Chapter 18
Jak shook his head. “I heard them talking, too, but I have no idea who ‘she’ is.”
Tamisin turned to the little masked goblin. “The people back at the inn said that I looked like someone. Do you have any idea who it might be?”
Tobi looked away as if he couldn’t meet her eyes. “Me? I ain’t got no idea, thought, opinion. Maybe it was a friend of theirs?”
“Tobi,” said Jak. “What do you know that you’re not telling us? You’re talking in threes, and you do that only when you’re agitated.”
“I don’t know anything, less than nothing, no idea!” said Tobi.
“Really?” said Jak. “Why do I find that so hard to believe? Well then, tell us something you do know. Have you heard anything more about that reward?”
“I still don’t know who offered it, if that’s what ya mean,” said Tobi. “The reward itself is the usual—twelve pieces of fairy gold for delivering the girl, dead or alive. Did I forget to mention that last part?”
“Yeah, you did,” Jak said. “But it explains what happened last night. The innkeeper’s nephews tried to kill us.”
“And I heard them mention money,” Tamisin added.
“What?” squeaked Tobi. “They can’t … They shouldn’t … No one can …” The little goblin’s tail twitched and his ears flicked back and forth. “I knew there were goblins lookin’ for her, but I never thought …” Squaring his shoulders, he looked up at his friend. “Ya can’t go to yer uncle’s, Jak. It wouldn’t be safe, secure, out of harm’s way. Ya gotta take her to the fairy queen. She’s the only one who could protect the girl.”
“Titania? Why her?” asked Jak.
“Because no one will try to hurt a fairy while she’s under the queen’s protection.”
“My uncle …”
“Doesn’t command all the goblins or any of the rest of the fey. It has to be Titania! Look at it this way, Jak. If ya take her to yer uncle, ya’ll be drawin’ a whole lot of trouble straight to his doorstep. The fairy queen can handle it. Can yer family?”
“I don’t want to cause your family any problems,” said Tamisin.
Jak glanced from one earnest face to the other. He had promised his uncle that he’d bring her and had been hoping to make him proud. If he didn’t take her now, his uncle would think he was a failure, or even worse, a traitor. However, if he did take her to Targin, he could be endangering the very person he was trying to help. Somehow Tamisin’s safety had become a lot more important than his pride, so Jak straightened his shoulders and nodded. “To Titania, then. It makes more sense that we’d go there anyway. Nihlo’s up to something and he already knows we were going to his father’s den. He’d probably be waiting for us when we got there.”
“Good thinkin’, Jak!” exclaimed Tobi. “This time of year Titania’ll be in the Old Forest, gettin’ ready for the midsummer’s dance.”
“Which way is that?” asked Tamisin.
“Through the woods,” Jak said. “We’ll have to go around the Sograssy Sea. But before we go any farther, I want to make sure no one’s following us. I wouldn’t put it past Bob and his nephews to want to finish what they started.”
“I’ll go with you,” Tamisin said.
“No,” said Jak. “You won’t. I want you and Tobi to hide somewhere off the path where no one could see you. Over here looks good.” Jak began following a deer trail back into the woods, then left the trail and picked his way through the underbrush, circling around so their tracks wouldn’t be easy to find. He stopped when he found a small clearing, and gestured to the ground. “Have a seat right here. I’ll be back for you as soon as I can. Tobi, you keep an eye on her. I’m counting on you.”
“If you’re gone too long, I’m going to come looking for you,” Tamisin warned.
“Fair enough,” said Jak and he disappeared into the underbrush along with one of the cats.
Tamisin could still hear Jak making his way back to the path when Tobi started eyeing the closest tree. “Ya’ll have ta ’scuse me fer a coupla minutes. I got some business ta see to.”
“But Jak said you should stay here with me,” said Tamisin.
“I won’t be long,” he replied. “Ya just hunker down and don’t move. I’ll be back before ya know it.”
“All right, just …,” Tamisin began, but he was gone.
