Wings (27 page)

The greenish-white glow had spread farther across the walls, making the cavern even brighter than he remembered. The hipporines refused to settle down until he walked among them, petting and scratching and getting reacquainted with his old friends. Although the foals born in his absence were rough and wanted to take a bite out of him, Jak knew just how to handle such young ones. Once the hipporines quieted, Jak crawled onto the shelf where he’d often gone to rest.

The next morning when he woke, sunlight was pouring through the opening in the cave ceiling. He hurried over the wall so the hipporines’ caretakers would still believe that he was afraid of the animals; he was certain that if they thought he liked being with the beasts they’d find something truly awful to inflict on him instead.

Every morning the goblins came to feed the hipporines around the same time, leaving a plate of food or a crust of bread for Jak as well. He was forced to drink from the pool at the base of the wall, but the water was clean, for it had yet to flow into the hipporines’ trough.
Jak filled his day with taking care of the beasts. There was so much to do that he slept soundly at night; nothing short of the hipporines acting up could wake him.

On the third night, Jak was asleep dreaming of his life in the human world when the hipporines began to scream. He woke with a start, afraid that he’d overslept and the goblins had already come to feed the beasts. Halfway to the wall he realized that the sun wasn’t shining through the hole in the ceiling and that it was still dark enough to be the middle of the night.

Through the noise of the hipporines, Jak heard someone calling his name. He watched as a faint light bobbed down the tunnel, bursting into a glowing ball when it entered the cave, banishing the darkness for twenty feet in every direction. It was Tamisin.

Whooping loudly, Jak vaulted over the wall. “I thought I’d never see you again,” he said, walking toward her.

Tamisin laughed. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily. Not after all we’ve gone through.”

A scuffle broke out among the hipporines, raising the noise level on the other side of the wall and reminding Jak of where they were. He frowned at Tamisin. “How did you get in here? This is the last place you should be. What are you doing here anyway?”

“I’ve come to rescue you,” she said. “Lurinda found me during the dance. She said your uncle was mad and you needed someone to speak on your behalf; it was really just a ploy to get me here. I don’t know how well you know her, but she isn’t a good person, Jak. She’s
trying to use me to get at Titania. I think she may have been the one to send Nihlo after me. And she told me some things about my mother … I might have misjudged her—my mother, I mean.”

“I know all about Lurinda,” said Jak. “She was there when Nihlo’s friend stuck me with a poisoned knife in the fairies’ forest. I closed my eyes, so they must have thought I was unconscious, but I heard everything they said and then I figured out the rest. Lurinda told my uncle, Targin, about you so he’d get you here. When I wasn’t fast enough to suit her, she offered the reward. She didn’t care what shape you were in when she got you, so it didn’t matter who brought you to her. When that didn’t work, she sent Nihlo. I think she’d gone with him to the edge of the Sograssy Sea; she just stayed in the woods so no one would see her.

“My uncle is interested in goblins’ rights; Lurinda’s goals are more personal. I think she started the whole thing because she wanted revenge against Titania, but it’s gone beyond that now. Lurinda wants what Titania has—respect, power and control—and she’s willing to do just about anything to get it.”

“And then I came here on my own,” said Tamisin.

“Lurinda is a master at manipulating people. She would have gotten you here one way or another if you’d refused to come.”

“That’s pretty much what Gammi said. We had a long conversation. I like her a lot.”

“Good,” said Jak, smiling into her eyes. “So do I. But that still doesn’t explain how you got down here.”

“Gammi unlocked the door and we’re supposed to go back to her room. She’ll hide us until morning and let us out before anyone is up.”

“It sounds as if you two have it all figured out.”

“We do. So if you’re ready …”

Jak had just taken Tamisin’s hand when he heard voices echoing in the tunnel. This time there was no mistaking who they were. “Quick,” he said, pulling her toward the wall. “The goblins are coming. They’re early today. You’ll have to hide on the other side. I don’t want to find out what they’d do to you if they discovered you here.”

The hipporines had also heard the goblins; the sound of their voices had sent the beasts into a rage.

“But what about them?” Tamisin asked, gesturing toward the hipporines.

“If we hurry, I can get you to a place where you’ll be safe.” Jak linked his fingers together and crouched down. “Step on my hands and I’ll help you up.”

