Chapter Sixteen - Greasy spoon and the London Underground
******
A/N - Yes. Sarah will come into this one. She id living in London in this story which
will be explained in the next chapter so this isn't a wild goose chase!
Daemon Faerie Queen - Glad you liked the Monty Python bit. I love those guys and
seeing as Terry Jones wrote the screenplay for Laby I thought it would be kinda neat.
"Excuse me?" said Arian nervously when she reached to grimy counter.
The elderly waitress looked up from her crossword puzzle and came eyeball to ebony
eyeball with a slightly strange young girl and a grumpy looking five year old boy.
She'd always liked children but knowing of the destructive nature of the gangs in the
area, she still stayed wary.
"May I help you, dear?" she said sweetly.
"Um... yes. Could I have a tea and toast and a bacon sandwich for my brother here."
said Arian eyeing the rather one-dimensional menu.
"Of course. That'll be five pound thirty. I'll bring it over in a minute." said the
waitress, relieved that they had not pulled a knife out and demanded money. Still, no
one would be stupid enough to do that in broad daylight. She looked down to see that
the strange girl had not only given her the five pounds she'd asked for but added
another thirty small chunky coins as well, all arranged neatly into little piles of ten.
She was about to call after her and correct her but thought better of it and swiped the
cash into her purse before anyone noticed.
"Cor! This place is disgusting!" said Hoggle angrily "And I hate to say it but you,
missy, was nicely jibbed back there!"
"Jibbed?" said Arian, looking puzzled.
"Ripped off."
"Oh."
"So, what's the plan?"
"What plan?"
"The plan! How are we going to get to Sarah?"
"Oh, that plan." Arian mumbled as the waitress appeared with their food. She bit into
her toast thoughtfully. It wasn't bad, much better than the piles of charcoal the goblins
usually served her. The tea was quite nice too. Idly she flipped through the only book
in the building that was bright yellow and next a strange machine on the wall. Her
dark eyes gleamed as an idea struck her "Hogswald?"
"Hoggle!"
"Whatever. Do you know this girl's full name by any chance?"
"Why?"
"Because this book is filled with people's names and where they live!"
"Oh."
"So do you know it?"
"Do I know what?"
"Her surname."
"Who's surname?"
Arian growled with frustration "It's hopeless asking you anything!"
"Not if you ask he right questions." said Hoggle mysteriously.
"What is Sarah's surname?"
"Ah! Now that's more like it." said Hoggle "Williams. At least it was when I knew
her. She might have got married since."
"Well, let's hope not." said Arian and flicked through the yellow book to the W
section. Tracing the column with her finger, she squinted at the page and swore under
her breath.
"What? What is it?" asked Hoggle.
"There's ten of them!" cried Arian. "We'll just have to find all of them!" she said after
a pause then got out her notebook to copy the addresses down.
"Wait! Are you sure that's safe?" said Hoggle just as her pencil was poising itself. The
last thing he wanted was magical explosions in front of all these mortals.
"Good point, Hogsnout. You write it down."
"Ah! Should have told ya this before but I can't write." said the dwarf/boy.
Arian glared at him and settled for tearing out the corresponding page in the phone
book, as much as hated destroying something literary.
******
They rushed out of the cafe once they had finished their lunch and Arian quickly led
them back to the tube station.
"Wait a minute!" cried Hoggle "Can't you just zap us there or something?"
"I can." said Arian fiendishly "But we're going on the big engine thing."
"Erm...Arian. You gots to understand my position here. I'm a coward and big engine
things scare me."
"Oh where's your sense of adventure, Hogwart?" sighed Arian.
"Back home with all my other things." the dwarf whined. "And I want to go back
there!"
"Tell you what. I'll go on my own and you can go home and explain to father where
I've gone!" she said menacingly.
"Fine! I'll go on the big engine thingy." groaned Hoggle. Anything was better than
explaining this mess to Jareth. Although he had a horrible feeling that he already
knew.
Arian grinned at him and dragged him by the hand to the ticket booth. Nearby, hidden
in the fresh new blossoms of a cherry tree perched a white owl casually observing
what the would do next....
