They were not riding long before the shadows began to lengthen towards sunset. The cold February wind started to blow, and soon enough, Mary was shivering from the cold. She looked down at her cloak still laid across Silver's withers, wishing she could put it on. But, with the way her hands were shackled so close together, it was impossible without help. Her family was too far back in the company to offer assistance and there was no way she was asking any of these men… she still had her pride! Shortly after sunset, Oakenshield called for a halt.
"We will camp here tonight and return home tomorrow," he said. Mary was told to dismount and her two guards walked her to a spot in the clearing where they had stopped and ordered her to sit down under a large tree. She did as she was told, remembering her promise of causing no trouble as long as her family was safe.
Looking around she was relieved to see Joseph had taken Silver Mist and was tending to her. "Bofur, get a fire going and get some dinner started," Thorin ordered. Unfortunately, the fire was started too far away to do Mary, who was now numb with cold, any good. Not wanting to show any sign of weakness in front of these men, she sat rigidly and tried to fight off the cold. As she sat and watched, she was surprised and relieved to see that her family had been given a portion of the dinner that was prepared, though they stayed around their own fire and made no attempt to talk with any of the dwarves in the company.
Mary closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the tree. She could see no way out of this situation and could feel despair creeping up on her. So far, Oakenshield had kept his word, but how long that would last she did not know. She had very little experience in trusting dwarf noblemen to do something that did not immediately benefit them. "My family is a burden to him, and when I am out of sight who knew what he would do to them," she thought sadly, wishing she had listened to her mother in the first place and not gone to Erebor.
Mary sat that way until she heard a small voice from over by the dwarves fire say, "Excuse me." She jerked upright at the sound of Davon's voice. Her sudden movement caught the attention of her guards, who turned towards her, but she paid them no attention as she stared, horrified, at the sight of her two nephews standing behind Thorin Oakenshield.
"Excuse me," Davon said again, louder. This time Thorin heard him and turned around, surprised to see the two boys standing behind him. As he knelt down in front of them, they took a couple of steps back in obvious fear.
"It's alright; I am not going to hurt you," Thorin said. "Well now what are your names?" he asked.
They looked at him for a moment before Davon answered, "I am Davon and this is my younger brother Aaron."
"And did you need something?" Thorin asked kindly.
"We wanted…" Davon started, unsure. "We wanted to ask if we could take Aunt Mary her cloak. It's cold," he said timidly. Mary noticed that, in fact, Davon was holding her cloak.
"Aunt Mary did not get any dinner!" Aaron spoke up suddenly. Thorin stood up then and turned to the man tending the cooking fire and asked, "Bofur, have you fed the prisoner?"
"No, I was waiting to see what you wanted to do," was the reply.
"Make a bowl." was the order. As Mary continued to watch, worriedly, Thorin took the bowl and handed it to Aaron. "Come with me," he told the boys and turned and walked toward her. Mary guardedly watched his approach, ready should he try to hurt either boy.
When the three reached where she was sitting, Thorin turned to the guards and said "Go, warm up by the fire and get something to eat. She is secure for now." After the guards left, he leaned against a tree some three feet away and watched as the boys ran to their Aunt.
"Aunt Mary, I have your cloak!" Davon exclaimed, obviously proud of himself and feeling quite brave.
"Thank you, could you help me with it?" she asked smiling at him and all the while trying to forget that Oakenshield was there listening.
"I got you some dinner," exclaimed Aaron, not to outdone by his older brother.
"Thank you! I don't know what I would do without my boys!" she said, this brought a smile to both boys' faces.
"Davon, Aaron," Mary heard Kaylah call.
"Go to your mother, it's probably bed time," Mary said, taking the bowl of food from Aaron.
"Aren't you coming too?" Aaron asked, innocently.
"No Buddy I have to stay here," she replied. After hugging them both, she watched them run back over to the rest of the family and climb into the wagon for bed.
Mary then set the bowl down and was tying the ties of her cloak at her throat that Davon had forgotten, when she heard a voice say, "Those are some brave and caring little boys."
Mary jumped; she had forgotten he was standing there. "You have no idea." Mary replied, hoping he would leave.
"Really," Oakenshield said, moving to stand in front of her, "They walked away from their family were they knew they were safe. Walked up to and talked to a person they were clearly afraid of. All because they were concerned that you might be cold and hungry. I think I have a pretty good idea!" Mary refused to look at him and having no reply, remained silent.
"They are really thin. In fact you all are," he stated. "Why is that?" he asked.
"That's none of your business or concern!" Mary snapped at him. Oakenshield closed the distance between them, reached out and grabbed her arm, hauling her to her feet.
