"Probably not. But at least we would know what to expect."

Then the goblins hauled a huge black pot to the fire, and set it on a metal grate so that the flames licked up around it. They brought buckets of water and dumped them into the pot. The thing looked big enough to hold an elf girl and a small centaur.

"I think we can guess," Jenny said, feeling a chill despite the heat of the fire. She wanted to scream and run, but knew that it was pointless, so she just sat there.

"Can you untie yourself?" Che inquired.

Jenny tested the rope that bound her hands behind her. "No. They are good at knots."

"Perhaps I can untie you," he said, "if you put your hands where mine can reach them."

"What good would that do? We are completely surrounded by goblins, and I'm so tired I couldn't run very fast anyway."

"If I can untie your hands, then you can untie the rope at your neck. Then I can flick you with my tail, and make you light enough to float. Then you can jump and sail away from here."

Jenny realized that her weight had gradually returned, after he had made her light on the raft. That was one reason she was so tired now: it was the weight. But that lightness had enabled her to walk far faster and farther than she could have managed otherwise. The same must have been true for Che. His magic didn't show to the goblins, but it had saved the two of them from getting cruelly dragged.

Still, she had questions. "What about you? If I could untie me, I could untie you too. But you said you can't fly yet."

"True. You should be able to grab on to the branch of a tree, and hurl yourself further up and away, escaping them, but I would be unbearably clumsy, and my body would get tangled in the branches, and they would soon catch me again. So I must remain here."

"But I can't go without you!" she protested. "They'll cook you!"

"Yes, I suspect they will. But at least you will be free. One escape is better than none."

"But I don't know my way around here," she said. "I don't even know where Sammy is!"

"Surely he is finding help, and if you remain clear of the goblins long enough, that help will reach you."

That made sense. Also, she realized that if she got free, she might be able to do something to get him free too. Maybe there was another cherry tree nearby. "Well, we can try. Maybe we can both escape."

She turned and put her hands back, and he reached down to work on the knot. But in a moment he desisted. "I should have known: it's a magic knot. Only the goblins can untie it."

After what she had seen here, Jenny didn't doubt it.