The Road to Middle-Earth

A fanfiction by MushrooomsPTook

Disclaimer: I own nothing. You might as well say it owns me!

Chapter Five: Into the Woods

"I spy something that starts wiiiith...T!"

Tom sighed. "Tree."

"You guessed again, Tom! You're good at this game."

I rolled my eyes. "He didn't guess at all, Alice. You've picked that seven times in a row. Try something different now."

Alice poked her bottom lip out. "But I can't. There's nothing here but trees."

We had been walking for about an hour now and it did seem that no matter where you turned, you were surrounded by trees. Dark, tall, and ominous looking they were. They shut out most of the light, so that it felt very cold. In fact, the further we walked, the colder it seemed to become.

"Just use your imagination, Alice," I said softly. I didn't want to alert her that I was becoming increasingly annoyed.

For the next several minutes there was silence, and I assumed that Alice was trying very hard to think of something new to spy, or she had just given up all together. Part of me hoped that she would continue on with the game; it was the only thing I could think of to get her mind off her anxiety—well, and my own anxiety as well, though I wouldn't admit that to a kid. I bent over just a bit to see what held her tongue, but her eyes were focused on the path before us, never once swaying their gaze.

Tom had been quiet as well, save for the moments in which he chose to guess at all the trees Alice had spied. He didn't seem to be bothered by the thought of ghosts now, and I wondered if perhaps he had made the whole thing up out of a boyish prank. But that didn't explain why I spoke cautiously or felt so alone, even with my two other companions.

Alice sighed heavily. "Why can't we go back?" she plead, looking up at me. "I don't like it here. It's too quiet and it's spooky, too."

Not again.

"Oh, don't tell me you're still on about that, are you?" I asked, my voice dropping a notch in volume. Alice nodded. "Look, I told you there are no ghosts and we've been in here for a long time. Now, have we met any so far?"

"No," Alice shamefully looked down.

"Not yet anyway," Tom added.

I grimaced at the boy. Leave it to him.

Suddenly, there came a noise from somewhere overhead. It wasn't particularly frightening because of the familiarity, but it did startle me. Alice jumped nine feet in the air.

"W-What was that!" she cried, and grabbed my hand with a cold one.

"Sounds like the ghost of old Captain Toothless Grin," said Tom. "He was a pirate, you know—a real one too—and they says 'e found a buried treasure in this forest. But before he could claim it, there was another group of pirates—he never saw them faces—and they came up be'ind 'im and murdered 'im, right then an' there, and took the gold! Now, they says he wanders up and down these woods, lookin' for who stoled 'is treasure, sayin', 'Who? Who?"

Again, leave it to Tom. Alice's face went white and she looked as paralyzed as if every little bone in her body was broken. Indeed, I felt as though I had none left in my hand, she had squeezed it that hard. I gave Tom a disdainful look.

"Would you stop making stuff up? That was just an owl!" Tom blushed. "It's okay, Alice. He's just pulling your leg."

Alice did not release her grip, much to my dismay. The crushing hold of her hand became increasingly crippling, and I had to gently pry her fingers off me. I replaced the gesture with an arm around her shoulder. A lot less painful. Now, she was walking by me as close as she could, ears open, taking in any and every sound.

"Please, Alayna, can we go back?"

"Go back? Of course not," I said simply.

"But what if Captain Toothless Grin is real, and—and he thinks we stole his treasure? I didn't steal it!"

"I know you didn't, Alice. But you shouldn't believe that kind of nonsense."

"But—"

"Now Alice," I said firmly, "you're perfectly safe. This is just a great, big, ordinary, dark"—something landed on my hand with a splat and I studied it with a grotesque face before wiping it off on my clothes—"sticky, bug-infested forest." My hand instinctively went up to slap my neck at the words 'bug-infested'. "Isn't that right, Tom?" Silence. "Tom?" I looked behind me and turned my head this way and that, but there simply was no Tom. He had vanished. And now I felt a panic rush to my chest. "Tom! Alice, where is he! TOM!"

Suddenly, the shadow of a small figure leapt out from behind a tree and pounced on me. I gave a great shout as I went crashing to the forest floor, and my attacker loomed over me, eyes dancing and its mouth spilling out with shrieks of laughter. I would find no help from Alice, for she had taken off, arms flailing about frantically, screaming, "It's Captain Toothless Grin!"

With one great push, I managed to get the villain off me, but even as I stood up, dusting the earth off my clothes, it continued to roll about, laughing.

