by E. D. Baker
Tamisin wasn’t sure if she should be honored or frightened. She decided not to move. The creature’s horn was sharp and could easily swing around to skewer her. The last thing she wanted to do was make him angry. Maybe Tobi would know what to do when he came back. And where was he anyway? He’d already been gone longer than a few minutes.
The unicorn looked up at Tamisin’s face and snuffled. He was magnificent with his gleaming mane, his velvet hide, and his glittering silver horn that spiraled from his well-formed brow. She couldn’t resist touching his neck ever so gently. He snorted, his nostrils flaring, but his head stayed on her lap. When she brushed his mane from his eyes, he sighed and blinked. Her fingers wandered to the base of his horn. He closed his eyes and she could feel him relax, his head becoming even heavier than before. Tamisin idly scratched his brow, and he seemed to enjoy it, shifting his head so her fingers stayed by his silver horn. It reminded her of the way her cat, Skipper, liked to have her head scratched in a certain way.
Tamisin could have sat there for hours if her legs hadn’t started to go numb. Trying to shift her weight didn’t work since the unicorn was too heavy to budge. She was wondering how long she’d have to sit like that when Jak stepped out of the underbrush with the cat on his heels.
He scowled at the unicorn. “Who the heck is that?”
“Shh!” said Tamisin. “He’s a unicorn. Be quiet or you’ll startle him.”
“We’ll see about that.” Jak crossed the clearing in three steps and bent down so his mouth was near the animal’s twitching ear. “Hey, buddy!” he shouted. “What do you think you’re doing?”
The unicorn opened his eyes and looked up at Jak. “Go away,” he said in a deep voice. “This is my maiden. You have to find your own.”
Tamisin was startled. “You can talk! Why didn’t you say anything before?”
The unicorn gazed up at her with adoration in his eyes. “Words aren’t important when you have an understanding like ours.”
“Understanding? I don’t even know you,” she said.
Jak looked disgusted. “Unicorns spout the worst kind of drivel. Get up, you old fool,” he said to the creature, whose head still rested on Tamisin’s lap. “She’s not like most maidens. She’s … Oh, forget it. We don’t have time for this. Where’s Tobi? I told him to stay here with you.”
“I don’t know,” said Tamisin. “He said he’d be gone for just a few minutes, but he hasn’t come back yet. I was beginning to get worried.”
The unicorn raised his head and opened his other eye. “Of course she’s not like most maidens. I wouldn’t be here if she were. Do you know how hard it is to find a maiden who’s pure of heart? I’m keeping her, no matter what you say.”
“You can’t. She’s in danger here and I have to take her away. Now get your head off her lap so we can go.”
“Oh, all right.” The unicorn shook his head, then heaved himself to his feet. Tamisin brushed the sparks from his mane off her shirt, surprised that they were cool to the touch. “It isn’t fair,” said the unicorn. “All the pure maidens are already taken! I just wanted her to be my friend.”
Jak gave Tamisin a hand up. “I know about you unicorns and your friends. You’ll want to monopolize all her time so she’ll forget about everyone else. Forget it. You’re just going to have to keep looking for a new friend. And so is Tobi,” Jak said, glancing at the trees. “We’re not waiting.”
Although they started walking, the unicorn wasn’t ready to give up. Every time Tamisin glanced back, he was there, trailing behind them like a dog hoping for scraps. The cats ignored him, more interested in the path ahead, but finally Jak had had enough. Turning on his heel, he fixed the unicorn with an angry glare and said, “Stop following us. Tamisin and I don’t want to draw attention to ourselves and you’re making that impossible.”
The unicorn stopped. “Tamisin,” he breathed softly. “What a beautiful name. If anyone is interested, my name is Silver Dancer, but everyone calls me Herbert. Call me if you ever need me, Tamisin, and I’ll come running.”
Tamisin glanced back once more, just before the path curved again. The poor beast was standing where they’d left him, watching her with mournful eyes. “In the stories I read, unicorns wouldn’t approach anyone except a maiden, but I never did learn why.”
