by E. D. Baker
Jak set both of his hands on the wall, running them over the surface until he found the rough patch again. It wasn’t just a patch though, because it was threaded between a fairly good swath of stones that ran up as high as he could reach and at least a body’s width over. In some places the mortar was very narrow and in others it stopped, then started again as if part of it had fallen away. From the shape of it, Jak thought it might be a doorway, or at least an opening that had been sealed off when the Pit was made.
Turning away from the wall, Jak felt in the mud for the shards of Tobi’s water jug. When he found one that was more than just a sliver, he held it in his hand and thought about a sturdy knife. Then there it was, a knife, stout and strong and just what he needed.
Jak didn’t think he should stick around for any more torture. The knife did a good job of digging out the mortar, and before the night was half over, Jak had removed all of it. The stones came out easily after that, and he was soon out of the Pit and into one of the caves that he had known had to be close by.
Jak recognized the cave, having explored it just a few weeks before. It was damp and draftier than most, however, so he moved on until he found the one where he and his friends had left their stash of food. There was an old blanket there as well, and in moments, Jak was warm, fed, and sound asleep.
Jak felt at home in caves and had ever since he was four years old and his grandmother Gammi had gone to visit an ailing relative, leaving Nihlo’s mother, Karest, to watch over the halfling child. Although she never let on when Gammi was around, Karest seemed to dislike Jak as much as Nihlo did and saw to it that the lowliest chores became Jak’s responsibility. Before Jak learned his alphabet or how to tie his shoes, he became adept at cleaning the fur out of the drains in the washroom and scrubbing the floors after the monthly spitting contest. He didn’t mind too much because he learned to make games out of the work. And on the days when Nihlo was home from the island and had nothing better to do than torment him, the older goblin usually left him alone until Jak had finished working. It was when Jak wasn’t busy that his cousin liked to taunt him. Nihlo especially liked telling him about the monsters that roamed the land of the fey at night, the very reason that all goblins lived underground.
“They’re snake women,” said Nihlo. “They have the head and body of a woman, but the rest is all snake. They slither around at night catching anyone who is still outside, and when they catch them, they eat them alive!”
“That isn’t true,” Jak said the first time he heard the story.
“Yes, it is,” Nihlo said, nodding vigorously. “Gammi’s here. Go ask her.”
Jak couldn’t wait to ask his grandmother. When she confirmed that the story was true, he was so frightened that she had to cradle him in her arms until he stopped shivering.
One evening, while Jak was cleaning up the still-twitching remains of a family meal, he could hear Nihlo lurking in the next room. Gammi had left that afternoon to visit her sister and wouldn’t be back for several days. Jak had no one else to turn to if anything bad happened. Knowing that Nihlo would have something obnoxious planned, Jak took his time, cleaning up the blood and bits of bone with extra care. When he couldn’t put it off any longer, he carried the trash to the chute in the kitchen.
“Are you finished, human?” Nihlo asked from the door to the next room.
“Don’t call me that! I’m part goblin, too.”
“But it’s the human part that taints your blood. Why do you think your name is Jak-O-MAN? It’s so people know that you’re part human and can’t be trusted. All humans are liars and cheaters who hurt each other for fun.”
“Just like you, you mean?” said Jak.
Nihlo’s ears went back and he snarled, showing his fangs. “Did you know that you can hear when a snake woman is about to strike because she shakes the rattles in her tail? I know you don’t believe me since you think I’m such a liar, so I think you should find out the truth for yourself.”
“What do you mean?” Jak asked, not liking the look on Nihlo’s face.
Nihlo took a step closer. “I mean that you are going outside tonight!”
“But it’s dark out!” said Jak.
“Exactly!” said Nihlo, pouncing on his little cousin.