Tamisin’s stomach rumbled. Jak had made them skip breakfast in his hurry to leave the inn, so after finding a mossy patch without too many anthills, she sat cross-legged on the ground and opened her purse to take out a lemon cookie that had once been a breath mint. She was wondering how much longer Jak would be gone when the leaves of the undergrowth rustled. The cat that had stayed with her stood up and sniffed the air. Whatever the cat smelled didn’t leave her too concerned, because she lay down and rested her head on her paws. Tamisin decided that Jak must be coming back already and was about to call out to him when a huge white horselike head bearing a long silver horn parted the leaves and a unicorn stepped into the clearing.
Tamisin had seen pictures of unicorns, of course, but most of the artists who had drawn them had made them look delicate. This unicorn was sleek and beautiful, but there wasn’t anything delicate about him. Except for the horn, he looked like a white racehorse, but was bigger than any horse she’d ever seen. He snorted when he saw her, and his brown eyes flashed almost crimson. His mane was silver streaked with gold, and it shed sparks when he shook it. He took a step toward Tamisin, then pawed the ground as if not sure what to do.
Tamisin tried to remember the magazine articles she’d read about how to act when encountering wild animals. Should she run to the closest tree and climb it? Should she jump up and shout, trying to make herself look big and fierce? Maybe she should lie down and play dead, hoping the unicorn would sniff her and walk away. She sat motionless, unable to make up her mind.
The unicorn lowered his head and approached Tamisin, one slow step at a time, until he stood towering above her. She was about to jump to her feet when he knelt so that his brown eyes became almost liquid gazing into hers. Sighing, he lay down and rested his heavy head on her lap.
Tamisin wasn’t sure if she should be honored or frightened. She decided not to move. The creature’s horn was sharp and could easily swing around to skewer her. The last thing she wanted to do was make him angry. Maybe Tobi would know what to do when he came back. And where was he anyway? He’d already been gone longer than a few minutes.
The unicorn looked up at Tamisin’s face and snuffled. He was magnificent with his gleaming mane, his velvet hide, and his glittering silver horn that spiraled from his well-formed brow. She couldn’t resist touching his neck ever so gently. He snorted, his nostrils flaring, but his head stayed on her lap. When she brushed his mane from his eyes, he sighed and blinked. Her fingers wandered to the base of his horn. He closed his eyes and she could feel him relax, his head becoming even heavier than before. Tamisin idly scratched his brow, and he seemed to enjoy it, shifting his head so her fingers stayed by his silver horn. It reminded her of the way her cat, Skipper, liked to have her head scratched in a certain way.
Tamisin could have sat there for hours if her legs hadn’t started to go numb. Trying to shift her weight didn’t work since the unicorn was too heavy to budge. She was wondering how long she’d have to sit like that when Jak stepped out of the underbrush with the cat on his heels.
He scowled at the unicorn. “Who the heck is that?”
“Shh!” said Tamisin. “He’s a unicorn. Be quiet or you’ll startle him.”
“We’ll see about that.” Jak crossed the clearing in three steps and bent down so his mouth was near the animal’s twitching ear. “Hey, buddy!” he shouted. “What do you think you’re doing?”
The unicorn opened his eyes and looked up at Jak. “Go away,” he said in a deep voice. “This is my maiden. You have to find your own.”
Tamisin was startled. “You can talk! Why didn’t you say anything before?”
The unicorn gazed up at her with adoration in his eyes. “Words aren’t important when you have an understanding like ours.”
“Understanding? I don’t even know you,” she said.
Jak looked disgusted. “Unicorns spout the worst kind of drivel. Get up, you old fool,” he said to the creature, whose head still rested on Tamisin’s lap. “She’s not like most maidens. She’s … Oh, forget it. We don’t have time for this. Where’s Tobi? I told him to stay here with you.”
“I don’t know,” said Tamisin. “He said he’d be gone for just a few minutes, but he hasn’t come back yet. I was beginning to get worried.”
The unicorn raised his head and opened his other eye. “Of course she’s not like most maidens. I wouldn’t be here if she were. Do you know how hard it is to find a maiden who’s pure of heart? I’m keeping her, no matter what you say.”
“You can’t. She’s in danger here and I have to take her away. Now get your head off her lap so we can go.”
