Elf Academy

Author’s Note: This story was inspired by some newspaper articles, which can be found online, describing the creation of an Elf Academy (Tonttuakatemia in Finnish) at the Lapland Vocational College in Rovaniemi, Finland [see, e.g,, ‘Tonttuakatemia: Yule school to teach Santa’s elves’, written by Agnieszka Flak, published on 19 December 2007 (Reuters)]. I was unable to find specific details concerning the Academy, but I wish to thank Thorsten Renk, who presently resides in Finland, for helping me find what information there was to be had about the types of courses taught at the Academy.

Obviously, this is very AU, written for the pure fun of it, and it is not to be taken too seriously. Northern Lights Community College is purely fictional. There is, however, a Wiseman, Alaska, situated about 200 miles north of Fairbanks. I have altered its population and its environs to suit the story, so there is no real correlation between the actual town and the fictional one other than their location.

All the Elves in this story are canon and were chosen because there is much ambiguity as to their ultimate fates, so I have decided that they survived into the present age. The Glorfindel in this story has the same history as the one in my Elf, Interrupted story, the only difference being that Glorfindel does not return to Aman during the Fourth Age. Mithrellas’ history (such as it is) is described in Peoples of Middle-earth, HoME XII, ‘VII. The Heirs of Elendil: The Line of Amroth’.

A note on capitalization: Whenever the Mortals, who do not believe in the existence of the Eldar, speak of the Elves, I indicate this by not capitalizing ‘Elf’ or ‘Elves’.

****

1: Daeron’s Great Idea

“You have to be joking,” Glorfindel said, glaring at Daeron from across the dining table of the three-bedroom flat that he shared with the ellon, along with the sons of Elrond and two ellith.

“This is your great idea for finding us work?” Nimrodel, once of Lothlórien, demanded, shaking her head.

“Hey!” protested the erstwhile minstrel and chief loremaster of Elu Thingol. “You have a better idea, please enlighten us.”

“But... Elf Academy!?” Elladan Elrondion exclaimed, his eyebrows nearly disappearing into his hair. “What sort of nonsense is this?”

“It’s perfect for us, don’t you see?” Daeron pleaded. “They’re offering to teach people how to be Elves for the Christmas season. Look.” He tossed them several copies of a glossy four-color brochure on the front of which was a photograph of three Mortals, one of them dressed as Santa Claus and the other two, a young Man and Woman, dressed in red and green felt coats with pointy hats and boots. All three of them were smiling somewhat manically into the camera. Above the photograph in bold red letters were the words ELF ACADEMY.

The others glanced through the brochures. Glorfindel snorted as he began reading the inside blurb to himself:

‘PROFESSION: ELF! Santa is in dire need of help this coming Christmas season as many of his elves have come down sick with snow flu. So, why not become an elf for a month and help Santa out? Apply to the Elf Academy at Northern Lights Community College, Wiseman, Alaska. Classes begin August 3rd and will run for sixteen weeks. You are guaranteed employment if you successfully complete the course. Exams to earn a professional certificate are part of the program.’

The once Lord of the House of the Golden Flower of Gondolin looked up from the brochure to give Daeron a considering look. “So, let me get this straight,” he said. “We will be Elves pretending to be Mortals pretending to be Elves.”

Daeron smiled, nodding eagerly. “An elegant solution, don’t you think? Who better than Elves to play being Elves?”

There was a slight pause and then Glorfindel sighed, closing his eyes. “Now I know how Julie Andrews must have felt in ‘Victor/Victoria’.”

There was a snort of amusement from Elladan who turned to his twin brother. “Well, what do you think of Daeron’s great plan?”

Elrohir did not answer immediately as he continued to flip through the brochure. Finally, though, he looked up. “I think the whole thing is daft.” Daeron’s expression became crestfallen. Then, Elrohir grinned wickedly. “So let’s do it.”

“Are you serious?” Nimrodel asked in disbelief.

Elrohir shrugged. “Sure. Why not? It’s not as if any of the rest of us have come up with a better idea.”

“It will cost money to travel there, not to mention attending this Academy,” Glorfindel pointed out. “The whole idea was for us to find suitable employment.”

“How much more suitable can playing yourself be?” Daeron interjected. “And besides, if we sell our cars and just keep your mini-van we’ll have enough money for the application fees for all of us as well as money to get us there. The college also offers scholarships and loans for which we can apply once we’re accepted into the program.”

“I still don’t see how any of this benefits us,” Mithrellas, the last member of their group, said. She, too, had once been of Lothlórien, and was a devoted companion to her lady, Nimrodel. “Even if we do this, we’ll only end up being employed for a month, and then what?”

“This Academy is a new idea, the first of its kind,” Daeron explained. “We go to the Academy, get our certificates and work for the month, then we go to some other country, Finland, for instance, where this Santa Claus is supposed to be living and we set up our own Academy and train people to be Elves for the tourist industry there.”

The other five Elves glanced at one another, trying to gauge what each was thinking. Daeron sat there trying not to fidget. When he had first come across information on the Elf Academy while surfing the World Wide Web, he had dismissed it as a Mortal gimmick, but on a second glance he had seen the possibilities for them. They were probably the last of their kind in Middle-earth, the other Elves having either faded or sailed. They had somehow found one another over the course of the millennia. In recent years they had been sharing a flat while pursuing various types of employment. All was going well for them, but when, because of the recent economic bust, they had each become unemployed over the course of the last month or so, they had decided to find something they could do together. The Elf Academy was the perfect solution as far as Daeron was concerned. He only hoped the others would see it as the opportunity that it was for them all.

“Well?” he couldn’t help asking. “What do you think?” He gave them an anxious look.

Glorfindel, as the nominal leader of their group, glanced around the table. “It just might work,” he said.

“It’s daft enough, that’s for sure,” Elrohir added, “and it’s better than sitting around collecting unemployment checks.”

There were nods all around. “Well, then, all we need do is get hold of an application form,” Glorfindel said.

Daeron breathed a sigh of relief and then smiled, pulling out a bundle of papers from a briefcase. “I have a copy of the application form for each of us,” he said, handing the forms out along with pens.

Elladan chuckled as he started filling out the form. “Let’s just hope we all get accepted, otherwise, I don’t think there’s any point in doing it.”

“Agreed,” Glorfindel said as he glanced over the form in front of him. Then, he looked up and gave them all a wide grin. “Wouldn’t it be ironic if we get accepted to this Academy, take the classes and then fail the exams?”

They all started laughing. “That would be beyond embarrassing,” Mithrellas exclaimed.

Then, the room settled into silence as they began filling out the forms in the hope of being accepted to the Northern Lights Community College’s Elf Academy where they would spend sixteen weeks learning how to be what they already were — Elves.

****

Words are Eldarin.

Ellon: Male Elf. The plural is ellyn.

Ellith: Plural of elleth: Female Elf.

2: Welcome to the Northern Lights

Luckily, they were all accepted into the program. Daeron and Nimrodel even received scholarships, much to their surprise, and that lightened the economic burden on the group. During the months before they needed to leave, they continued to collect unemployment checks, though for a few weeks Glorfindel was able to find work bagging groceries at a local supermarket when one of the store’s regular employees went into the hospital for an appendectomy. They sold their vehicles, keeping Glorfindel’s mini-van, and put what they would not need into storage and finally headed off. The road was long and wearying but after a week of traveling, camping out to save money on lodgings, their goal was in sight. Once past Whitehorse, in the Yukon Territory, they picked up the Alaska Highway to Fairbanks. There they splurged and found an inexpensive motel where they indulged themselves in long hot showers, visited a nearby laundromat, and ate at a McDonald’s which was across the street from the motel.

The next day, which was a Saturday, they set off for the last leg of their journey, taking the James Dalton Highway towards Wiseman, which was approximately two hundred miles away, about seventy or so miles north of the Arctic Circle. The scenery along the way was stunning, with the Brooks Mountain Range rising before them. Wiseman, according to the town’s webpage, which Daeron had printed out, lay in the foothills on the South Fork Koyukuk River.

“It’s the entry point to the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Reserve,” Daeron read to them as Glorfindel drove, “and was originally founded by gold miners back in 1919.”

Soon they crossed the Yukon River, and just beyond they came upon a marker indicating that they had crossed the Arctic Circle.

“Almost there,” Glorfindel said. “Maybe another hour or so.”

There were cheers and the Elves became excited. They had lived through much and had experienced just about all aspects of life, whether as Elves or pretending to be Mortals, but they were always eager for new experiences. That eagerness, Glorfindel had once pointed out, had probably been the reason why none of them had faded, as so many Elves who had not sailed had done.

True to his prediction, they came to the turn-off for Wiseman about an hour or so later. A sign stated that the town was only three miles away. Soon, they were crossing a bridge spanning the South Fork Koyukuk River into the town. They stopped at a 7-11 to stock up on some more snacks and to make sure that the directions they had to the college were correct. It turned out that it was situated on the northwest side of the town, closer to the mountains.

Glorfindel drove through the town while the others admired the scenery. “It’s rather pretty in a mortalish sort of way,” Mithrellas said.

Elrohir snorted. “You’ve lived in the Mortal world for millennia, Misty,” he said, using the name which she went by these days, “yet you never seem to admit that they can do something right every once in a while.”

Mithrellas gave him a sniff. “They will never surpass us Elves in the creation of beauty, Roy,” she answered, addressing him by his ‘Mortal’ name.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Elladan, who naturally went by the name Dan, said. “Morton Laurisden’s Lux Aeterna is about as sublime as you’re ever going to hear. Even our resident minstrel would agree to that, wouldn’t you, Darren?” using Daeron’s ‘Mortal’ name.

Daeron nodded distractedly, not really paying attention to the conversation as he was acting as Glorfindel’s navigator. “Turn left here at the light and then the college should be straight ahead.”

“Well, I think it’s a lovely town and the mountains in the background rather remind me of the Hithaeglir, don’t you think?” Nimrodel asked.

“Every mountain range reminds you of the Hithaeglir, Della,” Glorfindel said with a smile as he made the turn, “and the Ered Nimrais and the....”

“All right, all right, Loren,” Nimrodel said with a laugh. “Can I help it if I have a thing about mountains? Getting lost in them and wandering about for years....” she shivered and her eyes turned bleak. “If Misty hadn’t found me....”

Mithrellas took her hand and squeezed it. “I was never so happy as when I did, my lady. Guren ebennin enni. It is why I forsook my husband and children as I did.”

Nimrodel smiled at her closest friend. “And I am glad that you did, though it still grieves me that you had to make such a difficult choice as to leave your children.”

Mithrellas shrugged. “They fared well enough without me.”

“Here we are,” Glorfindel said suddenly and they all looked out the windows to see the campus before them. “Can we drop the past for a time and concentrate on the present? Darren, which way now?”

“The second right and then another left should see us there,” the Sindarin minstrel said.

Like much of the town they had just driven through, many of the campus buildings were constructed of wood and were no higher than four stories. There was a definite rustic look to the place that appealed to the Elves’ sensibilities.

“I think I could actually like this place,” Elrohir said as Glorfindel made the left turn that saw them facing a building that was only three stories high. There was a parking lot to the right and when Glorfindel showed the attendant their admission letters, he was allowed to enter.

“They’ll give you a sticker for the car during your orientation,” the attendant said. “Please be sure to have it on your vehicle before Monday or it’ll be towed.”

Glorfindel nodded and thanked the man before driving into the lot and soon the six Elves were tumbling out of the mini-van and gazing at what would be their home for the next five months.

They were amused to see a small wooden sign next to the main door of the building that had the words ‘Elf Academy’ carved into it. Inside the building they found themselves in a large foyer where a couple of tables were set up in the center, behind which two people sat. Above the two tables were cardboard signs with letters of the alphabet on them, the left sign reading ‘A-L’, while the right sign read ‘M-Z’. Other people were standing in one line or the other and the Elves split up to go to the appropriate line. Glorfindel, Daeron and Mithrellas went to the left while the other three went to the right.

When it was Glorfindel’s turn, he found himself standing before a young female with dark red-brown hair and chestnut brown eyes who looked up at him and just stared, her mouth hanging open in naked astonishment. Glorfindel hid a smile, familiar with the reaction he got from mortal females of all ages. “My name is Loren DelaFiore,” he said. “Should I spell it for you?”

“Huh? I mean, uh no,” the girl said hurriedly as she quickly flipped through the manila envelopes that contained each student’s orientation materials. “He... here you are,” she stammered and handed him the envelope. “Wel...welcome to the Northern Lights Elf Academy,” she added.

“Thank you,” Glorfindel said with a brief smile. “I’m looking forward to my classes... er... Cassie,” he said, reading the name tag on her blouse.

“Cassidy Morgan,” she answered, blushing somewhat shyly for some reason.

“A lovely name,” Glorfindel said and then stepped aside when he felt Daeron poking him in the back. Cassidy continued to stare at him.

“Hello,” Daeron said brightly. “I’m Darren, Darren Harper.”

“Oh, yes,” Cassie said, blinking rapidly and then gulping as she caught sight of the Sinda, her eyes nearly bugging out. “He-here you are. Welcome to the... um.. Northern Lights Elf Academy.” She rattled off the words rather quickly as if she was having trouble breathing.

Daeron thanked her and stepped aside for Mithrellas who looked upon the Mortal with amusement, for Cassie’s eyes were on the two ellyn who had moved away to look at their orientation packages and she was not paying attention to anyone else. “Excuse me,” she said, waving her hand in front of the girl’s eyes to get her attention. “Misty Grey.”

“Oh! What an unusual name,” Cassie said, blushing slightly as she rifled through the manila envelopes.

Mithrellas grinned. “It was a rather foggy morning when I was born and with a surname like ‘Grey’, well....” She gave her an elegant shrug.

Cassie merely nodded and handed her the package. “Welcome....”

“To the Northern Lights Elf Academy,” Mithrellas said, finishing the sentence for her, “and I thank you.” She turned away and saw that Nimrodel was now at the head of the other table with the Twins right behind her.

“Della White,” she heard Nimrodel say and then watched in amusement as the young man — she could see his name tag read ‘Matt’ — stared at her lady with the same look that Cassie had given Glorfindel and Daeron. It took him a few seconds to remember where he was and what he should be doing before he dragged his eyes from Nimrodel’s face and went through the envelopes before finding the one labeled ‘Della White’. He handed the package to her and just stared, quite forgetting to give her the usual welcome spiel. Nimrodel merely smiled broadly and stepped away for the Twins to come to the front of the line.

Matt blinked rapidly, as if not sure he should be seeing double. “Uh... names?” he asked hesitantly.

“Dan and Roy Ronaldson,” Elladan said briskly.

“Ronaldson.... Ronaldson.... Ah! Here we are,” Matt said and held up two packages and then gave the twins a bemused look. “Uh... which one of you is Dan?” he asked hesitantly.

Without even looking at one another, each ellon pointed to his twin and at the same time said, “He is.”

Mithrellas giggled at the nonplused expression on Matt’s face while Nimrodel rolled her eyes and gave Elladan a smack on the arm. Elladan gave her a wicked grin and then turned back to the Mortal. “I am, actually,” he said, taking the proffered envelope.

Matt nodded. “Well, welcome to the Northern Lights Elf Academy,” he said as he gave Elrohir his package. “I hope you enjoy your time here.”

“I’m sure we will, thank you,” Elrohir said smoothly as he and his twin moved aside and joined the others who were standing away from the crowd of students still waiting to get their packages.

“Let’s go out to the courtyard,” Glorfindel suggested and the others agreed. The building, they could see consisted of four wings with a center courtyard where they found benches on which to sit. They pulled out several sheets of paper from their envelopes. The first sheet consisted of a map of the building. In one corner of the map was a sticker with the person’s name and a room number. Only the Twins had the same number on their maps.

“I guess the rest of us will be sharing with Mortals,” Glorfindel said with a sigh.

“I wonder if we can ask to switch rooms,” Daeron said. “I don’t think it really matters who is in which room, does it?”

The others shrugged, not knowing what the Mortal etiquette would be. “Perhaps it would be best to keep the rooms and the roommates that have been assigned to us,” Nimrodel suggested. “We will have a better chance of observing these young Mortals and how they act so we can blend in better. We look no older than they, but we certainly have no idea how young Mortals act these days.”

Glorfindel nodded. “You’re right, Della,” he said. “I think it would be better as well.” He turned to the Twins. “You might consider asking to change rooms for this very reason.”

The Twins looked at one another and shook their heads almost as one. “We would rather stay together,” Elrohir said and the matter was dropped.

Looking at the map they saw that the front wing of the building consisted primarily of common rooms where people could congregate and relax. There was a games room and a TV room as well as a smaller lounge that was labeled ‘Quiet Reading’ and another room labeled ‘Aurora Borealis Internet Café’. There was also a cafeteria on the third floor and a small but apparently well-equipped gym on the second.

“All the comforts of home,” Elladan quipped.

“Except we never had a gym in Imladris,” his brother retorted.

“Not that we needed one,” Elladan replied. “Not with Glorfi training us.” Glorfindel merely smirked.

The two side wings were dormitories with the men in the left wing and the women in the right. The back wing consisted of classrooms. “Which means we have to traverse the front wing to visit with one another,” Daeron said with a slow smile. “I guess they don’t trust us.”

“Do you think they have curfews and such?” Mithrellas asked with a frown.

“We will abide by whatever rules there are,” Glorfindel said firmly, speaking more as an Elf-lord rather than their friend and companion, “however much we may find them ridiculous or onerous.” He gave the Twins a stern look. “Do not make me regret allowing you to come,” he told them.

“Allow us?” Elladan said archly. “Since when do you allow us anything?”

“Since always and forever,” Glorfindel replied coldly. “Imladris may no longer exist, but do not ever forget who I am.” He locked gazes with them and there were a few tense moments before the Twins looked away first.

“We’ll be good,” Elrohir promised and then added, “but do we have to be very good?”

“Just don’t do anything that will draw attention to us,” Daeron replied. “Remember why we’re here. We have a specific goal in mind and we don’t need you two messing things up for us.”

“We’ll be on our best behavior. Warrior’s Oath on it,” Elladan said formally and Elrohir repeated his words so as to make the oath his own.

Glorfindel seemed satisfied with that and they turned to other matters. “There’s an orientation meeting tonight after dinner,” he said, reading from the schedule, “and then it looks as if the rest of the weekend is ours to explore the town and its environs. Classes begin on Monday. Ah, here is the sticker for the car. Why don’t we go gather our things and find our rooms and roommates and get settled in? Dinner will be in about an hour or so according to this schedule. We can meet at the cafeteria.”

The others all agreed to Glorfindel’s plan and so that is what they did.

****

Glorfindel looked around the room that was to be his for the next five months. He had left the Twins and Daeron on the first floor. His room was on the third, looking out onto the courtyard. The room was not overly large. There were two twin beds and two desks, each with a reading lamp. Two sets of built-in wardrobes were on either side of the door. There was also a recessed cubicle containing a sink and mirror. He had passed the showers and toilets on his way to his room. It did not look as if his roommate had yet arrived, for both beds were unmade with the sheets, blankets and pillowcases neatly folded at the bottom of the beds. He decided to take the left-hand bed and threw his backpacks on it, going to the window and looking out. Behind the building the mountains rose to majestic heights, rugged and snow-capped. Nimrodel had been right. They did look a bit like the Misty Mountains.

He was lost in a memory of a time so far distant in the past that no Mortal could comprehend it, when he heard the door open. He turned to find a young man standing there, looking a bit uncertain. Behind him were two people who obviously were his parents. The boy, for Glorfindel did not think he was much more than eighteen or nineteen, had light brown hair and hazel eyes and was perhaps a few inches under six feet.

“Hello,” Glorfindel said with a smile as he went to greet the Mortal. “You must be my new roommate. I’m Loren DelaFiore.” He stuck out his hand and the young Man took it.

