"Sam...do you even know where we live?" Shara groaned. It seemed like that had been traveling for far too long. They had packed up quickly the next morning and had been on their way home for two days.
"Yes, yes, yes...I just need to figure out where we are right now..." He focused on a worn map in his hands.
"Okay," Shara challenged, "then where do we live?"
"Huh?" Sam looked up with a confused expression etched into his face. His tousled black hair along with the not too clean face or body, made quite the picture to go with Sam's expression. Shara couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.
Sam's face contorted to one of frustration and exasperation. "What are you laughing about now?"
When Shara calmed down, she answered, "Oh nothing, I just think that my dear brother is quite the sight right now." She grinned.
"Well excuse me but I have been through a lot recently so..." Sam struggled to think of a better comeback, "just stop." He gave up any attempt at a joke and sighed, "I know exactly where we live. We live in Ere Luik, a small village east of the Loeg Ningloran which in common tongue is called the Gladden Fields, right alongside the Great River Anduin and Greenwood the Great...so there." He lectured.
Shara nodded, "Not bad, at least now I know you were paying more attention than I was to Mother's teaching. And by the way, I already know all that...including the part about Loeg Ningloran."
"Well you wanted me to prove it to you..." Sam looked back down, more focused on getting home than petty arguments. "Ah ha! I figured it out." He looked at the land and pointed north, "We need to go north. I think we're almost there actually!"
Sam and Shara's mother burst out the door and ran to them upon hearing their petty arguments from a distance. She knew right away that it was them when they arrived.
They hugged tightly as a group before their mother, Karolene, stepped back and scolded, "What took you so long? I was worried sick!" Karolene gasped when she noticed Sam's bruises and cuts poking out from his shirt. "...What in Middle-Earth did you do, Sam Enyalie?" Both Shara and Sam's eyes widened. Whenever their mother used their middle names, she meant business.
"I...I..." Sam looked down. Realization dawned on his face. He would have to tell Karolene everything. Including him lying to her. "It's a long story."
Karolene huffed, "Well, tie the horse up and come inside. You can explain everything to me while we get you cleaned up."
An hour and a half later, Sam's wounds had been clean and the story had been told. Including his outbursts, what he learned of the stone, and his prison time. Karolene listened quietly until the very end when she asked a single question. "Did you even get a new saddle?"
"Um...no." Sam answered.
"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?" Karolene questioned.
"I didn't want to worry you, Mother. I'm sorry. I know I should have told you." Sam looked down, "But, I know what I need to do now." He said, trying to change the perspective of their conversation. "I need to go to Rivendell and get the elves' advice."
Their mother froze, "You want to leave on another perilous journey right after you barely made it home?"
Sam looked confused, "Mom, Mr. Saelas said-"
"No, Sam. I can't allow you to go. After hearing everything that happened and how your sister had to save you..." Karolene shook her head, "No...just no. You could have died! After your father...passed...I didn't think I could go on, but I can't lose you too."
Sam grew flustered, "Mother, I need to go! It is my responsibility to get rid of this stupid stone!"
"No, Sam, it's not. It is your responsibility to take care of Shara. It is your responsibility to help with the land. It is your responsibility to be the man of this family! You cannot throw it away for some stone that does...not...matter." Karolene let out all her fears that she had held in this past week. Slowly, she sank to her knees and sobbed, "I forbid you to go and that is final."
Shara bent down and hugged her mother gently.
Sam shook his head, "Ugh...you just...just..." He stopped talking, turned around, and headed up to his bedroom.
Meanwhile, Shara carefully lit some candles as the night approached and helped Karolene to bed. "Mother, Sam will be fine. He is tough, just like Daddy. He may be stubborn be he truly loves you. I'm positive that he didn't mean to worry you at all." Shara climbed under the covers with her mother and snuggled close. "I was very worried for him also." She whispered.
Gently, Karolene pulled her daughter closer and closed her eyes, "Thank you, Shara, for being strong in times when I cannot."
Sam opened his eyes slowly and listened. Satisfied that Shara and his mother were asleep, he crept out of bed. Never having changed from his clean pair of trousers and shirt his mother made him change into, he pulled on his boots. Quietly, without making a single sound, Sam grabbed his knapsack and left the house. A determined expression set in his face, he untied the neglected horse and walked away. His mission was set: go to Rivendell, leave stone there, come home safely, ask for forgiveness. He needed to do this no matter what his family thought. The only doubt in his mind was a lingering fear of his mother's earlier statement. You need to protect Shara, Sam. She would be fine, he reasoned. It would just be for a couple of days to maybe a week. Nothing longer, he determined.
Oh, how wrong he was.