Part 10 (1/2)

Oona felt her excitement drain away, and once again her nerves began to steal back over her. The goblin's eyes had a perpetual edge of malevolence about them, yet he seemed polite enough, and after a moment she decided the frightening face was only frightening because that was simply how goblins looked. In a way she almost felt sorry for him.

”Very well,” the goblin said, and then turned its frightening gaze upon Deacon. ”That your bird, miss?”

Oona nodded, clearing her throat. ”Yes.”

The goblin gave Deacon a glimpse of its yellow-fanged teeth before smacking its flat, wormy lips together. ”Well, you might want to have him wait outside. Not unless you fancy him becoming supper for one of my brothers. I can control myself, so I can, but Glok and Clagwell ... well, let's just say that neither of 'em has had black raven pie in neigh on five hundred years. Me? I prefer cat, myself. Though my favorite is worms, of course. Big, fat, slimy glowworms.” His small, beady eyes seemed to glaze over at the mention of the worms. ”You didn't happen to bring any extra, did you? One for an old doorkeeper like myself?” He looked at her expectantly.

Oona swallowed a lump in her throat. ”I'm afraid not. I'm fresh out of ... um, worms. Though I do have to make sure that you ... you don't eat ... um ...” She couldn't get herself to say it.

”What? Humans?” the goblin said, and then stuck out his tongue. ”No, miss. And begging your pardon, but I can't think of anything more disgusting. I'd sooner eat my brothers. But luckily, we goblins do not need to eat at all; otherwise, we would have all gobbled each other up long ago.”

Oona gave Deacon a sideways look. ”Perhaps it is best that you-”

”Wait outside,” he finished for her. He took immediately to the air, and added, ”Good luck,” before disappearing out the door.

Oona smiled nervously at the goblin.

”Very wise, miss,” the goblin said. ”My name is Marrgak, by the way. Follow me.”

Marrgak led her down a short hallway. The walls were as black as night, and all that could be heard was the patter of their footsteps. It was a short walk, however, and a moment later they emerged into a wide-open room. Glowing torches hung against the walls in row after row of flickering lights that rose endlessly into the darkness above. In the center of the room was a rowboat-the very same kind that her mother had been so fond of floating around in at Oswald Park-except that this rowboat hung like a basket beneath a lime-colored hot-air balloon. Oona had only ever seen ill.u.s.trations of hot-air balloons before, and it was a very exciting sight. This balloon, however, was much smaller in scale than the ones she'd seen in books. It appeared to be about one-quarter of the size of the ones she remembered.

Oh, Mother would have loved to have seen this, she thought.

But the thought was erased in an instant when she realized that the boat was presently occupied by four thick-armed goblins, each one identical to Marrgak. In fact, the only way Oona could tell them apart was by their different-colored tunics. The boat's four oars had been pushed out of the way, and as Oona and the doorkeeper approached, she was surprised to see that the creatures were presently engaged in a game of cards. Indeed, though she had known of the existence of goblins from her history lessons with Deacon, she had never actually seen one outside of the enchanted tapestries in the parlor. Seeing so many of them now made her feel quite nervous, to say the least.

As Oona and Marrgak stopped at the edge of the boat, the four other goblins scarcely bothered to look up from their card game.

”This girl's going up to see the prisoner,” Marrgak announced.

One of the goblins in the boat-this one was wearing a red tunic-looked up from his cards and then lowered his head again. ”We're in the middle of a game,” was his only reply.

Marrgak gave Oona a little shrug. ”Good luck getting them to row you up when they have a game going.” He pointed to the seat at the front of the boat. ”There's where you sit. See you on your way out.” He turned to go. ”Be careful, though,” he called over his shoulder. ”If someone is a prisoner up in that cell, they must be pretty bad.”

And then he was gone, swallowed up by the darkness. The four goblins in the boat continued their game, mumbling in low voices to one another, as Oona climbed into her seat at the bow. Once in place, she looked down at her feet to discover several objects: a hand drum, a whip, and an iron lockbox.

”Um, can you please take me up now?” she asked politely.

The goblins ignored her.

”Um ... h.e.l.lo?” she said.

No response.

”Row!” she snapped at them. It did no good. They were too engrossed in their game.

She glanced at her feet and picked up the whip. Looking from the whip to the goblins, she hoped that she wasn't expected to whip them. They all looked very strong, and very bad-tempered, and would certainly have had no trouble taking the whip right away from her. And besides, the idea just seemed quite mean, no matter how lazy they were acting. The only thing she could think to do was to crack the whip along the side of the boat, and so that's exactly what she did. She snapped the end with an awkward flick of her wrist, readying herself to jump from the boat should the goblins make any sudden move toward her.

