Chapter Seventeen - Enter Sarah
Earlier that day, Sarah Williams woke up once again to the sound of British
Airways overhead. Still, what would you expect living just a stone's throw away from
the country's largest airport? It didn't matter any more. After six months, she had just
got used to it, like everyone else in the neighbourhood. However it was still far from
where she wanted to be. She had arrived in England nearly a year ago, ironically in the
same airport that was now causing her insomnia. Instead of the mysterious, ancient
land she had been expecting it was actually...rather crap!
Sure there had been acting jobs. Truthfully they were only for experimental stuff that
was only watched by about ....oh...three people. In the end it just didn't bring in the
mula so she settled for a job teaching drama at a rather straight laced girl's school. St
Catherines was not the best path to fame and fortune but it paid the rent and as the
youngest teacher there at twenty eight the kids always found her the easiest to talk to.
Earlier that year she had managed to rent her own piece of post war suburbia with
Kew and Richmond both within walking distance. The house itself was a little poky
but perfect for one person with a small back garden and terrace. The layout of the
building was utterly insane. Her landlord told her that it had been split up into student
bedsits up until the eighties and that was the reason why there was a fireplace in the
hallway and a toilet in the broom closet. Just your everyday quirkiness.
Life wasn't that bad, yet she still sorely missed her friends and family that she had left
behind. But she couldn't make herself go back somehow. There were just too many
memories, all involving narrow winding passages and tiny creatures skittering around
and stairs! Lots and lots of stairs...
She shook herself out of that reverie. No good dwelling on that little trip and all the
ahem unpleasantness that went with it.
The doorbell rang. Its shrill cry echoed through the silence of the house and made
Sarah jump with surprise. Damn! If it was those bloody Jehovah's Witnesses
again...she would buy a very powerful water pistol and blast them through the letter
box! Ha ha!
She opened the door and looked straight into a pair of pitch coloured eyes, so dark
they were almost like two caverns beneath the sea. They stood out shockingly on the
girl's face as they were surrounded by ivory skin and mousy brown hair streaked with
burnt gold. The girl looked about Toby's age, in her early teens. Although she was
only wearing jeans and a plain T-shirt, she carried herself with an educated elegance
unheard of in this world. Her entire presence radiated dark, mystical energy, the type
of which Sarah had only encountered once prior to that day. And that pendant! She
had definitely seen that symbol before.
At the girl's side was her opposite. A short and, she had to admit, ugly boy with a
grumpy expression that far exceeded his seemingly young age. Unpleasant as the child
looked, he still gave off a strong feeling of nostalgia and familiarity.
"Good evening." said the girl and smiled. Her voice was clear and accented and
evidently British...and yet...somehow it wasn't! "Am I right in thinking that you are
Miss Sarah Williams?"
Arian mentally gave herself a pat on the back for that little display. She had never
really tried to act regally before so she just imitated what her father usually did. She
was also terribly nervous. Meeting the champion of the Labyrinth was no walk in the
park and Arian felt somewhat in awe of the woman standing in front of her. She had
solved the Labyrinth in only thirteen hours! Something that it had taken her years of
practice to accomplish.
"Who are you?" said Sarah. Fear flooding into her mind.
"Sarah?" said the boy. Instead of a high, innocent voice came an old and gravely one.
A voice that Sarah instantly recognised.
"Hoggle?" she said uncertainly.
"That's right!" said the boy.
"What happened to you?"
"It's a long story." said the dwarf/boy "May we come inside?"
Once inside the tiny house, Arian quickly scribbled something down and Hoggle
transformed into his normal, ugly self. Sarah jumped at the metamorphosis but didn't
notice how she had done it.
"So, Who are you?" said Sarah to the young girl who was staring intently at the
vacuum cleaner. The child quickly looked up as if she had been caught doing
something wrong then relaxed a little. She didn't look at all threatening, Sarah
decided, just nervous and trying to appear calm.
"I'm Arian." she said simply.
