The Goblin Apple by Eustacia Tan

Author:Eustacia Tan [Tan, Eustacia]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 9789811141997
Publisher: Eustacia Tan
Published: 2017-08-07T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

Fin saw Lizzie spin around. She must have assumed that they were talking to her.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t expect things to turn out that way.”

Doc shook his head and sighed. “I thought giving you a name would be enough.” A few of the other goblins looked at him in shock, but he didn’t acknowledge any of it. “I’m afraid that there’s no getting around Marah’s orders this time. And you, what is your story?”

“I’m Lizzie,” the girl said. “What kind of goblins are you?”

“We’re not goblins,” Doc explained. “We’re dwarfs.” Doc continued, explaining everything to the girl. About their nature and their history. He wondered if he would tell her that the bloodlust that his punishment would spark meant that one or two of them might turn back into a goblin — and then she would be at risk. It was obvious that Marah didn’t care enough.

“Oh,” she said when he was done. She sat quietly for a few moments. “Will you be able to help him?” she asked, pointing at Fin. “I mean, if you’re good.”

Doc looked away. “We have no choice.”

“Can’t you hide from her?”

One of his fellow dwarfs managed to speak. “She’ll find us. She always does.”

“Oh.” She chewed on her lower lip for a moment. Fin could tell that all the dwarfs were fascinated by this new visitor. Perhaps he should tell them about her and her friends. But she might not like that.

“Do you think,” she said suddenly, “I’m sorry, it’s unrelated to him.” Again, she gestured towards Fin, “But can you help me move Marcelle?”

“Of course,” Doc said, leaping to his feet. “We’ll be honoured to help your friend.”

“She isn’t really my friend. I think she hates me.”

One of the other dwarfs gave her a brief smile. “Well, that’s how I became a dwarf,” he said. “Helping someone I hated.”

Fin turned to look at him. Really look at him. Why hadn’t he known that? He wanted to ask more questions but the dwarfs had surrounded Marcelle and were gently lifting her up.

“There’s some straw in the other room,” Doc said. “Put her there.”

Carefully, the dwarfs moved, Lizzie hovering nervously nearby.

“You don’t have to sit with her,” Fin managed to say. “You can wait outside. As long as you don’t wander too far away, I doubt anyone will mind. And you won’t want to hear my screams up close.”

Lizzie shook her head. “No, it’s ok. I just feel really bad for some reason.”

The dwarfs had finished putting her down and were walking out of the room. The only one to remain was Doc, who was gently holding her wrist.

“Is he a doctor?”

Fin shrugged.

Lizzie walked closer and Fin followed. Marcelle seemed to be awake, her eyes fluttering open and closed. They landed on Lizzie and she began to thrash around.

“You! You sold me and now I won’t even get to become her.” For an injured person, she had a lot of energy. “How dare you do something like that. You have no right!” Her voice grew weaker and she stopped trying to lift her head.

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