Hi, so this is my first LOTR fanfic...sorry if it seems a tad boring but I'm new to this, remember. I will try to upload every weekend, though if I'm busy and forget some reviews would remind me. :) Please tell me what you think and thank you for reading!
Disclaimer: I do not own LOTR, and any of the characters, or places that are familiar. I have read so much that If I accidentally wrote something oddly similar to something already written, I apologize in advance as it was not intended.
Chapter One: Dares
Tulip Hilltop blew her ebony curls away from her face with a defiant breath of air. The unruly curls had slunk free of the sleek red ribbon Mrs. Hilltop had so carefully prepared the young hobbit's hair with just that morning. Now that Tulip thought about it, it was as Mrs. Hilltop was forcing a comb through Tulip's hair that she had made Tulip promise that she would stay out of trouble.
Even so, Tulip Hilltop was not the sort of hobbit who denied a dare.
"Don't look down!" Came the snickering voices of children behind her. "You may get dizzy. Dizzy Libby!"
Tulip gritted her teeth and ignored them. She wasn't dizzy, and she had told them not to call her Libby. That was her father's pet name for her, not for snickering brats who came up with stupid dares.
Then again, she wasn't too merciful with her dares, either.
As Tulip inched her way across the creaking bridge, she deliberately took a great sweeping look at the roaring river beneath her, and stuck out her little pink tongue at the jeering children.
"I ain't dizzy!" She hollered in response, yet even as she said it Tulip felt herself grow lightheaded as the old bridge let out a groan and shook slightly beneath her as the water below rushed in jolting currents and tossed their ripples against the jagged rocks.
Once more, Tulip raised her head in defiance, amber eyes fixed steadily ahead and ebony curls dancing around her face in the breeze that rose from the river.
Gilbert Blackledge and his brothers were always up for scavenging some poor farmer's crops, pulling pranks, or stealing hot buns and pies from windowsills, but they never let girls join their so-called "gang."
Tulip had told them right away what she thought about that. Specifically with a good kick to their high and mighty shins.
This had made the brothers so angry, they condemned her to walking the Dead Man's Bridge.
It was called Dead Man's Bridge because the bridge was so old and rotten that any one who dared to try and walk it would likely end up…well, dead.
Even so, Tulip Hilltop was not the sort of hobbit who denied a dare.
So here she was, inching her was across the rickety planks, but with her chin jutted out just so and her head high so that the boys were not having quite such a fun time as they had expected.
Of course, they weren't trying to get her hurt, they just thought it would be jolly to see her shrieking and crying. The Blackledge brothers weren't necessarily bad boys, but they did tend to be impulsive and rash sometimes. Well, alright- all the time.
With a few more tentative steps Tulip had reached the end of the bridge, unscathed and looking quite smug about it, too.
"No fair!" Cried Monty Blackledge, the youngest and most annoying of the brothers. "That was no fun! Make her walk back, Gilbert. Make her walk back!"
"I already did the dare. Gilbert can't make me do it again unless he comes to this side himself, too," Tulip hollered back evenly.
Monty looked up at Gilbert expectantly, who had gone slightly green.
"No way. Dead man's bridge?" He shivered.
"What's wrong, you chicken? You can't take a little dare?" Tulip taunted, using the words Gilbert had said when she first hesitated.
"I ain't chicken! It's just stupid, that's all." Gilbert bristled, twisting his fingers in his tangled curls nervously.
"What he means to say," Tulip addressed his brothers, "Is that he would have a girl do a dare that he's too coward to repeat."
Monty punched Gilbert's shoulder (he had to jump) and said: "C'mon Gil! You're supposed to be our leader! What's to become of the gang if you're chicken!"
At this last statement Gilbert snapped at last. "Oh bother it all!" He exclaimed, eyes afire, and leaped into the bridge.
There was one, long creaking of boards and planks. Gilbert's face was deathly pale, and his eyes were slammed shut tightly. After a second or two had passed, and he still had not fallen through towards the river, he opened his eyes, saw he was alive, and whooped triumphantly.
No sooner had he done this than there was a great splintering sound and his figure fell downwards.
Tulip rushed forward at once, kneeling at the chasm in the bridge. She was of a slight build, and did not weigh much, so the bridge did not break when she peered over the edge. Gilbert had managed to keep his grip on the edge of the splintered plank, and was holding on for dear life.
"Grab my hand!" Tulip offered, causing Gilbert to open his eyes and stare around wildly.
"I'm not holding your hand!" The boy protested, surprising Tulip with his persistent stubbornness.
"Don't be an ass!" She replied breathlessly, grasping his forearm and pulling desperately.
Gilbert relented, hanging onto her hand as his fingers slipped from the plank.
"Ugh, your hands are so sweaty!" Tulip exclaimed. She turned to the scared little group of boys watching, saying: "Help me! Isn't he your leader? Come save him!"
Monty, and another boy (Martin, perhaps?) ran to her side immediately, grabbing hold of their brother by the shoulders of his sweater and heaving him onto the edge of the bridge again.
"That's right, now run!" Tulip called as the bridge released its dying breath.
None of them needed to be told twice. With great, leaping bounds they reached the end of the bridge and stumbled to the ground in a heap of tangled limbs.
The bridge collapsed in their wake, creating a great racket and smashing on the rocks below. Tulip pushed herself from the ground and peered over the edge. Her stomach lurched when she caught sight of her own red ribbon catching in the rocks as the river strained and pulled at it.
She turned back to the brothers who were all very still and excited looking.
"I think I've got a splinter," Gilbert said at last, holding up his bloodied hand and staring at it thoughtfully.
Tulip rolled her eyes and started away from the queer group, realizing all too late how dirty she was. Mrs. Hilltop was going to be furious.
"Wait!" Cried a voice, and Tulip turned to see Gilbert running after her. She scowled at him, all too aware of her tattered dress and the tangled bush of hair on her head. "What do you want now?" She demanded impatiently. What, oh what, would Mrs. Hilltop say?
"You can't tell anyone." Gilbert's eyes were pleading.
"Fine. I won't…but I still think you're chicken."
She turned to leave again, but Gilbert grabbed her shoulder, saying, "Wait-"
Tulip smacked his arm away and fixed him with a glare.
"I already said I wouldn't tell!" She snapped angrily, for the fear was at last catching up to her, and she was beginning to become rather disagreeable.
"I dare you to join our gang."
Gilbert's statement caught her off guard.
"I thought you didn't accept girls," she said skeptically. Gilbert just shrugged, something of a blush creeping onto his cheeks.
"Alright," was all she said.
After witnessing firsthand the stupidity of the so-called "gang," Tulip was not so sure joining the smartest thing to do.
Even so, Tulip Hilltop was not the sort of hobbit who denied dares.