“Zu-zu-zack Austin,” the Mortal stuttered, staring up at him with an expression of mingled awe and anxiety. “I’m g-g-glad t-t-to meet you.”

“All the way in, son,” said his father with a smile and Zach blushed as he stepped further into the room to let his parents in. The man, an older version of Zach, thrust his hand out at Glorfindel. “Mike Austin,” he said by introduction, “and this is Zach’s mom, Patrice.”

“How do you do, sir, ma’am?” Glorfindel said more formally, as he shook Mike’s hand. He had long gotten into the habit of addressing any Mortal past a certain age with the respect he would have given to one of the High Kings among the Elves. Looking as young as he did, he knew that older Mortals would consider it a sign of disrespect for him to address them more familiarly, and these days, he noticed that many older Mortals were often surprised by his respectful attitude towards them, but also quite appreciative of it.

“DelaFiore,” Patrice Austin said, giving Glorfindel a frown. “Is that Italian? You don’t look Italian.”

“Now, Patrice, that’s not polite,” Mike Austin admonished her, giving Glorfindel an apologetic look.

Glorfindel just smiled. “There are many Italians with blond hair and blue eyes in northern Italy, Mrs. Austin,” he said smoothly. It was his standard reply whenever anyone asked about his heritage.

“You see?” Mike Austin said, giving his wife a triumphant look. He turned to Zach. “Now, son, you have everything?” Zach nodded, but did not say anything. “Good. Your mother and I will leave you to settle in and we’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” He gave his son a warm hug and an encouraging smile and his mother did the same.

“Be good and don’t forget to brush your teeth,” she said in a whisper that Glorfindel could hear easily enough and he watched in amusement as Zach blushed.

“Come along, Patrice,” Mike said, taking his wife’s arm, shaking his head in wry amusement. “Let the boys get acquainted.” Glorfindel had to suppress a grin at being labeled a ‘boy’. “Nice meeting you, Loren.”

“And you, sir, ma’am,” Glorfindel said, and then he and Zach were alone.

“S-s-sorry about m-m-my mom,” Zach said apologetically.

Glorfindel shrugged. “I was about to unpack and then go get dinner. I came up with friends. Would you like to join us?”

Zach nodded. “Th-thank you,” he said somewhat shyly and Glorfindel gave him a warm smile as he started to unpack, all the while wondering how anyone who stuttered would be able to act effectively as a tour guide.

****

Daeron was having his own encounter with a roommate, a young man named Judson — “Just call me Jud” — von Frank who sported a Mohawk dyed red and green — “For Christmas, y’know” — and several earrings. He had brown eyes and Daeron suspected that his natural hair color might be black, for his eyebrows were very dark. He was tall for a Mortal, perhaps six-two or three, though Daeron was taller still.

“I was, like, drifting, y’know,” Jud was explaining to the Sinda as they were unpacking their things. “Going from one lousy low-paying job to the next and not really knowing what I wanted to do.”

“So now you’ve decided you want to be an Elf?” Daeron asked in bemusement.

“Hey, man! It’s better than nothing,” Jud replied with a diffident shrug. “My brother, Jake, saw an ad about this place and thought it would be a good thing for me, ’cuz I’ve always, y’know, liked the outdoors and all and I’m good with people, especially with little kids.”

“I see,” Daeron said, though in truth he didn’t see at all. “Well, hopefully, things will work out for you. If you’re finished unpacking, why don’t we go find some dinner? I came up with friends and perhaps you would like to join us.”

“Great,” Jud said. “I’m starved. Let’s go.”

As they left their room, Daeron wondered if the others had roommates as strange as his.

****

“Oh!”

Nimrodel looked up from putting away some blouses to see a diminutive girl with golden-yellow skin and very black hair and eyes that looked out on the world behind thick spectacles. She was probably in her early twenties, Nimrodel guessed, but she looked more as if she were fifteen.

“Hello,” Nimrodel said with a smile.

“Oh!” the girl said again, her expression one of dismay, looking up at her. “You’re so beautiful.”

Nimrodel gave the girl a searching look and saw how insecure she must feel. She held out her hand. “My name is Della White. What’s yours?”

“Lily, Lily Zhang,” the girl answered shyly, taking the elleth’s hand.

“Lily. That’s a lovely name,” Nimrodel said. “Have you come far?”

“Anchorage,” Lily said as she plopped her baggage on the bed that would be hers. “What about you?”

“Oh, I’m from much further away than that,” Nimrodel said with a light laugh. “I’ve recently been living in California.”

Lily gave her a puzzled look. “But that’s not where you’re from?”

“No,” Nimrodel said, her expression a bit more wistful. “That’s not where I’m from.” Then she forced herself to brighten. “So, you want to be an Elf?”

Lily sighed. “I don’t know what possessed me to apply to this place,” she said as she sat on the edge of her bed. “I mean, whoever heard of an elf wearing glasses?”

“Yet, you applied and were accepted,” Nimrodel replied.

“I thought it would be fun and I’m interested in tourism. I wanted to be a stewardess, but I’m too short and not pretty enough.”

“Lily,” Nimrodel said, speaking carefully. “Do not sell yourself short. You are quite beautiful in your own way.” Lily gave her a look of disbelief and Nimrodel nodded. “You have an inner glow that is quite lovely to see.”

The girl stood up and went to stand before the mirror that was over the sink and stared at her reflection. “I don’t see any inner glow,” she said.

“It is there, though,” Nimrodel said gently, standing behind her, “and perhaps by the time we complete this course you will see it.”

Lily sighed. “Still, whoever heard of an elf with glasses?”

Nimrodel smiled. “You cannot possibly be the only student here who wears glasses. If anyone asks, though, just tell them you’re making a fashion statement. Now, I don’t know about you, but I could do with some dinner. Why don’t we finish unpacking and then go to the cafeteria? I have some friends I would like you to meet.”

Lily nodded, pushing her glasses up onto the bridge of her nose in an unconscious gesture before going to her bags and opening them. Nimrodel watched her for a moment or two before turning her attention to her own luggage.

****

Mithrellas entered her assigned room on the second floor, having left Nimrodel to climb to the third floor, to find it already occupied. “Hello,” she said as she entered.

“Hi there,” said the girl lounging on her bed with an MP3 player sitting on her stomach. She had dark brown hair and eyes. Above her bed she had tacked a poster showing a mushroom cloud. Overlaying the picture were the words: ‘The whole world is a madhouse but here is the center’.

“So you’re my roomy, heh?” the girl said, “I’m Shane Englebert, by the way.”

“Misty Grey,” Mithrellas said. “Shane... that’s a man’s name, isn’t it?”

The girl laughed. “My mom loved Alan Ladd in the movie. She thought the name was so cool and decided her first child, boy or girl, would be given that name.” She gave the elleth a wry look. “Parents... what can you do?”

Mithrellas laughed. “Indeed.”

“Misty,” Shane said. “Now that’s unusual. Is it short for something?”

“No, just Misty,” Mithrellas replied.

“Well, it suits you somehow,” Shane said.

“Thanks.” Mithrellas dropped her backpack on the other bed and gazed out the window. Their room faced the courtyard and she wondered if any of the ellyn’s rooms did the same. “So, what made you decide you wanted to be an Elf?” she asked Shane as she turned away to start unpacking.

“Oh, I’m not really into the Christmas thing, you know,” the girl said. Mithrellas gave her an enquiring look and Shane nodded. “My family’s actually Jewish,” she said with a grin.

“Ah....” was all Mithrellas could think to say.

“Yeah, but we’re not observant Jews or anything like that,” Shane explained hastily, “and I have lots of friends who celebrate Christmas.”

“But I don’t see why....” Mithrellas started to say but Shane cut her off.

“It’s like this. My mom and I don’t get along too well anymore, not since she married Hiram.” She spoke the name with an expression of distaste on her face. “And I just decided I needed to get away, you know?” She spread her arms out and gave the elleth a saucy grin. “And this is about as far away as I could think to get. Besides,” she added, putting her arms down, “I’ve always wanted to visit Alaska. I grew up in Brooklyn, you see.”

Mithrellas nodded dutifully, not sure what the girl meant, but let it go. She had learned long ago not to get too close to Mortals and their problems. Their lives were so short; it didn’t seem worth the effort.

“Hey!” Shane said, pulling out a cell phone from one of her jeans pockets to check the time. “If we don’t hurry, we’ll miss dinner.”

“I’m all set,” Mithrellas said. “I have some friends who are here. Why don’t we go find them and we can all eat together?”

“Cool,” Shane replied, putting her MP3 player on the desk next to her bed, and running a comb through her thick hair before heading towards the door. “Are any of them boys?” she asked and Mithrellas was not sure how to answer that. Not even the Twins could be considered ‘boys’ in her opinion, though they were by far much younger than the other Elves, so she just shrugged and gave the girl a smile as they headed for the cafeteria.

****

Words are Sindarin.

Hithaeglir: Misty Mountains.

Ered Nimrais: White Mountains.

Guren ebennin enni: ‘My heart told me’. This is the past tense version of the attested phrase Guren bêd enni ‘My heart tells me’ [See Vinyar Tengwar 41:11].

3: Getting Acquainted

Daeron stopped at the Twins’ room which was three doors down from his and introduced them to Jud. The Elrondionath looked at Jud’s parti-colored Mohawk with interest and Daeron could almost see the wheels spinning, as the saying went.

“Han ú-nautho,” he muttered, sure that the Twins would hear him. They both gave him a ‘What-are-you-talking-about?’ look that did not fool the older ellon.

“Sorry, did you say something?” Jud asked him.

Daeron shook his head. “No, just clearing my throat. Ah, here is another friend.”

They looked to see Glorfindel coming down the stairs with a Mortal in tow. Glorfindel took in Jud’s hairstyle, the innocent expressions plastered on the Twins’ faces and Daeron’s arched eyebrow all in a glance and muttered, “Lá nó tyelë randa sina.”

The Twins sighed almost as one and Daeron hid a smile. Then introductions were made all around as they continued towards the front wing where they met up with Nimrodel, Mithrellas and their respective roommates. The Elves were amused by the expressions on the faces of the Mortals, for the two young men stared at the ellith with the same look of awe as the two young women stared at the four ellyn. However, with practiced ease, the Elves ignored the flustered reactions of the Mortals and engaged them in conversation, asking about their families and such. By the time they reached the cafeteria and were working their way through the line, the four Mortals were more animated and relaxed in the presence of the Elves.

Looking around for a place where they could all sit, Glorfindel spied Cassie and Matt sitting alone at a table. Cassie was scanning the cafeteria line and when she saw him, she smiled and gestured for them to join her.

“We saved the table just for you,” she said as Glorfindel and the others approached.

“Thanks,” Glorfindel said and made the introductions, though Cassie already knew Zach and Shane, and Matt knew Lily and Jud. The main discussion around the table as they ate was why they had applied to the Academy.

“I w-w-want to major in to-to-tourism,” Zach told them. “The c-college in my city has a g-g-good program. M-m-my dad thought th-this ac-c-cademy would be a g-g-good place to start.”

Shane stared at Zach. “You cold or something?” she asked bluntly.

Zach gave her a blank look and then turned bright red in embarrassment. Mithrellas, who was sitting next to Shane stepped on her foot.

“Hey!” she protested as Mithrellas gave her a significant stare. “I was just asking.”

Glorfindel looked at Zach and smiled. “Your dad seems very encouraging,” trying to divert Shane and Mithrellas.

Zach nodded, looking proud. “H-he is,” he said. “He was the one who s-saw the ad and convinced me to apply, but I don’t th-think anyone will hire me even if I do fi-fi-fnish the course.”

“Employment is guaranteed,” Daeron pointed out. “I would not worry about it too much. You have four months. Perhaps we can help you with your stuttering.”

“How?” Zach asked. “Not even the sp-speech therapists could help.”

“Darren is a master of languages and speech,” Glorfindel said. “He may know a trick or two of which your speech therapists are unaware.”

“It won’t hurt to try,” Daeron said with a shrug. “What do you have to lose?”

“Darren is correct, Zach,” Nimrodel said. “What do you have to lose?”

Zach nodded, giving them a shy look. “Th-th-thanks.”

Then the conversation turned to other matters. Everyone was surprised to learn that Shane was Jewish but thought it was a good joke. “We don’t really celebrate Christmas either,” Elrohir told them, nodding towards the other Elves to include them in his statement, “but we liked the idea of the Academy and decided to apply, especially when we all happened to lose our jobs around the same time and didn’t have anything else to do.”

“Odd that,” Glorfindel said. “The more I think about it, the stranger it seems that we would all lose our jobs the way we did. You and Dan had been working at the electronic print shop for years and all of a sudden you’re let go.”

“Well, what about you?” Elladan asked. “How long were you working in Search and Rescue and then all of a sudden there’s a budget cut and in spite of your seniority you’re out of a job?”

“That budget cut was long in the making and it was only a matter of time before I would be asked to retire.”

“Except that they didn’t retire you, they simply dismissed you just before you would’ve been qualified for retirement benefits,” Elrohir stated.

Glorfindel shrugged. “It matters not. It has happened and we are all here now. That is the important thing.”

“Loren is right,” Daeron said. “We’re here and hopefully we will all have new careers when we leave.”

“Hmm... you guys don’t look any older than we,” Shane said, her eyes narrowing in suspicion, “yet Loren is talking about retirement and if you two” — she looked at the Twins — “have been working for years in one job, when did you start? When you were ten?”

“We’re a bit older than we seem,” Glorfindel said smoothly, “and we work hard at keeping fit and trim.”

“Genes help, too,” Elladan added blandly.

“I guess,” Shane said doubtfully, but she did not pursue the matter further, much to the relief of the Elves.

By now they had finished eating and were clearing their trays from the table, grabbing various soft drinks (all six Mortals), tea (Glorfindel, Elladan and the two ellith) and coffee (Daeron and Elrohir) before returning to their seats, for the orientation meeting was to take place in the cafeteria, it being the only room large enough to accommodate everyone. A section of the room had been set aside with a low platform on which stood a microphone and a table with some chairs. Three older Mortals, two men and a woman, entered the room and sat behind the table. Behind them came another woman who went to the microphone. She was middle aged, perhaps in her mid-forties, with ash blond hair pulled back severely into a bun and ice-blue eyes.

“Good evening, everyone,” she said with a bright smile, and the room quieted down. “I want to welcome all of you to the first class of the Northern Lights Community College’s Elf Academy.”

There was the usual applause and whistles from the young crowd and then the woman continued. “My name is Marian Goodfellow and I am the Chief Administrator for this Academy as well as one of your instructors. With me are your other teachers. Deirdre Clannach will be teaching courses on Elf Etiquette, How to Make Gingerbread Cookies and Other Christmas Goodies, and a very important course on Dealing With Children of All Ages.”

Deirdre Clannach was younger than Marian by about ten years, with bright red hair and flashing green eyes. She stood and waved at the students before sitting down.

“She’s going to teach us how to make gingerbread cookies?” Elrohir whispered so only the other Elves could hear and it was evident in his voice that the idea did not appeal to him.

“Shush,” Nimrodel admonished him.

Marian continued the introductions. “Next to her is Paul Pettingill, who is a Ranger for the National Parks. He will be teaching you about the wildlife in this area, as well as winter survival skills and first aid.”

Paul Pettingill was a competent looking Mortal with sandy hair that was cut close to the scalp and grey eyes that missed nothing. He stood and gave them a short bow before sitting.

“Ex-military,” Glorfindel whispered to Daeron. “I’ll bet my place on the Last Ship.”

“Considering that the Last Ship left a long time ago,” Daeron retorted with a grin, “it’s not much of a bet, but I agree. Definitely ex-military. Probably Marines.”

Then the last person was introduced. “And finally, we have Roland Smith, who owns Midnight Sun Safaris and is the President of our local Chamber of Commerce. He will be teaching you the finer points of being tour guides and will also be in charge of Job Placement.”

Roland Smith was a nondescript older man with salt-and-pepper hair and glasses. He smiled faintly at them but did not stand.

Marian then explained the schedule for the rest of the weekend and how the classes were set up. “I encourage you to spend some time looking over your orientation materials,” she said at the end. “All the information you need is in the package, but if you have any specific questions or concerns, I will be available tomorrow between one and three in the afternoon. My office is labeled on the map that is included in your packages. Enjoy the rest of the weekend and we’ll see you bright and early on Monday.”

Then the meeting was over and people got up to leave. Glorfindel and the others at their table rose as well. “Well the night is still early,” Jud said. “Any plans?”

“There’s a welcoming party starting around eight,” Matt said. “They were setting up in the quad while the meeting was going on. We’ve even got a local band to come play for us. They’re quite good.”

“Oh?” Daeron said with a look that could only be described as one of professional interest.

Cassie nodded enthusiastically. “They call themselves ‘The Arctic Fringe’. Matt’s dating the lead singer, Gloria Richards. She’s hot.” Her expression turned somewhat salacious. Matt blushed bright red and wouldn’t look at anyone while the others grinned.

“Well, why don’t we go see if this band is as good as you say?” Glorfindel suggested and they all agreed.

The quad — the Elves all took note of the word — was already filling up with students. A stage had been set up against the back wing and musicians and technicians were busy with instruments and sound equipment. Tables and chairs taken from the dining room were scattered about where people could sit. In the foyer, snacks, soft drinks and beer could be had. It turned out that Zach and Lily were still under age so they grabbed a couple of cola lites while most of the others chose beer — Glorfindel opted for root beer — and everyone took a bag of popcorn and they headed outside, finding an empty table to the left of the stage where they could see the band well enough.

“There’s Gloria,” Matt said, pointing to a vivacious looking young brunette wearing a bright red tee-shirt with the words ‘Arctic Fringe’ in white with the letters covered with icicles. There was a screenprint of a polar bear on an ice floe in between the words. A pair of black jeans and a black fedora sitting jauntily on her head completed the ensemble. Other members of the band also sported similar attire, though not all the tee-shirts were red. Some were either ice-blue or black, but they all had the same logo on the front. Glorfindel decided it must be their signature style.

“Why don’t you go say hello?” Lily asked.

“She doesn’t like me disturbing her when she’s working,” Matt said. “I’ll introduce you to her and the others later when they’ve finished playing.”

The band was still setting up as people came into the quad. Glorfindel turned to Cassie. “So I take it you and Matt are locals?”

Cassie nodded. “About half the class is from Wiseman or nearby towns. The rest either come from elsewhere in Alaska or out-of-state.”

“Given the nature of the Academy,” Matt went on to explain, “when they were designing the building, it was decided to provide dormitories for those who were coming from outside the area. The rest of us live at home or have our own apartments and just commute like everyone else who attends the college.”

The Elves nodded but before anyone else could comment, the band suddenly started playing and everyone turned to listen. The first song turned out to be a popular tune that had been playing on the radio for most of the summer. Many of the students were softly singing along with the band. Gloria had a rich contralto voice that suited her, Glorfindel decided. He glanced over at their resident minstrel to see what Daeron’s reaction was. The Sinda had his eyes closed and was swaying slightly, a faint smile on his lips. Glorfindel was suddenly reminded of Lindir listening to someone in the Hall of Fire. Nimrodel leaned over to speak to Daeron.

“She’s not bad for a Mortal,” she said in Sindarin.

“She’s not bad for anyone,” Daeron said in the same language without opening his eyes.

“I like her,” Elrohir said, also speaking Sindarin. “Too bad she’s taken.”

“What are you guys all saying?” Shane asked, giving them a puzzled look. “What language is that?”

“Welsh,” Glorfindel answered without hesitation. “We all took a course in it just for fun once and we like to keep it up so we speak it every now and then.”

“You guys really like to do things together, don’t you?” Lily asked, looking a bit envious. “I wish I had friends like that. No one ever wants to do the things I want to do.”

“Like what?” Elladan asked.

