by E. D. Baker
Bella turned to her friends with her mouth hanging open. “I can’t believe he just said that! I know a lot of goblins feel that way, but for an elder to say it…”
“At least he’s honest,” said Jak, shrugging. “We can’t let it bother us, Bella. We’ve both heard worse and lived through it.” Even after spending years on the island, they still heard comments about how only insane goblins would breed with humans.
“Even so,” Bella said through gritted teeth. “It wasn’t right!”
“And someday we’ll be able to do something about it, only that day isn’t now. Listen, why don’t you and Tobi go on,” Jak suggested. “There’s something I want to do while there are no other goblins around.”
When he was finally alone, Jak studied the lump of lead, thinking about what the elder had said. He moved over to the stump and held the lead just as he had before. Once again he felt the tingling in his mind, but once again nothing happened. He was setting the lump down when his hand brushed the woven grass bag. On a whim, he picked it up, remembering what Elder Squinch had said about a silk purse. This time the tingling came unbidden. Not believing that anything would happen, Jak pushed, and when he opened his eyes, a ladies’ evening bag lay draped across his fingers.
Jak laughed in disbelief. Using both hands, he felt the bag to make sure it was real, holding it up to the light and turning it inside out. It was perfect in every detail, just as if it had been made by a skilled craftsman, and was even better than he had pictured.
Closing his eyes again, Jak thought about the grass bag. A push, then there it was in his hands, just as if it had never been changed.
Jak was excited when he left the clearing. Who cared if he couldn’t do everything a full goblin could do? He could do something that was impossible for them, something they’d never believe.
Chapter 9
All you goblins going for the first time—you need to line up in straight rows,” shouted Elder Greeble, the wombat goblin who had been leading the trip for years. “That’s it. Now count off, starting with you, Thark.” When they’d finished counting off, the elder rubbed his hands together, saying, “Good, good! Now you’ll be divided according to your numbers.”
A chorus of groans greeted his announcement as friends realized that they wouldn’t be together. Bella glanced at Tobi and Jak with dismay. All their plans had been made as if they were going to be in the same group.
“Pack leaders, hold up your signs. Goblins, find the pack with your number.”
“I see mine,” Tobi said, waving to someone he knew in the pack. “I’ll see y’all later. Just be careful out there!”
“You, too,” called Bella and Jak as Tobi hurried off.
“There’s your number, Bella,” Jak said, pointing at a rough-looking pack. “I’m not so sure about this.”
Apparently her cousins weren’t either, because Bruno and Barth, who had arranged to be in the same pack, picked up the bird goblin perched beside them and carried him to the pack where Bella was supposed to go. A growl from Bruno stopped the goblin’s squawking, and then the two lumbering brothers came to get Bella. “Good luck, Jak,” she called as her cousins hustled her away.
“I think I’m going to need it,” Jak muttered. He’d found his pack and it was one he never would have chosen; Nihlo was the group leader. Jak wasn’t surprised that his cousin was in charge of a group. One of the older students, his cousin was well liked by most of the goblins and had already visited the human world. The trip was meant to acquaint the younger students with humans; older goblins were expected to visit the human world to steal, play, or wreak havoc on their own. Having an experienced leader meant that the younger goblins were more likely to find their way back.
When Nihlo saw Jak approaching, he announced, “We got stuck with Jak-O-MAN! There goes our night on the town.”
“Hey, I didn’t choose to…. ’” Jak began.
“Just keep your muzzle shut, halfling,” growled Nihlo. “No one cares what you think. I’ll take you with me because I have to, but you’d better pay attention and keep up.” Turning abruptly, Nihlo led his pack toward the network of ravines.
There were numbers at the head of each ravine corresponding to the numbers of the groups. Beside their number, they found an X painted on the ground with the air above it already shimmering. The younger goblins lined up with Jak at the end, but Nihlo wouldn’t let them start until he was ready. “Remember what you learned from old Greeble,” he said. “Humans can’t see us unless we want to be seen. This is Halloween, so it’s okay if they see us tonight. We have four hours, our time, to do this, then we have to meet back at the Gate to come home. Their time isn’t the same as ours, so I have a chronometer to keep track of it.” Nihlo held it up for everyone to see. “Remember, go through the gate and move out of the way as soon as you get there.”
