Bella awoke the following morning with a crick in her neck. She stared blindly out her window and realised she'd drifted off whilst sitting in her chair.
She got to her feet and then dashed out of her bedroom. Her heart thumping, she looked into the kitchen and then into the parlour. Turning in a slow circle in the middle of the room, she realised that the company had already departed.
Her eye was caught by a sheet of paper placed on her favourite armchair. It merely read:
In case you change your mind, we travel via Shrewsbury. Thank you for your hospitality.
Signed, Professor Gandalf.
The sheet of paper clutched in her hand, she went to her front door, opened it and stared at the sun that was just rising above the hills.
Bella stared out at the nursery next door. The tomatoes would be gasping for some water by noon in this heat, and the latest crop of broad beans needed to be strapped to their rods to keep them upright.
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then darted back into the house. She flew around her bedroom, grabbing clothes and shoving them into her mother's old suitcase. She grabbed her knapsack and shoved whatever came to mind into it.
Then she scribbled out a note to Hamfast and as she raced out of the house, she attached the letter to her front door.
Bella hopped onto her bicycle after strapping her suitcase to the rack on the back. Then she was off. She supposed they'd be stopping for petrol at the garage on the edge of town, and so she took the back paths through the park. It occurred to her that she might actually be grinning like a mad woman as she raced down the pavement with her dress fluttering about her bare legs, because, oh, good heavens, she'd forgotten her stockings again, but couldn't seem to stop herself.
She refused to even consider that they may have completely left the village. All the same, she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw two Land Rovers and a motorbike at the pumps. Kili's curly hair was instantly recognizable from where he and Tauriel sat on the motorbike. She flew down the small hill and managed to brake beside the vehicles just as Thorin rounded the front of the Rover.
He stared at her for a moment before saying, "Miss Baggins? Are you all right?"
"Oh, yes," she said smiling and nodding. "Out of breath, but fine. I've reconsidered your offer, and I'd very much like to lend you my services, for whatever they might be worth."
"Miss Baggins," he started.
"It's Bella, and you need me," she said, gripping the handlebars tightly. "I know you think you can just waltz up there and take back your manor, but if it even has a fraction of the amount of spirits it's reported to have, you need me."
Gandalf and the other members of the company had come to stand just behind him, but Bella kept her eyes on Thorin.
"I won't let you down," she said firmly. "I want to help."
He stared at her for a full minute in silence. Long enough for Bella to have first, second, and third thoughts, as well as worry that her hair was flying in every direction around her face and that she must be dripping with sweat from her mad cycle down.
"Thank you very much for your offer, Miss Baggins, Bella," he said eventually. "I would be...grateful for your assistance."
Bella smiled in relief and said, "Oh, thank heavens. I really didn't want to cycle back to the house. It's mostly uphill from here."
Gandalf choked back a chuckle and said, "My dear, you will have to leave your bicycle behind you, I'm afraid."
"Oh, that's all right," she said getting off and straightening her skirt. She looked around the garage and spotted young Penny Gamgee, Hamfast's cousin on his father's side. "Hullo, Penny!"
"Morning, Miss Bella!" she said waving. She frowned. "Your hair's gone a bit wild, miss."
"I'm sure it has," Bella said wheeling her bicycle over to the young girl. "Penny, I'm heading off for a while. Could I leave my bicycle with you while I'm gone?"
"Oh, miss, really?" Penny said staring at the bicycle with wide eyes. "I'll take good care of it."
"I'm sure you will," Bella said smiling. She unstrapped her suitcase and knapsack and handed the cycle over to Penny who ran her hands over the handlebars and beamed at Bella.
"Thank you!" she said smiling widely. "But where are you going? Who's going to look after the nursery?"
"I'm going on an adventure," Bella said walking backwards towards the Rovers. "And my cousin Otho is going to be taking over the nursery from now on."
Penny frowned. "Mum was saying something about that. About how it's not fair that those Sackville-Bagginses are sending you packing after all your hard work and how she doesn't want to hand any money over to them because they already have more than they know what to do with."
