Once outside, she was not sure where to go, but seeing a door at the end of the corridor, she went towards it.
By the time she reached it, she was very tired, but the outdoors beckoned and Racell carefully went outside in the rain fresh air and hobbled to a nearby bench.
Falling on it with a sigh she looked around at the beautiful landscape and the corner of the house that swept towards the mountains behind her. This Rivendell was huge.
Folding her arms down on the stone balustrade behind the bench, she lay her head down, overwhelmed by a sense of displacement. No matter how kind the elves were, how would she and Dinna ever fit in comfortably here?
Racell sleepily thought that she and Dinna would just have to work hard. Perhaps once they got chores, some kind of work, they would not feel so strange. They would be too busy to worry about it.
Racell fell asleep.
Shivering, she awoke an hour later. The sun was sliding to the mountain gorge to the west. Yawning, Racell rubbed her head tiredly and pushed herself up. Her leg still hurt some and the stitches pulled. She could not wait for that all to go away, but Elrond had said it would take at least another week.
With a sigh, she stood up with a wobble and went back to the House.
Entering the corridor she looked at the closed doors with some trepidation: She could not recall which one she had stepped out of.
Leaning on the cool wall for support she hobbled down to where she thought she had been and tried the door. It was an empty study.
Closing the door, she got a bit nervous.
Biting her lip, Racell tried to hobble on, but her leg was feeling very tight and tired. Slumping to the floor she bit back tears. And then she put her head on her knees.
Lost in unhappy thoughts, it took her a moment to realize the twins and Dinna were standing around her. The twins helped her stand and Dinna moved to help support her down the hall back to the girl's room, where they had been drawing.
They helped Racell to the bed and pulled the blankets around her. She lay back with a sigh.
Dinna said sitting next to her. "Racell, are you okay? Why did you go out in the hall?"
"I-I just needed to think Dinna." She looked at the twins who had gone back to drawing. "Do we fit in here? How can we really be a part of their family? We are not elves." Racell tiredly closed her eyes.
Dinna patted her older sister and then flung her arms around her. "You still have me Racell. And I love you and I am your family." Dinna pulled up her dolly that Celebrian had made for her. "Almana is now part of our family. Cas is happy." Dinna kissed Racell and lay her head on her sister's chest. "I miss Mum and Daddy too Racell. I miss the farm. But I have you and the twins are fun and I have never had anybody besides you to play with before. And-and Ada Elrond is very nice. I am not sick anymore."
Racell sat up and looked at her little sister shocked. ""Ada" Elrond? You are calling him that?"
"Elladan and Elrohir call him that and he does not mind. He just smiles when I say that. Ada means "daddy"."
"Oh Dinna." Racell's heart hurt as she brushed her sister's hair back. "He-he is not our Daddy Dinna. He is just a nice, a nice elf."
"And Nana Celebrian? She is just a nice elf too?"
"Yes, of course. "Nana"?"
"It is the twins word for Moma."
Racell sighed heavily and hugged her sister.
She didn't know how to feel now. If Dinna was happy here, what could she say? She wanted her sister to be happy. And she was much better. Sir Elrond had said she could go out and play in the next few days.
Racell moved her leg with the stitches in it. For her of course it would take a bit longer to be better.
Oh what to do? What to do? She looked over at her sister who had rejoined the twins drawing. She threw her blanket over her head. Oh maybe a nap would help her. Closing her eyes tiredly she tried to fall asleep.
When next she opened her eyes, she found herself on her back, the quilt down and Elrond gently unwrapping her bandage. They were alone.
"Hello Racell. How are you feeling? The twins told me you tried to walk about some and got very tired."
She nodded. "Sorry," she said in a low voice, "I was, well I just needed to think."
As the elf lord worked, he asked quietly, "About what?"
"About, well, about Dinna and me living here."
"Is there a problem?"
"No-no. I-I..."
Elrond looked at the young girl and stopped a moment. He could easily see she was very troubled by something. "Are you unhappy here Racell?"
"No. No this is all so very nice. And you and your wife and the boys are so nice and...fun. But, but..." Racell covered her eyes trying to hide her tears. "I miss my Mum and Daddy and Dinna is already calling you Ada Elrond and I am so very afraid she will forget our parents. And-and..."
Racell could not help herself, she was overcome with tears.
Elrond finished what he was doing and pulled her to him. "Do not worry Racell. Dinna will not forget your parents, and neither will you. Dinna just needs things to be stable and so do you. We are your new family. We cannot replace your mother and father, but my wife and I and my sons can certainly shelter you and care for you and see you grow up prepared to face your destiny. You are welcome to call me Ada if you wish."
He set her back amongst the pillows, his face warm and serious, catching her attention. "Remember I said you were very special because of that ring your uncle gave you?"
"Yes."
