Ch. 29: The Front Doorstep

The search continued. Eventually Balin led Bilbo and the three youngest company members to the front gate of Erebor. The old dwarf may or may not have received Thorin's permission, but he decided that the four of them deserved to have a look at the splendor of the place they were trying to conquer. As they approached, Kylie noticed a horrible smell in the air. They all did. Apparently, at least according to Balin, the dragon probably filled the halls with his foul reek.

"How big is Erebor again?" she asked the old dwarf.

"Many, many, many halls."

"And how big is this dragon?"

Balin thought. "In truth, I never saw him. The only one in this company who did, I believe, was Thorin."

"Curse these birds!" roared Dwalin. He had decided to come along as soon as he overheard about the expedition. "Evil blighters…."

Kylie recognized that bird. It was a crow, which in all her experience in Middle Earth, was a sort of spy for Saruman. She didn't even think. She took out an arrow, notched it, and shot. It missed by inches.

"What was that lass?" asked Balin.

"What if it was spying on us?" she moaned, very disappointed that her arrow had not found its mark.

"Who would be spying on us, exactly?" asked Bilbo nervously.

"No one," replied Dwalin sharply. "The elves would never use crows; that much we can trust. Who in this age use crows for purposes of pursuit?"

"Orcs?" retorted Kylie. She had a feeling it was something worse, but she could not come to terms with that. After all, the evil that would be Sauron was still confined to Mirkwood.

The older dwarves' expressions darkened. "We should return to camp." And tell Thorin. That last part went unsaid.

"The lass ought to retrieve that arrow," instructed Dwalin.

Kylie sighed and walked in the direction she fired. If she had at least shot the creature, she wouldn't have to take this inconvenient hike to town. Dwalin was punishing her; she knew it. He was trying to show her that no matter what she said, her stories could not be true. To him, being a gifted storyteller was synonymous with being a gifted liar. Huffing, she lowered herself down the ledge and made her way to town. Making matters worse, Kylie would have to climb that ledge again if she wanted to make it to her companions. Muttering curses about her current predicament, Kylie pulled her still unblemished arrow out of the ground.

Just thin, a dark shadow passed her line of vision. She nearly jumped.

"Who's there!" she squeaked.

"Having trouble lass?" mocked Dwalin from the distance.

Kylie notched her bow, barely daring to speak. She was not sure what she saw, but something put her on edge. And she really didn't like it. But the fact remained that there was nothing there. "No. Not," she replied evenly.

"Kylie?" called Kili.

She shook her head, looking back toward where she saw the shadow. It was probably nothing; it had to be nothing. "I'm on my way!" she cried before she walked back to the cliff.

"Good!" said Fili, who appeared on the ledge next to his brother to pull up the girl. "Kili mentioned that the pulling the arrow may be far too strenuous."

"I'm perfectly capable of pulling an arrow out of dirt thank you very much!" said Kylie with a note of indignation in her voice.

"I said nothing of the sort!" insisted Kili. "It was Bilbo."

Kylie could hear the hobbit snort over the hill.

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Kylie tried not to think too much about the shadow, but it just kept coming back. The more she thought about, the more she was sure that she'd seen it. After a run-in with Dol Guldur, Kylie could think of very few things that it could be. And her thoughts lingered around one particular creature…. But it couldn't be. She'd feel it… they all would. They would all be haunted by a persistent fear.

And judging by the persistent snoring that night they did not.

But the next day, Kylie found herself so occupied with the company's search that she was unable to dwell on the shadow. Bilbo had been spending hours upon hours each day studying the map, and he concluded that their best bet was the western edge of the mountain. Fili, Kili, and Bilbo scouted, and finally Bilbo's shouts brought the company to attention. They had found it! They had found the door!

And of course, under the wisdom of the King Under the Mountain, the only way to get to the door was a very narrow pathway that led to a ledge. Kylie slowly walked behind Thorin, who was also having trouble on the path.

"Come on, it's here! It's here!" squeaked Bilbo excitedly.

"We're coming you blasted hobbit!" snapped Dwalin from behind Kylie.

