THE FORGOTTEN
Coffee, Gossip, and a Pyre
Author's note: The chapter in which – Sue orders a cup of a coffee and learns there's blurry photographic evidence…that every mysterious myth and legendary legend hopes for! …Also – just a reminder that this is set in 2004 and that digital photography, particularly trail cams, were not then what they are now. That is pertinent to this chapter.
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Elladan was the first one downstairs, and he assumed the first one up as he heard nothing from the other bedrooms. The sun had been up about an hour and he supposed as he was the first one up, he ought to see about making everyone breakfast. He went into the kitchen and out of the corner of his eye saw something in the family room that made him turn his head.
Legolas and Lothril were asleep on the couch, his arms around her, and her head on his shoulder and her hand on his chest. They both looked so peaceful and happy that he smiled. He hadn't really seen them together like this except that one night in Ithilien when he and Elrohir caught them kissing, but that was different. He had no qualms about interrupting their snogging in the woods. They were just lucky it was he and his brother that found them and not some soldier who would run off and tell tales. But this… he wouldn't wake either of them right now for much. It was strange, but at times it almost seemed like one could see the bond between them. His ability to perceive unseen things (like fëa, barrow wights, and such non-physical things) was fairly strong all things considered, but even he was surprised at times at how clearly he could perceive it. He only stood there a second though before he turned towards the refrigerator and began pulling out things for breakfast. The refrigerator and the stove were on the other side of the kitchen and if he kept his attention on making breakfast, he would give them their privacy while simultaneously giving them a subtle wakeup call. He supposed Lothril wouldn't be thrilled to know she had been caught sleeping on Legolas. She was peculiar like that.
Legolas awoke first to the smell of coffee being made. He was seriously going to miss coffee. Maybe the Easterlings or Haradrim grew it… he decided he would have to look into it. He looked down to see Lothril still asleep on his chest and smiled. Some lines from the Lay of Leithian flitted through his head:
Though all to ruin fell the world
and were dissolved and backward hurled
unmade into the old abyss
yet were its making good for this
the dusk, the dawn, the sky, the sea
that Luthien for a time should be.
She was his Luthien. Though he was very glad neither of her fathers were Thingol and demanding a Silmaril. His thoughts were interrupted by a loud clang of a frying pan on the stove top and Legolas reckoned it was someone's subtle way of waking them up. He supposed there was little chance of anyone puttering around in the kitchen and not seeing them.
"Lothril, meleth nin, echuio, (Lothril, my love, awaken)" he said softly.
She blinked and looked up at him and smiled. "Good morning!"
"Good morning, melethel," he replied.
Lothril heard noises coming from the kitchen and froze.
"Worry not," Legolas said, "I think it is one of your brothers. He is clanging around to wake us, I think. Or else he has gotten very clumsy."
"I heard that," came an elven voice from the kitchen.
"See?" Legolas said with a grin then added mentally, "And if he is clanging around, that means he saw us, and if he saw us and did not wake us, that means he is not upset by what he saw, so you need not be so tense and embarrassed."
"Still…"
His only reply was to lean in and kiss her...several times… before he finally paused long enough to say with ósanwe, "This is nothing to be ashamed of, Lothril. Neither was our kissing last night nor falling asleep in each other's arms. We are elves, after all, and so is your brother in the kitchen. He knows our natures and thinks nothing of finding us like this, I am certain, and there is nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about."
"I was almost comfortable with this and then I returned," she replied with a shake of her head. "At least now the embarrassment is being challenged by a desire to… I do not have the words for it in any tongue."
"You need not have the words right now. They will either come in time or else you will act upon the desire and it shall likely not need words. Shall we go greet your brother and get ready for the day?"
She gave him a quick kiss and then got up. Legolas took her hand and they went into the kitchen.
"Good morning," Elladan greeted as they sat down at the counter. "Sleep well?"
"Quite," Legolas replied with a grin. "And you?"
"I slept well, but clearly not as well as the others as they seem to be asleep still," Elladan replied.
"Maybe your brother still is," Glorfindel said as he came into the kitchen. "And if he does not get up soon, I shall go wake him. We ought to be in the forest already."
"I think we will be fine if we do not make it out for a little while," Elladan replied.