"Well, that's quite the statement," Bella said faintly and very aware that the entire company was listening nearby. "But tell your mum to keep going to the nursery. Your cousin Hamfast will still be working there, and he's going to make sure that things are taken care of, even if I'm not around."
"I suppose," Penny said, making a face. "But what about the gardens? What's going to happen to them?"
Bella crouched down to meet Penny's eyes. "The gardens belong to the village, Penny. No one can touch those. You just keep taking care of your patch, and they'll be all right. Remember – all it takes is time and love and anything can grow."
Penny beamed. "Yes, Miss Baggins. I'll go water the carrots right away. Are you really going on an adventure?"
"Miss Baggins!" Bofur called. "We need to head out."
"Be right there!" Bella called back. She turned to Penny. "Yes, I really am going on an adventure. Enjoy the bicycle!"
She gave Penny a pat on her arm and then walked over to the Land Rover, lifted her suitcase into the back and made to climb in after it.
"Oh, no," Bofur said grinning. "Take the front seat."
"Are you sure?" she asked.
"Quite sure," Gandalf said. "We need your help getting us out of these villages."
"Very well," Bella said with a shrug and she walked around to the front of the car and hopped in.
Thorin glanced at her from behind the wheel, and without a word, he started the Rover and they took off down the road.
Bella watched the last of her village fade into the distance in the side view mirror and then turned her gaze to the road ahead.
"The Shire appears to be untouched by the war," Thorin said after several minutes of silence only interrupted by Bella indicating where to turn and to watch out for various tractors on the road.
"Not quite," Bella said looking out the driver's side window and pointing. He glanced over and saw a row of tents situated near a field of wheat that stretched out towards the horizon.
"They just showed up a few months back," Bella said quietly. "People who were displaced from London after the Blitz. A lot of their children had already been sent here, and the rest of their families followed once the men came back." She sighed. "Hopefully they'll be able to earn enough to settle in the area, but for now they're helping the farmers out with the harvests in exchange for a place to sleep."
"Is that wise?" he asked. "Having strangers simply camp on your land?"
"There's enough of it to go around," Bella said shrugging. "And they certainly aren't idle, far from it."
He frowned, and Bella wondered how badly things had been for him during the war. But she also wondered if the disapproval she thought she picked up was simply the usual city-dweller mentality that seemed to always clash with the rural folks.
"It still seems…untainted," he said. "Out here. You didn't see any shelling?"
"We heard it," she said. "But it was more towards the coast and the more populated areas. We were fortunate in that regard."
"Very." His tone was flat and final and made her skin tingle with annoyance.
"They keep calling our part of the Shire lucky," Bella said looking out the window at the passing countryside and keeping her voice level and steady. "Twenty of our lads went off and fourteen came back. And I know that there are some villages that had no one return, but I'm quite sure those remaining six families don't feel lucky." She paused. "In truth, I don't know that the fourteen who came home consider themselves lucky, either."
He hummed and the furrow in his brow increased.
"They did their duty," he said. "They should take satisfaction in that."
"Do you?" she asked. "Take satisfaction in the war?"
He didn't answer, just continued to frown.
"I'm not being an objector," she said quickly. "Please don't think that. I just...well, I suppose since I can see the other side, as it were, those that die in violent ways for violent purposes...it would be better if that didn't occur. The suffering can continue past the death itself." Her fingers reached up to tangle in the necklace around her neck that held her parents' rings. "I wish all could be spared of it, that's all."
He was silent for some time, and then said, "That's a very naïve way of thinking, Miss Baggins. Violence is always with us. It's in our natures."
"I know," she said sighing. "Which is why I fear that suffering will never end. We're so sure that our lads died for the right things, but I suppose the other side is quite sure their lads died for the right thing, too." She shook her head. "But death is death, and it makes us all rather equal in the end. Take Professor Brown. He may have clung to his research, but that was partly Gandalf's doing for encouraging him to stay. But, you saw how desperate he was to move on." She tightened her grip on the rings. "Death pares us down to our most basic self, and all a spirit truly wants is to be at peace."
