THE FORGOTTEN
First Day Hunting
Author's note: The chapter in which – Lothril wakes up in the Twilight Zone and Legolas thinks it's hilarious. Elvish in italics, as always!
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Lothril awoke at 4:30am. She had slept fairly well, but her dreams had been strange. She kept dreaming that as they hunted they kept finding the wrong things. Arrow heads that looked to be of elven make, strange singing in the trees, a flash of silver in the shadow of the trees, then suddenly there would be orc tracks that after a few feet would become confused with other tracks. The dreams had left her confused and anxious to get going. Quietly she arose and readied herself then she went and knocked on Legolas' door.
"Maer arduil, melethron, (Good morning, lover.)" she said quietly at the door.
"Minnian. (Enter.)" She opened the door and she found him dressed with his weapons laid out upon his very neatly made bed. "Maer arduil, meleth." (Good morning, love.) He gave her a quick kiss. "Did you sleep well?"
"I had strange dreams."
"Oh? What were they about?"
"They were kind of strange. I decided I did not want to dream at all last night, but then I kept dreaming of things. I think it was foresight, but it didn't make a lot of sense. Either way, none of it seemed particularly important or urgent, just kind of random. Shall we go downstairs?"
"If it was foresight, it seems unlikely to me it would be random, but I am not so gifted. If you think it nothing important though, I shall trust to your judgement. And yes, we should head downstairs. I think Sue will have breakfast ready soon."
"Sue? You're on a first name basis?"
"Yes, actually. She could not sleep and I was sitting on the window seat downstairs. When she came down to make herself cocoa she sat with me and we spoke for some time. Here, allow me to carry your things," he said reaching for her bow and quiver. She handed them over and then opened the door for him as he his hands were full.
"What did you talk about?" she asked as they descended the stairs.
"Oh, this and that," he answered cagily.
"Such as?" She asked as they reached the landing and turned towards the kitchen.
"You, me, sex, the nature of elves – this and that," he answered, suppressing a grin.
She stopped dead in the kitchen doorway. Did she just hear him correctly?
"Good morning, dears!" greeted Grandma Sue.
Legolas set down the weapons by the door. "Good morning, Sue," Legolas said as he went over to her and gave her a kiss on the top of her head. "How are you this morning?"
"Oh, I'm fine, thank you. I slept like a baby after our talk."
"Sex?!" Blurted out Lothril, in stunned and utter disbelief.
"Watch your language," Grandma Sue said, half joking.
Legolas burst into laughter.
"You," she said looking at Grandma Sue, "Talked about sex?! With HIM?!"
"Close your mouth, dearie, you look like a small mouth bass. Come sit down and have your breakfast," she answered. "And as a matter of fact, we did."
Lothril thought her head was going to explode. This was from the woman who, for her whole life, had dropped her voice to a whisper and refer to everything from teens kissing to torrid, adulterous affairs as, "you know" whenever it came up in conversation. The very same woman who had told her she didn't like those romantic movies because unmarried people were kissing. The same woman that clucked her tongue whenever the store played pop music because the lyrics were all about... "You know!" THAT woman discussed sex with her betrothed?! AND admitted it?! The mind reeled… and suddenly, all in a moment she realized it might just very well be possible that she wasn't nearly so scandalized by those things as she pretended to be and she just put it on to discourage bad behavior. Lothril felt like her whole world had just been shaken like a snow globe and now that the snow was settling the world started to make more sense… In the back of her mind she started having a series of revelations about her parents and grandparents and began questioning whether or not she actually knew them as well as she thought she had… Of course, all these thoughts happened in mere seconds. "I've been bamboozled… I've been fleeced! Ninety-nine percent of my childhood has been a giant snow job!" she blurted out.
"You finally figured that out, eh?" Grandma Sue said. "Good for you. Took me until I had my first child. Though to be fair, it's not ninety-nine percent. It's probably more like seventy-five. Maybe eighty for your dad. He did used to put cherry bombs in newspaper boxes."
"But why?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. I think we learned it from our parents. Now sit down and eat your waffles."
Lothril slowly climbed into the bar chair at the counter beside Legolas who was slowly collecting himself and somehow sipping coffee and chuckling quietly at the same time.
"And Legolas, you should know better! It's not fair to upend someone's perception of their childhood at breakfast," Grandma Sue mock scolded as she put a couple more pieces of bacon on his plate.
Still grinning he answered, "Oh, you cannot lay this solely at my feet! I am not the one who treated the subject of love making as a scandal her whole life!"
Lothril plopped her head into her hands, resting her elbows on the counter. "It's official… I'm in the Twilight Zone… Rod Serling is out there somewhere narrating my life…"
Grandma Sue slid a cup of coffee over to her and said, "Drink this," Then smacked Legolas on the arm with a rolled up newspaper and added, "Eat!"
Lothril took a couple sips and debated just letting it drop or demanding details.
"So what's your plan for today?" Grandma Sue asked before munching on a piece of toast.
"I think we should start out in the yard," Legolas said.
"Why?" asked Lothril.
"I found a bear last night that had been frightened by something. It was running through the woods just outside the window," he said, nodding towards the living room window. "I think if we trace its path backwards, we may find something."
"That sounds like a good place to start," Lothril said.
"When will you be back?"
The elves look at each other. "That will depend on what we find," Lothril answered. "I think we're going to have to play it by ear."
"Well, here," she said as she grabbed her flip phone from the counter behind her. "Take this. You can leave it off, but call me when you're heading back. The house phone is listed as "home". Do you want me to pack you guys a lunch?"
"Depends on what you have, I suppose," Lothril answered.
"Same thing I always packed for Grandpa Richard," she answered as she pulled two brown paper bags out of the refrigerator.
Lothril looked inside the bag. "Pasties!"
"You betcha!" Grandma Sue said with a wink.
"We should get going," Legolas said. "The sun will be rising soon."
"Right. Thanks Grandma Sue," Lothril said as she came around the counter to give her a hug.
