Bella woke to the sounds of dishes being set on a table, and she lifted her head from the pile of blankets someone had covered her with during the night. The cold from the ghosts had subsided, but she could still feel the remnants of them with the slightest of tingles in her fingers and in the aches of her joints.
She stretched as she got to her feet and spotted her pack that someone had clearly been kind enough to retrieve from the car. She headed towards the bathroom and changed into a clean pair of trousers and an old navy blue jumper of her father's that was soft with age. It might still be summer, but if she was going to be running into ghosts around every corner, she was going to have something warm on her person.
Bella took a moment to stare into the small mirror above the sink. Not for the first time, she peered into her eyes looking for the light that the spirits followed, but couldn't see any trace of it. She did, however, feel it; a kind of vibration just at the tip of her mind and thoughts. She also noticed that the dark circles under her eyes were much darker than she remembered them ever being. She pinched her cheeks hoping to fill them with a little colour and her stomach growled loudly. Oh, my, was that fresh bread she smelled?
A few minutes later, Bella closed her eyes in food bliss as she bit into a thick slice of warm bread covered in honey. Her tea was hot and well-steeped, and she ignored the conversation around her as she filled her stomach.
She snapped back to attention when Gandalf said, "I fear I must leave you all here."
"Why?" Thorin asked.
"Yes, why?" Bella asked after swallowing.
"I fear the situation has changed somewhat," he said. "Those ghosts should not have acted as they did and I fear something is at work here. I will not go further without knowing how to counteract it."
"What do you think it is?" Bella asked.
Gandalf looked at Thorin. "What do you know of Smaug?"
"Not much, I'm afraid," Thorin said, his brow furrowing. "I heard of him from my grandfather and my father, but it always seemed as though they were odd tales or myths. He was a hermit of some sort. Odd. Very rarely left his cave in the mountain or some such nonsense. He came down to the manor after the incident, and my grandfather was fixated on him."
"Mum said that her mum said that he used to wander the cemetery at midnight under a full moon," Fili said with a chuckle.
"A necromancer, perhaps," Gandalf mused.
Bella sucked in a breath. "No! Gandalf, don't even joke about that."
"I don't believe I am, my dear," he said lightly.
"But that's vile," Bella said horrified. "No one would ever be so cruel as to command the dead. To make them suffer needlessly."
"The world is full of cruelty, Belladonna the Younger," he said looking at her. "And you saw those ghosts last night. They passed through you. Tell me, were they tormented?"
"All ghosts are tormented in some way or another," Bella said. "They're all sad."
"Not sad, Bella," Gandalf corrected her. "Tormented. Or perhaps…compelled?"
The bread and honey felt sour in her stomach and she closed her eyes. He'll send them, echoed in her mind.
"Yes," she whispered. "They were compelled. They were so relieved when they passed through."
"I must research this," Gandalf said. "I need to know how to counteract him, if it is him." He looked at Thorin. "I don't suppose I could convince you to halt your journey here and wait for me to return?"
Thorin shook his head. "Winter settles in quickly in the north. If I'm to make any progress unearthing this mine, it must be now. We've lost time as it is diverting to pick up our medium."
"And thank heaven, we did," Fili said winking at Bella.
Bella rolled her eyes and smiled.
"Then proceed carefully," Gandalf said. "A dark magic is at work here, I fear. You will feel it. Don't go near it. I will re-join you as quickly as I'm able."
It was past lunch before they set off. Beorn took Gandalf to the nearest train station while the others headed north. The company drove well into the night and slept in the Rovers in a layby, setting off again at first light.
They made it to the edge of the Woodland Realm without incident, but Bella felt the tension and anticipation mounting.
She still managed to marvel at the dramatically changing landscape. The lush rolling green hills of the Shire that smelled of the sea had been replaced with large, sharp peaks that smelled of cold and heather and peat.
She was craning her neck to take in a particularly large mountain when Thorin slammed on the brakes. Everyone let out a grunt, and Bella stared out the front window.
"What?" Bofur asked. "Have we hit an elk?"
"No," Thorin said darkly. "We have encountered a greeting party."
Parked in the road in front of them were four large cars, with at least a dozen very tall men in front of them. They weren't armed as far as Bella could see, but she didn't doubt they could cause some damage if the bleak expressions on their faces were anything to go by. The leader had very blond hair and a stern, if somewhat bored expression on his face.
"Oh my," Bella said. "They don't look very welcoming."
"It's the Greenwoods," Thorin muttered. "The colour of their hair is very distinctive." Not taking his eyes off of them, he spoke over his shoulder. "I'll speak to him. Everyone else stay in the car."
