Katie spent her free time the next morning in packing and planning. She grabbed enough clothes for a few days and stuffed them into her suitcase and carried it down to the car. Legolas and Estel also helped, bringing down all their clothes and the twins'. Legolas made to carry their weapons down as well, but Katie stopped him and made him wrap them up in a sheet first so that no one would see them. Then she and Megan went to their morning classes.
They managed to leave around lunchtime. Legolas and Estel rode with Megan, and the twins with Katie. Elladan sat up front, and Elrohir lay down across the back seat. They rode in silence as they left the more populous area and got onto the highway. After awhile, the shopping centers and gas stations began to fade away into the rear view mirror, and they were driving across a more beautiful part of Pennsylvania. Elladan watched this progression out the window with interest and with hope lighting his heart. Soon there were woods flitting past on both sides of the car.
Megan's little red car led them between high, green mountains, and then they began to ascend. The vehicles climbed up the winding road on the side of a low, rolling mountain. The road twisted and turned in a multi-plane complexity, until Elladan could see the road they had just traveled curving below them, with green trees in between. They seemed to be rising up into the blue sky.
"Elrohir," he said quietly, turning in his seat to address his brother. "You should see this."
Elrohir opened his eyes and sat up obediently. As he looked out the window, the lines of strain disappeared from his face and a slow smile lit his expression from within, like the sun coming up on a misty morning. "It is beautiful," he said softly. Elladan and Katie shared a relieved grin.
They came around the peak of the mountain, and there was a green valley spread out below them. The drop over the trees was dizzying, and the newly-sown fields looked like patches on a quilt. Little farmhouses and barns, and a white building with a steeple stood along the seams of these patches, and gray roads crisscrossed the blanket like threads.
The drive took more than an hour, and Elladan was sure his brother had dozed off more than once. But he was sitting up now, and his sleep was the open-eyed rest of greater health, not the alarming blank sleep it had been before. A little color had come back into his face, chasing the shades of grey away.
"We're nearly there," Katie finally announced. "This is Megan's valley."
They were driving straight down the valley, with mountains lining it on either side of them. The land was flat here, but it rose to their left up to a mountain, and to their right it fell, so that they were privileged with the sight of green fields and trees and farms all the way to the foot of the mountain. They drove through a small town—more a little rural community, really—and then back out into the countryside.
Ahead of them, Megan turned left into a long gravel driveway, and Katie followed. Legolas, in the back seat of Megan's car, turned and grinned, waving gleefully to them through the back window. Elladan and Katie grinned, and Elladan waved back.
They parked the cars between a house and a barn. There was a little building up on a platform nearby, which Elladan assumed must be some kind of playhouse.
As they opened the doors and climbed out of the cars, a couple of very friendly-looking dogs came to greet them.
"Down, Max," Megan said, shoving the larger of the two off of her knees. "Come on in," she added over her shoulder to the other five.
Elladan looked around in curiosity as they entered the farmhouse. This is the first real house we've entered since we came here, he realized.
"Mom!" Megan called.
"Hi, Sweetie," her mom said, appearing in the doorway and giving her daughter a hug. "Hi, Katie."
"Hello, Mrs. Westenra," Katie answered politely.
"Mom, these are our friends—Dan, Ron, Lee and Eric."
"How do you do?" Mrs. Westenra asked, acknowledging all four of them as they nodded cordially to her. "Come on in," she said, gesturing them into the house proper.
Katie led the four strangers through the kitchen and past the dining room table into a sitting room. Two children sat on the floor, playing with something. They both looked up and said hello. The first was a boy, about eleven years old, with bright red hair, freckles, and brilliant blue eyes—much like his older sister. The second was a little girl who looked to be about four, with short blond hair. She jumped up and gave Megan a huge.
"Hi, 'Siah. Hey, Merse!" Megan exclaimed, picking her up. "This is Dan, Ron, Lee and Eric," she continued, repeating the introductions. "This is my brother Josiah and my sister Mercy. Esther and Ben are away for the weekend with Dad."
They all said hello. "Hi, Katie," Mercy said as Megan put her down. "Do you want to come see Esther's pony?" Elladan noticed that she had a bit of a lisp; she had lost her two front teeth.
Megan's mother had just come into the room. "Actually, Mercy, I think we're going to have some lunch first. Are you guys hungry? Do you want something to eat?"
"Sure," Megan and Katie replied.
"Your name's Ron?" she asked Elrohir, who had taken a seat on the couch.
"Yes, ma'am," he said politely.
"Do you feel alright? You look a little pale."
"I will be fine, thank you," he said with a small smile.
"Well, alright then. Megan and Josiah—how about you set the table?"
The others took chairs around the room, and Elladan sat down on the couch with his twin. Mercy bounced over to Elrohir. "Were you sick?" she asked in her tiny, four-year-old voice.
"Yes, I was," Elrohir answered her.
"Are you twins?" she asked.
"Yes." Elladan answered this time.
"Two of my friends are twins. Sara and Sierra. But they don't look alike. Sara has blonde hair and Sierra's is brown." She moved right on to Legolas, and cocked her head to the side. "You have pretty hair," she said.
The rest of them grinned silently, but Legolas answered her solemnly. "Thank you," he said.
"Why's your hair so long?"
