“Put her to work!” said Chief Earwig. Two goblins grabbed her and dragged her away. They took her to a place where several goblins were trying to build a mud hut. One of them was pounding sticks into the ground to make a wall. Another mixed up a vat of smelly mud with small pebbles. A third slopped the mixture on the sticks and filled in between them.
“What’s the worst part of your job?” one of the goblin guards asked.
“The worst part is hauling mud from the swamp!” answered another one of the goblins.
“Then make her do it!” said the guard, and he pushed Ivy toward the goblins.
“Oho! This will be good!” a goblin said.
Another shoved two wooden buckets at her, one for each hand. “Come with me!” he commanded, heading for the swamp.
Ivy had no choice but to pick up the buckets and follow. The goblin led her to the edge of the slimy brown swamp water and waded in.
“Here’s what you do,” he growled. “You reach down and pull up handfuls of mud from the bottom and throw them into the buckets, like this.” Then he showed her how it was done. He reached down under the swamp water and pulled up sloppy handfuls of wet mud. He threw them into a bucket on the shore.
“When the buckets are full, you carry them back to us. And don’t bother trying to run away. There will always be someone watching you, no matter where you go! Get to work, or you’ll have no supper!”
Ivy wondered what they might give her to eat. She was pretty sure she wouldn’t like it, but she didn’t want to starve. Sighing, she took off her shoes and waded into the brown water. Hiking up her skirt, she bent over to dig up handfuls of the slimy mud. She could feel it squishing between her fingers, and it made her feel sick. It also made her back ache to bend over so much. But she kept going and threw more handfuls of mud into the buckets. The smell made Ivy want to hold her breath, but she kept going and threw more handfuls of mud into the buckets.
As she worked, Ivy snuck peeks at the goblins around her. Some wore short garments, and some wore longer ones. She figured out that the ones wearing longer garments were probably women goblins. Some goblins were looking after young ones and babies like Burdock. She tried to keep an eye on them to see how they treated their children. The youngsters ran around, getting into things, just like Burdock. Some were splashing in the brown swamp water. Some were running in and out of the mud huts or between the grown-ups’ legs. Some were climbing trees and jumping out of them. But the grown-up goblins didn’t seem to mind. They just sang a song to them. She noticed that none of the babies here screeched like Burdock. Why not? she wondered. Had she and Grandmother been doing something wrong?
By this time, Ivy was soaking wet and covered in mud. She worked on. Little by little, the buckets filled up until finally they were full. Ivy rested for a minute, then she tried to lift one of the buckets. It was so heavy she couldn’t do it. Not with one hand. Not with both hands. She didn’t know what to do. How could she call for help if she was not allowed to speak?
Finally one of the women goblins, who had been sitting off by herself, got up and came over to her. “You’re too feeble to lift that!” she said. The goblin easily lifted one bucket in each hand and grunted for Ivy to follow her.
When they reached the place where the goblins were making the mud hut, the woman who had helped Ivy set down the buckets and called the others by name. “Pigwort! Walnut! Beetle! What do you mean by giving this child such a hard job? She can’t lift these buckets by herself!”
The one called Beetle spoke up. “The guard said to give her the hardest job, so we did!”
“Since when do we punish human children?”
“Ask the chief!”
“I will!”
The woman goblin took Ivy by the arm and marched right up to the chief’s mud hut. “Tell the chief Mulberry wants to talk to him,” she told the guards.
One of them went into the mud hut. After a minute, he poked his head out of the door and said, “You may come in.”
Mulberry pulled Ivy into the hut with her and faced the chief.
“Chief Earwig,” she began, “why are you punishing this child?”
The chief looked calmly at Mulberry and said, “She is an egg stealer! We have taken her in return for the egg that was stolen. It is only fair and just.”
“Then I claim her for myself. It was my egg that was stolen, after all.”
Ivy gasped. She forgot about staying silent and said, “You? You’re Burdock’s mother?”
