Finding Your Feet

Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to own anything associated with Lord Of The Rings. All characters/places are the property of J.R.R.Tolkein, as are any phrases that I have taken out of the books. Any phrases used from the film are the property of Peter Jackson.

Chapter One

As soon as Leah awoke, memories of the past events flashed through her head, along with the thought that it must have been a dream. Slowly opening her eyes she made the horrifying discovery that it was now late morning and she was lying on the damp ground in what appeared to be the same marshland as before. "Have I been unconscious the entire night?" she wondered. Abruptly she heard what appeared to be voices, which seemed to be coming closer to where she was laying.

Leah quickly jumped to her feet and grabbed her duffel bag from were it had been lying a couple of meters away, then began glancing furtively around for a place to hide. Noticing a dying bush a couple of meters away, she made for it but tripped over some rocks in the process. Scrambling to her feet again she hid behind the bush and waited to see who it was that was coming. She soon began to hear the voices more clearly, prompting her to ponder on just how on earth she had heard them before? Her hearing had always been pretty terrible yet she refused to admit it, after vanity had stopped her from wearing her glasses. That and the fact she had accidentally dropped them ten or so times, chipping most of the paint.

Leah could now make out the words that the mystery beings were speaking and she immediately began to eavesdrop, in the hope of learning who they were.

"Are you sure we're not allowed to stop yet? It has to have been at least three hours since we last ate, Hobbits aren't used to starvation you know!"

The young girl felt bewildered on hearing this, was the Hobbits the name of the speaker? Why was he referring to himself in the third person then?

"Peregrin Took, quit your complaining! If you ever want to get out of the Midgewater Marshes you'll learn to stop complaining and to keep walking. Use your head!"

"That's easy for you to say Strider or who ever you are! But here I am, being eaten alive, with an empty stomach, after a night of barely any rest. This is our second day in these midge-infested lands, when will we be out of here?"

"Hopefully by tomorrow, we'll then make for Weathertop."

"Can we please just have a five-minute break Strider? I really do think I'm going to fade away if I don't eat something soon."

"Fine, we'll stop here for a little while. Mind you, we'll need to find a more suitable resting stop before nightfall. I have a place in mind but we'll have to hurry."

Damn, the girl cursed silently. Why did they have to stop here of all places? She could hear voices chattering, something about someone called Sam and how things called Neekerbreekers would be out that night. Leah slowly and silently peeled away the small branch blocking her view of the speakers. She was astounded with what she saw. A tall man, with shaggy black hair, wearing what looked to be hunting clothes and carrying a sword, was looking through some sort of backpack. Why would anyone be wearing a sword, the girl wondered, an uneasy feeling beginning to spread through the pits of her stomach.

What she saw next took her breath away. Four little. well she supposed you could call them men, wear in the middle of an argument of what looked to be about an apple. They were barefoot of all things, with extremely hairy feet and clothes as strange as what the man was wearing. Fear gripped the girl's heart and terror took over her movements. She began to back away, bit by bit, and then froze. What if they heard her and came to attack? She hadn't seen any signs of a phone; there was no chance of the police coming to save her. Glancing frantically around her eyes landed on a long and hopefully solid, stick. Slowly Leah grasped the stick in her right hand and began to back away once more. She had almost reversed three meters when she realized the voices had stopped. It was that moment that her heart almost stopped as well, making her muscles jam up.

She then heard a voice behind her say "Now what do we have hear? A spy of the Dark Lord, no doubt!"

A strong hand gripped her forearm spinning her around. She looked up into the blue eyes of the man and went with her instincts.

Leah had no doubt that the entire swamp infested land heard her scream.

As the echoes of her scream died away Leah decided that it was time for her to act out an escape plan. The only problem was that she was yet to think of one and her mind was focused on one thought: Why do they never teach us anything useful in school? She decided to go for the obvious method and jumped up quickly in the hope of startling the man and getting her arm back. Unlike like her though, his reflexes didn't seem to take a good three seconds to kick in and while she got her arm free, she soon found herself on the ground with a sword at her throat. Terror came over her at the realization that she was one step away from death and biting back tears she slowly look up into the man' face.

That was when a voice spoke up, "Strider, I don't think she's a spy! I mean she looks a bit young and all don't you think?"

The mans eyes left Leah's face for a brief second to meet those of the little creature that had voiced the statement on her behalf. Leah gave an inward sigh of relief; at least she had found one ally! Maybe she wouldn't die at the tender age of fifteen.

The man Strider didn't seem to share the little person's option though.

"Just because she doesn't wear the face of a creature of Mordor doesn't mean that she is any less evil. Things do not always appear what they seem!"

"I'm not a spy!" the girl piped up. "I do not even know of this Mordor place and I have no clue to who you are. All I want to know is where I am and what the nearest place of civilization is."

"You are in the middle of the Midgewater Marshes and the nearest town is Bree", the man said, looking into the girl's eyes in order to find evidence of her honesty.

"That means absolutely nothing to me! Tell me, how far is Brookville from here? It's about three hours from Brisbane but I couldn't how gone that far!"

The man look puzzled to say the least. He slowly lowered his sword. "I have never heard of this Brookville or any place called Brisbane either. In what part of Middle-earth is it situated?"

"You have never heard of Brisbane", Leah whispered slowly. "How about Sydney? Canberra? New York?"

One of the other creatures then piped up, "I don't think this one's right in the head Mr. Frodo, if you know what I mean."

Tears began to pour down the girls face. "I'm lost! I'm completely lost in the middle of a marsh!"

"Midgewater Marshes to be precise", one of the creatures told me, with an adorable grin plastered on his face.

It was then that the little person who had stayed quiet so far spoke up, "Merry! Be more sensitive. Can't you see she's upset? Don't worry Miss", he directed at Leah. "You can come with us, we'll take you out of the swamp at least." As he said this he looked at the man, pleading in his eyes.

The man sighed and looked Leah over. "We'll we definitely can't leave you here, our best option is to take her to Elrond's house. But bear this in mind!" Looking straight into the young girl's eyes he said, "If you make any suspicious moves I will not be lenient on you. You have the benefit of the doubt at this stage but let me inform you now Elrond does not welcome spies."

The girl nodded slowly and nervously pushed her blonde hair behind her ears to hide the fact her hands were shaking.

This caused the one that had thought her mad to exclaim "Lawks! She's an elf! Look at her ears Mr. Frodo, she's one of the fair people."

Leah let hers wander around the gathering, at their amazed faces and brought her hands back up to her ears. Feeling her way along the rim she came to the stunning realization that they were pointed. But, she thought, there is no such thing as elves, is there?