"Be gracious, lad," Balin said as Thorin exited the Rover. "We still have a way to go."
Thorin didn't reply and just got out. Bella's hand came up to hold onto her rings, and she murmured, "I don't think being gracious is the captain's strong suit."
"I think you're quite right," Balin murmured back. "But it never hurts to hope."
Bella quite agreed and turned her attention to Thorin.
"So, you're back then," the tall blond man said as Thorin approached. "I'd heard as much."
"It's our land," Thorin replied simply. "Am I to take it that you are Greenwood's descendant?"
The man nodded once. "Thranduil Greenwood. And you are?"
"Thorin Durin," Thorin replied.
"It's bloodied land," Greenwood said as casually as if he was describing the weather. "Your grandfather dug too deep, Durin. You won't find anything but bones and dust. The mine won't produce."
"Just because you don't know how to make your land prosper doesn't mean that I don't," Thorin said.
Greenwood narrowed his eyes. "My forests produce the best wood in this region. Your mine is a disaster waiting to happen. Again."
"What do you care?" Thorin asked. "If the worst should happen, you'll close your doors and hide yourself away while people starve on your doorstep. The Durins may rush in, but the Greenwoods ignore suffering. I know where I'd rather stand."
They glared at each other before Greenwood nodded. "We are not our fathers, it would seem, and yet the old hates still live. Go quickly then through here. Try your hand at your mine, but do not place your lives on it. It's as dead as the dead ones that still walk the passageways."
With that cryptic line, he walked to his car, and the Greenwoods pulled their cars off the road to let the company pass.
Thorin, stiffly, walked back to the Rover and said, "No one say anything," as he started the Rover.
The company drove past the cars, and Bella felt the eyes of the Greenwoods as they passed.
She held her tongue for as long as she could, but eventually had to say, "So they know about the ghosts, I take it?"
"They know how to tell a tale, that's all," Thorin said. "I wouldn't trust a Greenwood further than I could throw him."
Balin sighed.
"I was gracious, Balin," Thorin said sounding amused. "Not once did I attempt to punch the smug git in the face."
"Thank heavens for small favours, then," Balin said chuckling.
After the encounter with the Greenwoods, they drove on through the night. Thorin wasn't keen to stop so close to the Greenwood land and purely determined to just get to Erebor. Bofur offered to drive, but Thorin turned him down. Bella watched him through the corner of her eyes. He looked determined, but tired. She wasn't sure what the ghosts had done to him and felt the need to keep an eye on him.
"If you're going to persist in staring," he said making her jump, "you may as well talk to me."
"About what?" she asked, propping her arm on the door and leaning her head against her hand.
"Why gardening?" he asked.
"Why not?"
The side-eye look he gave her was truly impressive.
"Because it's what my father did. I grew up with it. And I enjoy it," she said. "It's oddly straightforward, yet unpredictable."
"Oh?"
"Well, on one the surface, it's quite simple. You plant the seeds, you water them, they grow," she said. "But there are so many other factors involved. Things happen, and you just can't plan for them. You think the creeping roses will go up the trellis, and then they go left towards the violets. Very hard to predict."
"Like yourself?" he asked.
"I beg your pardon?" she said chuckling. "I'm an open book. I'm terribly predictable."
"Oh, extremely predictable," he said. "One minute you're quite emphatically telling me that you cannot join our quest due to the untold amount of dangers. The next minute you're flying down a hill on a bicycle with no regards to, well, anything approaching safety."
"I needed to find you quickly," she said. "I don't have an automobile, and a bicycle is perfectly appropriate."
But Thorin wasn't finished. "Then you throw yourself in front of a dozen ghosts to save me."
"That's what you've brought me to do!" she cried, lightly smacking his upper arm with her hand while he just chuckled. "And besides, you're one to talk."
"Is that so?"
"You're supposed to be this grand captain, and yet all I've watched you do is blunder into situations without any thought to strategy," she said drily. "I thought you Army chaps were more measured."
"We are, as a rule," he said slowly. "I'm having… difficulty remaining… calm or…"
"Careful?" Bella offered.
She received another impressive side-eye. "Strategic."
"Ah," she said knowingly and smiling.
He chuckled, but then turned thoughtful. "We've never truly belonged anywhere. My family fled the north, and while my nephews were born and raised in the East End, we've never felt like one of them." His hands tensed and relaxed on the steering wheel. "The army felt like a step towards home. I was given a purpose, and that… helped."