“Like wanting to be an elf for a month,” the girl replied with a laugh. “Everyone back home thought I was nuts. I tried to get my best friend, Bobbi, to apply with me. I thought it would be fun, you know, doing something crazy together, but she wouldn’t do it. Said I was being stupid and I should grow up.” She gave them a disgusted look. “Who wants to grow up? That’s too boring. My parents are grown up and they’re nothing but stick-in-the-muds. Their idea of a good time is watching re-runs of Gilligan’s Island.”

The other Mortals started laughing while all the Elves had knowing smiles. “I kid you not,” Lily insisted.

“M-my dad is r-r-really okay,” Zach stuttered. “He’s always doing th-th-things with me. We go hiking a-a-a-and camping and stuff like that. He’s great.”

“What about your mom?” Glorfindel couldn’t help asking, curious about the young Mortals’ and their lives. He and the other Elves lived among them but rarely interacted on a purely social level, knowing that their lives were all too brief and the grief when they were lost to Time was too poignant for them.

“Oh, she’s okay, too,” Zach said. “I know she was a bit... well, you know, but we do th-things to-together, too. We both like to go to flea markets. M-m-my dad hates them.” He gave them a huge grin.

By now the band was in full swing, having finished the first song, and was now in the middle of the next one, something that was a bit more rollicking and lively. Gloria was quite the charismatic singer and the crowd obviously enjoyed her. Elladan offered to get refills for everyone and Shane and Jud went with him while the others continued listening to the band and talking. Cassie asked Glorfindel about his job in Search and Rescue and he began describing some of the things he had done.

“I enjoyed the challenge,” Glorfindel said when Matt asked him why he had gone into Search and Rescue. “I’ve always liked protecting others and rescuing them from peril.”

“Ah, so it’s an adrenaline rush for you, huh?” Matt asked.

Glorfindel shook his head. “No. No one seeking thrills should be in Search and Rescue. The joy is seeing someone brought to safety and finding those who are lost. It’s a serious job and not to be entered into lightly. Not all Search and Rescue personnel make it home alive. There is often a great deal of danger involved.”

Elladan, Shane and Jud came back just then with everyone’s drink order. Glorfindel noticed that they had brought back extra beer cans. When he gave Elladan a questioning look the younger ellon just grinned. “Saves having to go back for more,” he said and Glorfindel let the matter go. Although it was now nearly ten o’clock, the sun was still up and would not set for a couple of hours or so, and even then only for a short time before rising again. People were now beginning to dance as the band continued playing. At one point Elrohir stood up and gave Shane a significant look. She smiled and the two of them joined the dancers. Elladan looked at Mithrellas and she nodded and they joined them. Then Jud asked Cassie if she wanted to dance as well and then Zach was taking Lily out, leaving Glorfindel, Daeron, Nimrodel and Matt behind. Glorfindel looked on with amusement at Matt trying to get up the nerve to ask Nimrodel out to the dance floor and wondered if the elleth would end up asking him first, for he could see she was eager to join in the dancing, her feet tapping to the beat, her body slightly swaying. He leaned over to speak to the Mortal.

“She won’t bite, you know,” he said with a sympathetic grin. “Or is it because Gloria’s watching?”

“What?” Matt asked in confusion and when Glorfindel nodded towards the stage the young man shook his head. “She’s not the jealous type and besides I doubt she can see me in this crowd.”

“Then ask Della to dance,” Glorfindel said.

Matt looked at the elleth sitting across from him and gulped. Glorfindel could see that he was intimidated by Nimrodel’s ethereal beauty and perhaps sensed on an unconscious level her extreme age, though that was only a guess. However, before the ellon could offer Matt additional encouragement, the song ended and the opportunity was seemingly lost. Glorfindel sat back to sip on his root beer. Daeron, he noticed, had pulled out the music notebook that he always carried with him wherever he went and was writing furiously, ignoring everyone else. Then the band started the next song and Nimrodel stood up, reaching over to grab Matt’s hand.

“C’mon,” she said. “The night’s not getting any younger and neither am I.” Her elvish strength allowed her to pull the hapless Mortal to his feet with ease and then she was dragging him out to the dance area, a look of terror mingled with delight on his face. Then they were lost in the crowd of swaying bodies and Glorfindel sat there looking on in amusement.

And so the evening went. The band finished its set to great applause and then someone put on a cd so people could continue dancing. As promised, Matt took them all to introduce them to the band and Gloria in particular. Daeron struck up a conversation with the lead guitarist, a young black man with orange hair whose name, oddly enough, was Darien. The two of them went off together speaking the arcane language of musicians. Matt and Gloria went their own way as well, while the others went back to the party.

All the while, Glorfindel noticed that both Elladan and his twin were drinking rather heavily, for they were taking turns going into the foyer for more beer. He wasn’t sure why they were doing so, for it took a great deal of alcohol for the Elves to feel any kind of buzz, never mind getting drunk. The beers and wines of this present age could not compare to the wines of Dorwinion or the ales of the Dwarves and Hobbits. He kept a wary eye on them, hoping that the beer would run out before they did. The two ellith, he noted with approval, were being more circumspect in their drinking.

As the midnight hour approached, the music was turned off, but people continued to gather in groups around the tables, drinking and munching on snacks and engaging in soft conversations pierced by occasional laughter. The sun had set shortly before and they were enjoying the twilight as stars began to peep out. At their table, the conversation rambled in seeming non sequiturs as people jumped from one topic to the next. Glorfindel was sitting quietly with Nimrodel, speaking softly in Sindarin, reminiscing about people and events in their respective pasts, not really paying much attention to what else was going on. Then, suddenly, Elladan started climbing up onto the table, followed by Elrohir, while everyone else laughed.

“What are they up to?” Nimrodel asked but the answer came almost immediately when the Twins began dancing arm-in-arm and singing the silly tavern song that Pippin and Merry had sung often enough, extolling the virtues of the beer at the Green Dragon.

“They’re drunk!” Mithrellas exclaimed unnecessarily, for it was obvious to everyone that that was the case.

“They’ll break the table,” Nimrodel said, “or their necks.”

Glorfindel shook his head. “No, they will not,” he said. “They’re Elves, after all.”

“Half-Elves,” Nimrodel corrected, but her concerns were unfounded, for the Twins danced with the lightness of the Firstborn, barely touching the table. The Mortals at the table were laughing uproariously at the Twins’ antics and some of the people at nearby tables were applauding the show. When they finished the song, Matt and Jud opened new cans of beer and handed them to the Twins while others called out for more. The Twins downed their beers in three gulps and then Elrohir started singing ‘The Elf and the Fruit Vendor’, which Daeron had translated into several Mortal languages, including English. Naturally, the Twins could sing the song in all of them.

Glorfindel groaned and closed his eyes in dismay while Nimrodel and Mithrellas started laughing. It took the Mortals a couple of verses before they caught on to what the song was really about and there were appreciative cat-calls and whistles and much laughter.

“Please, don’t sing verse thirty-one,” Glorfindel whispered, almost as a prayer, knowing that it was hopeless. The Twins were enjoying themselves and the attention they were getting immensely and they were not about to back down, swigging more beer at the end of each verse. By now, the Mortals had picked up the chorus and were singing along, the laughter growing louder as the verses became more and more outrageous. Glorfindel just sat there in stony silence watching the antics, fantasizing about all the things he would do to the sons of Elrond to punish them. Making them get up before dawn for a thirty-mile run was at the top of his list, followed by scrubbing all the floors of the Academy with toothbrushes as his second choice.

But then, as if the Valar had heard his prayer, the Twins finished verse twenty-nine and were each downing yet another can of beer when Elrohir suddenly stopped drinking. Glorfindel could see the ellon’s eyes beginning to cross. He uttered a curse as he jumped up to catch the ellon as Elrohir dropped his can of beer and then passed out. Elladan stood there looking down at his twin rather stupidly for a second or two and then shrugged, downed the rest of his beer and started singing verse thirty even as Glorfindel was dragging the younger twin off the table. The audience didn’t seem to notice or care that only one of the Twins was still standing.

“They’re probably all drunk enough that they’re seeing double anyway,” Glorfindel muttered to himself in disgust as he lowered Elrohir to the ground, wondering if he should just put a stop to the whole thing, but not sure how to go about doing it. Nimrodel and Mithrellas were no help, for they were happily singing the song along with Elladan, though neither one of them bothered to climb onto the table. However, just as they ended verse thirty and were about to go into the infamous verse thirty-one, Elladan’s singing faltered and then, rather gracelessly, he stumbled, nearly falling off the table. Jud and Zach managed to catch him just in time, laughing all the while as they eased him to the ground.

Glorfindel rolled his eyes to the heavens. “I crossed the Helcaraxë for this?” he exclaimed to no one in particular. Then he lowered his gaze to find Daeron standing there with a grimly amused expression on his face.

“I’ll take Elladan if you’ll take Elrohir,” the Sinda said and proceeded to lift the older twin up. Glorfindel sighed and bent down to pick up Elrohir who came awake long enough to give him a bleary look.

“Whersh the beer?” he slurred.

“Sorry, but the party’s over,” Glorfindel said as he lifted the ellon onto his shoulder.

“Oh, too bad. I wash jus’ beginnin’ to haf fun,” the ellon muttered and then passed out again.

Glorfindel sighed as he followed Daeron towards the men’s wing while the party continued without them.

****

Han ú-nautho: (Sindarin) ‘Do not think/conceive it’.

Lá nó tyelë randa sina: (Quenya) ‘Not before this Age ends’.

4: Elf Etiquette and Other Lessons

As it happened, Glorfindel decided to just let the Twins sleep off their drunk while he went for the run. He dumped Elrohir on his bed, removing shoes and jeans, then covering him with a blanket. The ellon never stirred. Daeron did the same with Elladan.

“I hope they wake with a vicious hangover,” Daeron said with a smile as they exited the room. “I think the last time either of them passed out like that was when the East Coast suffered that blackout in 1965 and we held that blackout party. Remember?”

Glorfindel nodded but did not bother to comment. Daeron gave him a strange look. “What’s the matter?”

“I need to run and work off this urge to kill them both and send them to Mandos with a personal note to Lord Námo giving him my regards.”

“I’m sure the Lord of Mandos would appreciate hearing from you, even if indirectly,” Daeron quipped. “Go. Run.”

“What about you?” Glorfindel asked.

“I have music running through my brain that is dying to be written down,” the once minstrel of Doriath said. “I’ll be up all night composing.”

“We’re not going to be much fun with our roommates, are we?” Glorfindel commented with a wry smile.

“They’ll get used to it and us,” Daeron said equably. “Now go.”

So, Glorfindel went, first stopping at his room to change into running gear, leaving a note for Zach not to wait up for him. Then he made his way downstairs and out the front door. He stretched a bit while taking his bearings. He wasn’t sure how long he would be running, but he had a feeling that it would be well after dawn before he made it back to the college. Looking about in the polar twilight his gaze landed upon the mountains rising behind the college. Nodding to himself, he loped off in the direction of the main road leading out of the campus grounds. He knew from the map that there was a road leading up into the mountains and that was where he was headed.

No one was about and there was almost total silence as he jogged up the road, letting his mind wander where it would. The peace of the night crept slowly into his soul and he felt himself letting go of the anger and frustration he had felt towards the Twins and their antics. He allowed the smooth rhythm of his running to soothe him, and felt his muscles begin to unwind as he ate up the miles. His inner time sense told him that it was now nearly four in the morning. The sky was already light and the stars had faded into the blue some time before. He continued along the mountain road a little further and then simply turned around and headed back. By the time the college was in sight the people of Wiseman were already waking up and enjoying their Sunday mornging. He had run for over five hours without breaking a sweat, but he felt immensely better for it.

Entering the Academy, he spied Daeron sitting in the reading lounge with his harp on his lap and the ubiquitous music notebook on the table before him. Daeron looked up from scribbling something and gave him a smile.

“Nice run?”

Glorfindel nodded. “I’m going to go take a shower and have breakfast. Care to join me?”

“What? In the shower?” Daeron exclaimed in mock dismay. “I think not, but breakfast sounds like a good idea.” He glanced up at the clock on the wall. “I believe the schedule says that the cafeteria will open at eight.”

“Good enough,” Glorfindel said. “I’ll meet you there, then?”

Daeron nodded and went back to plucking on his harp while Glorfindel climbed the stairs to the third floor, letting himself into his room without disturbing Zach, who never stirred. He gathered some clean clothes, a towel and other bathing paraphernalia, then headed for the showers. This early in the morning, and considering the party that must have continued until quite late, he had the place to himself and enjoyed the quiet and the hot water. By the time he finished and was dressed, his hair carefully dried and combed, he was ready for breakfast and made his way to the cafeteria.

Daeron was already there and soon the two of them sat at a table next to the windows looking out upon the mountains, eating scrambled eggs with bacon and homefries and english muffins slathered with raspberry jam. Glorfindel had tea with his breakfast while Daeron went for the coffee. Surprisingly, they were not the only ones there, and Glorfindel suspected that the score or so students sharing the cafeteria with them had not over imbibed on the beer, assuming they hadn’t simply stuck to soda. None of them appeared the least bit hungover.

“How is the music coming along?” Glorfindel asked Daeron.

“Well enough,” he answered after taking a sip of his coffee. “That lead guitarist, Darien, is a true musician. He has an almost elven flair for it. We shared our music. I would probably still be with him but he was falling asleep as we were speaking, so I sent him home and came looking for you and the others just in time to see the end of the show the Twins were giving.”

Glorfindel scowled. “I really should put a leash on them both.”

Daeron chuckled. “They are a handful sometimes, aren’t they?”

Glorfindel gave Daeron a wry look. “Want to bet how long they continue sleeping?”

“If we’re lucky, neither will waken until tomorrow morning,” Daeron quipped and Glorfindel nodded and smiled. “So what are your plans for the rest of the day?” the minstrel asked.

Glorfindel shrugged. “I think I’m just going to relax, go over the orientation materials more carefully and perhaps walk around the campus and into the town and acquaint myself with the environs.”

“Sounds good,” Daeron said. “I doubt too many of the children are going to be stirring any time soon.”

“And who are you calling children?”

The two ellyn looked up to see Nimrodel and Mithrellas standing there with trays in their hands. Lily was also with them, but not Shane.

“The Twins, naturally,” Glorfindel answered with a laugh and the others joined him.

“That song they sang,” Lily commented as she and the two ellith sat down to eat, “it was really... naughty.” She gave them a pained look.

“Naughty doesn’t even come close, my dear,” Nimrodel said with a knowing smile. “Appalling is more like it.”

Lily giggled. “It was really funny though,” she said as she buttered some toast. “I’d like to learn it and then sing it for some people who give the phrase ‘prim and proper’ a bad rep.”

The Elves raised their eyebrows in amusement. “Well, perhaps one of the Twins will teach you,” Mithrellas said with a mischievous smile.

“Teach you what?”

They all looked up to see Jud and Zach there, each bearing a tray.

“That terrible song Dan and Roy were singing,” Lily answered.

“It was pretty terrible,” Jud said with a chuckle. “Terribly funny and obscene. Did they make it up, do you suppose?”

“I can assure you that they did not,” Glorfindel said firmly.

Then Daeron smoothly changed the subject by asking the Mortals what they were planning to do that day. None of them had any specific plans, though Zach mentioned wanting to check out the college’s indoor pool, stating that he liked to swim laps. “It’s very re-re-relaxing,” he said.

“Well, I guess this is a do-whatever-you-want day, then,” Mithrellas said. “Why don’t we just plan to meet later on for dinner? Perhaps by then Dan and Roy will have risen from the dead and will join us.”

The others all laughed and agreed to Mithrellas’ idea and shortly thereafter Glorfindel and Daeron, having finished their meal, excused themselves. Once away from the cafeteria, Daeron claimed he wished to sleep for an hour, so Glorfindel left him and wandered out to see the rest of the college and walk into town for lunch.

****

The Twins ‘rose from the dead’ as Mithrellas had put it, around three in the afternoon, both of them looking, as Jud put it, ‘like death warmed over’. Neither appreciated the reference and scowled as they went in search of coffee — lots of it. By the time the dinner hour had arrived, though, they were feeling — and looking — much better and all six Elves along with their six Mortal friends met at the cafeteria.

“So, tomorrow is the big day,” Lily said. “I’m really excited about the classes.”

“They should be interesting, to say the least,” Glorfindel replied as he dug into his pasta salad.

“I’m not sure I want to learn to make gingerbread cookies, though,” Elrohir groused. “I mean, really! Gingerbread cookies!?”

“What’s wrong with gingerbread cookies?” Cassie asked. “I’m looking forward to learning how to make them and all the other goodies.” She made a ‘hmmm’ sound and rubbed her stomach.

“I’ve always been fascinated by those gingerbread houses that you see in store windows around Christmas time,” Lily said. “It’s a real art form making them.”

Elrohir just sighed. “I wonder if I can just skip that particular class,” he said and Elladan nodded in agreement.

Glorfindel gave him a hard look. “We will take each course that is assigned to us, and we will attend every class and we will do so with joy. Is that clear? Remember what I told you earlier.”

The coldness of his tone affected even the Mortals, who blanched somewhat. Elrohir and Elladan just nodded, straightening automatically as they had done in ages past when Glorfindel had led their patrols and had given them their orders. The other Elves, aware of the effect that Glorfindel’s words were having on their Mortal friends, spoke softly to them, easing their fright until they were all relaxed. Glorfindel continued staring at the Twins for another moment or two before returning to his meal, refusing to apologize.

“So, what is the first class everyone is taking?” Jud asked during the lull that followed.

“Something called ‘Elf Etiquette’,” Shane said with a shrug.

“Something you two definitely need a refresher in,” Daeron said, giving the Twins a sly grin. Elladan grimaced and Elrohir rolled his eyes.

As it turned out, when they compared notes, they learned that they had all been assigned to take the same courses at the same time. Cassie explained. “This class is large enough that it’s been divided into two sections and each section has been further divided into four more or less equal groups of students. All of us apparently have been placed together in one section. We’ll take the same classes for the first eight weeks: Elf Etiquette, Elf Legends, Making Gingerbread Cookies and that course about Dealing With Children of All Ages. The other section will be taking courses in Winter Survival Skills, First Aid, Nature Studies, where they’ll learn about the various wildlife in the area, and On Being a Tour Guide, then after eight weeks we’ll switch.”

“I can’t believe we’ll be spending eight weeks making cookies every day,” Elladan said.

“Nah. I looked at the schedule,” Shane replied. “All the classes are ninety minutes long, except for the cooking class, which is three hours long and they all just meet once a week. Tomorrow it’s just Elf Etiquette and Elf Legends.”

“That gives us lots of free time,” Daeron said.

“Not really,” Glorfindel said. “I noticed that in between classes there are planned field trips to the different resorts in the area as well as visits to the safari companies to acquaint us with them. They’ll have people teaching us about how to handle husky sleds, reindeer-driven sleighs, snowmobiles and such. Also, I think there will be physical activities in which we are required to participate in order to keep fit. Being a tour guide in this region requires a certain level of fitness.”

“Plus, we’ll also be helping out answering letters to Santa that are sent to the post office from all over,” Matt added, “and packaging gifts for families to pick up at the Christmas Market, although that won’t open until after Halloween.”

“So our days will be full,” Mithrellas said.

“Which will keep us all busy and out of trouble,” Glorfindel added, giving the Twins a significant look. They both gave him stare for stare, but in the end they were the ones to break eye contact first.

They continued eating, more or less in silence, broken only by other students stopping at their table to tell the Twins how much they had enjoyed the show the night before. “When are you going to give us an encore?” and “You’ll have to teach us the lyrics,” were the most common comments made, accompanied by leers and guffaws. Elladan and Elrohir just rolled their eyes, looking decidedly embarrassed. The others at their table just smirked.

****

The next morning, just before eight-thirty, the Elves all filed into one of the classrooms along with their roommates, Cassie and Matt, finding seats towards the back of the room. Other students joined them until there were about thirty or so students altogether. Deirdre Clannach came bouncing in just as the bell rang, a huge smile on her face.