"Tom!" I said. I was mad. "That was not funny!"

"You should 'ave seen the look on your face!"

I pulled the giggling imp roughly to his feet.

"Get a hold of yourself and hope Alice didn't run very far. You scared her out of her wits."

I started to run in the direction that I saw Alice go, abandoning my fear, and started calling for her. Either she was too far to hear me or the real captain got her, because she was not responding and I couldn't see her, no matter which way I looked. I was about to turn around and look the other direction when I heard a faint voice coming from a rock not ten feet from me.

I cocked my head and circled the rock inquisitively until I found an opening. A cave!

"In here," said the voice again. I crouched down as I entered.

"Alice, there you are."

"I'm sorry, Alayna," said the whimpering child, "but I had to hide. It was Captain Toothless Grin."

Now that I knew Alayna was safe and unharmed, I chuckled out of amusement.

"No, it wasn't." I heard footsteps and turned my head to see that Tom had now entered the cave, looking rather sheepish, but still chortling under his breath. "Here's the real captain." I caught Tom's wrist and yanked him forward. "Come here, Captain!" Alice at first looked at Tom angrily, but then the corners of her mouth turned upward and she started laughing. "See, Alice! Told you there were no ghos—"

I didn't get the chance to finish my sentence, for at that very moment there came a tremendous crack of thunder. Alice paled, but Tom jumped, causing his head to hit the cave ceiling. Served him right for scaring Alice. He rubbed his head and sat down on the other side of me. Nothing was said for a couple of moments as the rains came, but then Tom unfortunately opened his mouth again.

"Ya know," he said, "in all the stories I heard growin' up, it seems the worst happens when it starts to rain."

I glared. "What do you mean? You're still growing up." I cleared my throat before continuing with a forced smile. "All the stories I read say that's when the best adventures happen." I glanced hopefully at Alice, but her face remained free of color.

"I'm scared," she said.

"Oh no, dear, nothing to be scared of," I assured rather shakily. "You're too big for that!"

"But—" Alice bit her lip. "But, you're scared and you're bigger than me!"

"I am not scared!" I retorted. "It's just that, well, you've got to be brave so you can protect Tom and me."

"I don't need no protection," said Tom, folding his arms with a frown, "'specially from no girl!"

"Uh-oh," I went on, pointing to Tom. "That's always the first sign of someone in need of rescuing." My eyes fell on a small tree limb that lay at my feet and I picked it up and gasped. "Oh my! This isn't—oh, but it couldn't be!"

"What?" asked Alice, looking at the stick curiously. "What couldn't it be?" Tom scooted closer to get a good look at this new discovery.

"Why, Alice, don't you know Gandalf's staff when you see it?"

"That?" Alice pointed, looking dumfounded.

"Of course! It's a good thing I found it. We wouldn't want Gandalf to lose his staff! And now," I handed her the branch, "you can protect us!"

Tom frowned. "Ah, that ain't nothin' special. That's just a—oof!" I nudged Tom roughly with my elbow. He rubbed the sore spot in a circular motion.

"Wow..." Alice's eyes roamed over the limb in awe. "Gandoff's staff! I better keep it safe so I can return it to him."

"Good idea," I played along. "And just think how delighted he'll be to know that it was in good, strong hands."

"He'll be so happy!" Alice hugged it close to her. "I hope we find him soon. He can't fight good without his staff."

I hugged Alice to me, kissing her gently on the head. That's when I noticed Tom peering uneasily at the rain after another jolt of thunder. I leaned down and whispered into Alice's ear.

"See? He needs you! Are you brave?"

"I'm brave," Alice said firmly before reaching across me and pulling on Tom's arm. "Don't worry, Tom. I'll protect you!"

Tom looked startled for a moment and then yanked his arm out of Alice's grasped. I laughed and I was glad to know that calming Alice made me feel more at ease.

"Come here, you two." I put both my arms around the two children and pulled them close to me. The rain was coming down heavily now and I decided to wait it out until morning. "Tell me, Alice. Would you happen to know of a friend of mine? He's a hobbit and his name—"

"Bi...wbo!" Alice said with a yawn. Her head drooped on my shoulder.

I gasped. "So you do know him!"

"What's a hobbit?" asked Tom.

"Shh. Don't interrupt."

I fluttered my eyes open to the sound of a dripping noise just outside the cave. It was dark and peering out from inside the cave, I noticed that it seemed as if no time had passed at all. But I knew it was morning.

