Coming Home
~insanity and co~
Chapter Ten: "It's a quarter, Gandalf."
That smell could have knocked me on my ass, and it nearly did. I took a few quick steps back and stumbled into Cody who held my shoulders, to steady one (or both) of us. The dwarves around us were still going toward the smell, and with a groan I followed, pulling my jacket up and over my nose and mouth in hopes of filtering out a bit of that stench.
"That is ripe! I think we found their bathroom," Cody grumbled, voice muffled as he plugged his nose.
The entrance wasn't much of an entrance. There was no door or pathway leading to the cave, there was just a gap underneath a huge rock...and while it looked large to me, it must have been nearly impossible for those massive trolls to fit through.
"Well, I guess we just climb on in," Cody muttered, following Balin and ducking his head low. I, with my mouth and nose safely tucked into my shirt, didn't have to do so much as lean to climb into the disgusting smell of the cave. I wasn't exactly sure how Gandalf had made it into the cramped space, but I could hear his voice above the rest. All I wanted to do was run in the opposite direction and perhaps burn my nose and now I could sort of taste that horrible stench on the back of my tongue!
Oh god, no! Don't gag. Now is not the time for vomiting!
Somehow, the dwarves managed to get past the smell and as soon as I climbed in and let my eyes adjust, there wasn't so much as a complaint to be heard from them. I was having a hard time breathing in general, and Cody had been right in thinking this was their bathroom. And their kitchen. And their garbage dump. And a number of things that made for the most disgusting smell ever.
I stood close to the entrance, not wanting to venture in further unless I absolutely had to. Cody, on the other hand, seemed drawn in with the others to rummage through the small wealth left by the trolls. I shuffled here for a bit while the dwarves looked around, taking their damn time in opening up a few chests, dusting things off, estimating prices, and a few were even digging holes!
There was no way we could stay here long without passing out! I turned back to the entrance for a breath of fresh(er) air and felt something cold against my foot. Looking down, I first thought I had found another piece of silver that had escaped the grasp of the trolls and instead lay half-buried in the dirt. Upon a second glance, though, I couldn't help but think that the head engraved on the face of the coin looked so familiar. I had seen it so many times before.
George Washington. Wig of hair, profile, "United States of America" engraved at the top...I had just found a quarter.
I felt about as giddy as Gloin looked, stuffing handfuls of gold and silver into a hole in the ground. I briefly heard someone mention a long-term investment but I had picked up the quarter and couldn't tear my eyes away from it.
It was beautiful. I flipped it over again and again in my hand and realized something else...I hadn't only found a quarter, I found a huge quarter. It was nearly as long as my thumb, and for just a moment my hopes took a dive. Just for a moment, though, because even if this was a fake quarter, who here would know all the details to make it? "Liberty". "In God We Trust." I flipped it over and a bald eagle stood on a branch with it's wings spread out proudly.
It wasn't like I was a connoisseur of quarters or anything, but when you live pay-check to pay-check and need them for laundry every week they become an important part of pocket-change. Dimes, nickles, pennies...they could all rot in hell because the only thing that was of any use was a quarter.
Stench forgotten, I raced deeper into the troll cave to where Cody stood, nearly tripping over the many things that littered the floor. I think some of the dwarves were now looking at weapons but I really didn't care. I nearly knocked him over and while Cody looked startled at first, his eyes widened and his mouth dropped open when I shoved the quarter in his face. I didn't even realize I was waving it around until he grabbed my wrist to stop me.
"Look what I found! Look! Look! Would you look at it!"
"I'm looking!" Cody snapped, grabbing the quarter and holding it up in the small bit of light that we had. "Are you serious?" A breathy laugh escaped him.
"Yes! Give it back! I'm serious! This is amazing!" I am not normally one to freak out, nor am I one to jump up and down and clap their hands when something spectacular happens but this was beyond spectacular. This felt damn-near magical.
"What is it you've found, Holly?"
"Oh." Gandalf was standing over me, eyes flashing between the quarter and my face as with a start I realized that several of the dwarves were looking at us as well. A few looked a little interested but several had already turned back to their own hoards. "Oh, I suppose it's nothing."
When the dwarves turned back to the weapons and the gold (and I think one of them cried out that they found food) Gandalf knelt down beside me and Cody, his body shielding us from their sight. He was still quite a bit taller than me, but he managed to make me feel even smaller with his scolding gaze.
"If this is of some importance to the two of you, I suggest you keep it to yourselves. I do not recognize that as any currency in this world," he added, holding his hand out and it was with a lot of difficulty that I dropped it into his massive hand. It looked tiny and he flipped it over, bringing it closer to his face to inspect it. "What do you call this?"
"Uh, a quarter," Cody said slowly. Not only were we far from home, but we were explaining what a quarter was to a wizard.