“Good morning,” she said and everyone dutifully returned her greeting. “Right, then. I’m Deirdre Clannach and this class is called Elf Etiquette. Now why would we need a course in this?” she asked rhetorically. “Very simply, we need to ensure that all our elves know how to behave in the public sphere. We want to have a uniform code of conduct. We want to be our elfin best!” She smiled at them brightly.

“Elven,” Nimrodel muttered.

“Excuse me, Miss....?” Deirdre looked pointedly at the elleth.

Nimrodel smiled. “Della White,” she said. “You said ‘elfin’ but that is incorrect. The correct adjective is ‘elven’, just as the correct plural is ‘elves’ and not ‘elfs’.

“What’s the difference?” someone asked, looking confused.

“Elfin describes those sickening Victorian Tinkerbell-type fairies with wings sitting on a cowslip leaf,” Nimrodel answered disdainfully. “Elves don’t have wings.”

“And you know this for a fact?” Deirdre asked rather archly.

Before Nimrodel could reply, Daeron spoke up, canting his voice in the sing-song of a bard and loremaster. “You are Irish, are you not?”

“My grandparents came from there,” Deirdre averred.

Daeron nodded. “Then no doubt they spoke of the Tuatha Dé Dannan.”

“Some,” Deirdre said with a shrug.

“So who are these... um... tooa-whatevers?” Shane asked.

“Tuatha Dé Dannan,” Daeron corrected smoothly. “They were the Fair Folk, the Elves if you will, of Irish legend. Perilous folk they were, with great powers. For Mortals to fall into their grasp was dangerous.”

“For them or for the Mortals?” one of the male students asked with a grin.

Daeron grinned back. “Often enough, for both.”

“Well, thank you for the language lesson,” Deirdre said a bit haughtily, “but let us go on. As I was saying, we need to be our... uh... elven best,” she looked to Nimrodel as if for confirmation and the elleth nodded graciously. “Now we’ll all have costumes which I believe are being made and will be available for fittings in the next week or so.”

“Ah, excuse me, Ms Clannach,” one of the young men raised his hand, looking a bit nonplused. “Costumes?”

Deirdre smiled and nodded vigorously. “You’re going to be elves, after all, and so you will be wearing costumes especially designed so all will know that you are indeed elves.”

“If those costumes come attached with wings,” Elrohir whispered darkly, sure that only his fellow Elves would hear him, “I’m out of here.” Even Glorfindel nodded at that.

“So,” Deirdre continued. “Etiquette, the art of being courteous....”

“Not to mention knowing which spoon to use with your coffee,” someone quipped and the rest of the class laughed.

Deirdre ignored the interruption. “Now, some of you will be asked by the safari company or resort for whom you will be working to drive to Fairbanks and pick up clients at the airport or train station. What are you going to say to the clients when you meet them?”

“Hello?” Lily said in a loud whisper and giggled. Others joined her.

“Do you really think elves would just say hello?” Deirdre demanded with a smirk.

“I usually do,” Elladan whispered and the other Elves snickered.

Deirdre picked up some papers on her desk. “Here is a hand-out of typical phrases you can use when addressing the clients. We’re going to memorize these and practice speaking them to one another.”

Glorfindel took the hand-out and read through it, his eyebrows rising in disbelief. He stole a glance at Daeron, who was frowning as he stared at his own hand-out.

“‘Greetings, fair mortals?’” Mithrellas read out loud. Then, she looked up at Deirdre. “You have to be kidding.”

“Oh, I like this one,” Elrohir said with a malicious grin as he stood up and struck a rather ridiculous pose. “‘Be welcome, my lords and ladies, to the Land of the Midnight Sun.’” He paused and gave an exaggerated bow while several of the female students giggled. “‘May your journey in our land of ice and snow be filled with warmth and cheer.’” He gave Deirdre a jaundiced look. “Couldn’t we just say ‘Welcome to Alaska. Bundle up ’cuz it’s cold outside’?”

Now most of the class started laughing. Deirdre looked as if she were about to cry. Glorfindel decided to step in. “Perhaps we as a class can use this hand-out as a model and come up with our own phrases that we will feel more comfortable speaking. I do agree with Ms Clannach that as Elves we should speak a bit more formally than most of us are used to doing.”

“That’s an excellent idea,” Daeron said, picking up on Glorfindel’s suggestion. He took a quick count of the class. “Let’s see, there are thirty-six of us. Why don’t we split into groups of six and come up with some ideas of how we should speak and then we’ll share with the other groups and come to a consensus.”

The rest of the class seemed to find that a good idea. Daeron flashed Glorfindel a smile. “Let’s make sure each of us is in one of the groups,” he said in Sindarin and Glorfindel nodded.

“What did you say?” Deirdre asked, looking rather flustered as she lost control of the class.

“They claim it’s Welsh,” Shane spoke up, “but I’m not so sure.”

“Hey! Maybe we can use some, like, you know, made up phrases that sound elvish,” one of the other students suggested.

“Do you even know how elvish sounds?” another student asked.

“I’ve always thought it would sound something Celtic,” the first student said, “so maybe we can use some Welsh phrases.”

“Why don’t we just concentrate on appropriate phrases in English for now?” Daeron said smoothly. “We’ll count off.” He pointed to himself. “One.” Then he pointed to Glorfindel who dutifully said, “Two.” One by one he pointed to the other four Elves and then pointed to the six Mortals with whom they had become friends before turning to the rest of the class. Eventually, everyone had a number and the groups scattered to different parts of the room amidst much laughter. Deirdre just stood there by her desk not quite sure what to do.

Glorfindel felt a pang of pity for the Mortal woman. She had obviously spent a great deal of time preparing her class and now it was being taken over by the Elves. Before joining his group he went to her, giving her his warmest smile. “Perhaps you could wander from group to group and make sure they are actually working on the phrases instead of chatting about their latest boyfriend or the last time they were in a role-playing game online. Sometimes a teacher’s role is not so much to teach as it is to monitor the learning of the students as they interact with one another.”

She gave him a startled look and then nodded. “Thank you,” she said quietly. Glorfindel nodded and went to his group, which consisted of Matt and another male student named Evan, as well as three young women named Maggie, Jen and Chloe. All three females just sat there staring open-mouthed at Glorfindel.

“Gad! What I wouldn’t give to have hair like that,” Chloe practically wailed, fingering her mousey brown hair.

Before Glorfindel could respond, Deirdre happened by. “We’re here to discuss suitable greetings, dear, not hair color,” she said, giving Glorfindel a smile as Chloe muttered an apology, now looking embarrassed. Glorfindel smiled back and nodded as Deirdre went on to the next group.

“So, do any of you have any ideas?” Glorfindel asked and the others studied the hand-out and began making some tentative suggestions. Glorfindel half-listened to their ideas while keeping an eye on the other groups, especially those being led by the Twins. Cassie was in Elladan’s group and Zach was in Elrohir’s. Lily, Shane and Jud were in the groups led by Daeron, Nimrodel and Mithrellas, respectively. His attention became more focused when he heard Elladan teaching his group some inappropriate phrases, claiming them to be Welsh though they were really Sindarin.

“‘Orchvann!’” He heard the ellon say in a bright manner. “That means ‘Good day!’ in Welsh and ‘Mell gîn gâr îr an yrch’ means ‘May you have a pleasant day’.”

Glorfindel could see the five Mortals trying out the phrases with Elladan correcting their pronunciation, his expression deadpan. He noticed Elrohir trying to smother a laugh while the other three Elves just rolled their eyes.

“And ‘pui-en-orch’ means ‘farewell’,” the ellon continued his language lesson. At that, Glorfindel excused himself from his group, telling them to keep working, and walked over to Elladan’s group, giving everyone a smile as he bent down to whisper in Elladan’s ear. “‘Hara máriessë mi Mandos’ means ‘you’re dead if you don’t behave’.”

Elladan visibly cringed while the other students looked on in confusion. Glorfindel gave them another smile. “Stick to English,” he said. “It’s safer.” He returned to his own group where Maggie gave him a shrewd look.

“Does ‘orchvann’ really mean ‘good day’ in Welsh?” she asked.

Glorfindel shook his head. “No. Dan was just making it up. The word has no meaning in any language. Now, I like Jen’s suggestion of using ‘thou’ though that’s the singular form. The plural would be ‘ye’, so when greeting a group of people we can say something like “May ye be welcome to the Land of the Midnight Sun, fair guests....’”

****

The rest of the class continued without further incident and by the end the six groups had a variety of different phrases which were written down and given to Deirdre who agreed to make copies of them for next week’s class where they would be voted on. Then the class time was over and everyone filed out of the room for a thirty-minute break before the next class.

“I had not intended to spend so much time on greetings,” Deirdre suddenly said to Glorfindel just as he was about to exit the room, being the last to leave. He paused and gave her a quizzical look. “We still have to deal with things like elven customs,” she explained, “and even the state laws of Alaska as they apply to the tourism industry and professional ethics of tour guides.”

Glorfindel’s expression turned sympathetic. “Why don’t you leave the elvish aspects to the students? Let us work it out for ourselves instead of you just handing it to us? You can just concentrate on covering the legal matters that we will need to know about.”

“Then what?” Deirdre asked sharply, pushing her hair out of her eyes in a frustrated manner. “Will the other students taking the course also get to make up greetings and such? We have four groups of students for this section who are taking this course, then there are the students in the other section who will be taking this course two months from now. The whole idea is to have everyone saying the same things in the same way and acting the same. We don’t want clients to get mixed messages about their elven guides.”

“I agree that having the students in the other section do as we are doing is pointless,” Glorfindel said. “Perhaps, though, all the students in this section can do as we did. Tell them that in the end our section will be responsible for creating appropriate phrases, customs and modes of behavior for everyone else.”

“And what of the students in the other section? What do they do?” Deirdre wondered.

Glorfindel shrugged. “Perhaps you can have them take what we come up with and design a... um... a ‘Handbook On Being Elves’ for everyone to keep and refer to.”

Deirdre sighed. “I suppose that would work,” she said, then she gave him a jaundiced look. “I hope when I teach the course on Dealing With Children of All Ages you and your friends won’t be taking over that class as well.”

“I doubt it,” Glorfindel said with a smile. “I have no clue about children, whatever their age.”

“You seemed to do well enough with Dan,” Deirdre retorted mildly. “I saw how you handled him.”

“He and his brother are special cases,” Glorfindel said in all sincerity. “Truly, none of us have had any real experience with children. I don’t think you’ll have to worry about us taking over that particular class.”

“You seem so much older than most of the other students,” Deirdre said suddenly, “yet you don’t look much older than any of them.”

Glorfindel shrugged. “Let’s just say that having to deal with the Bobbsey twins” — Deirdre snickered at the reference — “forces you to act in a more mature manner, if only to provide them with a visible example of how to act.”

Deirdre nodded and glanced at the clock on the wall. “You should go and take your break before the next class... uh....”

“Loren,” Glorfindel supplied. “Loren DelaFiore. I could do with a cup of tea right about now. Would you care to join me?”

“Thank you, Loren,” Deirdre said. “A cup of tea sounds quite lovely.”

Glorfindel gestured for Deirdre to precede him out of the classroom and then the two walked side-by-side to the lounge area where drinks and snacks could be gotten between classes. He bought tea for the both of them and they found a table where they sat and talked about inconsequential things, with Deirdre doing most of the talking about her teaching career. Glorfindel ignored the amused expressions on the faces of the other Elves as he sipped his tea and listened with all seriousness to Deirdre describing her first teaching job at a secondary school in some place called Homer that apparently was somewhere south of Anchorage.

****

Words are Sindarin unless otherwise noted.

Tuatha Dé Dannan: (Irish Gaelic) People of the Goddess Danu, pronounced too'-a-haw day dah'-nawn.

Orchvann!: ‘Orc food!’

Mell nîn gâr îr an yrch!: ‘Your dear (one) has sexual desires for orcs!’

Pui-en-orch: Orc-spit.

Hara máriessë mi Mandos: (Quenya) ‘Welcome to Mandos’, literally, ‘Stay in happiness in Mandos’. (Hara) máriessë is an attested phrase used only in greetings, the first word being optional. [Parma Eldalamberon 17:162].

5: Elf Legends and Legendary Elves

The second class that day was called ‘Elf Legends’.

“This should be good,” Daeron whispered to Glorfindel as they took their seats. “I wonder what absurdities we will be subjected to in this class?”

Glorfindel gave him a grin. “I doubt we will hear any of our own tales, even in a distorted version. I’m pretty sure they will be legends surrounding this Santa Claus and the Elves working for him.”

“Hmph,” Daeron said, then he gave Glorfindel a sly look. “Perhaps we should... er... enlighten them with true tales of the Elves.”

“Let’s see what this class is about first before we start changing the syllabus,” Glorfindel said and Daeron chuckled.

Marian Goodfellow entered the classroom just then, and the class came to order. “Over the next couple of months,” she began, “we will be learning the different legends surrounding Santa Claus and the elves. We will also be learning how to tell these stories effectively so that our clients, especially the children, will be enthralled. Telling stories is a good way to keep the young ones amused when you’re trekking through the woods in below freezing temperatures.” She smiled and most of the class chuckled.

Glorfindel noticed Zach sitting two rows away, his expression glum and anxious looking and knew that the young man was worried about his speech impediment. He leaned over to whisper in Daeron’s ear. “We need to address Zach’s problem soon, otherwise he may not make it through the course.”

Daeron stole a glance at the Mortal and nodded. Then they turned their attention back to Marian who was still speaking.

“....also all the various resorts and safari companies have agreed that there should be only one version of the Santa story in order to be consistent, but you elves have to be ready to answer tricky questions from children or adults who may spot anomalies in the legend.” She gave them another smile. “So, what we will be doing is examining the various legends concerning Santa and his elves and comparing them to the version that has been devised for the tourists. You will need to be aware of these other legends in case you are asked questions about them. We will also be spending a great deal of time learning the fine art of storytelling.”

“So far so good,” Daeron whispered to Glorfindel, who nodded.

Marian continued. “Now the two most asked questions about Santa are: ‘Why does he live at the North Pole where there’s nothing there?’ and ‘Why does he have elves helping him?’ Do any of you have an idea of how to answer these two questions?”

For a moment or two there was silence in the class. Then Lily tentatively raised her hand. Marian nodded to her. “I think the answer to the first question is because he needed a place no one else would be able to find in order to make his toys without being disturbed,” she offered.

“That is certainly a plausible answer,” Marian said. “Does anyone else have an idea? What about the second question? What answer might you give for it?”

“A better question is, why does everyone think that Elves are small?” Nimrodel asked. “We’re going to be pretending to be Elves, but none of us will be able to shrink ourselves.” The other students broke out laughing. “So, how do we explain our... er... tallness?”

Marian’s eyes lighted up. “Ah... that is another part of the story for which we need to arrive at a plausible answer, but for the moment, let us just look at the two questions I put forward. Do you have any thoughts about why Santa has elves helping him?”

“Well, he couldn’t do it all on his own,” Nimrodel answered, “though I am not sure why Elves were thought to help him. I have the sense from reading various legends that Elves were thought to be the neutral angels who sided neither with Satan nor with God during the war in heaven. How they ended up being associated with, what is that phrase? oh... the Spirit of Christmas, is beyond me.”

“Hey! That’s right,” Evan exclaimed. “Where did the elves come from anyway? They’re not in the Bible.”

“Thank the Valar,” Glorfindel heard Elrohir whisper fervently and hid a smile. They were all aware of the varied belief systems of the Mortals around them, and indeed, had lived through those very events described in one holy book or another. Glorfindel remembered the early Christians walking from town to town preaching of the Christ. Elladan and Elrohir had found the story unbelievable. He, on the other hand, had not thought it beyond the realm of possibility, for he alone had had face-to-face dealings with the Valar and knew full well that anything was possible where they and Eru were concerned. After all, had not his gwador Finrod spoken of it once in Aman when he described the conversation he had had with a Mortal Wisewoman on a spring morning in Beleriand? Yet, the promise of the Christian message had never been fully realized and he doubted that it ever would be. The Mortals loved killing one another too much to fully embrace the message of the Prince of Peace. Morgoth might no longer exist in Eä, but his legacy of evil still lived on.

But that was neither here nor there at the moment. He turned his attention back to the class where one of the other students was describing the elves of German and Norse legends. “But I still don’t see how elves got added into the Santa Claus story,” Evan stated.

“Perhaps someone thought the First Children of the Creator deserved to be included in the Christmas story somehow,” Daeron said in all seriousness and several students stared at him in confusion.

“An interesting theory,” Marian said, “and possibly one that could be incorporated into the story we tell our clients should anyone ask a similar question. At any rate, there are many legends about Santa Claus, beginning with the stories of the generosity of St. Nicholas, who was the bishop of Myra in present-day Turkey. As the pagan Germanic peoples were christianized, some of the attributes of their gods, especially Odin or Woden, were blended with those of St. Nicholas. So, for instance, the eight reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh are believed to have had their origins in Odin’s eight-legged horse, Sleipner.”

“I wonder if stories about Lord Araw and Nahar somehow got incorporated into the stories of Odin and Sleipner,” Daeron mused, speaking just above a whisper. Glorfindel shrugged. Daeron’s expression became thoughtful and Glorfindel was sure that his friend was now in ‘loremaster-mode’, as Elrohir was wont to say.

“In early legends,” Marian continued, “St. Nicholas has miraculous powers and is helped, at first, by one or two elves or other supernatural beings. Later, the number of elves was multiplied until Santa now has a whole army of them working day and night to make toys and games for all the children.”

“Do you think they formed a union?” Glorfindel heard Elladan whisper to his twin and the two of them snickered.

One of the students raised her hand and Marian nodded to her. “I remember as a child being told that Santa’s elves did more than make toys,” she said. “They also spy on children all year long to find out if they’ve been good or not.”

Glorfindel frowned and noticed the other Elves were doing the same. “Im ú ethir i-hîn,” he heard Nimrodel mutter to Mithrellas, who nodded.

“Oh, that’s interesting,” Marian said brightly. “We will have to use that in our story.”

Daeron shook his head. “Not if I can help it,” he muttered darkly and raised his hand. “It seems to me that painting elves as spies,” he said when Marian acknowledged him, “sends the wrong message to the children. I would think you would want more positive images for the children to take back with them. Spying on innocent children does not accord with the message of love and peace for which the season is known.”

“Well, I don’t know about you,” Maggie piped up, “but I remember my mom telling me that Santa knew when we were being naughty.” She shrugged. “It was a good means of keeping me and my two brothers in line, especially as the holidays grew closer. We were extra, extra good from Thanksgiving on.”

Several of the students chuckled, nodding their heads. “And then to make up for lost time, we were extra, extra bad the day after Christmas,” one of the young men quipped and the class laughed.

“Still,” Mithrellas said, “it’s one thing to tell a child that Santa knows when they are being good or bad without explicitly stating how he knows and it’s another thing to say that he employs spies. Traditionally, spies tend to be unsavory characters, at least in stories.”

“Unless they’re Matt Damon playing Jason Bourne,” someone quipped and there were snickers, especially from the young women.

Mithrellas gave an elegant shrug. “All I am saying is that I think Darren is correct. It just sends the wrong kind of message to the children. I don’t think I want to be seen as some sort of spy in a trenchcoat lurking about, peeking into children’s bedroom windows. That’s too voyeuristic for my taste.”

Some of the class had thoughtful expressions on their faces and one or two even nodded. Marian shrugged. “We can think about it and discuss it later. At the moment, let’s just concentrate on Santa. As I was saying....”

“Wait!” Shane exclaimed. “I think we should discuss this now. I mean, what other negative images have crept into the story? I don’t know too much about them, but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that spying elves is not the only negative image there is. We want the kids and their parents to have a positive experience of Santa, right? So maybe we should talk about it now and make sure that there aren’t any negative images in the version we’re gonna tell the kids.”

