Reminder:: Tolkien is awesome and owns every Lord of the Rings reference. Period. n_n

Thanks for reading everyone! I was really nervous about writing on here at first, but you guys were so nice, I just had to continue. Now I'm much more comfortable with my writing. And sorry it seems rushed and dry, but I tend to write like that when I'm eager to get to the parts I want to write about. Sorry! Here's the next chapter (probably a long one because I like these guys =3). And hopefully Sarah isn't too Mary-Sueish… I tried to give her as many faults as I could while keeping a positive attitude about her like her being naïve, too trusting, a little superficial, irritable, et cetera, et cetera. I'm just so terrified of having a Mary-Sue! I already have a 'girl falls into world' story, so I don't want to push it. xD

Chapter Seven :: The Horse Tamers

"—Yes, I found her just across the Anduin."

"I still don't see what you were doing over there…"

"Father, the horses were with me, that isn't the issue."

"Of course not! I'm wondering what you were doing over the river."

"Does it really matter? It's lucky I was or she could be dead."

"Yes, it matters. You deliberately disobeyed me! The other side of the river is not safe these days, Linius, you know that quite well."

"This again, Father?"

"Yes, this again! Goldorin has told me much about what has been going on in the world and I am fit to—"

"Always with the conspiracy theories…"

"They are not theories! It's true! Orcs are on the move again, hear me! They're springing out of the mountains to meet their master, yes they are. Right fit to be worried about you crossing over onto their lands!"

"Then what's a girl doing over there by herself?"

The conversation going on was loud enough to wake me up. My legs were sore and throbbing from all the walking and running I had done. My mouth felt parched and my stomach growled.

"Linius, hush, she's waking! Go get the soup-no! Not there, it's on the table. In the kitchen, where else? Quick, quick now boy!" The older man hissed orders to the boy who was clanging about the room. His returning footsteps told me he had arrived with the soup and there was a creaking sound as from a chair.

"Yes, just set it there."

"Do you think she can hear us?"

"Most likely. Lady?"

Someone touched my arm and I stirred so they knew I was conscious enough to understand. The hand moved to my forehead and a wet cloth was laid there, soothing and cold.

"She's running high with fever. Probably hasn't eaten in days, poor lass. The second she opens her eyes, I want that soup in her, you hear, Linius?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now you watch her while I bring in the stock."

"Couldn't I do that, Father?"

"No more arguments! I'll only be a few moments—"

"Father, her eyes are opening!"

Peering through the weary slits, I saw two figures in a warmly lit room. It felt crowded, but I could tell I was on a cot of some sort. The blankets were soft and the room smelt like a hot candle and some sort of musty smell like dust.

As I opened my eyes wider, I brought my hands up to my face to rub them. The person closest to me struggled for a moment with the pillow I was leaning on and lifted me gently from it so I would be propped up into a sitting position.

"Here, take this."

A bowl was placed in my hands and it was hot to the touch. I wasn't quite sure what to do and I was still very tired and my eyes kept drooping so I couldn't quite take in the whole room quite yet.

"Not like that! Pathetic, out of the way!" Father angrily took the bowl from me and gave the younger man a smart wallop.

"You said 'right when she opened her eyes'!" The boy complained.

"You laggard… You take my orders too lit'rally, boy. I meant: 'when she's awake enough to eat, give her the soup'. For goodness' sake…"

"All right, all right! My own fault." The boy huffed.

I couldn't help but smile. I gave a stronger effort to open my eyes and saw the ones called Linius and Father both with blonde hair. The older man's hair was a few inches past his shoulders and tied in a low ponytail at the base of his neck. His face was clean shaven and although he was the older of the two, he looked quite young. The younger looked very… boyish. His hair was much shorter than the other's. It was messy and clipped into a shaggy mess above his ears. I wonder why he cut it like that… Both had dark brown eyes, the same small straight nose, and chiseled chins.

Warily, the youngest lifted the soup bowl, glancing at the other man, and asking: "Would you like this now?"