“It’s because of their horns. They say that the base of their horns is particularly itchy. If they try to scratch it themselves, they get their horns caught in branches or wedged somewhere they can’t escape. Unicorns are suspicious creatures. The only ones they trust near their horns are maidens who are pure of heart. Once they find one they like, they never stop pestering her. If I hadn’t come along, he’d have had you scratching his head for the rest of the day.”
“Aren’t their horns supposed to have some magical properties? Aside from being so beautiful, I mean.”
Jak snorted. “Don’t ever let a unicorn hear you say that. They’re vain enough as it is. As to the magic, yes, it’s true. A unicorn can purify poisoned water by dipping his horn in it. A cup made from the horn will also nullify any poison in a drink, which is why the beasts are hunted every fall.”
“Do you suppose he’d let me ride him?” she said, looking back over her shoulder. “If we really have that far to walk …”
“He might, but only if he could claim you as his maiden, and we don’t have time to argue with him again.”
The cats looked up, staring into the branches overhead.
“Speakin’ of huntin’,” said Tobi as he dropped from the tree directly into their path. “Did ya see any sign that we’re bein’ followed? ’Cuz I sure didn’t.”
Jak glared at the little raccoon goblin. “Where have you been? I told you to stay with Tamisin.”
Tobi shrugged. “I was hungry. Ya can’t be too mad at me. I got ya these.” Holding out his hand, the little goblin opened it to reveal a few slightly smushed berries, the same color as the stains smearing his fur.
“No thanks,” Tamisin said, grimacing.
It was obvious that Jak was furious. “You’re so irresponsible, Tobi! Why are you even with us if we can’t count on you?”
“Ya can count on me, Jak. Ya know I’ve always been there fer ya. Why are ya so bloomin’ mad? I just … Oh, I get it. Yer riled because-a her, ain’t ya? I think ya got a thing fer Tamisin. Ya ain’t in love with her, are ya, Jak?”
“You talk too much, Tobi. Next time I tell you to do something, just do it.”
“Maybe if ya ask me instead-a tellin’ me Jak, I’d be more inclined ta listen. Here’s the berries I brought ya. Try ’em. They’ll make ya feel better.”
Jak took the berries from Tobi’s hand, but he still looked angry.
“So was anyone following us?” Tamisin asked.
“Not so far,” said Jak, “which doesn’t mean that they won’t be coming after us soon. How did you find us in the first place, Tobi? The lightning must have messed up the Gate in my backyard, because we didn’t end up anywhere near where I thought we would. How did you know where to look?”
Tobi glanced up from licking berry juice off his fingers. “I waited till Bert chased Nihlo and his buddies off and all the ruckus died down. Then I came through the Gate, same as you. Course it was a while later, seein’ as how time passes a whole lot faster there than it does here. Say, did ya eat all those berries yet?”
Chapter 19
Jak and Tobi agreed to avoid the path, so they started downhill, passing a rocky outcropping and thick stands of oaks, poplars, and maples. Ferns dusted their legs as they walked and fairies peeped at them from the hoods of jack-in-the-pulpits.
“This is lovely,” said Tamisin, turning to look around.
Jak glanced back, half expecting to see someone behind them, but the only creatures following in their trail were the cats, their ears swiveling as they listened to the sounds of the forest. “That all depends on how you look at it,” he grumbled. “There are too many trees for goblins to hide behind.”
&nb
sp; Tamisin gave him a quizzical look. “Will it be better by the sea?”
“No, we’ll be out in the open there,” Jak said, sounding surly even to himself.
It was midafternoon when they reached the Sograssy Sea. Instead of water it was a sea of waving grass, knee-high at the edge, but higher than their heads farther out. Although Jak had known about the grass, and that the sea was big, he didn’t know how enormous it really was or that it was impossible to see from one side to the other.
Tamisin stepped to the very edge, which was closer than Jak cared to go. “Is the water on the other side of the grass? How long will it take to get across?”
The cats darted to where Tamisin stood and began to circle her, pushing against her legs so that she staggered away from the grass. Jak reached out and pulled her back, too.
“That grass is the sea,” said Tobi. “Contrary-like to yer misconception, nobody crosses the Sograssy Sea. You gotta go ’round it.”