Just then they heard the front door open. Glorfindel turned to see Elrohir coming in the door wearing his camouflage and looking like he had been up and about.
"And what have you been up to?" Glorfindel asked.
"I went out for some casual orc tracking. The one you shot, Legolas, did not make it very far. I just got back from hauling the body back in a wheel barrow. I think the other two yet live, or at the very least made it further," Elrohir replied.
"When did you get up?" Elladan asked. "And why did you not wake me?"
"An hour and a half ago, and I had no intention of finding an orc corpse. I only intended to take a walk," Elrohir replied.
"Yeah, about those bodies – are we going to work on burning them today or are we going to hunt the last two orcs?" Lothril asked.
"I do not see why we cannot do both," Elladan said as he turned his attention back to making breakfast, which was looking like it was going to be pancakes and sausage.
"I can't say I've burned a lot of a bodies, but I well imagine we can't just light them up and leave them," Lothril replied.
"No, that would not be wise," Elrohir agreed. "However, it does not take five elves to manage a pyre. I think we can divide ourselves safely enough. Elladan, Glorfindel, and myself can go hunt the last two orcs and you and Legolas can stay behind and mind the pyre and make sure Sue is alright."
"That sounds reasonable," Lothril said.
Breakfast was well under way when Sue finally came downstairs ready for the day and looking put together and quite like her usual self. "Good morning, guys!" she greeted cheerily.
"Good morning," Glorfindel replied. "How are you this morning?"
"Oh, I'm fine," she replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. "How's my truck?"
"Only some minor dents in the bumper," Lothril said.
"Oh good. Where'd you park it?" she asked.
"It's in front of the garage," Lothril answered.
"Good. I've got some errands to run today. Are you guys gonna be around for the next couple days?" Sue asked.
"With any luck, we will find the rest of the orcs today or tomorrow," Elrohir said.
"But we think it very unlikely they will attack the house again, and as there are only two of them, we shall return to our house tonight," Elladan added.
"Two? I thought there were three," Sue said with knit brows.
"There were, but one of them succumbed to his injuries after he ran off. I found him this morning and hauled the carcass back here," Elrohir said.
Sue made a scrunched disgusted face and nodded. "Whatcha making for breakfast?"
"Pancakes and sausage," Elladan answered.
"Hmm… I think I'll pass today, but thank you for making breakfast," she replied. "Well, I'm off! I expect I'll be gone a few hours." With that she grabbed her purse off the counter by the wall and slung it over her shoulder and headed out the door.
Sue got in her truck and turned it on. Last night had been terrifying, and she really was feeling better this morning, but she really, really needed to get away from Elves and orcs for a few hours and hang around some regular humans in a regular town where people only complained about raccoons getting in their trash and deer and rabbits getting into their garden. Not orcs charging their front porches.
The drive into town was very uneventful. The roads were mostly dry with a few puddles lingering here and there, but she knew by the time she headed back they'd be pretty much gone. She was hungry and she really wanted some coffee so she made a beeline for Grinding Coffee.
The little bell rang over the door as she entered and the middle-aged owner of the shop looked up over her reading glasses and said, "Oh hey Sue! How are ya today?"
"Oh hi Diane, I'm fine. Decided to get breakfast here today and then run some errands," Sue said.
"Are you sure?" the owner asked. "You look a little out of sorts."
"Yeah, I just had a rough night, is all," Sue said.
"Oh. I thought maybe you heard it too," Diane said cryptically, looking like she was just dying to tell Sue a story.
"Heard what?" Sue asked with a funny feeling she already knew.
Diane leaned over the counter and said conspiratorially, "Well, your neighbor-lady Sarah was in and she said she was woken up in the middle of the night last night to some sorta crazy howling. Said she never heard the like before and it scared her senseless. Then she said this morning her husband goes out to check the trail cam they've got on their property to see there was anything there, and she said they got this blurry image of something walking on its back legs and all they could make out was legs, fangs, and claws."
Yup. Sue already knew. "Oh, it was probably a bear," Sue said dismissively.
"Not how your neighbor described it. Her hubs said it definitely wasn't a bear and she seems to think it's the dogman," Diane said seriously.
"The dogman? Really, Diane?" Sue said skeptically, all the while knowing she thought the exact same thing yesterday afternoon.
