Once again Lamia Lou gave Jak and Tamisin a ride across the Sograssy Sea, this time with the lamia telling endless tales about her family. Only Herbert seemed genuinely interested.
“. . . And then there wath Great-Grandma Lamia Zalina. That old woman wath a real hoot! Thhe filed her teeth to pointth tho thhe’d look thcarier, but it made her teeth rot and they all had to come out. Without her teeth her face collapthed and thhe had to gum her food. No one thought thhe looked thcary after that.”
“That’s too bad,” murmured Herbert.
“You would have liked my grandmother Lamia Mia. Thhe perfected the art of thlithering through the grath without dithturbing a thingle blade. That woman thcared more people to death than anyone elthe in the family.”
“She sounds delightful,” Jak said through gritted teeth.
“I bet none of them were as beautiful as you are, Sweet Lips,” said Herbert.
“That’th true,” said Lamia Lou.
After what seemed like half a day, Tamisin had heard enough stories. Since Lamia Lou had assured them that she and Jak could come and go freely across the sea, she was ready to try it without an escort. “We’re not taking you out of your way, are we?” she asked. “Which direction would you go to see your family?”
“That way,” Lamia Lou said, pointing at a right angle to the way they were travelling.
“Then I think this is where we part company,” said Tamisin. “If you wouldn’t mind stopping . . .”
Lamia Lou slithered to a halt. “Are you thure? The other thide’th thtill an hour away. We really wouldn’t mind taking you there, would we, Herbert?”
“Not at all,” said the unicorn.
“We’ll be fine,” Tamisin said. “I’m sure you have other things to do than spend the day helping us.”
“If you inthitht,” said Lamia Lou as Tamisin and Jak climbed off her snaky tail. “But you’re mithing a lot of great thtorieth.”
“We’ll be back to hear them some other time,” said Jak.
The lamia had already started telling Herbert about another relative when they disappeared into the shoulder-high grass. “Thank you,” Jak told Tamisin. “After riding a hipporine this morning I wasn’t sure that I’d ever sit again. I don’t think I could have stayed on Lamia Lou’s tail much longer.”
“You mean you didn’t want to get off because of her stories?” asked Tamisin.
“That too. And I thought my relatives were strange!”
“Gammi’s not. I really like her,” said Tamisin. “I’m glad she’s going to join you soon. I didn’t know she liked living among humans that much.”
“Neither did my uncle, Targin. She nearly took his head off when he tried to forbid her to go back. I’d never seen him look browbeaten before.”
Tamisin laughed. “She is his mother. I don’t think he would have turned out to be such a strong leader without her.”
“It’s amazing how much of an impact mothers can have on their children, even when they’re not around. At least now you know who your mother is and that she really does love you.”
“I suppose,” said Tamisin. “I mean, I want to go home and everything, but I was a little disappointed that she didn’t say anything about seeing me again.”
Jak laughed. “Oh, but she did. She kissed you goodbye right before we left, didn’t she? When the queen of the fairies kisses you, it means that you’ll have to return to her one day. Even people who want to stay away are compelled to go back eventually. They have no choice, and neither will you.”
“She could have just asked me back for a visit,” said Tamisin.
“Aren’t you ever satisfied?” Jak said, laughing again.
They had made good time crossing a patch that was no more than waist high when they entered the last of the taller grass. Tamisin considered opening her wings and rising into the air to see where they were going, and it even crossed her mind that they could get to the other side much faster if she were to fly them there, but Jak wanted to stretch his legs, and she was enjoying their conversation now that Lamia Lou and Herbert were gone.
“Tell me something,” she said as Jak took the lead. “When we get back to the human world will everything still be the same between us?”
Jak’s back was to her as he worked his way through the taller grass, so she couldn’t see his face when he said, “I don’t know. Are you still going to want to see me? After all, you are a princess and I’m just a halfling.”
“The important word there is ‘halfling,’” said Tamisin. “Who else can understand what it’s like to be a part of two different worlds and not really belong in either? And who else can see the things that I can see and know that they really exist? And who else can I show off to when I want to fly?” Laughing out loud, Tamisin threw her arms in the air and twirled just as she did when she was dancing. She was on her fourth spin when she heard a sound like a strangled cough. “Jak,” she said, stopping in midtwirl. “Are you all right?”
Jak wasn’t where she thought he’d be, so she turned around, thinking she’d got disorientated. “Jak?” she called again, but there was no answer. There was no one around and nowhere he could have gone. She forged ahead, pushing the grass aside, and tried again, louder this time. “Jak!” When there still was no response, Tamisin felt a twinge of fear. This wasn’t right. He had to be there, didn’t he?
Tamisin retraced her steps, examining the flattened grass. This was where she had walked. This was where she had twirled. And over here . . . Tamisin’s breath whistled between her teeth when she saw where the grass had been flattened to one side. Someone else was here, and something was very wrong.
