Wings (10 page)

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 …

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 out 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.