Thorin didn't reply, and she began to worry if she'd said too much. Not that she'd take any of it back, but perhaps now wasn't the time to talk politics and morality.
Eventually, he just said, "Are you quite certain you aren't an objector?"
"Yes," she said chuckling. "Quite sure." She paused. "Well, mostly sure. I have a rather specific point of view on certain matters and it tends to cloud things."
He just hummed, and Bella was left feeling that she'd said far too much, and that he, more than ever, thoroughly disapproved of her. Why this mattered, she wasn't quite sure.
Eventually, Fili spoke up and asked, "Bella, if you don't mind my meddling," Bella was quite sure Thorin snorted, "What did that young lady mean about your nursery?"
Bella cringed. "It's nothing, really. It turns out that my father neglected to update his will. He died rather unexpectedly, and neither of us had ever thought to change things." She sighed and continued, "As it turns out, the nursery is officially handed down along the male side of the family. You see, it's been in the family for generations, and since everyone always managed to have sons, no one ever thought to change it."
She took another deep breath and tried not to clench her hands into fists. "As it stands, seeing as I am not male, and since my father is no longer alive, legally, the nursery now belongs to my cousin, Otho Sackville-Baggins, as he is the nearest male relative."
"That's a shame, lass," Bofur called from his seat towards the back. "And where does that leave you?"
"Currently?" Bella said lightly. "Sitting in a Land Rover on my way to northern Scotland." She paused. "The house is still mine, thank heavens."
"All your hard work, though," Gandalf said. "You must be devastated."
"Yes, well," Bella said losing the battle with herself and clenching her hands tightly together in her lap. "It'll be fine. I'm sure I'll be allowed to assist from time to time. And they've guaranteed to keep on all of the staff. Oh, heavens. I've forgotten to remind Hamfast about the turnips. Blast!"
"What about the turnips?" Fili asked.
"Their rows need furrowing, and we'd planned to start next week, but I've thought it over and they really should go in this week," Bella said as she wondered if she could send a telegram or if it really even mattered anymore and what had she even done? She was sitting in a perfect stranger's Land Rover heading up to a land filled with more ghosts that she'd ever seen in her entire life, and oh, she was not prepared for this.
Mum, what have you gotten me into, you reckless Took! She fretted over her situation for well over an hour.
Until her musings were interrupted by Thorin pulling sharply to the side.
"What is it?" she asked.
"The other car has a flat," he said before exiting. "Stay here."
Bella turned in her seat and saw the other Rover leaning to the side somewhat as Dwalin scowled at it and muttered some choice words at the offending tyre. Kili and Tauriel pulled up on the shoulder, and they eased off the motorbike. Fili got out of the Rover and walked over to them.
"I think I shall stretch my legs," Gandalf said also getting out of the Rover.
Bella sighed and did the same. She stretched her arms over her head and then walked over to the edge of the hill to look out at the countryside.
It was the furthest she'd ever been from the Shire since she was a child, and the green hills stretched on and on. She shaded her eyes and looked back towards the Shire. Making a face, she deliberately turned her back on the way they'd come and looked ahead. They'd reach the edge of Cornwall soon and then they'd be in Somerset. She doubted they'd be able to stop so that she could take a look at some of the famous Somerset pear orchards, which was a shame.
Stop thinking about the nursery, she told herself. It's not your problem anymore.
Her hand came up to play with her parents' rings again.
"It's lovely country you have down here, lass," Balin said from behind her.
Bella turned and smiled at him. "It is, indeed. Nothing quite like it anywhere else, I'm sure of it."
"I believe you may be right," he said coming to stand beside her. "The Misty Mountains will be very different from here."
She nodded. "You grew up there? In the Misty Mountains?"
"Born and raised," he said, leaning back and resting his hands on his stomach. "It's a wild and beautiful place. The peaks are sharp and stretch into the clouds." He shook his head. "It's not a place to take lightly."
"It seems to make quite the impression on the captain," Bella commented.
Balin nodded and winced. "The family had to leave under such unpleasant circumstances, as you already know from your book. But it's still home. His home. Our home, in actual fact. And we've been without land to call our own for far too long."
