A/N: Yes, I know, this chapter doesn't make much sense -- but then, neither wil the next one! Just bear with me, ok? And when you're done, that little button in the corner will be calling to you. "Reviewwwwoooh!" Sorry. Got a bit carried away there. Just review, ok?
Chapter 3
In and Out
Isis picked up the phone, and called Sasha.
"Hello?"
"Sasha, he just called again."
"Cool! Did he tell you anything?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
"What?"
"Instructions."
"What are they?"
"To call you and let you know that I was leaving, and to meet him in front of my house in half an hour with a extra clothes for a journey."
"And you are?"
"Well, I asked him, you know, all the usual, and he said, only one question for now, so I asked him where I was going."
"And what did he tell you?" asked Sasha, her voice quivering.
"Middle-earth."
"Oh my God!!!!!" Sasha shrieked.
"What?"
"That's not fair ! You get to go to Middle-earth, and I don't?"
"Wait, there's more!" said Isis, and Sasha calmed down.
"Well?" she said. There was an expectant silence.
"He said that you have a ride at 1776 tomorrow. I think that means that someone will take you to Middle-earth tomorrow."
"But 1776 --"
"Listen, he called ten minutes ago. I have to leave in twenty minutes. I'll see you tomorrow, Sasha. Try to figure it out. I'll see what I can do to communicate with you somehow. "
"Please --"
"No time for it! Must run! Love you to pieces, byebye!" Isis hung up the phone, grabbed her backpack and dumped its contents out onto the floor. First, a pair of leggings. Then socks and a belt. Then four shirts. A sweatshirt, a Swiss Army knife, and some extra underwear; last, the three Lord of the Rings books. She put a pair of socks on and sneakers, brushed her hair and braided it, added the brush and a few hairties to the backpack, and made sure she had her favorite ring on, the one she had made herself. It was her most treasured possession. As an afterthought, she added all her notes on Elvish to her backpack, and forty-five dollars. -You never know, after all,- she said to herself. Once again she wished that she had an Evenstar, like Arwen in the movie, but there was nothing for it: there were two minutes to go before she needed to meet whoever-it-was, and she wanted to make sure she had everything she needed. Was there anything else she might need?
She thought not. She swung the backpack onto her shoulder and ran downstairs.
In the gloom of dusk, she could barely see the figure of a tall man wearing a tall, pointed hat with a crooked tip. "Gandalf!" she breathed as she came down the stairs.
She opened the door carefully, looked up and down the street, then walked as quietly as she could down the stairs to the sidewalk. The man seemed to be staring at some far-off point in the east. He appear not to have noticed that she was there, but as she reached up to tap him on the shoulder(she realized that she barely came up to his shoulder), he spoke.
"So you have come."
There wasn't anything else to say, so Isis said simply, "Yes."
"I was impressed by your wisdom in speaking to me on the telephone," said the old man, looking down at her and smiling.
"Me?" stammered Isis confusedly, "Wise? You must have me confused with someone else. I'm not wise!"
"You may not be wise, my child, but you showed wisdom in chanting to Elbereth to make sure that I was a fr
iend."
"Are you a friend?" asked Isis curiously. "I mean, I knew when I said it that it would only tell whether or not you were in league with Sauron. Because Saruman wouldn't be afraid of speaking of Elbereth, would he?"
"No, he would not," answered the old man.
"And you are Gandalf, aren't you?"
"I am."
"Okay. I don't have any more questions at the moment, if you want to get going."
"Very well," replied Gandalf, and he went over to the fence, where there were two horses tied. One was a huge black stallion, and the other was smaller, and golden-red. This one he led over to Isis, who immediately fell in love with it.
"This shall be your horse whilst you are with me. Take good care of her, as she is a gift from Éowyn, sister-daughter of Théoden, King of the Mark. If you do not, Théoden shall want my head -- or worse, yours! In Rohan, his kingdom, it is a punishable offence to harm a horse, so beloved are they."
"I will take care of her," Isis promised, stroking the mare's neck.
"Mount, and let us go,"said Gandalf, already seated on Shadowfax. Isis mounted Celevon and watched as Gandalf traced runes in the air before him. They hung for a moment, shone silver, and then
"Oh my gosh," whispered Isis, as she looked at the doorway suddenly standing before them, showing a green countryside. She rode around to the other side of the door, and found nothing, only Gandalf, who was looking at her amusedly.
"Go on, then," he said, pointing to the door.
"What, go through it?" said Isis.
"No, foolish child, jump over it! Of course I mean go through it!" Though his words were sharp, the wizard's voice was kind.
"First I'm wise, now I'm foolish," muttered Isis as Celevon walked daintily through the portal. "Will he make up his mind, or won't he? Good grief!" As Celevon took her last step through the door, Isis felt cool rain falling on her, soaking her to the skin.
"Wait a min-- Gandalf!" she called to the wizard as he turned toward the door and traced more runes, making it disappear.
"What is it?" asked Gandalf as he remounted his horse.
"I have a question. Actually, quite a bit more than that, but-- Anyway," interrupting herself, "where did my backpack go? I thought you told me to bring extra clothes, and"
"I closed it into the portal," he answered, " so that when it comes time for you to leave, when you step out through this portal, then you will have it back. But here," he added, passing her a small bundle, "here are some of the things from your backpack which I thought you might need." Thanking him, she undid the bundle, and found her hairbrush, hairties, the Lord of the Rings books, and knife, all wrapped in a piece of cloth which was then wrapped in a green cloak with a hood. She thanked him, and, putting the things in her saddlebag, wrapped the cloak around herself, and covered her head with the hood as they began a fast trot eastwards toward a forest.
