Free The Hollow Kingdom by Clare B. Dunkle

behind them began to laugh and howl.
    "Come
on!
" Kate cried, and they did their best to run. They stumbled over roots and caught their clothes on branches. Kate lost a shoe and ran on in her stocking. The horses were almost upon them. She dragged Emily off the path into the deep shadows beside it. The horses trotted by.
    "Quick!" gasped Kate. "They missed us!" She jumped to her feet with her sister in tow and ran across the path into the woods beyond. About ten feet off the path, a clearing opened up. A little woman worked in the moonlight, filling her basket with herbs and humming melodiously.
    "Help!" panted the girls, dashing up. Old Agatha's broad face and snapping black eyes turned toward them.
    "Oh, look!" she cried, clapping her hands and dropping her herb-filled basket. "It's my two pretty ladies! Now, help from what, my dears?"
    Kate stopped short in horror, but Emily burst out, "Agatha, save us! The goblins are coming!" This was a rather silly speech to make, but the little woman took their trembling hands kindly enough.
    "Not yet, dears," she soothed. "Who's been chasing my ladies?" As if in reply, they heard hooves on the path again. Kate pointed mutely toward the sound.
    "Oh, that!" Agatha chuckled. "They're no goblins! Just a couple of clodhopping humans out for a moonlight ride."
    "But they're after us!" cried Emily. Kate nodded vigorously. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but it stuck fast.
    "Not for long," declared the little woman. "Just stand still now." She reached into one of her capacious pockets and pulled out some sort of powder, carefully patting it down into the hollow of her hand. The horses were almost upon them. Agatha took a deep breath and blew the powder toward them. The air was filled with the sound of terrified neighing and plunging, riders' confused shouts, and snapping branches. The two horses tore off down the path to the house as if demons were after them, their riders clinging to them more by accident than skill.
    Old Agatha watched them go, chuckling with satisfaction. Then she bent and retrieved her basket and went on with her work. The girls stared after the horses in amazement. The exhaustion of the sudden fright and quick run caught up with them, and they stood speechless for a moment, drawing in shaky breaths.
    "We're so excited about the wedding, dear," Agatha assured the petrified Kate, her nimble fingers working in the weeds at their feet. "And a prize you are, to be sure, after the King's last wife. What a dull, drab thing she was, poor mite! He certainly didn't deserve that. And a fine King he is, too, my dear, though I should say it, who was his old nurse, you know. He's the best magician we've had in many a generation, though there do be some who say he's too elf-pretty to be a proper king."
    "Mm," said Kate stupidly, too horrified to reply, but Emily was quite interested in the little woman's speech. She had no difficulty, as usual, in thinking of things she wanted to know.
    "What do you mean, elf-pretty?" she asked the busy Agatha. "And why doesn't the King just marry another goblin? Doesn't anyone at home want to marry him?"
    "Oh, they couldn't, dear, you know," old Agatha replied. "Goblin women don't bear well. Many goblins marry outside for tobring in fresh blood, you see. And the King, always. It's the ancient way of our race. Elves and humans for the King, though there's been the occasional dwarf," she added proudly. "And that's the way it's always been for us. The high families marries the elves and dwarves or a pretty human girl, and the beast folk marries whatever of the animal folk they fancies. The cat tribe, the dog tribe, eagles or bears, anyone who'll be a good mother to goblin young. That's why goblins look like everything on earth."
    The two girls pondered this extremely peculiar statement. Emily was not to be thwarted, however.
    "What do you mean, elf-pretty?" she asked again. Agatha stopped her work and stretched.
    "The Kings tended to marry