He turned to her and said, "His life hasn't been an easy one, lass, but he's a man I'll follow to the ends of the earth."
"You served together," Bella breathed suddenly understanding the strong loyalties between the members of the company.
"Dwalin did," Balin said. "The lads were on the frontlines in different companies. Kili met his young lass in France while she served in the Nurses Corp." He nodded to Bofur and Bifur who were pulling out a new tyre for the flat one. "They served in Thorin's unit. Thorin enlisted when he was a young lad to earn some money for his sister and younger brother. He worked hard and did well. Then this war came upon us."
Balin shook his head. "I was only a babe when the Great War ended, and I thought the world would never be so foolish as to start another one."
"I don't think any of us did," Bella said quietly, remembering how her own grandfather, who had been at the Somme, had had to swallow back tears when news of the war reached the village.
"Thorin was shipped out immediately," Balin said. "He spent the entirety of the war in the trenches. His commander was killed in a skirmish, and Thorin assumed command. The amount of combat that lad has seen would shock you. But he got his men through." He nodded to Bifur. "It's shell-shock and a nasty blow to the head that's left him speechless."
"I'd wondered," Bella said. "But I didn't want to pry."
"Which is far more decent than any of us are used to," he said chuckling. "In fact, if ever any of us appear as though we don't know how to act around gentlefolk, it's because we don't! But, don't take it personally."
Bella laughed. "As though I know how to act either. I'm something of the village pariah, Balin. Unmarried, no family left, running my own business. It's quite all right." She paused. "Thorin mentioned a sister, and she has a shop to run, but are there any other siblings?"
Balin sighed. "Just one. His brother, Frerin was killed at Savo Island in the Guadalcanal. Thorin's never forgiven himself for not being there."
"He couldn't have prevented that," Bella said frowning and looking at Thorin as he clapped Dwalin on the shoulder while they looked at the repaired Rover.
"Doesn't matter," Balin said. He put his own hand on Bella's shoulder, and Bella met his kind eyes. "He feels responsible for everyone in his company, lass. And that includes you, now."
"I hope I don't let you down," Bella said softly.
Balin patted her shoulder. "I think you'll do just fine, lass."
"Balin, Miss Baggins!" Dwalin shouted. "Enough gossiping! Get back in your seats!"
"Settle down, brother," Balin called back. "Only getting to know our spirit medium." He winked at Bella. "Always good to have an in with the other side."
Bella laughed and patted his arm. "Words to live by."
Her laughter trailed off when Thorin brushed past her without a word, but she just had to roll her eyes. He reminded her of a cat they'd had once that would search high and low for you, only to then sit in the same room and ignore you.
He's just a big cat, that's what he is, she thought getting back into the Rover. She glanced at his profile and amended her thought. A very, very big cat, but a cat nonetheless.
The company started off down the road once more.
They drove through the day and only planned on stopping when they were a few miles outside of Shrewsbury, just on the county border. The location of which ignited a 'discussion' between Gandalf and Thorin.
"I do not trust solicitors. They did less than nothing to assist my grandfather and then billed him for the pleasure of it," Thorin said whilst driving. Bella eyed him, but while his tone was fierce and low, his hands were light on the steering wheel and gearstick. She even found herself mesmerised by the flex of his fingers as he downshifted, and she averted her gaze when she felt her cheeks heat up.
"Sir Elrond is not your typical solicitor," Gandalf said patiently. "He is a scholar as well and has made a study of land laws. He will be able to verify the claim mentioned in your letter."
"What letter?" Bella asked looking back at Gandalf.
He opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated and looked at Thorin.
Thorin sighed, and said, "Go on. Air our private issues to all and sundry, Gandalf. I doubt I can stop you."
"If it's private, then-" Bella started.
"You're on this trip with us, you may as well know the details," Thorin said. "If only to ensure you don't make any mistakes."
"How generous of you," she muttered under her breath.
She supposed he heard her if the side glance he gave her was any indication.