Tamisin shaded her eyes with her hand and gazed out across the sea. “But wouldn’t it be faster to go across? I mean a straight line is …”
“…the shortest distance between two points,” Jak replied. “Yeah, I went to school, too. It would be, but grass isn’t the only thing in the Sograssy Sea. That’s where—”
“Well, well, well! Look what we have here! If it isn’t a couple of humans and a runty little goblin all alone in this big, bad world.”
The two cats turned and hissed, their eyes narrowed and glaring.
Nihlo had found them. Jak spun around at his cousin’s first word, hiding Tamisin behind him. He’d recognized Nihlo’s voice, but he was surprised to see his cousin wielding a knife as other goblins emerged from the woods. The cats had moved closer together and now stood between Tamisin and Nihlo.
“I see ya brought yer buddies, Nihlo,” Tobi said. “I didn’t know ya had any friends. Whaddya do when yer together, see who’s better at pullin’ legs off bugs?”
“Tobi!” Jak reached out and clamped a hand over his little friend’s mouth.
Nihlo made a show of licking his lips when he looked at Tobi. “Keep your pet quiet, Jak, or I’ll carve him up and eat him for dinner.”
The other goblins had gathered behind Nihlo, who seemed even more sure of himself with them there. “Where are you going, Jak? This isn’t the way to my father’s den. Or have you decided to betray his trust and get the reward for yourself?”
“I would never turn on my family for money,” said Jak.
Nihlo smiled. “Don’t sound so self-righteous. Have you told the girl the real reason you wanted to meet her? He was sent to kidnap you,” he said, turning to Tamisin, “and bring you back to my father.”
Jak could hear Tamisin’s sudden indrawn breath behind him. He wanted to explain it all to her, but he didn’t dare take his eyes off Nihlo.
“Is that true, Jak?” she asked with a catch in her voice. “I thought we were friends. I thought you were trying to help me.” Lightning streaked the sky in the distance, and the goblins behind Nihlo glanced up.
“We were,” said Jak. “I mean, we are. It’s a long story and—”
“Just give me the girl, Jak, and I’ll let you go. You know you can’t beat me in a fair fight.”
Jak narrowed his eyes at his cousin. “When have you ever fought in a fair fight?”
“I can’t trust either of you, can I, Jak?” Tamisin asked. “You wanted to kidnap me and he wants to take me from you.”
“He isn’t taking you anywhere,” Jak whispered back. Even if his cousin did intend to take her to Targin, Jak wasn’t about to let him get near her.
Nihlo waved the knife in Jak’s direction. “Get out of the way, Jak-O-MAN. Give the girl to me and I’ll let you go.”
Jak was surprised by how angry the thought of seeing Tamisin in Nihlo’s hands made him feel. He was about to reassure her when he turned his head and saw her edging toward the grass. “Tamisin, no!” he shouted.
“I have to, Jak. I can’t trust either of you.” And she bolted into the sea.
Tails twitching, the cats yowled in protest as she ran farther into the grass, but neither of them followed her. Jak took his hand off Tobi’s mouth and for a moment considered going after Tamisin.
“She shouldn’t have run off like that,” said Nihlo. “Call her back.”
Tobi spat at the ground and rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand. “Now that’d be plumb stupid,” he said. “He ain’t about ta call her back just so’s ya can wave yer knife in her face! Jak’s a whole lot smarter’n that. Heck, he’s a whole lot smarter than all of ya put together!”
“Shut up, Tobi,” grunted Nihlo. “Go after her, you!” he told a boar goblin who had come with him. “She’s getting away.”
The goblin shook his head. “I’m not going in there, and there’s nothing you can do to make me.”
“You’re going,” said Nihlo, “unless one of your friends would like to volunteer.”
The other goblins that had come with him glanced at each other and melted into the forest.
“Uh, uh,” said the remaining goblin. “She’s not paying me enough to—”
“Either you go in after the girl, or I’ll take care of you right now. And if you run off like your cockroach friends, I’ll hunt you down and serve you at the next clan feast.”
The boar goblin looked frightened, but he clenched his jaw and took a step toward the sea. “You owe me for this,” he said. “And my whole clan will come after you if anything happens to me!”
“Why don’t you go in yourself, Nihlo?” asked Jak.
