It was Grotesk himself. "Are you two going to eat now?" he asked, waving a cold awful chunk of meat at them.

"Sing!" Che said.

"Oh no you don't, gamin!" the Chief exclaimed. He evidently thought she was a boy, and she was not inclined to correct him. No, he had called her a wench before. Maybe he just didn't care. "Gag her!"

Oops! Jenny tried to sing, but it was so hard to start. Especially when the goblins were charging in and grabbing her. Before she could do anything, there was a dirty cloth tied around her face, blocking her mouth.

"When I saw you had magic, I knew it wasn't safe to let you be," Grotesk said. "So now you two will eat or you'll run. The centaur will eat first."

Jenny knew that Che wouldn't eat that meat. They would have to race, and the result wouldn't matter, because the goblins would cook them anyway.

She couldn't sing, but maybe she could hum. She didn't know whether that would accomplish anything, but it was all she could do while gagged.

She hummed, starting faintly, then getting louder. She pictured the nice scene, with the Princess and her flowers. It was there for her, but could it extend to the others?

Grotesk looked around. "What's that?" he asked.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a distraction he heard; it was Jenny's humming. That meant he was paying attention, so he remained alert.

"Ha!" the Chief said. "The elf's trying to sing. Well, we'll stop that!" He drew back his huge gnarly fist.

Che lurched forward and yanked Jenny's gag down. Suddenly she was singing—but Grotesk was concentrating on her, swinging his fist at her face.

Jenny ducked, and the fist sailed over her head. But immediately the other goblins dived in, grabbing her arms. They hauled her up straight.

"Hold her," Grotesk said grimly. "This time I won't miss." And Jenny knew he wouldn't. She opened her mouth, trying desperately to sing, but her throat was so tight that not even a scream could squeeze out.

"Look at that!" a goblin cried, peering to the side.

"Don't bother me now," the chief said. "Wait till I punch in this elf's face."

"But she's—" the goblin said, amazed. Now others were looking there, their ugly faces going slack.

"I told you—" Grotesk snapped, finally glancing in that direction.

Jenny seized her moment. She forced the air through her throat and began to sing. If she could catch the goblins during their moment of distraction, maybe she and Che could still try to escape. It was, she knew, their last chance.

Chapter 7. Nada's Notion

Chapter 7. Nada's Notion

Their hands linked, the two girls stepped into the huge peephole of the huge gourd. Nada led, for she had been in the gourd before. Actually, so had Electra, but that wasn't the same; Electra had been asleep all those hundreds of years.