Chapter Six
I was in the forest with the others when it began to get dark. I knew I couldn't have been gone that long yet. The others saw my confusion.
"Time seems to have a different meaning in the labyrinth than in your world. Day turns into night and vice versa during what seems to you as odd times." Hoggle explained.
I yawned. That was all I needed; to get tired because it was dark. We could see our way because of the moon and stars. We had walked for a long time when we came to a door. We went through and came out into an area with stonewalls and stone ground. It suddenly became daytime again. My eyes adjusted to the light as I looked around.
"Well guys, any ideas on which way to go?" I asked.
They all shook their heads.
"We can't remember, especially backwards." Sir Didymus explained.
We walked over to where the walls changed from stone to bushes. Ludo looked at a spot on the ground.
"Sarah," Ludo said gently.
We all turned to look at Ludo.
"What do you mean, brother Ludo?" Sir Didymus asked.
"Ludo met Sarah. Sarah friend," Ludo said still looking at spot on the ground.
"Is this where you met my mom?" I asked.
Ludo nodded.
"Do you remember which way she came from?" I asked.
Ludo turned around a bit then pointed to an opening in the bushy wall. I smiled.
"Thanks Ludo," I hugged him and started through the opening.
"How can you trust him? It was a long time ago." Hoggle complained.
"I just have a feeling I should trust him," I said as we started going through the gardened maze.
We continued walking, occasionally hitting a dead end. I was becoming tired and frustrated. The others kept telling me not to give up and they kept me going. Finally I was hungry, tired, and my legs were feeling like jelly.
"I've got to sit down and rest a moment," I said looking for a place.
The others agreed and on seeing no place to rest, we sat on the ground.
"I'm so hungry," I said.
"I am, too," Sir Didymus agreed as Ludo nodded his head.
"It's better you wait and eat when you're back home." Hoggle said, remembering what happened to Sarah.
"I know. Mom told me about the peach," I said.
Just thinking about food made my stomach grumble. As everyone listened to my stomach, we heard a tinkling sound as a glass ball started rolling toward us. Hoggle jumped up and ran down a pathway and around a corner.
"Hoggle!" I yelled after him, starting to get up.
"It's okay m'lady. I'll go get him." Sir Didymus said as he jumped on Ambrosius' back.
They headed after Hoggle. I sat back down and Ludo and I watched the glass ball tinkle towards me. From around a nearby corner, Jareth came out. He threw a snake at Ludo and Ludo ran away. I stayed seated.
"That was mean," I said looking up at Jareth.
"Ah, well, I wanted to give you something, and it's just for you." He pointed to the glass ball. "Pick it up."
I tentatively picked it up and it turned into an apple. My mouth watered but I held it out to Jareth.
"I don't want your food," I said to Jareth.
"Take it. It's all you'll be getting." He ignored my hand which was still holding the apple.
"Why should I trust you?" I put my arm down.
"Because you either trust me, or you starve."
It looked so good, and I was starving, but he poisoned my mom once. Should I trust him? My hunger gave in and I took a bite. It tasted fine and I ate it hungrily.
"You're welcome," Jareth said as he disappeared behind a corner.
The others finally came back as I finished the apple. I knew that Hoggle would be suspicious about the apple, so I threw the core over a wall before they got close.
"Is Jareth still here?" Hoggle asked from behind Ludo.
"No. He's gone." I said to him.
"Why was he here?" Hoggle asked.
"He wanted to...uh...say hi," I lied.
The others accepted it and helped me up. We started walking again. I felt better having eaten, but was still hungry. I knew I had to go on though, because I wasn't sure how much time had passed. We hadn't gotten far, when the ground opened underneath me. I didn't have a chance to scream before I fell into darkness and landed on a hard floor with a thud.