Rory woke to a gentle touch on her face. Jessryn knelt next to her, offering her a plate and a cup. 'Did you sleep well, little sparrow?' he asked quietly. From the other side of the room Brin shot a sharp glance across at Jessryn, but soon returned to checking his axe.
'Yes, thanks I did,' she slid his cloak from her shoulders and held it out, 'thanks also for this, it was a real ten dog night, and I would have been very cold without it.'
'A ten dog night?' he asked, as he refused to take the cloak back just yet on the excuse the room was not yet warm and she still needed it.
'Yep, very cold. The aborigines back home years ago used to sleep with their dogs at night for warmth, and they rated the coolness of the night by how many dogs they guessed it would take to keep warm,' she said between bites of the breakfast Jessryn had given her.
'Oh, a primitive people,' he asked carefully.
'No,' she said, 'not really. In how they live, yes, but in their spiritual lives, and morally they are not primitive at all. They just didn't need a lot of possessions to survive, and because they were nomadic they didn't build elaborate shelter or houses.'
'The early elves lived very simply,' came Glorfindel's voice from the corner as he walked up and squatted down by the small fire, 'I should know, I was there, and Rory's right, just because people live with nature does not mean they are simple,' he said smiling at Jessryn.
'I did not mean to insult Rory's friends,' said Jessryn
'You haven't yet,' said Rory. 'And some of them are my relatives.'
When back in Rivendell she'd shown her companions pictures of her home, including the native people and now two blonde elves looked disbelieving.
'Did you never wonder why when I was having so much trouble at home the aborigines were so helpful? It's because I'm very distantly related to them. I'm one eighth aboriginal, the medicine man's my great grandfather's younger brother.' At the frankly sceptical looks she was getting from all three of her companions right now she continued, 'If you knew what to look for you'd see I'm telling the truth.'
'You're not black skinned, and you don't have the very curly hair,' said Brin.
'But my hair is very dark and coarse, and I do have general shape of an aboriginal woman, even if not the facial features. Plus Glorfindel, you remember that my skin tanned nearly black in the sun during the summers in Mordor. It's also why for a mortal I'm so tough, can get by on little food or sleep, walk or run all day and night if I have to, and have as Isildur put it, a cast iron stomach. Just because I could eat stuff the Numoreans couldn't.'
'I remember how you went nearly as black as a Orc, and that you hit Isildur when he teased you about it, but I never knew it is because you are of a strange race of Men. I just thought it was some kind of odd mortal illness,' said Glorfindel.
'Go black in the sun!' snorted Brin. 'That I'd pay good gold to see!'
'You may get your chance, if we're out in the sun a lot over the next few days, you'll see how quickly I'll tan,' she said, her eyes twinkling as she anticipated making and winning a bet with Brin.
'I'll believe it if I see it,' the Dwarf grumbled.
Jessryn had been sitting quietly, listening to the conversation. Now he spoke, 'I can hear something strange, something mechanical.'
Everyone stopped speaking, and listened, both elves, and before long Rory and Brin could hear the noise.
'It's an aeroplane, it's my mates, likely,' said Rory as she went outside.
'Yep, it is. Glor, Brin, please move, don't stand there,' she yelled, 'it's the runway and the plane will land there right on top of you two if you don't move.'
The two moved, and came to stand beside Rory and Jessryn as the plane circled and landed, taxiing to a halt only a few yards from the four. Doors opened and men clad in uniforms jumped out, greeting Rory in a friendly fashion as she explained who her companions were and what help they needed.
Kate and Elrond had been walking for hours. The terrain was fairly good, flat and with no thick brush to hinder them. Elrond had been watching Kate, surprised by how well she was travelling for a middle aged mortal woman. They had stopped once, for a small cold meal and a drink of water, asKate had argued against lighting a fire in case the smoke was seen.
'If there were native villages nearby that could explain the smoke, I'd say go for it. But there's not.'
He agreed, not that he'd wanted or needed hot food, he'd just thought as a healer and decided maybe his mortal companion would appreciate a hot meal. They continued walking until they found a small creek, which they filled their water bottles from.
'Is that one of those helicopter flying machines I was transported in?' asked Elrond pointing to sky in a southeast direction.
'Sure is,' said Kate, pulling him under some low trees, 'I just hope they didn't see us.'
They crouched motionless for some time as the helicopter circled. Finally it left, and Kate and Elrond crept out from their hiding place. At Elrond's suggestion they walked up the creek for about five miles by his reckoning, then left the water carefully by walking on rocks where they would leave no footprint.
The sun was setting when they found a campsite, a little clearing inside some trees, which backed against a cliff. Kate lit a small fire right against the cliff wall where the smoke would be drawn upwards and dissipate without trace into the night sky. She prepared a hot meal while Elrond used a machete to cut some nearby thorn bushes and drag around their camp to keep out unwelcome four-footed guests. He'd overheard the guards speak of such things back in the holding facility they'd escaped from and thought it might be a good idea. He didn't expect Kate to take a turn as watchman,but even he needed some rest.
'Here you are, Elrond,' said Kate, handing him a plate of something that looked like stew. 'It doesn't taste the greatest, but it is hot and there's plenty of it.' He thanked her and they ate in silence, following the meal with some tea made from herbs Elrond had cautiously collected earlier, some of which he knew had medicinal qualities. It paid to be prepared in this environment, for if either of them became injured they had only each other to rely on.
They packed the food up, and tackled the question of rest, Kate stoutly insisting she could watch for a few hours, at least.
'No,' said Elrond firmly. 'I am a very light sleeper, and have excellent hearing like all elves. The thorn bush and scrub around our camp site will make enough noise to wake me if an animal or person tries to sneak up on us.'
Reluctantly, Kate gave in and banked the fire for the night. It would give no smoke, and they could build it up just before daylight for another hot meal before setting out again. Blankets were unrolled and made into beds, and both Kate and Elrond settled down to sleep.