The two boys struggled; Jak kicked and hit with his fists like a human while Nihlo bit and scratched like any good member of the Cattawampus clan. Unfortunately for Jak, Nihlo was bigger and stronger and soon held the little boy in a tight grip with his arms pinned to his sides. When Jak started to shout for help, Nihlo shook him, saying, “I’d be quiet if I were you. Loud noises attract the snake women. They’ll be on you before you’ve taken three steps if you keep hollering like that.”
“You can’t do this!” Jak said as Nihlo carried him to the door.
“Who’s going to stop me? Gammi isn’t here and no one else cares. It’s about time you saw how great you have it here, safe from all the creepy crawlies! One night outside will do you a lot of good, if you make it until morning, that is!”
Jak kicked and flailed his legs the entire way down the corridor. And then they were in the entranceway facing the door to the outside. Heavier than any other door in the den, it was made of six layers of wood and was impenetrable to any weapon an enemy of the Cattawampus clan might wield. Buried deep in the wood, the lock was an intricate mechanism that would open only with a special key. Both lock and key were made by gnomes, the sole members of the fey capable of manipulating metal, and imbued with gnomish magic. Although left open during the day, the door was always locked at sundown and opened after dark only under special circumstances.
“You’ll get into trouble if you open the door!” said Jak.
“No, I won’t,” replied Nihlo. “I’ll tell everyone that you did it. Now hold still while I get the key.”
“Let … go … of … me!” Jak said and, using all his strength, he flung his head back just as Nihlo leaned forward. Jak’s head hit his cousin’s chin with a crack! slamming the older boy’s jaw shut. Nihlo howled as Jak wriggled free and ran back down the corridor. A moment later Nihlo was after him, spitting blood from his bitten tongue.
They were in the main corridor of the den, a warren of rooms that made up the living quarters for the head of the Cattawampus clan. With rooms and smaller hallways leading off on either side, the corridor was longer than most, ending at a door that was always kept locked. In the two years that he had been living there, Jak had never known the door to be open and had no idea what might lie beyond it.
Fearing what his cousin would do, Jak ran as fast as his legs could carry him. With Gammi gone, there really wasn’t anywhere safe he could hide. His heart was racing when he dashed to the end of the corridor and turned to face his tormentor. Nihlo slowed when he saw that his cousin was trapped. With his tail twitching, he transfixed Jak with his gaze, and stalked the little boy.
Jak was whimpering as he set his hand on the latch. When the door swung open behind him, he staggered backward through the doorway and nearly fell. Seeing that his prey was about to get away, Nihlo shouted and began to run. Jak turned and slammed the door behind him, then took off into the dimly lit corridor that lay beyond. His breath rasped in his throat as he ran, too frightened to consider what might lie ahead; whatever it was, it had to be better than facing Nihlo.
Then the door opened and Nihlo shouted, “Come back here, halfling!”
There was nothing that Nihlo could say or do to make Jak return to him, but the little boy did stop running to press his hand against a cramp in his side and look back the way he’d come. He saw Nihlo outlined in the brighter light of the corridor behind him, and could hear his cousin swear and shout incoherent threats. And then the light shrank until it disappeared, the door clicked, the bolt was shot home, and Jak knew that Nihlo had locked him in.
Jak was trapped in a place he knew nothing about, yet with Nihlo on the other side of the door, he felt safer than he had in a long time. No longer worried about being thrown o
ut into the night to be dinner for some horrid snake women, the little boy felt such relief that he laughed out loud. With a light step and a lighter heart, Jak started down the corridor again, intent on exploring.
The corridor wasn’t completely dark. Splotches of a sickly greenish white glowed on the walls, giving his half-goblin eyes more than enough light with which to see. As he walked, the floor began to slope downward, taking him deeper underground than he’d ever been before. The air was colder now and the little boy began to shiver. He was tired, too; it was past the time he normally would have gone to bed. Then suddenly he felt the faintest hint of a warm breeze coming from somewhere up ahead. It smelled musky, a not-unpleasant odor that reminded him of his travels with his mother before she’d left him at his uncle’s home.
