Ch 4

Sarah braced herself. Waiting for the cold sensation of water to come rushing over her. But it never happened. In fact when Sarah opened her eyes she found herself standing in a fountain in the middle of the garden just outside of her room.

If that wasn't odd enough for you here is another thing. The fountain was on and where Sarah was standing her shoes should have been wet. But it was as if Sarah had this protective shield around her. As she looked up she could see that the water sprinkling out of the top of the fountain was rolling off what appeared to be a dome that surrounded her. Any time Sarah moved the dome moved with her.

Sarah walked to the edge of the fountain and climbed out. With that the dome seemed to disappear. She turned around and looked down at the water in the fountain. It seemed normal. When she reached her hand in it got wet. Sarah was very confused.

"Crazy way of travel aint it?" came a voice from behind her. Sarah quickly turned around. Standing next to her seemed to be the female equivalent of Hoggle. Well actually she was pretty then Hoggle but the resemblance was still there.

"How does it work?" Sarah asked directing her attention back to the fountain.

"I would not be the one to ask for technical details but the way I understand it is that all the water in the Underground is connected in some weird system. Any time you jump into water wanting to get away from where you are you get transported to a fountain closest to where you live. But it only works when you want to get away. The other odd thing is you can't get transported by a fountain. You can only show up in them. And don't try jumping in the Bog of Eternal Stench, because that's not water. I really don't want to know what it is."

"That's really odd," Sarah commented still staring down at the fountain. Sarah then directed her attention back to the being standing next to her. She looked so much like Hoggle. "What's your name?"

"Oh forgive me for being so rude. My name is Hester," she said with a curtsy.

"Hello Hester. My name is Sarah...Sarah Williams." Sarah then followed Hester's example and politely curtsied. But as she rose she found Hester looking at her as if she had a balloon for a head.

"What did you say your name was?" Hester asked.

"Sarah Williams. Why? What's wrong?"

A huge smile then spread across Hester's face, "So you're the one Hoggle is always talking about!"

"You do know Hoggle? Oh please tell me how is he?" Sarah hadn't heard from Hoggle ever since the night she beat the labyrinth.

"Of course I know him. He's my cowardly brother. Well he really is not much of a coward any more. But he use to be. He is doing fine by the way. He should still be spraying the outside wall for... "

"faires?" Sarah butted in.

"Yeah. Leave it to him to take the easy job. The outside wall has very few places for fairies to hide while I get this place!" Hester said throwing her hands up in the air, "There are so many little crevices they could be hiding in. I constantly find myself having to double back!"

Sarah laughed, "Yeah that sounds like Hoggle. Always thinking of himself before everybody else. I'd love to seem him again though."
Hester's eyes brightened, "We'd love to have you for dinner! That is if you're not busy."

"I would be glad to join you although I am feeling a little bit tired right now. I guess I am still a bit woozy from my trip here."

"Yeah that always happens to mortals when they travel to The Underground. Especially when they travel alone. When you are alone you get the full impact. When you travel with others it decreases the intensity because it is more spread out. I read that in a book somewhere."

"That's interesting," said Sarah, "because the last time I was here I don't recall feeling any sort of fatigue or anything."

"Oh well how many people did you travel with?" Hester asked.

"I traveled with one person, if you want to call him that. Jareth."

Hester's jaw dropped. She started pacing back and forth muttering to herself, "So Hoggle wasn't lying. Someone really did defeat the labyrinth..."

"Yes, I did." Sarah said not knowing if she really should say anything or not.

Hester stopped pacing and faced Sarah, "The reason you didn't feel anything your last transport was because the King most likely shielded it from you but that's not important. What's important is the fact that my brother isn't insane! Or maybe you are just as crazy as he is. Either way you better come with me." Hester then grabbed her by the arm and pulled her deeper into the garden.

"Where are you taking me?" Sarah asked.

"To see Hoggle. I want to know if what you both are saying is really true."

"You mean him helping me defeat the labyrinth? Of coarse it's true!" Sarah could not help but take pride in her triumph.

"Well you, Hoggle, a crazy old dog knight, and some weird beast who can hardly talk seem to be the only ones who think so."

"What?" Sarah was so confused. She had run into so many creatures while going through the labyrinth and many of them saw her reach the end. In fact when all of them were at her house they all seemed to know what she had just done. "It must be some kind of conspiracy!" Sarah said.

"I am really not the one to ask. All I know is that Jareth only transports people with him when they challenge the labyrinth. Now jump into this water with me. I'll take you to my house and we can try to straighten things out there." Hester said. They had stopped in front of what appeared to be a swamp.

"I thought you said that if I jump in I will just end up in the fountain back there," Sarah said.

"I told you I don't know all the technical stuff. But if I jump in first and you jump in right after me holding my hand then you will end up where I am going. I have never tried it before but I hear it works." Hester's last few words didn't make Sarah feel any better about jumping into a swamp. It was mucky water, with disgusting green moss, and who knows what could have been swimming in it. Sarah couldn't help but think that if something went wrong with Hester's plan she could be stuck alone waist deep in a swamp filled with God only knows what.

"I hate to bust you bubble but I am not jumping in there!" Sarah said.

"Sarah there is nothing to be afraid of, now hold my hand." Sarah didn't have much of a
choice because Hester grabbed her arm before she could pull away. For being short Hester had a very strong grip, "Now I am going to jump in first and then you jump in right after me. Don't let go of my hand," Sarah knotted. She was slowly growing confidence. "On the count of three I am going to jump in. Ready? 1...2...3!"

Hester jumped in and Sarah had no choice but to follow because of Hester's death grip on her arm. This time Sarah had her eyes open. She could see the mucky water coming at her but to her surprise and relief none of it touched her. It was a weird way to travel for right after Sarah and Hester were completely underwater they seemed to rise up. Sarah was happy to note that the water now surrounding her was cleaner then before. There bodies came up out of the water. As Sarah looked around she notices Hoggle standing right next to the fountain she was in... 'relieving' himself.