“Well, if you want a negative image,” someone said, “how about the one of elves jumping in and out of Mrs. Claus’ porridge pot. I mean really! Why would they do that? I don’t even like porridge.” This last was said with some exasperation and there were several smiles.

“What would be the cultural significance of Elves doing such a thing, I wonder?” Elladan asked out loud. “There had to be a reason why someone would come up with such a stupid story.”

“Maybe they needed a word that rhymed with ‘hot’ and ‘porridge pot’ was the only thing that came to mind,” Matt suggested.

“Why ‘hot’?” someone asked.

“Well, the missus was cooking something, right?” Matt answered with a shrug.

“A bit off the topic, but certainly it shows that some of the tales are just absurd,” Daeron then said, and Glorfindel hid a smile at the ‘loremaster’ tone the ellon was using. “So many such tales are corruptions, usually caused by careless transmission of the story. It may not have been a porridge pot that the Elves were jumping in and out of originally, but someone decided they liked the image and changed the story, especially since Elves are supposed to be small.”

“Maybe we should go through all the available legends and weed out the more absurd ones,” Cassie said, “and then, if someone asks about them, we can just say that those were lies spread by people who hated Christmas. We certainly have plenty of bah-humbugs in our own culture dissing Christmas these days. It stands to reason that not everyone back then liked the idea of Christmas and gift-giving and such and came up with really absurd stories to discredit it.”

“We will be looking at the various legends later on,” Marian said in a somewhat harried tone, “and perhaps then we can discuss this matter. A committee of people from the various tourist agencies have already come up with a version of the Santa story and we....”

“Is that the same committee that came up with those really stupid greetings and such that we looked at in Ms Clannach’s class?” Jen suddenly asked, grimacing. “Because if it is, they’re not too bright. I think since we’re the ones who have to spout this stuff to the kiddies and make it sound sincere, we should be the ones to come up with the legends and such.”

“Deirdre has agreed to let the classes meeting in the first eight weeks come up with appropriate phrases and rules of etiquette and professional ethics and then have the other classes that will meet during the last half of the term create a handbook for us,” Glorfindel added. “Certainly, the various legends about Santa and his Elves which we will be telling should go into the handbook as well.”

There were many murmurs of assent to that and then someone suggested getting into the same groups as in the previous class and discussing their favorite Santa stories. There was general approval of that and before Marian could voice an objection students began shuffling their chairs about and gathering into groups.

Glorfindel turned to Daeron with a sardonic smile. “I guess we didn’t have to do anything after all,” he said as he stood up to go to where Matt, Evan, Maggie, Jen and Chloe were congregating. Daeron merely snorted good-naturedly as he headed for his own group. Glorfindel noticed Marian Goodfellow standing by her desk looking a bit nonplused, but decided he needn’t feel guilty as neither he nor the other Elves had done anything. This time, the other students were responsible for taking over the class.

****

In the end, not much was accomplished but the students had a good time trading stories, not only of the legends about Santa that they knew, but also of their childhood Christmases and meeting with Santa. There was a lot of laughter and the Elves generally sat back and listened avidly, deftly side-stepping questions put to them about their childhood experiences. Shane, being Jewish, was heard telling her group about Chanukah and what it was like growing up east of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, in what was a predominately Polish Catholic enclave.

Finally, the class ended and everyone went to find lunch. There was nothing planned until two o’clock so there was plenty of time for people to relax. The Elves gathered in the quad before heading for the cafeteria.

“Well, an interesting morning,” Daeron commented.

“And this is only the first day,” Nimrodel said.

“What’s on the agenda for the afternoon?” Elrohir asked.

“Some athletic activities, I believe,” Glorfindel said and when the Twins grimaced, he gave them a smile. “Probably less onerous than what I had planned for you when you both passed out.”

The Twins cringed almost as one, knowing quite well the sort of punishments the former Captain of Imladris had been known to mete out to recalcitrant ellyn under his command. Before anyone else could make a comment, Shane and Jud came along. “You guys having lunch?” Jud asked.

Glorfindel nodded. “We’re right behind you.”

****

The afternoon was indeed devoted to physical activities designed to foster team spirit, cooperation and friendship, as well as providing physical release and exercise. Students could sign up for a variety of team sports, from archery to volleyball. Sign-up sheets for the various sports were posted in the cafeteria. The Elves took a look at the list and pondered their choices along with their Mortal friends.

“Archery,” Elladan said and Elrohir nodded.

“You know you won’t be able to show them your true abilities,” Mithrellas said in Sindarin.

The Twins gave her disbelieving looks. “Why not?” Elrohir asked in the same language. “I’m getting tired of pretending to be what I am not.”

“What do you think, Loren?” Daeron asked in English. Even though he was by far the oldest of them, having been born in Cuiviénen before the Great March, he and the others acknowledged Glorfindel as their leader, for Glorfindel had powers that the others did not, powers gained while residing in Aman after his re-embodiment and being tutored by the Maiar.

Glorfindel stared at the list of options: archery, softball, tennis, volleyball, even touch football. “I think I need some target practice myself,” he said. “This says that in archery we can create teams of four.” He glanced at Daeron and the ellith. “Anyone else interested?”

None of them took the bait. “Misty and I are joining the volleyball team,” Nimrodel said.

“And I think I’ll sign up for the softball team,” Daeron added. “I was never good at archery anyway.”

Surprisingly, Lily raised her hand, looking a bit tentative. “I’d like to do archery,” she said, “though I don’t think I’m very good.”

Glorfindel glanced at the Twins, who shrugged, then gave Lily a smile. “I’m sure you’ll do just fine.”

The other Mortals in their group indicated that they would be signing up for other sports, so once they finished lunch, they went their separate ways.

“Too bad we didn’t think to bring our own bows,” Elrohir said to Elladan and Glorfindel as they headed for the archery fields. Lily planned to join them after she had changed into more appropriate clothes.

“That would have been intimidating to the Mortals,” Elladan said with a smirk.

“We’ll play it low-key,” Glorfindel admonished them. “Let’s not draw attention to ourselves.”

Both Twins sighed. “I think we should have sailed long ago,” Elrohir said.

“Perhaps,” Glorfindel said, “but we didn’t and so we must live with the consequences of our choice.”

“Do you regret not returning to Valinor with Adar?” Elladan asked.

“No,” Glorfindel said with an emphatic shake of his head. “I do not. Nor do I regret not sailing with Celeborn or any of the other Elves who have left these shores. My only regret is that my friends in Aman are not here to share in our adventures. I know Finrod would have enjoyed doing so.”

The Twins remained silent as they reached the area set aside for archery. There were several other students milling about, or looking over the various bows and testing them. A couple of instructors were on hand to help. The ellyn stopped at a table where they gave their names to a middle-aged man whose name tag read ‘Phil Gordon’.

“And Lily Zhang?” the man asked. “I see she’s listed as part of your group.”

“She’s coming,” Glorfindel supplied. “She needed to change her clothes.”

“Well, find a bow and arrows and pick a target,” Phil said, pointing to the equipment rack where bows and quivers were hung. “You’ll be shooting against another group. If you’ve never done archery before go to the targets on your right. We’ll give you instructions and let you practice before joining the teams on the left.”

“We’re all quite proficient,” Elladan said and the man nodded, already looking past them to the next group of students.

The three ellyn went to the equipment rack and looked over the bows. “Rather flimsy,” Elrohir said with a sniff of disdain.

“Just pick the heaviest bow you can find,” Elladan suggested and Glorfindel nodded. When they had found their bows and selected their quivers, they looked about for the targets. There were quite a few students over to the right, apparently waiting to receive their first archery lesson. Most of the targets on the left were already taken, though a few had no teams in front of them. There was one target that only had one team, consisting of two men and two women. They gave the Elves considering looks as they approached.

“Care if we join you?” Glorfindel asked with a smile.

“Not at all,” one of the young men said with a smile of his own. “We were wondering if we would have any competition. My name is Mark, by the way, and this is Gary, Sue and Nina.”

The Elves introduced themselves. “Our fourth should be coming,” Glorfindel said. “Her name is Lily... ah, here she is.”

Lily came up looking a bit flustered. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to take so long.”

“No problem,” Glorfindel said smoothly. “We were just introducing ourselves.”

Then, a whistle was blown and everyone quieted to listen to Phil give instructions. “We know that there will be differences in abilities among you,” he said, “so to make it fair for everyone, we’ve set up the targets at what is considered an acceptable range for most people who have some experience with handling the bow. Someone in each group should keep score for their team. You will find score sheets and pencils on the tables behind you. So, good luck, but most of all, just have fun.”

Lily and Sue agreed to be the scorekeepers for their teams and went to get the score sheets and pencils while the others looked over the target and tested their equipment.

“So, how good are you?” Gary asked the Elves.

“Dan, Roy and I are quite proficient,” Glorfindel said. “Lily has some experience but I don’t know to what extent. What about you?”

“Well, I did archery back in high school,” Gary said. “Though I haven’t touched a bow since.”

Mark and Nina nodded. “I’ve done some archery since,” Nina said, “but not a whole lot.”

“Well, I think we should worry less about who is better and just have fun,” Glorfindel suggested. “It’s been awhile since I’ve done any archery as well and I just want to enjoy myself.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Mark said. “Maybe we should just ignore the scores and shoot.”

“The instructors might not like that,” Sue said as she and Lily joined them. “They gave us scorekeepers a short lecture about being honest with the scoring.” She gave them a grimace. “As if we would stoop so low as to cheat or something.”

“Why don’t we keep score for the first round and then just not bother afterwards?” Lily suggested. “I know I’m not very good. I rarely manage to hit the bull’s eye. I just want to shoot, maybe improve myself a bit.”

“Good idea,” Glorfindel said. “Who goes first?”

In the end, Gary fished out a quarter from his pocket and flipped it while Glorfindel called it. “Heads,” he said, but it was ‘tails’ instead and so the other team shot first. Nina was the high scorer, beating Mark out by one point, with Sue coming in third, followed by Gary. Then Lily went first for Glorfindel’s team. She did not score very high and two of her arrows missed the target completely.

“Don’t worry about it,” Glorfindel said gently as she scowled while recording her score. “Next round, I’ll give you some pointers, if you’d like.”

Lily nodded, still looking glum. Then it was Elrohir’s turn. He stood in front of the target and drew the bow but then did not release it. “Too easy,” he said with a shake of his head, “and I refuse to miss on purpose.”

Glorfindel frowned. “I know, but....”

“You guys want to move back further?” Mark asked.

Elrohir nodded. “I’m used to shooting from a greater distance.”

“All three of us are,” Elladan said.

Mark looked at the others on his team and shrugged. “It’s fine by me if they want to move back.”

“Luckily we’re at the end of the row of targets so it shouldn’t be a problem,” Sue pointed out.

“So how far back were you thinking?” Gary asked, raising an eyebrow.

Elrohir’s grin was rather mischievous as he headed away from the target until he was about three times the original distance from it. “About here, wouldn’t you say?” he asked the other two ellyn and they nodded.

“You have to be kidding,” Mark exclaimed in disbelief.

Just then, Phil Gordon approached. “Is there a problem?” he asked.

“No, sir,” Mark said. “Our friends wanted to move back further from the target.”

Phil gazed at the Elves and then at the target, the bull’s eye barely made out. He glanced back at the Elves who stood there impassively. “A joke, right?” Phil asked.

Glorfindel shook his head. "No joke, but perhaps it would be best to have the other students stop shooting and stand back."

Phil nodded and shouted for everyone to stop what they were doing and move away from the targets. "I should make you shoot from the normal range," he then said to Glorfindel, "but I am curious to see just how far you can actually shoot."

"Let's find out," Glorfindel said with a smile, then nodded at Elrohir, who asked to borrow one of Lily’s arrows, which he placed on the ground before him, giving Glorfindel and Elladan an enquiring look. Glorfindel nodded and Elrohir stepped up to the arrow and drew his bow. For a second he did not move and then he released the arrow, automatically reaching for the next one. He shot all twelve arrows without pausing while Phil and the other Mortals just stood there with their mouths hanging open in awe. There was complete silence on the field.

Elrohir released the last arrow and scowled. “I am so out of practice,” he exclaimed in disgust. “Look at that. I missed the bull’s eye half the time.”

“How do you know?” Sue asked. “I can barely see the target.”

“I’ll go get the arrows and record the score,” Lily said and Elrohir gave her his quiver. She jogged down the field with Phil trailing her. It took several minutes before they came back. “You’re right,” she said to Elrohir. “Half the arrows landed in the red.”

“Well, maybe you’ll do better next time,” Elladan said with a smirk as he stepped up to take his turn.

Like Elrohir, he shot continuously until all the arrows were spent. “Bah!” he exclaimed as the last arrow was landing in the target. “I’m almost as out of practice as you, Brother.”

Lily jogged down to the target to retrieve the arrows, coming back after a few minutes. “You beat Roy by two points,” she said.

By this time all activity on the field had ceased as the other students gathered around the Elves to watch this most extraordinary feat. Glorfindel stood in front of the target, sighting down an arrow then stepping back about a dozen paces.

“Are you sure you want to shoot from there?” Elladan asked, raising an eyebrow. “You’re just as out of practice as we are.”

Glorfindel just smiled as he raised his bow and then he was shooting, the arrows flying so fast that most of the Mortals had trouble seeing them. There were gasps of surprise among them and when the last arrow was released, they all went down the field to take a look. All twelve arrows had hit the bull’s eye. Eleven of them made a ring around the twelfth which was in the dead center. The Mortals just stood there staring at the target in disbelief.

“Low-key, huh?” Elrohir said as he frowned at the target. Glorfindel smirked.

“I thought you said you were out of practice,” Elladan said accusingly.

Glorfindel shook his head. “I said I was in need of practice. Not the same thing.”

The Twins looked at each other, their scowls nearly identical.

“I guess you guys win,” Mark said with a sigh but Glorfindel shook his head.

“Actually, I believe your team won,” he said.

“He’s right!” Sue exclaimed as she and Lily compared the scores. “We beat them by three points.”

“That’s because I missed the target twice,” Lily moaned.

Glorfindel shrugged. “We’ll work on it. I’m sure you’ll do much better next time.”

“You realized that no one is going to want to compete against us,” Elrohir said softly in Sindarin. Elladan nodded, looking morose.

“So, we’ll just compete against each other,” Glorfindel answered in the same language.

“What was that you were saying?” Phil Gordon demanded.

“The Twins were grousing that no one will want to compete against us from now on,” Glorfindel answered, “and I told them we’ll just compete against each other. We’ve done it often enough before.”

“Maybe you could help us teach the other students,” Phil suggested. “Ben and I could sure use the help. We have more beginners who don’t know one end of an arrow from the other than we anticipated and then there are the other students from the rest of the college who have signed up for archery lessons. It’s become a more popular sport these last few years because of those Robin Hood-type movies that have come out recently.”

Glorfindel looked enquiringly at the Twins, who shrugged almost as one. Glorfindel then turned to Phil. “If you think it’ll be all right....”

“No problem,” Phil said. “In fact, we can make you T.A.’s, which means you’ll get a partial refund on your tuition and then a small stipend to help with expenses while you’re here.”

“We’re only here for the semester,” Glorfindel pointed out.

“Still not a problem,” Phil said dismissively, and the other instructor, Ben, nodded.

The three ellyn looked at one another. The Twins gave Glorfindel nods and he nodded as well. “As long as it doesn’t interfere with our regular classes,” he said to Phil, “we’ll be glad to help.”

“Great!” Phil said with a smile. “Come by my office on Wednesday after lunch and we’ll get the paperwork all squared away so you can start assisting beginning next week.” He held out his hand and Glorfindel shook it. Then Phil turned to the rest of the students. “Okay, we still have nearly an hour left of the class. Back to your targets.”

There were some good-natured chuckles from the other students as they complied with the command. Phil asked the Elves to wander from group to group and offer tips to the shooters. Glorfindel said he would help Mark’s group and Lily while the Twins did the wandering, to which they all agreed. Soon there were arrows flying towards the targets once again.

****

Words are Sindarin.

Gwador: Sworn brother.

Im ú ethir i-hîn: ‘I am no spy of children’.

Adar: Father.

6: So Which One of These Is Rudolph?

When Daeron heard about the archery, he was rather put out. “We’re supposed to not call attention to ourselves,” he hissed at Glorfindel and the Twins as they made their way down the cafeteria line. “Why allow yourselves the temptation?”

Glorfindel gave the Sinda a cool stare. “I think you’re overstating the case, mellon nîn,” he said softly in Sindarin. “They were impressed by our abilities but not to the point of suspicion. Mr. Gordon has even offered us positions as T.A.’s.”

“All three of you?” Daeron asked in disbelief. The Twins nodded as one.

“Ah, thank you,” Glorfindel said graciously as he took the plate of spaghetti from the server, giving her a smile, which flustered her somewhat so that she ended up pouring the sauce for the next plate onto the floor. With a startled yelp she hurried off to find a mop while Glorfindel and Daeron continued their conversation.

“Yes, all three of us,” Glorfindel answered. “We’ll get a partial refund on our tuition and a small stipend to pay for expenses, so our financial burden will be even less than before. Mr. Gordon assured me that our duties will not interfere with our classes.”

“It was still a stupid risk to take,” Daeron said. “I hope the ellith were more circumspect.”

When they joined Mithrellas and Nimrodel at the table, Daeron asked them how the volleyball went.

“My team won,” Nimrodel said with a laugh.

“With your help?” Daeron asked and the tone he used alerted the two ellith that there was more behind the question than the surface meaning.

“Actually, no,” Nimrodel said. “I purposely flubbed a couple of serves.”

“That must have endeared you to your teammates,” Glorfindel said with a smile.

“In fact, it did,” Nimrodel replied with an arch look, “because I was not the only one to do so and the others just put it down to my clumsiness or inexperience. There were no hard feelings at all.”

“A much safer strategy than our intrepid Imladrin heroes chose,” Daeron said with a sigh.

When Nimrodel gave Glorfindel an enquiring look he explained what happened. Before either ellith could comment, several students approached their table. “That was excellent shooting, man,” one of them said. “You ever think of trying out for the Olympics? You would get the gold hands down.”

Glorfindel smiled. “I’m not that competitive,” he said ingenuously. Elladan gave him a disbelieving look while Elrohir choked on the water he was drinking and Daeron had to pound him on the back even as he was giving Glorfindel a disapproving look. The two ellith snickered.

“Well, I’m pretty good,” said another student, “but I ain’t seen nothin’ like what we saw today. That was, like, totally wicked cool.”

The other students all agreed. “I hope I can shoot half as well as you three did before the end of the term,” a third student said.

“We’ll be helping to teach the class, so I am sure everyone will improve on their shooting skill,” Glorfindel said. After another minute or two the students left. The Mortals at the table gave Glorfindel and the Twins measuring looks.

“Maybe I’ll sign up for archery next time,” Jud said diffidently, “just to see what all the fuss is about.”

Some of the other Mortals nodded. “Now see what you’ve done,” Daeron muttered softly in Sindarin so only the other Elves could hear. Glorfindel did not deign to respond, but secretly he was beginning to wonder if he and the Twins had made a mistake in revealing their archery abilities. Daeron was correct. It was too much of a temptation, yet, Elrohir had spoken truly as well. It was becoming tiresome to have to hide their identities behind Mortal masks. In previous centuries and millennia it had not been a problem, for many people in those times still believed in the existence of Faerie and Elves, even if they confused them with either demons or angels, depending on their cultural and religious mindset. But in the last couple of centuries, especially since the misnamed Age of Enlightenment, Elves had been reduced to being Santa’s helpers or flitting about with wings. He realized as he sat there buttering his Italian bread, that he missed just being himself, not Loren DelaFiore, but Glorfindel of the House of the Golden Flower, Captain of Imladris’ Guards and friend to Maiar and Valar alike. He wondered, of a sudden, what his gwador Finrod would have done and an intense longing to see his truest friend and heart-brother once again assailed him and he had to close his eyes against the emotional pain that pierced his very fëa.

