Her friend nodded, and together they made their way across the room. Tamisin was about to step into the hallway when a little man with a walrus mustache and muzzle bumped into her.
“Pardon me,” he said. Looking up, he saw her face. “It’s her!” he squealed. “I found her!”
And then they were all around her, pushing and pulling with their hands and paws, separating her from Heather as they swept Tamisin toward the back door.
“What are you doing?” shouted Heather as she tried to fight her way to her friend. “Jeremy, help her!”
“I’m coming!” Jeremy called back, but he was on the far side of the kitchen, which was now so crowded that it was almost impossible to move.
The creatures were shoving her out the door when Tamisin began to scream, so they burst into a song in some indecipherable language to cover the sound of her voice. Lightning split the sky as they forced her into the yard. Tamisin twisted in their grip, screaming all the while even though thunder drowned out her cries.
When the next bolt of lightning sliced the night sky, some of the creatures cowered in fear, but enough held on to her that she was unable to break away. A girl with a pig’s snout and bouncing golden curls shrieked and ran when lightning struck again. For the first time Tamisin could see where they were taking her. Two tall trees stood like sentinels in the rear of the yard with a path leading directly toward them. In the lightning’s glare, the air shimmered between the trees like sunlight on water.
Someone behind her pushed too hard and Tamisin fell to her knees. When the creatures dragged her up, she kicked and struggled until a voice growled in her ear, and she felt the sharp prick of claws on her throat. Lightning flashed again, so close that it made the air smell acrid. A wind sprang up, carrying with it a drenchingrain. Then Jak was there, fighting the creatures until only one was left, holding her with sharp claws.
It occurred to Tamisin that if Jak was trying to help her, maybe he hadn’t invited the creatures after all. When she tried to call to him, the pressure on her throat was too great. She gasped at the pain, her eyes never leaving Jak’s face. This time when lightning struck, she could feel the electricity in the air. Then suddenly there was another creature, bigger than all the rest, lurching toward her with its massive arm raised. After that everything seemed to happen at once: the creature struck, the pressure on her throat was gone, Jak slammed into her so that they tumbled backward through a shimmering light, and lightning zigzagged through the sky.
I’ve been struck by lightning
, Tamisin thought just before the world went black.
Chapter 8
The first time Jak stepped onto the island he thought they’d gone to the wrong one. Unlike some of the islands they’d passed, there were no beaches or sloping shorelines, and the footing was treacherous, especially for a six-year-old boy, even one who was half goblin. It wasn’t until his uncle, Targin, had helped him climb the jumbled rocks that Jak knew it was the island that his nasty cousin, Nihlo, had talked about every time he came home for a visit. There were the squat, stone buildings where the elders who taught the children lived. There were the trees so bent and twisted that their branches looked like writhing tentacles frozen as they reached for young goblins. There were the stone ridges that formed the maze where goblin children practiced lurking, hiding, and ambushing. And there were the jagged outcroppings that Nihlo swore were actually monsters that came alive at night.
When his uncle tried to leave Jak in front of one of the ugly buildings that made up the main part of the school,the little boy clung to him so tightly that the cat goblin had to pry his nephew’s fingers from his hand. Then Targin turned to make his way back down to the water’s edge and the boat that awaited him, leaving Jak clutching his sack of belongings and
“Pardon me,” he said. Looking up, he saw her face. “It’s her!” he squealed. “I found her!”
And then they were all around her, pushing and pulling with their hands and paws, separating her from Heather as they swept Tamisin toward the back door.
“What are you doing?” shouted Heather as she tried to fight her way to her friend. “Jeremy, help her!”
“I’m coming!” Jeremy called back, but he was on the far side of the kitchen, which was now so crowded that it was almost impossible to move.
The creatures were shoving her out the door when Tamisin began to scream, so they burst into a song in some indecipherable language to cover the sound of her voice. Lightning split the sky as they forced her into the yard. Tamisin twisted in their grip, screaming all the while even though thunder drowned out her cries.
When the next bolt of lightning sliced the night sky, some of the creatures cowered in fear, but enough held on to her that she was unable to break away. A girl with a pig’s snout and bouncing golden curls shrieked and ran when lightning struck again. For the first time Tamisin could see where they were taking her. Two tall trees stood like sentinels in the rear of the yard with a path leading directly toward them. In the lightning’s glare, the air shimmered between the trees like sunlight on water.
Someone behind her pushed too hard and Tamisin fell to her knees. When the creatures dragged her up, she kicked and struggled until a voice growled in her ear, and she felt the sharp prick of claws on her throat. Lightning flashed again, so close that it made the air smell acrid. A wind sprang up, carrying with it a drenchingrain. Then Jak was there, fighting the creatures until only one was left, holding her with sharp claws.
It occurred to Tamisin that if Jak was trying to help her, maybe he hadn’t invited the creatures after all. When she tried to call to him, the pressure on her throat was too great. She gasped at the pain, her eyes never leaving Jak’s face. This time when lightning struck, she could feel the electricity in the air. Then suddenly there was another creature, bigger than all the rest, lurching toward her with its massive arm raised. After that everything seemed to happen at once: the creature struck, the pressure on her throat was gone, Jak slammed into her so that they tumbled backward through a shimmering light, and lightning zigzagged through the sky.
I’ve been struck by lightning
, Tamisin thought just before the world went black.
Chapter 8
The first time Jak stepped onto the island he thought they’d gone to the wrong one. Unlike some of the islands they’d passed, there were no beaches or sloping shorelines, and the footing was treacherous, especially for a six-year-old boy, even one who was half goblin. It wasn’t until his uncle, Targin, had helped him climb the jumbled rocks that Jak knew it was the island that his nasty cousin, Nihlo, had talked about every time he came home for a visit. There were the squat, stone buildings where the elders who taught the children lived. There were the trees so bent and twisted that their branches looked like writhing tentacles frozen as they reached for young goblins. There were the stone ridges that formed the maze where goblin children practiced lurking, hiding, and ambushing. And there were the jagged outcroppings that Nihlo swore were actually monsters that came alive at night.
When his uncle tried to leave Jak in front of one of the ugly buildings that made up the main part of the school,the little boy clung to him so tightly that the cat goblin had to pry his nephew’s fingers from his hand. Then Targin turned to make his way back down to the water’s edge and the boat that awaited him, leaving Jak clutching his sack of belongings and
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