Diane shrugged. "I'm not saying I believe it, but we both know Keith is an avid hunter. I don't think it's too likely he'd be wrong about it not being a bear. And it would account for the howling she heard."
"Yeah, but we've got coyotes and foxes around here too and they can sound awfully weird sometimes," Sue said.
"Maybe," Diane said. "But then after she left, I had a ranger from the state park in here. He said they got flooded with calls and complaints last night and this morning about people hearing some strange howling last night and maybe a wounded animal, so he went out riding around on a quad around sunrise and he said he found some creature he's never seen before, lying in the woods dead as a doornail. He said he radioed it in and headed back to go get a wagon or something to haul it away in and by the time he got back it was gone with nothing but some dark blood left on the leaves. He said he didn't examine it too closely because it was big and it was misty and foggy and he didn't want to risk getting too close in case it wasn't dead quite yet; and he figured they could take a look at it back at the station, but he said it didn't look like anything he had ever seen before. But here I am yakkin' up a storm and you're wanting breakfast and a coffee. What can I getcha?"
"Oh, uh a breakfast veggie wrap and a medium dark roast," Sue answered, surprised she managed a coherent sentence with how her mind was whirling.
"For here or to go?" Diane asked.
"For here," she replied. She wanted to sit and think for a spell. "Did that park ranger say anything else?" Sue asked as she fished a ten dollar bill out of her wallet and put it on the counter.
"Just that they were going to search the park today for the creature and if they don't find it, just chalk it up to another bit a weirdness," Diane answered.
"Oh," Sue said. "Hey, I forgot my book in the truck. I'll be right back. Put my change in the tip jar."
Sue went back out to her truck, dialing her home phone number as she went and hoping at least one Elf was still inside.
Ring
Ring
"Hello, Sue Miller's house," came a girl's voice.
"Oh Jen! Thank heavens! Are the others still there?"
"Just a sec," she replied. Sue could hear a slightly muffled Lothril calling for the others to come back into the kitchen and then suddenly her voice got clearer as she switched it to speaker. "Alright, they're all here. What's up?"
"Listen, Diane at the coffee shop said my neighbor Sarah was in this morning and she heard our friends last night and then Keith got a blurry picture of one of them on his trail cam," Sue said.
"That is less than desirable, but hardly warranting a phone call," a male voice said. Was it one of the twins?
"Yeah, but that's not all. The rangers at the state park got a gob of calls this morning about hearing some crazy howling or a wounded animal, so one of them went riding around the park this morning and found the same one Elroy did. Fortunately, it disappeared between when he found it and when he got back with a trailer or something to haul it away with. Then, he told Diane that they plan on searching the whole park today to try to find the thing. She made it sound like if they don't find it today, they'll just let it drop, but if they do find them…"
"We just wrote a new episode for Unsolved Mysteries," Lothril suggested.
"I was thinking Kolchak: The Night Stalker, but you're too young for that reference. But yes. Okay, I'm gonna go and keep my ears open and let you know if anything pops up. Oh, and I suppose it might not really matter, but it seems Sarah thinks our mystery creature is the dogman, if she does, of all people, I have little doubt others will think that too," Sue said.
"Thank you for telling us," Glorfindel said. She could definitely pick out his voice.
"You're welcome. Good luck and be safe. Bye guys!" with that Sue hung up, grabbed the book she kept in the truck, and headed back inside.
"Oh hey," Diane said when Sue came back inside, "Are your grandkids here yet?"
"Oh yeah, got here day before yesterday. I'll bring 'em in soon. Would have today, but they wanted to get a jump on some burning that needs done. Which reminds me, if you see smoke out my way, don't worry about it. It's just us doing our burning."
Diane nodded. "Good to know. You know how I worry about you out there."
Spending an hour or two at the coffee shop was enlightening. Diane was chatty and everyone was usually happy to give her news and gossip, which she would selectively pass along. Today though, it seemed the talk of the town was the strange howling and the weird creature in the state park. A few campers even came in and told her about it, though all they could really add is that it definitely didn't sound like anything they had ever heard before. And if the number of state and national park bumper stickers on the back of their Jeep were any indication, they had spent some time outside.