Legolas quickly gulped down the rest of his coffee, gathered his things, and gave Grandma Sue another kiss on the forehead with a quick, "Thank you," as he followed Lothril out the door.
"So where did you see this bear?" Lothril asked as she walked and tightened her straps.
"This way," Legolas said as he took the lead and headed into the woods just past the edge of Grandma Sue's property.
Grandma Sue's property was surrounded on two sides by state parks, and they had suspected that the orcs would gravitate towards somewhere less inhabited. Legolas quickly found the bear tracks and they started following them back in the direction they came. It was rather easy to do. The bear had been rather frightened and hadn't bothered about stealth, just speed. Besides the tracks, there were snapped twigs and crushed undergrowth enough for anyone to follow. They had been going about twenty minutes when they reached their first check – a river. It didn't look terribly swift or deep, and with how the bank was, they reckoned they could probably jump across it. Before they tried to cross however, they checked up and down the banks on that side to make sure the bear had in fact crossed. After concluding he must have crossed, they began to figure out they should attempt it.
"I do wish we had a map. There might be a bridge just a short hike away, though I almost hate the thought of a detour."
Legolas reached into his outer tunic and produced a state park map. "Sue gave it to me this morning when she got up. She thought it might prove useful."
"Excellent! I was not relishing the idea of trying to get one dressed like this," she said.
"Did I not suggest we wear camouflage?" he said teasingly.
"And get taken for poachers? No thanks! I have no idea what's in season right now or if any of it has a bow season. We can still pass ourselves off as DnD players if we have to. Besides, we have our cloaks from Lothlórien."
"You are very literal this morning," he commented.
"Where are we?" she asked, looking over his arm.
"We are here," he said, pointing to a spot near the edge of the map. "This looks like the same straight part of the river that turns to the right down that way. I do not see any bridges marked for a very long ways. Shall look for a shallower or narrower crossing?"
"No, unless we see something within eye shot, I do not wish to detour very far, in case we miss something," she answered.
They looked up and down the river once more and concluded they were probably in the best place to try crossing. Before they did, Lothril took a spool of white string out of her pack and tied a bow around a young maple to mark where they crossed. She had brought string and roll of toilet paper to mark their trail. They both backed up and Legolas told her he would cross first, in case it proved too wide or the footing on the other side slippery. He gave a running leap and easily made it then signaled for her to follow. They marked where they landed and quickly found the trail and carried on. They had another few minutes of easy trail to follow before they ran across an area that had seen a lot of foot traffic. Lothril asked for the map, wondering if maybe this was a spot for rustic camping. No, that didn't seem to be it, though it didn't mean that somebody didn't camp there while hiking. They carefully searched around the area trying to discern what might have been going on there.
"I wish Aragorn were here," Legolas said at length. "He is a far more skilled tracker than I."
"Me too. I'm just glad until now the trail has been very obvious. What do you think we should do?"
"Let's make a circle around the area and see if there is any obvious trail to follow," he suggested.
Lothril nodded and they fanned out and made a wide circumference of the area. Off in the distance she saw a flash of something bright. She called to Legolas telling him she was going to go check out something and jabbed a toilet paper square on a low branch of a young tree. She went off at a jog but when we she got near where she thought the flash came from, she saw nothing. Slowly she turned to leave when she saw an arrow head peeking out from the fallen leaves. She bent over and saw it was a whole arrow, and recently shot. She quickly looked around and saw no one between the trees, so she looked up, looking for a tree stand. She shrank against a tree trunk and reached out with her mind to Legolas.
"I have found an arrow, recently loosed. I cannot find the archer. Come, but carefully!"
She had a hard time seeing him approach as he pulled his hood up low over his face.
"Where is the arrow?" he whispered. She pointed. He carefully knelt down as Lothril readied her bow and looked around. "This is of elvish make!" he exclaimed. He stood up and called out, "Pedo, mellon! Im Legolas Thranduilion mi Eryn Lasgalan!"
Suddenly she heard singing burst from the trees. It took her a second to recognize it as a ridiculous song she had heard in Rivendell. The next thing she knew, three figures had dropped out of the trees. To their utter astonishment, they found themselves face to face with Elladan, Elrohir, and Glorfindel dressed in camouflage and hunter orange.
"What in the world are you doing here?!" Lothril exclaimed.
"We have been sent to help you," Elrohir said.
"But why? How? When?" Lothril asked.
Elrohir went to speak but Elladan stopped him. "The pith of it is this – the Valar summoned us after we sailed and asked if we would be willing to help you and we said yes so they sent us here in advance of you to get a good lay of the land."
"There is more to the tale than that," interjected Elrohir.
Elladan looked at his twin with a raised brow and replied, "Yes, but that is the pith of it. Hence my using that word."
"But what of you, Lord Glorfindel?" Legolas asked.
"I am here to ensure they do not kill themselves and make it back in one piece," Glorfindel replied with a grin.
Legolas and Lothril were stunned. This was surely the last thing they expected. Lothril suddenly blurted out, "Why are you dressed like that?"
"We are hunting woodchucks, ground squirrels, and skunks" replied Elrohir. "They have been an absolute menace in our garden this year."
"They are in season?" Lothril asked.
"They are always in season with no bag limit, along with a few other pests. Why are you dressed like that?" Elladan answered.
"I didn't know what was in season and figured if we ran into a park ranger we could just tell them we're playing a game as elves hunting orcs."
"Clever," Glorfindel said.
"Now that we have found you, how goes the orc hunt?" Elrohir asked.
"We only started this morning," Legolas said. "Last night I found a bear that seemed to be running scared from something. We have tracked it from the backyard to just back there," he said pointing. "That is where we found a confusion of prints and have been wondering which direction to head."
"Then let us go look at it," Elrohir said.
The five of them headed back to the little clearing where all the tracks were confused. Legolas pointed out the trail they had been following. The twins carefully circled around and studied the tracks.
"What do you think, Elladan?" asked Elrohir.
He thought a moment then answered, "I think this not where humans have been. I do not see any boot marks or signs of a pitched tent, fire, or anything else."