“I don’t think I—”

“There isn’t time to argue. Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing. We’ll climb the wall now. Once we’re on top, we have to jump. I’ll go first, then I’ll catch you. The hipporines won’t hurt me, but they don’t like strangers. You’ll be all right as long as I stay between you and them. There’s a ledge on the back wall where the goblins won’t see you and the hipporines can’t reach you. We have to be fast.” Jak braced himself against the stones while Tamisin slipped her foot onto his hand and reached for the top of the wall. He waited while she scrabbled at the
stones. A moment later he was crouched beside her, looking down over the other side. He had to admit that the hipporines looked frightening with their ears back and their fangs bared as they milled just below the wall.

“Hey, you miserable excuses for monsters!” called a goblin from the tunnel. “It’s time for breakfast!”

At the sound of the goblin’s voice, the larger hipporines screamed so loudly that Tamisin put her hands over her ears. Jak pointed at the far wall and waited until she nodded. He gave her hand a quick squeeze, then jumped off the wall, landing lightly on his feet. The hipporines moved to surround him the way they always did, but he pushed them back and held up his arms for Tamisin, catching her as if she weighed nothing at all. Jak set her down while the hipporines surged around him, trying to get to Tamisin, craning their necks to snap at her. She was running beside Jak when one of the beasts caught the back of the cape in its mouth and yanked her off her feet. Jak kicked the hipporine, forcing it away from Tamisin while she struggled to stand. She was moving again when the light went out and she realized that she’d dropped it. Tamisin stopped to look behind her. Scooping her into his arms, Jak picked her up and ran. And then they were at the far wall and once again Jak boosted her up. Only this time he didn’t follow.

After gesturing for her to stay down, Jak ran back, hoping to retrieve the gnome light, but it had been trampled to dust before he could reach it. Without slowing his pace, Jak vaulted to the top of the wall, then jumped down to the ground on the other side.

A moment later, three goblins entered the cave lugging grisly sacks of raw, dripping meat. “I hope you’re hungry, beasties!” shouted the goblin who was carrying a pointed hook strapped to a long pole. “Snarp, it’s your turn to feed them.”

“Who made you my boss?” cried Snarp.

“Your mother, when she made you a moron! Now get up there or I’ll use this on you!” the goblin said, waving a hook in Snarp’s face.

Grumbling, Snarp jumped to the top of the wall and began cursing at the snarling, snapping hipporines. Once he’d emptied his sack onto the heads of the beasts, the other two goblins tossed their sacks up to him and he threw that meat as well. When the sacks were empty, two of the goblins left while the third stayed long enough to toss a crust of bread at Jak. The goblin cackled when the crust landed on the ground, then hurried after his companions, shouting at them to slow down.

Jak waited until he could no longer hear their voices before going over the wall. Moments later he was bending over Tamisin where she lay curled on the ledge. She jerked away when he set his hand on her shoulder, and he remembered that she couldn’t see in the near dark. “The goblins are gone,” he said. “You can get down now. The hipporines won’t bother you while they’re eating.”

“I can’t see a thing,” said Tamisin. “I don’t suppose you have a light with you?”

“No, but then I haven’t needed one. Cat goblins can see when it’s this dark.” He heard a scraping sound and a quick indrawn breath. “Let me help you. Here’s my
hand. Lean this way … That’s it. Now put your feet over the side.” Jak guided Tamisin as she crawled off the ledge, catching her when she slid the last few feet. He held her hand as they walked to the wall, then helped her over that as well.

“I wish I could make light the way the full-blooded fairies do,” said Tamisin. “All they have to do is beat their wings fast.”

“Have you tried it?” asked Jak.

“No, but I will now,” she said, taking off Gammi’s cape. “There’s plenty of room here. Stand back and let me see what I can do.”

Jak was amazed when Tamsin’s wings unfurled behind her. They were much bigger and more powerful than he’d imagined. The breeze they created when she moved them stirred up a small dust storm, making Jak’s eyes sting.

“Nothing’s happening,” Tamisin said eventually. “I didn’t really think I’d … Wait, did you see that?” she asked, suddenly sounding excited. “There was a glimmer, I’m sure of it! Hold on. Let me see …” Tamisin was panting now, her breath coming in short, sharp gasps as she beat her wings faster and faster. “There! I can see you. You don’t need to look so surprised.”

