CHAPTER FOUR.
That morning, I expected my dream would have pleasantly ended. It didn't.
I opened my eyes to the same surroundings I'd closed them to. The fabric of the cloak around me still felt very real, soft, and a little scratchy, and the red armchair provided me with a stiff back. I began to panic, searching the recesses of my mind for anything that could have hinted at what was going on, but Ori's face appeared in front of mine before my mind got ahead of itself.
"You're awake Lizzie!" He grinned, rubbing his hands together; a slight chill hung in the air since the fire long burnt out. "Would you like some coffee? Gandalf's been meaning to speak to you. Would you mind sharing a pony? I'm afraid we don't have plenty, especially if Mr. Baggins decides to come along-"
"I would love some coffee Ori." I interrupted quickly and shrugged the cloak off of myself. He nodded cheerily and ran off into the kitchen only to come back with a scalding cup of hot coffee. "Thank you."
Gandalf appeared in the doorway and motioned for me to leave the still sleeping dwarves behind. He guided me out of the house and onto the bench that we'd found Bilbo smoking his pipe on contently the previous day. The morning air was even colder than it was inside, and I was happy that whoever gave me their royal blue cloak had decided to.
"I do not believe you truly understand why you are here now." Gandalf murmured after his long, concentrated silence. No kidding. "It seems after some time the Valar decided to bring you to us without memory of your past and I will not interfere. They will give your memory back when they see fit. But I am afraid you think you are in a dream."
"But aren't I?"
"No I am afraid you're not. Be wise about your time here Elizabeth." He gave me a quick pat on the back before looking at me with his steel blue eyes. "It's best you let things take their course. Now up you go. We have an adventure to begin!"
Back inside Bilbo's hole, all thirteen dwarves clambered about looking for anything they could possibly eat to quell their hunger before the day begun. Bifur retreated to a corner to work on organizing his collection of knives and shine his axe while many of the others were busy stuffing their faces and throwing things into their packs. Bombur set his sights on fitting his cookware into the most efficient stack that could easily be carried on a pony, and Bilbo was nowhere in sight.
My cloak hung where I had left it last night, and I realized that the clothes on my back were the only possessions I had to carry on this journey. The Valar- whoever they are- could have at least dropped me off here with something.
"There you are Miss Elizabeth!" Kili appeared in front of me, striding from the living room. "I believe you have my cloak."
"Oh-" I blushed and handed it to him. I really needed to stop doing that. "I'm sorry about that. Please don't call me miss."
"Alright, Elizabeth. It was no problem, you looked cold."
"Once we have our bags we must go, Bilbo or not!" Thorin's voice rang out over the shuffling. My eyes widened in realization that I'd had nothing to eat for breakfast and my stomach was certainly rumbling. I shuffled through the dwarves to the kitchen to find a few pieces of toast and some eggs left, which I carried out after everyone was beginning to file out of the house.
Beyond Bilbo's front gate and out past a few other Hobbit holes, sixteen ponies were all grazing quietly tied up around a few trees. Each seemed to have a rider, spare one that was packed with various goods, and the other that Gandalf deemed reserved for Bilbo.
"Here Lizzie, you can ride with me." Fili beamed at me and offered a hand down from his blonde pony. I graciously accepted his offer seeing the other dwarves deep in conversation, making bets on whether Bilbo would show up or not. Rude. Poor Bilbo had hardly met the company, his house had been ransacked, and he'd been scared out of his mind and they were taking wagers against him. Fili pulled me up onto his pony, Misty, and I settled down in front of him. Thankfully, I was tiny enough for him to be able grip the reins.
"I think Bilbo will come!" I chirped and a storm of guffaws filled the air. Bifur mumbled something not many of us could understand.
"Aye, you'll be down 20 gold when he doesn't lass!" Dwalin boomed.
As all of us were mounted, the ponies set forth at a steady pace following the pathway ahead of us. Gandalf rode out front with Thorin, Balin was close behind with Dwalin, Bifur and his brothers Bofur and Bombur after, and the rest all piled up before Fili and Kili brought up the rear. The chill of the morning air was beginning to wane and the sun began to beat down, warming my bones.