"That is what I thought," Elrohir replied. "I think some sort of fight happened here, but between what creatures, I do not know."
"Was the bear you found last night injured?" Glorfindel asked.
"I cannot say," Legolas answered. "I did not get close. I merely observed him."
"Then it is just as likely to have been two animals as anything else," Glorfindel said.
"I think it was a shoving match," Elladan said at length. "I see no blood, no fur, no signs of injury. Whatever was here, it was shoving or wrestling."
"Perhaps the orcs then?" suggested Lothril.
"It would be strange for that not to end in bloodshed," Elrohir replied.
"Yes, but surely by now they have realized they are not at all in lands familiar. Maybe they are attempting to band together against their natures to survive," she said.
All the other elves thought over what she said. At last Elladan spoke. "Perhaps. It has not been our experience, but this falls well beyond our experience and theirs."
"Maybe whoever is in charge actually has some sway over the others," she said.
"Perhaps. In the meantime, I think it best we remember this spot as one that may be a clue, but not rest too much on it."
"Then what do you suggest?" Lothril asked.
"Looking for potential places they might be hiding during the day," Elladan answered. "I wish I had my map with me."
Legolas pulled out his and spread it out on the ground. "We are here," he said pointing to their location. "We crossed the river here and this," he said as he dragged his finger across the map, "is the trail of bear tracks."
"One moment – where are you staying?" Glorfindel asked.
"At Sue Miller' house," Lothril answered. "She's a longtime family friend. I call her Grandma Sue."
"What happy chance!" Glorfindel exclaimed. "She is our neighbor! We are the next house down the lane on the other side of the park land."
"You're kidding," Lothril said.
"No, we are in earnest. We have been her neighbor for two years now. We help her clear the snow off her driveway and clear away any downed limbs or trees after storms," Glorfindel replied.
Lothril rubbed her head. "My word, today is weird!" She shook her head then added, "Alright, what's our next move?"
"I vote we head here," Elrohir said, tapping a part of the map that was quite far away from any hiking trails, campsites, or off road vehicle trails. "There is a ravine that empties into a marshy swamp land. The ravine is deep and narrow and the trees there are thick and dark. They may be hiding there, or in the rocks and slopes leading down to the river. There are a few clefts and crevices a few orcs could hide in at need."
"How far is it?" Lothril asked.
"Five miles or so," Elrohir answered.
"Let's go!" she said. And with that the five of them immediately set off towards the ravine.
Lothril had not traveled with only elves since she had gone from Mirkwood to Rivendell. Consequently, she didn't quite realize how fast they could travel when not being slowed down by others. They were going at what she felt was a brisk jog, yet just a little over half an hour later Elrohir signaled for them to slow. They split up and began climbing trees. Their plan was to approach from above, concealed by the canopy of trees, and scout out the ravine to see if it looked like anything unusual was there. They scurried across branches like squirrels until at last the land began sloping down hill and the ravine opened up to them.
It was a narrow ravine with tall, steep sides. There was evidence of an old railroad track running down the muddy bottom. Down the whole length of it the trees grew thick leaving it a dark, shady place. The ravine went on a ways and after a very sharp turn, the land disappeared and a warped set of train rails lay twisted, rusty, and broken half out of the water of a dark swamp coated in places with thick bright green scum. Trees alive and dead dotted the place and the canopy was thick enough to make the place dark even in the gathering morning light. Even though the morning sun was now up and quite sufficient to make Sue go ahead and turn off the lights in her kitchen and work in the cloudy morning daylight, the swamp was still shrouded in shreds of night and shifting mists still hung thickly in patches around the place.
Lothril felt Elrohir's mind brush against hers and he told her to return the way she came and they would meet on the ground about a hundred yards past the ravine opening. They quickly scurried back and some ways from the opening of the ravine they dropped back down to the ground near an empty stretch of hiking trail.
"What do you think?" Lothril asked the others.
"I saw nothing, but that seems like the sort of place they would like," Elladan answered.
"Perhaps the bear you followed came from the other direction," Glorfindel said.
"I am starting to think so," Legolas said.
"Then they might head towards the ravine yet?" Lothril asked.
Elrohir and Elladan both nodded. "It is a possibility," Elrohir said.
"And it is one of the best places they could hope to hide around here. No one wants to go there and there are no trespassing signs everywhere because of the mud and the old railroad track," Elladan said.
"I think we ought to go back to the last place you are sure of tracks and pick a new direction to head," Elrohir said. "At least for now. If we do find them, we may be able to track them and if they do decide to crawl into that ravine, then we shall have them in a trap. One or two of us at the entrance to block their escape and the rest of us shooting at them from above."
"If we are going to do that, we best hurry," Glorfindel said. "The sky looks threatening rain."
They all agreed and headed back across the stream to where the last sure bear tracks were. All of them looked about and agreed the bear had to have crossed the stream at some point, but given the stream was so shallow, they began to wonder if he hadn't ran down it for a while. They could see where the bear clambered up the bank, but not where it went down into it. They debated splitting up and going up and down both side of stream trying to find tracks, but then it started to rain and they realized quickly that whatever tracks might have been there probably weren't going to be by the time they found them. So, they headed back.
As they headed back they decided that for the next few nights they would keep watch on the ravine and see if the orcs come to it. Elrohir volunteered for the first night watch and if anything was spotted he would come flying back to the rest of them.
They reached Sue's house about mid-morning to a fine and steady rain. Sue was sitting on her back porch sipping some coffee. Being up at 4:30am had its advantages – she got all her chores done by eight. Then she did some extra fun stuff like put chili in the slow cooker and bake some bread bowls and was done by ten. Now it was pushing eleven and she was sitting around wondering how long they would be when she saw five figures come out from the trees through the rain.
"Is that?" she muttered to herself then went to the back door and opened it and called, 'Dan, Elroy, Gabe – is that you with my granddaughter and grandson?"
"Good morning, and yes!" Glorfindel replied as he quickened his pace to the back porch. "How are you today, Sue?"