"Well, Captain Durin was recently sent a letter that detailed a claim to a silver mine located on his family's land," Gandalf said. "During the war, quite a bit of prospecting went on while searching for materials to use for the cause. A superficial survey suggested that if the mine were to re-open, it would be very prosperous for the owners."
"Which we are," Thorin said firmly.
"Which you believe you are," Gandalf corrected. "A Durin has not set foot on the soil for three decades, captain. If you hope for your actions in reclaiming your land to be completely above board, you need an expert opinion. Lord Elrond is that opinion."
Bella could practically hear Thorin's teeth grinding as his jaw tensed. Hoping to dispel the tension, she asked, "Who sent the letter?"
"A man from a nearby village," Thorin said. "A Master Fry of Laketown. Seems the surveyors left the information with him, and he sent it on." He paused. "The town will have very little industry, and I expect he wrote in the hopes that we would be able to fund the reopening."
"Would you?" she asked. "Be able to fund it, I mean?"
"If we can get through the damaged section, and if there is silver there, yes, we can fund it," he said.
"Ah," Bella said nodding. "Investors will come out of the woodwork, you mean."
He glanced at her and she thought she saw something approaching impressed in his expression. "Yes, that is the hope."
"Will this Elrond be able to tell us what to do about the Smaug problem?" Fili asked.
"Oh, yes," Gandalf said. "As far as I know, he has no legal right to be there."
"No one's heard from the man in years," Balin said. "He may be dead."
"Here's hoping," Thorin muttered.
"Who's Smaug?" Bella asked.
"Nothing more than a common thief with delusions of grandeur," Thorin said, practically growling. "A usurper. A scoundrel. A squatter in my home."
"All right," Bella said slowly. She glanced over her shoulder at Gandalf who smiled at her.
"Rather shortly after the Durins departed Erebor, a Mr. Smaug took up residence in the manor," Gandalf said. "He…capitalised on the absence of the owners and became something of a recluse on land that wasn't his. No one was capable of ousting him for all manners of reasons, so he was left to his own devices."
"So he could still be there?" Bella asked.
"He's dead," Thorin said flatly. "It's been too long for him to be anything else."
There was finality to Thorin's tone that quite clearly advised that he was done talking. So Bella just nodded and resumed watching the world pass outside her window.
They drove until early evening when the found a layby that was big enough for them to park the Rovers and the motorbike. Getting out of the car, Bella stretched her arms above her head and stared out over the gently rolling green hills. She smelled freshly tilled earth and the familiar smell of agricultural slurry. A small village was settled in a valley and she watched as the lights in the windows came on one by one.
She turned and wandered over to Tauriel who was sifting through the packs in the back of one of the Rovers.
"Dare I ask who's in charge of setting up camp?" Bella asked.
Tauriel grinned. "For some reason, the choice of campsite has defaulted to me, while the lugging of packs falls to the others."
"Need some company?" Bella asked.
"Tired of the gentlemen?" Tauriel asked.
"Just pacing myself," Bella replied smiling. "And I don't want to wear out my welcome."
"Not likely as far as I'm concerned," Tauriel said. "Grab that other end?"
Bella grabbed the other side of a wicker basket and they headed off into the woods.
"Pick a nice one, love," Kili called back.
"Get enough firewood," Tauriel called back. "Dry stuff this time, yeah?"
"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!"
Bella snickered. "Balin said you two met during the war?"
"Just outside the Rhine Valley," Tauriel said. "I was stationed at the hospital, and in comes this young lad with a massive piece of shrapnel stuck in his leg bellowing at the top of his lungs to send him back to the front because his brother and uncle are still out there."
"Ouch," Bella said wincing. "Love at first sight?"
Tauriel snorted. "Hardly. He was a reckless idiot who wanted glory."
"And now?" Bella asked.
"He's a reckless idiot that wants his home back," Tauriel said shrugging. "There's something about the Durins. They end up growing on you."
Bella hummed and followed Tauriel until she stopped at a clearing underneath some chestnut trees.
"This'll do," she said setting down the basket.
Bella helped her clear the area of any large branches and rocks.