Mulberry’s mouth fell open. She grabbed Ivy by both shoulders and stared her in the face. “What did you say? Whose mother? Quickly, child, what do you know of my egg?”
Ivy looked at the chief. “May I speak?”
“SPEAK!” said the chief.
Ivy hardly knew where to start, so she started at the beginning. “Farmer Higley found an egg. He didn’t know it was a goblin’s egg. He brought it to my grandmother. She is a healer of all kinds of creatures, but we didn’t know at first what it was either. But then the egg hatched! And it was a baby goblin. And we named him Burdock. We had to look in a book to see how to feed him, and—”
Mulberry shook Ivy’s shoulders and cried, “You have him? You have my baby?”
“Yes! My grandmother does! That’s why I came here, to see about giving him back to you.”
“Ahh, WONDERFUL!” Mulberry said, hugging Ivy close. “And—Burdock! What a wonderful name! It’s just what I would have chosen myself!”
“WAIT!” commanded the chief. “Don’t be so eager to believe what this human says! Humans cannot be trusted. It could be a trick. She would probably say anything to escape captivity!”
“No!” cried Ivy. “I give you my word!”
“Your word carries no weight with me, human.”
Mulberry’s face fell. She backed away from Ivy and looked directly into her eyes. Ivy looked directly back. “I believe her,” Mulberry said, after a minute.
“Of course you want to believe her,” said the chief. “Your thoughts are clouded by your feelings.”
“Please, Chief,” Ivy began, “if you would only take me back to my village—”
“SILENCE! You have said enough.”
Ivy closed her mouth again.
“If we go to the human village, we may be attacked. Therefore, I shall take a war party,” pronounced the chief. “If they return our cub to us, we set the child free. If not, we keep her forever!”
Ivy was filled with relief. Grandmother would willingly exchange Burdock for Ivy, and all would be well again!
“We leave at dawn,” Chief Earwig said.
He sent Ivy to stay with Mulberry and her mate, Thistle, in their small mud hut. When it came time for supper, Mulberry taught Ivy how to make mushroom stew. Ivy thought that it was actually quite good, but she wouldn’t want to eat it every day. That night, she lay on the dirt floor to sleep as Mulberry and Thistle did. She missed her own bed. She missed Cedric and Balthazar and the pixies. Most of all, she missed Grandmother. A tear ran down her cheek as she thought of home. Finally, she slept.
* * *
Back at Grandmother’s cottage, Mistress Peevish was having a hard time getting Burdock to settle down for bed. One minute, he was climbing up on the furniture and jumping off again. The next minute, he was running around the cottage, banging a big spoon on everything in sight. He even banged the spoon on Mistress Peevish’s head. It made a thunking sound. And all the time, he was shrieking so loudly that Mistress Peevish thought her ears would break. Mistress Peevish was miserable. She had felt terrible when Ivy ran off into the Dark Forest. And she had felt even worse when she’d had to explain to Grandmother that Ivy had gone to face the goblins alone.
“Oh, where is my little Ivy?” Grandmother had moaned.
Now, as night was falling, Grandmother asked again, “Where is
my little Ivy? What if the goblins have her? Will they be kind to her? Will she ever come home again?” A tear ran down her cheek as she stared out the window.
* * *
The next morning, the goblins and Ivy were up with the sun. Chief Earwig gathered his war party. Ivy saw Pigwort, Walnut, and Beetle and several of the guards. There were twenty goblins in the war party, including Mulberry and Thistle and the chief. They were all ready with packs of food and sharp spears and shields. Ivy hoped there wouldn’t be any trouble. They set off to find the road to Broomsweep, with Chief Earwig in the lead. He was very slow. For a long time, they traveled along the edge of the swamp. After a while, they came to the path that Ivy had followed. And after another long while, the path widened into a road.
Chief Earwig kept Ivy by his side. She was supposed to take them to Grandmother’s cottage to find Burdock. They marched all through the morning and through the afternoon without stopping, even to eat. Ivy got very hungry and tired, but she didn’t dare complain. When they finally reached the edge of the Dark Forest, Ivy asked the chief to leave the war party there. She didn’t want to upset Cedric or Balthazar or Grandmother or Mistress Peevish or Branwen or any of the villagers.
