Chapter II
Sarah found herself standing on the same hill where she had been introduced to the Labyrinth, overlooking the barren wastelands with the skeletons of trees. It was very much unchanged except some of the sandier areas had managed to grow patches of green grass and the wintry trees had sprouted some buds on their anorexic twigs. For some reason, life was beginning.
"Here we go again, feet," she said, in more-or-less the same spot she last addressed them, as she sped down towards the looming maze walls.
Someone was sitting nearby. An old woman with silvery hair perched at the edge of a murky pool, the one in which Sarah recalled seeing a dear friend relieve himself on their initial meeting. The woman was rocking back and forth, humming a ditty whilst smoking a pipe - the wrong way around. Very similar to blowing a bubble, the crone was breathing air across the top of the bowl part and whistle-blasts of smoke shot out of the tubular end.
"Excuse me," Sarah asked. "Where is the gate to the Labyrinth?"
The old lady glanced up with milky pink eyes.
"There i'n't a gate. Just wall," she replied, a globule of spittle dribbling from her bottom lip.
"Yes I know it is *now*," Sarah persisted, putting aside her revulsion. "But how do I get in?"
She thought once again about Hoggle and wondered where he was. Glumly, she told herself that he, too, was a prisoner. But why had Jareth not shown him? She prayed that he was unharmed.
"Through the door," came the reply.
"*What* door?"
"The door to the Labyrinth," said the old woman.
"But you just said there wasn't one!"
"That's right, there i'n't."
Sarah stamped her foot and tried to solve the problem. Logic had not succeeded this time. Then maybe her eyes twinkled there was some other way.
"Where isn't the door?" she asked the ancient figure who had recommenced puffing at her backwards pipe.
"It isn't there."
A wrinkled finger pointed towards the outer walls of the maze. A set of iron doors had appeared in the stone.
"Thank you," Sarah said.
"For what?"
But Sarah was done with the woman and was already pushing her way into the start of her journey.
* * * *
Jareth slouched in his throne, one boot resting on a solid gold arm, the other just touching the surface of the floor. His gloved hand flicked through a small red book, under the observation of the prisoner chained against the far wall.
"What an appalling story," he said, not averting his eyes from the delicate pages. "The hideous dwarf gets more mention than the king, and the spoilt princess has everything she wants-."
"That's Sarah's, that is. You've no right!"
"And my eyes are certainly not 'mismatched'," Jareth continued, ignoring the outburst from the man bearing a dented crown and the remnants of a royal robe.
"I'm warning you Jareth!"
The Goblin King put down the book with its gold lettering on the cover that spelled out 'The Labyrinth', and turned to glare at his aged captive.
"Oh do shut up Hogworm. Just because you're a prince now doesn't make you any different to the worthless scab you were before. Look at you; your years have caught up. Anyone would prefer you as a halfling."
Hoggle hung his head and sagged within his bonds, the once golden human hair a thinning clump of white threads plastered to his scalp. Allowing his moment of downfall to pass, he dared to mutter something that no coward would.
"At least she *chose* to kiss *me*."
Jareth leapt from his throne, vanishing in mid-air to reappear at Hoggle's side. Taking the old man by the throat, he slammed him into the polished marble wall, his gaze filled with venom. The bird of prey likeness calmed; a wave of understanding passed between them, and the Goblin King released his grip. Sarah was his. Whether she liked it or not, no matter the competition, he knew she belonged to him.
Having turned away from the prisoner who gasped for breath behind him, Jareth paused in the centre of the room. It was devoid of goblins since they were patrolling the battlements and sneering at the creatures in the dungeons, living out their trivial lives.
"You have a question," he said without so much as a backward glance.
"Why didn't the third part of your promise come true?" the ex-dwarf choked.
Jareth moved to the window, the forked swallowtail of his coat parallel with his calves, and looked out upon his realm in thought. A distant echo of his own voice rattled through his mind.
//Fear me, love me, do as I say...and I shall be your slave//
He remembered the terror in her eyes, the desperation with which she had clung to him, but when he had told her to return home, he had had to use force.
"Because, Hoggle, there is no joy in a love bound by rules." Jareth ceased to scour the maze for a mere second. "Any fool would know that."