Jak waited while the other goblins stepped on the X and disappeared with a brighter shimmer and a flash of light. Nihlo stood with his fists on his hips, scowling while the others crossed over. When it was Jak’s turn, Nihlo shoved his cousin through. Although most of the others had been tentative about stepping into the shimmering light, Jak was rushed into it, which felt like the difference between slipping into the water while you check the temperature and jumping in from fifty feet up. He was staggering when he came out the other side.
“Keep moving, halfling!” shouted a rat goblin, pushing Jak out of the way.
A moment later Nihlo arrived exactly where Jak had been standing. The other goblins hurried over to hear what he would say. “Let’s get out of this garden and regroup on the other side so we can get started.”
It was dusk and they were in a small fenced-in garden with ordinary-looking trees and flowers. Beyond the fence the world changed abruptly; metal carts crawled past, then blared at each other and rushed to the next place where they had to crawl again. Humans, looking surprisingly boring in their sameness, strolled down cracked gray paths that ran beside the black rows that belonged to the metal carts. Buildings taller than the tallest trees loomed over it all. If this was the human world, Jak didn’t like it.
The night was noisy with quick, sharp sounds and shrill, drawn-out ones. And the smells … Jak raised his head to sniff the air. The stench of exotic trash and the overwhelming odor of humans almost drowned out the scent of the garden’s flowers.
Something nipped Jak’s hand, drawing blood. “Pay attention!” said the rat goblin.
Nihlo was already standing on the other side of the black metal fence. It took Jak only a moment to hop onto the top of the fence and down to the other side. His half–cat goblin side made him stronger than a human as well as faster and more agile. It also made him more curious, so while the other goblins gathered around Nihlo, Jak watched a young human use colored sticks to create a picture on the path.
Jak glanced up; his group was still there, watching him and whispering behind their hands. When a man joined the artist and took an instrument with strings out of a long case, Jak had to stay to see what happened next.
A cat bumped against his leg, purring so hard that the halfling boy could feel the vibration. Jak looked around to see if anyone wanted to claim the animal and discovered that his group had left while he wasn’t paying attention. Knowing that if he didn’t hurry he might be left behind for good, Jak began to run, knocking into people and nearly tripping over a pile of leather bags that a man was selling from the path.
Jak thought he saw the goblins up ahead. Then someone shouted and a large disc rolled down the street into the path of one of the metal carts. There was a screeching sound as the cart swerved and ran into carts going the other way. When humans began to scream, Jak vaulted over a cart that wasn’t moving and dashed to one that had crashed, trapping people inside. The door was wedged shut, but he closed his eyes and pictured an open door instead. When the tingling began in his head, he pushed and the crushed door was exchanged for one that was intact. He opened it and went on to the next cart, making sure t
hat everyone was all right.
After that Jak was unable to find any sign of his group, although he did see other goblins intent on mischief. He saw a group of rat goblins stealing the shoes from a man sleeping in an alley. Another group ran down children who were dressed in funny clothes, grabbing the bags they carried and leaving them crying. Jak was disgusted with what he saw and, for the first time in his life, was ashamed of his goblin half.
He was peering in the window of a building where people were eating when it occurred to him that he’d lost track of the time. He moved on, reading the words on the poles, hoping they would help him find his way back to the garden. Pausing over a difficult word, Jak was surprised when a cat stood on its hind legs and forced its head into his hand to be petted. Three other cats were sitting on the path, watching.
The cats trotted behind him as Jak hurried along the path, looking for goblins from his school, even if they weren’t with his group. When he couldn’t find any, he became convinced that they must all have gone back. He was trying to remember what Elder Greeble had said they should do if they were ever stranded in the human world when he saw a jackal goblin he knew chasing a horse through a grassy area. Terrified, the animal tore along the path while its rider hauled on the reins.
