Authors Note: Nnnggg…just don't ask ok…the next time I write a story and say I will finish it within the week someone should knock me over the head and hopefully make the injury permanent. I got work you see, and not a cushy job either…I work in a packing factory and am almost always bushed by the time I get home. And this is only because I still can't grasp the Dutch language, otherwise I'd be a freelance journalist already like I wanted to be from the start. *grimaces and shudders* 7 going on 8 months working there…I'm really feeling…egh.
Review Responses: And the most recent ones sound either disappointed…or very very threatening.
Chanra: First…your friend is an Ent? Hmm…maybe she could relate to a fellow worker who reminds me of Saruman…and no, I am being dead serious, if he just had more confidence and was more menacing, he would BE Saruman. And yes…that particular scene I had a bit of fun with…I am glad I am continuing and am very happy you reviewed.
Lady Myself: And I thank you for taking the time to review…thanks.
baru-chan: Updated…er…later than soon as you can see. Call it a misguided sense of time, bit like Bertha Jorkins in Harry Potter…except worse. And thank you for that originality note…I still think it's valid even after all this time. Funny that *nervous laugh*
Natta: First thankyou for reviewing…and that was Merry, Pippin and Legolas who tried to rescue Elanor who fell off the cliff into the water. Let me note this…you have seen the types of clothes hobbit wear yes? Have you ever tried swimming in a dress like that at the midget age of seven? I barely knew how to dogpaddle at that age in a swimsuit…poor lass.
EnglishMystic: As you can see, I have finally continued and I thank you for your review.
Jenn: Just a few words…it has continued. *smiles* Now…if I could only get my review sensor to find your email to tell you this…darn. Stupid ff.net. Thanks for reviewing anyway if you see this.
Cora: Thanks for the enthusiastic review indeed and…you're not dead are you??
Daylight: Thanks for reviewing…and yes…I have gone by your wishes. Heh
Muse High Council: Oh man…you do sound high brow. I will inform you post-haste of this update…if and when my restrictions lift as I have JUST found out as I wrote this that ff.net has put a temporary ban on my updating…oh for crying out…*mutters*
you will never know: I have continued…and I won't know? Aww. Thanks for the review…even if it was more of a poke prod prompt to get myself a move on.Grief
Sam was anxious. The feeling of his stomach twisting itself into knots was disturbingly familiar and it was steadily becoming more so, along with a cold block of ice accompanying it. His little girl was beneath the water and her rescuers had not returned.
"Where are you?" He whispered as he paced the shoreline. He had no idea how much time had past nor did he even want to think about it. All Sam wanted was for three hobbits and an elf to break the surface and swim back onto nice dry land, perfectly safe and happy. But time was dragging and the water remained smooth, he was suddenly struck with reality…they were not coming back.
"No!" The hobbit's wail of anguish reached the ears of his wife as she finally crested the hill with the pony and cart. She had placed her younger children in swaths of cloth in the back except Frodo, who was silently seated next to her. "No no no!" Sam finally fell to his knees and buried his face in his hands. He felt his heart tear apart as he realised that he would never see Elanor smile again, never hear her darling little laugh, never watch her as she acted just like his beloved Rosie when in a temper. Never again.
Then a new pain came as the faces of Merry, Pippin and Legolas came up. How could he tell their families, how could he even think about what their grief would be when it was he and his family they were visiting? Paladin would probably never forgive him, for Pippin was his heir, the next Thain of the Shire. A would Saradoc for Merry was his own heir as Master of Buckland…then there were Diamond and Estella, their betrothed and sweethearts of the hobbits. They would all be devastated.
And Legolas, this would possibly be the worst. As the son of a high Elven King, he held more stature and importance than any of them and there was no doubt they would have to answer to his father. No immortal should ever die, Sam had seen too much death in his life and this was simply topping it all.
"Sam? Sam where is Elanor…Sam?"
Rosie ran up behind and dropped onto her knees next to him. He dimly recognised her panicked grip on his arm as she tried to read his face as to where the others were. He choked on a sob.
"They…they…" Sam pointed shakily to the water and broke down once more while Rosie simply became rigid in shock.
"No…" she choked and the tears slid silently down her face, leaving trails of silver in their wake. When a small hand came up and started wiping at them she looked down to see the confused face of little Frodo. The hobbit toddler seemed to be torn between staring at his parents in confusion or looking around the lake for the three that ran off earlier in answer to his sister's screams…and looking for his sister in person.
"Elly?" He peeped, his voice a mere squeak as he tried to make sense of the situation. His little face registered shock as his father pounded the ground in grief and anger.
"She's not dead! She's not!! My little girl's coming back…I promise that!! I promised…oh Mister Frodo I promised…and she's…she's…" His hands clung limply to the grass as Rosie enveloped him in a bone crushing embrace, sobbing hard against his shoulder while the other tried desperately hard to maintain control once more.
Frodo was distraught, his young mind couldn't grasp the reason why his momma and daddy were crying so hard. And where was Elly and Uncle Pip and Merry…and Laga? The elf had scared him at first when he first met the giant with bright gold hair, but after he had given the little hobbit a piggyback ride around the living room of their home and shared some sweets that he had said came all the way from a place called Gondor, he was the little one's best friend. Much better than that other grumpy hairy one still back in the Hole sniffling over yukky medicine tea his momma had made him.
Laga had said he had a bad tummy cold, Gim simply told him it was something he ate that also came out his nose. Frodo had told them both it was the tea trying to get back out again because he wasn't sneezing that bad before he drank it…he had been confused when they all laughed and said 'Just like the first Frodo, to the point no matter what'. First Frodo? He never had understood that and Daddy never told him. And even now…it was Mister Frodo…and he most certainly was not a 'Mister'. He was only five…a big five, but not 'Mister'.
"Daddy…Daddy I will go get help. Momma? Can you come with me? I don't know the way." He was starting to really panic when his parent's wouldn't answer and he started crying and tugging at their arms. "Momma! Daddy! Please! We need to find Elly! Where's Elly? Where's Laga and Uncle Pip and Uncle Merry…where did they go? Why are you crying? Momma? Momma please??" He nearly screeched when his mother suddenly pulled him into her arms and she sobbed quietly into his hair, whispering a quiet and shaky lullaby while his father still lay in the dirt like a baby.
His brother and sister back in the cart were starting to cry now, but not for the same reasons. They were hungry, cold and wanting Momma…but Frodo knew better. Somehow he knew, as he lay curled in his mother's arms and tried not to cry too hard, that he would never see his big sister ever again…and there would be no more swordfights or piggybacks, or stories about big monsters from far far away around the fire at night.
They were all simply gone, and they were never coming back.
Tbc…
An: Lets see if I get reviews huh…lets just see. Despicably short chapter…simply dreadful…egh.