I nodded and took it from him. I drank the hot soup quickly, feeling very self-conscious because they were watching me. It drove me crazy when people watched me eat…

When I was finished, the boy quickly took the bowl and set it on a table. The older man pulled up a chair next to my bed, ready to ask questions. After such hospitality, I was willing enough to answer.

"What is your name, young lady?"

"Lady."

They both looked at each other. Father looked confused and Linius looked mockingly amused.

"What was that, dear?"

"They call me Lady. I cannot remember my name or if I deserved one."

This sent them on another confusion trip. When they got back, Father said: "Well, Lady, it is lucky that Linius, my son, found you. What were you doing across the Anduin?"

"What's the Anduin?"

"The river." Linius stated.

I shook my head. "I don't remember a river… I came out of the East."

Looking a little nervous now, Father said: "You need your rest… Lady. Sleep and perhaps you'll remember more in the morning."

Without another word, they went about the room cleaning things up, tucking me in, and blowing out the candles. What time of day was it?

I awoke early to movement in the room. Startled, I sat up. I had another nightmare.

"Lady?"

The younger one… Linius? Yes, that's right. I nodded through the darkness.

Linius took the candle he was holding and lit another across the room. He then set the one he was holding down on the table next to the bed and sat in the chair. "Are you feeling well?"

I shrugged and laid back against the pillow, shivering a little.

"Where are you from? The East?"

"I don't know." I sighed. These questions again.

"How don't you know? Did you lose your memory?"

I sat up a little and nodded sadly. Where was I supposed to be? Obviously not here… Was someone missing me? Somewhere?

"I'm sorry."

I smiled. "What a funny thing to say… It isn't your fault. Why do you say you are sorry?"

"Hm… I don't know." He smiled, too. "Why 'Lady' though? Couldn't think of something more creative?"

"I don't know. It sort of caught on from the—" I cut myself off. Was the camp in the East a secret? These people certainly seemed kind… They couldn't be bad… right? Did I have to keep my guard up against them?

"From what?"

"The people I knew. They found me… and were kind to me."

"Where are they now?"

"I don't know." I half-lied, thinking of Alatar.

"Are you hungry?"

"Perhaps."

"Hold on, I'll bring something hot." Linius gave me a new cold cloth for my head, which felt like heaven in a fabric, and left to get something for me to eat.

After that display, how could I not trust them? They're simple, good people. Nothing to fear.

I spent three whole days in bed like that. The two continuously gave me food and comforting words.

After Linius interrogated me, Father had a go. That was a very interesting conversation…

He came into the room after I had finished eating. He picked up the bowl to take it out, but he brought up a chair instead. "May I sit here?"

"It's your chair." I pointed out.

He gave a crooked smile and settled in. For a few moments, he fiddled with the bowl in his hands, poking at the sides with the spoon. I propped myself up, ready for the questions to start.

"Lady, you seem to… Not to be rude or anything, but you look like you are from Rohan."

"Why is that?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.

"It's very stereotypical, but… you have blonde hair. Not to mention you were so near to the territory when Linius found you…"

"Oh. Is that the only reason then?" I frowned, a little disappointed. I thought that I was close to finding where I was supposed to be. Not to mention where my memory was lurking.

He seemed to be at a loss for words.

"Father, where is Rohan on the map?"

Father chuckled. "It is just west of the river Anduin and north of Gondor. My name is Beleg. You may call me that if you wish."

"Beleg? You have two names?"

"No, my name is Beleg. My son calls me 'Father' because I am his father."

I had come across that word before, but Wolfling never told me what it meant. "I don't understand."

"What is there that is confusing you, child?"

"All the names!" I held my head in frustration. "You are expecting me to believe that your name is Beleg but only certain people call you Father. And that certain person's name is Linius but you can also call him Son? And when people meet me, they call me lady, maiden, girl, and now child? How many names can one possibly have?"

Beleg/Father laughed but sobered up quickly. "You mean to tell me you do not remember what father or son means? What about mother? Daughter? Sister? Brother?"