“Thark!” Jak shouted. “It’s time to go back!”
The jackal goblin turned and ran down the path, back the way he and the horse had come. Jak followed the goblin down the street, hoping he hadn’t lost yet another chance to return home. Fortunately, Thark was still trying to find a way into a fenced-in cemetery when Jak spotted him. When the jackal goblin found the hole in the fence, Jak was right behind him, shadowing him all the way to the X painted on the ground. And then the goblin was through and, a moment later, so was Jak.
The boys were leaving the ravine when Bella came running after Jak calling, “Did you hear what happened? Tobi was seen while he was using an invisibility spell!”
“Is he okay?” asked Jak. “I didn’t think humans could see us unless we wanted to be seen!”
“But he didn’t. A girl saw him, so he came back right away. Then Elder Greeble sent other goblins out after the girl. She saw them, too, and tried to hit them with lightning! Greeley says that if humans are going to start seeing goblins when we don’t want to be seen, this might be the last time he sends a class there on Halloween!”
“After seeing how most goblins behave when they’re there,” said Jak, “I’m not so sure that would be a bad idea.”
Chapter 10
Ever since that Halloween, Nihlo’s hatred for his cousin had become even more apparent. Jak wasn’t sure if it was because he’d tried to fix the damage Nihlo and his pack had done in the human world, or because Nihlo’s loathing for humans was growing stronger. The cat goblin had tormented his younger cousin since the day the halfling arrived to live in his family’s den. They’d fought a few times on the island, yet each time Jak’s friend Bella was there to fetch her big, friendly cousins Bruno and Barth. The bear goblins were happy to separate Nihlo and Jak, and even happier to give Jak a few tips on self-defense, such as taking advantage of his agility and speed, but beyond that they weren’t much help.
Then one day, just a few weeks after Halloween, Jak ran into Nihlo when no one else was around. Jak was on his way back from exploring the ravines when someone jumped him from behind, slashing a line of fire across his back. Unprepared, Jak hit the ground on his hands and knees, but he had enough sense to roll out of the way before the next blow could connect. In an instant, Nihlo was on him with ripping claws and greater strength. Jak twisted out of the way and landed a blow of his own just as his cousin went for his throat. Then the half-goblin boy was on his feet, running, with blood dripping into his eyes from a wicked gash on his forehead. He could hear Nihlo behind him, swearing under his breath as he followed Jak back into the ravines.
Having spent so much time exploring the ravines, Jak knew the terrain better than anyone. He knew which paths led to dead ends and which were the surest way out. He also knew which ravines were wide and which were so narrow that he could jump from one side to the other. Now, with Nihlo so close behind him, Jak tore between the stone walls that rose four times his own height on either side. When he couldn’t lose his cousin in the twists and turns, Jak headed for a lower wall where he could scramble to the top over loose stones that slipped beneath his feet. Reaching the narrow ridge that topped the wall, Jak raced along the uneven ground and leaped, soaring over a ravine to land on the other side. When he turned around, Jak was certain that Nihlo wouldn’t be able to follow, and was surprised to see the goblin put his head down and run at the gap. When Nihlo jumped, Jak backed away, preparing to run again, but his cousin’s leap had fallen short and he fell, screaming as he hit the side of the ravine and tumbled to the bottom.
Jak ran to the edge to peer down. “Are you all right?” he shouted.
Nihlo’s only response was to swear. He tried to sit up, then fell back, moaning. Even from above, the goblin’s leg looked odd. Jak thought it was probably broken. He’d have to go get help.
Jak was on his way down from the ridge when he heard goblins in the ravine. He called to them, telling them where they could reach Nihlo while finding his own way down. When he reached the bottom of the ravine, the goblins were already there.
“What did you do to him?” a jackal goblin asked Jak.
Another was already kneeling beside Nihlo, examining his leg. “You pushed him, didn’t you?” he said, turning to glare at Jak. “We saw you lead him into the maze. I bet you had this planned all along. It’s a good thing we followed you. Who knows what you would have done next.”
