It was still deep in the night and the Company was deeply asleep while Gandalf took the night-watch.
Kate leaned against the rock and dreamed of a huge, beautiful field of grass with a single tree in the middle. She saw herself approaching the tree and with a warm smile she wrapped her arms around the strong, hard trunk. Her cheek snuggled gently against the soft moss when suddenly the tree began to move, tried to get away from her and she snapped awake. A pair of sapphire blue eyes watched her with an angry and annoyed expression.
"Let go off my leg—," Thorin growled quietly and Kate was thankful for the dark of the night, so he could not see her heavy blushing.
"Sorry I didn't know it was your leg—"
"So what? You can't just grab my leg like this—"
"I said sorry, alright?" she hissed and rolled her eyes before she turned away from him. She could feel his eyes on her until he turned away as well. Her gaze drifted to Lindsey and the young one bit back a cheeky grin.
'Oh perfect, she had seen this embarrassing moment,' Kate thought. Lindsey opened her eyes again and sent her a wide smile once more. Kate just waved her off and closed her eyes, pretending to sleep, but she did not catch any more sleep that night.
Thorin ignored Kate more than before. Both avoided each other's eye-contact and he kept silent the whole day.
Lindsey shared a pony with Kate for a while. "So, will you tell me what exactly happened last night?" the young girl asked with amusement in her voice but Kate simply huffed. "Come on, tell me!"
"I was dreaming and I thought I hugged a tree—instead I hugged Thorin's leg,"
Lindsey broke out into laughter which caused some of the dwarves to cast a glance at them.
"Interesting siblings, don't you think?" Balin said while he rode next to Thorin.
"If you say so—," he simply replied and cast a glance back to the sister and saw them laughing. He was aware that the younger one watched him for a second and Kate's gaze drifted to him as well. He turned his head away while a heavy sigh left his throat.
'Women—'he thought annoyed.
They rode through a muddy forest while rain poured down on them. They were all cold, wet and felt miserable.
"Here, Mister Gandalf, can't you do something about this deluge?" Dori asked from somewhere behind the girls.
"It is raining, Master Dwarf, and it will continue to rain until the rain is done. If you wish to change the weather of the world, you should find yourself another wizard," Gandalf replied merrily.
"Are there any?" Lindsey asked.
"Any what?"
"Other wizards?"
"There are five of us. The greatest of our order is Saruman, the White. Then there are the two Blue Wizards. I've quite forgotten their names."
"And who's the fifth?" Bilbo asked curiously.
"Well, that would be Radagast, the Brown."
Bilbo thought for a moment before he asked, "Is he a great wizard or is he—more like you?"
Gandalf looked slightly offended but the dwarves and girls laughed about him. The wizard mumbled something and fell silent again.
"Lindsey, if you want you can ride with me for a while. We could share my cloak so you won't catch a cold from the weather," Fili said as he rode next to the girls. Kate smiled because he really tried to impress her sister.
"Would that be okay?" Lindsey asked and Kate nodded. They stopped and Lindsey mounted Fili's pony in front of him. He wrapped his cloak around them both and held her closer.
"Thank you," Kate mouthed and he sent her a short nod with a smile.
The Company finally reached an old, abandoned farmhouse. The only remains of it were a ruin and some fences for the ponies. It was late afternoon and the sun was slowly on its way to set.
"We'll camp here tonight! Fili, Kili, take care of the ponies and stay with them," Thorin called and approached Gandalf.
"A farmer lived here with his family," the wizard mumbled to Kate who stood next to him. She watched him concerned.
"Oin, Gloin!"
"Aye?"
"Get a fire going!" Thorin commanded.
"Right you are!"
Gandalf turned to look at Thorin and Kate left them alone to join Lindsey and Bilbo at the fire.
"I think it would be wise to move on. We could make for the Hidden Valley," Gandalf said.
"I have told you already, I will not go near that place," Thorin grumbled.
"Why not? The Elves could help us. We could get food, rest and advice!"
"I don't need their advice!"
"We have a map we cannot read. Lord Elrond could help us!"
"Help? A dragon attacked Erebor, what help came from the Elves? Orcs plunder Moria, desecrate our sacred halls, the Elves just watched! You ask me to see out the very people who betrayed my grandfather? My father?"
"You are neither of them. I did not give you that map and key for you to hold on to the past!"
"I did not know that they were yours to keep!"
Gandalf turned on his heels and marched off. Bilbo and the girls exchanged some confused glances.
"Everything alright? Gandalf, where are you going?" Bilbo asked concerned.
"To seek the company of the only one around here who's got any sense!"
"Who's that?"