Tom and Alice both had their heads nestled onto my shoulders, a tree limb held loosely in my cousin's hands. I didn't want to wake them, but I was famished, and the first thing on my mind was getting something in my stomach.

I carefully shifted the children and wriggled out of their embrace, grimacing at the kink in my neck. I crawled over to my backpack and became horror-stricken when I saw that the bag had not been zipped up all the way. I began frantically digging around, looking for something, anything. I pulled out a blanket and a banana. But I couldn't eat the banana and leave nothing for the children. I frowned as tears stung the back of my eyes. I turned the bag upside down, hoping that I was mistaken. But it was all in vein. Not even any water was to be found.

I sighed and choked back the urge to cry. After all, I couldn't allow Alice to see me like this. I would just have to find some food. That's what it all came down to. I crawled back over to the sleeping children, blanket in hand, and covered them up. I whispered a promise to return shortly and made my way out of the cave.

It was still cold but I was pleased to find that the rain seemed to wash away my fears. Unfortunately, that wouldn't do us any good if we couldn't get a proper meal. I began walking urgently through the forest, going back in the direction we'd come, in hopes of finding any lost items. But I kept my eye out for anything edible—berries and water mainly—because I didn't know what else you could find in a deep forest, and I didn't know how to catch any wild animals, let alone kill it with my bare hands.

I was just starting to lose hope when I caught a glimpse of it. I didn't understand at first why we didn't see it last night, but it was hidden well behind some bushes and there was no path leading up to it. Perhaps there was some hope after all!

I rushed back to the cave, deserting the search for my belongings, and began to shake Tom and Alice simultaneously out of their sleep.

"What is it?" Tom asked rubbing his eyes.

"Come on!" I exclaimed, pulling Tom and Alice to their feet. Tom, not having learned his lesson, hit his head on the ceiling again. He rubbed it vigorously as I lead them out of the cave, pausing briefly, to remind Alice to grab Gandalf's staff.

"Oh yeah!" she said and seized it from the earthly ground.

In no time, we got to the site and I eagerly peeled open the twin bushes, excited and proud of my discovery. Both children's jaws dropped and I was delighted to see the surprise on their faces.

"It's... It's a house!" said Tom.

"This isn't just any house," I replied, grinning. "It's a gingerbread house!"

Smoke rose from the marshmallow chimney and I stared hungrily at the wonderful treats that ornamented the cozy cottage.

"Well, what're you waitin' for! Let's go!"

Tom darted out into a sprint and was laughing as he ran down the hill. I took hold of Alice's hand, and she gripped her staff tighter as we followed suit. As we neared, I began to see how much more beautiful this piece of work was. Little candy sweets covered it and the top of it was lined with several gumdrops, each a different color, while white frosting hung from the window pales like icicles from the roof and window sills. There was a little walkway that lead up to the doorstep and my eyes sparkled at the tempting little pebbles.

We wasted no time and began to make short work of the house. Tom began licking the window pales while Alice started picking off little chocolate bricks. I myself could not resist the walkway and I got to hands and knees and started licking and picking at the pebbles, each one better than the previous. As I ate, I noticed how there were several pairs of little footprints going into the house, but only one bigger pair coming out. I decided that this new information meant nothing to me and continued my greedy quest to fill my empty stomach.

I had just decided to skip to the second course and munch on the gingerbread doorstep, when I heard a creak and came face to face with two wobbly legs. They were covered in red and white stockings and the left shoe had a hole in it, revealing a wrinkly, hairy toe. I lifted my gaze and saw, standing before me, red eyes gleaming, an old woman. Her black straggly hair was everywhere and she was missing several yellow teeth. She smiled broadly.

"Well, hello there."

Next Chapter: "Witches have red eyes, and cannot see far, but they have a keen scent like the beasts, and are aware when human beings draw near." -Hansel and Gretel

::Guest:: I'm glad to see you entertained. Hope you stay with me!

::seafarer:: It's great that you're still with me and I'm pleased that "the road" has gained your favor. Now if we could just find a road that does exist! And regarding your review on Beyond These Eyes, yes I have thought about continuing it. It probably won't be for a while because this is at the top of my list. I'd written part of this story off an on for many years, but I lost it (it's remains are floating somewhere around on the net). Thanks for reviewing though!

::MadImpossibleWriter:: OKAY OKAY OKAY OKAY... updated ;)