“Why don’t you shut up, Jak?” the goblin said, glaring at his cousin.
“I think I see her!” shouted the boar goblin as he took off running.
While Nihlo argued with the boar goblin, Jak had taken off his watch behind his back and was changing it into a knife, longer and sharper than Nihlo’s. Jak had never used a knife in a fight before, but he was sure he could do some damage with it if he had to. He would have felt more confident if he hadn’t caught sight of the film of blue liquid tinting Nihlo’s blade. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good.
The knife was forming in his hands when he asked Nihlo a question that had been bothering him. “Who are you and your friend working for, Nihlo? Who is this ‘she’ who’s paying you? She must be giving you a lot of money for you to turn against your father like this.”
“She’s giving me respect, Jak-O-MAN, something you wouldn’t understand. Unlike my father, who doesn’t mind lowering himself by dealing with people like you, she knows the value of a true goblin. When she has the girl, she’ll see that some real changes are made, not the half measures that my father’s working toward.”
“Who is this wonderful person, Nihlo? Is it anyone I know?”
“I’m not wasting any more of my breath talking to you. Halflings are too stupid to understand what’s going on.”
Tobi had scuttled behind Jak the moment he’d let him go. He must have just noticed what Jak held in his hands, because he suddenly exclaimed, “There’s my boy, Jak! Ya got a knife! It’s bigger than yers, ya foul-breathed slime licker,” he shouted at Nihlo.
“I’m glad to hear it,” growled the cat goblin. “I’d hate to kill an unarmed halfling.”
“I don’t know why,” said Jak. “You’ve tried often enough.”
Sneering, Nihlo feinted with his knife. “If I had wanted to kill you, Jak, I would have. I was just waiting until the timing was better—like now!”
Jak jumped out of his cousin’s reach and tightened his grip on his knife. He’d known for a long while that he was going to have to face Nihlo again, only this time he didn’t intend to run.
Tamisin was afraid to run into the tallest grass until she heard one of the goblins shout, “I think I see her!” Glancing back, she saw the boar goblin enter the sea, so she turned and ran into the taller, more concealing growth, parting the blades with her outstretched arms. Her heart thudding in her chest, she kept expecting
the goblin to grab her from behind. The grass flew by in a blur, then suddenly she was stumbling over an enormous bronze– and copper-colored tube that twitched beneath her feet.
A woman’s head rose above the grass so that Tamisin had to look up to see her. She was beautiful, with flowing dark hair that gleamed blue-black in the sunlight. Her neck was long and slender; her skin was pale with just a hint of pink on her cheeks. The grass that brushed her bare shoulders hid her from the collarbone down.
The woman looked startled, as if Tamisin was the apparition. “What are you doing here?” she said in a whispery kind of voice.
“Running from goblins. I was told that no one comes into the sea, but at least one of them is following me. Why are you here? Are you running from something, too?”
“I wath taking a nap,” said the woman, patting her mouth delicately with well-manicured fingertips. “And jutht what do you mean, nobody cometh into the thea? Who told you that? Hath thomeone been thpreading rumorth about me again?” A soft shushing sound came from the depths of the grass.
“I’m sorry I woke you. It’s just, well, do you have somewhere I can hide?”
“You want me to hide you? That’th very funny. Nobody exthept my relativeth ever athked for my help before. Let me thee if anyone ith thtill chathing you. No, no one ith there. But if thomeone chathed you here on purpothe to dithturb my nap, I’ll thee that that foul …” The woman rose up until her head towered over Tamisin’s. Her upper body was wrapped in a silky fabric that didn’t cover much. She didn’t need clothes below her waist, because the rest of her body thickened into that of a snake.
Tamisin gasped and started to back away, but the woman was too busy working herself into a rage to notice. “Jutht wait until I get my fangth in …”
Tamisin might have escaped if she hadn’t tripped and landed on something cushiony. Putting her hands on the ground, she tried to push herself up, then snatched them back when she felt smooth, dry scales. She was sitting on the snake woman’s enormous bronze and copper coils with her legs draped over their sides. The end of the woman’s tail vibrated above Tamisin’s head, shaking a cluster of bead-shaped rattles that made the shushing sound she’d heard.