Cedric watched from his perch on top of the cottage while Ivy and Mulberry and Thistle and Chief Earwig walked out of the Dark Forest and came toward the house.
“Aawk! Goblins!” he squawked. The feathers on his head stood straight up.
“It’s all right, Cedric!” Ivy cried. “They come in peace!”
Cedric settled back down, but he kept his eagle eyes on the goblins.
Inside Grandmother’s cottage, Mistress Peevish was feeding Burdock his supper of mushrooms. He couldn’t eat and shriek at the same time, so he wasn’t yelping at all. She held him on her lap with one arm while she fed him with her other hand. Mistress Peevish forgot to be grumpy about taking care of him. She even thought that he was rather cute, with his button nose and little, blunt fangs. He felt warm on her lap, and she cuddled him close. When he was done eating his mushrooms, she even gave him some apple slices for dessert.
Right away she could tell that something was wrong! Burdock began to look sick. He felt much too warm, and he began to cough. First his mouth turned green, then his cheeks, then his whole face turned green. Soon his arms and legs and hands and feet turned green too.
Just then, Ivy walked in the front door. Behind her were Chief Earwig, Mulberry, and Thistle. Mulberry took one look at little green Burdock and said, “Oh no! What have you done?”
Mistress Peevish was shocked to see the goblins there, but she answered, “I gave him some apple slices for dessert!”
“You’ve given him apples! Oh no! You must never give apples to baby goblins! My poor baby! What will become of him?” Mulberry picked him up and held him tightly as he coughed. “He’s much too warm!”
Thistle put his arm around Mulberry’s shoulder and choked back a sob. “Green!” he said. “Our son is green!”
Grandmother put her hand on Burdock’s head. “What can we do for him?” she asked.
“Nothing. There’s nothing you can do,” said Mulberry.
“I didn’t know!” Mistress Peevish said. “I’m so sorry!”
Everyone felt bad. Even the chief. But he was angry too. He stepped back outside and signaled the war party to come. Cedric was still on the roof of the cottage, keeping watch over the garden. When he saw all the goblins coming, he squawked a mighty squawk. “Aawk! Goblins! Gob-gob-goblins! Aawk!” He spread his enormous wings and opened his beak. He hissed at the goblins and looked terrifying.
When the war party reached the cottage, the chief told them that the baby goblin had been fed apples. Soon the cottage was surrounded by angry goblins.
Mistress Peevish said, “I knew it! The goblins have come to take over the town!”
“Hush,” Grandmother told her.
Ivy heard Cedric squawking. Before anyone could stop her, she ran out of the cottage and hollered up to him, “Calm down, Cedric! We don’t want any trouble!”
Cedric slowly closed his wings, but he kept on hissing. Then Ivy saw Balthazar coming up the path from the stream. The old dragon blew some flaming breath, as if he was ready to do battle. “Let be at theb! Let be at theb!” he cried.
She called out to him, “Calm down, Balthazar! We don’t want any trouble!”
Then she saw Branwen come out from under the hazel trees. She looked ready to do some damage with her horn.
Ivy called out to her, “Calm down, Branwen! We don’t want—” Then suddenly Ivy got an idea. “Wait!” she cried. “There’s one thing we can try.”
She said to Mulberry, “Bring him out into the garden! Hurry!”
Mulberry carried the baby goblin outside while Ivy called Branwen to come to her. For a minute, it looked as if the war party wouldn’t let Branwen pass, but the chief gave a signal and they finally parted and let her through.
“Branwen,” Ivy cried, “the baby goblin ate something he shouldn’t have, and now he’s very sick! You’ve got to heal him with your horn!”
Branwen’s eyes widened. “But I can’t! I’m not a real unicorn. My horn doesn’t work! I’ve tried it before, and nothing happens!”
