Hilarity felt a little dizzy as she materialised in the throne room of the castle. Compared to
what she was used to it was an illustration of perpetual squalor. She shuddered at the
thought of all the microbes and bacteria that might be growing in it. She gazed longingly
at her ship through the window. All she could see of it was a small, silvery shape on the horizon
but she wished to be inside it again with all her gadgets and navigation equipment and her
notes for the Henson Inquiry which she should have attended that afternoon. Sure she'd
wanted to get out of jury duty but it wasn't as bad as this place. She eyed the room again and
it didn't improve her opinion. It was disgusting especially those ugly little creatures that littered
the floor.
"Please excuse the mess. The Goblins aren't the tidiest creatures in the world." said Jareth
noticing her disgust with smug amusement.
"My God! It's almost as bad as Trin's room. I haven't been in there for years so I can
only assume its got a lot worse. We had to put a small decontamination chamber outside
the door."
To Hilarity's surprise her captor seemed to find this genuinely funny and laughed out
loud.
"Come to think of it, how's Trin doing?" she asked.
Jareth held out a crystal and an image of her cousin appeared inside it. He had walked through
the Labyrinth's gates and was looking suspiciously from left to right. Hilarity sighed. Poor lad.
"Thirteen hours. What am I supposed to do in thirteen hours?" she said out loud.
********
Trin was not feeling very hopeful about his quest. He had tried to salvage some things from the
remains of Hilarity's ship but nothing seemed to work. Having depended on technology for so
long, the idea of solving a problem on his own was too scary to contemplate. He'd found the
gates quite easily but every time he got close he was attacked by an army of fairies and eventually
had to beat them all to death with his copy of the Daily Quasar (sleazy tabloid rubbish). Once inside
he decided to turn right even though both directions looked exactly the same.
*******
Meanwhile, Hilarity and Jareth were playing Scrabble as they both had nothing to do. They were
both shocked as their scores remained dangerously close. Neither one of them had found a worthy
opponent until now. It was Jareth's go and he only had two tiles left.
"Hey! "genuinety" is not a real word!" Hilarity cried suddenly.
"I think you'll find it is."
"It is not!"
"Look it up in the dictionary if you're not sure." a large and beautifully bound book appeared by
Hilarity's arm. She flicked through it sceptically but then her expression changed to shock at being
proven wrong.
"Hang on a minute! You wrote this dictionary!" she said angrily.
"Really?"
"Yes. It's got your picture in it and everything!"
"My castle, my rules. And that puts my score at four hundred and five and, Oh dear, you only got
three hundred and ninety four."
There was an angry silence but Hilarity let it drop for now and changed the subject.
"So what's going to happen when the time runs out?"
"I haven't decided yet. You're too old to be turned into a Goblin so I'll have to think of something
else for you to do. In the mean time you must keep me amused. Is there anything interesting that
you can do?"
Hilarity thought about this for a while. "I can play the piano." she said helpfully.
what she was used to it was an illustration of perpetual squalor. She shuddered at the
thought of all the microbes and bacteria that might be growing in it. She gazed longingly
at her ship through the window. All she could see of it was a small, silvery shape on the horizon
but she wished to be inside it again with all her gadgets and navigation equipment and her
notes for the Henson Inquiry which she should have attended that afternoon. Sure she'd
wanted to get out of jury duty but it wasn't as bad as this place. She eyed the room again and
it didn't improve her opinion. It was disgusting especially those ugly little creatures that littered
the floor.
"Please excuse the mess. The Goblins aren't the tidiest creatures in the world." said Jareth
noticing her disgust with smug amusement.
"My God! It's almost as bad as Trin's room. I haven't been in there for years so I can
only assume its got a lot worse. We had to put a small decontamination chamber outside
the door."
To Hilarity's surprise her captor seemed to find this genuinely funny and laughed out
loud.
"Come to think of it, how's Trin doing?" she asked.
Jareth held out a crystal and an image of her cousin appeared inside it. He had walked through
the Labyrinth's gates and was looking suspiciously from left to right. Hilarity sighed. Poor lad.
"Thirteen hours. What am I supposed to do in thirteen hours?" she said out loud.
********
Trin was not feeling very hopeful about his quest. He had tried to salvage some things from the
remains of Hilarity's ship but nothing seemed to work. Having depended on technology for so
long, the idea of solving a problem on his own was too scary to contemplate. He'd found the
gates quite easily but every time he got close he was attacked by an army of fairies and eventually
had to beat them all to death with his copy of the Daily Quasar (sleazy tabloid rubbish). Once inside
he decided to turn right even though both directions looked exactly the same.
*******
Meanwhile, Hilarity and Jareth were playing Scrabble as they both had nothing to do. They were
both shocked as their scores remained dangerously close. Neither one of them had found a worthy
opponent until now. It was Jareth's go and he only had two tiles left.
"Hey! "genuinety" is not a real word!" Hilarity cried suddenly.
"I think you'll find it is."
"It is not!"
"Look it up in the dictionary if you're not sure." a large and beautifully bound book appeared by
Hilarity's arm. She flicked through it sceptically but then her expression changed to shock at being
proven wrong.
"Hang on a minute! You wrote this dictionary!" she said angrily.
"Really?"
"Yes. It's got your picture in it and everything!"
"My castle, my rules. And that puts my score at four hundred and five and, Oh dear, you only got
three hundred and ninety four."
There was an angry silence but Hilarity let it drop for now and changed the subject.
"So what's going to happen when the time runs out?"
"I haven't decided yet. You're too old to be turned into a Goblin so I'll have to think of something
else for you to do. In the mean time you must keep me amused. Is there anything interesting that
you can do?"
Hilarity thought about this for a while. "I can play the piano." she said helpfully.