Opening her wings with a whoosh, Tamisin took to the air. It was easy to see the trail from above; although it was straightening, the grass that had been trampled caught the light differently from the grass around it. There was a hill and a dip and . . . Tamisin gasped when she finally saw Jak. He was on his feet, with his fists raised, and he wasn’t alone. Nihlo had found them again.
When Tamisin’s shadow passed over Jak, he shouted, “Stay back, Tamisin,” without taking his eyes off the knife in Nihlo’s hand.
Jak had no knife, or anything he could readily turn into one. When Nihlo lunged, jabbing with his knife, Jak danced aside, then kicked with his opposite foot, knocking the weapon out of the goblin’s hand. Nihlo was on his hands and knees rooting through the trampled grass when Jak shaded his eyes from the sun and called to Tamisin. “Give me your hair clip.”
The emerald green clip was made of plastic and looked like two interlocking sets of claws. He caught it as it sailed through the air, then quickly looked to see what Nihlo was doing. His cousin had found his knife and was just getting up off his knees.
“What do you think you’re going to do with that?” Nihlo asked when he saw the clip. “Pinch me to death?”
“Actually,” said Jak, “I had something else in mind.” He knew it was risky when he closed his eyes because Nihlo might take advantage of it and throw his knife, but he was hoping that curiosity alone would stay the goblin’s hand. Jak thought about the clip, then pictured what he wanted it to become. He felt the tingling and when he pushed, he no longer held the clip.
“Hey!” exclaimed Nihlo. “What’s that?”
“It’s a cage to keep you in,” said Jak. Made of steel, the cage was thirty feet across and enclosed both Jak and Nihlo. The sides rose for ten feet, then arched together to form a ceiling over their heads.
“How did you do that?” asked Nihlo. “Everybody knows that halflings can’t transmogrify anything.”
“Then everybody must be wrong,” said Jak.
Nihlo sneered and took a step closer. “You think you’re so smart, but that was the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen. You made a cage for me and put yourself in it.”
Jak nodded. “That was really stupid, wasn’t it? Although you have to admit, it is a nice cage.” While his cousin watched, Jak reached up to run his hand over one of the bars. “Good quality metal too. It should last a really long time.” Jak’s back was turned when he closed his eyes again. When he opened them, a door had appeared in the cage. He stepped through before the goblin could react and closed the door behind him. Nihlo started running, but Jak had the bars changed back before his cousin was even close.
“You son of a sea witch!” Nihlo shouted. He lunged at Jak, hitting the bars with his chest and shoulder, but Jak was already well out of range.
Jak waited for Tamisin to land beside him. When she took his hand, he squeezed hers, then turned to Nihlo and said, “What I don’t understand is why you’re here at all. You must have heard about your father’s promise that no goblin would come after us.”
Nihlo looked as if he’d tasted something foul. “I’ve forsworn my father. I don’t follow his orders anymore.”
Jak nodded. “You follow Lurinda’s orders now, don’t you?”
A rustling in the grass announced the arrival of Lamia Lou and Herbert. Nihlo swore and stepped away from the side of the cage.
“I heard the thouting. Ith thomething going on?” asked the lamia. She clasped her hands in front of her chest and gazed at the cage in delight. “Thay! Thith ith nice! What’th it for?”
“It’s here to hold this piece of junk until Targin can come and get him. I’m sure my uncle will know what to do with his son. Would you be able to get word to Targin that Nihlo is here?” Jak asked Lamia Lou.
“It would be my pleathure!” she replied.
“But first, why don’t you share with him some of the stories you were telling us,” said Jak. “Tell him about your grandmother who could slither up to a victim without making a sound.”
“And the one with the filed teeth,” added Tamisin.
“I’d love to!” said Lamia Lou, smiling so broadly that her fangs glistened in the sunlight.
“I wonder what day of the week it will be when we get back to the human world,” said Tamisin. The edge of the Sograssy Sea was in sight, and just beyond it sparkled the waters of the Deep Blue Lake.
“Does it matter?” asked Jak.
“Not really,” said Tamisin. “It’s just that admission to the cinema is cheaper on Tuesday night. I thought we could go if something good was on.”
Jak pretended to be surprised. “Are you asking me out on a date?”
“I sure am,” said Tamisin as she turned to face him. “And it’s going to be indoors, where no fairies or goblins can surprise us.”
“Goblins surprised us in my house during the Halloween party,” Jak reminded her. He took her hand in his and pulled her towards him.
“True,” said Tamisin. “But then everybody knew about the party. We’re not inviting anyone else on our date.”
“Not even Tobi?” Jak asked with a grin.
“Especially not Tobi,” said Tamisin. “This time everything is going to go right.”
“I think it already is,” said Jak. And he kissed her.