Lord Elrond agreed that the patrol could be dropped, at least for the duration of the cold snap. Then they would see if the activity resumed again once the weather warmed up.

Katie spent an enjoyable few days "hanging out" (as she put it) with Elrond's children in the mornings and talking with Erestor in the afternoons. One afternoon, Elladan was walking down the corridor past Erestor's study when the older elf called him over.

Katie was sitting in a chair by Erestor's desk, a slate and chalk in her hand, grinning broadly. "I have an issue to take up with you," Erestor addressed Elladan sternly, although his eyes twinkled. "Katie tells me you and Elrohir taught her her history. Is this true?"

"Yes…" Elladan said slowly.

"She appears to be under the mistaken impression that Fingolfin was the first King of the Noldor, that Fëanor and Fingon were brothers, and that Finwë founded Minas Tirith." He looked at the twin reproachfully and shook his head. "You have much to answer for."

Katie was giggling madly.

Elladan put on his most haughty face. "It is not my fault if the child refuses to study," he said, spreading his hands and defending his innocence.

"Hey!" Katie exclaimed indignantly. "That's not fair! And don't call me 'child'."

"Why ever not?" Elladan asked innocently. "That is what Legolas calls you."

"Yes, and I in turn call him Blondie and Robin Hood. Would you like me to start doing the same to you?"

Elladan grinned and stretched his hand over to rest it on the top of her head, a habitual gesture he made to his siblings, Arwen and Estel in particular. "I'm not blond, you young fool," he said affectionately. Katie was unable to reply as someone called Elladan at that moment and he left the room, throwing a last comment over his shoulder. "You listen to Erestor now!" he scolded avuncularly.

Erestor took his seat beside Katie again. "What does 'Robin Hood' mean?" he asked.

"He's a legendary character. They say that back in the time of King Richard the Lionhearted, he and his band of merry men roamed Sherwood Forest, robbing from the rich, giving to the poor, winning archery contests, and rescuing damsels in distress. He's actually a hero—but don't you dare tell Legolas that! I like to make him think it's an insult." She smiled broadly.

Erestor did, as well. "I understand that there was a—ahem—rivalry between you and the Prince of Mirkwood?"

Katie nodded. "We had fun getting in each others' hair."

Erestor frowned. "In each others' hair?" he repeated, bemused.

"I mean we annoyed each other. I didn't actually get in his hair!"

"I do not think he would have let you," Erestor said with a half-smile. "We elves are very particular about our hair. We take great care of it and prize beautiful hair as one of the most prominent features."

Katie's hand went unconsciously to her own head. "Is that why even male elves have such long hair? The guys where I'm from don't grow their hair that long—and a number of the girls don't, either."

"Yes, that is why. An elf would never suffer his hair to be cut if he could help it. It would be like a woman having her head shaved!"

Katie made a face. "Message received and understood. Will not mess with elves' hair, even to tease them."

Erestor laughed. "That is wise."

000

Estel slowly came to the realization that something was bothering Katie. He and the twins were talking with her in Elrohir's sitting room, Arwen being busy with some of her old friends that day. Katie had only thrown a haphazard word or two into the conversation, and now sat silent and frowning in thought beside him.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked her during a lull in the talk. "How angry you look!"

Katie looked up. "Angry? No, I'm not angry. I've just been wondering…" She looked around at them thoughtfully. "Why was there a patrol in the forest?" she asked matter-of-factly. "Someone said that 'the cold has scared them off'. Scared who off?"

The brothers looked at one another in surprise. "You are very observant," Elrohir finally said diplomatically.

"Yes. And you're not answering my question," Katie replied cheerfully, but with determination.

Elladan leaned back in his chair. "Well, there is no reason we cannot tell you, I suppose. Recently there have been some… incidents in the forest and the surrounding villages. People wandered away from the villages and into the forest and… disappeared."

Katie's eyes widened. "Disappeared?.!"

"We believe they were kidnapped by slave traders," Estel said grimly. "They perhaps thought it would be wise to get their—"merchandise"—from an area quite a distance from the markets of Harad or the east. It would make the slaves less likely to be able to find their way home should they try to escape."

The three brothers scowled, and Katie looked appalled. "I had no idea that went on in Middle-Earth," she said in shock.

Elrohir nodded. "It is an abominable practice," he agreed.

"How do you know they're slave traders?"

"One of their captives escaped," Elladan said soberly. "She managed to get back to her village, and the people sent a warning to us as well. Since then our father has raised the security around Rivendell and sent out guards to patrol the forest as far as the Trollshaws. But we have seen little trace of the traders since then. We would have gone after them, but we encountered great difficulty when we tried to follow their tracks. They have someone very skilled working with them—very skilled indeed."

000

It snowed again the next afternoon. Elrohir and Estel were occupied elsewhere, so Elladan, Arwen and Katie went for a walk outdoors. It was the first Katie had been outdoors for any extended period of time since she had arrived in Rivendell, and she seemed to be enjoying herself immensely.