******
A/N - Yes. Sarah will come into this one. She id living in London in this story which
will be explained in the next chapter so this isn't a wild goose chase!
Daemon Faerie Queen - Glad you liked the Monty Python bit. I love those guys and
seeing as Terry Jones wrote the screenplay for Laby I thought it would be kinda neat.
"Excuse me?" said Arian nervously when she reached to grimy counter.
The elderly waitress looked up from her crossword puzzle and came eyeball to ebony
eyeball with a slightly strange young girl and a grumpy looking five year old boy.
She'd always liked children but knowing of the destructive nature of the gangs in the
area, she still stayed wary.
"May I help you, dear?" she said sweetly.
"Um... yes. Could I have a tea and toast and a bacon sandwich for my brother here."
said Arian eyeing the rather one-dimensional menu.
"Of course. That'll be five pound thirty. I'll bring it over in a minute." said the
waitress, relieved that they had not pulled a knife out and demanded money. Still, no
one would be stupid enough to do that in broad daylight. She looked down to see that
the strange girl had not only given her the five pounds she'd asked for but added
another thirty small chunky coins as well, all arranged neatly into little piles of ten.
She was about to call after her and correct her but thought better of it and swiped the
cash into her purse before anyone noticed.
"Cor! This place is disgusting!" said Hoggle angrily "And I hate to say it but you,
missy, was nicely jibbed back there!"
"Jibbed?" said Arian, looking puzzled.
"Ripped off."
"Oh."
"So, what's the plan?"
"What plan?"
"The plan! How are we going to get to Sarah?"
"Oh, that plan." Arian mumbled as the waitress appeared with their food. She bit into
her toast thoughtfully. It wasn't bad, much better than the piles of charcoal the goblins
usually served her. The tea was quite nice too. Idly she flipped through the only book
in the building that was bright yellow and next a strange machine on the wall. Her
dark eyes gleamed as an idea struck her "Hogswald?"
"Hoggle!"
"Whatever. Do you know this girl's full name by any chance?"
"Why?"
"Because this book is filled with people's names and where they live!"
"Oh."
"So do you know it?"
"Do I know what?"
"Her surname."
"Who's surname?"
Arian growled with frustration "It's hopeless asking you anything!"
"Not if you ask he right questions." said Hoggle mysteriously.
"What is Sarah's surname?"
"Ah! Now that's more like it." said Hoggle "Williams. At least it was when I knew
her. She might have got married since."
"Well, let's hope not." said Arian and flicked through the yellow book to the W
section. Tracing the column with her finger, she squinted at the page and swore under
her breath.
"What? What is it?" asked Hoggle.
"There's ten of them!" cried Arian. "We'll just have to find all of them!" she said after
a pause then got out her notebook to copy the addresses down.
"Wait! Are you sure that's safe?" said Hoggle just as her pencil was poising itself. The
last thing he wanted was magical explosions in front of all these mortals.
"Good point, Hogsnout. You write it down."
"Ah! Should have told ya this before but I can't write." said the dwarf/boy.
Arian glared at him and settled for tearing out the corresponding page in the phone
book, as much as hated destroying something literary.
******
They rushed out of the cafe once they had finished their lunch and Arian quickly led
them back to the tube station.
"Wait a minute!" cried Hoggle "Can't you just zap us there or something?"
"I can." said Arian fiendishly "But we're going on the big engine thing."
"Erm...Arian. You gots to understand my position here. I'm a coward and big engine
things scare me."
"Oh where's your sense of adventure, Hogwart?" sighed Arian.
"Back home with all my other things." the dwarf whined. "And I want to go back
there!"
"Tell you what. I'll go on my own and you can go home and explain to father where
I've gone!" she said menacingly.
"Fine! I'll go on the big engine thingy." groaned Hoggle. Anything was better than
explaining this mess to Jareth. Although he had a horrible feeling that he already
knew.
Arian grinned at him and dragged him by the hand to the ticket booth. Nearby, hidden
in the fresh new blossoms of a cherry tree perched a white owl casually observing
what the would do next....