by Bryan Huff
“Just thought I’d ditch the crowd!” the boy exclaimed, as he shot past the dwarf and out the exit.
“Show off,” grumbled the dwarf, bolting after him.
That was when Hob realized he too had been given a chance to escape. With the crowd distracted by the captives, and the troll tangled up in a pile of guards, there was no one to stop him. So, as everyone else streamed for the back exits to chase the captives, Hob took off in the opposite direction, running straight out the cave’s wide-open front entrance.
He ran so fast that he’d already started up the passage outside when he heard the Queen bellow from her throne.
“Look, fools! The thief is escaping too!”
“Escaping with the man-captives?” someone cried.
“No, you idiot!” bellowed the Queen. “He went that way!”
“Idiot!” croaked the crow.
Hob went on running as fast as he could. Though it was a bit narrow, the main passage outside the Deep Cave was straight and empty, and it climbed steadily upward. Hob wanted to take it as far as possible before the other goblins caught up. He had to get to the surface, get out of the Gobble Downs altogether, if he wanted to live.
Still, before long, loud footsteps and angry voices filled the tunnel behind him. With his short legs, Hob had no hope of outrunning the larger goblins in a straight line. He had to find another way out. Eventually, the mouth of a small side-tunnel opened in the wall ahead, and he slipped inside it.
Hob hurried on through the winding little tunnel, trying to recall the best back-routes from there to the surface. He should have been paying more attention to where he was going though, as a sputtering torch soon lit up the tunnel ahead of him, and he came face to face with the escaping captives.
Before Hob could even react, the dwarf tackled him, pinned him with his back to the ground, and pressed a stolen goblin saber to his throat.
“Stop!” Hob croaked. “Don’t you recognize me?”
“All I see is green!” growled the dwarf, putting pressure on his saber so its chipped blade bit at Hob’s skin.
“Wait,” said the boy, peeking down at Hob over the dwarf’s shoulder. “It’s you.”
“Yes!” Hob croaked. “You saved me from that troll! Don’t let him kill me!”
“He didn’t save you,” the dwarf growled, increasing the pressure on his blade. “He was just losin’ those guards.”
“I know what I saw,” Hob croaked.
The dwarf glanced back at the boy suspiciously.
“W-well, I couldn’t just watch him get beheaded,” said the boy. “It seemed like a win-win.”
“Ugh,” groaned the dwarf. “You really are goin’ through a phase.” He stared back down at Hob in disbelief. “I mean, this is a cry for help! What’re we supposed to do with him now?”
“Take me with you!” Hob pleaded, suddenly. He had another chance to try to prove himself, and he wasn’t going to let it slip away. “I’m escaping too. And, like I was trying to tell you before, I know a way out. A secret way. I can show you. But you have to take me with you!”
The dwarf paused, squinting at Hob. “No deal. Point us in the right direction, and maybe I’ll let you live. But I can take it from there myself. My sense of direction is uncanny.”
“So you know you’re headed back toward the cave full of goblins?” asked Hob.
The boy shot the dwarf a worried look.
“Uh, sometimes you have to go backward to go forward,” muttered the dwarf.
“Not with me you won’t,” Hob went on. “You need me. These tunnels go on like this for miles in every direction.”
“But how do we know we can trust you?” asked the boy.
“Because I’m not like other goblins,” said Hob. “You saw. They’re trying to kill me! It’s this whole thing where I messed up the Clobbering because I was reading, and my books were borrowed from the treasure pile, and—”
“Okay! Okay! Shhh!” hissed the dwarf, clapping a hand over Hob’s mouth. “We don’t need your life’s story.” He looked back at the boy, exasperated.
“If it means we don’t have to spend who-knows-how-long fighting our way out of here, then I’m all for it,” said the boy.
“Fine. Be that way,” grumbled the dwarf. “But no more talkin’, goblin. Just get us out of here, quick and quiet like.” He stood up, letting Hob—and Hob’s mouth—go free.