Enticed by the promise of warmth, Jak hurried down the corridor until it opened out into a large chamber. With the greenish glow banished to the widely set walls, the light in the chamber was dimmer than the corridor had been. A low wall divided the chamber in two; a pool of water lapped at Jak’s side of the wall. Stumbling from fatigue, he followed a path to the wall and crawled over the top. The floor on the other side was warmer as if heated from beneath. The little boy was yawning when he lay down, and soon he was sound asleep.
Jak woke to something soft and moist snuffling his cheek. Before he could open his eyes, his face was wet from chin to ear. Startled, he sat up, lurching away from whatever was touching him, and bumped into something hard. When it nudged him, Jak scrambled to his feet. He was surrounded by animals taller than he was, with hindquarters that came up to his shoulder. The light was so dim that Jak could barely see them, but as they jostled each other trying to sniff him, one of them growled at another and Jak decided that they must be very big dogs.
He was frightened, but not terribly so, and when one of the animals nipped him, he reacted without thinking and swatted it across the nose. The big animal squealed and jumped back. Pleased by his success, Jak turned to the dogs pushing him from behind and pushed them in turn. They backed away and he was able to climb over the low wall, away from the milling animals.
He was thirsty now, so he cupped his hands and drank from the pool at the base of the wall. The water was cool and fresh; after he drank he washed his face just as Gammi always made him do when he got out of bed. He soon realized that the light wasn’t as dim inside the chamber, and when he looked up, he saw that a hole in the ceiling directly above the pool let in a shaft of light. Although he leaned out over the water, he couldn’t see up the shaft, but a leaf drifting down through the light told him that it was open high above. There was bird-song, too, faint and far away.
He could see the animals better now, and suddenly he wasn’t quite so sure that they were dogs. Although they had sharp, pointy teeth and blunt faces, they had long necks and longer legs and almost looked like young horses.
When Jak stood, he noticed that the animals were watching him and decided that they were thirsty, too. At first he tried to carry water to them in his cupped hands, but he needed his hands to climb the wall. Some of the animals were panting, so he climbed back down to the pool and used his shoe to carry water to them, pouring it into a depression that ran, trough-like, in front of the wall. Back and forth he climbed, over and over again, until the animals were no longer thirsty.
Then he walked among them, scratching their necks under their manes and giving them names. A black one was Night, a spotted one was Spot, a more delicate-looking one was Primrose, named after Gammi’s favorite flower. One of the horse creatures, stocky and bigger than the rest, liked to have his rump scratched. Jak named him Putterby for the sound he made when he was happy.
The animals crowded close to Jak, liking the attention. They were rough at first, but after he’d swatted the more aggressive ones, they quickly learned that they had to be gentle around him if they wanted to be scratched. Jak was using one hand to scratch Spot’s neck and the other Putterby’s rump when he heard voices coming from the corridor that led into the chamber. The animals heard them as well, and became agitated. With their ears laid flat and ridges of fur rising along their backs, Jak thought that they looked quite ferocious. They were pawing the ground and growling when the little boy slipped away to hide in the deepest shadow of the uneven wall.
Jak watched as his uncle, Targin, and two of his assistant goblins came into the chamber. The horse creatures rushed at the other side of the wall, snarling and snapping.
“Look at how stupid they are—running into each other like that,” said a goblin. “No wonder the fairy queen outlawed breeding them.”
“These are weanlings,” Targin said. “You’ll see why Titania’s so afraid of them when they grow up. Hipporines are as fierce as the wolverines and as fast as the horses that spawned them. Nothing can best them in battle, including fairy warriors.”
The goblins began to toss hunks of meat to the hipporines. While they were occupied tearing the meat apart, Targin and his goblins hopped over the wall and bent down beside the trench Jak had filled with water. There was a grating sound as they moved a large stone, and water rushed from the pool into the trough.
While the goblins were moving the stone back into place, Jak crawled over the wall and ran up the corridor as quietly as he could. It wouldn’t do to have his uncle find him there, but Jak was glad to have found this place. For the first time since he’d moved in with his relatives, the little boy felt as if he had made some friends.
