Ch16 Through the woods

After awhile of wondering through the woods Sarah realized that she had no idea where Sir Didymus was leading them.

"Cara," Sarah started "Do you know where we're going?"

"Not really. You?" Cara answered.

"No," Sarah said and went up to Sir Didymus, "Excuse me but where are we going?"

"Withersoever thy quest demandeth," he answered. He had never felt so happy.

"Do you know the way to the castle?" Sarah asked.

"To anysoever castle thou namest, fair and gentle damsels. The Castle of Perseverance? The Castle of Tintagel? The Castle -"

"How about Jareth's castle?" Cara said.

"Ah, in Goblin City." Sir Didymus nodded. He had been hoping for a quest that would take seven years to perform, but he did not show his disappointment. Perhaps this was a trial, and something more enduring would come of it. "Ambrosius knows these woods well," he said. "Come now," Sir Didymus called to everyone "We should reach the castle well before day." He was interrupted by the sound of a stomach rumbling "Is that my stomach or yours Ambrosius?" he asked his steed.

Cara heard Ludo's stomach rumble as he sadly said "Hungry."

"Your right," Cara said feeling a bit hungry herself.

"We can't stop now," Sarah said, "Maybe we can find some berries or something."

Cara looked around at the trees some seemed to have faces that watched them at one point she thought she saw Jareth's face peering at them. Cara went up to one to take a closer look when she suddenly heard Hoggle, in a strangled voice, cry out.

"Damn you, Jareth! And damn me, too!"

Cara's head snapped back to see Hoggle turning his face away from Sarah and run headlong into the forest, and seeing the peach in Sarah's hand she knew at once what had happened and rushed back to her. Now Sarah was tottering, she managed to stagger to a tree and leaned against it. Her eyes were looking up at the sky as Cara came over.

"Sarah are you alright?" Cara asked worried.

"Everything's dancing," she whispered.

Niki sighed very bored now that she was back in the castle she looked around and noticed Jareth. He held four crystal balls close to his face. He stared into each of them in turn, catching the light. It seemed as though he were choosing among them. He took one of them and swirled it into the air, with a flick of his wrist. To Niki's surprise it floated away from him and became a bubble. Then it drifted through the open window beside which he was standing, and away through the darkening sky. The other three followed in turn, coldly beautiful bubbles floating through the dusk, turning and gleaming, mesmeric globes glowing in the dying light.

Sarah was still leaning limply against the tree, too dizzy to move, with Cara by her side desperately trying to help her get up, since Ludo and Sir Didymus didn't seem to hear her calls, when the four bubbles approached them in the sky. Sarah stared at them, entranced. She watched as the dazzling spheres floated toward her, slowly descending. They were dancing with the light, and she could hear music, an aching, haunting music, solemn, like a pavane. She was rapt. Her lips parted in wonder. The bubbles were close enough now for her to see that within the first of them was the dancer from her music box, twirling pirouettes. In the other two bubbles was another dancer, moving with sinuous elegance.

Cara could hear music but had no idea where it came from as she looked around she noticed Sarah. Sarah's body swayed hypnotically in time with the music. Cara's eyes traveled to where Sarah's were. Cara saw the bubbles and the dancers inside; then the fourth came from behind them as if it had been waiting for her to notice them. In it she saw the picture of the princess she had in her room, she found herself swaying to the music enchanted by it. Suddenly she was inside a bubble, dancing, dressed in a ball gown. Enchanted and enchanting, she danced slowly across the sky in company with the other dancers. A congregation of many bubbles crossed the night sky, each with a dancer within it. They were approaching one great bubble, as though attracted by some magnetic force. Inside the great bubble was a magnificent ballroom. Jareth was already dancing there.

Sir Didymus and Ludo had come to the edge of the forest, and now they looked out across the bare, dry, cracked plain to the distant walls of the castle. Sir Didymus patted Ambrosius, who had found the way.
"Good work, oh loyal steed," he told the dog. He half turned his head to call behind him, with a trace of smugness. "Yonder lies the castle, my ladies."
He heard no answer and turned fully around to see where Cara and Sarah were. Ludo too turned around, a growl of suspicion in his throat. Together they stared back down the trail they had followed. They had vanished.
"My ladies?" Sir Didymus was shouting. "My ladies?" Above their heads a bubble floated past, moving in the direction of the castle.