"Hey! Let go!" she exclaimed angrily. He grabbed her chin in his other hand and forced her to look at him. "Since I think it has something to do with your motive for stealing, I think it is my business." Mary glared at him and did not answer him. He stared at her for a moment longer and then let her go. By then the guards had returned, and Oakenshield turned and left. Mary sat back down and watched him go, not liking his sudden interest in the affairs of her family or their past.
oOo
In the morning, Mary was wakened from her light doze with a rough shake. "On your feet!" said one of the guards. Looking over to check on her family, she caught sight of a rather amusing situation; at least five dwarves were trying to catch Silver Mist to saddle her. Silver, who would not allow herself to be tied up at night, having broken several halters and chewed through several more lead ropes, kept dodging away whenever a man got close. Mary also noticed her family just standing there, not attempting to help and clearly enjoying the spectacle.
"Enough!" Thorin ordered though it looked like he wanted to laugh as well, which surprised Mary. Thorin then looked at her, "Call your pony or you can walk the rest of the way!" he said.
Mary, not taking her eyes off of him, whistled for Silver. A slight smirk appeared on her face when Silver trotted over to her, stood still and allowed herself to be saddled like a well behaved pony. Mary smiled at Silver, stroking her nose. "Troublemaker," she said affectionately to the pony in elvish.
When they were finished, Mary- with some difficulty thanks to her hands still being shackled- mounted, and the company set off again. A couple hours later, they came in sight of the Lonely Mountain. As a cry of happiness went up from the dwarves, all Mary could feel was dread.
"What's going to happen to me here?" she thought fearfully.
They soon entered what appeared to be a stable area and Mary was made to dismount.
"Take her down to the dungeon and the rest of the family to my study," Thorin ordered. With that Mary was led away.
"Thorin what are you going to do with her?" Balin asked.
"I don't know," Thorin replied. "I will question the family. There's something going on here. Something has happened to these people that has driven her to such desperate measures. But the fact remains, she did steal from here and she tried to kill us both," he finished.
"No, she didn't," Balin said and Thorin looked at him for an explanation. "I have a feeling she hit what she aimed at. If she had been trying to kill us, we would be dead." With that said, Balin walked away to make his preparations for his return to Moria in a couple of days.
The guards led Mary farther down into the mountain then she ever thought possible. Even with the torches lit at regular intervals, it got darker the farther down they went. It was also very damp and chilly. They came to a stop before a barred door and Mary thought sadly; "My room."
They unlocked the door and motioned her forward, after which they removed the shackles and Mary stepped through the door, which closed behind her with a bang. Looking around, Mary saw on one end of the cell a long, wide stone shelf jutting out from the wall with a thin blanket and a pillow on it, and on the other was a small curtained off area with a chamber pot. Outside of that was a basin, pitcher, and a small cup made of hardened clay sitting on a small ledge about waist high; nothing that could be used as a weapon should she need one. Fortunately for her, she was not entirely unarmed, having not surrendered her boot daggers.
The guards locked the door and left. Once alone, Mary sat down on the stone shelf that was now her bed and finally gave into her fear. She buried her face in her hands and cried.
Upstairs, her family was led into a large, well-lit room. There was a large fireplace on one side and a huge desk on the other, and next to the fireplace there was a table with some food and a few chairs pulled up, and a few more chairs set in front of the desk. They stood there in huddled a group not quite knowing what to do, when Thorin entered through another door on the opposite side of the room. "You can help yourselves to the food. I am guessing the children are hungry," he said as he walked over and sat behind the desk. Donald nodded to Kaylah, who took the kids over and made them each a plate.
"Where's Mary?" Father asked.
"In the dungeons at the moment, until we get this incident resolved," Thorin answered. Her parents looked at each other, clearly not happy about this.
"We told her it was a bad idea, coming here," Mother said. "But it has been rough for us lately. And she could not see any other way to sustain us until we reached Bree. She actually abhors stealing."
"So you are actually heading for Bree?" Thorin asked.
"Yes," Father answered.
"And why did you feel you need to leave the Iron Hills at this time of the year?" Thorin asked. The family all looked at each other with troubled expressions, even the children were quiet. "Well?" Thorin urged.
"Only Mary knows all the details and what we do know she has asked…" Father started.
"Oh, please!" Donald broke in. "Why are we still protecting that homicidal maniac?!"
"Donald!" Joseph exclaimed. " We are protecting Mary, not him!"
"Don't give me that!" Donald said angrily. He then turned to Thorin and explained, "Three years ago, Mary and Kaylee were attacked on the way home from the market. Mary was almost killed protecting Kaylee."
Donald tried to continue, but a shove and a look form Father stopped him.