At each new word I shook my head. Beleg-Father looked disturbed, but then decided to explain. "It's all in relation to family."

"Family?"

"Oh, dear…"

And then Beleg went on for a long time explaining to me what family meant. Family meant that someone and someone else have a child and then they can all call each other intimate names like Father, Mother, Son, Daughter, Husband, Wife and so on. When those children have children then there can be things like Cousins, Uncles, Aunts, and Grandparents. I had to ask again what Parents meant, but I learned it was another word for Father and Mother. Like a grouping term. It was all very, very confusing and Beleg only made it worse when he told me that people outside of the Family called them by their given names.

"But then why not name a child Son? Or Daughter?"

"I… don't know." Beleg finally gave up. At least he did after he went on about something called 'home' and I was all the more confused because I thought they were all houses, tents, or buildings. Was home a singular way of saying houses? No, that was house. Home is where your Family lives. Okay, so then where's this? Where's what? This building. There is only you and Linius, correct? What is the building called when all the Family is not living in the one house?

And finally he said goodnight.

By the fourth day, I was feeling very active. I was restless and sitting in bed all day which was out of the question to me. I was healthy enough to wake up very early in the morning on that day, so I straightened up the bed as best as I could, fluffed up the pillow, and left the door open. When I went into the hall, I saw that someone must have beaten me to getting up. There were candles already lit, and even a few torches to light the way. It was kind of cramped, but there was a door right in front of me, nothing to the right, and to the left there were two openings where doors could be on either side. I went left and peeked in on both rooms. One was a complete kitchen with small table and a few chairs, and the other room was a sitting room of sorts with a small fireplace, bookshelf, and fluffy chairs. I was surprised to see a blanket tossed across the largest chair like it had been slept in. Did I take someone's room?

Stupid, stupid, stupid! How could I not have taken someone's room? There were probably only two bedrooms and I had hogged the one. How could I ever repay these people? It seemed so impossible unless they were both to get sick and I nursed them both back to health for three days…

I opened the largest door at the end of the hall and saw that it led outside. The sun was bright and rather warm. Fences zigzagged around the small cottage I was in and horses of all colors, breeds, and temperaments were cavorting about freely within their pastures. The grass was green and fresh, but there were patches of grass that looked dry and wiry like the grass I had seen in the Brown Lands. I recognized my boots by the door and laced them up, carefully following Alatar's instructions mentally.

Walking down the hill and sliding a bit in the wintery mud and slush, I stopped at the nearest fence post and held onto it for support. I leaned against the fence and watched the horses graze. I felt sad that Alatar's horse had died, but I had seen faces of men without feeling as sad… Why is that? The horse looks more helpless? More trapped? Oblivious? Eh, who knows? I don't think I'll ever know…

I'm sick of not knowing anything. Can't my memory come back? It'll probably come back when I'm not thinking about it. Psh. Like that'll happen… Crap, is that why it's still not there?

"Like the horses?"

I jumped at the suddenness of the new arrival, but nodded and smiled anyway. It was Linius. "You're up early."

"I could say the same for you. What are you doing out of bed?"

"Restless." I explained shortly.

"I would be, too."

It was quiet for awhile as we stared out at all the horses.

"Which one's your favorite?" Linius asked.

"The black one there. Definitely." I waved my hand in the direction of a completely black horse. Nothing on it was any other color. It was sleek and shiny and beautiful.

"Really? I thought you'd like the white one over there, or the palomino."

"White's not bad, but it's not my favorite. Black seems classier in a strange way… And I have no idea what palomino is."

Linius smiled.

"How many do you have?"

"Somewhere over a hundred."

"Wow."

"Yeah…"

I looked at Linius and remembered an earlier question I had. "Why is your hair so short?"

"Huh? What?"

"Your hair." I sighed and pointed. I hated repeating things. Just a pet-peeve I suppose. "How come every other man I've seen has long hair?"

"I am not yet old enough to grow my hair out."

"There are rules?"

"Traditions. In our family anyway."

