumbled to herself in frustration. Yet, she allowed herself one dramatic glance about the room, and imagined that she was truly the queen of the castle. The room was familiar and she was about to pick her gown to wear to the ball that night...
Immediately after Sarah and the the goblins had completed their ascension of the stairs, Sarah's vision blurred and darkened. She could see nothing. She stopped suddenly, despite the persistent shove of the goblin at her back, and flailed about a moment before it finally dawned on her what was happening. Jareth had taken away her sight through the use of his magic. Most likely it was due to the fact that he did not wish her to see her surroundings and escape.
The goblins snickered at her reaction to the loss, but kept on in their tunnel-visioned pursuit.
She no longer fought the grotesque stooges, but allowed them to lead her through winding corridors effortlessly. She felt a great deal of aprehension in entrusting herself to them, but, knowing she had no choice, she thought of her worry as little as possible.
She heard the voices of goblins in rooms surrounding her and turned her head toward the source of a loud goblin scream. At first she was taken aback by the deathly shriek, but felt no more apprehension when she heard it was due to the fact that someone had been hit in the rear end by a dart intended for a chicken. "Serves 'em right for messing with a chicken like that," she mumbled to herself. "No talkin'!" shouted her burly-voiced arm-gripper with, what Sarah could discern, was said with no covert pleasure. Sarah replied in a similar tone, showing more contempt, "Oh, get over yourself." The stooge entrusted with her other arm immediately took share in the masculine sport of verbally abusing the prisoner and added, "He told ya to keep quiet, so I advise that ya does so." She saw no further profit in participating in their stupidity and remained silent.
She heard the one to her left whisper to the goblin behind himself, "I ain't over myself, am I?"
"No sir," replied the one at the rear, whose voice was meekest of the two, "I should dare say that ye are a bit beside yourself." Her left escort paused a moment before continuing, "Beside myself you say? Then I am not standing here?"
"That ye are, my good fellow, but beside yerself as well, as, I know you should take my word as good and true, there appears to be two of you, and one is a bit to the right and over yerself."
"Then I am over myself?" the other said.
"Well, now that I rethink, you must be, because one of you is bobbing his head about in a dull fashion, spinning and dancing about the other, and looking down upon you as if ye are a knave. Tis true what she says, ye must be over yerself." To her left came silence, and then a start, "You are drunk, if I do swear it!"
"If you do not swear it, then I am not drunk?" the other asked mockingly.
"You are drunk whether or not I swear it, for only a drunk speaks such foolery as you, and I would know, for I am quite drunk at the moment myself, and I thinks I see you spinning just as madly as you see me! So I am now beside myself, and you,and you," he pointed to the left of him, "and we are both over ourselves, so that what she says is true,..."
"Aye, your logic astounds me dear sir," replied his cohort, "but how does that bring us to the chicken?"
"Why, I don't know, I think I sees her lay an egg at being shot. What of the chicken?"
"How comes you to know the egg came after the chicken was shot? You are quite drunk, my good fellow, and the chicken could ha' come before." The left drunk began to shake profusely at the thought and said, "My poor brain can't figure this one! How is it for an egg to come before a chicken? Or a chicken after an egg? And what the hey does it matter anyway!"
"Now, look, don't rile yerself so, for you are twice beside yourself with anger. I think I will leave you at peace."
Sarah shook her head at their antics and perked her ears for the voices of her friends, knowing deep down that Jareth would not make things so easy for her. He had said he wouldn't.
The ground felt like mortared stone against the rubber of her sneakers, and there was a slight echo to every sound. As the goblins pushed her around a corner, she was taken aback by a sudden aroma of food. As the hallway grew longer and some stairs were ascended, the aroma had strengthened and the sound of chatting voices became louder. To spite Sarah's curiosity, the Goblins turned her down another corridor, away from the smells and commotion. Two more stairways were mounted before the long journey ended and the goblins halted in their endless, silent walking.
The goblins took their firm grip off of her arms. Escape crossed her mind, but it would be impossible to run away while blinded. She heard the jingle of metal keys as they were turned in a lock; she shuddered at the piercing squeak of a door that needed its hinges oiled badly. They shoved her inconsiderately into the room and she landed on her backside, the cold floor stinging her hands. She rather expected that she was in a slimy dungeon without a window.
The door closed and she heard the jingling of the keys once again as the door was locked. With her ears she picked up a soft sliding sound and then a click.
"Uh...Our king wants ye to get ready for dinner...Put on the dress in yonder closet and be ready by the time the clock strikes nine...And do not dare try anything foolish, or I shall apprehend thee..." the goblin explained from the other side of the door. She could here the other two snicker at his last remark.
"I shall return for thee in a short while."
She heard the sliding noise and then the click again, and all was silent. Just as she began to wonder if she was permanently blinded, her vision returned.
The quarters were nothing like what she had expected. The room was very large and extremely well lit. In the center of the room was a king-size bed with a beautiful canopy and curtains made of chiffon. The bedspread was of satin and the sheets, she noted with surprise as she approached the mahogany bed, were made of silk. She caressed them wonderingly while looking about the room. To one side was a dresser and a carved, gold-framed mirror. On the other was a closet with the same golden carvings. Behind the bed a couple of yards was a wall made up completely of stained glass.
Her eyes widened at the sight of the wall and she stood in front of it to examine the pictures. It was about thirty-five feet wide and twenty feet tall, and was enclosed by an intricately designed archway. In the center of the bottom was a cut-glass picture of the castle and the Goblin City. It took up about a mere total of five square feet. It was surrounded on all sides by a lush, green forest which ran three feet from the castle in all directions. Behind the forest was a mountain that continued about three feet from the forest and then the last image, which took up the rest of the space, was one of three sandy-colored plateaus. The plateau in the center was the largest of the three, and directly above the largest the sun could be seen. The plateaus took up over half of the wall.
Sarah couldn't imagine why Jareth had put plateaus above his own castle. What was so special about them?
She pushed the question aside and went to the dresser and sat down in the seat in front of it. She looked at the carvings on the frame of the mirror. In the center of the top was the castle and the Goblin City. The rest of the frame was covered with magnificent flowers and other little pictures. The frame itself seemed to tell a story with its carvings, but, as she looked at the reflection of the clock in the mirror, she decided that she didn't have time to examine them. It was already 8:30.
One particular carving caught her eye, though. It was that of a hand holding a crystal ball. Sarah glanced at the chain hanging from her neck and the pendant the hung from it. The pendant was identical to the carving. Besides the castle, the hand with the glass sphere was the largest carving in the gold frame. It brought an idea to her.
"Maybe..." she whispered to herself thoughtfully. "Maybe I can use the mirror to find out where Hoggle and the others are. Jareth used to use the glass spheres to spy on me, as I recall, so maybe mirrors could do the same thing. It wouldn't hurt to try..."
She closed her eyes then opened them again.
"Nothing. I guess I need to concentrate harder. I might need to keep my eyes open to catch it. Okay, here goes..."
She thought of her friends, squeezing all thoughts from her mind and keeping those of her companions, but it still wouldn't work.
"Oh well," she said to herself with a sigh. "I'd better get dressed. The sooner I find out what Jareth wants, the better."
She rose from her seat at the dresser and slowly walked to the closet at the other side of the room. She felt almost like a princess preparing for a ball...
Almost. The thought of the possible doom she and her friends were going to face crowded into her mind and fought any pleasantness associated with her surroundings away.
"Reality suffocates me once again," she mumbled to herself in frustration. Yet, she allowed herself one dramatic glance about the room, and imagined that she was truly the queen of the castle. The room was familiar and she was about to pick her gown to wear to the ball that night...