Chapter eight,
Relief
Sarah waited for her parents to be asleep once more. For the past week, she had called Hoggle to see what progress he had made. Each time, he had gotten another tip as to where Ray might be, but never any real news. "Oh, Hoggle where are you?" she whispered. The guilt feeling that Ray was stuck in the horrible place had kept Sarah awake at night and that in turn had turned her normally good school-life upside-down and inside-out. Just then, Hoggle appeared with a relieved smile on his face. "She's fine." he said.
Sarah listened as Hoggle told the whole story. "She's working as an assistant seamstress at some little gown shop. She said she was perfectly fine and looked like she was enjoying herself enough." he explained. Sarah sighed with relief. Ray was alright. Good. "Oh thank you, Hoggle. I know how hard finding her must have been." Sarah said, hugging her friend. "Oh, I had nothing better to do." he said in his usual bashful tone when Sarah commented him. "And the Goblin King? He's left her alone?" Sarah asked. Hoggle shrugged. "As far as I know, yes. He's been laying low and not doing much of anything really. Dun worry Sarah, it'll be alright." Hoggle said. "Now I have to go. Business. But if you need me again, call." and he was gone again.
Sarah fell onto her pillow. She had been so worried about Ray. They had been friends for a while, not "BBF"s but they had known one another for a long time and Sarah would have hated it if anything bad happened to Ray. "Assistant seamstress." Sarah chuckled. Sarah couldn't imagine Ray sewing for a life. But then again, Sarah didn't quite know all of Ray's hobbies. Or maybe sewing was the only job Ray could find. That would also make sense.
Sarah slept well that night and she slept late into the weekend morning. When she finally woke up around lunch, she was quick to get out of the house and walk about in the park. She called Merlin, her beloved sheep dog, and started the walk to the park. It was a beautiful summer day outside. Not to hot, but far form being cold.
The park was empty, like usual. Sarah ran around, letting herself go for a minute. But then something caught her eye. A large white barn owl. "No..." she whispered as her eyes met it's. She stood and stared at it. "You can't bother me anymore." she said, her perfect weekend ruined. the owl flew down and dropped a scroll of paper at Sarah's feet and then flew off. Sarah picked up the scroll and walked to a bench.
She untied the little red ribbon that held the scroll together and unrolled it. In a fine cursive print the letter read:
"Dearest Sarah,
I must say, telling the whole story to someone here and not expecting something to happen? Tsk, tsk. But all is well, don't worry, Ray is quite content with herself here. In fact, she's doing quite well for a mortal in a goblin world. If you would like to write to her, leave the letter on a windowsill and play your music box before you go to bed. It'll get to her.
~Goblin King."
Sarah looked down on the note. It seemed like a trick, but she would try it later tonight. Right now she needed to let of some steam.
Like the night he took Toby away, Sarah came home late and drenched from the rain. But thankfully, unlike that night, her parents would be staying home tonight. Sarah put Merlin in the garage and headed up to her room to write Ray a letter.
By ten, Sarah had finished the letter and she sealed it up in an envelope and placed it on the windowsill right next to the back door. And having still to catch up on her sleep, Sarah played her music box and went to bed.
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