Oh, great, it's a family thing.

"Our family allows their men to grow their hair out when they are twenty years. To show they are men of age."

"Twenty? Is that a lot?"

Linius shrugged. "Not really… How old are you?"

"I don't know."

"You can't even remember your age?"

"No."

"That's horrible… I'm ten and nine. I would say you are…" He looked me over, top to bottom. "Ten and six? Ring a bell?"

"No… I didn't hear anything."

Linius laughed and clapped me on the back. Not understanding his joke, I just stared at him.

After he finished laughing at me or with me, I couldn't tell, he asked: "Who did you live with before you came to Rohan?"

"Men… They found me—err—" I abruptly stopped. I couldn't tell him how Alatar found me; that was humiliating! "—in a field. I think I lost my memory there."

"What were men doing out in a field?"

"I never really found out." I explained. I figured Linius of all people I had met so far, I could trust whole-heartedly. "They were resisting something or someone."

"Who?"

"Sauron, I think his name was. I only heard snidbits and those bits were in a different language." I then proceeded to tell him about my stay at the camp. I told him about Wolfling and asked him about name deserving. Linius said he had never heard of it, but he assumed that it was a coming of age thing, like his hair. I nodded and continued to tell him about the nights I spent at the fireside watching them and wanting to join in. He was a very good listener and I got carried away at some points, but I was having fun telling him about it all… It seemed so much more exciting when I retold it than it really was. To my surprise though, Linius was most interested in the part about the swords.

"You are interested in sword fighting?"

"Perhaps…" I agreed. "They're very heavy though and hard to handle… If only they made a lighter one, I would try again."

"Well, I do not own a sword, Lady, but you may use my bow."

"Bow? What's a bow?"

"Come, I'll show you!"

Linius started to run back up to the house at an alarming rate. I struggled to keep up, laughing along the way and stumbling in the wet earth. When I finally caught up to him, I had followed him around the side of the house and to a stretch of yard that was not fenced in. The fences started a few hundred yards out from the house on this side, giving the landowners plenty of extra room. A few chickens roamed about and an old spotted dog lazily looked up at me from a mat leaning against the wall. Linius was fiddling with some curved object, stringing it it seemed, so I went to say hello to the dog. His ears were black and masked his bright blue eyes. The rest of his body was grey with black spots here and there speckled about like dust.

"Hello, Dog." I smiled and gave him a pat. His ears were soft and he enjoyed the attention he was getting. He seemed to smile up at me and leaned into my palm for more.

"Oh, that's Huan. Come 'ere, Huan!" Linius snapped his fingers. Huan obediently stood and slinked over to his master, wagging his tired tail. "He's old in years, but he used to love chasing the chickens. He might try it once in awhile, but he's much too lazy to do much of anything anymore. He still loves to watch me shoot."

"What does his name mean?" I asked, thinking it sounded odd.

"Oh, my father is a history fanatic, if you could not already see by the manuscripts in the sitting room." I nodded and Linius continued. "Huan was named after the faithful hound of Beren who wed elf maiden Luthien. Huan gave his life defending his master, so he thought it was a befitting name for our dog."

"Is there a reason your father likes history so much?" I asked, watching him struggle with the string.

"Yes. His father named him Beleg after Beleg Cuthalion, or Beleg Strongbow, the faithful elf friend of Turin Turambar. Turin accidentally killed his best friend Beleg who was trying to free him from the Orcs."

"How can you accidentally kill someone?"

"You'd be surprised. It's not that difficult really, accidents happen, right? Anyway… Beleg was always one of my Grandfather's favorites. I'm not sure why…"

Although I wasn't sure why someone would name their child after such a tragedy, I thought it was better not to ask. "Does your name have any historical meaning?"

"No."

"Oh…"

"It was just my mother's favorite."

"Where is—"

"Linius? Where are you?" Beleg's strong voice came from the front of the house.

"Out here, Father!" Linius called back. A few moments later, Beleg came walking around the side of the house. Huan was eager to see him and readily licked his hand as he approached.