“No, I—”
“What’s going on here? Why did you goblins make me come all this way just to … Oh, I see,” Elder Squinch said as he came into view. The elder hurried to Nihlo’s side, his three-toed feet clawing up the dust of the ravine.
“We saw the whole thing,” said the jackal goblin. “Jak-O-MAN chased Nihlo up the ridge and pushed him off. The halfling could have killed him!”
“That wasn’t how—,” Jak began.
“That was exactly what happened,” said Nihlo. “Jak-O-MAN has always hated me. I always said that no one with ‘oman’ in his name should be allowed to come to the island! Half humans don’t deserve to be here.”
Elder Squinch shook his head, clucking. “This is very bad, boys. You two, help Nihlo to the witch doctor. Jakoman, it looks like you’re headed to the Pit for detention.”
“But I didn’t do—”
“No sniveling, halfling,” said the old goblin. “You’ll have to take it like a goblin … if you can.”
The Pit was little more than a deep shaft sunk into the ground near the last ravine. A wooden bucket big enough to carry one student could be lowered into it much like a well, though the Pit was dry. Carved from stone, it had curved walls and a flat floor that had gained a deep layer of wind-deposited soil over the years. A colony of brown beetles had fallen in and couldn’t get out. When they moved, the floor almost looked as if it was alive. The hole was so deep and dark that anyone standing up above could not see whoever was down below, but as Jak learned, if you stood in just the right spot, you could look up and see the person standing above outlined in sunlight. He discovered this when Tobi came to visit him after the last class of the day.
“Hey, buddy! How ya doin?” the raccoon goblin shouted from the edge of the Pit.
“Is that you, Tobi?” Jak called back. He was seated on the floor resting his head on his knees, but he stood when he heard his friend.
“I brought ya somethin’!” shouted Tobi, and before Jak could stop him, the little goblin had tossed a stoppered jug filled with water down into the shaft. Jak jumped back as the jug hit the ground and exploded into a thousand shards, some stinging his cheek as he turned his head away. The water soaked the soil, turning it into mud.
“Don’t do that!” Jak shouted at his friend just as Tobi dropped a hunk of meat into the
Pit. The meat hit the ground so hard that most of it sank into the mud. Insects swarmed over the rest until it disappeared as well.
“That’s all for now!” shouted Tobi. “I’ll bring ya more in the mornin’. I hear ya got detention for breakin’ old sourpuss’s leg. Good for you!”
“But I didn’t,” Jak replied. “I just—”
“I’ve gotta go,” shouted Tobi. “Someone’s comin’. No one’s supposed to feed ya when you’re down there, so don’t tell nobody that I did this. See ya tomorrow!”
Only a few minutes after Tobi left, someone else stood at the edge of the Pit. Jak didn’t know that anyone was there until the first stone hit the ground hard enough to send up a plume of mud. He jumped up and moved so that his back was pressed against the wall. The next stone hit the ground on the other side of the Pit.
“Did we get you yet, Jak-O-MAN?” yelled Nihlo. “I brought some of my friends with me. We don’t think being in the Pit is enough for a halfling like you. We think you need a little entertainment while you’re down there. Let us know if this helps.”
Suddenly the pit was deluged with stones as if someone had upended a dozen buckets filled with them over the opening. Jak crouched and tried to cover his head with his arms while staying as close to the wall as he could get. Only a few hit him, but one struck his head a glancing blow that stunned him momentarily.
“The dinner bell just rang,” shouted Nihlo. “We have to go now, but we’ll be back in the morning with bigger rocks. Sleep well, Jak-O-MAN!”
Jak stayed where he was for a few more minutes, just in case they had some stones left. When he stood up, his head was pounding and he had to set his hand on the wall to support himself. The stone was rough there, and crumbly, almost as if it wasn’t stone at all. He didn’t think much of it until he took his hand away and felt a powdery substance on his fingers. It felt like the old mortar the goblins who had made his uncle’s den had used to fill in cracks and openings, but that didn’t make sense unless …