After an hour or two, traffic in the store began to pick up and she decided it was best she scooch on out to free up a table. After a quick wave to the owner, Sue returned to her truck and headed out to work on her errands. One of which switched from 'go to the grocery store' to 'go to the farmer's market' because suddenly Sue decided it might be wise if she was up on all the gossip that was to be had about last night. Sure enough, the whole farmer's market was buzzing with it. It seems the howl was heard first hand by four or five of her neighbors, though none of them were sure which direction it came from, as trees can throw sound around weirdly, and the detective show watching public seemed to think that it must have occurred somewhere on the Morley's property as they seemed to be about middle of the circle of people that heard it and they have all kinds property that a critter of earthly or mythical origin could hide on.
Of course, Sue knew this was wrong and the logic pretty bad, because no one asked her, or tried to get a hold of 'those new guys from England up at the ol' Johnson's place' to see if they heard it, and of course, they had. The guys would have heard it at their house too, because Sue's place was where it happened. However, she wasn't volunteering anything, and she decided it best not to bring the Elves up at all. After getting gossip and groceries at the farmer's market, and then some supplies she needed for a few odd jobs around the house from the hardware store, she headed back home, and sooner than she strictly meant to.
As she headed back, she could see thick smoke coming up from her backyard. She was really glad she thought to tell Diane they were burning today. Of course Diane assumed brush, and Sue was happy to let her think that. She vaguely hoped that Lothril spotted her brush pile and decided to burn that along with those evil creatures, but if she didn't, she supposed she could always ask her to throw it on.
Legolas and Lothril heard the truck pull up and came up to help her haul stuff in the house.
"Do you need help carrying things in?" Legolas asked as they approached.
"Yeah, I wouldn't mind a little," Sue said. "You guys wouldn't believe the stories I've been hearing about last night!"
"Stories?" Lothril asked.
"Oh yeah! According to the rumors, either a coyote, a fox, a rabid raccoon, or the dogman was somewhere on the Morley's property last night howling up a storm before it wandered into the state park somewhere and played dead when a park ranger approached it, and then it ran away. Some are saying it's the same creature, and they are in the dogman camp, and others are saying those are two separate and unrelated occurrences and the howling was probably a coyote and the creature a bear with either a bad case of mange or some other strange skin disease," Sue repeated as they hauled everything in through the kitchen.
Legolas laughed at the 'bear with mange' theory. "You people will make up anything to rationalize away what is in front of your faces. Well, I suppose then I shall not worry about anyone discovering the truth."
"I'll only worry if the park rangers find the orcs before the others," Lothril said.
"I wouldn't worry too much at that, dear," Sue said. "They're the worst about rationalizing away everything. They'll tell you all day long there aren't wolves down in this part of the state, but I tell you, I've seen wolves before and they are down here. They just keep saying stray dogs and coyotes."
"For our purposes, I'm glad, but geez!" Lothril said, shaking her head.
As soon as everything was in the house, Lothril headed back outside to make sure the fire kept going. Sue had asked her about the brush pile, and she had indeed seen it and was slowly burning through it and using it to help keep the pyre going. It took the better part of the day to burn through everything, and that was with the miracles of gasoline, her maia abilities, and a very large pile of dry brush and old dried boards from a shed Sue had torn down a couple years ago. It was late in the evening when the others returned and Lothril jogged over to meet them.
"Any luck?" she asked.
"We found one in the ravine," Elrohir said. "And we questioned it as to where its friend was, it just said our guess was as good as his, though he did keep glancing at the swamp."
"So we killed him and threw him in with some rocks tied to him. Here is his armor and weapons," Glorfindel said, dropping a large old blanket with the corners tied together on the ground.
"So just one, left," Lothril said.
"Unless the Valar tell you differently, yes," Elladan said.
"I never dreamed this would go this quickly," she said.
"Quick for you maybe," Elladan teased. "We have been at this for a couple weeks."
She smiled and gave a quick chuckle. "I suppose it is all about one's perspective. Either way though, I expected to be up here at least a couple weeks. I hope Legolas and I get a chance to go to the lake before we leave."
"Why not go tomorrow?" Glorfindel suggested. "The weather should be perfect for it, and I am sure no one would begrudge you a day at the beach. We will keep vigilant."
"Maybe we will," she said.
