Author's note: Ok strange thing…when you replace a chapter (like I did for chapter 9) fanfiction.net doesn't move your story up. Rather it keeps your original date of updating!! SO in short…I replaced my note for the actual chapter 9 about two days ago. Here is a part of the next chapter, which I am posting just to get my story recognised as updated! ENJOY!
The dark dirt tunnel stretch on and on. There didn't seem to be an end to it. Sarah could feel her ankle throbbing. It was time for a rest. Sarah leaned to her left and rested her left side on the soil. It took Jareth a moment to realise she was no longer directly behind him.
Jareth stopped and turned to illuminate his companion. He saw that she was rubbing her ankle so he didn't say a word. He could tell that it must have been bothering her for some time. He knew from past experience that this girl was stubborn, but this was just nonsense.
Jareth was about to offer Sarah an arm to lean on when he felt a dampening in his right boot. He perked his ears and noticed the sound of trickling water.
"Sarah," he called to her in a low voice. "Listen. Do you hear that?"
Sarah titled her head as if to listened closely. "Yes I do. What is that? Oh God, we aren't passing under the Bog of Eternal Stench are we?" she asked a bit panicked.
Jareth shook his head. "No, we would have smelt it, believe me."
Sarah believed him. She remembered the stench and now even though the water was clean she swore she could smell the bog. She shook it off. "It seems to be coming in fast. Do you think that's why this tunnel was blocked off back there?"
Sarah was right. The water was beginning to puddle up to their ankles. Jareth glared at her. "Well that would have made sense. I suppose it doesn't matter anymore. Now we'll just drown."
Sarah raised an eyebrow and glared back. "We'll just move faster. We can't be that far." She paused and then said, "And I would just love to see you drown instead of snapping your fingers and taking us both to safety in an instant."
"You would like to see that wouldn't you? Come on, we're getting out of here."
The water continued to rise at an alarming rate. Jareth tugged Sarah off her dirt support and pulled her along. By the time the water rose to their waists Jareth had had enough. He took the compass in his free hand and looked at it in the light. He requested a way back to the surface. In mere moments a mudslide fell from the ceiling just missing their heads.
Sarah let out a short scream as the chunks of earth fell into the water splashing both her and Jareth. "You alright, Sarah?" Jareth asked turning to examine her. She nodded and looked up at the newly formed hole.
"Do you think next time we could arrange a warning?" She asked with nodded to the opening.
"Shall we?" Jareth extended a hand to Sarah. He was able to lift her through the opening to the surface with ease. Once above ground Sarah lay down and reached for Jareth. He grabbed hold of her arms and pulled himself up.
It was sunny again and a roaring waterfall wet them with spray. Jareth threw off his heavy cloak. The sun was too warm and the cloak was too wet and heavy to keep on. Sarah looked up from examining the damage to her mud drenched pants to observe Jareth. This was the first time she'd seen him without the cloak. His figure was still lean as before and his pants were still just as tight.
Jareth felt Sarah's eyes on him and he let his gaze meet hers. She blinked and turned away feeling her cheeks burn. She had to stop letting him do that to her.
"I feel too gross to go on just now. I think I'll go bath in that waterfall. That is if it's safe and nothing will eat me or pull me down, drowning me…" she said this with suspicion.
"Why do you look at me when you say those things?" He grinned at her poor attempt to wipe the muck from her jeans. "Yes, it should be safe. Just watch out for fairies and leaches. If you ask me the fairies are the worse of the two."
Sarah frowned, hating the idea that fairies were terrible biters, not that she would welcome leaches. Especially leaches from this world. Who knows what kind of strange mutation they would be.
TBC