"This is going to be a longgggg walk, isn't it?" I drawled at no one in particular.
"Might as well get settled in Lizzie. The Lonely Mountain won't even come into sight for a few months." Kili patted the brown pony beneath him. "Miss Daisy might be tired before the end of it."
"Months?" My eyes were wide and I could feel the rumble of Fili's laughter on my back.
"What did you think when the old wizard brought you to us? This isn't a prance down the street."
"Aye," Kili agreed and shot me a solemn glance, "It'll be troublesome."
"Might run into some goblins, or maybe even bears, or orcs." Fili peered over my shoulder. "What a pretty pin, Lizzie."
"Oh, I found it just earlier yesterday in Melinda Proudfoot's old shop right down from Bilbo's house." It glimmered brilliantly in the sunlight against the stark white color of my tunic.
"I remember when we were small boys I used to see a woman in the market that wore one like that." Kili studied it intently.
"Oh I know her. What was her name? Erys... no. Emilie. That was it. She used to buy Bofur's toys." Fili observed. "She came into the Blue Mountains once a week and told us stories about the villages in the forest."
"I liked that one about the birds." Kili eyed me and slowed his horse's pace until he was even with Fili and I. "She told us about a folk that could communicate with the wee birds of the forest; they used to live in parts that no man had ever ventured before. Some kind of dark power had come over 'em and threatened their people."
"You always liked ridiculous tales." Fili smirked and turned to me. "He was very fond of getting into trouble and having his head up in the clouds when he was a lad."
"Oi- at least I wasn't enraptured by a girl." Kili teased and his brother instantly coaxed Misty to move faster. "That and sword fighting with your poor old guards! I never saw you actually leave the city gates!"
Kili's taunting was cut short to Fili's delight as the sound of rushing Hobbit feet came upon the company.
"Wait! Wait! I've signed it!" Bilbo yelled breathlessly at Balin, careening right up to his pony with the contract wavering in his hand.
"Why indeed you have," Balin smiled warmly at the Hobbit once he had confirmed his signature, "Welcome to the company Mister Baggins! We've saved you a pony."
Thorin averted his eyes and scoffed at Bilbo when he claimed he didn't need a pony, and Fili and Kili immediately hoisted him up onto Myrtle. The Hobbit sat awkwardly in the saddle as if he were afraid the pony were going to buck him right off and proceeded to sneeze. He began searching thoroughly through his jacket for what I could only assume was his handkerchief.
"I must be allergic to all this horse hair... oh dear. Wait! Stop! We must go back. I left my handkerchief at home!" Most of the dwarves shot each other coy glances before they continued forward without giving Bilbo any acknowledgement. I mean really. Who worries about a handkerchief at a time like this?
"Here, use this!" Bofur tore a scrap from the bottom of his cloak and threw it back to Bilbo.
"I'm afraid you will have to go without a lot more than just a handkerchief on this journey, Bilbo Baggins." Gandalf told the Hobbit.
A small bag of gold was suddenly thrown from the front of the company into my hands.
Bilbo furrowed his eyebrows together and his coffee-colored eyes sent me a questioning look. "What's that?"
"Gold," Gandalf laughed, "The company took bets on whether you would come or not. It seems Elizabeth had a little faith in you."
The rest of the day went smoothly and we managed to pass the border of the Shire, wandering on into lands less populated. We did not stop for lunch, which the Hobbit was severely displeased with, but kept right on the steady path. The scenery had been green and pleasurable, and we took a few short breaks to let our ponies drink from nearby creeks and streams.
Night soon begun to creep into the sky as the sun went down, and Thorin ordered the group to stop for the night in a little niche in the side of a mountain. Oin and Gloin worked to get a fire started and soon we were all scattered across the camp site anticipating supper. It seemed safe enough from the plains that stretched below.