"The ring is an heirloom of my brother Elros' House, the kings of Numenor and you are a descendant of his. I have sworn to help protect his heirs any way I can until one day, one will be able to claim the kingship of Men and once again unite the Kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor."
"I am related to a king?"
"Yes through your father's line. That means you are very special to me as well as to your own family. We are very distantly related Racell."
"So, so we ARE family?" She fondled one of her ears. "Even though we are not elves?"
"Indeed." He brushed her hair softly off her face. "Now rest Racell. In a few days, we can talk about lessons."
"Lessons?"
"Yes. Reading and writing, history and mathematics, archery, horseback riding, things of that nature."
"Reading? I would really like that. Dinna and I know how to write our names." She said proudly.
"Excellent. So you at least know your letters."
"Yes. We can both recite the alphabet. But, ah I am not sure we can write all of them down."
"Well, we shall work on that."
"All right thank you sir..um...Ada Elrond."
Smiling, the elf lord rose from the bed and cleaned up his supplies. As he did so, he said quietly, "Tonight, would you like to have dinner with my family and I? It will be outside on the terrace."
Racell nodded. "That would be very nice. I really want to go outside and play...um, after lessons and chores and everything."
"Soon little one soon. Dinner will be in about an hour."
"Thank you, for everything."
Elrond, feeling her uncertainty, came back to her bedside and kissed her on top of her head. "You are welcome little sparrow."
Smiling Racell clutched her new dolly Banda and held her close as the elf closed the door.
Maybe it would not be so bad to have an elf for a new Daddy.
Dinna was outside on the lawn playing tag with the twins. Racell, ready to have her stitches removed watched from a padded bench, a small pillowed footstool under injured leg. She could not wait to run like Dinna. She sipped at the fresh lemonade she had been given and watched with a sigh. Soon.
Dinna and the twins ran up to her laughing and panting and grabbing their glasses of lemonade, noisily slurping them down. All took a piece of sliced fruit and flung themselves down on the soft grass.
Racell was delighted to see Dinna back to her previous health and truth be told, she was blooming in the soft sun and care she received here. Their last year without their parents had been very hard on both girls, more so on Racell since she was the oldest. It was nice to not have to worry about every meal and repairs and forage for the chickens and Whin.
She smiled as she remembered the first day out in the sun and an elf had brought Whin to her, with no lead rope. His brown coat shone as he came up to her and snuffled in her hair as she ran a hand down his satiny neck.
He was thriving in Rivendell as she and Dinna were.
The first days out of bed and the two girls constantly asked either Celebrian or Elrond for chores to do. When they were gently told they did not need to do chores, that everything was taken care of, they didn't know what to do with themselves.
The twins helped them out with their uneasiness. And soon the children grew adept at sign language and the back and forth smattering of Sindarin and Westron that they learned.
They showed them how to make their bed and clean up the bathing room. The toys that slowly made it into their room were given places to reside when they were not in use.
And when that was all done, the boys showed them how to help out in the stables. Here Racell and Dinna were their equal as they had already had plenty of experience in taking care of Whin and the family's chickens.
One afternoon, Dinna came back to the porch where Racell sat attempting embroidery with a she-elf named Alathiriel, one of Lady Celebrian's handmaidens and plopped on the floor near her sister's footstool.
With a happy sigh, she ran her hand along the fine wood of the cane Racell used to get around with.
"Well, I showed them."
"You showed who what?" Racell said, biting her lip trying to get a stitch straight.
"I showed Elladan and Elrohir how to plant a garden. We found a plot near the stables and we got some seeds from the head gardener and he gave us some spades. We each had one Racell! They had enough for all of us. And I showed them how to plant the seeds and told them how to water and everything. And even though they don't talk like us"
Alathiriel (who spoke Westron) said, "Well I am sure their mother and father will be delighted mistress Dinna as the twins have not shown much aptitude for gardening before."
"Well, I showed them." She held up her hands and Racell finally looked at her sister and broke out in a big smile. "And see, I didn't get too muddy!"
Dinna had streaks of dirt all over her face and gown and there was still plenty of dirt under her finger nails.
"You still have brought a lot of the garden back to me little gopher!"
Alathiriel smiled and looking at the two girls said, "Well, I think it's time for Mistress Dinna to have a bath. If you want Racell, I can take her in hand."
Racell sighed and nodded. "Thank you Alathiriel."
The she-elf rose and took the dirty little five-year-old into the House.
Racell, concentrating on her embroidery did not notice the approach of Lord Elrond who stood watching his patient a moment, glad to see that she was working on the embroidery. He knew she desperately wanted to join the others in play.
"Good afternoon Racell. How is your embroidery coming along?
"I am able to do the leaves my lord, but the flowers are harder." She bit her lip as she was finishing the last petal.
