Chapter Two: Are We There Yet?

A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving. ― Lao Tzu

It all happened so quickly Scott barely had time to draw breath – Teddy hit play, and the white flash which followed nearly blinded him. The floor seemed to melt away, along with the couch and the room, and it was as though something was wrapped around his ankle, yanking him forcibly downwards. He yelled in surprise, straining to see anything, but his limbs wouldn't obey his mental commands and his vision was still studded with flashing white lights. Around him, he heard his children screaming, and the noises sent shudders up his spine. It was the most horrible thing for a father to hear, and he lashed out automatically, trying to dispel whatever was making his children scream in such a manner.

The nauseating speed of falling increased and he could have sworn that he felt the wind ruffling his hair. The wind was whipping around him now, like he was actually falling through the sky, and he tried to blink. Whatever it was around his ankle, it tightened, and then began to burn slowly, as if someone were pulling harder. His vision finally began to clear, and Scott saw an image that would last him the rest of his life.

His children were falling around him, at the same level, but maybe ten feet apart. Peggy still had her bathrobe on, but the towel around her hair had disappeared, and she was struggling against the air, pulling vainly at damp clouds to make her descent slower. His son was on his stomach, his eyes tightly shut, shouting his head off, grasping for his father, and Scott tried to move towards him. Ally was trying to cry, but at the speed they were falling it was proving too difficult. The little toddler waved her hands frantically, looking for something to hang onto. Scott couldn't move towards any of his children – it was as though they were separated by a sheet of plastic, and he wasn't even sure if they could hear him.

And then Peggy's eyes opened fully, and she made eye contact with her father.

His children were terrified, and there was nothing he could do. Scott looked down, and realized just how close they were to the ground. He could already see a strip of blue beneath them, as if a river was rising quickly to greet them, and the panic in his chest squeezed hard on his heart.

Then, before he could call out to his children or struggle any more, something invisible hit him hard in the torso, like a blow from a baseball bat. It knocked the breath out of him, and from the sudden silence around Scott he realized that the same thing had happened to his children. His limbs were growing numb from the fall and from lack of use, and his chest hurt terribly. There was nothing to be done – the strip of blue beneath him had vanished, and now he realized he had been batted straight through rainclouds. The lightning was right there, horrifyingly close, the electricity singeing the nape of his neck, and Scott was grateful when he passed through them before the sights could even register.

Soaking wet, he realized it had grown very dark, and he wondered frantically how far he was away from his kids. What had happened? Where were they? Where was he now? He could no longer see his children; they had disappeared into the sky, and the inability to move his body was making him woozy with fear. Beneath him, rearing up closer than he could even comprehend was a wide, black, menacing river. Foamy white skirts clung to the slippery rocks which jutted the surface, and Scott gritted his teeth together, positive that he would be smashed against the surface. Falling from this height would be like falling onto concrete no matter how pliable the surface.

A boat, he thought stupidly, and managed to see the look of utter shock on the men's faces before he hit the water with an earth-shattering noise.

He was cold before he was even wet, and the rain pelting the surface didn't help matters. The world had exploded around him in white bubbles, and something scraped harshly against his bare shoulder. The current was a savage, monstrous beast which sent him careening downstream, and Scott was hurled against a rock. Any breath he had in his lungs was driven from him, and the water began to fill everything – his eyes, his ears, his mouth, his nose. He couldn't hear the thunder overhead since the noise around him was too terrific to distinguish anything. Something wrapped around his arms and legs, and his struggles began to slow. The desperate splashing he was making earned him an audience with the surface.

Air. Fresh, clean air. The first breath came back up, full of liquid, but he managed to fill his lungs twice more before he was sucked beneath the current again. But as hard as the raging river pulled him, something was yanking him backwards; Scott dimly realized he was tangled in something. Someone was hoisting him up, and he broke the surface once more, raising his arms to strike against the waves, and saw that he was wrapped up in a net.

Scott tried to pull against the current once more, but then a rock came out of nowhere and his head cracked against it. There was a sudden, enormous pain, and his vision went instantly black.

Peggy picked herself up dazedly from the leaves; she was still shaking all over, her body wracked with shivers, as she peered around her. She was in a forest? How had that happened? One moment they were in the living room, and she had been upset because they were watching Lord of the Rings, and then everything had fallen. She remembered seeing everyone – Ally, bawling her eyes out, flailing as she tried to reach someone, and Teddy, thrashing like he was being pulled. Peggy distantly remembered something around her ankle, almost like a fishing line, before she was dropped into…here. Wherever 'here' was, anyway.