I installed myself on a rock nearest to Fili where he had pulled a book from one of his packs and began to read it.
"What's that?" The pages were stained with age and a beautiful script stretched out line after line.
He looked up at me from his reading, a frown washing over his face, and immediately shut his book. "Kili will tell you." He patted his brother's shoulder before removing himself from his seat amongst the stones. Geez I'd just asked what he was reading.
The young dwarf looked at me with those mahogany-colored eyes of his and smirked. "It's a sensitive subject for Fili. That book is a journal full of letters written to him."
"Letters?" I furrowed my eyebrows.
"From Alana." Kili sighed and settled himself further into the side of the mountain. "They met when we were just children. A rather inseparable pair they turned into. Wherever Fili went when he wasn't at home, Alana was there. I fancy you know where this is going. Either way, as they grew older family duty called, and in an attempt to keep themselves connected they wrote letters back and forth until we left the Blue Mountains to come on this quest. Tragic for him, kind of."
"So that's the girl you were talking about." I yawned as Bombur came to hand us both bowls of some kind of soup.
"Aye. You got a lad like that?" His question startled me and I nearly choked.
"N-no." It came out more of a squeak than anything and I could feel the heat in my cheeks. He seemed to gaze at me with some kind of reverence and a stupid grin was plastered to his face.
"Makes sense." Those were the only words that proceeded from his mouth. Makes sense? What was that supposed to mean? I refused to give him the satisfaction of any more of my embarrassment and stuck to eating quietly and looking at the stars. They were much brighter here than anywhere I had ever seen them. The world seemed to stand still as if nothing else existed in the mystifying silence of the night.
And suddenly, a loud, shrill shriek pierced the noiselessness.
"Wh-What was that?!" Bilbo cried across the flames, his face aglow.
"Orcs. The low lands are crawling with them by this time of night." Fili shot a mischievous glance toward Kili.
"They strike at the most unexpected hours when you're asleep. There's no sound, just lots of blood." A grave expression washed over Kili's face and Bilbo curled against the mountain in fear. Even I began to get a little nervous. That sound, echoing off the walls and sounding through the valley below was terrifying, and beyond the light of the fire there appeared nothing but the pitch black veil of shadow. Fili and Kili's faces lit up and they began to snicker.
"You think that's funny?" Thorin's words cut through the air and he turned around to regard his nephews with icy eyes.
"We didn't mean nothin by it." Kili mumbled. The entire camp was overwhelmed with stillness.
"Don't worry lads, we know you didn't." Balin looked up from an apple he persisted on peeling. "We all have a strong cause to hate orcs, Thorin just sometimes more than others. You remember the old tale of Moria."
"Moria?" Bilbo questioned; he had resumed his post beside the fire.
"Ah, yes. Once Erebor was taken, remember we dwarves were left without a home. The next place we looked to was Moria; it was a stronghold almost as fruitful and safe as Erebor had been. With our defeat we traveled there and only found the place to be overrun with orcs, killing our people and claiming what once was ours. Thorin's grandfather, Thrór, died the day we fought for that home."
Jesus, these dwarves had a tragic past.
"How terrible." I breathed silently, and Balin had nodded in my direction. I found myself suddenly attentive to the mint ribbon on my wrist, and braided my hair to keep it from getting any mousier than it was already beginning to look.
I guessed in a way that the dwarves were like me; they had no home. I was beginning to think that what I had thought was a dream was now a strange reality that I had landed in, and how, I still did not know. After all, I had gone a night and two days without magically reawakening in my bed at home. And now, the only people I knew were the company I traveled with and my only possessions were the clothes Gandalf had bought for me. I pressed the palms of my hands to my eyes in an attempt to stop the tears forming from breaking forth on my cheeks and shivered.
A presence appeared beside me, and I looked up to find Kili giving me another one of his serious looks. He promptly sat down and but his arm around my shoulders as if to comfort me.
"S'okay Lizzie. Get some sleep and don't start worryin' about anything."
That night I slept a long, dreamless sleep.
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