Disclaimer: I do not own The Patriot or Lord of the Rings.
Way too short, I know. Longer one next!
3. Joined Shores
No one soon forgot the incident last night when the Martins left for Charles Town. Earlier, Thomas and Gabriel went outside to search the premises for the source of the strange explosion and light, or what it might have caused.
They found nothing.
The only thing they thought was odd was the thousands of seagulls flying overhead, away from the South Carolina coast.
Ben crouched down next to his bed and pulled out his trunk. Should he take it with him? He had never worn it on his finger, because that idea had never occurred to him, strangely enough.
He reached down to pick up the sack, but hesitated after a second thought. With his fingers hovering over the sack, his mind debated on whether to leave it behind, or take it with him to Charles Town. It had caused quite a commotion last night – not to mention the tremendous explosion and the flash of light...
Grimacing, Ben snatched up the sack, pulled out the ring by the chain, and stuffed it into his waistcoat pocket. Tossing the empty sack back into the trunk, he shut the lid, pushed it back under the bed, and walked out of the room.
The Martins' wagon and buggy rolled along the road towards Charles Town, filled with some of their belongings and themselves for their stay at Charlotte Selton's townhouse.
During their day-long trip, Ben asked around in each little town and village they stopped in about the explosion, and no one knew the cause of it – but they were as worried and frightened as they were.
One man explained that he was outdoors when it happened – a ring of light emerged from the coast, and traveled up into the sky. Another old woman said that Charles Town was being shelled by the British warships, but Ben reminded her that the war is not any further south than Boston and New York.
Nathan knew that he was the cause of it. When he put on the ring, he knew what he saw, and knew that by him putting on the ring, the ring caused the explosion. But the result of the explosion was something else altogether.
When they reached the top of the hill, they had the full view of Charles Town...and something else entirely. Ben quickly pulled the reins until the buggy lurched to a halt. Gabriel pulled up his horse beside him.
"So that's what it was!" Ben finally exclaimed.
Before them lay Charles Town, a broad body of water the size of a lake lay as the harbor instead of the ocean, and on the other side of the shrunken harbor was a large mountainous land, with sharp snow-capped mountain peaks, and lush green lands with deep forests throughout.
"That's not supposed to be there," Gabriel shook his head.
"Charles Town must be in an uproar," Ben said. "Let's go and find out how this happened."
With that, he slapped the reins against the horse's back, and off they went, with their eyes fixed onto the 'new' land before them.
"Aunt Charlotte! Aunt Charlotte!" the children happily shrieked as they ran up the stairs into Charlotte's outstretched arms. She was overjoyed at seeing the children again, and was especially impressed on how well Ben looked after raising seven children on his own.
"They're huge!" she exclaimed softly with her eyes on Ben. "What have you been feeding them?"
"Oh, they're from good stalk," he chuckled in reply. "From their mother's side, of course."
From the friendly compliment, Charlotte was a little saddened by the memory of her dear sister. She managed to look him in the eyes... "Thank you."
Then she turned to the children and announced. "Come and see what I have for you-"
"Presents?!" Margaret squealed, her siblings echoing her. "Presents!" Thomas and Gabriel followed their eager brothers and sister into the room quickly forcing their way past their father, pushing him against Charlotte. Their eyes met briefly before they withdrew into a more comfortable distance.
Then Charlotte noticed little Susan in Abagail's arms. Susan was unsmiling to her Aunt, and just gave her an odd look when Charlotte revealed a little doll and handed it to her.
"This was your mother's," she said. When Susan took the doll into her arms, Charlotte looked up at Ben with a look of worry upon her fair face. "She's still not talking?"
Ben only shook his head, which was enough of an answer for her. Then he smiled a little as he patted her shoulder politely. "It does me good to see you," he said.
When they entered the room, he immediately noticed the mass of land before him, the great mountain peaks in complete view from where he stood.
"How did everyone react to this?" he asked Charlotte, nodding his head towards the view. Charlotte sighed as she approached the window, staring at the great mountains and green valleys.
"It was incredible," she explained as Ben walked up beside her. "It just appeared within moments in a blinding flash of light. I thought we were already under attack from the British, but I knew it was too soon..."
"We experienced the whole thing at the farm last night," Ben replied. "No one could have escaped such phenomena like this."
Nathan strained his ears over the chatter of his siblings to hear the snippets of his father's conversation. He tried not to look at them while he listened, but he was certain his father would bring up the ring.
"I..." Ben gulped. Should he mention the ring? Did his son cause this appearance of this land by wearing the ring that he had never worn himself? Is the ring linked to this land?
Just then, he felt like he had a large rock in his pocket instead of the little gold ring. Was it his imagination, or did the ring actually become heavier? It perhaps was just his guilt...he couldn't stop thinking of it. He never allowed the ring to be far from him, even though it spent most of its time in his trunk under his bed.
"Pardon?" Charlotte piped up, noticing how long Ben was pondering his words.
Ben snapped out of his thoughts and turned to her. "Nothing. I don't know how this could have happened, that is what I was trying to say."
"Oh," she nodded, looking back out the window. "I understand."
Nathan let out an unnoticeable sigh of relief. He was glad his father was not blaming him openly about the incident, or the land. It was all the ring, and he was certain of it. He knew what he saw, and knew he must not tell anyone about what he saw when he put on the ring.
He peered at the odd city before him. It lay on the other side of the body of water, with a harbor, ships, and a great but well-distributed cluster of buildings behind the ships.
The city was alive in the darkness of night, with loud shouts of celebration, and a series of short, small explosions along the streets.
He wondered how this could have happened, and what caused it. He knew the only way to find answers to his questions was to ride down there himself and find answers.
Tightening his grip on his staff and giving his horse a nudge – Gandalf the Grey was off to explore the new and strange land before him, galloping Northward to where he had previously noticed the two lands touching: perfect place for him to just ride across.
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