“You can heal him!” Ivy insisted. “You just need to have some confidence. I believe in you, Branwen. We all believe in you! Don’t we?” she cried.
Grandmother came hobbling through the door. “I believe in you!” she said. “You can do it, Branwen. Just touch him with your horn, and think good thoughts. Think hard!”
Even Mistress Peevish came to the door and cried, “You can do it! Surely you can do it!”
Soon Mulberry and Thistle took up the cry, and then the chief joined in. He ordered all the goblins to put down their weapons, and they began to chant too. “You can do it!”
Cedric and Balthazar saw the baby goblin in Mulberry’s arms and heard what was happening. They felt terrible that the noisy little goblin was sick. “You can do it!” they cried to Branwen.
Branwen’s eyes filled with tears. Did everyone really believe in her? Was it possible? Could she be a real unicorn after all? Could she heal the sick baby? She looked at Baby Burdock in his mother’s arms and knew she had to try. She bent her head down and softly touched the baby’s heart with the tip of her horn. She thought of being a real unicorn. That made her so happy that she felt a deep warmth come from her own heart and rise up and out through her horn. She held her horn against Burdock’s chest for a minute while everyone chanted “You can do it” and “I believe in you.” She started to believe she could do it.
Burdock stopped coughing! The green began to fade away. Burdock’s hands and feet were no longer green. Then his face and mouth were no longer green.
“He’s cooling off!” announced Mulberry.
And then Burdock began to screech. Everyone cheered! Branwen was so happy she almost glowed.
Burdock looked up at Mulberry and Thistle, and he suddenly screeched louder. Then he leaped into Ivy’s arms and clung to her. He didn’t know his own parents. He wanted Ivy. Everyone was delighted that little Burdock was all better, but now no one knew what to do. What if the baby goblin wanted to stay with Ivy?
Finally, the chief said, “This baby has been raised by humans. Now he thinks that he is a human too. But can the humans stop his screeching?”
Mulberry smiled. “I can,” she said. She began to sing softly. Ivy remembered that song. It was the song that the goblins had been singing to their young ones back in the goblin village. None of the little goblins in the village had been screeching. Now Burdock seemed to listen to Mulberry’s soft song. Thistle joined in the singing.
Little goblin, soft and sweet,
smells of swamp and dirty feet,
plays in mud and climbs in trees,
picks its nose and scratc
hes fleas.
Little goblin, sweet and clever,
stop your screeching now forever!
Burdock suddenly stopped screeching. He held his arms out to Mulberry and went to her.
“Ahh,” sighed everyone.
Chief Earwig smiled. Then everyone smiled. Even Mistress Peevish smiled. Only Ivy and Grandmother felt a little sad that Burdock would be leaving them.
“Can he come back for visits?” Ivy asked the chief.
The chief thought hard for a minute. Then he called Burdock’s parents over to him. They whispered back and forth for another minute.
Finally, Chief Earwig spoke. “This baby goblin shall live with his parents, but these humans gave him his first home. Therefore, he shall come back and visit once every moon. He shall be a link between goblins and humans. And when he is grown, he shall be the keeper of the peace between us. I have spoken.”
Ivy liked that plan. So did Grandmother. They smiled happily. “Won’t you stay and celebrate with us?” said Grandmother. “We could have a picnic in the garden.”
The goblins thought that was a great idea. All twenty of them sat down and unpacked their food. The chief sat with Ivy and Grandmother. They had a nice talk. Branwen and Cedric and Balthazar joined them. Everyone made a big fuss over Branwen. She was the hero of the day. Ivy made a daisy chain and draped it around the unicorn’s neck.
Little Burdock ran back and forth between his parents and Ivy and Grandmother. Sometimes Mulberry or Thistle would sing to him, and he didn’t screech at all. Mulberry taught Ivy the song too.
At first, Mistress Peevish didn’t want to sit down and picnic with the goblins. “Look at all these goblins,” she said. “I told you that more goblins would come and take over the town! They might still throttle us in our sleep.”
Ivy and the Goblins Page 6