The forest around her was almost corny, it was so beautiful. Thick trees stood closely together, their
roots and branches intermingling as though they were sharing secrets. Soft ropes of fuzzy gray moss hung from the tree branches around her, veiling the place with an almost otherworldly aura. Behind her, a little stream chattered against rocks furred with green moss, and curly little fiddleheads poked their heads from the ground. Even though the air around her was warm, the ground was cold and damp from the stream nearby, and Peggy scrunched her toes up uncomfortably.

Where was she?

Beneath the beautiful scenery, there was something a little off. No birds sang in the branches, and the sunlight seemed subdued, almost as if the trees were too close to let much sunlight in. But the light above her should have been green-and-gold from all the leaves, not that pasty yellow color. No, the colors and sounds were all off, even if it was beautiful. Peggy took a hesitant step forward and winced when she stepped on a sharp stick. She was barefoot, wearing a pair of thin flannel pajama pants, a tank top, and an oversized gray bathrobe. Her hair was still wet from her shower, and even though she distinctly remembered being pulled through clouds.

"Teddy?" She called uncertainly. "Dad? Daddy? Ally? Anybody here?"

Silence came back – the woods seemed too tired to echo, and simply smothered her words.

How had she ended up here? Had she fallen somehow, and whacked her head, and this was some sort of coma? A dream? If it was a dream, the stick she stepped on seemed awfully real, and she was very cold to be in a dream. Peggy folded her arms tightly across her chest and continued walking through the forest, stopping every so often to call out her siblings' names and listen for anyone answering.

After maybe ten minutes of walking and shouting – although it could have been less time, she had left her phone on the table before they were dropped, so she wasn't sure – Peggy had to lean against a tree. A warm breeze ruffled her hair gently, and she sniffled to herself. Why was she here? What had happened? More out of frustration and fear than sadness, she started to cry, very quietly, to herself. Were Teddy and Ally all right? What had happened to her dad? Were they all dead? If she was dead, why couldn't she see her mother anywhere? At the thought of her mother, Peggy started to cry in earnest. She would have known what to do – her mother was prepared for anything.

"Mom?" She called out weakly, her voice sounding pathetic even to her own ears. "Anybody?"

It was such a depressing, tired forest, and as she leaned against the scaly bark of the tree, she could have sworn the tree cried with her. The deep ache that had started in her belly ever since her mother had died flared up again, and Peggy unconsciously wrapped an arm around her waist as though trying to hold herself together. She was cold, alone, in a place she didn't know, and her family could all be dead. There was certainly nobody in this forest; there could be bears or wolves or anything else, but there weren't any people. She could be eaten alive and nobody would know. Come to think of it, would anyone really miss her if she disappeared in the real world? Just her family, maybe, but if they were dead she didn't know who would even care.

Peggy was so deeply wrapped in her own self-pity that it was no wonder she didn't hear the young Hobbit creeping up behind her. Actually, it would have been nearly impossible to hear him even if he had been stamping along as loudly as possible and she had been sitting perfectly still; Hobbits are like that.

"Miss? Are you all right?"

She screamed and turned around, every hair standing on end, and flattened herself against a tree. The little boy in front of her jumped and cried out a little as well, reacting against her reaction. "I'm sorry!" He said earnestly, his brow furrowing. "I didn't mean to frighten you!"

"You did!" Peggy practically shrieked. She looked around for a rock or a stick or something to defend herself, but once her heartbeat slowed to human levels, she was able to see who was in front of her.

It wasn't a child at all – his voice had been surprisingly deep for a little boy, anyway. But he was only a little taller than Ally, and Ally was five, even though she was tall for her age. He had very curly dark brown hair, which was rather long and fell into his eyes haphazardly. His chin and nose were very small and pointed, and he had quick, searching blue eyes which were widened in fear and alarm. Although he was very short, he had a bit of a belly straining the buttons on his gray vest, but despite this he had very nice features. Very small pointed ears were peeking up from beneath his curly dark hair. The absolute strangest thing, however, were his feet – thick leathery slabs with very hairy toes were nestled in the soft peat. They were obviously well taken care of, but they were still quite dirty for someone who had been walking around barefoot in the forest all day. She blinked, trying to control her breathing.

