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Chapter Eighty Six # The Hanging Tree #

Nelly had a secret.

It was a secret that she had never told anybody, not even Nori. Only her mother knew, and that was only due to necessity, to survival. The secret was too big for her to deal with the repercussions all by herself. It was a secret she hated with a passion so intense that was eclipsed only by her fear.

If anyone, anyone were to find out her secret, Nelly would probably die of shame.

That night, it had been her secret that woke her – and everyone else, though they did not know that. Nelly thanked every star in the sky for that. She could not go back to sleep, not after she was so close to being discovered. So Nelly waited, watching until everyone had fallen back to sleep.

After almost an hour, she finally heard Nori take over watch from Fíli and Kíli, and she took the distraction as a chance to slip to edge of the campsite and scramble away. She slid down the back of a nearby hill to where she had been before.

Almost immediately a dark shadow leapt over her and she held her hands out, hushing worriedly.

"Shh, Luno, shh!" she whispered desperately. "Please, please just shh! I promise I'm not running away or anything bad, I just… I just need to check."

The wolf cocked his head in the dim starlight.

"I can't tell you!" she said, looking over her shoulder. "It's a secret, I'm sorry."

Luno huffed softly and licked her nose.

After a long pause, Nelly took a deep breath. "You can follow me, but don't look, alright? Don't look!"

After another pause, Luno nodded.

Nelly crept along the side of the rocky hill to where the last remnants of a little fire were burning away in a little, mini cave thing she had found earlier. The smell was horrible, and it made her curl her nose up. Grabbing a stick, she poked at the fire, seeing how much of the fabric had disappeared.

To her great relief, there was no trace of the clothes she had been wearing at bed time. They were all gone, only ash.

She fell down onto her backside and took a deep breath. She was in the clear.

It had absolutely terrified her when she had woken up in the middle of the night with the horribly familiar, warm wetness between her legs. She had been so scared that if she tried to wake her mother someone else would wake up too, so she had waited until the coast was clear and then raced away to where she was now with her spare clothes clenched in her hands.

When she got caught by the wolves she had almost wet herself again. Now, though, the evidence was gone. All gone. There was no proof of anything.

A soft, low clicking noise chattered through the air and Luno looked up curiously. His brothers and sister padded past, looking curiously in the direction of the noise. Then she heard it again. After looking at each other for a while, the wolves began padding towards it.

Nelly made to follow them but Luno turned around and put his paw on her chest, pushing her gently onto the ground.

"Stay here?" she pouted quietly.

Luno huffed and nodded, and she rolled her eyes.

"Fine, fine, I'll be right here." Nelly folded her arms and waited.

After a few moments she got fidgety, but she made a promise to Luno so she stayed put. Sighing, she looked up at the sky, but to her irritation there were no stars. The clouds had hidden them all. She rolled her eyes once more, though there was no one there to see. It was just typical.

Nelly stared at the fire. She had seen some of the adults do it on the nights when she could not sleep. Whoever was on watch just sat there and looked into the fire as if it was showing them something awfully interesting. While it was rather pretty, it was not quite as entertaining as she had hoped, and within minutes she was bored.

Very bored.

And then, just like that, she was saved by Luno's return. The wolf strolled over to her, snuffled her nose, and then collapsed at her feet. She frowned.

"Luno?"

He raised his head at her with a soft whine, blinking his half-closed eyes.

"Are you alright?" she whispered.

The wolf yawned and nodded slightly, and then promptly fell asleep. Nelly sighed heavily, stroking his ear.

"Typical boy."

Deciding that it would be high time she went to bed, Nelly tried to stand up, but unfortunately she could not move at all. As it turned out, one of Luno's huge legs was resting on her lap. His leg alone was almost as big as she was, so there was no chance of her shifting it.

Well, if she was completely honest with herself there was a rather good chance of her shifting it, but she did not particularly want to. His other leg was stretched out beneath her, and when she shuffled into an experimental lying down position she was much comfier than she would have been on the cold, hard ground. She would just have to be sure to wake up early so she did not get into any more trouble.

Nelly yawned, allowing herself to drift off to sleep. As her eyes closed she heard shuffling footsteps, but she did not pay them too much attention. Not until she heard the muffled noises of what sounded like someone struggling.

Her eyes snapped open but it was so dark, so dark and she could not see anything. She could hear though – no words, nothing loud, but scuffles and moans and whimpers that did not belong to a normal, sleeping campsite. Her first instinct was to yell out and ask what was wrong, but she was scared.