"So, I hear that you're on this trip with us because you're being kicked out of your home?" Tauriel asked.
"My business," Bella corrected. "My home is still mine. It's the business that was inadvertently willed elsewhere."
"How on earth did that happen?" Tauriel asked frowning.
"My father was a wonderful man, but he had a few blind spots," Bella said. "Namely Mum and I. He always assumed that I'd settle down someday." She shrugged. "I suppose I did as well. Those kinds of things always seem to just happen. But then I found myself on the wrong side of thirty and well..."
"And there was no one in your village that ever caught your eye?" Tauriel asked.
"Well, Martin Brandybuck was quite the gentleman when we were fifteen, but he hates vegetables, and I can't be dealing with a man that hates vegetables and won't get his hands dirty," Bella said.
Tauriel snickered. "I quite agree."
"In any case, all the boys went off to war and they came back as men who didn't want someone who already knew how to make a campfire," Bella continued. "I've known the lot since we were all in leading strings, so it's probably just as well."
"I think I know the feeling," Tauriel said. "Kili...likes that I'm independent and can look after myself." She smiled. "It challenges him to find ways that he can take care of me without looking like he's taking care of me."
"You're lucky," Bella said.
"Very," Tauriel said. "We all are, to be honest. To have survived this far."
Bella studied her for a moment and noticed the look on her face resembled the look that some of the lads in the village drifted into when they thought no one was looking.
"It was a lot worse over there than what we were told, wasn't it?" Bella asked.
Tauriel stared into the fire. "The stuff of nightmares made real."
Bella reached out and put her hand gently on Tauriel's arm, and they both stared into the fire. They both blinked out of their reveries when they heard Kili call.
"Beautiful lady of the hearth," he called as he came into the clearing, ahead of the others. "My goddess, Athena in the flesh."
Bella and Tauriel snorted as they looked at him.
"Athena is the goddess of wisdom, you fool," Tauriel said fondly.
"Hestia is the one of the hearth," Bella added.
Kili frowned. "Who's the pretty one, then?"
"Aphrodite," they said in unison.
"Oh," he said. "Are you sure?"
"They clearly paid attention in school, Kee," Fili said setting his pack down by the fire. "Unlike you."
"My mum was rather big on the myths," Bella said. "I came very close to being called Persephone."
"Bit of a mouthful," Kili said.
"And rather appropriate," said Tauriel.
"Precisely," Bella said. "They decided that I was already going to have a hard time of it if I did inherit her gifts, and it was probably best not to tempt fate too much." She smiled, thinking of her mother. "They thought I was going to be a boy and had decided to name me after dad. But when I turned up, quite clearly a girl, mum decided that they could name me after her, because why should men be the only ones that children are named after. But they always called me Bella as opposed to Belladonna."
"Bella suits you," Fili said smiling up at her. "Cheeky and to the point, rather like you."
"I shall take that as a compliment," Bella said grinning at him.
"Right, then. Who's making dinner?" Bofur asked. "We have beans, beans and well, beans."
"Oh, I brought some smoked meat," Bella said. "It was going to go off if I'd just left it at home."
"A veritable feast," Balin said smiling. "Let's have it."
"I've left it in the car," Bella said. "I'll dash back and grab it."
She headed back towards the road, humming a little as she walked. As she approached the rovers, she thought she heard a tinny clanking sound and slowed so that her feet didn't make a sound as she edged closer. She reached the treeline by the road and peered around a thick gorse bush only to freeze at what she saw.
"Oi, Bert! Just take the hubcaps or the tires?" a heavyset man with a flatcap said as he crouched down by one of the Rovers.
"No, you wally! We're taking the whole lot!" Another man came around the side and glared at the first man.
"I always wanted a motorbike," a third man said from where he gazed at Kili's Triumph. "Wonder how fast it goes?"
"We won't know unless we get them running sharpish!" Bert said. "Hurry up and get something to break the windows."
"Oh, botheration," Bella muttered. She weighed her chances of getting back to the campsite in time to collect everyone before any serious damage was done to the cars and decided that something needed to be done. Now.