“I’m not. I just didn’t expect it to work so well.” He coughed, squinting at her through air now thick with yellow-brown motes. “You don’t have to beat your wings that fast. It’s too bright, and the dust…”

“Oh, sorry,” Tamisin said, slowing her wings to a less frenzied pace. She glanced at the entrance to the cave. “Do you suppose the door is still unlocked?”

“I hope so,” said Jak. “Otherwise we’re both trapped down here.”

Tamisin walked up the tunnel, beating her wings more slowly as she learned just how fast she needed to move them to create light. Jak followed, seeing the tunnel with real light for the first time. It seemed shorter that way, and they reached the end before he knew it.

While Tamisin stood to the side, still beating her wings, Jak tried the latch. It was locked. “Do you think you can change it like you did that door back at the inn?” she asked.

“I tried that before you got here. It didn’t work. The gnomes probably made the lock just like they did the one on the front door. Nothing can open that lock except the key that goes with it. But I’ll try again anyway.” After setting his hand on the door, Jak closed his eyes to focus on the lock and what he wanted it to become.
A glob of raspberry jelly
, he thought.
That wouldn’t keep anything out
. He could feel the tingling sensation, so when it grew strong enough, he pushed with his mind. Nothing happened except he got a pounding headache and the taste of raspberry jelly in his mouth.

“I didn’t think it would work,” he said. “We’re both trapped now. We should return to the cave in case someone comes back. My uncle must be up to something if he had his goblins feed the hipporines so early.”

“Are you sure there isn’t any other way out?” Tamisin asked as they turned around. “Could there be another door that the goblins don’t use very often?”

“Nothing that we can use,” said Jak. “Believe me, I’ve looked.”

Tamisin sighed. “I wish I hadn’t told Tobi to stop following me. If he had seen me leave the dance with Lurinda, he could have told my mother. At least then they’d have some idea where to look for me. If only I had some way to let them know …” Tamisin stopped near the end of the tunnel and stood so still that even her wings weren’t moving. “That’s it!” she cried. “All I need to do is dance!”

“If that will make you feel better,” Jak said.

“It’s not about how I feel,” said Tamisin, giving him an exasperated look. “Whenever I dance in the light of a full moon, fairies come to see me. They find me wherever I am. My parents thought they were fireflies and made me dance inside because they’d always show up.”

“But there isn’t a full moon now. Look!” Jak pointed toward the pool of water. Sunlight was streaming through the hole in the ceiling, making the water glint and sparkle beneath it. The sun had come up while they were in the tunnel.

“That doesn’t matter,” said Tamisin. “The moonlight taught me the dance, but I know it by heart now.”

“Don’t you need music?” asked Jak.

“The music is in my head,” she said, and she began to dance.

Jak watched as she twirled and spun, gesturing with her arms like a willow tree in the wind. With her body swaying, her wings fluttered like petals carried on a breeze one moment, then undulated like pond grass the
next. Jak could see how fairies would be attracted to her dancing. It was the essence of nature, the heart of what gave the fairies their magic.

Tamisin danced with her eyes closed, but when she stopped she opened them and looked around expectantly. “They didn’t come,” she said, sounding disappointed. “I must have been wrong; it does work only when there’s a full moon.” Tamisin sighed and glanced up at the hole in the ceiling. “You know, there is another way. I wonder how big that hole is.”

Jak shrugged. “You’d have to be in the water and look straight up to see it.”

“Or fly,” said Tamisin, beating her wings. She rose above the water, making the surface dimple with the breeze her wings created. “I think it’s big enough,” she called back to Jak.

“Then you should go,” he said. “Maybe you can get word to someone that I’m down here.”

“I’m not leaving you,” said Tamisin, coming back to land beside him.

“If you’re thinking of carrying me, forget it. When fairies are full sized their wings aren’t strong enough to support their own weight for more than short distances. You’d never be able to fly up there with my weight, too.”

“You’re forgetting one thing, Jak,” said Tamisin. “I’m not like most fairies.” Wrapping her arms around his waist, she looked up at the hole in the ceiling. “That isn’t too far. We’ll be out of here in a minute provided that hole is big enough for the both of us. I’ve never carried anyone before, so put your arms around
me and hold on tight. You can close your eyes if you get scared.”