Beleg pat the dog and looked at us both: "What are you two doing?"

"I was showing Lady my bow." Linius explained, finally catching the string.

"Be careful—"

"Yes, yes, we know. I'm not going to shoot her."

Beleg smiled and ruffled his son's hair. "It's good to see you up, Lady. Are you feeling well?"

"Yes, thank you. You two have done so much for me. I can't dream of a way to repay you."

"No need. Stay with us as long as you like." Beleg offered. He walked back around the house, but peered out again as if to check that Linius indeed had not shot me since the time he turned his back.

"Finally ready!" Linius announced. "This is a quiver." He explained, holding up a cylinder with sticks. "These are arrows." He pulled out a stick from the quiver. There was a tuff on the end and a sharp point on the other. "This is the nok point." He pointed to the center somewhere on the string of the bow, probably the little kinky thing. "And this is the upper and lower limb, see? This is the grip, or what you hold on to. Are you right or left-handed? Sorry, I should have known you wouldn't know. We'll figure that out in a moment. Anyway, this is the proper way to hold it, see? You put in the arrow like this, see, so that the shaft won't hit the grip or your hand when you let go. You set it up so your elbow is drawn back, wait, I have a better idea. Why don't you hold it? There… Yes, like that. Alright, so give me your stance… Okay, hold up with your right arm, straighter, yes, that's it… Yes, you're definitely right-handed. That's good, because I am too and this bow is made for the right handed… Well, I don't agree that it's bad to be left-handed, but many adults think so… Yes, so pull back with your elbow like this, see-whoa! Careful! Almost took out my eye! No, no, it's all right you're learning. Now don't let go of the arrow this time. We have to get you set up proper first… Get back in your stance, yes, good. Very good. You'll take aim just over the tip of your… Yes… Okay, why don't you aim for… Oh, hold on a moment… I'll go get the sand bag…"

Linius left for a moment, freeing me from his lesson. I admit, he sure knew what he was talking about, but I had forgotten what he had said the minute he stopped saying it! I examined the bow I was holding and started pressing the bottom pointy end into the dirt. I drew a few patterns with it before Linius came hobbling back with a heavy bag. Clutching it tightly, he made a run for it and let it drop a couple yards in front of me.

"That's a good place to start." Linius breathed and walked back up to me. "Show me your stance again."

"Yes, sir!" I saluted like I had seen the men do to Wolfling when they were following his orders. I thought it was a sign of respect, but Linius started laughing at me again.

Angered by my stupidity, I quickly took up an arrow, placed it, aimed and let go in a flash. The arrow missed by a long shot, but the power behind it I thought was impressive. It was lost in the grassy fields hundreds of yards away. "So there…" I mumbled.

"Impressive, Lady, but next time, I recommend you aim." Linius teased. Huan was already running down the yard in pursuit of the fly away arrow. I set the bow down in the grass and ran after the two to help search for it. Huan sniffed around with determination in places he thought best to look, but was temporarily distracted by a funny smelling rabbit hole.

After a few minutes of searching, Linius was the one to find it. "Ah-ha!" He proclaimed and tore the arrow from the ground.

"I'm sorry I lost it in the first place." I apologized. "I'm not the most… patient person."

"Don't worry about it, Lady. I have plenty more. Now let's go back and do it again!"

I nodded, smiling, and Linius and I raced back to the bow to see who was to use it next. Huan trailed after us, in the way old dogs do, with a slight limp, a walk, and then another attempt at running. Linius beat me to the bow, so he got the next shot. He took aim and fired his arrow. It went into the center of the sand bag.

"Wow! You're very good!" I complimented as he handed me the bow for my turn.

"Oh, that was nothing. It's because it's so close. Now you try; I'm sure we'll be able to move it back soon."

True to his word, I was able to get the 'bull's eye' after about a dozen arrows and then kept getting it. We moved the sand bag back a couple more yards and repeated the process over and over until it was midday.

"Lady, are you hungry?"

"Starved." I exaggerated.