Elladan was pleased by the fact that Katie seemed to be opening up to Arwen. In the years before his sister had gone to Lothlórien, Elladan had observed many a human ranger meeting Arwen for the first time, and Katie's reaction was much the same as theirs—shock at her beauty, the utmost respect, and acting rather shy around her. But Arwen appeared to have taken a liking to this young girl who had helped her father and amused her brothers so, and Katie took her cue, and they chatted more naturally now.

The three of them made their way to the trees that stood along the Bruinen as it cut its way through the valley. Elladan and Arwen had to slow their steps for Katie, who was wading through the snow. In the middle of the trees, the three of them stopped by silent consent.

There is a stillness in the air in the middle of a forest while the snow falls on it—a kind of breathless wonder that is too great for sound. It is almost as if the snow is cotton, dampening any noise from the world and turning it all into a crystalline hush. There was no need of words between the three of them; they simply stood still and drank it in.

After a few minutes, Arwen opened her mouth and began to sing. Closing his eyes and smiling at the sound, Elladan could almost believe it was their mother, singing to them again—or Lúthien, causing her hair to grow into a shimmering, raven river. The notes hung on the air as if they themselves had crystallized and formed a part of the white traceries of snow that outlined every limb of the bare, black trees.

As the last notes disappeared into the enveloped winter silence of the forest, Katie smiled blindingly up at Arwen. "That was beautiful," she said wistfully. "I wish… I wish people did this in my world."

"Did what?" Arwen asked gently.

"Just—oh, just went out and sang in the snow!" Katie shrugged, unable to put it into words. "People would be embarrassed to be seen doing such a thing where I'm from, but here—here, it's just… just beautiful and touching. Not silly. The solemn things here are so much more solemn, and the funny things are so much more funny, and just… everything is more," she concluded. "People are more themselves, society is less society and more—people being people." She shook her head, then laughed. "I'm not making much sense, am I?"

Arwen seemed a bit at a loss, but Elladan nodded. "I think I understand what you mean," he said thoughtfully. "Your world is so much busier, so much more—I think 'frantic' would be the word. No one has the time to be more."

"Exactly." Katie burrowed down deeper into the scarp Lithorniel had wrapped warmly about her throat before she had left the house.

"We have been out here a long time; shall we return to the house?" Arwen asked, and the other two agreed.

As they turned to go back the way they had come, Katie suddenly stopped and peered intently at the snow. "You didn't leave any footprints," she said accusingly.

The two siblings looked down. There were Katie's footprints, leading away from the house, and beside them… nothing. Katie looked from her own feet, ankle-deep in the snow, to the feet of her companions, which she just now seemed to notice rested lightly atop the snow, rather than in it.

The look she cast on them was half amusement, half accusation. "You can walk on top of snow," she said. It was an observation, not a question. Arwen and Elladan both nodded, Arwen's expression serious and Elladan's very entertained.

Katie shook her head in exasperation and cast her eyes to the heavens. "Elves!"

Arwen's laugh of surprise and delight rang out in the snow-covered forest.

TBC

AN: Well, that one went faster than I thought it would!

Megan just informed the other day that Josiah has broken his wrist. :(

Would like to inform you all with the little blurb about elves and hair, that no one in my stories will be dying anybody's hair funny colors. I enjoy pranks, but I personally would kill anyone who dyed my hair, and I'm sure elves are even more sensitive on the subject! Oh, and the bit about elves finding beautiful hair attractive is true. While I'm sure that elves probably enjoyed a good practical joke once in awhile, and could be very silly at times, I think they would definitely draw the line on dying and/or cutting people's hair. This is JennyJoy4, shooting down Mary-Sue stereotypes everywhere in the world of lotr fanfiction! Thank you for watching. lol

Just to let you know, I'll be at the Creation festival the 29th thru the third, so if I don't get the next chapter out before Wednesday, you'll know why it's taking me so long. :)

Hermione at Heart: It's reassuring to the insecure writer in me to hear that you're hooked. :)

IwishChan: Well, you can estimate the number of questions Erestor asked her by the fact that I didn't include that bit in my narrative because I didn't want to bore you all to death. :)

theycallmemary: Well, it's a bit difficult for Katie to go exploring in the snow. They will get out of Rivendell eventually.

Kara: —imagines Katie eating a muffin in the middle of a warg attack, cracks up— Yes, now that you point it out, Katie's friendship with Legolas is a bit like Gimli's, isn't it? I don't think I did that on purpose… Hm. Always glad to see a new face (or screenname… whatever.)!

werewolflemming: With all the Arwen-haters around, I'm pleasantly surprised that everyone seems to be liking the idea of Katie meeting Arwen. Almost created a new mini-balrog realm in this chapter by forgetting the accent marking on Lothlórien. Luckily, I had the sense last time the spell-checker caught it, to add it to my dictionary, so my spellchecker reminded me to put the accent marking in. :) How I love technology! (When it works…) Hope you do well on your exam!

Ravens Destiny: —completely cracks up laughing— That's great! But don't you be giving my cats any ideas! They've already puked on the carpet next to my computer chair!

Thanks also to Laer4572 and fk306!

Please review! I promise a bit of human/elf bonding next chapter!