"Keep this safe." That was all Gandalf said before dropping the quarter back into my hand and walking away - head nearly hitting the top of the cave - to where the dwarves were trying to roll a barrel up the incline to the entrance.
"You'll need one of these." I jumped at the voice to my side and stuffed the quarter into my front pocket. Cody quickly stepped away and I was staring wide-eyed at Kili and his outstretched hand.
"What?"
"You'll need one of these," Kili repeated, holding out a large knife.
"I have a knife."
"If we run into trouble, you will need something else. This should do until you are trained with a larger weapon." Kili grabbed my wrist and held my hand to the handle and suddenly I was holding a huge knife. When he let go I nearly dropped it, not expecting something so small to be so heavy.
"How do I use this?" I asked, weighing the knife in my other hand. It was too heavy, too big...it didn't feel right. Not like my small pocket-knife.
"For now? Just as you used your other one. I saw you stab that troll in the leg, that was quite impressive for someone who has only ever taken a swipe at a dwarf before." He was trying not to smile but I could see a sparkle in his eye - the same kind Cody gets whenever he's making fun of me and having too much of a good time with it.
"How do you know that's all I've ever done? I could be dangerous." I got a laugh as a response and Kili was walking away before I realized that it was a little insulting. I scoffed a bit and looked down at the knife. It was a bit longer than my whole hand and was a lot heavier than it looked. The handle was wrapped in leather but other than that it looked like any other knife.
"We're leaving! Grab the food and that is enough, Gloin," Thorin's voice echoed through the small space and all the dwarves fell silent except for the grumbles of Gloin.
I didn't even realize I had forgotten the horrible smell until I climbed back up the incline and stumbled out into the forest again, breathing in real fresh air that burned my throat. The dwarves filed out of the cave and Nori and Dori were struggling to roll a large barrel up and out of the cave.
"Troll caves aren't that bad, huh?" Cody laughed, taking in a deep breath as he joined me.
"I could do without the smell. But yeah, I was pleasantly surprised," I said, the quarter still feeling cold and too large in the pocket of my jeans. "Where'd you get that?"
"This?" Cody asked, moving his arm away so I could better see the large sword tied to his belt. The handle looked about as big as my whole knife, and wait a second...why did he get to tie his to his belt while I had to carry mine? "Dwalin found it, he thought I would need my own sword for practice so I could get used to it."
"Yeah yeah, whatever," I grumbled, not even realizing that I had crossed my arms until a large grin spread across his face.
"Awwwe, somebody's jealous," he sang, nudging my arm with his elbow.
"I am not jealous," I snapped, turning to give him my most neutral expression. "I'm serious!"
"Seriously jealous."
"Just shut up." I pushed him away and after he quickly turned to stick his tongue out at me (the child) he walked over to where a few of the dwarves were building a small fire, closer to the entrance where a massive pit of black ash already sat.
"I suppose you would not know how to tie that. Would you like some help?" Dori asked, motioning to my hand.
"Uh, yeah, thank you. I don't think it'd be all that comfortable to hold this all the time."
Dori just smiled in response and went over to where his pack sat with the rest, rummaged through it, and returned with a long scrap of dirty cloth.
"Ahh, I did wonder what those loops were for if you didn't wear a belt," Dori commented, pointing to my belt loop. "We normally would tie this to a belt, but this will do just as well." I didn't really want to tell him that belt loops weren't meant for swords and knifes, so I kept my mouth shut as he tied an intricate knot around my knife.
"May I?" he asked when he was done, motioning with my knife to my pants.
"Oh, uh, sure." Giving someone permission to be so close to my waist was rather odd, and Dori seemed to find it just as awkward, the skin just above his beard glowing a bright red when he pulled away quickly.
"There, see how that feels."
I wasn't too sure how I was supposed to do that, so I moved around a bit. The knife shifted against my leg, but mostly it stayed straight and it felt a lot better than if I had to hold it.
"Take the knife out," he instructed, smiling just a bit at my embarrassment because how was I supposed to know that that's how you test one of these make-shift things out? I did, and the knot tied just below the handle stayed exactly as it was.
I slipped the knife back in and smiled. "Thank you, Dori. This is great."
"Think nothing of it. Not all of us wish to see you so ill-prepared." I paused a bit at that comment but before I could ask just who wished to see me "ill-prepared", Dori was walking over to the fire where everyone had gathered.
Now that all of the cups had been dumped into the river, a few absolutely massive mugs filled with an odd, too-sweet-smelling alcohol were passed around the group. Thank god we had all filled up on fish earlier, because the smell from the troll's cave was still wafting over and with that in my nose I probably wouldn't have been able to stomach a thing.
I stood between Cody and Bifur, waiting until one of the mugs was passed in our direction. Bifur did a number on the drink, taking large gulps before quickly passing it over to me and nearly splashing it all over my hands.
