“You know, I didn’t realize it would take three months to get you out here.” Kimmie bounded up the hillside path, glancing back every so often with an excited smile plastered across her face. “I saw the goblin, like, five months ago, in May, but I didn’t start searching for a hunter until the end of June. I’d almost forgotten about it in the meantime.”
Ollie trudged behind, a little put off by Kimmie’s infectious energy. He was dour by nature, and today had been especially trying. “We try not to advertise.”
“No kidding. But it worked. Here you are!”
“Here I am.” He pushed a stray branch out of his way. The forest Kimmie’s property backed into reminded him of a few spots back in Virginia, not far from his hometown of Charlottesville. Dense, thick brush. Unbroken canopy. Steep, rocky terrain. A perfect goblin haunt. In fact, everything from northern California to Canada would be heaven for goblins and their ilk. Strangely, goblin reports only rarely popped up on the West Coast. Reputable hunters like Ollie and his dad spent most of their time east of the Mississippi because most goblins had roamed and hunted and lived within sight of the Appalachians for centuries. Ollie had always assumed that to be a fact of life. Either goblins were finally learning to branch out, or they’d already done it years ago and people were only just now hearing about it.
Maybe too many people were hearing about it.
“Not to get too into your business,” he said, “but since you’re paying me, I figured I’d offer some advice along with my services as a hunter. That website, Creatures of the Nite, I’d be careful associating with it.”
She looked back at him, her brow furrowed. “Why?”
“It tends to attract a lot of unsavory types.”
“Unsavory? Like who? Other hunters?” She made air quotes, which felt slightly condescending to Ollie.
“For starters.”
“You make it sound ominous.”
“We’re not all good guys. You got lucky to find me. Not everyone is as,” he paused, debating whether to do air quotes himself, before thinking better of it, “professional.”
She looked away in thought. “I did have a few random people show up at my door in the last two months, pretending to be one thing or another, but I always sent them away. I could see right through their lame disguises.” She shrugged. “I guess I was holding out for you.”
Ollie looked up in surprise. “Me? Or my dad?”
She continued walking, saying nothing for a long moment. Then, “I mean, your dad is pretty much the foremost expert on this stuff. That’s what they say on the website.” She stepped over a thick exposed root lying across the path. “If I can’t get him, then why not the next best thing?” Her grin melted away once she realized what she’d said. “I don’t mean to keep saying that, like you’re second-best. I’m sure you’re really good at what you do. There’s no shame in second–”
“It’s okay,” Ollie cut her off. “There’s a saying in my circles, ‘You want a goblin dead, no one’s better than Jed.’”
“Ugh,” she scowled. “That’s gruesome.”
The hill leveled out and the path thankfully took the two of them down a slight decline before angling around to the south. Or was it east? Ollie’s sense of direction was usually pretty good, but he’d been distracted by Kimmie’s incessant chatting. She’d talked non-stop since leaving her house, mostly about her dogs, the people she met while running a bed and breakfast, and the lack of any real social life in Ferndale for someone her age. He’d discovered, to his surprise, that he didn’t mind hearing her voice, and he listened intently for any mention of a boyfriend. Not that he had any real chance with her, and he’d only be in the state for a few more days anyway, but he was still curious. Based on the conversation so far, she seemed to be single. Or she had a boyfriend she’d completely neglected to mention during her verbal torrent. Both were good signs.
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“That’s it.”
Ollie looked up to see Kimmie pointing off to the side of the trail, at a thick boulder resting next to a taller, jagged ledge that blocked their way. He stepped closer and stood on his toes to see over the ledge and immediately recognized why a goblin would like the area. Vines and thick brush covered almost every inch of the rugged, uneven ground beyond. Perfect for hiding.
“Where’d you see it?”
She pointed, her expression betraying a guarded uncertainty. “Up there, on the boulder.”
He examined the boulder, a giant, roughly square piece of rock almost shoulder high. He ran a hand across the top, feeling the texture. “It was just standing there?”
“Not at first. It must have been hiding farther back. It was getting dark so it was hard to see.”
“Dusk?”
She nodded.
