Middle-earth, and all who dwell within it, belongs to Tolkien. I am grateful to him for growing this beautiful garden in which our imaginations can play. Please review!

It was on the afternoon of the sixth day of their journey that they finally reached the Hills of Evendim, but their path had drifted and they struck them much farther south than Fili had aimed for. In the eastern lands, there were few roads and only a handful of forgotten paths that were most often used by wild animals that turned them into trails leading to water or to den. The dwarves had to pick their path carefully through rock and tree and sudden ravine.

Their ride was slower now, and they often had to dismount and lead the ponies, climbing over hard terrain. Even Betta, who was used to walking and climbing on foot, began to wish for the easy ride that had been the first leg of their journey. By the time they climbed over the feet of Evendim, a mile above the flat plain, they were all exhausted and Fili called a halt though they had still an hour of daylight left.

"We will rest here now," he said. "The next leg of our journey will be more difficult and we must guard our strength for the cold plains ahead."

They made camp and spent their time sorting through the supplies they had left, counting out the days that they could stretch their food. There had been streams and small rivers along their road and, although there were sometimes long miles between them, there was no fear that they would suffer from thirst. Finding food in the north would be difficult, however. They carried enough for perhaps three weeks of light rationing, but neither dwarf was happy with the prospect of that.

"Tomorrow, we should keep an eye out for any small game," Kili said. "There is no knowing what we will find in the rocky hills, but we have not had good meat since the morning of our leaving. Even a rabbit or two would be welcome."

Fili whole heartedly agreed. Betta said nothing. She knew that her skill at setting traps and snares would be useless if they never meant to stay long in one place. She sat quietly, cutting new arrows from sticks and feathers, and Kili watched her work with a critical eye but kept his thoughts to himself.

That evening, as had become their habit, Fili took the first watch and Kili the second; the first half of the night passed without alarm, but in the early morning hours as Kili bent over Betta to wake her for her turn, a loud scream roused them all as it echoed up from the lower lands. It was followed by the howl of many wolves.

Fili jumped to his feet, pulling his sword and looked around for the enemy. Kili stood stock still, frozen while the terrible noise lasted, with his bow in hand. Only Betta for once did not draw her knife. She sighed, for she recognized the howls that she had heard for many nights and knew that they were closer but not yet very near.

"What in Durin's name was that?" Fili whispered.

"The death of an animal," Betta said. She unwrapped herself from her blankets and sat up, preparing to take her watch.

"What animal could make such a sound?" Kili muttered.

"I have heard sheep scream," she said. "And rabbits."

"That was no rabbit," Fili said.

"What do you say it is, then, if you know so much?" she asked him. "The wolves I have heard before. They make no such sound."

"You have heard wolves before tonight?" Fili demanded. "And you said nothing!"

"There are always wolves on the flat lands. You have not heard them on your watch?"

'You let us wander blindly over the plains without telling us that danger was hard on our trail? We have no defense here. There are not even trees to climb!"

"Fili, leave her be," Kili said. "I have heard the howls as well and thought you heard them, too. Until tonight, they have not been nearer than three leagues south of us. The sound carries far over the flatland."

Before Fili could speak again, there came a second scream echoing up from below. This time it was closer, but even Kili admitted that it sounded more like an animal than not. He relented and rolled up in his blanket. He was soon fast asleep, but Fili remembered the words of Fror and could not rest. It may be that some stray orc had indeed wandered down from the black hills of Carn Dum. He had heard of orc raids in Eriador, although they had been long before his birth.

"I will sit up and watch with you," Fili said to Betta.

"There is no need. I will be an old woman before I let a few stray dogs disturb my night." She spoke easily, yet she took out her bow and quiver and held them in her lap. "Were it a cat's cry in the night, however, you would find me hiding like a child under my blankets and it would be long ere you could tempt me to put out my head again."

"I know that the wild cats in the mountains can be dangerous…"

Betta laughed and shook her head. "I do not mean a wild cat, but one of the small, black mousers that sometimes farmers keep in their barns."

He stared at her in surprise, not knowing whether she was joking or in earnest.

"You were not raised on the night tales of my mother," she explained, seeing his confusion. "She often warned my brothers and I that if we were not fast asleep in our beds before the cats of Queen Beruthiel came prowling in the night, they would creep up onto our pillows and suck away our souls."

"Those were the tales your mother told?" he said.

"And so would you tell them if your children stayed all the night awake and wrestling on the floor when they should be asleep." Betta smiled, but the memory was tinged with sadness and she missed her brothers.

"It is important to you, this quest of ours," Fili said. "I am sorry if you think that I have made light of it."

"It does not matter to me whether you make light or dark of it," she said. "I have little left of my family to hold. I thought that in opening the box, I might find answers to… to questions that I…" She shook her head and said softly, "No, that is a lie. I spoke the truth when I said before that I believed that the box would be empty. That would have been the answer that I expected to be given."

"What answer?" he asked.

"That I am alone," she said. "But what else was I to do after I buried my parents in the fields of Rohan? I might have returned to Lebennin and found some third cousin far removed with no resemblance to the family that I loved, but I chose the northern path. There seemed more hope in it."

They sat in silence after that. Fili thought of the long, empty miles between Anduin and Eriador. He knew that his brother had begun to trust the woman before they had left even the shadow of Ered Luin, but Kili was always more quick to trust, just as he was more quick to fight and more quick to anger or to joy. Fili's mind was not so easily swayed, and his thought was on the end of their journey and Thorin's promise. Only when they returned with full hands to their uncle would he reconsider their request to join him on his quest to Erebor. They would only return triumphant if they found a golden treasure.

What did it matter to Thorin whether Betta found her answers or the lost home of her ancient people? If there was treasure, only then would there be profit in the journey. Fili needed to find that treasure. His heart darkened at the thought of it. Kili wanted adventure; Betta, answers to her family riddle; but Fili looked for gold and jewels, a motive that seemed less noble than theirs even if it was more appropriate to the desires of a Dwarf.

Almost, Fili was tempted to open his heart to the woman and confess his motives, but he had seen her face when she thought that no one watched. He knew that even tonight when she seemed to speak freely, there were secrets that she kept hidden from them. Whatever Kili said, Fili still did not trust her.

Suddenly, Betta squinted into the distance. "Do you see a light there?" she asked, pointing down toward the flat lands.

Fili looked. "The road that runs south from the ferry lies that way, and there are farms in the south, though not many. It may only be the camp of some other wanderer."

"But that is not what you think."

He frowned as he looked at the distant light and thought that he saw shapes upon it, but it was too far distant to be certain of anything in the uncertain light.

"I think that we will take more care in the future and cover our tracks as best we can before we move on in the morning. And I think that I will take my rest and leave you to watch the remainder of the night. If there is trouble, it will come tomorrow or in the days that follow, and those among us able to fight should be well rested."

Betta nodded, but her eyes were on the light in the distance. It was dim, and there was no measuring the miles between it and their camp, not in the dark of night. It might be no more than a farmer with a lantern smoking beside his wagon; or, it might be prowling thieves. She thought of Queen Beruthiel's cats and their eyes that shone in the night, and she shuddered.