Was it September already?
The summer has slipped away and I am no closer to discovering a way to help my little hellion. October simply looms on the horizon. And what an October it will be—a cauldron of fairy promises and pirate dreams.
"Sarah, are you sure that this is necessary?" Asher asks, the large white gloves slipping down her arms as we survey the garden.
"Absolutely necessary," Emma says while she sets to work placing the little fairy homes under the fading rose bushes. The peonies are brown sad masses of dried leaves. The black eyed Susan's are wilting.
"The fairies don't like the cold," Rachel adds, settling her own house amongst the fading flowers.
"Maybe they'd just leave when the winter came? Would that be so very bad?" Asher asks me.
I hold up my fairy house, painted blue and green, "It is not the fairies' fault that they are here, but they are mine, and I shall see them properly housed. The nights are cold, they like the houses." I hang the little thing in the branches of an apple tree. A blond fairy immediately claims it only to fall into a brawl with a red head over the prime realestate. I don't interfere, it is the nature of fairies—large and small—to be pugnitious. Termagants the lot of them.
Asher has an assortment of yellow and green houses that she begrudgingly shoves under the azaleas. All is right in the world for a moment.
"Heeeeyyyy laaaaadyyyy!" A pair of yellow eyes pops out of the tree above me, nearly startling me out of my skin.
Every head, fairy and otherwise, turns my direction. The girls are bunched around me in a second.
I don't recognize this goblin. "Yes?"
The goblin's wide eyes flit from my face to the girl's as he dangles upside down in the tree above us like a bad caricature of a bat.
"You and the little ladies are invited to the Goblin City for the annual…" the goblin scrunches up his face in consideration, "ah, the annual apple pickin' festival and match."
"Don't forget the rest," hisses another voice from the tree.
"His majesty would be honored if you'd all attend…"the bat goblin begins.
"GREATLY honored, you imbecile. He said to use his exact words!" Snarles the tree.
"His majesty would be greatly honored if you'd all attend," the goblin says rolling his eyes. "What do you say?"
The girls look at me, eyes wide and pleading. I am not supposed to be dragging them into fairy worlds to pick—possibly enchanted—fruit and doing gods only knew what else.
But, of course, I want to.
"His majesty also said to tell you, if you appeared reluctant…which you do…to remember that you still owe him a favor," the voice in the tree says. I'm unsure why the tree voice wasn't allocated the messenger's position in the first place. He is obviously taking this assignment rather seriously.
"Please, Sarah," Emma says. "What harm could it do?"
Rachel is more hesitant, "They seem friendly."
"They are, until they aren't," I say, glaring at the goblin above. "Think of the fairies."
"Ick," Asher frowns. "Maybe it's not a good idea."
Although if this one little thing would cancel out my debt to Jareth before I even have to rely on his aid…well it didn't sound so bad…
"Fine," I tell the bogglely-eyed bat goblin. "Tell him we will be there. But, we have some conditions."
"Ok," says the tree. The goblin bat is too busy ogling fairies.
"Number one—he must make sure we arrive home the moment right after we depart. I know he can do it, and he'll have to. Number two—no ENCHANTED fruit. Number three—no tricks, of any kind!"
"The last will be hard," the tree sighs.
"Too bad," I reply. "Give him my conditions."
Everything was silent a moment. Then a second goblin head poked out of the tree, it was beaky and birdlike. "He says, 'Fine'." The former tree voice informs us.
"Fine?" Asher eyed me. "That hardly sounds royal."
"Good," I smile at the goblins, ignoring Asher's statement. Jareth is simply indescribable, I will not waste my time trying.
"When is this Apple picking festival and match?" I ask.
"Tomorrow evening," replies the bat.
"Lovely," I sigh.
00oo00ooOO00
A crystal appears on our dining room table at three o'clock the next day. We crowd around it.
"What is it?" Asks Emma.
"Our way into the labyrinth, I believe," I answer, suddenly beset with misgivings. Why must I be so conflicted? I want to see him, but I don't. I want to return, but I don't. Oh, there are so many things that I want…but I don't! It is intolerable. I chew on my bottom lip, trying to get my thoughts to settle.
Tenatively, I reach out to take the crystal. Clouds of pearlescent mist swirl within its depths. Lovely and mysterious.
"Let's clasp hands," I say, not knowing if physical contact matters in this instance.
Asher grabs my wrist since the crystal rests in the hand nearest her, Rachel takes the other while Emma bridges us all together. "Ready?" I ask.
Three nods form my answer.
The words come warily to my lips, "I wish the goblin king would take us away…right now."
The dusky haze of the Labyrinth reaches over our heads as we blink past the feelings of transportation. Trees, forming twisting turning corridors, stretch and bend around us. The limbs are bursting with ripe red fruit—so red they are nearly black.
"You can pick, but don't you dare eat any of that," I warn, dropping their hands.
"Now Sarah, you know I wouldn't lie to you. Not a single apple is the lest bit enchanted, as I promised," Jareth's voice comes from directly behind me, of course.
"You didn't exactly promise, your majesty. You said, and I quote, "Fine."
"I am a creature of few words," Jareth is smiling when I turn to face him, my green calico dress whirling about my knees as I cast him a grin of my own.
"Only when you choose to be," I roll my eyes, but not before getting a good look at him. My girls are standing in stunned silence, and I can't blame them for that.
Jareth too, is in green, a green waistcoat actually. It is a stunning color somewhere between emerald and hunter, and it looks perfect with his black velvet coat, his shiny black boats.
"You look so much like him," I hear Asher say.
Jareth's head tilts as his discordant eyes shift to my right.
"Our similarities end there, I'm afraid," Jareth doesn't bother pretending that he doesn't know who she's talking about.
"And, Asher, you must admit, his majesty is much more handsome," I say, trying to lighten the sudden tension on the girl's face.
"Have you been reduced to flatter, Sarah," Jareth sneers. "It is unbecoming."
Rachel lets out a soft giggle and Asher smiles.
"Welcome, ladies," Jareth inclines his head toward us. Baskets appear in their hands and the quiet of the orchard is disturbed by a cacophony from above. The trees are full of goblins.
They leap from the branches and scuttle across the winding avenues between the labyrinthine trees—all clutching baskets. A couple of Fireys have replaced their heads with baskets while tucking their grinning faces under their arms. The girls' eyes are wide with wonder.
"Well, go on. Have fun," the king waves his hand in dismissal and the girls don't hesitate, they flee into the melee, leaving me basketless before the king.
"Am I not participating?" I ask, eyes narrowing.
"I had other, more adult plans for us," his hands are clasped behind his back while he grins in my direction.
"More adult than apple picking? And apple matches? What is an apple match exactly?" I ask, putting my own hands in the pockets of my dress.
"You shall see, but you'd rather be a spectator, I'm sure," Jareth drawls.
"Fine."
"Now you're mocking me," he shakes his head, then extends a gloved hand to me.
My eyes move from his hand to his face. "What type of adult activity do you have in mind?"
"Nothing scandalous," he rolls his eyes. "Where has your sense of adventure gone, Sarah?"
I am plenty adventurous! Before I can second guess the move, I put my hand in his.
Thank you for sticking with this story. I realize I am not very good at posting regularly—to be fair, I am in the middle of writing a novel with a friend and that sucks up most of my creative powers. However, I really want to have this story keep up with our real world calendar, so you'll probably see additions a little more regularly from here on out.