Excavations and Enlightenment (A sequel to "Caveats and Cliches")

Chapter 18: When Push Comes To Shove

There's a moment of stillness on the field; our opponents stopping their pursuit to stare dumbfounded at the spot where Easton disappeared.

"TOUCH DOWN!!"

Toby yells, throwing his hands in the air. Sarah pumps a supportive fist, then glances at me. Time to go. I'm already getting out my whistle to signal the goblins. I sound the call, then Sarah, Toby and I move to the natural entrance of the camp and watch as the goblins pop out from every direction within. Many of them come from the direction of the fire, which has been contained and looks close to being put out altogether. They still carry empty paint buckets, but now they are dripping with water. They must have helped put out the blaze. Though, if I know my goblins, they probably dumped as much water onto the ninjas as they did the fire. They line up in formation without being told, and as soon as we are sure no one is missing, we begin the march back to our camp, leaving our disconcerted opponents to attend to the wreckage of their's.

We don't take time to rest when we reach our site. I set the goblins to work on packing and open the transition point as soon as the first wagon is full. I breathe a little easier once we are all safely back in the Underground. And even more so on settling into my castle. What is this feeling? Contentment? Before we left for Toby's graduation, I had paced these halls incessantly, a restless tiger in a zoo. Now I luxuriate like a spoiled house cat. Who would have thought a couple weeks in the human sphere could alter my perception so much; even if it was days upon days of preposterous sleuthing and campaigning?

I'm enjoying the peace of my throne room when Sarah comes in and reads my mind.

"Don't get too comfortable, you know Easton and Toby will be knocking down our door at the break of day." She says, taking a seat next to me.

"I take it there were no major disasters in our absence?"

"None at all. You may actually have to admit that Hoggle did a good job of looking after things."

"Mmmmm." I'm too busy relaxing and playing with her hair to concern myself with thoughts of Hoggle.

"Perhaps I should promote him to emissary to the capital, so he can use those talents of his far, far away."

She knows I'm teasing, but that comment earns me a hard whack on the knee. She also knows I would never actually send Hoggle away; if I did, she would probably go with him, just to teach me a lesson. We lapse into silence as the events of the day catch up to us. We are just drifting to sleep when we are called to dinner. Comfortable as we are, the allure of a meal that has not been prepared over a campfire is too much to resist. Toby and Easton are still flying high from the success of their first sort of battle. They eat like horses and boisterously relate details about their individual endeavors in the enemy camp. When every exploit has been described and they are finally satiated, conversation turns to finishing our task.

"So I suppose tomorrow we just have to trade the staff for Pema." Toby says, scraping the last crumbs from his dessert plate.

"Do you really think it will be that easy?" Easton says, somewhere between hope and doubt.

"Probably not." Toby answers immediately. "Nothing about this has been easy so far."

"Then we need to have a plan."

"That's all very well and good, but we don't know what they are going to ask us to do once we get to the capital. How can we make a plan against the unknown?"

"We can infer quite a bit." Sarah chimes in. She begins to tick off points with her fingers. "It will be somewhere isolated, a place that they are familiar with, but will probably be confusing for us, just in case we have some notion to stop them from taking the staff."

"Are we going to try to stop them?" Easton interrupts.

"NO." We all say with resounding finality.

Easton looks pained. "That staff is Pema's life, shouldn't we try to recover it?"

"Pema is just beginning her career, she has her whole life ahead of her, but only if we get her back safely. That future is worth trading the staff for." Sarah says soothingly.

Easton nods self consciously, and Sarah moves to continue, but is interrupted again by Toby.

"Shouldn't we also be considering the fact that we could be walking into a big trap? I mean, just because this guy looks like he sang for Live Aid doesn't mean we can trust him. What if they don't want any witnesses?"

Sarah shakes her head. "I don't really think it's a concern. These guys deal in black market antiquities, they aren't 1940's gangsters."

I'm surprised at Sarah's casual dismissal of such a legitimate concern, and I'm not the only one. Toby and Easton's mouths drop open, and both of them start talking at once.

"Sar, how can you say that?"

"They're kidnappers!"

"They have already attempted torture."

"And threatened Pema's life for that staff!"

"Maybe none of your old cases were ever life or death, but that doesn't mean this one isn't!"

For some reason, Sarah still looks unconvinced, neither conceding nor arguing the point, and the conversation goes quiet. I haven't said a word during the entire discussion, but now three pairs of eyes snap to the head of the table where I sit; seeking my counsel before the words can even be asked.

"How would you handle it, Jareth?"

Glass in hand, I lean back casually and rest an ankle on my knee. "Well," I say with deliberate languidity and an villainous smile, "I certainly wouldn't play fair."

Sarah flashes a matching grin. "No, that wouldn't be like us at all."

Toby groans and throws up his hands. "Oh that's very helpful! We will just Maverick our way out of this like they are a bunch of idiot poker players instead of dangerous criminals!" With an exasperated sigh, Toby puts a hand to his face. "What we need is an actual plan for either getting Pema out of there quickly or making the bad guys want to leave as soon as they get the staff."

"Maybe we should just sound a siren near the exchange. Thinking the police are coming should make them want to leave in a hurry." Sarah offers.

Toby shakes his head scornfully at his sister. "Uh, No. That would also make them start shooting if they've decided on the no witnesses option."

"Ok, then let's do both: we will come up with a way to get Pema out of danger at the first possible moment, and also give those criminals a reason to run for the hills."

Easton has been quiet throughout this exchange, staring thoughtfully at the table. "You wouldn't play fair..." He says slowly. "But that exactly what they are going to expect us to do. They think we will show up innocent and trusting, with no intention other than a fair trade. They might expect us to contact the police, but they won't expect us to make a stand."

"So what are you thinking of doing?" Sarah prods.

My brother closes his eyes and a slow smile spreads across his face. "I aim to misbehave."

My smile grows larger as Easton lays out his plan. Even Sarah is impressed.

"My Dear Easton, I do believe all this time in the Goblin Kingdom is rubbing off on you."

Easton grins back. "Let's just hope it works."

Even Toby is supportive. "Bro, they won't know what hit them."