I thanked him - not sure whether or not he could understand me - and took a deep breath. It was too sweet, smelled stale, with a horrible citric acid aftertaste...but it was alcohol. So I took a few large gulps and passed it along to Cody who did the same. The dwarves all seemed to have the same idea, even if it was a little too early for drinking, to relax a bit after the troll attack and settle down for the night.
"Ori, Nori. Do a check around the camp," Thorin ordered and the two dwarves left - Ori grumbling and getting smacked by his brother - disappearing into the forest with loud footsteps.
Everyone sat down and several of the dwarves even took their larger weapons off, letting them sit by their side as they all enjoyed the quiet... minus the loud gulping of several members of the group.
We didn't get all that much time to settle, and the silence was broken by loud and quick footfalls coming at us from the thick trees.
"Someone's coming! Someone's coming!" Ori chanted, racing into the clearing with Nori on his heels. Dori grabbed his brother's elbow to stop him and turned him around.
"Who's coming, Ori?" Gandalf demanded, standing quickly and holding his large staff to the forest.
The noise was faint at first, but it almost sounded like something was sliding on the ground.
I wanted to run right back into the troll cave because that sound was getting louder and I really didn't want to live through the troll attack just to be eaten by a giant snake. No. Oh-ho-ho no!
Cody stood just as quickly as the rest and I scrambled to follow suit, though my knife - now in my hand and drawn before me - was admittedly less threatening than the massive sword Cody held...even if it did quiver and I was sure I saw that.
The noise grew louder and a few dwarves let out loud cries, ready to rush forward with swords and axes lashing out at the attacker.
"Stop! Stop!" Gandalf yelled, throwing his staff out to the side to stop any dwarves that were moving forward. "He is no enemy of ours." Axes and swords lowered just a bit but none of the dwarves seemed to trust this enough to drop them completely.
"Gandalf!" A man rushed into the clearing, on a sled...dragged along by rabbits.
My stomach flipped a bit at the sight of the cute little things because I had eaten one - and yes, I was coming to terms with that in my own time - but my attention was quickly drawn to the man who stumbled off the sled and ran to Gandalf. He was quite a bit shorter than the wizard, but looked just as crazy with his hair a wild mess and something white - I really don't want to know what that is - running down the side of his face.
"Gandalf, something horrible has happened-"
Before the man could continue, Gandalf hushed him and with a hand on his shoulder directed him away from the rest of us. Something horrible had happened, but we couldn't know what it was? At Thorin's command everyone put their packs back on and Bombur collected several fish and stuffed them into his favorite cauldron-turned-backpack.
Both Cody and I stood awkwardly in the mess of rushing dwarves. There were no bags for us to pack, nothing to gather. I had my knife, my pocket knife, and my clothes. I felt a little empty without anything here with me, but Cody didn't seem to mind and was focusing on making sure his sword wasn't pulling his pants down with the weight.
Before I could do so much as laugh - let alone make fun of him finally having something large attached to his waist - a loud howl silenced everyone. My laugh died in my throat and another howl followed. The dwarves had frozen for just a moment and Gandalf stormed back over with the smaller wild man in tow.
"I can lead them away, Gandalf," the man said frantically, his eyes darting around to the dwarves that were now packed up and ready to go.
"What the hell was that?" Bilbo cried out when another howl tore through the air.
"That was a warg. Orcs aren't far behind us." Dwalin's rough voice did little to put me at ease because "warg" and "orc" didn't sound as friendly and cute and cuddly as the rabbits and ponies we had seen so far.
"Grab the ponies, now!" Thorin called out, sending Ori, Oin, Gloin, and Dori back to where the ponies had been left to graze and rest after their scare with the trolls.
I wanted to crawl back into the troll cave and run at the same time...perhaps just disappear altogether because whatever made that blood-curling sound had all of the dwarves looking around nervously. They had just dove into a clearing filled with massive trolls and fought their way out...but they were ready to run from whatever had made that noise. Whatever wargs and orcs were, it had all of the dwarves in fear.
No. Just...just no! I brushed some hair away from my face, tearing my fingers out when they got caught in a tangle and was it bad that this was adding to my anxiety?
My knife was suddenly shaking and it wasn't until Nori put his hand on my shoulder did I notice that my absolute terror might be noticeable to the others. I coughed a bit and lowered my knife, trying hard to steady my hand which turned out to be entirely impossible.
"It'll be fine. With our ponies we can get ahead of them." A head-start? He was trying to be comforting, so I nodded but really? A head-start was all we got?
The dwarves sent to get the ponies rushed back into the clearing, and with a jolt I noticed that there were no ponies in tow. I looked amongst the trees, hoping to see Darle's dark gray colors hiding in the trees but there was nothing. Just shadows and another howl.
"The ponies are gone!"
With our ponies we got a head-start. What would we do without them?
Author's Note: Thanks for all you wonderful readers, and everyone who is supporting this story. :) If you do review, please remember to sign in so I can reply to you. :)