"Are you from the Labyrinth as well?" the girl nodded but didn't explain further. "Why
are you here?"
"Hoghead wanted to see you. I just provided the transportation." said Arian bluntly
and scrutinised one of the bookshelves.
"Oh." said Sarah.
"Miss Arian's a friend of mine." said Hoggle trying to kick start the conversation
"She's very interested in this world, aren't ya."
"Yes, we spent all day sampling the public transport." said Arian. Christ! She hated
small talk.
"So how did you two meet?" asked Sarah getting a terrible feeling that they weren't
telling the entire truth.
"Well, we met a few days ago and started chatting a bit. Then I got thrown in the Bog
of Eternal Stench but Arian saved me with this weird magic she's got. And then we
thought we might as well see what she could do so she made a portal to the
Aboveworld and here we are." said Hoggle hurriedly.
"You got thrown in the Bog!" said Sarah angrily. "For what?"
"Trespassing and conspiracy apparently." said Hoggle proudly. "Better than my usual
stock of crimes even if it is a load of fairy dung!"
"I see nothing's changed then." said Sarah "The Goblin King's reign of terror prevails."
she added bitterly and turned to Arian again certain that there was something more
and determined to hear the truth. She felt outraged that her old friend was being
treated in such a way and that her victory had no obvious effect on the land she had
visited so many years ago. "So, Arian. Do you know Jareth at all?"
"I know of him." said Arian after a small hesitation. She had guessed that this woman
would not be on the best of terms with her father so she tried hard not to give herself
away just yet. She changed the subject and turned back to the bookcase "Wow
Shakespeare's complete works. You have no idea how rare these things are at home."
"Where is home?" asked Sarah. Damn it! She wasn't going to give up was she. Arian
just didn't have the energy to lie and she was rubbish at it anyway.
"The...castle." she said and looked at the floor.
"So you do know him then." the girl nodded "How?"
Here we go! said a nasty little voice in Arian's mind. She looked her interrogator
straight in the eye and said "He's my father!"
Earlier that day, Sarah Williams woke up once again to the sound of British
Airways overhead. Still, what would you expect living just a stone's throw away from
the country's largest airport? It didn't matter any more. After six months, she had just
got used to it, like everyone else in the neighbourhood. However it was still far from
where she wanted to be. She had arrived in England nearly a year ago, ironically in the
same airport that was now causing her insomnia. Instead of the mysterious, ancient
land she had been expecting it was actually...rather crap!
Sure there had been acting jobs. Truthfully they were only for experimental stuff that
was only watched by about ....oh...three people. In the end it just didn't bring in the
mula so she settled for a job teaching drama at a rather straight laced girl's school. St
Catherines was not the best path to fame and fortune but it paid the rent and as the
youngest teacher there at twenty eight the kids always found her the easiest to talk to.
Earlier that year she had managed to rent her own piece of post war suburbia with
Kew and Richmond both within walking distance. The house itself was a little poky
but perfect for one person with a small back garden and terrace. The layout of the
building was utterly insane. Her landlord told her that it had been split up into student
bedsits up until the eighties and that was the reason why there was a fireplace in the
hallway and a toilet in the broom closet. Just your everyday quirkiness.
Life wasn't that bad, yet she still sorely missed her friends and family that she had left
behind. But she couldn't make herself go back somehow. There were just too many
memories, all involving narrow winding passages and tiny creatures skittering around
and stairs! Lots and lots of stairs...
She shook herself out of that reverie. No good dwelling on that little trip and all the
ahem unpleasantness that went with it.
The doorbell rang. Its shrill cry echoed through the silence of the house and made
Sarah jump with surprise. Damn! If it was those bloody Jehovah's Witnesses
again...she would buy a very powerful water pistol and blast them through the letter
box! Ha ha!
