Chapter Twenty: Strike a Deal
Notes: Last chapter of the week!
My eyes flashed open and I heaved a cough so far from inside my body I was convinced my stomach was trying to jump out. I looked down into the water as I spewed up all the liquid in my lungs, my insides burned and I held onto the edges of the barrel for support.
"Thank Mahal. She's half drowned, but she's alive," I heard Thorin say from behind me. I felt him take a relieved breath.
I looked over my shoulder when I could muster a breath and noticed that I had somehow ended up in his barrel. We were still floating down the river but the current was a lot more calm. I coughed more, tears running down my face from how hard I was heaving and struggling for air. He patted my back and reminded me to take deep breaths.
"D-Did we get away?" I gasped.
"We think we've lost them," he confirmed.
He removed his arms from around me and I realized he must have had to save my life. "I nearly died again, didn't I?" I attempted to joke, wiping the water off my face.
"I think we were all a little too close for comfort. However you were the only one floating your way down the river like a dead animal."
"I'm a burglar, not a swimmer." I turned around in the barrel so we could face each other. "Thank you for saving me. I think our score is even again."
"Let's keep it that way, Lydia." His eyes lingered on me for a moment before he turned to everyone else. "Head into shore!"
The entire company crawled and fumbled their way onto the rocky shores, exhausted and sopping wet and frozen to the bone. I stumbled and almost fell several times, shivering and still struggling to get a clear breath into my lungs. Everyone looked miserable as we tried to put some distance between us and the river.
I heard a loud stumble and the pained groans of Kili. I looked and saw that he was collapsed on the rocks, his expression hard like he was trying to hold back the worst scream of his life. I hurried over to him, without falling, and saw the injury on his leg where he was shot with the arrow. It was impossible to tell how deep it truly was, but it was certainly worse than I initially thought.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Kili said, seeing the worry on my face.
I turned to Thorin. "We need to rest for a moment, Kili is hurt."
"There's an orc pack on our tail. We keep moving," Thorin directed.
"To where?" Balin asked.
Bifur said, "We're getting short on time, we should head to the mountain. We're so close at this point."
"A lake lies between us and that mountain. We have no way to cross it."
"So then we go around it."
Dwalin said, "The orcs will run us down, as sure as daylight. We have no weapons to defend ourselves either. A hobbit with a sword and a single bow won't be enough to protect ourselves if they find us again."
"Bind his leg quickly so he can get back on his feet. We need to get moving again right now," Thorin instructed Fili and I.
Fili ripped off part of his shirt and assisted me with binding up Kili's leg as securely as we could. He winced and complained the entire time about us fussing over him but Fili wasn't afraid to tell his brother to shut up and sit still.
Out of the corner of my eye, a dark figure rose out of the rocks. I wasn't the only one who noticed the man with the nocked bow and arrow. Dwalin jumped in front of Ori, a tree branch in hand to defend him but as soon as he took a step forward the figure lodged an arrow in between his hands. Fili thought he would be brave and picked up a rock, but the stranger shot it out of his hand without a moment of hesitation, I don't think he even took the time to really aim.
"Do that again, and you'll be dead in a blink of an eye," he threatened, knocking another arrow and pointing it at us.
Dori reached down to try his hand at throwing a rock, but Balin touched his shoulder and lowered his hand.
Balin stepped forward, the most friendly and innocent looking out of all of us. "Excuse me, but you're from Laketown if I'm not mistaken? That barge over there, it wouldn't be available for hire, by any chance?"
The man lowered his bow when he realized we were not a danger. He still squinted at us skeptical but went along with his business. He did not answer us as he turned and went back to his boat. Balin waved for us to follow after the dark haired man.
"Kind sir? We could really use the help getting across the lake and we are more than willing to pay out for it," he continued after him.
"Why would any of you think I'm the helping type?" he said, loading the barrels onto his boat. "Especially to strangers."
He hurried across the dock. "Those boots have seen better days, as has your coat. And I'll wager you have some hungry mouths to feed. If you can help us, then we can help you." He looked up to Balin for a moment but kept working. "How many bairns?"
"A boy and two girls," he responded gruffly.
"And your wife's a beauty, I'll wager?"
"Aye…she was."