"Myself, Master Baggins! I've had enough of dwarves for one day!" the wizard called and was gone. Kate's gaze shot to Thorin who angrily watched the wizard leave. His eyes met hers for a second and she sent him a questioning look and called,
"Was that really necessary?"
"That's none of your business!" he snapped.
Kate clapped slowly into her hands. "Thorin Moodyshield striked again. Good work to let the wizard go!"
He huffed and turned to look at Bombur. "Come on, Bombur! We're hungry!" And with that he turned his back at the Company. Kate rolled her eyes and decided to help Bombur with the dinner.
Soon the night fell upon them and Bombur and Kate had prepared a stew which the dwarves began to eat.
"He's been gone for a long time already," Bilbo mumbled.
"Who?" Bofur asked with a merry smile on his face.
"Gandalf."
"He's a wizard! He does as he chooses. Here, do us a favor: take this to the lads," Bofur handed two bowls to the hobbit. Before he could leave, he was stopped by Lindsey.
"I can do it," she said with a smile and saw that Bilbo was relieved. He handed her the bowls.
"Lindsey, what are you doing?" Kate called concerned.
"I'm going to bring Kili and Fili some stew," she replied with a sweet smile.
"But be careful!"
"Yes, mom!" she called which caused the dwarves to chuckle.
"That's not funny!" Kate grumbled and approached the ruined farmhouse. She really needed some distance from the Company for a while.
"Help! Help!" the voices of Kili and Fili boomed up through the night as they stumbled into the camp.
"What happened?" Thorin asked concerned as he rose up to his feet.
"Trolls! Three of them! They have some of our ponies! And—," Fili stopped as he could see Kate march towards him, clutching at his armor.
"Where is my sister?" she hissed but was pulled back by Thorin.
"There's no time for long discussion! We have to move quickly! Grab your weapons!" he commanded and turned to look at Kate as he added, "You stay here—"
"I'm going with you!" she protested.
He sighed heavily. "Stay close behind me," he finally said and the Company moved further into the forest.
Once they arrived the clearing, Kate saw that one of those big and ugly creature caught Lindsey and held her upside down in front of his face.
She wanted to rush forward but Thorin grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer towards him. His lips were close to her ear as he whispered, "Don't—move—" He slowly let go off her and she tried to calm down again.
They listened to the conversation between the trolls and Lindsey.
"Are there any more of you little fellas 'iding where you shouldn't?"
"No!"
"She's lying!"
"No, I'm not!" she cried out.
"Hold her toes over the fire. Make her squeal!"
Fili suddenly broke through the bushes and cut one of the trolls leg, made him howl and stumble.
"Drop her!" he called.
"You what?"
"I said: Drop her!" Fili growled.
The troll threw Lindsey towards Fili. She landed on him and both got knocked down. The Company charged out of the bushes and yelled and brandished their weapons. They began to fight the trolls. Hacked, slashed and hammered as much as they could. Kate pulled her sister to safety behind a boulder.
"Are you alright?" she whispered while Lindsey leaned her head against Kate's shoulder and cried.
"Y—yes," she sobbed and Kate gently stroked her hair and tried to cast a glance around the boulder.
She saw that Bilbo had grabbed a knife and cut the ropes to free the ponies. One of the trolls saw this and grabbed Bilbo. The dwarves stopped fighting as they saw that the trolls were holding Bilbo by his arms and legs.
Kate's eyes grew wide in shock and Lindsey nearly cried out but Kate muffled her by placing a hand on her mouth.
"Ssshh—," she whispered and her gaze drifted around the boulder again to cast a glance at the Company.
"Bilbo!" Kili called and wanted to charge forward but Thorin stopped him. "No!"
"Lay down your arms, or we'll rip his off!" the troll said with an ugly grin.
Thorin watched Bilbo in frustration until he put his sword into the ground. The others dropped their weapons as well.
"Gotcha!" one of the trolls suddenly called and grabbed Kate and Lindsey.
"No!" Thorin and Fili called in unison.
The trolls chuckled and soon they tied Dwalin, Bofur, Dori, Ori and Nori onto a spit roasting them over a fire, the rest with Bilbo and the girl were tied up in sacks nearby. Kate lay close to Thorin, while Lindsey was somewhere close to Balin, Fili and Kili.
"Don't bother cooking them. Let's just sit on them and squash them into jelly!" one troll called.
"They should be sautéed and grilled with a sprinkle of sage."
"Is this really necessary?" Dori called but was ignored by the three trolls.
"Untie us, you monsters!"
"Take on someone your own size!" Gloin yelled furiously.