"Mercy." Her mother appeared in the doorway. "Sorry," she said, smiling the rest of the company.
"Not at all." The three elves smiled back. They were all rather fond of children, and Mercy was adorable.
"Time for lunch," Mrs. Westenra announced, and they all went in to eat.
000
Lunch was delicious—especially when compared with dining hall fare. They were all, Megan and Katie included, relieved to eat some (what Katie called) real food. Elrohir ate more heartily than he had done in days. After lunch, Megan and Katie went to carry the MElings' things into the other house where they'd be staying. Elladan and Estel decided to help, so Legolas and Elrohir went outside to get a breath of fresh air.
Mercy followed them. She had put on a pair of bright pink books and a pink jacket. "Do you want to see the horses?" she asked, and without waiting for an answer, grabbed Elrohir's hand and led him past the barn to one of the pastures. Once there, to the elves' surprise, the tiny little girl climbed right over the gate and into the pasture. They followed.
She led them up the hill, chattering comfortably the entire time. At the top of the hill, a couple of ponies, a horse and a mini all clustered around her. The horse, which looked gigantic next to her, bent its neck and stuck its nose in her face. "Sweetpea!" she said in annoyance, "get off!" and pushed its face out of her own.
She patted the ponies and the mini, warning the elves that one of them bit. She herself seemed unconcerned. When the animals gathered about the elves and began to nose them, she laughed. "They like you!" she said gleefully, then turned and led them on a grand tour of the pasture.
She pointed out the fence, their neighbor's farm ("He's really funny," she said with a giggle), and showed them how to jump over the little run of water near the bottom of the hill. She talked non-stop the entire time; the elves didn't have to answer her. She was very precocious, and altogether delightful. Legolas and Elrohir rather enjoyed having her lead them all around the pasture at a quick trot.
By the time they were back, the others were finished setting up a guest room—two guest rooms, really. Elrohir went to lay down and rest for a bit, and the others went back into the house. Josiah and Mercy had been watching The Lion King soon before they had arrived that morning, so they all sat down and watched with them. Mercy sat happily between Legolas and Elladan on the couch, half-draped on each of them at different times, and Katie, Megan and Josiah took the other couch, while Estel sat in a rocking chair. The MElings enjoyed the movie very much, although they didn't understand all the jokes that had Katie, Megan and Josiah chuckling and Mercy laughing out loud.
Mercy was a bundle of energy. As soon as the movie was over, she popped up off the couch. "Megan, can we go riding?" she asked.
Megan, who had been nodding off during the last part of the movie, opened her eyes and stretched. "Sure, Merse," she answered sleepily.
The four-year-old led them all back out to the barn. "Do you guys want to ride, too?" The MElings agreed. "What about you?" she asked.
They turned around. Elrohir had approached while they were talking. "Sure," he said with a smile.
"Mmm… I'm not sure if we have five saddles…" Megan murmured.
"Oh, do not bother to get me a saddle," Legolas said, taking a bridle down off the wall. "I'll ride bareback."
The twins decided to ride bareback as well, so Megan only had to get saddles for herself and Estel. Legolas had asked to take Katie up with him, since Katie didn't ride. Mercy rode in front of Megan.
The MElings were used to Elven-trained horses that obeyed voice commands, but they did quite well with the Westenras' horses, anyway. They took a quick trot out across some fields, with Elladan and Estel racing and Legolas threatening to join in, despite Katie's voluble protests. Mercy chattered to Elrohir, who answered her with his accustomed bright smile. After observing the two of them for a bit, Legolas turned to smile at Katie.
"It looks like your plan has been successful," he said. "He is almost himself again."
Katie frowned as she observed the younger twin, who had fallen into a momentary abstraction. "Almost," she said quietly.
TBC
AN: Wow, that chapter was hard to write! I know, I know: I say that every time, right?. :)
Mercy turned five on the 31st! Everybody wish her a happy birthday!
If anybody's interested, I wrote a lotr quiz and put it on my website. If you take it, you'll have to let me know which race you fit into! Link is on the Elladan portrait page.
Laer4572: Yes indeedy! Elves in apple trees! That'd make a very cute picture.
Ravens Destiny: I was dismayed to learn a few months ago that while my friend had been visiting me, she had had mono. I was like, uh-oh! And she said, "I didn't lick you, so it's all good…"
RenegadeKitsune: That sounded… vaguely threatening… lol
Chibi Chingo: Yet… heh
EresseElrondiel: I totally agree about the science thing. Yick. Zoology is kinda interesting, and all the quantum physics you run across in sci-fi novels, but other than that… Blechy.
Darkened Dreams: (See reply to Ravens Destiny) You know, I've never actually been camping. Other than at Creation, and that doesn't count.
Coollilyflower: Well, no romance in the air just yet… But you never know, I might bring some in later…
Erasuithiel: Hope you got my email. The theme of despair versus hope will be very big later… I've been reading up on Middle Earth philosophy ("Athrabeth Findrod ah Andreth") and it's been giving me ideas… Also found out some things about elves and elven culture that I had totally wrong in my fic! Whoopsy!
Thanks also to fk306, Madd Hatter and Doredhiel! —does the "I Love Reviews" dance—
Please review! I love reviews more than cookies! I love reviews more than popsicles! I love reviews more than chocolate! I love reviews more than money! Oh, wait…