* * * *
Sarah had been running along the literally never-ending pathway for some time now, intending to find the same opening as before. She had found many others just by trailing her hand across the bricks and moving until her fingers dipped into a gap. However, she was curious about one thing in particular and it was not long until she heard a familiar voice.
"'Allo again!" called the worm with the blue tufts of hair and the red woolly scarf fastened about its neck.
"Hello," Sarah said. "I was hoping I'd find you here."
"Wantin' that cuppa tea yet?" it replied brightly. "The missus doesn't 'alf brew a good'un!"
"That's very kind of you but I really-," Sarah began as another worm poked its head out of a hole in the wall. This one had a pair of miniscule spectacles on its nose and a head of girlish ringlets.
"Oh 'allo!" she said. "I was wonderin' when you'd be back."
Before Sarah could make any excuse, the pair of invertebrates had gone and returned with a teacup the size of a bottle cap. Not wishing to be impolite, she picked up the vessel between finger and thumb then gasped as it expanded to full size in her hand.
The blue-haired worm giggled. "Don't forget what I told you last time! Things aren't always what they seem here." Seeing the human smile, he was urged to continue. "Now what was it you were after?"
Sarah sipped at the tea prior to making an effort to reply. The taste was refreshing and had the hint of lemon and rose. It was neither too hot nor too weak.
"Yes, I was wondering about that time you told me where to find the openings in the walls. You told me I shouldn't go left, and I never asked why."
The worm looked aghast.
"You don't want to be going down there!" it squeaked.
"Why not?"
"It leads to that horrid castle!"
Sarah chided herself at how she had missed this the first time. However, she considered she might never have gathered so many loyal friends let alone managed to get into the goblin city. Still, this time she fancied a quicker option. Finishing her tea and thanking the couple profusely, Sarah set her empty cup on the ledge and turned to the wall where the opening was.
Walking straight towards it, she banged her nose on the hard brick.
"Ow."
Sarah rubbed her face and half expected to hear laughter booming throughout the land. She was certainly glad he hadn't seen *that*. Nice one Sarah, she thought, blushing to the open air.
"Of course," she reflected aloud. "This place always changes. I'll just have to have faith that there's another opening further along." Acting out her plan, she ran her hands across the coarse stone until she found an alternative exit.
Then she took the left passage.
Sarah found herself standing on the same hill where she had been introduced to the Labyrinth, overlooking the barren wastelands with the skeletons of trees. It was very much unchanged except some of the sandier areas had managed to grow patches of green grass and the wintry trees had sprouted some buds on their anorexic twigs. For some reason, life was beginning.
"Here we go again, feet," she said, in more-or-less the same spot she last addressed them, as she sped down towards the looming maze walls.
Someone was sitting nearby. An old woman with silvery hair perched at the edge of a murky pool, the one in which Sarah recalled seeing a dear friend relieve himself on their initial meeting. The woman was rocking back and forth, humming a ditty whilst smoking a pipe - the wrong way around. Very similar to blowing a bubble, the crone was breathing air across the top of the bowl part and whistle-blasts of smoke shot out of the tubular end.
"Excuse me," Sarah asked. "Where is the gate to the Labyrinth?"
The old lady glanced up with milky pink eyes.
"There i'n't a gate. Just wall," she replied, a globule of spittle dribbling from her bottom lip.
"Yes I know it is *now*," Sarah persisted, putting aside her revulsion. "But how do I get in?"
She thought once again about Hoggle and wondered where he was. Glumly, she told herself that he, too, was a prisoner. But why had Jareth not shown him? She prayed that he was unharmed.
"Through the door," came the reply.
"*What* door?"
"The door to the Labyrinth," said the old woman.
"But you just said there wasn't one!"
"That's right, there i'n't."
Sarah stamped her foot and tried to solve the problem. Logic had not succeeded this time. Then maybe her eyes twinkled there was some other way.
"Where isn't the door?" she asked the ancient figure who had recommenced puffing at her backwards pipe.
"It isn't there."
A wrinkled finger pointed towards the outer walls of the maze. A set of iron doors had appeared in the stone.
"Thank you," Sarah said.
"For what?"
But Sarah was done with the woman and was already pushing her way into the start of her journey.
* * * *
Jareth slouched in his throne, one boot resting on a solid gold arm, the other just touching the surface of the floor. His gloved hand flicked through a small red book, under the observation of the prisoner chained against the far wall.