Balin looked like he was about to swallow his tongue. "Ah, I apologize. I didn't mean to bring up painful memories."
Dwalin muttered to Thorin saying, "Come on, come on, enough of the niceties."
The man stopped rolling the barrels and looked up to us. "What's the hurry?"
"What's it to you?" Dwalin said back.
"I would know who you are and what you are doing in these lands."
Balin tried to take the situation back over, "We're simple merchants from the Blue Mountains, journeying to see our kin in the Iron Hills."
"Simple merchants huh?" He looked all of us over.
Thorin said, "We need food, supplies, and weapons. Can you help us?"
He shook his head and went back to rolling the barrels onto the barge. "I know where these barrels came from."
"What of it?
"I don't know what business you had with the Elves but I do not think it ended well." He pointed out a barrel with sword slashes and arrow indents. "No one enters Laketown but by leave of the Master. His wealth comes from trade with the Woodland Realm. He will see you in irons before risking the wrath of King Thranduil."
Balin said, "I'll wager there are ways to enter that town unseen."
"But for that you would need a smuggler. I'm no such thing, if you didn't notice." He set down his bow and arrow, getting ready to leave without us but Balin wasn't going to let him slide out from between his fingers.
"Aye, a smuggler. For which we would pay double."
We sailed through the misty, icy water of the lake and I was chilled to the bone. My body and mind was exhausted and I desperately wanted a hot bath and a soft bed. I sat towards the back of the boat by our captain as he directed the tiller.
"Watch out!" Bofur shouted as large shadows loomed over us.
The bargeman easily waved between the desolated walls that seemed to just appear in front of the boat. We seemed to narrowly make it without capsizing but he didn't seem bothered or worried even the slightest.
"Are you trying to drown us?" Thorin accused.
"I was born and bred on these waters, Master Dwarf. If I wanted to drown you, I would not do it here."
Some of the dwarves muttered among themselves, clearly not pleased with him.
I pulled my tattered cape tighter around my shoulders and looked at the human. "Ignore them, they're not usually this cranky."
"I believe dwarves are actually renowned for their crankiness. Though, you are not a dwarf are you?"
"No, I'm a hobbit."
"A hobbit? You must be far from home because I've ever heard of such a creature."
"I most certainly am," I chuckled. "We're prevalent west of the Misty Mountains. My name is Lydia, by the way."
"Bard," he responded. "What is a 'hobbit' doing traveling with a bunch of cranky dwarves anyway?"
"I have got that question asked of me several times on this trip." I knew I had to lie to keep up with what Balin had told him. "It's dangerous to travel alone so I've just kind of joined in as they travel east to the Iron Mountains. I'm just looking to travel as far as I can go, maybe I'll head back west eventually, maybe not."
"Sounds like you have a death wish."
"I think living in such a cold, miserable place must have a death wish."
"Touche, though some of us are unable to just pack up and leave."
"Put some roots down, huh? Damn shame."
Dori waved his arms at me, trying to get my attention. It looked like him and the other dwarves were huddled up and wanted me to join them.
"Excuse me, Bard." He gave me a single nod and I got off the ground. I wandered over to the dwarves and it sounded like they were all discussing money, checking their pockets and trying to find ten more coins. "What's going on?"
"We're short for his payment," Balin explained. "Lass, do you have any money with you where you'd be able to chip in?"
"She's probably only got nothing but soaps from Beorn in her bag," Dwalin scoffed.
"Aye, maybe some perfume and honey," Gloin laughed.
I frowned at him, not amused. "Then why don't you chip in, Gloin?"
"I've already put in everything I've got!"
"What about the little coin bag you keep under your arm, inside your coat?" I mentioned, crossing my arms.
Everyone turned their eyes to him and he scrambled, he never had much of a poker face. "D-Don't look at me! I've been bled dry by this venture and what have I seen for my investment? Eh? Nought but misery and grief! "
Behind Gloin, through the mist and the fog, emerged the Lonely Mountain. It was closer than ever and somehow even larger than I had imagined. I had never seen something so large in my entire life. It was awe inspiring as it loomed over us, like some ancient god. We all turned and stared at it and the atmosphere completely changed.
Gloin grabbed into his coat and shoved it to Balin. "Just take it, take it all!"