“Thanks!” Hob wheezed, hopping up, and extending a hand for someone to shake. “I’m Hob.”
An awkward pause followed.
“Er … I’m Ed,” the boy replied, shaking Hob’s hand hesitantly. “And this is Monty.”
Monty crossed his arms and scowled.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” said Hob.
“Remember how I said, ‘no talkin’?’” asked Monty.
“Oh, right. Well, follow me.”
It was a long trek from the bottom of the Gobble Downs to Hob’s secret spot, but he made sure to set a good pace, guiding the captives through the endless maze of twisting tunnels. Ed and Monty kept up well, with their stolen sabers drawn and Ed’s dim torch lighting their way.
Still, because the trio had to stick to only empty back passages, their route was far from the most direct. And when they neared the heart of the Gobble Downs, where all the tunnels tended to converge, they found the other goblins had arrived there before them.
Suddenly, the curving passage ahead filled with bright torchlight, the sound of footsteps, and armed shadows that stretched around the bend. A goblin search party!
“Go back! Go back!” Hob whispered, beginning a frantic retreat.
They had to get out of that tunnel fast. Followed by Ed and Monty, Hob took a small passage rightward at the next fork. It led directly into a larger one.
At the intersection, they met Carl the Troll!
In a moment of shock, the troll’s three heads stared at Hob and the fleeing captives. Hob couldn’t order another retreat, not with a swarm of goblins already filling the tunnels behind them.
“Run!” he yelled.
He bolted to the right again, up the new tunnel. Ed and Monty followed as the troll charged after them.
“C’mon!” Hob cried, rushing past the next intersection and around a wide bend. “C’mon!”
Monty huffed and puffed but couldn’t keep up with Hob. And Ed hung back to make sure his old friend didn’t get left behind. As such, Hob was well ahead of them both when he skidded around the bend and encountered yet another goblin search party, this one led by Brute, Snivel, and Grunt!
Hob froze a dozen paces off.
“Hob?” Grunt exclaimed.
Their eyes locked. It was obvious Grunt knew Hob was leaving. Hob said nothing; there was no time. He just turned and sprinted back around the bend—out of sight. He couldn’t let Grunt know he was escaping with the captives. It would be too shameful, even for Hob.
“Get him!” Brute roared.
“But what about finding the man-captives?” asked Snivel.
“Forget them! Bring me hobblestraug!”
Hob shot straight by Ed and Monty, who were still following his previous path around the bend.
“This way!” Hob cried.
The captives reversed step and followed him back to the intersection they’d just passed. They found Carl the Troll already blocking it.
Without slowing, Hob ducked through the troll’s legs and up the passage to the right. Ed and Monty followed, dodging the startled troll, and racing after Hob. With a roar, the troll turned and gave chase.
The passage soon opened into a bottomless cavern with a twenty-foot-wide chasm in place of a floor. A rickety rope bridge stretched from the end of the passage to a timber platform on the far side, where three new tunnels opened up.
Hob shot out of the passage and across the bridge, stopping on the platform to wait for the others.
Monty started across next.
Ed lea
pt out after him. “Hold on!” he cried, ditching his torch, grabbing on to the bridge, and cutting the ropes with a swing of his saber.
snap! The bridge fell away with Ed and Monty on board, leaving the troll stranded at the end of the passage, surprise etched on all three of its faces.
Ed and Monty swung with the bridge across the chasm, hitting the far wall with a thud, and dangling below the platform.
Carl the Troll glared across at Hob. Then it started backing up the passage. It was going to try to jump!
Tucking their sabers into their belts, Ed and Monty climbed the planks of the rope bridge as if they were the rungs of a giant ladder, scrambling toward the platform.
“Hurry!” Hob shouted down at them. “Hurry!”
“What do you think we’re doin’?” Monty shouted back at him.
A short way up the passage on the far side of the chasm, Carl the Troll halted its retreat and began to charge. Its footsteps echoed like thunder out of the tunnel.