"Dan, Elroy, and Gabe?" Lothril repeated, infinitely amused.
"I'm fine," Sue replied. "A little confused whatchyer doing with my grands though."
"You needn't pretend with us, Sue," Elladan said. "We know their right names. Indeed, Lothril is our adopted sister! Or did she not tell you such?"
"What do you-" she was confused but then they came up onto the porch and she could see them clearly and she gasped, "You're elves too!"
"Indeed!" Elladan said. "And we are very glad you can now see the truth. We have long wanted to invite you over for different celebrations, but they were all elvish ones."
"We can have them all over for Midsummer's Eve," Elrohir said with a grin.
"Ah yes! A nearly proper midsummer!" Glorfindel said with a smile.
"Hold the phone here guys," Sue said cutting in. "I'd love to come over for any holiday or whatever, but why are you, or how are you here and why couldn't I see it before?"
"We cannot begin to guess why you could not see it before and can now. As for the other it is a long story best told indoors," Glorfindel answered.
"Where are my manners? Come inside! I'll make you some coffee or tea or whatever and then we can swap stories," Sue said.
She led them around the corner of the porch and in through the mudroom where she obliged everyone to leave their weapons and ditch their muddy and soggy things. They all washed up in the utility sink and then headed into the kitchen where she was putting on a fresh pot of coffee.
"Mmm! Is that your chili I smell?" Elladan asked as he entered the kitchen.
"Sure is," Sue smiled over her shoulder. "And you're welcome to it if you want it."
"Elio cin!" Elladan said.
"Bless you," Elrohir repeated.
"We'll take a bowl," the twins said in unison.
Sue cracked up and shook her head. "You two! Coffee or tea?"
"Coffee," said Elladan.
"Tea," said Elrohir.
"Coffee," echoed Legolas as he came in.
"Tea for me," Lothril said.
"Tea for me as well," Glorfindel said behind her.
"You got it," Sue said as she put on the kettle and made a fresh pot of coffee. After a few minutes of getting everyone taken care of, they all sat down at her kitchen table with the coffee or tea and bread bowl of chili.
"So first things first," Lothril said, "How long have you three been here?"
"Oh, about two years," Elladan said.
"The Valar told us they were sending us here ahead of you to scout out the land and get a feel for things. We picked two years ahead though because we were curious what your world is like," Elrohir added.
"We even contemplated trying to find you before you left for Middle-earth, just to see what you were like, but then after we met Sue and realized she knew you and that you were so far away and we cannot drive, we decided to simply stay put," Elladan said.
"So you've been living here two years without a car?"
"We have our horses, we each have a quad, and we have snow mobiles so we have not really needed one," Glorfindel said.
"So that's why you guys are always riding into town!" Sue said. "Now it all makes sense. You don't have a driver's license. You probably don't have an ID or anything else."
"Not a thing," Glorfindel said. "No license, no ID, no credit cards. We have been cash only for everything."
"How do you pay your bills?" Sue asked. "Don't tell me you don't have power at your house, I see your porch light through the trees in winter."
"If I understand it rightly, it is all paid for by the trust," Elrohir said.
"Back up, what are you talking about?" Lothril said.
"Well, about three years ago my old neighbor Sam Johnson passed away," Sue said then took a quick sip of tea and kept going, "and we all knew he had family over in England or something that would inherit his house when he died. Well, his house is a sprawling estate built in the Twenties, rumor is it was built by some oil baron from Chicago back then as a summer home gift for his wife. Anyway, they owned it for only a couple years then it sat empty and they sold it to some mafia guy during Prohibition, some say to pay off a debt he owed him, and he owned it until he was killed in a shoot out. It sat empty for a few years until Sam moved over here from England in the early Sixties. I guess he made it big designing air planes or something like that, and he had inherited a good bit of money too from his folks. Anyway, he loved the house, fixed it up and lived in it with his wife until she died four years ago, and then he only lasted another year until he went into the hospital with pneumonia and died. Anyway, Richard was friends with him and Sam told us that if anything happened to him, the house was in trust and would go to his family back in England and they'd come here and take care of it until the right buyer could be found. Well, one day about year after he passes, these three showed up and everyone just assumed they were his nephews or something and here to take care of the house."
"And how did you three wind up at the house?" Lothril asked.
"We arrived there," Elladan said.
"There was a note on the door telling us we were the caretakers for a while," Glorfindel said.
"Well then," Lothril said. "I wonder what happened to Sam Johnson's family from England."
"How much you wanna bet they'll show up about five minutes after they leave?" Sue said, looking at Lothril.
"That may be, though I'll never know," Lothril said.
Sue's face fell into something between shock and sadness. "When you're done, you're gonna leave, aren't you?" she asked, though it sounded more like a statement.
Lothril nodded. "I don't belong here anymore."
"Do your folks know that too?" Sue asked.
Lothril nodded again. "They know. Hopefully I'll be able to see them again before I go, but we shall see how it goes. I doubt I'll get to pick when I leave, but I was told I would have time after I'm done, so I'm hoping that means time enough to see them again."
"I hope so too," Sue said. "So, you two said she's your sister? How does that work?" Sue asked, looking at the twins.
"Yes, our father adopted her and we decided we liked her enough to keep her," Elladan said with a teasing smile tossed at Lothril.
"I'm glad to hear it. I was worrying about that," Sue said. "I mean, about what you'd do in the world without any family."
"She is well taken care of on that front," Elrohir said. "Our sister loves her also, and so she has us, our sister, and our father, and when she meets our mother, she shall surely be loved by her too. Then of course, Legolas has plenty of family in Middle-earth yet, and they seem to like her rather well."
"Indeed, they do," Legolas said, reaching over with his free hand and laying it on hers. "They have all met her, and several of them have had a chance to get to know her and they love her already."
"I'm sure your folks are resting a little easier knowing you've got people looking out for you over there," Sue said with a smile.
Lothril smiled and nodded in reply.
