Beta Reader: Dragonfly the Devoted.
Tyndel: Hi! Glad to hear from you. Hope you like today's installment as well, although it is rather brief.
Farflung: Yes, a little "willing suspension of disbelief" is very handy in a situation like this. True, babies are very aware at a remarkably young age. I remember one of my colleagues, a psychology professor, using my eight week old daughter to demonstrate the truth of that. He caught her gaze and stuck out his tongue. Her mouth began to work and, sure enough, within several minutes she was sticking out her own tongue. I had no idea that infants could imitate at such a young age! Now as for babies of the male persuasion—I learned at a very young age that the minute you uncover one, you'd better toss something over their midriff. Once my mother stepped out of the room in the middle of changing my little brother, leaving me to watch him to make sure that he didn't roll off the table. He let loose with a stream that hit the wall! I'm standing there helplessly, shrieking for Mom; she hurries back, takes one look at the situation, and nonchalantly tosses a diaper—they were cloth back then—over the fire hose. Of course, I felt a little silly at not having thought of that myself. Never forgot it, though.
Drew'sgirl: Keep your toothbrush handy! More sweetness coming up!
Melissa: At some point I intend to reintroduce Tathar into the story. I will provide him with a reason to show up at the Great Hall while Legolas is in residence.
SilentBanshee: I would say that the Valar were possessing Gandalf, using him as a conduit to Laiqua. Obviously this is not something Gandalf would be involved with as a general rule, because it takes too much out of him. Same reason he does not rely excessively upon his magic. Limitations must be placed upon Gandalf's powers, else the obvious question arises: why doesn't Gandalf hey, presto, abracadabra! dispense with all foes through a wave of his staff?
Joee: I like your idea of creating an elfling tale that sets up the movie scene in which Legolas balances upon the Mûmak (ROTK) and the scene in which he runs across the chain to balance atop the Cave Troll (FOTR). There is an episode in "The Nameless One" in which Anomen, balancing on his feet, sleds down a hill on a shield, but there are no episodes in which he balances on animals or runs across anything as narrow as and unstable as a rope or a chain.
Chapter 4: The Great Escape
Ever since a warg had tried to get at Laiqua and Tathar, Edwen Nana had been very careful about closing the cottage door when she went to fetch water. She always stopped a moment to rattle the door to make sure that the latch was in place. Today was no different. Satisfied that no creature could get at the elfling that lay napping within, she walked down to the spring, filled her bucket, and returned. Swinging open the door, she carried the bucket to the dry sink, poured some water into the basin, and placed the bucket upon the floor. She then looked over toward Laiqua's cot. It was empty. Edwen Nana was not, however, alarmed. Within the last fortnight, Laiqua had learned how to crawl out of his cot. Since she never left an open fire burning in the cottage and since all sharp tools were out of his reach, this did not trouble her. Laiqua thought it was great fun to hide from her. It was a small cottage, though. There were really few places where an elfling could hide.
"Where's Laiiiiqua?" crooned Edwen Nana. She paused, waiting for the giveaway giggles. Silence. Edwen Nana smiled and tried again.
"Has my little Laiqua turned into a tiny mouse? Let me hear the mouse squeak."
Silence. Goodness! That an elfling so little should have so much control over himself! Well, thought Edwen Nana, I shall have to play his game. She looked under Laiqua's cot. No elfling. Well, he didn't usually hide there anyway. Too obvious. She looked under her bedstead. She searched the wardrobe, lifting up garment after garment. She went back to Laiqua's cot, this time smoothing down the quilt in case he was hidden beneath it. Still no Laiqua.
Beginning to feel a twinge of anxiety, she hastily returned to her own bedstead and yanked off the quilt. No elfling. Back she went to the wardrobe, this time pulling out the garments and flinging them to the floor.
"Laiqua," she called. "Laiqua, you can come out now. You have tricked your Nana, and I yield."
No answer.
She straightened herself and looked frantically around the small room. Where could he be? Her eye fell upon the closed door of the oven. The oven! Had he lifted the latch of the oven, crawled in, and become trapped? She sprang to the oven and flung open the door. No elfling. She felt simultaneous relief and fear. Relief because Laiqua had not smothered in the oven; fear because she still did not know where he was.
She looked at the door to the cottage, musing. She thought that she had closed the door when she left the cottage and pulled it shut after her upon her return. Mayhap she was mistaken. If she had left the door ajar, Laiqua might have slipped out. Perchance he was not in the cottage at all! She hastened to the door, flung it open, and peered out. At once she saw a little figure toddling toward the woods. "Laiqua!" she shrieked, running after him. Before she could reach him, he disappeared behind a tree.
Rounding the tree, Edwen Nana came to an abrupt halt. There was Laiqua, standing perfectly still, looking up in awe at a very tall Elf who gazed down at him with an impassive expression. This Elf acknowledged Edwen Nana's presence with a nod and then vanished into the trees. Edwen Nana scooped up Laiqua and gave him a hug and a scolding at the same time.