Eventually, the entire company (minus Bofur and Bombur who both offered to move camp to the base) was there… staring at a long slab of rock.

"Bilbo?" asked Kylie nervously.

"No, look! See, here's the doorstep. And do you see? This rock protrudes slightly. This must be the doorframe!"

"Well done, Master Baggins," said Thorin, who was trying to recover from the climb in the most regal manner possible. "Now we wait."

"Wait?" asked Kylie.

"Stand by the gray stone as the thrust knocks, and the last light of Durin's day ought to reveal the door," said Bilbo. The entire company stared at him. "Well, perhaps not exactly what the map said, but in essence that is what we must do."

"And when's Durin's Day?" Kylie asked.

"It will soon be upon us," said Balin. "We ought not to wait long."

"Unless the map's a joke," said Dwalin harshly.

Kylie gulped and pulled her jacked closer. If it got any colder, she'd probably get sick again. And that was not something she wished to experience.

Thorin sighed. "This was our purpose: to reclaim our homeland. So here I shall remain until such a time the door reveals itself, or we find a more likely way into the mountain. Anyone who wishes to leave now, may." None of the dwarves left. Instead, they sat down and began to work on a campfire. Fili walked to the edge of the cliff and yelled for Bombur and Bofur to gather packs, and he began to pull them up by a rope. Kylie took the packs whenever they reached the top and threw them to their perspective owners. Soon, a small camp was set and Kylie wrapped herself in her blanket by the fire.

"So, we really just wait?" she asked the hobbit.

Bilbo shrugged. "There is no light now, so we ought to rest while we can."

She settled down further, making herself comfortable. "Bilbo, I have a question."

The hobbit turned to her. "What sort of a question?"

"What are you going to do? After this quest?"

The hobbit lay on his back, staring at the stars. "Truth be told, I never thought much about it. I don't suppose I could just go back, could I?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm not exactly the Baggins I was before I left. I've seen the world, fought spiders, goblins, and other things… not entirely respectable for a hobbit at all."

Kylie sighed. "I guess not."

"I suppose," continued Bilbo, "I could always go back and be comfortable. That ought to not be too hard, should it?"

Kylie shrugged. She'd never really thought about what happened to any of her friends after she died in battle. She spent too much time grappling with the idea of whether or not any of her adventures had actually happened. But Frodo certainly would not have been able to just go back and be whatever life he once had. And Merry and Pippin, even before the battle she had seen them grow from fun-loving prank-inducing young hobbits to, well, more mature hobbits who would probably put stones in Aragorn's sleeping bag again at nearest convenience. Either way, the journey had changed them much.

"What do you know of my future?" asked the hobbit very softly.

Kylie played with her fingers. She really wanted to tell Bilbo about the ring, but she was afraid that the information would kill him. "I know you live in Rivendell when you're older."

Bilbo relaxed. "Rivendell. Now that would be a nice place to retire."

"What of you, Kylie?" Kili had ventured over and plopped down between the girl and the hobbit. "What do you wish to do after the quest?"

Kylie froze. "Well," she choked out, trying to force herself to say the truth, "I suppose I'm going to try to travel around a little more."

"What else remains to be seen?" asked Kili. "From what you've said, you have already visited all the great kingdoms of Middle Earth."

Kylie nodded. As strange as it sounded, she really had. "I guess. But, well, there's just some bad things that are going to happen. I'd like to prevent them if I can."

"Bad things?" probed Kili.

"You know, some of the things I've dreamed about? The future would really be nicer without those things."

Kili and Bilbo both nodded. "How do you do it?" asked Bilbo.

"Do what?"

"Know what's going to happen? I can't imagine it's easy."

Understatement of the century. "Nope. But I'm going to do something if I can."

"Can you?" asked Bilbo honestly.

"I hope so," said Kylie honestly, moving away from the conversation. She did have a plan, although she was beginning to wonder about the wisdom of it. Evil was already stirring; she was beginning to realize that now. It may be suicide to go to Mordor alone. Then again, that's exactly what Frodo had done. And he succeeded. She probably could too. Still feeling uneasy, she fell asleep.