I didn't even have to mention the full bag of money I had from Bree. I hadn't had to use it at all on our travels so it was still just as full as I left. For their teasing though, it felt right for Gloin to pay the extra amount.
Bard suddenly came from the back of the boat and said, "The money, you need to give it to me now."
Thorin put himself between Bard and Balin. "We'll pay you when we get our provisions and not before."
"If you value your freedom, you will do as I say. There are guards ahead and I will need the money to pass."
We all looked off into the distance and saw the edges of Laketown. The city was built on stilts over the water. It looked like a truly dark and dreary place. As we drew closer we could see the checkpoint with the guards Bard had mentioned. With nowhere else to hide, we were jumping back into the barrels.
Bard pulled up the dock and went onto the dock to speak with one of the men. The dwarves were of course itchy about the whole situation since they had to hand off the money to him. They were all paranoid and muttering to each other, convinced that they were being ratted out and betrayed. I told them to just stay quiet and be patient. As Bard said before, if he wanted to get rid of us then he would have already.
Perhaps I should have been slightly more worried than I was, because we had a load of wet, cold, dead fish dumped on top of us. It took everything in me to not make any noises of disgust or jump out of the barrel.
We heard the boat begin to sail again and Bard told us we were going to be approaching the toll gate, reminding all the groaning dwarves to stay silent.
I just closed my eyes and tried to focus on anything else besides the smell or the feeling of the fish around me.
"Halt! Good's inspection, pull alongside! Papers, please!" a voice boomed. "Oh, it's you, Bard. Good morning!"
"Good morning, Percy," Bard greeted.
"Anything to declare?"
"Nothing except that I'm just cold and tired and ready for home."
"You and me both." There was a stamp on paper. "There we are, everything appears to be all in order-"
"Not so fast you two!" another voice arose. I shifted slightly so I could look outside through a small hole in the barrel. A lanky, sickly, oily looking man with a horrible unibrow approached Bard and Percy with guards behind him. He snatched the papers from Percy's hands and read them outloud. "'Consignment of empty barrels from the Woodland Realm'. Only they're not empty, are they Bard? If I recall correctly, you're licensed as a bargeman, not a fisherman." He tossed the papers away and approached the boat.
"Find somewhere else to bother, Alfrid. This is none of your business, you don't need to stick your nose into this."
"Very wrong, Sir. This happens to be the Maester's business, which makes it my business as well," he sneered.
"Come on, have a bit of a heart. People need to eat around here or they're going to starve," Barb beseeched.
"All I need to know is that these fish are illegal and I simply can't allow them to go through these walls!" He seemed to relish in foiling Bard's plan to feed the hungry. I think I would have very much enjoyed shoving him into the freezing lake water. "Empty these barrels over the side!"
One of the guards stepped forward, he must have been the captain because of the difference in what he wore as a uniform in comparison to the rest of them. "You heard him, into the canal! Every last one of them!"
Guards climbed onto the barge and started grabbing at the barrels. I bit on my tongue and tried to stay perfectly still and silent.
Bard said, "Folk in this town are struggling. Times are hard, food is scarce-"
"That's not my problem."
"And when the people hear the Maester is dumping fish back in the lake? When the rioting starts will it be your problem then?"
My barrel began to tip and fish started to slide off the top. I heard them flop into the water below and I was sure I was going to be next, falling into the water.
"Stop," he growled. The guards froze their movement and waited for more direction. "Ever the people's champion, eh, Bard? I bet you think of yourself as a sort of 'Protector of the common folk'. A lowly hero to lift up those who are suffering. You may have their favor now, Bargeman, but it won't last. It never does. The Maester has his eye on you for a while now, I hope you know. You would do well to remember that we know where you live."
"It's a small town, Alfrid, everyone knows where everyone lives."
The guards put the barrels back and shuffled off the boat. Then the gate was raised and we were moving on into Laketown. I wish I could say I could breathe easier, but the fish still made that very difficult. I could imagine that the rest of the company were fuming at the cold and stinky position we found ourselves in, but I still managed to find a bit of relief. We were still a million times safer within Laketown than we were on the edge of the river, waiting for the orcs or elves to catch up to us. We were uncomfortable, but we were alive.
And we were only getting closer to Erebor.