The others went inside to report their progress to Legolas and Sue who were working on dinner. She sat down in the lawn chair she had pulled near the fire. She really had been expecting to be around longer. She wanted to go back, but she wasn't sure if she was ready to go back before a week was up. She was certain Legolas and the others were, but… she wanted to go back, but she wanted one more Michigan summer. She wanted to show Legolas the lake, and lay out under the stars with him, and- and-
She heard a rustling in the trees and her head snapped in the direction of the sound. She saw it running towards her with a snarl, sword drawn. She had taken the advice to keep her sword handy quite literally and drew it from its sheath as it rested against the chair. The fight was over in two strokes. One block and then her first swing and his head rolled off his shoulders and into the edge of the fire.
"Well that was easy," she said, honestly surprised at how quick that went.
In the house, the others had felt, heard, then saw the orc and went flying out of the house and before Legolas, who was the first out the door, could even leave the porch, it was over. He hurried over to her and she looked… asleep? Who falls asleep standing up right after killing an orc? The others reached her a second later and everyone stared at her, trying to figure out what was going on.
Suddenly it dawned on Glorfindel, "The Valar are speaking to her, I think."
"You are probably right," Elrohir said.
"Nothing else would make sense," Elladan said.
Legolas took her hand and waited. About a minute later she blinked and realized she was now surrounded by the others.
"Oh, I killed the last orc, it seems," she said.
"You were asleep," Legolas said.
"The Valar were speaking to me," she replied. "I guess they did not want to wait until I slept tonight. Anyway, they asked when I want to return and…" she looked at Legolas apologetically. "I am afraid I was a bit selfish. I asked if I could leave after the Fourth of July and they said yes. So about a month from now."
"That is not selfish," Legolas said. "Selfish would have been in sixty years from now. A month though is very soon."
"I am sorry to say, that month affects you too," she said, turning to the others. "They said to tell you will leave a few days after me."
"That is all one to us," Elrohir said. "We have enjoyed our time here, and another month is quite fine with us."
"Indeed," Glorfindel added. "Are you sure you do not wish for longer?"
"Whether I do or not, things are set," she said. "I'm going to go inside and telling Sue and then calling my parents to tell them. They were planning on coming up here for the fourth anyway, but maybe they'll come up sooner." With that she ran into the house.
"She was too considerate of us, I think," Elrohir said. "She wants to stay longer."
Legolas nodded in agreement. "I would have told her the end of August at earliest." He paused then said quietly, "She does not want to go to her parents' home. She has said goodbye to her childhood home and she cannot bear the idea of going back, I think. This has been a hard homecoming for her."
"I think you are right," Elrohir said.
Her dad couldn't take a month off of work, that much was obvious, but after talking with Grandma Sue and her parents on speaker, it was determined that next weekend, and every weekend until the Fourth, they would come up to Grandma Sue's on Thursday or Friday and back home on Sunday until the week of the Fourth when her dad had already scheduled the week off (it would depend each week on if he could work four ten hour days that week or not). Her mom even said the last week before the Fourth she might stay up there with Julie and Eddie and let her dad go home by himself, but they'd see. She still had her Thursday job, but that could be worked around. That her mother and father were so okay with her wanting to stay up there was just shy of miraculous to her, but they seemed to understand.
As soon as she hung up, Grandma Sue asked, "So, what's your plan for tomorrow?"
"Isn't there a quiet little beach around here that won't be jam packed with tourists?"
"Honey, tomorrow is Monday. All the tourists started heading out of town at 11am. You can have the run of any beach you want," Sue said. "But I think you're thinking of the beach just past here. Verne's Beach, I think it's called. I can't remember. Anywho, it's like a two mile drive, because you got to back half a mile to Pine Junction then take that down to Pike Road and then turn down what looks more like a driveway than a road and there you are. If you cut through the woods though, it's only half a mile past the guy's place."
"Hmm… I don't think cutting through the woods will be a hard sell to an Elf," Lothril replied. "Wait! No! I just realized, I forgot my swimsuit!"
"Well let's go get one. We'll leave the boys here and go get you one," Grandma Sue said.
"But where? Who is gonna have one and be open this late?" Lothril asked skeptically.
"Oh, don't you know? We're getting civilized out here in the sticks. A Meijer went in last year about halfway between here and Traverse City. It's probably only twenty to thirty minutes from here," Grandma Sue answered.
