| Sister Angela was now a little older than she had been. But it always seems that Nuns are born middle aged, and stay middle aged until they are old, and then stay old for a surprisingly long time. She was still the head of the school, but she was now the only teaching Nun left. There are a lot less Nuns in the world now than there used to be mainly because the only reason left to become a Nun is real dedication to God�s word, which is so very rare. The girls were just the same as they had always been. Some were nice, some were nasty, some were intelligent, some just weren�t. Maybe two girls a year got pregnant before they hit 18, well that she found out about, probably many more had abortions, catholic or not. She wondered if any of the girls had had the same sort of childhood as her. Strict religious parents, she prayed every night from a very young age, and she had built up a great relationship with God. She had been gifted as a child, intelligent, pretty, and rather good at drawing. That�s what she had been doing the night she decided her vocation. She was too young to know, she realised that now she was older, but it was probably the best decision she had made in her life. It was tiring, she had no money, but she didn�t need it. God knew her past, and that was what it was, her past. It was nothing to the present. �D minor two octaves.� Dominic thought for a moment about this, and then started the scale. It was a pretty good scale, with no slips and perfect fingering. Michelle waited for him to finish. �What scale did you just play, Dom?� Dom again thought for a minute. �Um,� he said. �That was D major. It was very good, but I did ask for D minor.� �Sorry Mummy,� he said, and played D minor, just as well as he had played D major. �Well done Dom,� said Michelle. �You really are getting very good at this.� She thought about what she had just said. He was getting good, but they didn�t exactly have much music, and definitely none that would help Dom get better. She sighed at the thought of having to ask Jareth for something else. She hated the idea, and had spent the last few days avoiding him, a tactic she felt he was also employing. She hadn�t seen him in days. They played a couple of pieces together, and they even did some improvisation together, one playing chords the other improvising, and swapping around. Then Dominic went to play catch with some goblins, while Michelle went to find Jareth. Gregory lived in the Goblin City, which was a strange thing to begin with. Gregory was a man, a human man. He decided he was probably about 26 now, and had lived in the city for at least 10 years. It wasn�t a bad life. He worked in a bookshop, with some of the oldest and strangest books you ever saw. He also made some of the oldest and strangest books you ever saw. This is not really a contradiction in terms. Gregory loved to read, he had done it all the time when he was a child and had never tired of it. He had a beautiful human wife, with whom he had so much in common. They could talk for hours on end about the world, books, music, philosophers, the evils of society, the later being quite difficult because neither could really remember society let alone its evils. They didn�t see many people, because very few goblins could read and didn�t bother buying books. It didn�t matter; they had all they needed. The King kept them in business. He always wanted books made, nearly always the same story though. Recently, though, he had started looking for other books. Colourful children�s books and even some music books recently. Gregory asked his wife about those, he wasn�t really a musician, though he loved listening to it. He�d never really had the chance to master an instrument himself; he�d always been too busy reading. He and his wife walked arm in arm around the small market, buying what they needed. They heard a rumour from the Goblins, something about a girl trying to run, taking the child with her. They assumed it was someone it was another person Jareth had put in the labyrinth and ignored it. It wasn�t exactly new. �You could get it yourself,� said Jareth. Michelle was confused. How? Where could she get music from in the underground, unless� No. �There are a couple who sell books in the city. They make them, including the music I�ve given you and the books for Dominic. Go to them.� �Where?� she asked simply. �I�ll take you and Dom,� he said. �I feel it would be good for you.� �Ok,� said Michelle. �Tomorrow?� �I�m sure Gregory will be there, he has nowhere else to go.� Michelle pretended not to hear the last comment, and left without another word. Gregory lay in bed eating his breakfast next to his wife. They took it in turns to make breakfast in bed for each other, unless one of them was ill, which, thankfully, had not happened much before. They relaxed into each other�s arms, to the gentle sound of the fairies buzzing about the window. There was a knock on the door of the shop. They moaned, and both got up. Gregory dressed hurriedly and went into the shop, and unlocked the door. �Good morning, your majesty. I apologise for the delay; we weren�t expecting you. And what can I do for you this morning sir?� �Talk to the lady, Gregory.� A little boy ran into the shop after Jareth, followed by a lady a little younger than himself. He didn�t know what to say. Michelle looked at Jareth, wondering how she should do this. �I�� she started. �I�m looking for some music,� she said. �Oh,� he said. �I�ll get my wife. I�m afraid I know nothing about music, but my wife seems to know almost every piece of music ever written.� He nodded slightly to both of them, and disappeared through a door at the back of the shop. �You didn�t tell me he was human,� said Michelle. �You didn�t ask,� said Jareth �I assumed they were all Goblins here. I haven�t seen him before.� �He doesn�t get out much,� said Jareth. �But that�s not what I wanted you to see.� He watched her closely as they waited, and she pretended not to notice and looked about the shop. The books were so interesting, there was everything, lots of books she�d heard of, and more she hadn�t. Lots of writers from her world, Dickens, The Br�ntes, Orwell, Elliot, Anne Rice. Anne Rice? �I�m sorry your majesty, I came as quickly as I could.� Michelle turned slowly to face the newcomer. She knew the voice. She was very beautiful, and wore some amazing, stylish clothes; a long skirt, lightly embroidered, and a white top trimmed with lace. She had long, straight ginger hair, perfectly combed and positioned some over her shoulder. She had a pleasant face and green eyes, and presently held a small smile. She was looking at Jareth, awaiting his instructions. Jareth was still watching Michelle, his face filled with amusement, and the lady turned to see where he was looking. Her smile faded as her eyes met Michelle�s. Neither of the girls could look away for a minute, as their eyes filled with tears. Michelle was the first to break it. She was crying, and turned to Jareth with venom in her eyes. �You bastard!� she said. �You utter bastard.� |