"What an appalling story," he said, not averting his eyes from the delicate pages. "The hideous dwarf gets more mention than the king, and the spoilt princess has everything she wants-."
"That's Sarah's, that is. You've no right!"
"And my eyes are certainly not 'mismatched'," Jareth continued, ignoring the outburst from the man bearing a dented crown and the remnants of a royal robe.
"I'm warning you Jareth!"
The Goblin King put down the book with its gold lettering on the cover that spelled out 'The Labyrinth', and turned to glare at his aged captive.
"Oh do shut up Hogworm. Just because you're a prince now doesn't make you any different to the worthless scab you were before. Look at you; your years have caught up. Anyone would prefer you as a halfling."
Hoggle hung his head and sagged within his bonds, the once golden human hair a thinning clump of white threads plastered to his scalp. Allowing his moment of downfall to pass, he dared to mutter something that no coward would.
"At least she *chose* to kiss *me*."
Jareth leapt from his throne, vanishing in mid-air to reappear at Hoggle's side. Taking the old man by the throat, he slammed him into the polished marble wall, his gaze filled with venom. The bird of prey likeness calmed; a wave of understanding passed between them, and the Goblin King released his grip. Sarah was his. Whether she liked it or not, no matter the competition, he knew she belonged to him.
Having turned away from the prisoner who gasped for breath behind him, Jareth paused in the centre of the room. It was devoid of goblins since they were patrolling the battlements and sneering at the creatures in the dungeons, living out their trivial lives.
"You have a question," he said without so much as a backward glance.
"Why didn't the third part of your promise come true?" the ex-dwarf choked.
Jareth moved to the window, the forked swallowtail of his coat parallel with his calves, and looked out upon his realm in thought. A distant echo of his own voice rattled through his mind.
//Fear me, love me, do as I say...and I shall be your slave//
He remembered the terror in her eyes, the desperation with which she had clung to him, but when he had told her to return home, he had had to use force.
"Because, Hoggle, there is no joy in a love bound by rules." Jareth ceased to scour the maze for a mere second. "Any fool would know that."
* * * *
Sarah had been running along the literally never-ending pathway for some time now, intending to find the same opening as before. She had found many others just by trailing her hand across the bricks and moving until her fingers dipped into a gap. However, she was curious about one thing in particular and it was not long until she heard a familiar voice.
"'Allo again!" called the worm with the blue tufts of hair and the red woolly scarf fastened about its neck.
"Hello," Sarah said. "I was hoping I'd find you here."
"Wantin' that cuppa tea yet?" it replied brightly. "The missus doesn't 'alf brew a good'un!"
"That's very kind of you but I really-," Sarah began as another worm poked its head out of a hole in the wall. This one had a pair of miniscule spectacles on its nose and a head of girlish ringlets.
"Oh 'allo!" she said. "I was wonderin' when you'd be back."
Before Sarah could make any excuse, the pair of invertebrates had gone and returned with a teacup the size of a bottle cap. Not wishing to be impolite, she picked up the vessel between finger and thumb then gasped as it expanded to full size in her hand.
The blue-haired worm giggled. "Don't forget what I told you last time! Things aren't always what they seem here." Seeing the human smile, he was urged to continue. "Now what was it you were after?"
Sarah sipped at the tea prior to making an effort to reply. The taste was refreshing and had the hint of lemon and rose. It was neither too hot nor too weak.
"Yes, I was wondering about that time you told me where to find the openings in the walls. You told me I shouldn't go left, and I never asked why."
The worm looked aghast.
"You don't want to be going down there!" it squeaked.
"Why not?"
"It leads to that horrid castle!"
Sarah chided herself at how she had missed this the first time. However, she considered she might never have gathered so many loyal friends let alone managed to get into the goblin city. Still, this time she fancied a quicker option. Finishing her tea and thanking the couple profusely, Sarah set her empty cup on the ledge and turned to the wall where the opening was.
Walking straight towards it, she banged her nose on the hard brick.
"Ow."
Sarah rubbed her face and half expected to hear laughter booming throughout the land. She was certainly glad he hadn't seen *that*. Nice one Sarah, she thought, blushing to the open air.
"Of course," she reflected aloud. "This place always changes. I'll just have to have faith that there's another opening further along." Acting out her plan, she ran her hands across the coarse stone until she found an alternative exit.
Then she took the left passage.