Krack!

The four goblins groaned in unison, clearly irritated, but they placed their cards on the seat beside them and pulled once on their oars. A flame mechanism in the center of the boat fired once, and the boat rose about a foot from the floor. The goblins then picked their cards back up and returned to playing their game.

”This is going to take forever,” Oona said, looking up. The bottom of the lime-green balloon blocked her view of much of the ceiling, but still, she knew that seven hundred feet was a long way up. Once again, she glanced over the objects at her feet. Trusting in her instinct that these random items were the keys to getting the goblins to work, she briefly considered the hand drum and what it might be for, but when she bent to retrieve it, she changed her mind and picked up the iron lockbox instead. There was only one thing she could think to do. Quite determinedly, she set the box in her lap and slid the black iron key that she had taken from the circle of stones into the lock. The box clicked open to reveal four plump, wriggling worms. The worms had a faint mystical glow about them, and Oona knew immediately what they were-glowworms, the kind that could be found deep in the gardens at Pendulum House, beneath the patches of turlock root and sighing-lady gra.s.s.

Remembering what Marrgak had said about how much he liked worms, Oona plucked one of the slimy glowworms from the box and closed the lid again so that it locked shut. She held up the worm.

”If you row me all the way to the top, I'll give you these,” she said.

The goblins ceased their murmuring and turned to her, cards raised. Their eyes flashed, betraying their excitement. They turned to confer, mumbling low to one another before turning back.

”You must give us the worms first,” said the goblin in the red tunic.

”First?” Oona said dubiously. She did not trust the sly tone in the goblin's gravelly voice. If she gave them the worms now, they might still refuse to row her to the top.

”It is how it is done,” said the goblin. ”It is how it is always done. You give us the worms, then we row.”

”Oh, yes,” another of the goblins agreed. ”It is how it is done.”

Maybe the goblins were telling the truth, and that was how it was done. The way that their horrible little eyes peered at the worm in her hand made her feel very uneasy, and she had just begun to fear that they would go right ahead and take the worm and the key by force when a thought occurred to her.

They can't just take it. It's part of the tower's enchantment. And this is all some test, like the riddle. If I don't pa.s.s, then I can't go up to see the prisoner.

She considered the words that the goblin had said: It is how it is always done. If anyone would know how it had been done hundreds of years ago, when the tower was still being used, it would be these goblins. She made her decision.

”All right,” she said, unlocking the box and reaching in. The glowing worms squirmed in her hand. ”I'll give you the worms and you'll take me to the top?”

The goblins' black eyes sparkled against the glow of the worms. Their mouths gaped, revealing fleshy gums and jagged teeth.

”Oh yes, indeed, miss,” the goblin in red a.s.sured her. ”It is how it is done.”

The goblin extended his covetous, large-knuckled hands, and Oona handed over the four worms. The goblin pa.s.sed the worms around, one for each of his companions. They popped the worms into their large, flat mouths like popcorn, and then grimaced as they swallowed. Oona realized that they wore the same sour expression the Wizard got on his face when gulping down a shot of whiskey.

The goblins began to sway slightly from side to side, grinning at one another.

”All right,” Oona said, ”a deal is a deal. I gave you the worms, now take me up.”

The goblins burst into laughter, slapping one another on the back, as if in congratulation for a job well done. The one in the red tunic began to hum a little tune, while the one in purple stifled a hiccup and nearly slid out of his seat. A great, burly belch issued from the mouth of the goblin in blue, and Oona was blasted with the smell of it. She wrinkled up her nose as the stench engulfed her, and she understood what was happening. The smell was very similar to the stink that drifted out through the doors of some of the pubs on the north end of the street. It was the smell of beer, and wine, and hard alcohol.

”You're all drunk!” Oona said aloud.

The goblins' grins grew wider still, revealing even more of their hideous pink gums. They threw their arms around each other's shoulders and began to sway back and forth.

”Hay-ho, the dairy-oh,” they began to sing together. ”A worm in my belly, and no more woes. Hay-ho, the dairy-he. The workin' life is not for me.”

She listened to them sing their song, the words beginning to slur together as they bellowed out the ridiculous lyrics. Looking down, she saw that the lockbox was once again occupied by four worms.

”Just great,” she said. ”A never-ending box of worms.” She slammed the lid closed. ”What help is that? All they do is get them drunk, and now they're worse than before.”

”Hey, miss!” said the goblin in blue, his words coming out slurry and overly loud. ”Who you talking to? You crazy or somethin'?”

Again they all howled with laughter, slapping him on the back in praise of his superior wit.