What if it was just Fíli and Kíli wrestling over something? They did that a lot, and if she woke everyone up again over another false alarm she would be in more trouble than she could imagine. Plus, she did not actually like making people tired and grumpy. Annoying people and being a nuisance was only fun when no one got hurt – or in this case horribly sleepy.

The sounds got louder and then there was a dull thunk and everything went quiet.

There, Nelly swallowed. Fíli and Kíli probably just knocked something over and now the argument's over…

But if that was truly the case, why was she so frightened?

Deciding that she could only live with herself if she made absolutely sure, Nelly squirmed, but Luno whined in his sleep and rolled over, effectively trapping her.

"Luno!" she hissed. "Get off me, something's wrong!"

The wolf did not wake.

Nelly frowned. She shook Luno's shoulder roughly, but still he did not stir. She tugged his ear, poked his cheek, tapped his eye even, but Luno remained asleep.

This was wrong, this was very wrong.

Steeling herself, she dug her fingers into the dirt and dragged herself out by her nails, wiggling out of the Luno's grip, and then she scrambled up and over the hill and –

Nelly's mouth dropped open in horror.

Right in the spot where Nori had been sitting on watch was nothing but a small pool of blood. Nori was nowhere to be seen. Everyone else was sleeping – including every single wolf slumped over each other, barely breathing.

Except not everyone was sleeping, because five of the bedrolls were empty.

There was no Nori and no Fíli, there was no Papa and no Pippin, and there was no Gimli.

They were gone.

All gone.

She looked around desperately but she could not see them anywhere.

"Alright, alright," she murmured to herself in a shaky voice. "They're probably just all going…to…to…"

She picked her way through the campsite, walking over to where Nori had been. Nelly started to tremble as she realised that she had been right, that it was blood.

And that was when she noticed it.

The broach. The one that frightened Frodo, one that had made him scream so much and hide in the bathroom. The one that the nasty, nasty dwarves left after they beat Uncle Saradoc, before they hurt everybody else. It was lying right in the middle of the pool of blood.

Terrified, she did the only thing that she could do.

Nelly screamed.

Esme jolted awake at her niece's scream, and her first thought was of exasperation.

She loved Nelly with all her heart, and of all her nieces she was probably closest with Nelly, but that did not stop her from wanting to stuff a scarf in the child's mouth. As much as she loved Nelly, she also loved sleep.

Apparently, her sister-in-law had the same idea.

"Nelly," she hissed. "What are you doing? People are trying to sleep!"

"No, no!" Nelly cried. "You can't sleep, you can't, everyone needs to wake up!"

"Pimpernel," Ellie scolded angrily. "Stop it – right now."

"No, Mama, you don't understand," the girl insisted desperately. "They're gone, they're all gone!"

"What are you talking about?" Bilbo called, helping a sleepy Sam sit up.

"Papa!" she shrieked. If there was anyone who had managed to sleep through the rest, they were awake now. "And Nori and Pippin and Fíli and Gimli, they're all gone and there's blood!"

A chill flooded Esme's veins and she looked around frantically.

Nelly was right. They were gone.

"Alright, sweetheart, calm down," Ellie soothed, her tone now soft and calm. "I'm sure Papa has just gone for a little walk, there must be an ex-"

Nelly interrupted her mother with a little wail. "But there were noises, Mama, noises like Fíli and Kíli wrestling and I thought there were just wrestling, but then there was a thunk and then all the noises stopped so I tried to make Luno get off me to see what was going on but it took me ages and then I looked and there's just blood here and there's the…the…"

"The what, sweetheart?" Ellie urged.

Esme stood up as tears filled Nelly's eyes.

"It's… it's the broach. The one…the one that Frodo…" her eyes flickered to her feet and Esme looked quickly at the little Baggins.

Before anyone could grab him, Frodo was up and by Nelly's side, staring down at something by her feet, and then he was doubled over and throwing up everything he had for dinner the night before.

"Hey, hey," Esme, who happened to be the closest, darted forward and steered him to the outskirts of the camp, rubbing his back gently until he had finished. "It's alright, Frodo, we're here, we've got you…"

"What's going on?" Bróin cried, wringing his hands.

"Fíli!" Kíli yelled, his voice faltering slightly. "Paladin?"

"Stop, Kíli-" Dís put her hand on his arm. "They're gone."

Esme swallowed as Kíli stared at his mother. "What?"

"They won't return if you yell for them," Dís looked shaken, afraid, but you would not know it from her voice, and a hint of calm came over Esme. Dís would know what to do. "We must figure out exactly what happened before anything-"

"The wolves!" Bragi cried. "They won't wake."