"Laiqua, you are not to go into the woods by yourself! The warg came from the forest. There are other nasty things in there as well, just waiting to grab hold of a little elfling. You have plenty of ways to keep yourself occupied in the cottage and the clearing!"
As Edwen Nana carried him toward the cottage, Laiqua looked over her shoulder, gazing wonderingly at the forest. Why couldn't he go in there? He no longer felt the presence of a warg thereabouts. And who was that Elf? If he could go in the woods, why couldn't Laiqua?
The next day Laiqua was again nowhere in sight when Edwen Nana returned from the spring. She did not bother searching the cottage but made straight for the forest. This time three tall Elves were holding Laiqua at bay. Apparently he had kept trying to sidle around the one Elf, and the warrior had called for reinforcements, so to speak.
The next day, Edwen Nana braced a stick under the door handle when she left the cottage.
"There," she said. "That should hold you!"
Of course, Reader, you know that it did not. Edwen Nana had hurried to and fro the spring as fast as she was able and returned to the clearing in time to see Laiqua scrambling behind a tree. The tall Elf had hardly had time to materialize before Edwen Nana had gotten a grip on the elfling's tunic. She carried him back to the cottage like a kitten, scolding him all the way.
The following day, when Edwen Nana again set out for the spring, no sooner was she out of sight of the cottage than she set down her bucket and peered back at the cottage from behind a tree.
"I am going to catch you in the act, young sir," she vowed, "and put the fear of Mordor into you."
She was staring intently at the door when a small motion off to the side caught her attention. A tiny head peaked above the sill of the window next the door. Astonished, Edwen Nana watched as a little figure crawled out the window and launched itself off the sill, tumbling head first into the evergreen bush that stood below. Righting himself, Laiqua crawled out of the bush, stood up, and began to scurry toward the forest. As he neared his destination, Edwen Nana leaped out from her hiding place with a whoop. Affrighted, Laiqua fell back on his bottom and began to cry. From behind her, Edwen Nana heard the laughter of Elves.
"That will be enough out of you," shouted the nursemaid at the hidden Watchers. "You might have told me that he was creeping out the window, but, no, you thought 'twould be more amusing to watch me be befuddled! Worthless excuses for warriors! 'Twould serve you right if a warg were to bite each and every one of you on your arse, which apparently is where your brains are located. And don't ask me for bandages, neither!"
The invisible Elves laughed all the harder. Grumbling, Edwen Nana scooped up Laiqua and carried him into the cottage.
"I see," she said, once they were inside, "that I shall have to place that bench further from the window, for that is how you managed, isn't it? You climbed onto the bench and thus were able to reach the window. Well, the bench is too heavy for you to budge, so as long as it is not near a window, you will not get out again—at least not until you are strong enough to move the bench. I hope that will not be too soon!"
As Edwen Nana had feared, as soon as Laiqua had the strength to move furniture, he began once again to escape via the window. First he was able to move his little stool. At last, wearying of having to run to and fro the spring in order to get back in time to catch Laiqua, the nursemaid had Erynmaethor come by and nail the stool to the floor. Next, Laiqua found he could pull the chairs to the window. Erynmaethor returned and nailed the chairs to the floor. Finally, Laiqua developed enough strength to drag the bench to the casement. Again Erynmaethor returned to the cottage to secure that item to the floor. While he was there, he also nailed down the table, Laiqua's cot, and Nana's bedstead. It was highly improbable that Laiqua could have budged the latter item, but, as Nana pointed out, improbable was not synonymous with impossible.
Even after all the furniture had been fastened to the floor, Laiqua made several attempts to go out the window. One day, for example, he tried stacking pots and climbed atop them. By doing so he was able to lay hold of the window sill, but the pile of pots fell away beneath his feet, and there he dangled by his hands until Edwen Nana returned and rescued him. Erynmaethor returned once more and built a cupboard in which Edwen Nana could secure all the kitchenware. At length, Edwen Nana took to closing the shutters every time she left the cottage, although it was tiresome to have to do so.
After several months of closing and opening and reclosing shutters, Edwen Nana dared to hope that Laiqua might have grown out of his seemingly insatiable desire to escape the cottage and flee into the woods. Cautiously she began to leave the shutters open when she left for the spring. To her delight, he did seem to have forgotten his dreams of absconding.
Of course, Laiqua's talent and propensity for escaping—particularly via windows—had only gone dormant and would reappear at a later date. But that is beyond the scope of this history, in which only his childish feats are to be chronicled. For you must concede, Reader, that Laiqua's infant accomplishments alone seem sufficient to have filled a book. Pity poor Edwen Nana, who had to contend with the elfling's cleverness and boldness. And pity his biographer, who has to record it all. This Age very likely will have come to a close before the tale has been properly told.
My friend, I beg of you, offer a prayer to the Valar on behalf of this poor writer, who is off to a healer so that she may acquire leeches for her swollen and aching fingers. When she returns, she will convey to you the tale of how Laiqua learned to run lightly across narrow tree branches, a skill that would one day stand him in good stead. Until then, stay well.