"Ah, excuse me, gentlemen," Bella called as she came out from the trees. "I'm afraid those are our vehicles."
She had a moment to realise that perhaps she should have gone back to the campsite when the men stopped where they were and slowly looked in her direction.
"Oh, dear," she said under her breath at the avid, hungry gleams in their eyes. "Not good, Bella. Very much not good."
But she stood her ground and simply smiled, hoping that common manners might win out.
"Well, well, what have we here?" Bert said standing up and looking her over.
"Looks like a little lady all on her own, doesn't it, Tom?" the man by the motorbike said.
"Certainly does, William," Tom replied grinning.
Bella fought the urge to cringe and just said, "No, not alone. Very much not alone! In fact, the owners of those vehicles are right behind me and would really not appreciate you stealing them, so if you'd just…be on your way."
The men just stared at her and she added, "Run along now."
She twitched her hands in a shooing motion and immediate felt like an idiot for doing so.
Grins slowly spread on the men's faces and Bella swallowed hard.
"Hear that, lads?" Bert said. "The little lady would like us to run along now."
Tom and William snickered. "Don't really feel like running, Bert, do you, William?"
"Indeed, I don't, Tom, my chum."
"See I think that we're going to take these here vehicles," Bert said walking towards Bella. "And I think we may even take you along, little miss. Wouldn't you like to go for a ride with us?"
"I really would not," Bella said frowning and glaring. "And I mean it. The owners of those vehicles are not to be trifled with and will be most angry should you steal from them."
"Oh, but, here's the thing, little miss," Bert said once he was within arm reach of her. He leaned forward, and Bella wrinkled her nose at the smell of him. "They'll have to catch us first."
Then he grabbed for her. She shrieked and struck out with her foot, catching him square on his shin.
He let out a high-pitched yell and she darted to the side as he fell forward, clutching his leg. Tom and William also grabbed for her and she dashed past them towards the Rovers. She ran around one of them and then the other, hoping to outrun the men and then head back into the forest. Nearly slipping on the gravel, she rounded the Rover and sprinted for the treeline.
She'd almost made it when something grabbed her by the mid-section. She yelled and she and Bert, who had snagged her, both fell to the ground. She kicked out again and managed to get him on his other shin. She scrambled to her feet only to stop when she saw how close Tom and William are.
"Merry little chase, missy," Tom said panting. "Now, come here, like a good girl, eh?"
"Get stuffed," Bella said through gritted teeth.
Tom snarled and he lunged towards her.
A single gunshot exploded in the air.
Bella froze where she was, as did the men.
"Take another step towards her and you're dead," a harsh, steady voice proclaimed from the treeline.
Bella peeked around the men and smiled in relief at the sight of Thorin and the others, all fully armed with their guns trained on the men.
The three men seemed to shrink in size as they huddled together and when Thorin approached them, his aim sure and steady, they cringed back.
He just stood there and stared at them, very much not looking in Bella's direction. A soft hand on her arm made her jump and she sagged in relief at seeing Tauriel standing next to her.
"You're all right?" Tauriel murmured.
Bella nodded. "Fine. Absolutely, um, fine."
Tauriel nodded and they both looked at Thorin who hadn't removed his glare from the men.
"Should we get the authorities, Captain?" Dwalin asked looking them over. "Or just despatch with them here and now? Save the bobbies some trouble."
Bella gasped. "You can't kill them!"
Thorin finally looked at her and she bit her lip at the thunderously angry look in his eyes. She edged towards Tauriel, who squeezed her arm gently.
Thorin returned his gaze to the three men and took a final step towards them. He trained his pistol on Bert and Bella held her breath.
"I suggest you run and do not stop until sunrise," he said quietly.
The men just stared at him. Bella shivered at the sheer amount of threat and force that poured out from Thorin. If it was frightening (and not a little thrilling) to her and he was on her side, she didn't bear to think what it felt like to Bert and Co.
Thorin tilted his head and in that same quiet and cold tone said, "Now."
They ran.
The entire company watched them as they ran down the road until they disappeared from view.