Daeron, ever the most perceptive of them all, must have sensed something of his grief, for he reached over and put a hand on Glorfindel’s arm, squeezing it gently. Glorfindel opened his eyes and stared at the Sindarin minstrel. “Goheno nîn,” Daeron said softly.

Glorfindel shook his head. “U-voe an ngohenad,” he said and the matter was dropped.

****

The next day after breakfast, they were all herded onto buses, for they would be spending the morning visiting one of the resorts and then, after lunch, touring one of the safari companies. The bus that the Elves were on was going to the Rainbow Lake Holiday Resort and then on to Lightfoot Reindeer Safaris. The resort was several miles north of Wiseman in the foothills below Mt. Horace, one of the taller peaks in the area. After about thirty minutes on the James Dalton Highway, the bus driver took a side road that wound through a deeply forested area. Glorfindel noticed that the other Elves were staring out the windows with hungry looks on their faces, especially the two ellith. He had to admit that the sight of the forest evoked deep emotions in him as well.

The road was unpaved and twisted through the woods. It took another twenty minutes before they reached their destination. Around a bend in the road they came upon a lodge situated beside a small lake with Mt. Horace rising precipitously behind it and there were murmurs of delight and awe from the students. Most of them came from the larger cities in the southern part of the state or elsewhere and had little contact with the wilderness that made up a goodly portion of Alaska. Once the bus was stopped, they all filed out to find themselves being greeted by a young woman with chestnut brown eyes and golden-brown hair that swept her shoulders. She was perhaps a few years older than most of the students. She smiled at them brightly.

“Welcome to Rainbow Lake Holiday Resort,” she said. “My name is Charlene Davidson, the Welcome Manager for the resort. I’ll be your guide today. Everyone here? Good. Now, Rainbow Lake Holiday Resort was built in the early nineties and catered mostly to hunters and fishermen and the like, but when the internet became available, the owners saw the potential for expanding their business. Teaming up with the other hotels and resorts in the area, as well as the newly formed safari companies, they created family-oriented holiday packages which, naturally, include a visit to Santa Claus. In the last five years the number of tourists coming into this area has nearly tripled and there are not enough tour guides to handle the load, which is where you all come in. Given the hostile climate during the winter months, we focus on activities which children would enjoy, such as snow-shoe walks, husky sledding, reindeer sleigh rides and snowmobile trips. Each of these activities needs a guide, or in your case, an elf.” She paused and there were a few chuckles among the group. “Any questions so far?”

One of the students raised her hand. “How many of us will be working at the resorts?” she asked.

“Well, each resort is different,” Charlene answered. “Rainbow Lake, for instance, anticipates a need for about twenty elves to help out in addition to our regular staff, but that number may go up or down depending on the number of families who come. Most of them, especially those from in-state will come just for the day, staying one night. Others will stay longer, perhaps through a weekend. Families from out-of-state, and we are getting more and more of these, will stay longer so as to get their money’s worth.”

“So, we’ll only be working up to Christmas, then?” another student asked.

“Actually, we are hoping that most of you will be willing to work through to the New Year,” Charlene said. “While we stress family-oriented holiday packages between Thanksgiving and Christmas, for obvious reasons, we are also pushing adult-only packages designed to attract the more adventurous travelers. We have a few Christmas to New Year’s holiday get-away packages designed specifically for them. This is true for the other resorts, as well. So now, if you would follow me, I will show you our facilities. The lodge was rebuilt about three years ago to make it handicapped accessible and we have small cabins scattered about the grounds for our patrons. Most of them sleep up to eight people and....”

****

“A nice place,” Daeron said quietly to Glorfindel as they wandered along the lake shore while they waited for lunch. The resort was catering it as part of the program. As soon as they were free to wander on their own after the tour, Elladan and Elrohir took off into the woods without saying a word to anyone else. Glorfindel hoped they would at least return to catch the bus even if they decided to skip lunch. The ellith were sitting on the front porch along with some of the other students enjoying the view.

Glorfindel nodded. “Indeed. When we turned the bend I had a sudden vision of Imladris, though this place looks nothing like it.”

Daeron smiled. “I know what you mean. I was suddenly reminded of a certain place in Doriath where I was wont to go. Odd how memories work. I haven’t thought of Doriath in ages, literally.”

Glorfindel looked about him, taking in the view. No, it was nothing like Imladris, and yet there was something about it that called to him. “What will you do if you’re asked to stay longer, I mean, if someone wants to hire you on a permanent basis?”

Daeron gave the ellon a considering look. “We were going to set up our own academy in Finland,” he said. “That’s the plan.”

“I know, but plans change,” Glorfindel said. “Truly, I wouldn’t mind remaining here for a time. Finland isn’t going anywhere.”

“Yet, if not all of us are asked to stay on....”

“Then, naturally, I would decline the offer,” Glorfindel assured him. “I would not separate us. We’ve been together for too long. Still, if by chance we are all offered jobs with a resort or safari company or other tourist agency here, I wouldn’t necessarily say no to it.”

“We wouldn’t be making much money though,” Daeron pointed out.

Glorfindel shrugged. “We would make enough to get by and we will be together. In the end, that’s all that really matters.”

“You’re right, of course,” Daeron admitted, looking rueful. “I guess I’ve allowed myself to think more like a Mortal, always looking for more.”

“A nasty habit of which we must break you,” Glorfindel said with a wicked smile and Daeron stuck his tongue out at him as they headed back to the lodge where lunch was about to be served.

****

The Twins did indeed return from their foray in time to catch the bus. There was a look about them that the other Elves recognized. Sitting together in the back of the bus they conversed softly in Sindarin.

“What did you learn?” Glorfindel asked them.

“The trees are asleep,” Elladan said, “at least for the most part, but there is an awareness there, especially with the oldest ones. With a little effort, some of them could be woken.”

“Wildlife is abundant,” Elrohir added. “Mostly small animals that normally haunt such woods. Most are wary but we befriended a few. Of predators I could not sense any nearby. I suspect they avoid the human habitations and are further into the mountains.”

“Do you think it is the same in other areas?” Nimrodel asked.

“Possibly,” Elladan said. “If so, we can try to waken the trees around each resort so wherever we happen to be working, we’ll have allies in the woods.”

“Good enough,” Glorfindel said. “Charlene did mention that the weather is unpredictable in the winter and people have been caught in blizzards without warning. Having some of the trees awake will make our job of keeping our charges safe easier.”

The others nodded and then sat back to enjoy the scenery. They were headed towards Chandalar, further east from Wiseman, where Lightfoot Reindeer Safaris was located. It was an appropriately named company, as they discovered, for the owners, Max and Lucy Lightfoot ran a reindeer farm just outside the town. That is where the bus took them.

“We have a small office in town,” Max explained as the students gathered around him, “but most of our business is conducted here on the farm.” He was about thirty-five with features that suggested some Inuit or Eskimo blood. Lucy was about thirty, and a vivacious blond. She was also visibly pregnant.

Glorfindel, standing next to Mithrellas, noticed the wistful look on her face when she saw the young Mortal in the late stages of pregnancy and felt pity for the elleth who had given up husband and children for the sake of her mistress. He leaned over to whisper in her ear. “Your children thrived and your son founded a great dynasty. Some of their descendants still walk the earth. Take comfort in that.”

“How can I take comfort in the knowledge that I will never see them again?” she whispered back.

“You do not know that,” Glorfindel replied. “I do not think Eru would deny either you or them that happiness, for how can it be complete until you are together again as a family? You will be reunited someday. Have faith that it will be so.”

Mithrellas gave him a tremulous smile. “Thank you,” she said and Glorfindel just nodded, turning his attention back to Max.

“Now, part of the program we have set up for our patrons is reindeer sleigh rides,” Max said. “To that end, we will be giving each of you lessons on how to handle the reindeer as well as the sleigh. I believe other safari companies will be instructing you on husky sledding and snowmobiles and such. In any case, one of the attractions is offering to teach people to drive a reindeer sleigh, so it is necessary that you all become proficient in it.”

“You let children drive a sleigh?” Matt asked.

Max shook his head. “They have to be at least sixteen and already have their driver’s permit. It’s mainly the parents we offer to teach. It allows them to participate in the activities in a more active way than simply escorting their kiddies hither and yon.” There were nods of understanding all around. “So, just follow me and I’ll introduce you to our reindeer,” Max said with a smile and they all trooped after him.

“Do you tell the children that these are Santa’s reindeer?” Lily asked Max as they made their way around the barn to the paddock where the reindeer were.

Max smiled. “We tell them that some of the reindeer Santa uses come from this farm, but not all. Most of them want to know about Rudolph.”

The students chuckled in amusement. “Can anyone name the eight reindeer Santa is traditionally supposed to have?” Lucy asked.

“Well, let’s see,” someone said. “There’s... er... Donner and Blitzen and Cupid and... and....”

“Dancer and Prancer and... um...uh...” another student supplied.

“Sheldon, Murray and Leonard,” Shane added with a mischievous grin.

“Huh?” Lily asked in bemusement.

“Hey, why not?” Shane countered. “They’re as good as any other names.”

“Where did you g-g-get those names, anyway?” Zach asked.

“My uncles,” she answered with a smirk. “My mom calls them the Three Wise Guys.”

There was laughter all around. “Hey! If we’re renaming Santa’s reindeer,” Jen said, “I think it’s time the girls got equal billing. How about Felicity?”

“Lorelei,” someone supplied.

“Buffy!” another girl yelled out and the laughter continued as more and more ludicrous names were put forth by the students.

Glorfindel could hear Elladan and Elrohir taking the lines from The Night Before Christmas where Santa calls out the names of the reindeer and substituting their own names, the two of them giggling like elflings.

“On Fingon, on Finrod, on Thingol and Amrod,” Elladan whispered and then Elrohir picked up the next line: “Now Haldir, now Lindir, now Glorfi and Angrod.”

“All right you two, knock it off,” Glorfindel said with a low growl, but his eyes were bright with laughter and the Twins just gave him saucy grins.

The other Elves smiled in amusement and then Nimrodel was softly singing: “Glorfi, the bright-haired ellon, had a mass of golden locks, and if you ever saw them you might even say they rock.”

“Oh, I get the next verse,” Mithrellas exclaimed in an excited voice. “But all the other Eldar used to laugh and call him names. They never let poor Glorfi join in any of their games.”

“Enough already!” Glorfindel protested but he was having a hard time trying not to laugh himself. Mithrellas stuck her tongue out at him and the Twins were nearly falling over each other trying not to laugh and bring attention to them all, even though they were now at the back of the group and no one was paying them any mind.

Nimrodel simply started on the next verse: “Then one foggy Yuletide eve, Eärendil came to say, Glorfi with your hair so bright, won’t you guide my ship tonight?”

Then Daeron got into the act. “Then how the Eldar loved him and they shouted out with glee. Glorfi the bright-haired ellon, you’ll go down in history.”

Glorfindel threw his hands up in defeat as the other Elves stifled their laughter. Daeron gave the ellith a thumbs-up and they sketched him curtsies.

By now they had reached the paddock and the levity among them all died as they saw the majestic animals before them. “Uh... they’re a lot bigger than I thought they would be,” Shane said, looking a little pale. She wasn’t the only one and one or two students stepped hurriedly back from the fence when one of the reindeer came up to investigate them.

Glorfindel eyed the animals with interest. “I met their ancestors on the march North to the Helcaraxë,” he said quietly to Daeron.

“Did you domesticate them, like the Lapplanders have?” Daeron asked.

Glorfindel shook his head, giving him a sardonic look. “We usually just ate them, when we could catch them, that is.”

Daeron snorted. Elrohir, standing just behind Glorfindel, leaned over and in feigned shock exclaimed in a whisper, “You ate Rudolph!?”

Glorfindel turned his head and gave him a withering look but the ellon was totally unrepentant and just grinned at him.

“So, any of you ever handle horses?” Max asked as they gathered around the fence to view the reindeer. All six Elves raised their hands, but none of the Mortals did; they just shook their heads.

Max nodded, and motioned for the Elves to approach. He handed Daeron a red leather halter stitched with the name ‘Sigurd’ in white. “They’ve been trained to the halter,” he said, “but care still needs to be taken when approaching them. That’s Sigurd over there.” Max pointed to one of the reindeer. “We’ve taken to giving them names out of Icelandic and Scandinavian legends,” he explained and Daeron nodded as he went inside the paddock to stand before Sigurd.

For a moment, he did not move or speak, but merely stared into the eyes of the creature before him. Sigurd pawed the ground but otherwise made no other move. Then Daeron started crooning something in Sindarin, a song which the other Elves recognized, though the Mortals obviously would not. Even as he continued crooning he slowly lifted the halter and slipped it over the reindeer’s muzzle, bringing the long strap over its head and behind its ears before buckling it. Then he patted the creature’s head and without bothering to take a hold of the halter he turned to walk towards the fence, Sigurd meekly following.

Max and Lucy had stunned expressions on their faces. “Well, I’ll be,” Max said with a low whistle. “That is definitely a first.” He turned to the other Elves. “Who wants to go next?”

Glorfindel indicated that he would go and Max handed him another red leather halter with the name ‘Fjalar’ stitched on it. “That’s Fjalar there,” Max said, pointing to one of the animals on the other side of the paddock. Glorfindel nodded and stepped through the gate that Lucy held open for him, walking confidently towards Fjalar, neatly avoiding the other reindeer milling about. Unlike Daeron, though, he did not sing. Instead, he stood about three feet from the animal and began speaking in a sing-song voice: “Tolo, Fjalar. Tolo enni. Tolo, Fjalar, mellon vain nîn.”

At first, nothing happened. “What’s the matter, Loren, afraid?” Jud asked with a sneer and some of the students snickered.

Glorfindel ignored the jibe, continuing his sing-song words and then, Fjalar began walking towards him, stopping a bare six inches from the ellon, giving a reindeerish snort and a shake of his head. Glorfindel reached out and stroked the creature between the eyes and then slipped the halter over him, all the while praising the animal in Sindarin. Once the halter was secured he leaned over and whispered in the creature’s ear, “Le hannon, Fjalar. Aphado nîn ae telithal.” Then he straightened and walked back to the gate. Fjalar gave another snort and then followed along.

The disbelief and bemusement on the Mortals’ faces was almost funny, Glorfindel thought, as he reached the gate and stepped outside. Fjalar joined Sigurd and the two reindeer stood quietly together as if awaiting their next command. Glorfindel gave Jud, who stood there with his mouth gaping in surprise, a cool stare. “I have never been afraid of any animal,” he said, “but I know how to treat them with respect.”

Jud just nodded, his eyes wide with something that bordered on awe. Max cleared his throat. “Ah... er... a most interesting display. Um... who’s next?” He looked about rather helplessly.

The Twins raised their hands almost together. “Twins, huh?” Max said. “Well, it just so happens we have our own twins.” He pointed to two somewhat smaller reindeer with similar coloring. “Tuoni is the one on the left, and Tapio is the one on the right,” he added, handing them the halters.

The Twins stared first at the halters to see what name was stitched on them, then at the reindeer and then at each other. “Why do you get to have the Lord of Forests?” Elladan complained.

Elrohir smirked. “You’re not afraid of the Lord of the Dead are you?”

“Of course not!” Elladan protested. “But I don’t fancy having to put a halter on him.”

Glorfindel sighed. “Just do it, Dan. Unlike another Lord of the Dead of my acquaintance, this one is not likely to pass judgment on you.”

As if to belie the Elf’s words, there was a sudden sound of one of the reindeer breaking wind and then there was embarrassed laughter all around. Elladan sighed and went towards Tuoni while Elrohir followed, smirking. Then, to the surprise of the Mortals, Elladan stopped about a foot away from the reindeer and gave the animal a respectful bow.

“Mae govannen, Hîr Tuoni. Im estannen Elladan Elrondion. Gerin dâf lîn am meniad hen am le?” He said softly, holding out the halter. The reindeer nodded his head and then came directly up to the Elf, who gently slipped the halter on him. Then he took a step back and gave the animal another bow. “Le hannon, hîr nîn, an nóviel hen.”

It escaped no one’s notice that Elrohir was performing a similar ritual. When both reindeer had their halters on, the Twins began walking back towards the gate, but rather than following behind, the two reindeer walked beside the Elves. Elrohir placed a hand on Tapio’s neck and stroked it and Elladan did the same with Tuoni.

There was absolute silence among the students. Glorfindel saw Max and Lucy exchange nervous looks and sighed. It seemed that no matter how hard they tried not to be Elves, the world conspired against them and they found themselves in situations such as this where their natural tendencies took over. It had ever been the way of the Firstborn to seek communion with the animals around them. It was as natural as breathing for them and to deny it was something none of them could do.

Nimrodel went up to Max, giving him a slightly worried expression. “You don’t have any does do you? I was never good with stallions. I doubt I’ll be any better with the bucks.”

Glorfindel was not the only Elf to raise his eyebrows at that bit of sophistry, but he recognized what she was doing and nodded in approval when she happened to glance his way. Max and Lucy seemed to relax and Lucy smiled. “As it happens, we do have does, but they tend not to like pulling sleighs.”

“You see,” Cassie turned to Matt with a smirk. “Women are smarter than men.” The laughter was loud and long at the quip and the tension that had been building within the group began to dissipate.

“Here,” Max said, handing her a halter. “This is Gandalf’s.” Glorfindel, Elladan and Elrohir started at the name and gave one another considering looks. Max, unaware of the significance of the name, continued speaking. “He’s been gelded, so he’s unlikely to give you any trouble.”

Now Glorfindel and the Twins were struggling to hold back their laughter as certain images passed before their eyes and they refused to look at anyone. Nimrodel gave Max a slight smile and thanked him, going inside the paddock towards the reindeer Max had indicated. She acted somewhat nervously, but did not overdo it.

“Nice Gandalf,” they heard her say. “Here’s your halter.” She tentatively held it out and when the animal did nothing threatening, she inched a little closer and slipped it on, giving everyone a triumphant smile as if she’d done something amazing. Glorfindel and Daeron rolled their eyes at one another and hid grins at the elleth’s performance.

Mithrellas glanced at Max. “Why don’t we let the other students have a go?” she asked. “I prefer just to watch.”

“Well, as it happens,” Max said, “there aren’t enough reindeer for everyone to practice with, so we’re going to have to team up and take turns removing and putting on the halters before we go to the next stage. Why don’t you take Freyr’s halter?” He handed her the halter, pointing out the reindeer in question. “Let’s see how you handle him and then we’ll divide the rest of the group into sixes.”

Mithrellas shrugged and took the halter, going towards Freyr who stood there eyeing her with some suspicion, or so it appeared to the onlookers. She approached him with an air of indifference. “All right, Freyr, let’s get this over with,” she said in a no nonsense tone that had the others snickering. Freyr gave her a snort, but allowed her to pat him on the forehead and put the halter on without too much fuss. Then she took hold of the halter and with a soft click of her tongue urged him forward to where the other haltered reindeer stood, Nimrodel having brought Gandalf along in the meantime.

“So now,” Max said brightly. “We have six reindeer. Let’s divide up and each of you can take turns putting on and taking off the halters.” He nodded to the Elves who obliged him by removing the halters and handing them to one of the other students. Some were more daunted by the creatures than others and the Elves stood carefully by in case either the student or the reindeer did something stupid. However, there were no major incidents and in a short while even the most timorous student was happily petting the creatures.

