The Passing
The New Road
"If you come upon a grove of ancient trees which have grown to an exceptional height, shutting out a view of sky by veil of pleached and intertwining branches, then the loftiness of the forest, the seclusion of the spot and your marvel at the thick unbroken shade in the midst of the open spaces, will prove to you the presence of deity."
From Trees by Seneca
Bilbo was surprised. It was a girl. A girl!
Sure, she had matted hair, red juice on her face, and was wearing strange. . No- very strange clothing.
Other than those minor details, she looked to be about an average sixteen or seventeen young maiden.
The main reason Bilbo was shocked was that he was expecting fangs, claws, wings, or something of that nature. For a human girl the creature did look positively dreadful. The child kept coughing up blood, shaking from a fever, and was very pale and weak.
As soon as Bilbo explained to the folk of Overhill that this girl was no threat, the Boffin family who owned the barn in which the girl was being stored, volunteered to take the child in. This was odd that any hobbit would take in a complete stranger, especially one such as this foreign girl. However, if any being with any kindness or compassion in there heart had looked upon the misery of the ailing maiden they would have given up a bed or cot for her as well. On the contrary, Mrs. Boffin made quite a fuss over the girl, washing her face with a damp towel and ordering her oldest son to construct a proper bed for the girl in their youngest child's room.
One could consider that the compassion shown was not the only motive for the generosity of Mrs. Boffin, but also the every present urge for a hobbit lass to cluck around another baby chick. Either way, Mrs. Boffin was bestowed the chance to care for the strange human girl, and soon the whispers and fuss about the news member of Overhill died down, at least until the girl was released from her fever a week later.
Kohana was in the forest again. She wondered through the trees and past rivers and clearings, looking for home. The air was thick with a smell that she had never experienced before. As she walked, the sky became darker and the smell grew. Eyes seemed to be watching her as she wondered. Small voices surrounded her hearing like a blanket.
"Go away, why are you here?" They seemed to be saying. The sound of the voices mingled with the waves of warm air rising from her toes to her head. The ground lowered under her feet, but she remained floating above. The distant mountains began zooming past her as her helpless body was catapulted to a valley of fire before her. The smell that was once a faint oddity on the wind now engulfed her senses. It was smoke mixed with burning flesh and hate. That is if hate had a smell. But she knew it was hate- hate and evil.
A giant eye engulfed her vision, and all she could do was scream.
"I am coming for you, my prize." The eye seemed to radiate as it repeated this over and again.
Just when Kohana assumed this was the end of her small and short life, her face was felt with a cool breeze and words she could not decipher smoke in her ears. The darkness of flame and death left her, and the eye seemed to fall on the distant horizon of her conscience.
And then there was darkness.
She opened her eyes slowly. It seemed to her that she must be at the hotel, for the bed that she was lying in seemed foreign. As her hands moved up through the covers to the pillow, the fabric over her body moved to reveal a change in clothing. She seemed to be wearing a big cotton shift.
'That's interesting- and weird' she thought. 'Maybe if we where in the 16th century-'
Kohana tried to sit up in the feather down bed she was lying in.
'FEATHER DOWN BED! Where am I?' She frantically looked around the room, for she was fully awake at this point. Feather beds where defiantly not at the hotel, or in any hotels for that matter. She was in a small room, a very small room. There were two small beds, maybe children's size along one of the walls. The other wall had a cabinet with a washing basin and a lantern.
'Am I with the Amish?' she suddenly pondered. 'Are there Amish people in England? Maybe they found me in the woods and brought me to safety.'
Just at that moment a small plump woman walked into the room.
'Very Small' Kohana thought.
"Bless my soul, she's awake!" The woman cried out, running to the chair next to Kohana's bed.
"How are you, child? Are you feeling better?" The woman started fussing over her, fluffing her pillow, and feeling her forehead.
Kohana naturally jumped at the contact.
'Who was this woman? Where the CRAP AM I!'
The woman seemed to notice Kohana's hostility and took the girl's hands into her own, and looked into her eyes. The woman had kind eyes and a grin that seemed to ease that very tense moment.
"Child, my name is Mrs. Boffin, and you are safe in my home. Do not work, you are safe here." Kohana seemed to calm down a bit.
'OK . . . . OK. . . . I am in a nice Amish woman's home. It is rather small and strange house, but she doesn't seem that bad. I'm ok. I'm alive, and that is all that matters.'
Kohana took a moment to before she looked away from Mrs. Boffin. Although she seemed to be kind and sincere, Kohana just wanted to be with her family. Her mouth opened to reply to the woman, but her mouth was so dry, all that came out was "waaaaa-errr".
"What was that dear, you need some water." Mrs. Boffin seemed to laugh to herself. "No water, but we have ale. Let me get Marien to fetch you a drink." She turned her head to the doorway, and called out, "Marien, I know your there behind the doorframe. It's fine, dear. Come out, the girl will not harm you."
A little girl about the age of five popped her head into the doorway, sucking her thumb. She was very small, as was everyone else, so it seemed, Kohana thought.
The girl had wild brunette curls, and the most beautiful puppy dog brown eyes she had ever seen. She was wearing a little cotton shift similar to her mother, but without the corset.
Marien walked to her mother shyly, and tugged onto her dress.
"Momma, she's big!" she whispered. But not quiet enough for Kohanna not to hear her comment.
Mrs. Boffin laughed at the comment. Kohana wasn't amused. Mrs. Boffin saw this and shoed her daughter out of the room to get her some ale.
'This is just great! A 5 year old thinks I'm fat. That is just peachy.' She rubbed her eyes with her fingers and wished to be woken from this nightmare.
Mrs. Baffin walked back into the room with a mug of ale. She handed it to Kohana, who after one greedy gulp, spit it back out. The ale was strong, really strong.
"Oh dear!" Mrs. Boffin responded.
Luckily, because Kohana ameliorated her parched mouth, she was able to speak.
"My name is Kohana" she stated, "And I really need to go home. Thank you for your help, but if you will just hand me a phone, I'll call my parents to come pick me up. I'm sure they are worried about me."
Mrs. Boffin seemed to pause momentarily, and as if in thought and after much consideration responded.
"Oh, you poor dear! That fever must have been worse that we thought. You just rest and I'll get you some dinner. Your just in time actually, I made rabbit stew!"
Khan was dumbfounded. 'Why wasn't this woman listening to her?'
"No need, Ma'me, Just get me a phone . . . please?" Kohana was almost livid.
'Hello, Woman, I want to go HOME!' Her head was screaming.
Mrs. Boffin seemed worried, now.
"I'm sorry. We don't have a 'phone', as you call it. But don't worry, I'm sure once you have some dinner, and rest a while, you will be fine!"
'Could this lady be any more chipper?' Kohana thought, frustrated. 'Fine woman, I play along with your game-'
While Mrs. Boffin went out of the room to fetch some dinner for the girl, Kohana thought long and hard about her options.
'I have obviously been kidnapped by crazy Amish people.' She concluded. 'I will play along with their game, until I am well enough to escape.'
And so Kohana came to the Shire, with the both the Hobbits and she thinking each other where crazy.
And the muses that be thought with amused wonder, 'This should be interesting.'