The elf lord watched in silence a moment. As Racell sighed in exasperation, the elf lord crouched next to her and said, "I can show you how to do that."
"All right." Racell handed him the needle and linen and sat up to watch Elrond smoothly pull the needle through the cloth and tidily finish off the petal. "Did you see how I did that?"
She nodded and took the cloth back and tried what he had shown her on another petal and it didn't tangle.
Looking up with a big grin she said, "Thank you so much! Alathiriel showed me but I didn't get it. Now I do."
"Well speaking of stitches, come, it is time to remove yours."
Elrond picked up her slight form after he lay aside her embroidery.
As they walked to his surgery, Racell asked nervously, "Will it hurt?"
"No, do not worry."
"This means I can walk and play and everything?"
"Yes," the elf lord said as they entered his study and went into his nearby surgery.
Laying her on the table, he turned to pull out his needed supplies.
"Tomorrow we will start lessons for your sister and you. In language and writing, all right?"
He turned, holding a small knife and two small vials. Setting them aside, he lay cloths near her leg and got to work.
First her damped a cloth thoroughly with liquid from one vial and then gently pressed the cloth in several places along the line of stitches.
Racell hissed at the very cold feeling she got and shivered.
Elrond smiled and then carefully went about slicing the small precise stitches and pulling them out.
Racell could feel nothing, as her leg was very numb.
In about 20 minutes, the stitches were removed and once Elrond rubbed some salve into her skin, he helped her off the table and let her stand, holding her arm so she could get her balance.
She walked a bit and turned to look at the tall elf lord who was smiling at her progress.
"I can walk and it doesn't hurt Ada, sir, Elrond. It feels a little weak, but oh, this is great."
Elrond turned to clean up the surgery while Racell walked out carefully into the elf lord's study and went to the terrace doors that over looked the family's private garden.
Pressing her face against the glass, she saw that Dinna was back out playing tag with the twins again, though Lady Celebrian was watching while she did some gardening.
"Would you like to go down? I do not think you are quite up to running, but you can certainly join them. You can use the swing there."
Grinning, Racell slowly went out and took the stairs carefully down to the garden, Elrond following closely she stepped out into the lawn smiling at her sister.
"Racell, you can walk okay and," Dinna looked at the healer, "can you play now right?"
He nodded and Dinna pulled her over to the twins who were intrigued by a toad they found under the lilac bush.
Racell joined them as they hunted the amphibian.
Elrond joined his wife, who was just finishing putting a violet in a pot. Smiling, she said as she tamped the dirt down. "Well now Racell can be a normal little edain girl for awhile."
"Yes. She needs a little time free from worries about her sister and what she can do to help. I have told her she and her sister will begin lessons tomorrow. And I have just the perfect elf for the job."
"Oh yes?" she looked at her husband. "And who would that be?"
"Manarenil."
Celebrian put the pot down, her eyes going deep with emotion.
"An interesting choice my love. Why Manarenil?"
"He needs purpose. He feels half an elf because he has lost his lower
left leg. He still rides and I have seen him practicing with his dagger. But his fea is quite troubled. It is clouding up with sadness and a sense of uselessness. I have seen him pulling away from the rest of us in Imladris."
"Elrond, he will not take anything he perceives as charity."
"I know this love. I have a plan for that as well."
Celebrian hugged her husband, who slipped his arm around her waist kissing her.
"You are a wonderful elf my heart."
"Ada, nana, look Racell caught the toad! Can we keep him?"
"Elladan, I have told you before we must allow the animals to lead their own lives as they should." Elrond looked at Elladan clutching the struggling amphibian.
Elrohir flung himself into his father's lap. "But the toad WANTS to stay with us Ada. We asked and he is bored with this garden."
"All right then," Celebrian spoke up rising from the stone bench and straightening her gown, "we shall give him a place in my garden."
"Yay!" Elrohir ran off, Elladan joining in the rush with the toad. Dinna, about to take off looked at Racell. "Can you run Racell?"
"I'll try!" she took off slowly, walking very fast and then attempting to run. But her leg buckled and she fell near the garden gate. Elrond swiftly went to her and picked her up. "Are you hurt Racell? Did you twist anything? I told you no running little sparrow."
"I am sorry, I just couldn't help myself. Um, it is just a little weak. You can put me down. I am okay."
Carefully setting her down, he frowned slightly at the limp and almost picked the little one up again, when Celebrian put a hand on his arm. "She will be all right Elrond. Let her work it out. If she is still having problems this evening, then do something about it."
Elrond put his arm around his wife. "The edain live such short lives my love. They get sick as we have seen and their injuries take longer to heal. I always worry."
"And that my dear Elrond, is one of the reasons I love you." Standing on tiptoe to kiss her tall husband the two elves followed the children to the next garden where they could already hear the children squealing about snails.