Chapter 5: Summer Breeze
"Humans have the greatest capacity to create magic. They just don't know that they are doing it, nor can they access what they create. Sarah creates magic when she writes. The glow around her is visible to any Fae, it's only you humans that are blind to it. The Fae take magic and shape it, feeding it Underground where it is used to nurture the earth itself. Some Wizards have learned they can tap into that magic and they've been stealing it ever since," Jareth sneered in contempt.
"WHAT?"
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Sarah sighed. She was just finishing up her daily reports. She was looking forward to curling up with the latest fantasy novel and a cup of tea when she felt a tug on her pant leg.
"Nice Lady-Mother? Squish needs to tell youse sumthin'," said the child-like voice of one of her son's goblin companions.
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Sirius was in trouble! Major trouble! The boys, deciding that schoolwork was just too boring on such a fine summer day, chose instead to play hide and seek-- and he was IT! It didn't help that they somehow got it all backwards. He now found himself tied and gagged and stuffed in the broom closet of the theatre.
Sirius snarled. He was a Marauder for pity sake, he shouldn't have been gulled into this so easily! It had started out as a bit of fun and escalated into a scene from one of those ridiculous farces written by that muggle 'Shakesbeer.' It also didn't help that the boys had called on help from their goblin playmates.
'Just wait until I get loose! Those young hooligans would learn what real homework is,' he snarled again. And, oh yes, he had to keep reminding himself, goblins aren't like house elves.
The door of the closet opened, interrupting his frustrated musing. "Sirius! What on earth?" Sarah exclaimed.
He was doomed, mortified that, of all people it was Sarah who found him trussed up like a fowl for the spit.
"Who did this to you?" she asked as she removed his gag and bonds.
"Your three cherubs," he snarled as he tried to rub feeling back into his arms. "With the help of five playmates. Their warped version of hide and seek, and I was suppose to be IT."
Sarah tried hard not to laugh. "So where are they?"
Sirius shrugged. "I don't know. I don't even know how long I was tied up."
"Oh dear! Squish, where are they?"
The small goblin peeked around the closet door, then looked up at the adults. "Outside." came the whispered answer before the goblin ducked away. "Outside is scary for Squish. Told them not to go. They wanted to. Dog-man-teacher wouldn't like it. Also HE wouldn't like it either. The young princes told Squish to stay here."
Sirius shook his head. Goblins were worse than house elves! Goblins, at least those that hung around the Labyrinth and the Fae King, were very child-like and refused to use names. But then, among the Fae, names held power and to speak a being's true name could draw unwanted attention. Something the lesser Fae tried to avoid.
"Well, we need to find them. Which way did they go?" Sirius asked as he hurried outside.
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The old rock quarry was full of water. Spring fed and cold even on the warmest days, it served as the local swimming hole for the area teenagers. The massive old oak that stood looming over the edge of the pool had long been used by them as well. One branch, in particular, projected well out over the water and with the addition of a knotted rope, it served as the means of entry for the older swimmers.
Garion was laughing as he swung out over the water. " Whee! This is fun!" he squealed as the rope reached the top of its arc. Then he let go, dropping down towards the shallow water and rocks below.
Down, down, he went into the water, his legs straight and body rigid. He had seen older boys play here and it looked like fun. The problem was, he didn't know how to swim, nor did he take into account his lighter weight. His arc didn't carry him out past the shoreline shallows and rocks below to the deeper and safer water beyond. The stop where he swung and dropped was less than six feet deep. Even though Garion was only three feet tall, the way he entered the water with his legs extended and rigid was lethal. Something had to give, and it wasn't going to be the rocks.
Garrod and Jarrod were too busy climbing the tree and squabbling over whose turn was next to pay attention to their older brother.
A large black dog burst through the brush beneath the tree and leaped wildly into the water swimming to where Garion had disappeared. The twins gaped in surprise as the dog dove beneath the surface. Then they heard their mother scream their names, stopping their argument and all movement towards the rope.
"Uh oh," said Garrod looking down at his mother.
"Spaghetti-O's," said Jarrod as he looked down at the lake. "Hey, where's Gar'n?"
"JARETH! I NEED YOU! NOW!" Sarah's panicked scream echoed hollowly off the quarry walls.
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Jareth arrived just as the massive black dog pulled an unconscious boy out of the lake. Grabbing his limp, unresponsive son the Goblin King disappeared in a flash of blue light. A shaking Sarah turned to collect her remaining two sons as the dog changed back into Sirius.
Sirius snarled, using a drying spell as he helped pull the two boys out of the tree. "Just what were you three thinking?" he demanded, looking both in the eyes. "You all could've drowned!"
"We jus' wanna be like the big guys an' play in the lake," Garrod said, between sobs.
"Garn gonna be alrigh'?" Jarrod asked shivering in sudden awareness of the danger.
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Sarah and Sirius managed to get the twins home, cleaned up and restricted them to their rooms with Nanny Belle on guard duty with strict orders that they were not to leave their room. Squish was hiding under the bed along with two other goblins. All three were terrified to come out.
Sirius and Sarah had just returned to the living room when the front door crashed open and Corindel ran in. "Sarah! I just heard. Garion?"
Sarah's control snapped as she broke down in her cousin-in-law's arms. "I'm not sure. Jareth has taken him Underground. I need to get there but. . ."
Corindel looked up over Sarah's shoulder into the equally distraught face of the wizard behind her. "Hang on. I'll take you both to them."
The three of them stood just outside of the nursery in the Goblin Castle. Sarah hurried forward, dreading what she might find behind the nursery doors. Sirius moved to follow her, but Corindel stopped him.
" No, Sirius, wait," he said quietly. " Now is not a good time for you to see Jareth, trust me on this. I know my cousin and right now not even I would risk facing him." Sirius wrenched his anxious gaze from the doors and nodded. The two men slipped quietly away.
Sarah stumbled into the nursery, her eyes seeking sight of her son. She found his small, pale body surrounded by Fae healers who in turn were watched over by a vigilant Goblin King. Shaking with fear she stepped forward, unaware of the choked sobs coming from her trembling lips. Before she knew it, she felt herself pulled into a tight embrace of her lover's arms. His face buried into her neck and hair.
"He's alive, my Sarah. There was no permanent damage. We got to him in time." His soft words broke the last remnants of her control as she collapsed against him in a flood of tears.
In the silent gloom of the library two men paced, waiting.
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