The rest of the afternoon went quickly enough as Max and Lucy led everyone, including the six reindeer, into a large arena which was refrigerated to below freezing, much like a meat locker. Artificial snow was laid out on the ground and students started to shiver, putting on sweaters and jackets which they had been warned earlier to bring with them. None of the Elves even bothered. There were three sleighs in the arena and Max and Lucy spent a great deal of time showing them how to team-hitch the reindeer to the sleighs. Then came the tricky part of learning to drive the sleighs. The Elves caught on quickly and when Max realized this he asked them to take turns sitting beside the other students as they learned to drive the sleighs. There were a few mishaps as students suddenly would lose control of the reins and start to panic, but the Elves would calmly take over until the student and the reindeer had calmed down. Thus, by the end of the afternoon, most of the students had at least some competence in hitching up the reindeer and driving the sleighs, though few could be said to be confident in doing either.

“Don’t worry,” Max told them. “You’ll be returning here or going to one of the other reindeer farms over the next four months for more practice. Believe me, in no time at all, you’ll all be experts and will wonder what the fuss was all about. Once the snow comes, you’ll have the chance to try your hand at driving the sleighs on the actual trails we’ve set up. It’s a whole different experience from driving them around the arena.” Max then thanked them for coming and Lucy wished them luck with their studies.

Then, it was time to return to the college and everyone headed for the bus. As the Elves settled into their seats, Glorfindel smiled in satisfaction, listening to the excited chattering of the other students as the bus pulled away from the farm. “A most interesting day all around,” he said softly, “especially the reindeer.”

“I still can’t believe you actually ate Rudolph though,” Elrohir quipped and laughingly avoided Glorfindel’s half-hearted swipe.

Elladan gave Glorfindel a horrified look that the others could tell was feigned. “You ate Rudolph!?” he exclaimed.

Glorfindel groaned. “No, I did not,” he said firmly.

“Just his ancestors,” Daeron added with a wink at Glorfindel who sighed.

“What do you expect from a Noldo, anyway?” Nimrodel put in, laughing and sticking her tongue out at Glorfindel. “They’re a strange bunch.” Daeron and Mithrellas nodded facetiously. Elladan and Elrohir just rolled their eyes.

“Hey! We’re part Noldorin,” Elladan protested.

“My point exactly,” Nimrodel retorted with a smirk.

Glorfindel wanted to say something biting just then but decided it wasn’t worth it, knowing that they were merely teasing. Instead, he ignored them as they continued with their banter and watched the scenery go by, a satisfied smile on his face.

****

All words are Sindarin unless otherwise noted.

Mellon nîn: My friend.

Fëa: (Quenya) Spirit, soul.

Goheno nîn: ‘Forgive me’ (with person forgiven as object).

U-voe an ngohenad: ‘There is nothing to forgive’, literally ‘It is not necessary for forgiving’.

Tolo, Fjalar. Tolo enni. Tolo, Fjalar, mellon vain nîn: ‘Come, Fjalar. Come to me. Come, Fjalar, my beautiful friend’.

Le hannon, Fjalar. Aphado nîn, ae telithal: ‘I thank thee, Fjalar. Follow me if thou wilt come’.

Mae govannen, Hîr Tuoni. Im estannen Elladan Elrondion. Gerin dâf lîn am meniad hen am le?: ‘Well met, Lord Tuoni. I am called Elladan son of Elrond. Have I thy permission to set this upon thee?’

Le hannon, hîr nîn, an nóviel hen: ‘I thank thee, my lord, for having allowed this.’

Note on the reindeer names: Sigurd is the Norse hero who kills the dragon Fafnir. Fjalar is the name of a Dwarf mentioned in the Dvertagal or 'Reckoning of Dwarves', which is found in the Icelandic Poetic or Elder Edda, the same ‘Dwarf list’ from which Tolkien drew the names of his Dwarves for The Hobbit. Gandalf, of course, comes from the same list. Tuoni (Lord of the Dead) and Tapio (Lord of Forests) are from the Finnish Kalevala. Freyr is the name of one of the Norse gods.

7: How the Rest of the Week Went

Wednesday, the morning was spent in the kitchen learning the fine art of making gingerbread men and decorating them. While Deirdre Clannach was there in a supervisory role, the class was actually conducted by the cooks. Even the Twins admitted afterwards that it had been a fun class.

“Especially getting to eat what we made,” Elrohir said with a grin.

“Just as well, since there will be no lunch,” Nimrodel retorted.

Because the kitchen was being used as a classroom on Wednesdays, no lunch would be provided on that day. Students could go to one of the other dining halls in the college or into town for a bite. None of the Elves were particularly hungry and opted out of lunch altogether, going their separate ways. Before the afternoon activities began, Glorfindel and the Twins went to Phil Gordon’s office and shortly thereafter all the paperwork was dealt with.

“You can begin assisting next week,” Phil said. “Stop here on Monday about a half hour before we start and we’ll work out a schedule that won’t interfere with your other classes. In the meantime, if you want to join us this afternoon, that will be fine.”

“Are we doing the same activities?” Elladan asked.

Phil shook his head. “Students can either swim laps, run or work out at the gym. We didn’t bother with sign-up sheets for any of these. Everyone just needs to show up in appropriate clothing.”

“We’ll go and change then,” Glorfindel said and the three ellyn left.

The ellith decided to go to the gym while all four ellyn decided to run. Shane and Jud decided to join them while Zach and Matt opted to swim laps. Lily and Cassie joined the ellith at the gym.

“This is not a race,” Phil told the runners as they gathered outside the Academy grounds. “Go at your own pace. Slow to a walk if you need to. The course is clearly marked out. Just follow the yellow signs with the black arrows.”

“How long is the course?” someone asked.

“Three miles in one direction and then you turn around and come back,” Phil answered, holding up his hand to still the groans that came from some of the students. “You do not need to run the entire course, though hopefully by the end of the term you will be able to without too much trouble. There are markers indicating every half mile, so try to do at least one mile. If you can’t run any further, then walk the rest of the way back.”

The four Elves glanced at one another. “Six miles,” Daeron said softly. “That’s not very far.”

Glorfindel shrugged. “Nothing says we can’t run the course again.”

The Twins nodded and Daeron shrugged. “How many times are you figuring to run the course?” he asked.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Glorfindel replied. “As many times as it amuses me to do so, I guess.”

Daeron snorted and the Twins grinned. Glorfindel turned to Jud and Shane. “Don’t try to keep up with us,” he admonished. “Go at your own pace.”

“I think we can handle it,” Shane said. “I ran track back in school.”

“Me, too,” Jud said.

Then Phil blew on his whistle and all talking ceased as the Elves and the Mortals set off. The Elves kept to a steady ground-eating lope that was neither fast nor slow, keeping in the middle of the pack at first. Shane and Jud kept up with them for a while but Jud finally slowed to a jog after the first mile and was left behind. Shane continued to stay with the ellyn for another half mile and then she slowed as well. Elrohir turned and gave her a cheery wave as he and the others continued on, never slowing down or even looking as if they were out of breath, moving to the head of the pack. They were the first ones to reach the three-mile marker and were halfway back to the two-mile marker when they met the front line of runners. They shouted out words of encouragement as they passed the other students. Jud was not with them, but Shane still was. They saw her shake her head in disbelief as they passed her and smiled.

As they were approaching the starting point where they saw a number of students gathered who had only done the first mile, Glorfindel asked, “Want to go again?” and his fellow Elves nodded. He waved at Phil who gave them a surprised look when they didn’t slow down. “We’re going again,” Glorfindel shouted. “Six miles isn’t much.”

Before the man could respond they were off. This time, however, Glorfindel quickened the pace a bit. “C’mon, you sluggards,” he called to the other three ellyn. “Let’s see who gets back first.”

Elladan and Elrohir both gave yells of glee and the race was on. At first, the Twins were ahead, while Glorfindel and Daeron brought up the rear, but slowly, almost imperceptibly, Glorfindel began to overtake them with Daeron not far behind. All along the track they met other students coming back, many of them walking, though a few were still running or, rather, jogging slowly. All of them were dripping with sweat and they stared in disbelief as the Elves ran by looking as fresh as they had went they first started to run.

By the time they had gone four miles, Glorfindel was definitely ahead, though the other three were right on his heels. At the last moment, as they were all nearing the end of the course, Daeron put on a sudden burst of speed and was able to beat Glorfindel to the end by only a few inches. The Twins came in together a few seconds later laughing.

“Do we go again?” Daeron asked Glorfindel with a grin, catching his breath, though none of them were all that winded.

Glorfindel, however, shook his head. “You go if you wish. I’ve had enough running for a time.”

Elladan snorted. “What’s the matter, Loren, feeling your age?” He gave the ellon a sly smile.

Elrohir snickered and Daeron’s grin grew wider. Glorfindel gave them an arch look. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” he said haughtily and the other three started laughing.

“I can’t believe you guys ran twelve miles in about the same time as those who managed to do six and you don’t look at all beat,” Shane gasped. She was standing with the other students, sweat dripping from her, her hand on her side as if she were suffering a stitch.

Glorfindel shrugged. “We know how to pace ourselves,” he said diffidently.

Shane and the other students gave him disbelieving looks, which he ignored. He noticed Phil staring at them with some intensity and smiled. “So, is that it for the day?” he asked. “I, for one, could do with a hot shower.”

Phil nodded somewhat absently. “Yes. That’s it for the day. Thank you everyone. Have a good evening. Friday we’ll be either hiking or doing nature walks. We’ll see you then.”

****

Thursday, they visited the Gates of the Arctic Resort, which was an hour away to the west just on the outskirts of the national park and reserve by the same name. This time, the Twins did not even bother to join in the tour but slipped away unnoticed by the Mortals into the nearby woods, returning in time for lunch. Their whispered report was similar to the one they had given about Rainbow Lake and the other Elves nodded in satisfaction. Afterwards, they visited the Arctic Gate Safari company which was situated in Wiseman and was run by the same family who ran the Gates of the Arctic Resort.

“Same family, different branch,” Doug Borland, the safari manager, quipped with a smile and a wink and there were grins all around. “We offer a wide variety of activities for people of all ages, abilities and interests,” he continued, “from sleigh rides to cross-country skiing. Most activities will require a guide so it will be your job to see that our customers not only have a fun time, but a safe time, particularly the children. As you were probably told at the resort, one of our attractions is the igloos that we build on the grounds of the resort once the snow comes. For an additional fee people can sleep overnight in them, rather like camping out. We offer traditionally-made igloos as well as plexiglass igloos which allow people to see the Northern Lights in comfort without having to step outside. Those are particularly popular.”

“Any chance of us getting to sleep out like that?” someone asked. “It sounds like a lot of fun.”

“It is,” Doug said with a nod, “and yes, we let our employees sleep in the igloos. They have to sign up and take turns. We reserve Wednesday nights for them beginning the Wednesday after Thanksgiving. Our paying customers get the other six nights.” He stressed the word ‘paying’, giving them a wink, which caused them all to laugh. “Actually, we like to have our employees help build the traditional igloos,” he continued. “We make it into a party with pizza and hot chocolate and a bonfire. I believe you already saw the plexiglass igloos that are already up and are used in the summer months by people who want to camp out without bothering with a tent.”

The students all nodded. “We saw them when we were at the resort,” Cassie said. “They looked really weird out there without any snow about them.”

Several of the other students nodded and Doug laughed. “Undoubtedly they do, but people still like to sleep in them whatever the season. Now, if you will follow me I’ll show you a scale model of an igloo so you get an idea of how they are constructed....”

“Did you build igloos crossing the Ice?” Daeron asked Glorfindel quietly as they followed the crowd.

Glorfindel shook his head. “Constructing an igloo is labor intensive,” he answered. “We usually just piled the snow up into large mounds and then burrowed inside for insulation since we did not always have the wherewithal to make fire. Generally we huddled in groups of about a dozen, keeping the elflings in the middle where it was warmest.”

Nimrodel shook her head. “It must have been a truly horrifying experience.”

Glorfindel shrugged. “We survived,” he said quietly, “or, at least, most of us did,” he amended, looking suddenly sad.

Nimrodel squeezed his arm and gave him a sympathetic smile. Then they turned their attention to what Doug was telling them about constructing igloos, but Glorfindel’s mind was not on the lecture. Instead, he was wandering through a white hell that had no end while, high above, the stars glittered with icy indifference as he and his fellow Elves struggled across the Helcaraxë. His mood remained pensive for the rest of the afternoon and evening. The other Elves respected that and left him to himself, steering their clueless Mortal friends away to play billiards after dinner while Glorfindel wandered outside and ended up spending what passed for night sitting in a tree gazing at the stars for an hour or so before the sun was rising again.

****

When they met for breakfast the next morning, the other Elves were relieved to see that Glorfindel’s mood had lightened. They asked no questions though Zach wanted to know where he’d been all night.

“I k-k-kept waking up to see if you were b-back,” he told him. “I w-w-was worried.”

Glorfindel gave the young man a chagrined look. “Forgive me,” he said with all sincerity. “I never meant to worry you. I couldn’t sleep so I decided it wasn’t worth going to bed.”

“So, you suffer insomnia?” Lily asked. “My mom suffers from it from time to time. She says it’s a real pain.”

“Something like that,” Glorfindel replied turning his attention back to his scrambled eggs, not willing to elaborate.

After breakfast was the last class of the week: ‘Dealing With Children of All Ages’. This class was larger, consisting of two sections; the other two sections would meet during the second half of the morning. As they filed into the classroom Glorfindel saw Deirdre standing by her desk looking nervous. He stopped to say hello while the others found seats.

“What’s the matter?” he asked solicitously.

Deirdre gave him a wan smile. “I’m wondering who will be taking over this class.”

Glorfindel shook his head. “I wouldn’t worry about it,” he said quietly. “Most of these students are barely out of childhood themselves.” He gave her a conspiratorial smile and she hid a giggle behind her hand, her eyes brightening with returned humor. “And as I told you earlier, I haven’t a clue about children these days. It’s been some time since I’ve had to deal with them.”

Then it was time to start, so Glorfindel found his seat and Deirdre welcomed everyone to the class. “Over the next two months we will be learning strategies for dealing with children as well as with their parents or guardians,” she told them. “The winters here are harsh and keeping anyone amused in sub-zero temperatures is a difficult task. We will be learning different games and songs you can teach the children as a way of distracting them. We will also look at ways to keep the adults amused as well.” She flashed them a knowing smile and there was some light laughter from the students. “In some cases,” Deirdre continued, “you will not be dealing with children and their parents at all, but with groups of adults who have decided to come here to celebrate the holidays. They are not going to be interested in visiting Santa... well, not all of them.” Now there was genuine laughter through the classroom. “At any rate, it will be important for you to know how to conduct yourself with them as well. They will not be interested in singing songs and playing games as such but they will be interested in other things.”

She paused to take some hand-outs from her desk, giving them out to the students in the front row to pass back. “Here are some simple holiday songs that you can teach your young customers.”

The students leafed through the half dozen pages filled with musical scores. Glorfindel could hear Daeron softly humming the tunes under his breath as he read through the hand-out. None of them sounded at all familiar. Apparently they were not familiar to the other students as well because a number of them made comments to that effect. Deirdre nodded.

“While you are encouraged to have the children sing songs they already know,” she told them, “remember that children naturally love to learn new things. These songs are taken from different cultures where Christmas is celebrated. The tunes are simple enough to learn quickly, so it’s really a matter of memorizing the verses. If any of you play a musical instrument, one that is easily carried, such as a flute or even a penny whistle, that will make it more fun for everyone in your group.”

“So when would we teach them these songs?” someone asked.

“At any time,” Deirdre answered. “Teach them a song at the beginning of the tour as a way of breaking the ice. You might be in charge of several families at the same time and no one is going to know anyone else. Teaching them one of these songs will be a good way of making them comfortable. Now, can you think of any other times when singing would prove a welcome distraction?”

There was some thoughtful silence from the students and then Mithrellas raised her hand. “Possibly when we’re trekking through the woods,” she said. “I believe that there is a point in the tour when we lead the children to wherever it is this Santa Claus lives.”

Deirdre nodded. “Indeed. In fact, if you look on page three, you’ll find a lovely song from Africa about visiting Father Christmas. It’s been translated from the original Swahili and....”

****

Not everyone was musically inclined, it turned out, and there was some embarrassed laughter among the class but nothing malicious. Daeron offered to teach anyone who could not sing well to play the songs on penny whistles. “I noticed that there is a small music store in town where you can buy them very cheaply,” he mentioned and Deirdre thought it was an excellent idea.

Evan raised his hand. “Do we have to be... um... musically challenged...”

“You mean tone-deaf,” one of the other students interjected amidst much laughter.

“... in order for you to teach us how to play the penny whistle?” Evan continued, ignoring the interruption.

Daeron shook his head. “Not at all. Anyone who wishes can join the lessons. If there are a lot of people interested, we can split the groups up into manageable portions. I’m not the only one who knows how to play the penny whistle. Dan and Roy are very good and I think Della knows how as well.”

“Would you be willing to offer lessons to the rest of the students, not just this class?” Deirdre asked.

Daeron nodded. “We can set up a schedule for the evenings and weekends. It really won’t take long to teach the basics. Once they’ve learned that the rest will follow.”

“Thank you,” Deirdre said gratefully. “I will speak to Ms Goodfellow about it, but I don’t think she will object. I know the owners of the store you mentioned. I will speak to them about it and perhaps we can get a student discount on the price of the instruments. If there are a lot of people interested in learning, they will probably have to order more. I doubt they have too many in stock.”

Daeron nodded. “As I said, it will not take long to teach the basics. Even if we have to wait a few weeks for them, there will be plenty of time.” Then he turned to the rest of the class with a smile. “So, how many of you want to learn?”

All the Mortals raised a hand. Glorfindel raised his as well. Daeron gave him a strange look, but the ellon just smiled back at him.

****

As they were leaving the classroom at the end of the session, Daeron pulled Glorfindel aside and let the others file out. “Two things,” he said softly. Glorfindel gave him an enquiring look. “First, when did you suddenly forget how to play a penny whistle?”

Glorfindel smiled broadly. “I didn’t, but I think it’s time to act a little less competent in everything.”

Daeron snorted. “A little late for that, but I get your point.”

“And the second thing?” Glorfindel asked.

Now Daeron’s eyes brightened. “Did you notice that when Zach sang he never stuttered?”

“Truly?” Glorfindel exclaimed in surprise. “I admit I wasn’t paying much attention as these songs are as unfamiliar to me as they are to the rest of the class.”

“Yes,” Daeron replied. “Deirdre did a good job of finding these songs. They’re simple enough to learn quickly and yet they are also fun to sing. At any rate, what I said about Zach is true. I’ve been studying his speech patterns over this past week and I have a pretty good idea what sounds trip him up the most. I noticed that when Deirdre mentioned singing, his eyes lit up and he did not appear anxious, not like when Marian mentioned having to tell stories.”

“Hmm... so what are you saying?” Glorfindel asked.

“I may have a solution to Zach’s problem,” Daeron said, “at least in the short term.”

“What? Have him sing every time he opens his mouth?” Glorfindel demanded, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

“Well, not exactly,” Daeron said with a sly smile, “but something like. At any rate, I need to think it all through first.”

“A singing Elf,” Glorfindel said with amusement, shaking his head as the two left the classroom.

“Is there any other kind?” Daeron asked, giving him an innocent look and Glorfindel laughed.

****

The rest of the morning before lunch was unscheduled, though Deirdre had told them before dismissing the class that later in the semester they would spend the time helping out at the post office answering children’s letters to Santa or helping to wrap toys and putting together Christmas baskets for those in the community who could not afford presents for their children or Christmas dinner.

“Unfortunately, we do have a number of families who need help during the holiday season,” she said, “but for now, the rest of the morning is yours to do as you please.”

So, everyone went their separate ways. Daeron decided to go into town to visit the music store. The ellith joined him, saying they wanted to visit the Sundance Spa and indulge themselves with a massage. The Twins simply disappeared without a word and Glorfindel decided it was as good a time as any to do his laundry. Their Mortal friends scattered to pursue their own amusements until lunch time.

