Chapter 4
Elrond looked about at the other people who seemed to be hanging on his every
word. 'If everyone is attending to me', he said, 'I will continue after a short
break'.
Half an hour later, Elrond commenced speaking again. 'The mysterious woman
appeared inclined to talk the next day. She gave her name, without
much prompting, but was very curious to discover who, or what, we Elves were.
When I explained to her about us she was very upset, insisting Elves were fairy
tale beings that had never really existed. That was when Gil-Galad and myself
realised that Rory was from a different place, or maybe as she said time.
As we questioned her, I became aware that her dark green shirt appeared to be
blood stained on the left shoulder, and that she was sore too. 'Are you
injured'? I asked her.
'The only reason I never killed your mate last night is because I got a bullet
hole through my left shoulder that slowed me down some', she answered. 'What happened last night, why were you and Celeborn fighting, why did you not just accompany him quietly?' I replied curious as to her answer.
'Cos he grabbed me from behind and scared shit outa me, if had just asked me what I was doing, I
would have told him that I was lost and had no idea where I was', Rory answered.
Gil-Galad had said little until now, and he quietly suggested that we clean Rory up and
attend to her wounds and discuss privately what she told us, I agreed to be the
one to tend her wounds, even then I had a reputation as a healer. Rory's
shoulder was indeed badly hurt, she had a large wound just under her collar
bone, and I actually extracted a piece of metal, which she said was a bullet, an
object that was fired or shot much like an arrow.
'How did you come to be here?',I asked her as bandaged her shoulder. 'Don't know', she replied, 'I was with my company in Iraq, we were pinned down by murderous crossfire, I was hit in the shoulder trying to pull my commanding
officer under cover.' She fell silent for a moment, 'Most of my unit were dead
or dying, we had hoped for reinforcements, they did not come'. Again silence for a
few seconds, 'as I said I was wounded, I fell and must have gotten knocked out. I
woke down by the river 2 days ago, and your guess is as good as mine how I got
here'.
'Is it usual in your home for women to be warriors?' I asked her.'Well, I was actually in the Army as punishment, I was given a choice of jail or the Army, I chose the Army, and I have been a soldier for 10 years now. In Special Forces, doing all sorts of very dangerous missions, we were on a rescue mission in Iraq, trying to find a very important person who had been captured by the enemy'.'What sort of punishment is that for a woman!' I exclaimed, stunned by her matter of fact attitude to doing what should only be asked of men.'Well, I was supposed to have murdered a bloke, I didn't, my charming younger brother framed me and if
I ever see him again I will kill him this time for sure', said Rory'Do you mean that you were blamed for someone else's crime?''Oh yeah, don't that happen here', she replied.'Well yes, but to make a woman a warrior seems a very cruel punishment'.
'Huh', she said, 'I can handle it. I was brought up on an
isolated cattle station, and hardship has always been my life, before I was 10,
I learnt how to survive in the bush, the wild country that surrounded my home,
and the desert, to handle any horse ever foaled and to deal with the wild scrub
cattle that are very very dangerous, to hunt and to protect myself. The Army is nearly
easy compared to that.'
I looked at Rory, she seemed a small insignificant woman, tiny in fact, maybe a
little over 5 feet in height, and slim. Yet she could defeat a proven Elven
warrior, she was tough and strong, there seemed more to her than we realised. I
gave her some food and some herbal tea, and left her to recover from her
injuries'.