Taking a cloth from a nearby bag, Esme began to clean Frodo up silently. He stood as still as a statue and within a few minutes she was able to pick him up and give him the cuddle he obviously needed.

"Are they breathing?" Kíli asked sharply.

"Aye, but they seem to be unconscious…"

"They went away!" Nelly interjected. "They went away when they heard the clicking noise and then they came back and all just dropped on the spot!"

"Poison, perhaps?" Alfr suggested.

"Poison?" Merry fell to his knees beside Koda and tried to shake the wolf awake.

Saradoc took Merry's hand away. "Soft and gentle, Merry. He is a wolf, after all."

"Dís, what is going on?" Dana interrupted. "Where are they, what's going on?"

"I have no idea."

"But the broach?"

"The broach was left as a warning to the hobbits of Hobbiton before they were attacked. The fight that followed saw many lives lost, including Sam's mother and Saradoc's brother. Before that it was worn by the dwarf that killed Frodo's parents." Dís said.

Frodo was shaking now, and Esme began stroking his hair softly.

"I've got you, Frodo," she murmured. "We're going to sort all of this out. Everything's going to be alright."

He did not say anything in reply, but he did tighten his grip around her neck.

"So did one of you bring it?" Soren wondered. "The broach?"

"We tossed it in the fire," Saradoc spat. "That is a different broach – identical, but different."

Dís was quiet for a long moment. "We have to move."

"Move?" Esme's heart began to quicken. "You mean leave?"

"This campsite, yes," Dís looked at her. "We will get them back, we just need to figure out what is going on, and to do that we need to stay calm and come up with a plan. From now on, we're going to assume that something very bad has happened."

"Can't we be hopeful?" Nelly looked positively green.

"We can," Dís smiled sadly. "But we have to be prepared."

"For what?"

Nelly did not receive an answer.

"Speaking of plans," Dana said quietly. "You wouldn't happen to have one?"

Dís took a deep breath and Esme copied her. What with the bonds that had been formed over the last few months, she was missing two brothers, two nephews and a cousin (or Uncle – she had not quite decided where Nori fit exactly into her secret family tree yet. Not that that it would do him any good now) They could be hurt. They could be dead.

Esme closed her eyes.

She would not panic. She would be an example, she could not afford to panic –

"Alright," Dís looked over them. "Bragi, Soren, Alfr and Kíli – ride due south as quickly as you can and find the elves and rangers – ensure that they are alright and that the prisoners are intact. If they are bring them up to speed and take them straight to Mirkwood. We will meet you where we were going to meet these Elven friends of yours. If you cannot find them split up – Soren and Alfr follow any trail you find, Bragi and Kíli you must return to us to report. Always remain in pairs. Go, now."

The four young dwarves nodded grimly, and Esme's eyes followed Kíli carefully as he mounted a pony. There was something in his eyes that alarmed her – something that she did not have much time to dwell on.

"Now, Bofur, Marta, Esme, Saradoc – you know a little about tracking, do you not?"

"A little," Esme nodded along with the others.

"Light the torches. Look for any trails and follow them, in pairs, if you find them – but let us know before you do."

"Understood," Saradoc nodded, ruffling Merry's hair.

Ellie walked over and managed to offer Frodo and Esme a strained smile. "I'll take him."

Esme nodded and passed the trembling boy over. She was a little concerned that he was soon to turn catatonic. Nevertheless, she felt better now that she had a task to do, so Esme lit a lantern and headed over to where her brother had been lying when she last went to sleep. If she remembered correctly, Pippin had been curled up in his father's side. Gimli had been a few feet away from them and Fíli next to him. How Fíli had managed to disappear without waking Kíli – who usually slept all but on top of his brother – was beyond her, and worryingly so. Nori had been on the other side of Paladin and Pippin, on the nearby branch.

So they had all been rather close to each other, on the outskirts of the group. They were all male, did that have something to do with it?

She began scouring the ground for tracks or signs, half listening to Dís continuing.

"Dana, Bilbo, Ellie – we are going to pack up camp, create a more defensive system if we can. If nothing has come from searching these tracks soon we will make for Mirkwood."

"To ask the elves for help?" Dana sounded utterly appalled.

Dís' tone was steely. "Our sons' lives could be in the balance, Dana, and I will not gamble their wellbeing for the sake of a pride that almost killed my fool of a brother. We will keep on the lookout for signs as to where they are or who may have taken them – if indeed they were taken, but the wood elves will undoubtedly know this land much better than we do."