“Oh, all right.” The unicorn shook his head, then heaved himself to his feet. Tamisin brushed the sparks from his mane off her shirt, surprised that they were cool to the touch. “It isn’t fair,” said the unicorn. “All the pure maidens are already taken! I just wanted her to be my friend.”
Jak gave Tamisin a hand up. “I know about you unicorns and your friends. You’ll want to monopolize all her time so she’ll forget about everyone else. Forget it. You’re just going to have to keep looking for a new friend. And so is Tobi,” Jak said, glancing at the trees. “We’re not waiting.”
Although they started walking, the unicorn wasn’t ready to give up. Every time Tamisin glanced back, he was there, trailing behind them like a dog hoping for scraps. The cats ignored him, more interested in the path ahead, but finally Jak had had enough. Turning on his heel, he fixed the unicorn with an angry glare and said, “Stop following us. Tamisin and I don’t want to draw attention to ourselves and you’re making that impossible.”
The unicorn stopped. “Tamisin,” he breathed softly. “What a beautiful name. If anyone is interested, my name is Silver Dancer, but everyone calls me Herbert. Call me if you ever need me, Tamisin, and I’ll come running.”
Tamisin glanced back once more, just before the path curved again. The poor beast was standing where they’d left him, watching her with mournful eyes. “In the stories I read, unicorns wouldn’t approach anyone except a maiden, but I never did learn why.”
“It’s because of their horns. They say that the base of their horns is particularly itchy. If they try to scratch it themselves, they get their horns caught in branches or wedged somewhere they can’t escape. Unicorns are suspicious creatures. The only ones they trust near their horns are maidens who are pure of heart. Once they find one they like, they never stop pestering her. If I hadn’t come along, he’d have had you scratching his head for the rest of the day.”
“Aren’t their horns supposed to have some magical properties? Aside from being so beautiful, I mean.”
Jak snorted. “Don’t ever let a unicorn hear you say that. They’re vain enough as it is. As to the magic, yes, it’s true. A unicorn can purify poisoned water by dipping his horn in it. A cup made from the horn will also nullify any poison in a drink, which is why the beasts are hunted every fall.”
“Do you suppose he’d let me ride him?” she said, looking back over her shoulder. “If we really have that far to walk …”
“He might, but only if he could claim you as his maiden, and we don’t have time to argue with him again.”
The cats looked up, staring into the branches overhead.
“Speakin’ of huntin’,” said Tobi as he dropped from the tree directly into their path. “Did ya see any sign that we’re bein’ followed? ’Cuz I sure didn’t.”
Jak glared at the little raccoon goblin. “Where have you been? I told you to stay with Tamisin.”
Tobi shrugged. “I was hungry. Ya can’t be too mad at me. I got ya these.” Holding out his hand, the little goblin opened it to reveal a few slightly smushed berries, the same color as the stains smearing his fur.
“No thanks,” Tamisin said, grimacing.
It was obvious that Jak was furious. “You’re so irresponsible, Tobi! Why are you even with us if we can’t count on you?”
“Ya can count on me, Jak. Ya know I’ve always been there fer ya. Why are ya so bloomin’ mad? I just … Oh, I get it. Yer riled because-a her, ain’t ya? I think ya got a thing fer Tamisin. Ya ain’t in love with her, are ya, Jak?”
“You talk too much, Tobi. Next time I tell you to do something, just do it.”
“Maybe if ya ask me instead-a tellin’ me Jak, I’d be more inclined ta listen. Here’s the berries I brought ya. Try ’em. They’ll make ya feel better.”
Jak took the berries from Tobi’s hand, but he still looked angry.
“So was anyone following us?” Tamisin asked.
“Not so far,” said Jak, “which doesn’t mean that they won’t be coming after us soon. How did you find us in the first place, Tobi? The lightning must have messed up the Gate in my backyard, because we didn’t end up anywhere near where I thought we would. How did you know where to look?”
Tobi glanced up from licking berry juice off his fingers. “I waited till Bert chased Nihlo and his buddies off and all the ruckus died down. Then I came through the Gate, same as you. Course it was a while later, seein’ as how time passes a whole lot faster there than it does here. Say, did ya eat all those berries yet?”