She glared up at the chief, still not saying anything.

"Okay, we'll get a coupla piskies to show you." He barked orders at the camp, but after a moment, he said, "Bah, none of them dogs will know how to catch a piskie," he muttered, scratching his ear. "They'd probably eat the thing if they caught it. Arg, I'd better find one myself. Bugrat!"

A few yards away, the lone guard snapped to attention. "Chief?"

"Keep an eye on our dinner," the chief ordered, sheathing his sword. "If they try to escape, cut off their feet."

"You got it, chief."

The chief shot them one last warning glare, then bounded off into the undergrowth.

It took a while. As the minutes stretched, the lone guard stalked the perimeter of the camp, shooting the girls an evil look as it walked by and triggering Grimalkin's vanishing act. Finally, on the eighth or ninth circle, Grimalkin's voice floated up after the guard had passed. "There try getting through now."

She does as he says and tries to get out.

Lise silently follows Isiea.

"Any idiot can collect plants. If I'd left these dogs ta catch a piskie, we'd be nothin' but bones before--" The cheif stopped, and his gaze snapped to the girls. For a moment, he stood there, blinking, then his eyes narrowed and he clenched his fists. The creature in his grasp gave a high-pitched squeal as the goblin crushed the life from it and flung it to the ground. With a roar of outrage, the chief drew his sword.

With a great snapping of twigs and thorns, the back of the cage came loose, and they were free.

"Run!" Grimalkin yelled.

Isiea completely ignores that. She grabs her satchel and its contents, then dashes away.

Lise turned and began running full speed.

Behind them, twigs snapped, snarls echoed, and the angry cursing of the goblin chief grew louder in their ears.

"This way!" Grimalkin shouted, darting into a patch of bramble. "If we can get to the river, we will be safe! Goblins cannot swim!"

The branches parted easily for the girls, as they had when they were with Puck. As they exited the bramble patch, a great crashing noise echoed behind them, followed by loud yelps and swearing. It seemed the goblins weren't finding the path as easy to navigate.

The sound of rushing water was soon audible. When they got out of the trees, the ground abruptly dropped away into a rocky embankment. A great river loomed before them, nearly a hundred yards across, with no bridges or rafts in sight. It was impossible to see the other side because a coiling wall of mist hovered over the water, stretching as far as the eye could see. Grimalkin stood at the edge, almost invisible in the fog, lashing his tail impatiently.

"Hurry!" he ordered. "The Erlking's territory is on the other side. You must swim, quickly!"

Something flew past their arms, bouncing off the rocks with a clatter. It was a goblin spear, the bone-white tip gleaming against the stones.

She doesn't care about that. She clinbs high up into a tree to hide.

Lise stared down at the river, she wasn't confident enough in her swimming abilities to swim a river that large.