"And your other questions?" inquired the old man.
"Well where are we going now, and where are we exactly?"
"We are on our way to Rivendell, where I trust that you will be taken care of. As to where we are, we are on
the East-West Road, and we are riding as swiftly as possible toward the Last Bridge."
"Why so swiftly?" asked Isis.
"Elrond," answered Gandalf. "Elrond wished for you to arrive at Rivendell a week and a half before the Council was called. At this rate, we shall arrive two weeks prior to the beginning of the Council."
"How much longer have we to go?" queried the girl.
"Let me see, now we have, I believe, a hundred and ten miles to go before we reach Rivendell. If we continue at this rate, we shall arrive there at midnight."
And on they went, for five hours, never stopping. It was just past eleven thirty at night when they got close enough that Isis could see the lights of the Last Homely House.
"Hurrah!" she cried. "We're nearly there!"
"And if you keep your voice quieter, we shall arrive there in one piece, too," added Gandalf.
"What, are there orcs this close to Rivendell?" she asked.
"No, but still," said the old man, "I would like to keep it quiet that Gandalf and an Adan-hín
have arrived here. There are other creatures than Elves around here. No, no, no more questions!" he cried, though Isis could see a twinkle in his eyes as he said this, and held up his hand. "You have done nothing but pester me with questions since I brought you from Lower-earth! I beg of you, let me have some peace!"
Isis laughed, but soon that laugh turned into a yawn, and she had to concentrate to keep from falling asleep as she rode.
Finally, finally, she could see the towers and turrets of Rivendell, and soon, in the road they came to a group of green-clad elves, all holding bows aimed at the two riders.
One elf stepped forward and addressed them, saying, "Daro!"
Gandalf stopped his horse and spoke to them in the Elvish tongue, saying:
"What is this? Is the Grey Pilgrim no longer allowed to enter the gates of Rivendell without an escort?"
The elf pointed his bow toward the ground, though still not loosening the arrow from it. "You we know, Mithrandir. But your companion is unknown to us. He must be searched."
Before Gandalf could reply, Isis jumped down from Celevon and began to speak, slowly and carefully, for her mastery of the Elvish tongue was not complete:
"I am no boy, but a girl, newly come from Lower-earth to stay in the Last Homely House, until the Council is begun. I am Isis, and I beg of you to allow Mithrandir and myself to pass. It would not go well with you if you refused, for Elrond himself called me to be here."
"Elrond called you here?" Another elf had stepped forward. "I am Elrohir, son of Elrond. He gave us orders to send Mithrandir and his companion into the guest chambers, should they come early. But wait" He came forward and looked down into Isis's face. "Remove your hood, if you will." As she did, and her hair came into the light of the lamp he carried, his eyes widened and he went back swiftly to his companions to speak. As they did, gesturing at Isis, she calmly began to undo her braid, which had mysteriously become much longer, hanging almost a foot below her waist.
Elrohir returned and announced, "I will escort thee and thy companion, Mithrandir, to the chambers reserved for thee."
"I thank thee for this kindness, Elrohir," answered Isis, smiling at him.
As she rode slowly along the path, Gandalf behind her and Elrohir walking quickly next to her. In a few minutes, the whole of Rivendell appeared, if in the light of a thousand lamps hanging everywhere. Isis sighed, for her heart was glad to see such a wondrously fair place.
"Why is it called the Last Homely House? It doesn't make sense, it's so pretty!" she asked, turning and looking at Gandalf, but before he could answer, Elrohir spoke.
"When my father first built Imladris, this valley was overcome by weeds; none had lived there for many a long year, and only after many years of labor was his toil proven to be fruitful."
They rode on still, until they came to the stables. There a very young boy came out to take their horses inside. "These horses belong to Mithrandir and his companion, who are guests of Master El
rond. They are to have the utmost care taken of them," Elrohir instructed.
"I will do my best, Master Elrohir," replied the boy. He had a slight lisp, coming, Isis realized, from missing a front tooth, as he straightened up and grinned at her. She smiled back and resisted the urge to go over and hug him -- she liked children so much.
Instead, she sighed and turned, following Gandalf and Elrohir through the door into the dining hall of Elrond. There, Elrohir turned and spoke to them. "Now, you may eit
her go and speak with Master Elrond, or you may choose to retire to your rooms. Which do you prefer?"
"I will go and speak with Elrond," replied Gandalf, removing his hat. "Isis?"
Isis hesitated. "Well, you know, I would like to go and meet Elrond, but I'm so tired, I'm afraid that I'll simply fall into his lap and snore. I'd rather go to bed. Can't the important introductions be made tomorrow?"
"Of course," replied Gandalf. "Go and get some rest."
"In that case," asked Isis, stifling a yawn with one hand, "where do I sleep?"
"The bedchambers are down this hall and on the right," responded Elrohir, pointing to a lighted doorway through which Isis could see a dozen doors on each side. "Yours is the fourth one on the right-hand side."
"Thanks so much," said Isis, yawning again and heading in the direction Elrohir had pointed her in.
Entering her room, she fell down onto the bed, and fell fast asleep.