"It sounds like you thrived," Bella said quietly. "Not everyone can inspire such loyalty that leads people to follow them across the country on a vague hope for employment."
He laughed silently. "There are four more families awaiting word from us once we arrive. They plan to follow us up to help us clear things out."
"Four more?" Bella asked.
"The Durins weren't the only ones who left the area," he said. "There are many who would come if we invited them and showed them a reason to return."
Bella hesitated, and then asked in a very small voice, "Thorin, what if it doesn't work? What if there are too many ghosts? Or what if the mines themselves don't work?"
He was quiet, and she could tell he was honestly considering her question. But then he said, "It will. We'll find a way." He sighed. "At the end of the day, it's land, Bella. I hope the mine will be sufficient to provide us with a livelihood, but if not, we always have the land to fall back on. The land is ours. That's what's vital."
Bella nodded. "I believe I know what you mean."
"I imagine you do," he said smiling at her in such a soft way, she felt warm all over. "In fact, I believe I'd be grateful to have your advice on what we could do with the land that isn't devoted to the mine."
"I'd be honoured," Bella said, curling into her seat to face him. "We spent the last several years cutting back on the ornamental plants and focussing on the practical ones that produce, well, produce." She smiled. "We had the largest victory garden in the county."
"What would you suggest planting first?" he asked.
"Well, it will completely depend on the climate you have," she said. She continued to discuss potential ideas until she nodded off in the midst of describing some work she'd done the previously summer on her neighbour's fields, lulled to sleep by the thrum of the car and safe in the knowledge that Thorin was nearby.
Bella woke with a jolt when the Rover stopped moving. She immediately looked over at Thorin who just smiled at her.
"I think that I very rudely fell asleep as you were talking," she said, feeling her cheeks burn.
"I'll do my utmost to not hold it against you," he said opening his door. "It was the first time I've witnessed anyone ever doze off while discussing proper irrigation techniques."
He unexpectedly grinned at her, and Bella grinned back.
"Where are we?" Bella asked.
"Laketown," Thorin replied. "It used to be one of the busiest towns up here. Not so now."
Her still sleepy hands fumbled to open the door, and once she was on her feet, she found herself frowning at the sight of Laketown.
"Oh," she said wrinkling her nose.
The town looked run down and windblown, and there was a distinctive smell of fish in the air.
"That, however, is where we're going," Thorin said coming to her side and pointing.
Bella turned and blinked in surprise. "Oh, goodness gracious me, where did that come from?"
The peak of the Lonely Mountain stood tall and sharp on the other side of a massive lake. The Misty Mountains still lay all around them, but they were mere hills compared to the majesty of the tall mountain.
"And your family mined that place?" Bella murmured.
"The Durins have always enjoyed a good challenge," Thorin murmured back.
"So do the Tooks," Bella admitted. "My mother's side of the family."
"Shall I challenge you to seeing if a garden can be constructed in the shadow of the Lonely Mountain, then?" he asked.
"Not unless you mean it," she said smiling up at him. "Otherwise, be prepared for a lot of soil and tilling and endless talk about irrigation."
"I think I could withstand the hardship," he said quietly, smiling back.
A chill breeze swept off the lake, but Bella hardly felt it, so caught up in the sight of a gentle smile from Thorin. The blush that filled her cheeks more than warmed her up.
He stepped away and turned to the company as they gathered around. "We need supplies. Food, petrol, and so on."
"We should also alert the other families as to where we are," Balin said. "I think I spy a Post Office. Should be able to send a telegram to London. We should also try to find the mayor who wrote to us."
"Don't think we'll need to try too hard," Dwalin said. He nodded at a small cluster of men and women staring at the company. One man broke away from the group and hurried down a side street. "Think he'll find us."
"Fair enough," Thorin said. "Saves us the trouble." He turned to Balin. "Send the telegram, while the rest of us purchase supplies. Tell them that the way is being paved, and we'll call for them soon."
"Aye," Balin said. "Shouldn't I just tell them to make their way north?"
Thorin paused, then shook his head. "No. Until I know the state of the mines, I don't want to get anyone's hopes up."
Balin nodded. "Agreed."
The company headed into Laketown, and Bella was exceedingly aware of the stares they collected as they walked. It appeared that Laketown didn't receive visitors very often.
A high street with very few shops was easy to find, and Balin and Bifur diverted to the post office, while Dwalin and Bofur went to look for petrol. The rest headed to the small shop.
Once inside, it was quite clear that the selection was quite limited, but Bella grabbed a basket and went for the essentials while Tauriel went to the shop counter to set up a possible delivery of bulk items. After grabbing some tea, rice, tinned vegetables, and condensed milk, Bella paused in front of the flour.
