With the day lasting longer in the Underground, Sarah had been in the Labyrinth for hours, it was soon approaching dusk and she and Nell were still sat on that same bench. They'd been talking for hours, a little on what had happened after Sarah's first adventure to the Labyrinth which was cut short after Nell saw the sad look that crept on Sarah's face at any mention of Jareth. In the last half an hour, the conversation had turned on to food.
"So goblins will eat anything?" Sarah gasped.
"Practically anything, except sugar, makes them overactive, especially the dumb ones. I usually put it in my tea to perk me up when I'm working late. But there is a divide. Lots of goblins thrive on eating junk – nuts, bolts, petrol, oil and the. Others, such as myself, prefer food to what the Fae eat."
"And what do Fae eat?" queried Sarah. She was fascinated at learning about all the different creatures in the Labyrinth; she was starting to fall in love with the place all over again.
"Hmm," Nell sat in thought. "Well, human food. I presume it is human food anyway."
"Really? So, like, fruits and vegetables and meats? I would have always thought that Fae would either eat nothing or something like mushrooms and leaves."
At this Nell cried out in laughter, "No, no, no, no! You're confusing that with elves and pixies, Sarah! Of course Fae have to eat! They can last a while without food, but once they develop a liking for it, they love to eat! But Fae are really magical humans, hence why they resemble them so."
"Oh." Sarah felt her cheeks redden.
"It's alright! Heck, you're from the Aboveground, how were you to know?" Nell waved her off.
A crunching noise through the side of the woods caught both of the women's attention. There were some scuffling and an irate voice could be heard.
"An' you Ludo, you great lump! Droppin' rocks on my head! I ain't a bridge now, am I?"
"Hoggle!" breathed Sarah.
"Fear not, Sir Hoggle! We shall move forth and shall find a sweet maiden to bandage that head of yours. Won't we brother?"
"Sir Didymus!" whispered Sarah.
"Ludo sowwy."
"Yeah, yeah, you useless git. You're lucky I ain't lost my head!"
"Ludo!" murmured Sarah.
The voices become louder and clearer, and then coming from the woods was Hoggle, leading the way.
"HOGGLE!" cried Sarah.
Hoggle froze. He looked around wildly and then he saw her. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He rubbed his eyes and gaped at the girl. She was running towards him, her arms outstretched.
"Sarah?"
At that moment, Sir Didymus riding on top of Ambrosius appeared.
"Sir Hoggle, why dost thou say Lady Sarah's name? If my brother and I didn't know better-" he cut off as he saw Sarah. His mouth dropped open. "Fair maiden, is it really you?"
Sarah had reached them and had swooped upon Hoggle.
"Oh Hoggle, I'm so sorry, I truly am! I forgot! I… I… I thought it was a dream." She sobbed, tears streaming down her face.
"Don't kiss me!" cried Hoggle.
She let go of Hoggle and hugged Sir Didymus. "Sir Didymus, I am so sorry!"
She let go of him and straightened up; her eyes puffy from crying, her face red and wet with sadness and shame.
"Fair Sarah, whatever for? You have returned! We must celebrate at once!"
Sarah choked a little on her tears and hiccupped, she was so happy to see them again.
"Sarah, what are you doing back? After we didn't hear from you, we thought you lost your memory or somethin'" Hoggle mumbled, looking down at his feet.
"I didn't know what to believe! I thought it was a dream and that I was just growing up!" she sobbed.
"Why, Lady Sarah, it was never a dream. And my, growing up is what you did! You're a woman now!" cried Sir Didymus who got off his steed and began to bow. "My Lady." He grabbed her hand and placed a kiss on it.
Sarah chuckled, fighting her tears. "Oh, but where's Ludo? I thought I heard him with you…"
Hoggle scowled and turned around. "The great lump was behind us a few minutes ago. Probably gone talking to the rocks… again." He muttered.
But as he said that, a flash of orange through the leaves caught Sarah's eyes and Ludo shuffled into the clearing.
"LUDO!" screamed Sarah.
Ludo looked around slowly, and then he saw her, a big goofy grin stretched across his face.
"SAWAH BACK!" he boomed, his eyes crinkling with excitement.
Sarah ran over to Ludo and with one sweep of his gigantic arms, he picked her up and hugged her. For Sarah, the comforting warmth of Ludo was calming her anxiety. Maybe they were never angry with her after all. She felt so stupid thinking that they were never real, that they never cared, but she was here with them now.