"I knew it was a mistake to take you and the hobbit with us—," Thorin grumbled to Kate.
"You really think this is the right moment for such things now?" she hissed and tried to free herself. He wanted to reply something but one of the trolls spoke up again,
"Never mind the seasoning. We ain't got all night! Dawn ain't far away, so let's get a move on. I don't fancy being turned to stone!"
Bilbo seemed to have an idea. "Wait! You are making a terrible mistake!" he called.
"You can't reason with them, they're halfwits!" Dori called.
"Halfwits? What does that make us?" Bofur replied and caused Kate to chuckle.
Bilbo managed to get up though he was still tied up in a sack. He hopped closer towards the trolls. "Uh—I meant with the—uh—with—uh—with the seasoning!"
"What about the seasoning?"
"Well—have you smelt them? You're going to need something stronger than sage before you plate this lot up."
The dwarves yelled at Bilbo and called him a traitor. Kate kicked Thorin and shot a look at him. He watched her questioningly.
"What do you know about cooking dwarf?" the troll asked.
"Shut up, and let the, uh—flurgaburburrahobbit talk," the other one replied.
"Uh—th—the secret to cooking dwarf is—uhm—"
"Yes? Come on!"
"It's, uh—"
"Tell us the secret!"
"Yes, I'm telling you! The secret is—to skin them first!" he finally called out.
"Tom, get me the filleting knife!"
"If I get you, you little—" Gloin called furiously.
"I won't forget that!" Dwalin growled.
"What a load of rubbish! I've eaten plenty with their skin on. Scuff them, I say, boots and all!"
Suddenly Kate saw Gandalf slipping behind some trees nearby. She wanted to shove Thorin to get his attention, but unfortunately she slipped and landed backside-first on his lap.
"What are you doing?" he hissed and breathed in sharply.
"That was not my plan, alright?" she hissed and felt a sudden heath building up in her cheeks. She began to shift and try to slip off his lap.
"Kate—stop!" he whispered hoarsely and she stopped moving. She was surprised to hear him saying her name for the first time since they knew each other. And with sudden realization she was aware that her embarrassment was not the only thing growing in that very moment. She cleared her throat and tried not to move anymore while he steadied his breathe.
One of the trolls grabbed Bombur and dangled him upside down over his mouth about to eat him.
"No! Not that one! He—he's infected!" Bilbo called out in panic.
"You what?" the trolls asked.
"Yes, he's got worms in his—tubes!"
The troll dropped Bombur back into the pile of dwarves. Lindsey turned to look at her sister and was more than surprised to find her on top of Thorin. And both looked more than embarrassed. She bit back a cheeky grin and prayed that they would get out of this situation unharmed.
"In fact they all have, they're infested with parasites. It's a terrible business. I wouldn't risk it. I really wouldn't!" Bilbo explained.
The dwarves chimed in about how they didn't have parasites and called Bilbo a fool. The Hobbit rolled his eyes as the dwarves seemed to mess up his plan. Lindsey understood what Bilbo was trying to do and she kicked Kili in the back to silence him. Suddenly they seemed to understand the plan and finally went along with it. They all began to proclaim about how riddled they were with parasites.
"I've got parasites as big as my arm!"
"Mine are the biggest parasites, I've got huge parasites!"
"We're riddled!"
"Yes, I'm riddled!"
"Yes, we are! Badly!"
The trolls were clearly confused by now and one of them asked, "What would you have us do, then, let 'em all go?"
"Well—"
"You think I don't know what you're up to? This little ferret is taking us for fools!"
"Ferret?" Bilbo asked slightly offended.
Suddenly the loud voice of Gandalf boomed up as he appeared on top of a large rock above the clearing.
"The dawn will take you all!"
"Who's that?"
"No idea."
"Can we eat 'im too?"
Gandalf let his staff go down on the rock which split in half and allowed the sunlight to pour into the clearing. As the light touched the trolls' skin they began to turn to stone amidst loud screams and howls of pain.
Within seconds there were three stone trolls standing motionless in the clearing. All the dwarves cheered for Gandalf. Of course, the dwarves on the spit, including Dwalin, still looked uncomfortable.
"Oh, get your foot out of my back!" Dwalin grumbled.
Gandalf helped them all off the spit and cut the rest free as well. He decided to cut Thorin and Kate as the last ones just to enjoy that quite unfamiliar and amusing sight. Thorin was not amused and Kate was more than relieved to finally be able to get away from his lap.
They ignored the snickering around them and Kate saw that Fili embraced Lindsey tightly.
'Alright, it seems I can't prevent her from falling for him,' she thought and turned away.