"Do I dare assume that the oven will be in working order?" she asked no one in particular.
"If it means someone might make some bread," Fili said. "I'll make sure of it."
"Flour and yeast, then," Bella said chuckling.
Fili joined in, but stopped mid-chuckle. Bella glanced at him and saw that he had frozen in place, staring at something at the front of the shop. She looked and rolled her eyes.
A young woman with honey blonde hair pulled back in an intricate braid was jotting down Tauriel's instructions. Her face was alight with curiosity, but she just answered Tauriel's questions succinctly and politely.
Bella elbowed Fili in the side and said, "Breathe, Fili."
He jumped and glared at her, but inhaled before walking towards the front of the shop, ostensibly to get a better view. Not bothering to hide a grin, Bella followed.
She propped her basket in front of the young woman, who glanced over.
"Will you just be wanting these until the other items get in?" she asked Tauriel.
"Yes, thank you," Tauriel replied, before looking at Bella. "Bella, this is Sigrid Bowman. She runs the shop."
"Good morning," Bella said to the young woman.
"Morning, miss," Sigrid said, smiling quickly.
"When could we expect the supplies to reach the store?" Tauriel asked.
"Later this week," the young woman said. "Provided the other towns don't get there first. We're the last stop on his run, I'm afraid." She looked around at the company. "You're going over there, aren't you? To the mines?"
"We are," Thorin said.
"I see." She worried her lip and made to say something, but stopped and finished writing down Tauriel's order.
"What?" Fili asked gently. She glanced up at him. He gave her a small smile. "You were going to say something?"
Bella watched as emotions flickered quickly across the young woman's face, before she finally said, "No one has been over there for longer than a minute in years. Not since before I was born. Every now and then, the young lads get it into their heads to dare one another to go to the manor and ring the bell. No one ever manages to get further than the drive. There's something not right there. Something not right at all."
"It's our home," Fili said. "We're here to make it right."
"No," a voice said as the curtain behind the counter was pushed open. "You're here to re-open the mine and bring misery once again down onto this region."
"Da!" Sigrid whispered harshly.
The man that stood before them was dressed as a fisherman, with a heavy jumper and thick trousers. He glowered at the company in turn, before stopping to stare at Thorin.
"A Durin, I take it?" he said bluntly.
"Yes," Thorin said inclining his head.
"You all look like one another," the man said, narrowing his eyes.
"Da!" Sigrid said again. She turned to the company. "This is my father, Bard. He supplies the fish to the shop."
"And he quite clearly does not want us here," Thorin added. "Your family suffered in the aftermath of the incident, I take it?"
"Suffered then, and they suffer now," Bard said. "This town suffers. You cannot come waltzing in here and expect things to be made right simply by your presence."
"We intend to work," Thorin said lowly. "We intend to do what should have been done years ago and bring prosperity back to the region."
Bard chuckled and shook his head. "It will take more than words spoken in a forceful tone to make that happen. It's not just the mines that need clearing out. It's the whole cursed place."
"That's what I'm here to do," Bella said cheerfully, hoping to ease the tension.
Bard looked over at her and blinked. "You are?"
"I'm a medium," she said.
He looked her up and down. "You're rather small. And there are an awful lot of ghosts up there."
"You've seen them?" she asked leaning forward.
"Don't need to see them to know they're there," he said grimly. "No one goes near the place. No one wants to be driven mad."
Bella frowned. "That bad, is it?"
"Worse," he said. He took a deep breath and then looked Thorin in the eyes, all of his bluster dimmed and the glower faded. "Don't do this, Durin. Don't expose yourself and your companions to that place. Just let it fade into memory."
"I cannot do that," Thorin said, his features set like stone. "I cannot turn my back on my home. A home I haven't seen in decades. A home that my kin have never seen."
"Then you will doom the entire region," Bard said. "There is something up there that has been waiting to be set free, and when you disturb it, it will take everything in its path."
"For heaven's sake, they're ghosts," Bella said. "Not dragons."
"They aren't just ghosts, madam," Bard said darkly. "Do not do this."
"Ah, Bard, our village pessimist!" a voice called out behind them. The company turned to see a florid man with faded black robes and a dingy-looking mayoral necklace grinning at them. "Pay no attention to him, gentlemen! He never has a good word to say about anything."
"I wonder why," Bard said flatly, glaring at the other man.
"I'm the mayor of Laketown," the man said. "I see you received my man, Alfrid's, letter!"