"So," Sue said, changing the subject, "Why are you boys here?"
"To help Lothril," Elrohir said.
Suddenly Sue gasped and said, "The rest of my dream!"
The twins and Glorfindel looked at her seriously. "You had a dream?" Glorfindel asked.
Sue suddenly looked a little embarrassed and said, "Yeah, a few weeks ago. I had a dream these horrible creatures with claws and fangs were scratching and clawing at my doors and windows trying to get in to kill me and suddenly these beautiful people were outside with swords and those two were in the house with me and the creatures ran off. I think it was you guys."
"Did you hear that, brother? We are beautiful!" Elladan commented using ósanwe.
Elrohir didn't say anything in reply, but he did have an amused little smile flit across his face before he buried it in a sip of tea.
"Hmm. I wonder if that dream was foresight. Are your people so gifted?" Glorfindel asked.
"Well we're not psychic, if that's what you mean," Sue said.
"I do not know that word. Lothril, is that the word we would want?" Glorfindel asked.
"Not really. Grandma Sue, have you ever had dreams come true before about anything?" Lothril asked.
"Well, as a matter of fact, yes. A few times," Grandma Sue replied.
"Like what?" Elrohir asked.
"Well, I had a dream my daughter Brenda was pregnant and a week later she called me from where they were living in North Carolina to tell me they just found out she was pregnant earlier that day. Then there was the time I dreamed Richard was gonna smash up my new car and then two days later he hit a deer, spun out, and hit a tree and totaled my new car. He was fine though. I dreamed about my niece Rebecca meeting a handsome young man at summer camp that she was going to marry and sure enough, she came back after being a counselor all summer with a handsome young man on her arm and they've been happily married at least fifteen years now. Got five kids. I also dreamed the winning lotto numbers once, but I don't gamble so I didn't buy a ticket. Those numbers won though and the prize went unclaimed… never dreamed the winning numbers since," Sue answered.
Lothril looked around at the others and they all seemed to be having relatively the same thought. "So, do we still keep watch on the ravine or do we just wait around here?"
"We have been trying to track them down for the last few weeks," Elladan said.
"And we have had little luck," Elrohir added.
"We always seem to be a step behind them or else we arrive and scare them off and cannot give chase," Glorfindel said.
"What kind of night was it in your dream?" Elladan asked.
"There was moonlight, so it must have been clear," Sue said.
"I think the forecast is saying rain all day today and all night," Lothril said. "Tomorrow I think is supposed to be clear though."
"Orcs do not like the rain very much, so wherever they are, they are likely to stay there for now," Elladan said.
"I do not like the thought of them roaming around one moment longer than needful though," Legolas said.
"Neither do I, but we have no real leads on their whereabouts except somewhere generally around here. But they could be anywhere within several square miles," Glorfindel said.
"Obviously I don't know anything about orcs and goblins," Sue said, "but could you set a trap for them? I mean, lure them here with some kind of bait?"
The elves all looked at each other. Honestly, none of them had ever really tried to draw orcs to them before. Usually when hunting them they brought the fight to the orcs.
"We're at the end of wild turkey season. What if you guys nabbed a turkey really quick and left it hanging around outside or something?" Sue suggested.
"I think it worth considering. What do you others think?" Elrohir said.
"I would be loath to lure orcs anywhere near humans," Glorfindel replied.
"We could always lure them towards our house. We are at the end of the street and she is our only neighbor," Elladan said.
"But what of her dream? What if they come here and we are all over at our house?" Glorfindel argued.
"Legolas and Jen were both in my house in my dream," Sue said.
"And we were outside?" Elladan asked.
Sue nodded. "Yep. You guys were outside."
"For what it's worth, I think we should go for it," Lothril said. "If you three have been trying to track them down for weeks and getting nowhere, maybe we should try bringing them to us. What have they been attacking around here anyway?"
"By and large it has been wild animals," Elladan said.
"There was the one dog that was lost and then found mauled," Elrohir said.
"Yes, but it was found in the woods several days after wandering off, not plucked from a yard," Elladan said.
"Anything near any houses?" Lothril asked.
"We chased them away from the edge of the woods about ninety yards from the back of someone's property, but that is all the closer they have come," Elladan answered.
"I still do not like it," Glorfindel said.
"Neither do I," Legolas said. "Why do we not try to lure them into that ravine? Instead of waiting for them to come there by themselves, let us draw them there ourselves."
"I like that idea better," Glorfindel said. "But I am still concerned about her dream and them coming here. That Sue has had dreams come true before tells me she is foresighted in some measure, and I am not willing to gamble it is only a dream. It may be, but that is not a risk I am willing to take. If we do lure the orcs to the ravine or elsewhere, I want at least one of us left behind with her."
"At the risk of sounding like I'm shirking responsibility, I suppose it ought to be me and probably Legolas too, but I don't like the idea of only three of you going out against an unknown number of orcs," Lothril said.
"I'm not completely defenseless you know," Sue said. "I've still got all of Richard's guns and I'm a pretty good shot."
Glorfindel reached over and took Sue's hand in his and said, "I know, but they are very quick and can be very cunning in a fight and they see much better in the dark than you do. They can also be very quiet when they have a mind to be. Dear Sue, I think the world of you, but you are in your sixties and your vision at night is not what it once was, you have said so yourself, and your reflexes are slower than they once were. If you were a younger woman, I might risk leaving you here alone so armed while we do this thing, but I dare not now."
"Gabe – Glorfindel, I appreciate it, but I've been fine so far," Sue pointed out.
"We have been keeping watching on your house since the attacks began. There is not a night that has gone by these last few weeks where at least one of us was not within bowshot of your door at night," Glorfindel confessed.
"It is true," Elrohir said. "We have been quite concerned for you as you are isolated here and we are your closest neighbors."
"I'm touched," Sue said, looking a little misty eyed. "I just wish you would have told me so I could have made coffee for you or something."
"And that is why we didn't, dear Sue," Glorfindel said with a smile. "We knew you would fuss and you truly needn't do so."