Chapter 11
Asearch party found Jak the day after he escaped from the Pit. He was sent home that very morning, accompanied by a silent mole goblin, disgraced for not serving out his confinement.
It took most of the day to reach his uncle’s den. The entire way Jak wondered how he would break the news. When he arrived, his aunt Karest announced that his uncle had important guests and was too busy to see him. Gammi wasn’t there so Karest was shorthanded and had too much to do seeing to the needs of the guests to worry about him.
Relieved that his announcement had been delayed, Jak ate some leftovers in the kitchen, then went to bed with a book Gammi had given him. He could hear muffled voices talking in the room down the corridor from his, although he couldn’t make out who was talking or what they were saying.
Jak had fallen asleep with his book still in his hand when Karest opened his door. “Your uncle wants to see you now. Get up and get dressed. You can’t go in like that.”
Bleary-eyed, Jak stumbled out of bed and pulled on his pants and shirt. He was still putting on his shoes when Karest came back to get him. “Be polite,” she said. “Don’t speak unless you’re spoken to and then tell them only what they want to know. Answer their questions, but don’t volunteer anything else. You don’t want to bore them with your chatter.”
“Who’s in there?” he asked as they approached the door.
“The head of the wolf clan,” she whispered, “and your great-aunt, Lurinda. She was with the fairy queen’s court for many years. Behave yourself. It’s an honor to be called before them!”
Jak didn’t feel honored when his uncle, Targin, introduced him to his guests. Wulfrin, the leader of the wolf clan, was lean and grizzled, but he looked like an intelligent goblin and seemed very interested in Jak. The lady goblin seated beside him looked older than Gammi, with long white hair and pale, nearly translucent skin. Her eyes were the youngest thing about her; their emerald green color was as vivid as if she were Jak’s age. Jak stood silently watching her stroke her neck with the retractable claws of her long, thin fingers, the single ring she wore glinting in the candlelight. He decided that she was the most beautiful goblin he had ever seen.
“Now, Jak, tell me and my guests why you’re home from school in the middle of the week,” his uncle said.
“It isn’t a special holiday that I’ve forgotten, is it?” asked his great-aunt, Lurinda.
“No ma’am,” said Jak. “I was sent home because I got in a fight with Nihlo. I’m sorry, Uncle. He has a broken leg.
”
Targin frowned and grunted, but all he said was, “Go on.”
Jak nodded. “They gave me detention, but I got out of the Pit before my time was up and—”
“You got out of the Pit!” said Wulfrin. “How the blazes did you manage that?”
“I found some loose stones and dug my way into a neighboring cave,” said Jak, remembering his aunt’s admonishment to answer their questions and nothing more.
Wulfrin smiled. “Most resourceful.”
“Indeed,” said Lurinda in a voice that was almost a purr. “Thank you for coming to meet us, Jak. I think you’ll do very well.”
Jak returned to his room, but it was a long time before he fell asleep again.
Early the next morning he was in bed when his uncle came to see him.
“Are your guests still here?” Jak asked.
“Lurinda is. She’s gone to bed. Wulfrin left a short time ago. We’ve made a decision about you, but I wanted to talk to you about it before discussing it with anyone else. You won’t be going back to the island, Jak.”
Jak sat bolt upright. “Why?” he asked. “The elders never said anything about—”
“It has nothing to do with them. Lurinda brought me some news yesterday. I need someone who looks more human than most to carry out a task. I’ve talked to Lurinda and Wulfrin about giving you the responsibility, and they both agree that you are the best candidate. You’re smart, resourceful, brave …”
“And I look like a human,” said Jak.
“Precisely,” said Targin. “Do you think you could stand being in the human world for an extended period of time?”
“What would I have to do?” Jak asked.
“There’s a girl we want you to get to know. She came to our attention recently. Unlike most humans, she can see us.”