Bella caught sight of a slight man as he slid from behind the mayor, his black hair plastered to his brow with far too much Brylcreem and what looked like a perpetual sneer on his face.
"Clearly, they have, Mayor," the man, Alfrid said, attempting a smile that made Bella sick to her stomach. "Laketown welcomes the Durins."
Bard made a sound of disgust and went back through the curtain. Bella caught Sigrid's eyes and gave her a smile. Sigrid just sighed and said to Tauriel, "I'll get this lot ordered for you today."
"Thank you," Fili said before Tauriel could reply. "We're in your debt."
Sigrid stared at him for a beat and then smiled, a little knowingly, "Well, it is what we do here. At a shop. That sells goods for money."
Bella held back a snicker at the deadpan delivery and Fili's reaction of beaming even brighter.
"Thank you, thank you, Miss Bowman," the mayor said still grinning. "This group needs taking care of, after all. They're going to bring silver back to the region, aren't you?"
"We'll see," Thorin said stepping towards the mayor. "We only have the cursory survey that you sent us. We have much work to do before we would even think to guarantee the mine's reopening."
"Oh, but surely you'll re-open!" the mayor exclaimed, his eyes bright with something unsettling. Bella shivered as she looked at his dark pupils. He glanced over at her and then quickly away.
Something is not right here, she thought. That man is not right, and I think I want to be wherever he is not!
"I… appreciate your enthusiasm," Thorin said with some distaste. "But I'll not make the same mistakes my grandfather did and simply rush in before I know what we're dealing with."
"Do you mean the mines or the ghosts?" Alfrid asked, his sneer deepening.
"Both," Thorin said darkly, glaring at him.
"Speaking of ghosts, what of Smaug?" Kili asked, somewhat sarcastically. "Anything you care to tell us about him?"
"Haven't seen him," Alfrid said shortly. "Used to send for supplies every week. But they stopped, didn't they, Miss Bowman?"
Clearly not comfortable being addressed by the man, Sigrid nodded hesitantly. "We haven't had an order from Erebor in the last few years."
"Thank you, Miss Bowman," Thorin said. "For the confirmation and for seeing to our supplies. We'll return at the end of the week for them." He stepped forward towards the mayor whose eyes widened and seemed to gleam once again. "I'm afraid we have much to do and must be getting on."
"Yes, yes, of course, my boy, of course!" the mayor said stepping to the side. "Do let us know how you get on!"
Thorin nodded once, and then with a quick look with everyone else, he left the shop. Bella lingered while Tauriel paid for the groceries. She watched the mayor and Alfrid talk amongst themselves as they walked out, and she tried to figure out what it was that disturbed her about them.
"I'll take those," Fili said as Sigrid loaded up a box with their shopping. He smiled at her again, and while she didn't reply, a pretty blush stole across her face.
Bella and Tauriel exchanged a glance while they bit back smiles of their own.
As they left the shop, Bella noticed the mayor and Alfrid just outside the entrance, staring after Thorin who had met up with Balin. Bella didn't like the avid gleam in the mayor's eyes as he watched Thorin.
"I don't like him," Bella muttered to Tauriel.
"The mayor?" Tauriel muttered back. "No, neither do I. There's something in his eyes."
"Yes! Precisely," Bella said nodding.
"He looks…" Tauriel frowned and seemed to have difficulty finding the words.
"As though he's obsessed?" Bella said hesitantly.
Tauriel nodded. "Yes, something like that. Something's really not right there."
"The sooner we can get out of this town, the better," Bella said as they approached the others.
"I quite agree," Tauriel said before going over to Kili.
After stopping at the garage to re-fill the tanks and get a supply of petrol to have on hand, the company departed Laketown. Tauriel rejoined Kili on the motorcycle while Bella insisted that Balin take her seat beside Thorin.
"This is your country, Balin," she said patting his arm. "You should be the one to see things first."
He smiled and patted her shoulder gratefully.
Bella rolled down her window and inhaled the fresh scent of the pine forests.
"What did you think of Laketown?" Thorin asked.
"I think I've seen more cheer in a graveyard," Bella said flatly.
"It used to have cheer," Balin said with a sigh. "They held markets twice a week, filled to the brim with goods from all over the region, as well as the trading routes just up the firth."
"They need us to do well," Fili remarked. "But if they're all like that Bowman fellow, I don't think we're going to have any volunteers to help us."
"It's just as well," Thorin said. "We've always relied upon ourselves to get the work done. We'll do it again."
It was on that note, and with an air of fixed purpose that made Bella feel somewhat giddy, that they made their way towards Erebor.