"Well that settles it then, I will stay behind," said Lothril, "and you four go out." Just then there was a flash of lightening and rumble of thunder. "But not today."
"Indeed not!" said Elladan.
For about an hour or so after lunch, everyone sat around at the kitchen table and debated what to use for bait, how they would set the trap, and planning out several different strategies for fighting and killing the orcs and what to do with the bodies. The consensus was that if they killed them in the ravine, to simply dump them in the swamp. If elsewhere, they'd have to play it by ear. Once that was settled, they discussed how many orcs they thought they'd be dealing with, and the best guess anyone had was between four and a dozen. The once or twice the elves had clapped eyes on them, it was hard to tell for they were very dark nights and the orcs were scattered and darting to and fro amongst the trees. Elrohir thought he counted six, Elladan said eight, and Glorfindel thought he heard a few more off further in the distance.
In any event, they made their plans as best as they could, and as things were supposed to be cleared up by morning, the elves decided to forego watching the ravine that night and instead sleep and wake early and do a bit of scouting around then. If the orcs were rained in all day and night, they might get restless and attempt some early morning hunting themselves.
As it was now late afternoon and the rain refused to let up, Sue offered to drive the elves back to their house, which they gratefully accepted. They were about a quarter of a mile away, which really wasn't very far at all, which was good because technically her pick up only had three seat belts and having four of them sitting in her cab was technically illegal, but as the road they lived on ended at their driveway and they were the only people to ever drive down there except for the odd pizza delivery guy and very lost vacationer, they weren't terribly worried. They were perhaps halfway between their houses when Sue gasped.
"Did you see that?!" she cried.
Elrohir had and before she could even brake, he had flung himself out of the passenger door of the truck, bow and quiver in hand and took off into the woods. Glorfindel hadn't seen it, but he quickly jumped out and grabbed his gear from the back, throwing an order at Elladan to stay put. Elladan didn't need to be told twice. He pulled a long knife out from behind his feet and laid it, still in its sheath, across his lap, hand on hilt. His slid over to the passenger door which he kept cracked open and grabbed her rearview mirror and turned it towards himself more so he could get a better view of what was behind them without having to turn completely away from his side of the road.
"What was that?" Sue asked at length. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say it was the Dogman."
Elladan's brows knit together, but he did not take his eyes off the woods. "I am sure I have no idea what a dog-man is, but I can promise you, it was not that. That was one of Saruman's Uruk-hai. I have only seen one dead as we traveled to Rohan with a company of Rangers from the North, but Aragorn, Legolas, and Lothril fought them and told us of them. I wonder if all the orcs we are chasing are Uruk-hai or if it is a mixed company. What is a dog-man?"
"Local legend, sort of like a werewolf, you know – human that turns into a wolf under a full moon. Except the Dogman is supposed to be permanently stuck in his wolf-man form. I never paid any mind to it before and figured it was either people seeing things and their imagination running away with them or people pulling pranks like they do with Bigfoot where people dress up in hairy gorilla suits and pretend to be Bigfoot and scare people for a joke."
Elladan only spared her a glance as he replied, "That thing you saw was no Dogman or anything else like that. That was an orc, and specifically an Uruk-hai. They are larger than regular orcs and more hearty and swift and can endure sunlight better. That he was out in this weather makes me wonder what he was doing, but if Elrohir and Glorfindel catch it, we may learn something if they do not have to kill it first. As for your Dogman – I cannot say any of us have felt the presence of any such creature in our time here, brief though it has been. Glorfindel is old enough that he remembers fighting werewolves and vampires and the feel of them when they are about and he has not noticed any such thing. So if such creatures exist here, they are either far enough away to not trouble us, or a different sort of thing altogether. If there were some cursed or evil creature lurking in these woods, we would know it."
"Would you? Our worlds are pretty different, I think," Sue asked, trying to distract herself a little from what was going on.
"Evil is evil and a curse is a curse. Despite what you humans seem to want to think, your world is fairly teeming with things that are not human or animal. However, most of them are unseen and only seem to be interested in effecting things subtly," he replied.
"You mean like ghosts?" she asked, sounding more than a little skeptical.
"No, I mean – oh what is the word I have heard? Angels, I think. Back home we call them Ainur and they typically take on bodies when they deal with us, but not always. As elves we have trouble seeing them if they do not reveal themselves in a physical form, but we can still feel their presence and hear them. Humans seem to have a good deal more trouble. I wonder if Lothril-" He cut himself off abruptly and focused on some movement in the trees and seemed to be readying himself to spring out. "If I tell you to run, I want you to drive back to your house as fast as you can and tell Legolas and Lothril what is going on."
"Okay," she said, feeling nervous, anxious, and flat out scared, but trying very hard to manage it. This was no time to panic.
Out of the trees burst Elrohir and Glorfindel, running, shooting arrows behind them. Elladan yelled, "RUN!" as he flung himself out of the truck, knife flashing as he leapt out.
Sue threw the truck into gear and floored it, spinning her tires and shooting up muddy gravel behind her as it lungeed forward with a roar. She could see in her rearview mirror two or three of those hideous creatures come running out of the woods after them, chasing the elves. Wide eyed and horrified, she whipped her truck around as fast as she could and gunned it with the singular idea of getting back to her house to get Legolas and Lothril. The elves and orcs were fighting in the middle of the road as the rain came pouring down. Both sides of the road had deep ditches she couldn't swerve into without getting herself hopelessly stuck, so she laid on the horn as she came speeding towards them. The elves all leapt out of the way but the orcs were not used to cars, apparently as they turned and roared at the truck, brandishing their crooked swords at her. She floored it and her truck roared back at them with the angry growl of an old Ford backed up by one hundred and forty odd horse power and two tons of Detroit steel that just couldn't care less about a pair of snarling orcs as she ploughed right through them and left them behind her in a spray of mud. There were three more orcs that came crashing out of the trees, but she couldn't look back. She flew into her driveway, blasting her horn and practically parked on her own porch. She barely got out the door of her truck when Legolas and Lothril both came out of the house to see what is wrong.