"Sarah, you didn't answer my question. What are you doing back?" Hoggle asked almost sadly. He knew that if she was back in the Labyrinth, then there was a reason and as soon as she would fulfil that, she would go back to the Aboveground and forget them, again.
Sarah stopped for a moment. She knew what she had said, but she didn't know how she got back here.
"Hoggle, I… I don't really know. I wished that I was back in the Labyrinth, but that wouldn't happen would it? Not normally?" Sarah said softly.
"That could only happen with very powerful magic, or with the assistance of a Fae. You can only come to the Labyrinth if you really need help, need to learn a lesson or wish away a child."
Sarah looked forlorn. How was it possible that she was back in the Labyrinth?
"At least you're back fair maiden." Sir Didymus proclaimed with a low bow. Sarah resisted the urge to start crying again, she smiled and fought the tears.
After the 'grand tour' of Rusty Drop, Sarah was shown around Sir Didymus and Ludo's house. It was so lovely. There was a grand oak door (big enough for Ludo to get inside) with carvings of words in a language Sarah had never seen before, she gazed at the door even when she was shown inside.
"Sir Didymus? What are these words carved around the door? I have never seen anything like them."
"Ah, my dear Lady, my brother has the answer to that!" he grinned.
"Rocks friends, rocks shield Ludo and brother," Ludo rumbled.
"What he means is that it's part of the stone-caller's language. It's a protection spell. You great lump!" Hoggle cried.
With that a tiny pebble dropped off the mantelpiece and onto Hoggle's head.
"OW!" roared Hoggle. "See what I mean?" He rubbed his head, scowling at Ludo, who was looking around, avoiding his gaze. He was secretly happy at what the little pebble accomplished. It took him all he could from grinning like a small child. Sir Didymus nearly began to chuckle, but the vicious look on Hoggle's face was enough to put a stop to that.
Sarah and Nell on the other hand, burst out laughing. Hoggle's face was priceless! Hoggle frowned disgruntledly. Then Sir Didymus began to snigger, which resulted in Ludo howling. Hoggle began to mutter at them all with words such as 'childish' and 'stupid' escaping his mouth.
Sarah stopped laughing to take around her surroundings. She realised how comfy and homey the place looked. There were brown squashy armchairs surrounding a big fire with a pile of wood stacked at the side. There was a large wooden unit with a few books, ornaments and wood carvings. A little dining area was not far from the armchairs and another room was adjoined in which Sarah supposed was the kitchen. She broke away from the group to go exploring, as she suspected, the room was the kitchen. She walked in and it was the loveliest kitchen she had seen. It had stone floors, wooden units and cupboards, a black stove and a big, white sink. There was a door wide open revealing a little pantry stocked with food.
She moved towards a door near the sink and opened it; it led to a gorgeous garden with trees, flowers and various shrubs dotted around the place. She gasped.
"Ah, fair Lady! I see you have found the garden that Sir Hoggle has created!" cried Sir Didymus, appearing next to her.
"Hoggle? Hoggle did this?"
"Well who did you expect?" grunted Hoggle, who was now stood next to Sir Didymus.
"Sir Hoggle is skilled at many a craft. Dost thou see the carvings in yonder living room?"
"Hoggle, you made them?" Sarah exclaimed in awe.
"You talk as though I do nothin' 'cept spray fairies!"
Sarah blushed. She hadn't realised that Hoggle might do more in the Labyrinth than just spray fairies. He didn't have any obvious talents from their first meeting, except from being a coward – especially when it came to Jareth.
"Oh Hoggle, it's beautiful!"
"You ain't seen nothin'! There's my garden-"
"Then there are the gardens at the castle! Oh my dear, you should see them! They're absolutely wonderful!" cried Nell.
Hoggle muttered and mumbled. "That's what I was gonna say! Anyway, if you think this is nice, you should see mine!"
A/N: Now isn't that generous?
*insert nerdy smile*
Yeah I have writer's block building it up to Sarah meeting her friends and then Jareth; it's causing me so much trouble. *scowls and shakes fist at laptop screen* So sorry for the abrupt end… Please don't kill me. I'll begin writing chapter 12 asap. Well, after I've had some sleep…
Thanks for reading. But everyone's stopped reviewing! :O Ah well, it's easier on me 'cos I never know what to say to you wonderful people.