"Let's go!" Lothril said.
They headed out, towards the truck and Lothril ran over to the others and said, "Sue and I are going to Meijer. It's like half an hour away. We'll hopefully be back in less than two hours."
"We will mind things here," Elrohir said.
"What are you getting?" Legolas asked.
"I want to go to swimming at Verne's Beach tomorrow and I just realized I forgot my swimsuit," Lothril answered.
"That could be problematic," Elladan joked.
"A little," Lothril agreed. "Do you have one Legolas?"
"We have an extra pair," Elladan said. "For some reason, Mr. Benson who owns the clothing store in town had some sort of end of year sale going last year where if you bought three pair you got a fourth free. We thought it was peculiar, but he was insistent."
"Long story short, it probably helped him with his inventory," Lothril said.
Sue honked the truck horn and Lothril gave Legolas a quick kiss and ran off to the truck.
"What about this one?" Grandma Sue said, holding up a cute pink and yellow bikini.
"That's a whole lotta nope," Lothril replied.
"Why not? You've got the figure for it," Sue said.
"I don't like pink and I look horrendous in yellow, see?" she said as she grabbed a yellow suit and held it up. The minute she did, she looked jaundiced.
"Oh! Wow! Yellow is really not your color!" Grandma Sue turned back to the rack and looked for something less yellow and pulled out a sunset colored bikini with brown boy shorts that went with it. "What about this one?"
"Why do you keep pulling out bikinis?" Lothril asked.
"Why not? I used to wear one when I was your age. Our vineyard is up on the Leelanau and butts up to the shore. I spent most of the summer running around in a bikini with a cutest little matching cover up!" Sue answered, looking nostalgic all the sudden.
"Yeah, but bikinis back then were –"
"Jen, I was your age in the sixties. I owned that itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini the Beach Boys sang about. This definitely has more coverage," Grandma Sue answered. "However, if you want a tankini or a one piece, that's your call."
"Well, to be honest I kinda want one, but I don't know what my folks would say," Lothril answered, and rather astounded she was being so honest about it… with Grandma Sue… who apparently used to wear one…
"Not a darn thing. I've got a picture of your mom and dad at the beach in your neighborhood while they were dating and your mother was most definitely wearing one," Grandma Sue said with a wink.
"Imagine a place, a place of sight and sound and imagination, where your parents are absolutely nothing like how they sold themselves to you your entire life and you're engaged to an elven prince."
"Okay, Rod Serling," Grandma Sue teased. "Any of these catching your eye?"
Lothril shuffled through the racks of swimsuits until she found a pair of boy short bottoms with a sewn on belt that had wooden beads on it that were arranged to look like flowers and then she found a brown halter style bikini top with a thick bottom band and wooden ring between the two halves. It wasn't exciting, per say, but it fit her comfort and aesthetic better than pink and purple paint splattered zebra print, or hibiscus flowers, or black with white and red racing stripes. That and it seemed like literally the only swimsuit there that wouldn't gap terribly as she swam… the curse of being flat…
After a quick run through the check out, they were back in the truck and heading back to the house.
"Do you think we should pick up something for dinner on the way home?" Sue asked.
"Knowing them, they are likely to be up to their elbows in dinner prep," Lothril answered. "We could always call and ask them though."
"Yeah, best. If they don't have anything started, we'll get fried chicken or something," Sue answered. "My phone is in my purse."
Lothril found it and called the house.
"Hello, this is Sue Miller's house, this is Dan speaking."
"Greetings Elladan, it is Lothril. Has anyone started making dinner yet?"
"We have. Elrohir is working on the main course and Legolas is making dessert. Are you and Sue heading back?"
"We are heading back. We just left. We ought to be home in twenty-five minutes as that is how long it took to arrive," she answered.
"I do not think we shall be quite finished by then, but it will not be long after. If you decide to stop elsewhere ere you return, let us know so we may plan accordingly."
"I shall do so, but I do not foresee us stopping. Goodbye!"
"Goodbye!"
"Elvish is so pretty to listen to," Grandma Sue commented.
"I certainly think so," Lothril said with a grin.
"If it didn't leave me out of the conversation altogether, I'd tell you guys to talk it all night," Sue said.
"I'm sure we can mix it in a bit, if you like."