"Mary asked us not to talk about it," Father explained. "After the incident we left the Iron Hills, but we have found it hard to settle somewhere and find work."
"Why?" Thorin asked.
"Because of some lies put out by the father of the young man who led the group that attacked my daughter and granddaughter," Father replied.
"And who is this young man that his father has such power?" Thorin asked.
When Father hesitated to answer, Donald spoke up- "Don son of Den, a magistrate's son and…" he tried again to continue, but Mother interrupted, "If you want any more details, you will have to ask Mary," she said, "But, and I say this without sarcasm or disrespect; good luck, because she has not even discussed all the details with us."
Thorin nodded, thoughtful. He had met Don before. He was a distant cousin to Thorin's kin, King Dain Ironfoot of the Iron Hills. Don was not a pleasant man to be around, in Thorin's opinion. Loud, pompous and arrogant, Don's father had spoiled him beyond what was bearable by most people who held an ounce of common sense. If she had had a run in with Don, it would explain Mary's words about noblemen yesterday morning in the mists. "Wealthy noblemen who think they can take whatever they want simply because of their status!" she had said. Thorin had an idea, but he needed a few more facts first.
"Stay here and eat. I have a few more things to tend to. Then we will talk again," he said as he got up and left the room.
Mary tried to rest, but she was too anxious, so she wound up pacing the cell like a caged up Warg. She suddenly got a feeling from the Intuition that she was no longer alone. She turned around and sure enough there was Thorin Oakenshield, walking towards her cell.
"Mary, that's an unusual name for a woman of- what I can tell- dwarf and elf heritage," he said..
"We are also of human heritage and my mother, like hers before her, liked human names. What of it?!" she answered angrily.
"Enjoying the accommodations?" he asked sarcastically, leaning casually against the wall across from her cell. Mary glared at him. "You are probably thinking right now that it might have been better if you had killed me in that passageway," he said with a smirk.
Mary looked at him steadily, a deadly gleam in her eye and said, "If I had wanted you dead, my arrows would have found their mark the first time. I don't miss." Mary then turned her back on him and walked away, resuming her pacing. "Do you have a reason for this lovely little visit or are you just here to mock me?" she asked with her back still to him.
"From what I hear you and your family have had a rough time of it lately," Thorin said. Mary made it across the cell and picked up the small, clay cup.
"Been talking to my Mother, I see," she said, pouring herself a cup of water out of the pitcher.
"Yes, but it was your older brother who gave me some interesting information concerning an incident that happened three years ago, in the Iron Hills," Thorin said, watching her closely. Mary froze, cup half-way to her lips. "An incident that happened between you and a certain magistrate's son," he finished.
Mary put the cup down and clutched both sides of the small ledge. Her whole body started to shake as she fought the memory that tried to surface. Her eyes tightly closed in fear and anger, Mary snapped at him, "Donald talks too much about things he shouldn't!"
"What happened three years ago?" Thorin asked.
"What do you care?!" Mary asked back, "You caught your thief! Just state my punishment and be done with it! What happened in my past is none of your concern!" she snapped, refusing to turn and look at him, knowing she was on the verge of losing her temper.
"Your parents said you were the only one who knew all the details of what happened," he said, " And you won't share them even if it would make my judgment less harsh?" he sounded surprised.
"Let me put this in a way you will understand!" Mary said slowly, glaring over her shoulder at him, her temper hanging by a thread. "You have a better chance of seeing dragon fire freeze over than hearing that tale from me! Now go away!" Mary closed her eyes again and knew he had to leave before she lost it completely.
"You're the only one who knows all the details of what happened that day?" Thorin asked sounding thoughtful, "But that's not true is it? I could always ask the other person who was there with you," he said.
Mary's eyes flew open when she caught his meaning. His insinuation caused her to lose whatever control she had left of her temper, and before she realized what she was doing, she grabbed the full water cup, spun around and hurled it at him screaming, "YOU PIG-HEADED, ARROGANT, JACK-ASS!" The cup shattered against the wall next to his head, throwing the water all over him. "You stay away from my niece! She had been through enough without some brutish man interrogating her about a day that still terrifies her!" she yelled at him.
Thorin stepped up to the bars, "You will not order me around in my own halls," he warned.
"You go near her and I swear by Durin and the Valar, that when I am finished with you, you will be wishing that I had killed you in that passageway!" Mary threatened, getting right in his face.
Thorin glared at her and then turned and left the dungeon. As he climbed the stairs, Mary screamed at him, "YOU LEAVE HER ALONE!"
Alone again, Mary sank down to the floor. "What have I done?" she asked herself. Her Mother had always said her temper would get her into trouble. Despair overwhelmed her and she started to sob. Mary cried until she had no strength left, before falling into a restless sleep.