"Orcs! Orcs!" Sue yelled as she came running around the truck.
"Where?!" Lothril said, steadying Sue.
"Halfway to the twin's house, that way," she said, pointing down the road she just came from.
"Where are your keys?" Lothril asked.
"In the truck," Sue said.
"Get her inside, I will get our weapons," Legolas commanded as he went flying back inside.
Lothril tried to pull Sue inside, but she was now getting a bit shocky and just stood there, so Lothril picked her up and carried her inside and laid her down on the couch and quickly chanted something so she would sleep.
Legolas came flying down the stairs and out the door. Lothril followed.
"Stay and guard her!" Legolas commanded.
But before Lothril could agree or protest, they heard several snarls and yells fill the air. The others were outnumbered, and only bore bows and knives and no armor. Lothril and Legolas both ran to the truck, which was still running, and Lothril threw it into reverse and went flying backwards up the driveway and then popped it into drive and gunned it, much to the protest of the old truck's transmission that took a half second before it started lunging forward again. As soon as they got onto the road they could see the situation and Lothril pushed the acceleration of the truck to its limit before she had slam on the brakes, laying on the horn the entire time so she didn't smash into one of the elves. Legolas jumped out of the truck, knives drawn, and as soon as the truck stopped she threw it into park and flew out the door with a great yell and drew her sword.
There were seven more orcs to the two dead ones, and Lothril had a funny feeling there were a couple more waiting under the trees. Four of them were Uruk-hai and the others orcs with the Red Eye painted on their gear. The twins and Glorfindel had retreated up into the trees as soon as the other seven orcs came out into the clearing and were judiciously shooting at them with what arrows they had left. Three to seven was not a ratio they were comfortable with when none of them had a sword and only two of them had knives on them. However, as soon as the truck came roaring up, they jumped down and Lothril gave Glorfindel her sword and she drew her knives. Now the odds were at least better. Lothril immediately began singing and three more orcs fell before the other four retreated with two of them at least wounded.
"Do we give chase?" Lothril asked, looking half ready to bolt into the woods.
"No, there is nothing in that direction for miles but empty woods," Glorfindel said. "At least not before we don armor and fetch our swords."
"By then they will have disappeared again," Elrohir said. "Wherever they are hiding in there, they are well hidden."
"We ought to get all our gear and then return to Sue's house," Glorfindel said. "They saw us come from her house and she killed two of them. They will not be pleased."
"She did?" Lothril asked, wide eyed.
"With her truck," Elladan said. "Those two there."
Lothril turned around and noticed that two of the orcs did look a bit crushed. "I guess we should load them up and bury them somewhere."
The others agreed and quickly loaded the five dead orcs into the back and then Glorfindel and Elladan continued on to their house to get their things while Lothril, Legolas, and Elrohir returned to Sue's house.
"So, what will we do with these orc corpses?" Lothril asked. "We definitely are too far away from the swamp to drag them that far, and I don't like the idea of burying them on Sue's property."
"I would not dare risk ruining the water table with their foul flesh," Elrohir replied. "I think we must burn them."
"Can we get a fire hot enough though to turn them to ash?" Lothril asked.
"We needn't burn their bones," Elrohir said. "If we burn their flesh, we can melt down their weapons and armor in our forge at the house and we can bury their bones safely enough."
"It will be hard starting a pyre in this weather though," Lothril said as the rain began pouring harder again.
"We will wait until tomorrow," Elrohir said. "Let us park the truck in her barn tonight so we do not draw scavenger creatures and we will burn them on the morrow."
Lothril nodded as she turned into the driveway and pulled behind the house to the barn. Elrohir jumped out and opened the barn door so she could drive in. The barn was an old barn that came with the house and housed things like her lawn mower, gardening tools, salt for the driveway, and things like that. Her and Legolas got out of the truck and were about to help Elrohir shut the barn doors before Lothril spoke.
"Oh, I just thought of something – should I go pick up Glorfindel and Elladan?" Lothril asked as soon as they got on the porch.
"They would probably appreciate it," Elrohir said. "Come Legolas, help me get the bodies out of the truck."
Legolas nodded and in a minute they had all five orcs stacked on a tarp in the corner of the barn, then covered with another tarp as Lothril jumped back in the truck and headed down the driveway again.
It only took a minute to reach the house of the late Sam Johnson, and when she did she gave a low whistle. The house was sprawling. It was on a small rise in the land, and in places looked like it was one story and others two. She guessed the back of the house would reveal a partially buried lower story in the places where it looked like it was only one. It was of a curious design, having Art Deco flair with just a hint of fairy tale cottage meets sprawling estate. It was like the old oil tycoon had no idea what his wife really wanted so he just threw a bunch of stuff at it and it stuck. For all that though, it was a very attractive place. She saw the lights were on and she figured they would see her when they left the house, so she stayed in the truck and waited. After a couple minutes they came out and did see her in the truck and so hurried over and jumped inside with two large packs and weapons.
"Thank you for coming back for us," Elladan said.
"You're welcome," Lothril said as she began turning around in the large circular end of the driveway. "That's quite the house."
"It is. It is very charming inside too," Glorfindel said.
"Maybe I'll get to see it before it's all said and done," Lothril said.
"I hope so," Elladan said. "We would love to have you over for Midsummer. Though, I suppose if we all go back before then, I would not mind very much."
"After today, I wonder if we shall not be done by tonight," Lothril said.
"No, I do not think we shall be that fortunate," Glorfindel said. "When Elrohir and I chased the Uruk into the woods, we could see the others were waiting for him in a little hollow. He was a scout. Whether they were looking for us or a new place to stay or something to eat, I cannot say, but there were twelve of them waiting for the scout. That all of them did not set upon us tells me they were not looking for a fight just then, or else the other orcs were more interested in living than fighting just now."
"But now that we have killed five of them, they will be coming for us, and they know we are connected to Sue's house," Elladan said.
Lothril nodded. "How long do you suppose until they attack us?"