Only then did Thorin lower his pistol. He looked to Dwalin. "Someone needs to stay with the vehicles at all times. Who knows what else is out here."
Dwalin nodded.
"They were hungry," Bella said softly.
The entire company stopped and Thorin slowly turned his head to look at her.
"What?" he said.
She swallowed hard. "I'm not excusing them. I'm only saying that they were hungry and desperate. That's why they did what they did."
"I have been hungry and desperate, but it did not drive me to attack women," Thorin said harshly.
"Of course it didn't," Bella said. "I just…" She looked blindly around at the Rovers, trying to process what had just happened. It was surely her jumbled nerves talking, but she still found herself asking, "Were you truly going to shoot them?"
His face hardened. "You've had a terrible shock and you do not need to concern yourself any further with this, Miss Baggins."
"Concern myself?" Bella repeated. "You were contemplating shooting them!"
"You are not in the Shire any longer!" he shouted, his face lined in the evening shadows. "The world is a violent, desperate place, Miss Baggins. It is not made for soft, kind-hearted people such as yourself. People who have not known hardship or suffering or loss or desperation." He shook his head in disgust. "You should not be here!"
"And you should not assume that your sorrow trumps my own!" she shouted back.
She clapped a hand over her mouth in shock at raising her voice and he reared back, blinking. Dear God, she hadn't shouted in…well, she wasn't sure she'd ever shouted. Not even when Lobelia was at her most stuffiest and imposing. They stared at one another and absently Bella wondered if the others were enjoying the performance.
She lowered her hand and said, "You have weathered more hardship and troubles than most and I will not and cannot even begin to imagine your suffering." She stared at him directly. "But that does not mean that others do not have their own sorrows and their own loss. Do not presume to even think that I don't know loss."
They might have continued to stare at one another if Gandalf hadn't spoken up to say, "I do so hate to interrupt, but shouldn't we decamp back to the campfire before the beans burn?"
His statement broke the tension slightly and the company dispersed to sort out dinner and arrange the night watch. Bella turned away from Thorin who was still staring at her with a dark expression on his face. She couldn't see his eyes in the fading evening light and it unnerved her.
Still close to her side, Tauriel led Bella back to the campfire and quickly handed her a mug of tea. Bella stared down at her shaking hands and curled them around the warm mug.
"Sure you're all right?" Tauriel asked glancing at her.
"Will be, I expect," Bella said sipping her tea. She looked at Tauriel. "I kicked them. Quite hard, actually."
"That's good," Tauriel said grinning. "Would you like to learn how to do more than just kick?"
"Oh, yes, please," Bella said all in a rush. "I mean, I do hope I won't need it, but yes. Teach me everything."
"Drink up," she said nodding at Bella's tea. "And I'll show you how to throw a punch after dinner."
"Brilliant," Bella said nodding. "Thank you."
The rest of the evening was quiet and true to her word, following a small bowl of beans and smoked meat, Tauriel showed Bella how to punch and to dislodge an attacker. Fili and Kili stood watch and gave advice that ranged from useful to ridiculous, and by the end of the lesson, Bella was smiling. She figured she was close to the point where she'd most likely do more damage to herself than her opponent should she get herself into a fight. But it was a good start.
She curled up on her blanket and wriggled around until the rocks beneath her body felt only mildly painful and not utterly agonizing.
At one point she rolled over to face the fire, and her eyes were caught by Thorin. He sat perfectly still, his pipe in hand, his eyes firmly fixed on her. She stared back and felt her skin prickle and goosebumps ran up and down her arms. As they stared at each other, her stomach twisted and curled and she had the urge to blink, but didn't want to lose whatever the feeling or connection was because it felt so new and exciting and…so very not something she'd ever felt before. As she stared at him, he absently brought his pipe to his mouth. When his lips pressed around the stem of his pipe that curling something in her stomach shivered. Bella blinked and turned over.
She laid staring out into the dark woods, the fire warm on her back, and tried to make sense of the direction her life had taken.
In an odd turn of events, she fell asleep immediately.