"I would not trust them-"

"No, but I do," Bilbo put in. Esme wished that she too had the ability to interrupt people and yet still sound polite. "So does Kíli, and Fíli, Bofur, and Nori."

Bofur sighed. "I have to agree with the hobbit – if that Tauriel lass is there in any case."

"Well that's settled then," Dís insisted. "Now, Frodo, Sam, Merry, Bofin, Bróin and Bodin, I want you to go into this wagon, Pearl, Nelly, Vinca, Orla and Ola, you should go into this one-"

"But I want to help!" Merry protested. "I can help Mama and Papa-"

"Merry," Dís began.

"No, we have to help!" Nelly cried in agreement. "They're our family too!"

"And we're not useless!" there was Merry again. Esme did not know whether she should be angry or proud.

"Yeah!" now Bróin was joining in. "We can help, we should help-"

"And you will." Dís said firmly. "We need to put the wolves in the wagons too – we can hardly leave them here. You need to look after them."

"Is that really wise?" Bilbo piped up. "They're harmless to us, yes, but sick or injured animals have a habit of lashing out."

"I know," Dís said smoothly. "Which is why we're going to use halters."

"Halters?" Merry frowned.

"Where are we going to find halters big enough to…" Bilbo trailed off. "You've already made them."

Dís nodded. "Aye, just in case of a situation like this. They will be safely restrained, but it will be comfortable for them and they can walk, pant, eat even. They simply won't be able to lung or strike at you."

"Alright," Bilbo nodded. "That could work."

"Now, let's get them all in the wagons shall we?"

Esme swore silently. What little trail she had was stone cold. She returned towards the others just in time to help push Denahi's huge bulk into one of the wagons. Despite everything her curiosity was piqued when Dís slipped a soft rope over the wolf's muzzle, strapping it behind his ears in a manner similar to a horse's halter. Another length of rope hung loosely around his neck and was connected to both the rope around his muzzle and yet another section that wove around each of his legs, allowing movement for walking but removing his ability to swipe at one of the children.

Eventually, Lani, Koda and Luno were being nursed by the girls, while Denahi and Kenai were tended to by the boys. Esme doubted any wolf had ever received such tender care as that which the young ones bestowed upon the unconscious creatures. It was almost funny – when Bofin, the largest of all the children, stroked Kenai's cheek you could see that the wolf's eye was bigger than his hand. Almost all of the children were loaded in too, and then came a sound that Esme would remember for the rest of her life.

A scream.

She had not even known that Bofur was capable of making such a sound. But he was. And with good reason.

Her heart thudded painfully in her chest and she raced towards the sound, ignoring all hobbit-sense telling her to run.

She burst through the trees and saw Bofur, grabbing onto what looked like a pair of flying legs, as though he was drying to drag someone back down to earth.

And then she looked up.

"Oh Mahal," she choked, covering her mouth. "Oh my – Bofur what do I do, what do I do?"

"Help me!" he cried.

Esme wanted to, more than anything, but she did not know how. She did not know what to do.

Bofur was not pulling anyone down – he was pushing Nori up. Because Nori's eyes were closed and his head was bleeding. And because there was a noose around Nori's neck, and he was hanging.

"Cut him down!" Bofur roared, and Esme snapped to her senses.

She ran to the base of the tree and scrambled up branch by branch, until she reached the one holding the rope. To her horror, she did not have a knife.

"Help!" she screamed. "Someone help, we need a knife, now!"

She tore at the rope with her bare fingers to no avail, but then she forced her head to clear and looked at the knot. Praying desperately, she pushed and pulled until finally it gave way and sent Nori and Bofur tumbling to the floor.

By the time she had scrambled out of the tree, there Bofur was kneeling by his friend's side, desperately holding his cheek over Nori's face.

The look in Bofur's eye said it all.

"He's not breathing?" she whispered.

Shaking his head, Bofur began to breathe into Nori's mouth, and then he started pushing down on his chest. She could hear Dís, Marta and Ellie yelling in the background but she did not realise why until Nelly, Bróin and the twins appeared.

"Get back!" Esme stumbled towards them, but her head was spinning and Nelly ducked under her arm easily.

"Nori!" there was a hint of glee in Nelly's voice as she ran forward, but then she stopped. "Nori?"

"Get back, lass," Bofur choked, waving her away as he continued to try and make his best friend breathe.

"Nori?" she whispered.

Esme grabbed her niece and held her close, and then Nelly really screamed.

"NORI!"

*whistles innocently*

And that is where I shall end it today, leaving you with a million questions no doubt. Please do let me know what you think – I LOVE to hear your feedback :D