"I'm sorry if I scared you," The small creature continued in a reassuring tone. "I'm Frodo. Frodo Baggins. Are you lost, miss? I heard you calling."

"Am I…?" Peggy whispered dazedly. "Where…where am I?"

Frodo smiled sympathetically, evidently deciding that she was either an idiot or insane. "You're not far from Bag End, miss. You're in the Shire. Is that where you wanted to be?"

Peggy felt herself crumbling. Where was she? Did he say the Shire? Where was that, exactly? "What…what are you?" She asked, a little stronger, but still clinging to the tree. Hopefully he wouldn't take offense and start eating her, even if he did look very civilized.

Luckily for poor Peggy, he laughed a little. "I am a Hobbit, miss. Who are you? Where do you come from?"

"I'm…Peggy. Peggy Wade. And I'm from…from New Hampshire. Keene, New Hampshire. Is that…close by?" She asked, crossing her fingers and toes and everything else she could cross. Please, she begged mentally, please have it be close.

To her dismay, Frodo frowned. "No, I have never heard of New Hampshire," The Hobbit said, pronouncing it carefully. "Are you sure you're not lost, Miss Wade?"

Frodo was completely bewildered when Peggy burst into tears. "No," She sobbed. "No, I'm not sure at all."

Ally hugged herself, peering from behind her knees with very big gray eyes as she sniffled. She had been crying for over an hour, although she didn't know that, and even though she had called for her family until her voice was hoarse, nobody had appeared. The woods she was curled up in was very dark, with fir trees knitted closely together and glaring menacingly down at her from their statuesque height. Claw-shaped branches snagged at her hair and nightgown, and Ally whimpered a little, burying herself deeper in the soft dirt she had sat down in. There were too many things to listen to – sleepy owls hooting, birds chirping, branches breaking, squirrels darting to and fro, chipmunks making their nests, and a dozen other strange noises she couldn't see.

By any child's standards, it was very terrifying.

When she had dropped through the air, instead of falling flat on her face like she thought she would, she had slowed down and floated very gently, landing with the greatest of care on the ground. Ally had stood, frozen and stock still, for a full minute before a vixen barked and the small child screamed her head off. The blonde girl had torn through the woods, tripping and stumbling, crying for her mother and family and anyone else she could think of. She was gone, everyone was gone, and she didn't know why! What had she done? She must have been a bad girl, or this never would have happened. Ally tried to think – what had she done wrong? Had she not eaten enough black toast?

"I'll eat it," She cried into her damp knees, "I'll eat all the black toast in the world, just please bring my daddy here!"

The black woods leered down at the little girl, who listened hopefully before swallowing the hard lump in her throat and trying bravely to stop crying.

Nearly two miles away, riding slowly along on horseback, Glorfindel the Elven Lord heard the small mewling. His horse, a dappled gray beaut, slanted its ears forward and listened along with its master; Glorfindel stroked the horses' long, graceful neck and listened for a moment. It had been a human child, he was certain of that – but a human child, crying by itself in the middle of the woods? The foothills of the Misty Mountains were no place for a small child, Elf or not. The tall, broad, golden-haired ellon turned his steed towards the noise and continued off the path, stringing his bow as he did so. His keen Elven hearing picked up the noise of sniffling, and he realized that the child was trying to stop crying. Glorfindel's mouth tightened subtly and he goaded his horse to a greater speed. The longer he left the child out in the wild, the greater the chance a boar or a wolf would happen across it.

Allies looked up, her gray eyes full of fear and wonder when Glorfindel batted aside the branches leading to her small clearing. It wasn't really a clearing at all, just a space between three trees, and Ally silently pulled herself beneath the overhanging tree branches and closer to the trunk. She didn't know who this person was, but he was beautiful. He had very long blonde hair, just like her mommy, and he was dressed funny. But he didn't make any noise on the damp ground, and it frightened her. There was almost a glow around him, what with his pale skin and golden hair, high cheekbones and regal profile. Ally saw him as beautiful, and he was, but in an ethereal, deity fashion. There was no doubt that this elegant giant was not human.