"They will want to regroup and see how many of us there are and how well we are situated," Elladan said. "They are clearly more interested in self-preservation right now than killing Elves, or else they all would have set upon us."
"Do you think they've figured out what's going on yet?" Lothril asked.
"They may reckon themselves lost, but I doubt they reckon themselves in another world. Though after two of them got killed by a truck, they may begin to suspect something is very strange," Glorfindel answered.
They made it back to the house and hurried inside. Lothril stopped very briefly though as she passed the front bumper to inspect the damage. There were some dents in the bumper, but all the damage looked pretty cosmetic all told. And certainly nothing that would raise any eyebrows. At least not in that state. All Sue had to do was say the word 'deer' and nobody from the insurance company to the body shop would bat an eye.
She hurried in and Sue was still asleep on the couch, so everyone scattered and changed out of their soaking wet and mud splattered clothes into dry things before Elladan set about to making a calming tea for Sue and Lothril woke her up.
Sue blinked a couple times and sat up. "Oh! I guess I drifted off. I had the weirdest dream!"
"What was it?" Lothril asked.
"That I was driving Gabe, Dan, and Elroy home and there were these hideous creatures and Dan said they were orcs and-" she saw Elladan come into the living room with a cup of tea and saw his pointed ears and it all came back to her. "Oh wait, no – that happened didn't it! I hit them with my truck, didn't I?" she said, looking at Elladan.
"Yes you did, Sue. And it was very well done," Elladan said handing her the tea. "Drink this when it is cool enough for you. It will help calm your nerves."
"Thanks, whichever you are," she said, not sounding particularly flustered, but she was a little shaky and set the tea down in front of her on the coffee table.
"Elladan," he replied.
"Thanks Elladan," she repeated. "So what does their being here mean?"
"It means we are going to be your house guests for a little while because we think they saw us come from your house and we fear they may regroup and attack," Elladan answered.
"Attack?!" Sue repeated, sounding alarmed.
"Yes, but never fear. We will be here and they shall not get anywhere near you. Now that we know their number we can better plan our defenses and come up with a good strategy," Elladan said.
"What should I do?" Sue asked.
"Relax and leave everything to us," Elladan said. "Now rest and drink some tea and we shall take care of dinner tonight."
"Nonsense, you're my guests and-"
"Yes, and we have invited ourselves over and brought trouble with us. The least we can do is make you dinner. Now sit and drink your tea. Lothril, see to it she drinks it all and rests. She has had quite the shock and needs to recover," Elladan said, switching to elvish at the end.
"I shall see to her," Lothril said. "You know Grandma Sue, it's been forever since we've watched 'Rear Window' together. Should I put it on?"
"Yeah, why don't you do that. I could go for a little Jimmy Stewart," Sue replied.
"Let's go into the family room, I'll pop it in and you drink your tea," Lothril said with a grin. They got up and headed towards the family room in the back of the house and Grandma Sue settled down on the chaise end of the huge sectional sofa she had as Lothril went over to the television and turned it and the DVD player on and put in the movie.
Legolas ended up commandeering dinner preparations and right around the time the movie ended, he was announcing dinner was done, and they all went into the kitchen where he had the table set and everything just so.
"Goodness Legolas, you certainly know how to set a table," Sue said as she saw her own table looking like it was ready for a Martha Stewart photo shoot.
"Thank you," he said with a smile. "The only thing keeping this from being perfect is that I do not have a wine to pair with things."
"Oh, you should have asked," Sue said. "What would are you looking for?"
Legolas looked at her, somewhat surprised, and replied, "What do you have?"
"I'm part owner of a winery. I have it all and then some," she answered.
Lothril looked a bit surprised and Legolas looked excited as he replied, "Lead on!"
"Wait a minute!" Lothril interjected. "Why didn't I know you're part owner of a winery?"
"Because about ten minutes after meeting your dad's folks I realized they were of the teetotaler persuasion so we kept it quiet," Sue answered. "C'mon, Legolas. Let me show you my wine cellar."
With that the two of them headed downstairs while Elrohir asked Lothril, "What is a teetotaler?"
"Someone who doesn't drink any wine, beer, or alcohol," she answered.
"But why?" he asked.
Lothril just shook her head, "We can talk about it later when I am more in the mood to explain things."
Just then Sue and Legolas came back upstairs and the elf had a rather pleased smile on his face.
"I take it Legolas has been suffering living with teetotalers?" Elrohir said, quite loud enough for Legolas to hear.
"Miserably," Legolas replied with a grin as he set down the wine bottle he was carrying on the table and Sue fetched a corkscrew.
Dinner was pleasant and Sue waited until dessert before asking what the plan was for weathering a potential attack on her house.
"First, are there any doors or windows leading to your cellar or attic?" Glorfindel asked.
"None you can get in. There are block glass windows down in the cellar to let in light, but nothing anything could get in, and there's nothing in the attic. It's really just some storage space behind the closets," she answered.
"Good, that will be one less thing we have to worry about," Glorfindel replied.
"We will patrol outside and one of us will keep awake inside and rouse the others if they appear," Legolas said.
"What can I do to help?" Sue asked.
Lothril put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Sleep well and don't worry. We can handle them."
"How many are left now?" Sue asked.
"Eight," Elrohir said.
"Five to eight, not great odds," Sue said.
"They are not as bad as you think," Legolas said. "All of us save Lothril have many, many years of experience fighting orcs, and though Lothril does not have as many years, she has proven herself mighty in battle. At the Battle of Pelannor Field she fought three foes at once for several minutes until Gimli and I could reach her and give her aid."
"I guess that's pretty reassuring," Sue said thoughtfully. "Well, I've had a long day, so I'm gonna turn in early. Goodnight everybody."
There was a chorus of goodnight's in reply and just before she left Elrohir said, "And Sue – if you have anymore such dreams or hear or see anything, let us know right away. You needn't worry, but you may see something before we do and the sooner we have notice, the better."
She nodded and with that headed up to bed.
