Nudd greeted Annie with a tip of his coal-black top hat. “I trust the forest behaved herself.” The bright plume of cardinal feathers danced in the ocean breeze. “Good ta see ya again, boys.”
“It was fine,” Annie replied. “There’s some pink heather coming in along the stream. It’s quite cheery, actually.”
“That’s grand. Mind ya dinna pick any. Brownies are thick this season, an’ they likes ta nest in shrubs. Take yer finger right off if ya give ’em half a chance, little blighters. Ha, ha.”
“Good to know,” said Annie.
“Are you absolutely sure you want to spend the whole night here?” Cole whispered to Tinn. “You could just visit for the day, like last time.”
“You know I’m sure,” said Tinn. “I’d barely get started before it was time to walk home again.”
Cole nodded, but he knew that if his brother were being honest, he’d admit he was anything but sure. Tinn was probably terrified. Cole certainly was. He could not remember a night he had slept without his brother right across from him. They had shared a bedroom, shared a tent, and even slept under the open stars together once or twice. It had always been the two of them against the world. But this was something Tinn had to do alone.
“Are you gonna be okay?” Tinn asked.
“Me?” said Cole. “I’m always okay. You know that.” His voice was almost convincing. “I’m not the one who’s gonna be sleeping in a drafty cave all night.”
Cole would have gladly slept in a drafty cave if it meant he could be a part of this adventure with his brother; he would have slept in the mouth of an active volcano. But the goblins had made it abundantly clear that humans were permitted in the horde only under the most extenuating circumstances. The mere proximity of the humans as they dropped off Tinn each week had been rankling some of the more traditional goblins.
Cole tried to manage a cheeky smile as he socked his brother in the arm. “Don’t get into too much trouble without me,” he said.
Kull, who had been rocking back and forth with excitement from the moment the boys had crested the hill, finally shuffled forward. “Tinn! Got a new scroll picked out fer today. Goblish shanties. Dinna worry, I done transliterated it inta human, but I thought we could work on yer vocalizin’. Proper gnarls and howls are as much a part of goblin culture as eye gougin’ or ferret stew.”
For just a moment, Tinn glanced back, and Cole saw in his eyes the same Tinn who had dropped out of their school play after just a week of rehearsals because he was sure he would mess up his lines in front of an audience, the same Tinn who had crumpled up his geography project because he would have had to present it by himself at the science fair, the same Tinn who had never dared do anything, really, unless Cole had done it, too. If he really pressed Tinn right now, this was the moment Cole could talk his brother out of it. He took a deep breath.
“Well?” he said. “Go on. You’re gonna be the best goblin ever.” His smile very nearly reached his eyes.
“I’ll tell you all about it when I get back,” said Tinn. “Bye, Cole. Bye, Mom. Love you! I’ll see you tomorrow!”
“Little does yer brother know,” Kull was saying as he led Tinn down the narrow ledge along the face of the cliffs, “that the best goblin ever was Gripp Ap Mull back in the era of the Ratty Badger. I’ll work a bit o’ that inta our Goblish history lesson tomorrow mornin’.”
Annie wrung her hands as she watched her son vanish around the curve of the cliffside.
“Yer lad’s in good hands,” Nudd assured her. “The whole of the horde will be lookin’ out for him. When shall we be expectin’ ya, then?”
“Tomorrow afternoon—no, wait. Early evening, actually, if it isn’t too much trouble. It’s just that I’ll be starting a new job in the morning.”
Cole looked down at his feet while they talked. He didn’t want his mother to start a new job. Not so soon. Not on the same day Tinn was going to be gone. Cole would be left utterly alone in a silent, empty house all day. It made his stomach feel funny just thinking about it.
“Oh, aye?” Nudd said. “Good on ya. Humans have such fascinatin’ careers. Whatcha workin’ at? Fire brigade? Detective? What’s the one with the lions and elephants in the big tent?”
“Nothing so exciting,” Annie said. “Just stocking shelves in a shop. How does around six o’clock sound? Half past at the latest.”
“No trouble at all. We’re happy ta have the lad.” Nudd gave a wave of his hand, and the sentries turned to follow Kull and Tinn down the narrow path.
Annie nodded. She put a hand on Cole’s shoulder and took a steadying breath. “Let’s go, big guy.”
“Take good care of him,” Cole called after the retreating chief.
“Always do,” Nudd answered back. “Dinna worry about yer brother, lad. His trainin’ has been goin’ very well.”
“It’s going terribly,” said Tinn.
He and Kull stood alone in the broad cave that served as their training room. A narrow opening to one end let in a fresh breeze and the sound of waves breaking against the rocks below.
“I still can’t figure out how to control the transformations,” Tinn went on. “My whole hand turned black as ink this time. And I couldn’t make it stop. I almost blew my whole secret and showed the entire class that I’m a goblin.”
“Ah.” Kull nodded. “And that’s . . . bad. Right.”
“I don’t get it. That never happens here with you. It never happens when I’m just practicing at home with Cole, either.”
“Well, ya dinna have ta keep a secret in those places,”