Monty and Ed heaved themselves onto the platform.
“This one! This one!” Hob cried, waving them into the smallest of the three tunnels there.
He waited as the pair crawled inside. The troll reached the far side of the chasm and launched itself. Hob ducked into the little tunnel after the others.
smash! The troll cleared the chasm, but not one of its three heads had accounted for their target’s small size. They hit the tunnel opening hard and got jammed inside, with the rest of their body too big to fit. They were stuck, unable to do anything but watch, and bicker, as Hob and company got away.
“We’ll get you!”
“He means, I’ll get you!”
“Not this again!”
A short time later, Hob brought Ed and Monty to the little underground waterfall. It spilled cool and clear into its pool, just like always.
“This is it,” Hob said. “My secret way out.”
“A waterfall?” said Monty, taking a stubborn tone. “I’m not swimmin’.”
“It’s behind the waterfall,” said Hob. “That’s what keeps it secret.”
“How do you know about it, then?” Ed wondered.
“Don’t ask questions,” hissed Monty. “He talks too much already.”
“I found it while taking a bath,” said Hob, “which is another reason it’s secret. I’m the only one here who bathes.” He knelt by the pool and rinsed his hands in the water.
“You can’t bathe now!” Monty snapped.
“I’m just washing up,” said Hob. “In case you hadn’t noticed, this place is filthy.”
The dwarf shook his head. “What’s wrong with this goblin?”
“Not his commitment to hygiene, that’s for sure,” said Ed, chuckling. He joined Hob at the pool to wash up.
Monty stayed put, with his hands on his hips—as dirty as ever.
“Okay,” said Hob, standing, and shaking dry. “All set?”
“All set,” said Ed.
“Then here we go.” Hob sidled up to the waterfall, and stared into the darkness where the curtain of water diverged from the rocks. Before then, it had just been the gateway to his secret spot. Now, it was the gateway to his new life. He slipped behind the curtain and was gone.
Chapter Six
Left Behind
Hob moved to the front of his secret cave, and stood at the very edge of the Gobble Downs. A soft wind blew, carrying a thin rain. Both were cool on his sweaty face. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh. He was alive. He had escaped.
Hearing a scuffling noise behind him, he turned to see Ed pulling himself out of the tunnel at the back of the cave. The boy had managed the steep, tight climb with astonishing ease.
They were joined much later by Monty, who had managed the climb with no ease at all. He flopped out of the tunnel, panting and wheezing, with cheeks so red and puffy they made him look like a bearded tomato.
“Dagnabbit …” the old dwarf puffed. “Last time I trust a goblin … Secret tunnel my rump … Tryin’ to kill me … Little blighter!”
Ed decided—wisely, Hob thought—to give Monty some space. The boy joined Hob at the front of the cave, where he looked down from the hillside and across the darkened plain beyond. The breeze tousled his golden hair and tugged at his cloak and tunic.
“Where are we?” he asked.
“My secret spot,” said Hob.
“I mean, geographically?”
“Oh. The northern edge of the Gobble Downs.”
“So, we’re all the way through, then?”
“Yep,” Hob confirmed. “I told you I had a way out!”
“And you weren’t lying,” said Ed, sounding a bit surprised. “I don’t know how to thank you.”
“It was nothing,” Hob mumbled.
“So, if we go north from here, we’ll hit the mountains?”
“It’s actually northwest to the mountains, across that field and through the woods.” Hob pointed off into darkness.
Ed turned back to Monty. “Did you hear that?”
Monty just groaned.
“C’mon!” said Ed. “We can’t stay here forever. What if they search above ground?”
“Fine,” Monty grumbled, rolling onto his belly, and hoisting himself up. He joined the others at the front of the cave, still panting. “That’s it, lad,” he announced. “I’m quittin’ the pipe. Turns out, breathin’s more important than you’d think.”
“I’ve heard that before,” said Ed, rolling his eyes.