She opened the door and looked straight into a pair of pitch coloured eyes, so dark
they were almost like two caverns beneath the sea. They stood out shockingly on the
girl's face as they were surrounded by ivory skin and mousy brown hair streaked with
burnt gold. The girl looked about Toby's age, in her early teens. Although she was
only wearing jeans and a plain T-shirt, she carried herself with an educated elegance
unheard of in this world. Her entire presence radiated dark, mystical energy, the type
of which Sarah had only encountered once prior to that day. And that pendant! She
had definitely seen that symbol before.
At the girl's side was her opposite. A short and, she had to admit, ugly boy with a
grumpy expression that far exceeded his seemingly young age. Unpleasant as the child
looked, he still gave off a strong feeling of nostalgia and familiarity.
"Good evening." said the girl and smiled. Her voice was clear and accented and
evidently British...and yet...somehow it wasn't! "Am I right in thinking that you are
Miss Sarah Williams?"
Arian mentally gave herself a pat on the back for that little display. She had never
really tried to act regally before so she just imitated what her father usually did. She
was also terribly nervous. Meeting the champion of the Labyrinth was no walk in the
park and Arian felt somewhat in awe of the woman standing in front of her. She had
solved the Labyrinth in only thirteen hours! Something that it had taken her years of
practice to accomplish.
"Who are you?" said Sarah. Fear flooding into her mind.
"Sarah?" said the boy. Instead of a high, innocent voice came an old and gravely one.
A voice that Sarah instantly recognised.
"Hoggle?" she said uncertainly.
"That's right!" said the boy.
"What happened to you?"
"It's a long story." said the dwarf/boy "May we come inside?"
Once inside the tiny house, Arian quickly scribbled something down and Hoggle
transformed into his normal, ugly self. Sarah jumped at the metamorphosis but didn't
notice how she had done it.
"So, Who are you?" said Sarah to the young girl who was staring intently at the
vacuum cleaner. The child quickly looked up as if she had been caught doing
something wrong then relaxed a little. She didn't look at all threatening, Sarah
decided, just nervous and trying to appear calm.
"I'm Arian." she said simply.
"Are you from the Labyrinth as well?" the girl nodded but didn't explain further. "Why
are you here?"
"Hoghead wanted to see you. I just provided the transportation." said Arian bluntly
and scrutinised one of the bookshelves.
"Oh." said Sarah.
"Miss Arian's a friend of mine." said Hoggle trying to kick start the conversation
"She's very interested in this world, aren't ya."
"Yes, we spent all day sampling the public transport." said Arian. Christ! She hated
small talk.
"So how did you two meet?" asked Sarah getting a terrible feeling that they weren't
telling the entire truth.
"Well, we met a few days ago and started chatting a bit. Then I got thrown in the Bog
of Eternal Stench but Arian saved me with this weird magic she's got. And then we
thought we might as well see what she could do so she made a portal to the
Aboveworld and here we are." said Hoggle hurriedly.
"You got thrown in the Bog!" said Sarah angrily. "For what?"
"Trespassing and conspiracy apparently." said Hoggle proudly. "Better than my usual
stock of crimes even if it is a load of fairy dung!"
"I see nothing's changed then." said Sarah "The Goblin King's reign of terror prevails."
she added bitterly and turned to Arian again certain that there was something more
and determined to hear the truth. She felt outraged that her old friend was being
treated in such a way and that her victory had no obvious effect on the land she had
visited so many years ago. "So, Arian. Do you know Jareth at all?"
"I know of him." said Arian after a small hesitation. She had guessed that this woman
would not be on the best of terms with her father so she tried hard not to give herself
away just yet. She changed the subject and turned back to the bookcase "Wow
Shakespeare's complete works. You have no idea how rare these things are at home."
"Where is home?" asked Sarah. Damn it! She wasn't going to give up was she. Arian
just didn't have the energy to lie and she was rubbish at it anyway.
"The...castle." she said and looked at the floor.
"So you do know him then." the girl nodded "How?"
Here we go! said a nasty little voice in Arian's mind. She looked her interrogator
straight in the eye and said "He's my father!"