He waved her closer. “Show me what happened.”
She approached the boulder hesitantly. “I had treats in my hand. I reached up, trying to keep them from the dogs, and it came out of nowhere and grabbed my wrist.” She mimed the action, and Ollie caught sight of the numerous bracelets on her wrist. “I screamed, and the treats fell onto the edge right there. When they did, it grabbed them and ran off. I think all it wanted was food.”
“It grabbed your wrist?” he asked. “That one?”
She nodded, wrapping a hand around her forearm protectively. “Yeah. Why?”
Ollie checked the boulder and the ledge next to it. “Were you wearing those bracelets?”
She nodded. Then her eyes widened. “Oh my God, you’re right.” She turned her wrist over, studying the silver and copper bracelets. “I read that somewhere. They like shiny, jingly things.”
“It was probably already in the area. My guess is you stumbled across it, but it stuck around and grabbed you because of those bracelets. It’s like catnip for them.”
Ollie pressed both hands on top of the boulder and then pushed himself up, climbing onto the top with some difficulty. Once there, he crouched like a goblin would, getting a feel for his surroundings. The top of the boulder was big, but there was nowhere to go or to hide if things went bad. The trees around here were thick and gnarled, with lots of twisted and overlapping branches. But most goblins avoided climbing when possible. Too noisy, and they weren’t usually comfortable with heights. Goblins like their feet on solid earth.
He glanced back over the ledge, searching for obvious routes back to a potential hide out.
“How big was it?”
She held her hand up to her chest. “Maybe this tall. It was a little hunched over, but if it stood up straight it might reach my shoulders.”
Ollie stood up and leaned over the ledge. He placed both hands on the ground, feeling the hard tundra and letting the moist grass slide between his fingers.
“Green skin? Yellow eyes? Big hands?”
“Yes! Exactly!”
Ollie nodded. “A greenie. Pretty standard drone type. Rarely does anything on its own, though. They usually travel in packs and follow a leader.”
She nodded along, then stopped. “I only saw the one.”
“And it just let you go?”
“Uhmmm, well, I think I scared it when I screamed in its face. It let me go and jumped back to the ledge, then I took off running and didn’t look back. I didn’t even wait for the dogs, poor things. I sprinted home and barricaded myself in my room for the night.”
“Hmph,” he said, glancing around. Goblins didn’t usually scare so easy. And not all of them would have let her go. “Just happened the one time?”
“Yes.” She bit her lip. “Well, no. Not exactly. I’ve seen… shadows out in the forest behind my house, usually around dusk. Three or four times, maybe. Some stuff is missing from my pen, which I think he took. And every once in a while, the cows get all freaked out and the dogs go crazy. I think I’ve heard him once or twice rustling around in the woods, but he always ran away before I could get close. It is a he, right?”
He shrugged. “Most likely.”
Ollie found a slight indention in the packed dirt. It was wide and long, possibly a goblin footprint, but he could be reaching at that assumption.
“I’ve done some research,” Kimmie said. “I’m not sure if what I found online is all true, but I read the same about what you said. Greenies travel in packs. Usually under a stronger goblin, or a trow, or a hobgoblin, which I guess is just a bigger goblin? No one could really say what a hobgoblin looks like.”
Ollie leaned back and moved to the edge of the boulder. “That’s because if you see one, you don’t usually live to talk about it.” He hopped down from the boulder with a grunt.
“Have you seen one?”
He looked at her but didn’t answer. This girl was far too interested in what he did, and that kind of enthusiasm never ended well. No need to feed the beast.
“I need some tools.” He wiped his hands on his pants. “I’ll be back in a couple hours to take a better look. Can you throw some more of your dog treats into a bag for me?”
“Sure.”
“Good. You wanted a goblin hunter, you got one.”
He held out his hand. She shook it, an enthusiastic smile on her face.
Ollie followed Kimmie back to the trail, his mind already churning on how he’d find this particular goblin. He hated to admit it, but this is what he was born to do. It had been two years since he’d hunted a goblin, and it felt good to finally get back to work.
Even if that feeling never lasted very long.