Fairka was very glad at her whole business. To this point,
everything had gone as smoothly as it could possibly go. To
their merit, those posh kids had started to adapt remarkably
well to their new environment. She had only needed to walk
ever so slowly. And Pip had woken up something very deep and
warm in her being. She would get him if you could buy a son,
or she had the money, even. Pip, for his part, was very happy
to call Fairka mom. It was his game: call any nice or even
half nice woman he met mom, but only this one had come any
close to playing along. But it would all come to an end, and
he was old enough to know that. Unless he died before their
return. That would be a sweet end, if only it would make Fairka
sad, and that's the last thing he would ever allow on Earth.
Yeah, it was just a game, but a better one than that their
"excellences" all speaking about goblins all the time. Boring.
Yeah, everybody told stories about how cunning and astute
goblins were, but every goblin he has ever known were slaves,
and scared of us, pure humans of "one blood".
Pip had gone to the well that belonged to a ruined farm around
which they were camping. Not too different from what he would
have done at home, but felt way better when mom asked him.
He hanged the bucket, lowered it down, and then he saw them.
Not in the well, like in the stories, but on the verge of the
trees: goblins!, an army of them!
He ran to Fairka's shelter. "{Mom! Goblins!"
"Pip... you don't tell jokes about... My dear! You saw them?!"
"Yes, mom."
"Then they saw you too. Quick, we'll wake those dolls up,
we'll run east."
Pip nodded.
"Take this one." Fairka unsheathed her second knife. "This
one is your dagger. And say nothing about being a slave, just
take it and stick to me."
* * *
Fairka shouted at the dolls for maximum effect. "Goblins! An
army of them!" Get shod and run after me?
"For real?" Asked Doredai.
"For death." Fairka answered. "Pip set the mules free"
"But our gear!", protested Arteen
"The goblins will have them. Fancy being a slave?"
"We'll follow our guide." That was Doredai's commanding voice.
She knew, they all knew what everybody said about goblin
captives.
As soon as Pip returned, they all run like crazy. The goblins
had hesitated, as their preference was always to ambush, never
to bump on their enemies, no matter how weak they appeared to
be. This could be some human ruse, couldn't it?
But Fairka knew they would soon send a party against them, if
only to keep them away from any human settlement that they
could warn. And in her group she was the only one who could,
perhaps, outrun their persecutors.