And with that, they set forth from the cave. Monty in the lead, followed by Ed, followed by Hob.
They didn’t get far. After only a few steps, Monty and Ed stopped and rounded on Hob.
“And what do you think you’re doing?” Monty asked him.
“Coming with you?” said Hob, earnestly.
Ed opened his mouth to say something, but didn’t get the chance.
“Oh, no you’re not!” barked the dwarf. “There’s no way I’m lettin’ a goblin join this expedition!”
“But I helped you escape,” said Hob. “I thought we had a deal!”
“Well, the deal ends here,” said Monty.
“But I can’t go back,” Hob pleaded. He looked to Ed. “And I told you, I’ve always wanted to go on an adventure.”
“Well …” the boy sighed.
“No,” said Monty. “I’ll kill him before I let him tag along any farther.” He drew his saber, and thrust it at Hob. “He’s still the enemy.”
Ed studied Hob. He didn’t seem convinced that Hob was the enemy, but he deferred to Monty’s judgment anyway. “Sorry,” he said, “but you would kinda cramp our style. You should probably find somewhere else to go.”
Ed turned away, and he and Monty set off down the hillside, leaving Hob behind.
“But I don’t have anywhere else to go …” Hob mumbled to himself.
Suddenly, the air didn’t feel so refreshing anymore. The cold wind whipped at Hob’s face. The clammy drizzle weighed him down. And for a long time, he just stood there, feeling miserable and abandoned. He had escaped the Gobble Downs, but he was still trapped. Goblins didn’t have adventures on their own.
Chapter Seven
Following Along
Then, deserted on that hillside, Hob came to a sudden realization. Goblins didn’t have adventures, because none ever tried! Well, Hob would try! There was finally nothing stopping him. And if his adventure just happened to start out in the same direction as Ed and Monty’s? Well, there was nothing stopping that, either!
The next thing Hob knew, he was charging down the hillside, as fast as his short legs would carry him. He had the wind at his back and a lightness in his heart. For the first time in his life, he felt free. The feeling propelled him out over the plain between the hills and the forest. It was a long run, wet and windswept, through grass up to his knees, but Hob hardly noticed.
He didn’t slow down until about halfway across, when he caught sigh
t of Ed and Monty up ahead. Then, since Hob could see quite well in the dark and they could not, he hung back in the shadows, and began to “adventure along” behind them.
The trio reached the edge of the forest just before sunrise. This was fortunate for Hob, as darkness was his only advantage out on the plain, while the trees would give him cover even during the day. Their leafy boughs swayed up ahead, silhouetted in the predawn light. The rain had stopped, the birds had started to sing, and Monty was demanding a nap.
“I’ve had it with all this walking,” the old dwarf complained, coming to a standstill at the tree line.
Ed, who was in the lead, was forced to turn back.
Hob scrambled for a place to hide, and found a boulder sticking up out of the grass a short distance from the forest. He dashed in behind the rock, peeking over the top at his unwitting companions.
“You promised me a nap when we got to the woods,” Monty grumbled.
“You’re rrriiight …” Ed yawned. “I guess we could use a rest.” He looked up at the sky. A swath of purple was spreading from the east. “We should be safe for now. They won’t cross the plain in daylight. But let’s get under cover, okay?”
He looked to Monty for confirmation, but Monty was already gone.
“Zzzzz … Zzzzz … Zzzzz …”
Loud snoring came from the forest, and Ed turned to see the old dwarf falling asleep in the trees.
Ed chuckled, and joined him.
Thinking it unsafe to follow until Ed was also asleep, Hob rested his head on the mossy boulder, and listened for the boy to stop stirring. Unfortunately, Hob was more tired than he realized, and, before his wait was over, he fell asleep himself.
A few hours later, Hob awoke, slumped against the boulder. When he opened his eyes, sunlight flooded in. The late-spring morning had dawned cool, clear, and bright. And, while that might sound lovely to a human, it was troublesome for a goblin like Hob.