"We'll stop in for dinner and then come back out if you want to. Unless of course, you want to stop for today."

It was very fun, so I didn't want to stop. Linius and I agreed to eat and then help out around the house first before we went back to our practice.

"You have potential, Lady." Linius said as we rounded the corner of the house, carrying the bow and arrows. Huan trailed us from behind for a few moments before he thought it was his job to lead the way and passed ahead of us.

"Thank you. It's because I have a good teacher, I suppose."

Linius gave me a shove, so I shoved him right back. This resulted in the two of us racing to the front door. Huan played as an interference to Linius and tripped him up on accident, of course. I won this time around, but nearly ran into Beleg.

"Sorry!" I stopped short, apologizing.

"Seems you two are getting along quite nicely." Beleg smiled as Linius rounded the corner and nearly ran into me. "Come inside, dinner is ready."

"Thank you, Father. I'm sorry, I haven't done anything today."

"It is forgiven, Linius. It is good to know that Lady has a friend." Beleg ruffled my hair this time. "But I shall not be so easy tomorrow. Tonight you will round up the stock. I'll take care of the horses."

Linius nodded. Feeling left out I offered: "Please let me help, too. I've been useless and time consuming enough for two children."

Beleg grinned at my offer, but he took it lightly. The two then led me into the kitchen where I could wash my hands and face. It felt nice, but I longed to take a real bath. We sat down at the little table, passed out the food, and ate. The spread was lovely with apples, pancake bread of some sorts, and freshly roasted chicken. Everything was delicious.

After we ate, I volunteered to clean up. With a few pointers on where to put things and how to clean up, I put everything in its place and tidied up the kitchen as best as I could. I must've done well because they were very pleased with the results. They said it must be the girl in me shining through. Whatever that was supposed to mean, I had no idea.

I shyly asked Beleg where I could get a bath and he apologized a little excessively. Apparently, since they were both 'men', they did not bathe as often as a 'woman' would. Beleg led me to the bedroom I was in to start out with and he soon brought me a wooden basket like tub full of cold water. He handed me a glob of soapy substance, a brush of some sorts, a rag, and a towel to dry up with. Since I was already wearing boy clothes (fine ones according to him) he wasn't too hesitant about giving me some of Linius' clothes to wear. After I had bathed in the freezing water, I felt much better no matter how much my teeth chattered. The clothes were too big for me, but I didn't complain. They were fresh and clean like I was.

After I was done with my bath, I took the water out and threw it out into the yard as directed. I then went around the house to see what Linius was up to.

Much to my delight, Linius was chasing chickens around. He was bent over and he kept 'whooping' at them to get them into the little hen house. They screamed and squawked in protest and refused to do as he said. Seeing that he was having trouble and Huan wasn't being very useful on his bed, I bent over and got into the action. Linius was surprised I was there at first, but he was grateful for the help. Instead of yelling at them, I gently whispered to them, getting much teasing from Linius. Apparently I was being a 'chicken whisperer'. Ha ha.

My chicken whispering was getting much better results though and I soon had shooed away more chickens than Linius in less time. When we were done, he asked: "How'd you know to do that?"

"Must be that 'woman' instinct." I teased.

"Women know how to talk to chickens?" Linius countered.

"No, we just know how to not scream bloody murder at them!" I laughed and ran to the house. Linius beat me there anyway and we pushed inside. The house was darker now and it was time for supper. This time, I watched Beleg and Linius cook and took mental notes. One of my ideas on ways of repaying them was to cook their meals, so I wanted to be able to do it right. Not to mention, do it safely. If I burnt their house down, I just might kill myself.

Being nice gentlemen, they let me keep the room I had been staying in for the night. Although I protested to Linius sleeping on the couch, both insisted that Linius was going to be fine and that I should have the bedroom. With a good night to them both, I left them by the lit fireplace and closed the door to my room. My boots were already off, and soon I had my entrapments like belt, gloves, and jerkin laid aside. I snuggled in under the covers and thought about my wonderful day.