Glorfindel dismounted and approached the tree where the girl was hiding. She was clinging close to the trunk, half-hidden by the low hanging branches, and he saw that she was wearing a small pink nightshirt. There were little bloodstains on the front from where she tripped and skinned her knees, and judging from the burrs in her tangled blonde curls he was fairly certain she had been wandering around the woods for a little while. How she had managed to survive unchallenged by either beast or man was beyond him, but there were other matters to be dealt with. Namely, how to get her to come out without scaring her.

"Le suilon," He said softly. She didn't react to Elvish, so he switched to Common. "Good morning, little one," He whispered. "Are you injured?"

Ally shook her head, and pursed her lips together. Daddy had told her not to talk to strangers.

"My name is Glorfindel," He continued, his sharp eyesight giving him a good view of her. She was very young, perhaps four or five summers, but tall and heavy for her age. Her eyes gave her away – they were dusty gray orbs of innocence, and she was nibbling on her knuckle, obviously trying not to suck her thumb. "Who are you?"

There was a lengthy pause, and then she mumbled, "'M Ally. You have a funny name."

"It means 'golden'," Glorfindel said with a smile. "Are you lost, Ally? Where are your parents?"

The thumb slowly worked its way down to her chin, but Ally peeped up at him fearfully. "I don't know. Mommy's in heaven with the angels, and I don't know where Daddy is. He was here…and Teddy, and Peggy, but then we fell and I don't know where they are."

Glorfindel took a minute to try and understand this – her mother was dead, and her family was missing? "Did someone leave you out here, henig?" He asked, using the Elvish word for 'child'.

"N-no," Ally mumbled, and her thumb worked its way back into her mouth. "We fell."

The tall Elven lord paused for a moment, and then gestured to the small girl. "May I look at your knees, little one? You seem to be bleeding. I won't hurt you." He promised. Gradually, the child came out from underneath the tree and looked up at him; he was still taller than her, even when he was kneeling. She had dirt streaked on her cheeks, and there was mud beneath her fingernails, along with her blonde hair being positively ensnarled. He had no idea what had happened to her, but it was obvious the girl was alone and hurt, and he intended to do everything he could to try and fix it.

"I can fix your knees here, but there is a friend of mine who is very good at healing little girls," Glorfindel said lightly. "His name is Elrond. Do you know him?"

Ally shook her head, and looked at him seriously. "No…" She trailed off. "I'm not supposed to go with strangers…"

The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled genuinely. "A very good point, but I do not want to leave you out here. There may be wolves and bears and other wild beasts out here. I would go get my friend and bring him here, save I think the journey would take too long."

She looked around and drew closer to him. "Bears?"

Glorfindel nodded wisely. "Bears."

Ally bit her lip and finally nodded hesitantly. "But…but what if my daddy comes back?"

The Elf looked away, not wanting to break this to the small child. If her father had 'fallen', then there was a good chance he had already been devoured by the wild animals who roamed these woods. If he had abandoned her here, then there was a good chance he would meet Glorfindel's arrow later, when he was out on patrol. "I do not think your father will come back, Ally," He told her gently. "Will you come with me?"

Ally's face crumpled a little, but she swallowed hard and tried to be brave. "Uh-huh," She whispered, and followed the tall golden lord to his horse.

A/N: We'll be following Teddy in the next chapter, since the poor lad's gotta spend some time on his own before he's discovered. ^^ Again, un'beta-ed, so I'm sure it's rife with errors. *gulp* I've never been good at proofreading my own work, frankly. Anyway, I would love to hear what you think!

Also, pictures of Teddy, Peggy and Ally are on my profile – at least, as close to them as I could find. No writer is happy with a picture of their character, I suppose! C'est a la vie!

Special Thanks:

tazzledmuch - Thanks! I hope you liked this chapter, and I do intend on continuing this story. ^^

Define X – Yay! 3 I haven't seen any other stories like this either, which was kind of why I wanted to do this. Usually it's just a couple of rabid fangirls who get to visit Middle Earth, so I thought it might be nice to have a whole family who still has issues to work through. But hopefully, none of them turn into Sues…O_e

BloodyButterflies - D'awww, you're going to make me blush! XD Thanks SO MUCH! I did some research on how children grieve/go through depression, and I hope to still keep them IC throughout the story. I mean, they're not going to just get over their mother in a snap just because they're in Middle Earth. Anyway, I hope you stick with this story and tell me what you think! ^^

SlipperbackTub – THANK YOU! XDDDD