Directly after lunch they all climbed into buses which then headed towards the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Reserve. One of the athletic coaches, who introduced herself as Bev Larsen, accompanied them on the bus and apprised them of what they would be doing as the driver headed for the James Dalton Highway.

“There are several marked trails in the park,” she said as she handed out maps of the area. “The blue trail is the easiest, while the orange and green trails are of medium difficulty. The red trail is the most difficult and should only be attempted by those who are used to mountain climbing, though you don’t actually need any equipment for this.”

“So what is the purpose of this?” Elrohir asked.

“The purpose is conditioning,” Bev explained, “as well as familiarizing yourself with the different trails. Over the next few weeks we’ll take you to other areas where the resorts are located so you can become familiar with the trails there. The safari companies offer nature walks and snow-shoe walks and the like and there will be people wanting to hike through the wilderness. You’ll need to know where the trails are and what you might see along the way that will interest your clients. So, look over the maps and decide which trail you would like to try today. I would recommend not doing the red trail. Most of your clients are not going to be interested in doing any hard climbing. The green trail is less difficult than the orange trail but both can be done by anyone who is in reasonably good health.”

The Elves and their friends looked over the maps. “How long will it take us to walk any of these trails?” Lily asked Bev.

“The average person can do the blue trail in about an hour,” she answered, “while the green and orange trails generally take longer, an hour and a half at most. It doesn’t matter which trail you choose to walk today. Eventually you’ll be exploring all the trails and getting to know them as well as possible. Each has its own charms. Remember, once the snow starts flying, the trails will take on a whole different look. Right now we just want you to have a good time. This is why we’ve chosen Fridays for this activity. Walking the trails is a good way to wind down from the week.”

There were nods from the students and they went back to looking over their maps. “So, which trail do we choose?” Nimrodel asked.

“The green trail looks interesting,” Matt ventured, “but I wonder how many of us will actually take little kids along it? It’s more likely that we would take them on the shortest and easiest trails.”

“But we won’t necessarily be dealing with children all the time,” Cassie pointed out. “Some of our adult clients are likely to want more of a challenge.”

“Which trail do you want to take, Loren?” Daeron asked, implicitly letting their nominal leader make the choice.

Glorfindel smiled. “Well, I’m tempted to take the red trail just for the fun of it, but why don’t we see which trails everyone else takes and do the trail that has the least number of people on it.”

They all agreed to that and when they reached their destination, the six Elves and the six Mortals hung back to allow everyone else to go on. It turned out that there were wooden sign posts pointing to the different trails. Each trail was clearly marked with the same color as was on the map. The blue and green trails shared the trail for a bit before the green trail veered off while the orange and red trails had separate starting points. Most of the students seemed interested in taking the less strenuous trails. Only a couple of other students opted for the orange trail, so the Elves and their friends went that way.

It turned out to be a lovely walk for the Elves and even the Mortals visibly began to relax as the beauty of the woods took hold of their souls. Elrohir and Elladan went on ahead, eager to commune with the trees, while the others took their time, stopping once in a while to let the Mortals catch their breaths or just to admire the view. While there was some climbing, most of the trail was flat and not too strenuous. They came upon a small lake or pond that reflected the mountains around them and they spent some time exploring the area. The Twins returned to them from further up the trail, which was now veering back towards the park entrance.

“The woods are more alive here than anywhere, have you noticed?” Elladan said, speaking in Sindarin. “It’s almost as if....”

“As if what?” Glorfindel asked when the younger Elf hesitated.

It was Elrohir who answered, though. “It’s almost as if others have been through here before us and have wakened the trees.” Elladan nodded vigorously. The other Elves paused and glanced at one another, letting the implication of Elrohir’s words sink in.

“Something wrong?” Zach asked when he noticed their pensive expressions.

Glorfindel shook his head. “No, nothing’s wrong. Come. We’d best be going. It’s getting late and we’ve lingered here long enough.”

They continued on their way and were soon back at the park entrance where they joined the other students as they clambered back into the buses. Glorfindel was the last to get in, pausing for a moment as he started to step up to glance over his shoulder. He had a feeling he was being watched, yet there was no one there, just the trees.

“Well, are you coming or going?” the bus driver asked good-naturedly.

“Sorry,” Glorfindel said as he climbed the steps. “Just taking a last look.”

The driver nodded as he closed the door and once everyone was settled in their seats he set off back to Wiseman.

“Someone was watching us,” Elrohir whispered to him. “Did you not feel it?”

Glorfindel nodded.

“Friend or foe?” Nimrodel asked.

“Not a foe,” Elladan answered firmly, “but as for being a friend....” He gave her a shrug.

“We’ll have to come back without the Mortals,” Daeron suggested.

Glorfindel nodded. “Yes, I think we will have to do just that.”

“Tomorrow?” Elrohir asked.

Glorfindel shook his head. “Best to wait. We already promised we would go to see Matt’s girlfriend’s band play.”

“That’s not until the evening,” Mithrellas pointed out.

“Which is when I plan to go back,” Glorfindel said, “when there is no one else around.”

The others nodded in understanding and then they made a conscious effort to join in the conversations around them as the others on the bus were describing what they had seen along the trails.

****

Friday evening after dinner was apparently movie night and everyone congregated in the dining hall where popcorn and sodas were offered. The movie that night, oddly enough, was The Watcher in the Wood. The coincidence was not lost on any of the Elves, but they enjoyed the movie along with the other students nonetheless. Afterwards, Glorfindel took the Twins aside. “Meet me outside in fifteen minutes,” he said simply and the two nodded.

A quarter of an hour later, dressed in dark clothing, the three ellyn climbed into Glorfindel’s mini-van and they were soon heading back to the park. The highway was deserted and they met no one in either direction. Glorfindel pulled the van off the road a few yards from the park entrance and the three Elves climbed effortlessly into the trees that bordered the road, crossing into the park without tripping any security alarms. Under the light of the setting sun they split up with Elrohir taking the blue trail and Elladan the green trail while Glorfindel took the orange trail. They met up with one another an hour later.

“Anything?” Glorfindel asked them but they shook their heads.

“Whatever or whoever was here earlier is gone,” Elrohir said.

“There’s one trail we haven’t taken,” Elladan pointed out.

“Too risky,” Glorfindel said with a shake of his head, “and it’s getting late. Let’s go.”

They left the park the same way as they got in and soon they were headed back to Wiseman where they found the other Elves waiting for them in the reading lounge. By now it was an hour past midnight.

“Nothing,” Glorfindel said before they could ask. “I’m for bed. See you all at breakfast.” With that he left them and climbed the stairs to the third floor, slipping silently into his room so as not to disturb Zach. He lay on the bed with his arms behind his head, staring up at the ceiling contemplating many things. He had refrained from telling the others that the presence they had all sensed had felt familiar to him, though he could not say why and that disturbed him more than anything.

It was some time before he allowed himself to slip onto the Path of Dreams.

8: Conversation In a Café

Glorfindel was still troubled when he woke the next morning. He remained quiet and excused himself from the others who were talking about taking the bus to Fairbanks to do some shopping after breakfast. Instead, he wandered into town with no real purpose in mind. Eventually, though, he found himself standing outside the Gold Nugget Café and Emporium where they apparently sold everything from alcohol to aspirin. On a whim he went inside. Most of the place was taken up by the store with its low shelves stocked with a mishmash of items in no discernable order that Glorfindel could see. The café area was along the front on the left as one entered the building, marked off from the rest of the place by a trellis gate with fake leaves and grapes draped over it. Incongruously, Christmas lights were strung through the lattice, making the entire thing look gaudy and tacky, yet at the same time, there was a sort of whimsical charm to it. The café was empty. Deciding it was as good a place as any for thinking, Glorfindel took a booth by the window and, after ordering tea and a slice of apple pie which the waitress assured him was homemade, he stared out the window, watching the rest of Wiseman go by.

“So, are you one of those hippy types?” the waitress asked as she plopped the plate of pie on the table along with the green ceramic teapot and white mug that had the logo ‘I Heart New York’ on it.

Glorfindel looked at her in surprise. She was middle-aged, perhaps in her early fifties, though with Mortals and plastic surgery it was difficult to tell sometimes. Her dark auburn hair was up in a bun and Glorfindel suspected, given her age, that it was dyed. Her brown eyes looked tired, though it was only ten in the morning. To Glorfindel, she looked used up, yet her voice was surprisingly mellifluous, a velvety contralto, and he suspected she was the type who sang in her church’s choir. He read the name tag on her blue gingham dress with its white apron that seemed to be the café’s uniform: Esther. An old-fashioned name, that. He wasn’t sure if it suited her but decided it wasn’t his problem.

“Hippy?” he asked with an amused smile.

“Your hair,” she said, jerking her chin in the general direction of his head. “I ain’t seen long hair on a fella since the sixties.”

Glorfindel shrugged. “I guess I just don’t like barbers,” he said ingenuously and Esther barked a laugh.

“Good one, that,” she said as she moved away to attend to another customer who had come in after Glorfindel. “Holler if ya need anything.”

“Thanks, Esther. I will.” Glorfindel said and poured some Earl Grey from the teapot into the mug and took a grateful sip. The pie was indeed homemade and it had been warmed, which made it even better. He forced himself not to eat it in two bites, but took his time, savoring the cinnamon and nutmeg and the flaky crust. Still, it was gone sooner than he liked and he signaled for Esther to come over.

“Excellent pie,” he said. “I think I’d like some more, please.”

She gave him an appraising look. “I’ll get you another slice. You want some ice cream with it?”

“No, thanks. Just the pie will be fine,” Glorfindel answered.

She nodded and went to the counter where the pie was set on a round stemmed tray under a glass cover. “You know, you could have breakfast,” she said diffidently as she shifted a slice, larger than the last one, onto the plate, popping it into the microwave for thirty seconds or so.

“I already had breakfast, thank you,” Glorfindel said.

“Suit yourself,” she said with a smile as she brought the pie over and then stood there looking indecisive, as if she wished to say something but was afraid to offend him.

He smiled at her. “Is there something on your mind, Esther?”

“No, but I think there’s something on yours,” was the surprisingly blunt answer. “Your aura is sort of a muddy green with spikes of yellow.”

He stared at her in consternation, feeling bemused. “Aura?” was all he could think to say.

She nodded. “You seem to have a lot on your mind.”

“Is it that obvious?” he couldn’t help asking, giving her another smile.

She gave him a jaundiced look. “Honey, I’ve been in this business way too long not to know when someone is troubled. Like I said, your aura is a sickly green with yellow spikes. Not at all healthy.”

“And the cure?” he asked, now intrigued.

“Usually, talking it out with someone,” she answered, “but I think you’re the type that don’t like talking about things too much.”

He nodded. “Sickly green with yellow spikes,” he said with a quirk of his lips. “What color should it be?”

The waitress gave him a hard stare for a moment and then nodded, turning to the one other customer which the café could boast. “You alright, Nate?” she called out to the man sitting at the counter. Nate nodded, lifting his coffee cup in salute. “Well, you need anything, you just holler. I’m gonna put my feet up for a bit.” With that, she plopped herself down in the booth across from Glorfindel.

“Normally, I suspect your aura is a deep green tinged a bit with blue,” she said without preamble. “Course that’s just my guess. Auras are not static, you know. They shift according to the person’s mood and health and... and spiritual state.”

“And everyone has one,” Glorfindel said, making it more a statement than a question.

“Yup,” Esther replied. “Now, you don’t look like you’re in ill health or anything, so I think it’s because you are deeply troubled about something that’s got your aura in a twist and, honey, you’re much too young to be that troubled.”

Glorfindel took a sip of tea to avoid answering right away. He slowly put the mug down and stared out the window, not really seeing the people as they went by on their way to wherever. “I am older than I look,” he finally said, still staring out the window, “and there is indeed much on my mind of late.” Now he turned to look at her. “However, I don’t think talking it out will help, for I see no solution.”

“Maybe that’s because you’re too close to the problem,” Esther said with a snort. “It’s like you can’t see the forest for the trees, as the saying goes.”

Glorfindel gave her an appraising look and smiled. “Shouldn’t you be working?”

“Honey, do you see anyone else here but you and Nate?” she asked, throwing her arm out to take in the café. “And Nate can take care of himself, can’t you, Nate?” she called out and Nate lifted his coffee cup again in salute before taking another sip. She turned back to Glorfindel. “You see? The usual breakfast crowd is long gone and the lunch crowd won’t be coming in for another hour or so. I’ve got plenty of time to listen to your sob story.”

Glorfindel couldn’t help but laugh at that and in spite of himself found his mood lightening. For as long as he had been living among Mortals, they never ceased to amaze him. No Elf would have been so bold or free, especially knowing who he was. He remembered Mithrandir saying something about how one could learn all there was to know about Hobbits and their ways in a month, and yet after a hundred years they could still surprise you. Men were much the same.

“Ah... your aura is not so spiky now,” Esther said with a pleased smile.

Glorfindel smiled back and then came to a decision. “If you would be kind enough to freshen my tea, then I will tell you what I can.”

Esther raised an eyebrow, and he suspected that she had not really thought he would confide in her. Nevertheless, she got up and took the teapot. “I’ll give you a fresh bag as well. Don’t worry, I’ll only charge you for the one.” Half a minute later, she was back and retook her seat, remaining quiet and not pressing, for which Glorfindel was grateful as he gathered his thoughts.

“My friends and I lost our jobs last year,” he told her and she nodded.

“Happening all over the place,” she replied with a scowl. “I got a cousin in Fairbanks who lost his job recently and he was with the company for fifteen years. He’s got a wife and three kids and a mortgage he can’t pay.” She shook her head. “They’re thinking of moving out of state in search of work.”

Glorfindel nodded. “Anyway, we were at loose ends and were looking about for something with which to occupy ourselves when we learned about this Elf Academy at the college here.”

Esther’s expression brightened. “Elf Academy! So you’re gonna be an elf for Christmas?” She chuckled. “What a hoot! But I don’t see why you’re going around with the weight of the world on your shoulders over it.”

Glorfindel sighed. “Something about it all just doesn’t feel right,” he said, groping for a way to explain without explaining anything. “There have been too many coincidences involved.”

“Such as what?” she enquired.

He shrugged. “Such as the fact that we all lost our jobs almost at the same time, jobs that were quite secure for the most part. Darren, for instance, was all set to receive tenure at the university, but then he was suddenly let go with no real explanation as to why.”

“And you? What about you?”

“I was in Search and Rescue,” Glorfindel replied. “Then there was a budget cut, but as I had seniority, I should have been kept on. Instead, they decided it was cheaper to keep the newer recruits or something, so it was ‘adios amigo’.” He made a farewell gesture with his right hand.

“That’s tough,” Esther commented solicitously. “So then you all applied to this Elf Academy.”

“Yes,” he said with a nod. “Darren had this plan....” He shook his head, grimacing somewhat. “I’m beginning to think this wasn’t a good idea.”

“You talking to me or you coming here to this Elf Academy?” Esther asked, her eyes narrowing.

He shrugged, taking a sip of his tea. “Ever since coming here... I find myself doing things I would never do in front of Mo... um... other people and the same is true for my friends. We’ve been so careful....” He trailed off, suddenly afraid that he had said too much or too little. He took another sip of his tea and stared out the window. When he felt Esther’s hand on his arm he looked at her in surprise at the familiarity.

She stared at him with an intensity that unnerved him. “Perhaps you’ve been too careful,” she said softly and there was something about her that belied the image of a tired waitress with sore feet that sent shivers up and down his spine.

“Who are you?” he whispered hoarsely, suddenly feeling afraid and that was not something he often felt. Fear had no place in his life but at that moment fear was taking over reason and he found himself reaching for a sword that had not hung on his belt for centuries.

If Esther was upset by his sudden change of mood, she did not show it. Instead, she leaned back with a slight smile on her face. “A friend, Loren, nothing more.”

Now he started to rise, becoming alarmed and angry. “How did you...?”

Esther pointed at his shirt. “That’s your name, isn’t it: Loren DelaFiore?”

He stared stupidly down at his shirt and felt himself going red with embarrassment. He had completely forgotten that he had donned one of his old shirts with the Search and Rescue logo on the pocket and his name neatly embroidered above it along with his rank. He sank back down into the booth. “Sorry,” he muttered.

“That’s all right, honey,” Esther said equably. “You were thinking that maybe I have some spooky powers and can read minds and all?” Her laughter was self-deprecating and now Glorfindel simply felt foolish.

He hid his confusion behind another sip of the tea. “What did you mean about being too careful?” he finally asked, latching on to the last thing she had said.

“You said you and your friends have been so careful,” she replied. “I ain’t gonna ask careful about what, but what I will ask is this: do you think the universe is out to get you? Do you think there’s a conspiracy in all this?”

“Rather far-fetched,” Glorfindel retorted with a dismissive snort. “The universe doesn’t care if I live or die and the only conspiracy of which I am aware is the one that my roommate and my friends are concocting to short-sheet my bed tonight.”

Esther laughed, slapping her knee, and Glorfindel noticed that even Nate, still sitting at the counter nursing his cup of coffee, was smiling, having overheard. “You are wrong about one thing though,” the waitress said once she calmed down. “The universe does care if you live or die, or perhaps it is better to say, the One who created the universe cares.”

Glorfindel nodded, having no argument there. “Still, the idea of a conspiracy... who is conspiring against us and why?”

“Why God of course,” Esther said in a tone that suggested the answer was obvious. “We are all caught up in the One’s ultimate conspiracy, a conspiracy of love.”

Glorfindel raised an eyebrow. “A rather odd expression.”

“But true nonetheless,” Esther rejoined. “I think somewhere along the way you lost faith and that is what troubles you the most. Can you not find it in yourself to have faith that whatever is happening is for your benefit? Losing your job... coming here... it may all be part of a plan....”

“Or not,” Glorfindel countered.

“But honey, there’s always a plan even if you don’t see it,” Esther said with a smile. “‘This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man’,” she quoted, much to Glorfindel’s surprise. “William Shakespeare said that,” she added. “Something you and your friends should remember. That’s why I said that maybe you’re being too careful, not being yourselves and therefore not being happy. Have faith, Loren. Have faith that all will work out as it must and that only good will come of it.”

He stared at her for the longest time, not sure how to reconcile the image of the waitress in a two-bit café on the edge of nowhere with the deep wisdom that she spoke. Perhaps she was right. Perhaps he had lost his faith somewhere in the past. For all that he had enjoyed being in Search and Rescue, he realized now that his life had been in a holding pattern for quite some time now. The same probably could be said for the others. Perhaps losing their jobs as they did and coming to Wiseman, Alaska, was the universe’s way of telling them that it was time to move on to (hopefully) better things. He didn’t really know, but he did know this much: that what Esther had said about being true to one’s self was the highest goal to which everyone, Elf or Mortal, should aspire. Nothing less and nothing else mattered. He realized now that it was a truism he’d forgotten in the exigency of living in the Mortal world where Elves no longer had a place.

He nodded as this last thought skipped through his mind and smiled at the woman sitting patiently across from him. “Thank you,” he said with all sincerity. “Thank you for the tea, the pie and the words of wisdom.”

“You’re more than welcome, honey,” Esther said warmly.

“So how much do I owe you?” Glorfindel asked as he started to rise, reaching for the wallet in his back pocket.

Esther waved him away. “It’s on the house,” she insisted. “You come back anytime you feel a need to talk, okay? The door will always be open for you.” She gave him a brilliant smile and suddenly she did not seem as used up as he had originally thought. He gave her a respectful nod of his head. “Thank you again,” he said, then turned to leave the café, stepping out onto the sidewalk and walking past the window, waving at Esther, who was still sitting at his table before crossing the street at the light to continue on his way back to the college. He never noticed the sign that hung discreetly in a corner of the café window which proclaimed: ‘Café Closed for Renovations. Will Reopen in October’.

****

Estë watched as Glorfindel crossed the street, a sad smile on her face. “Poor Child,” she said with a shake of her head. “He takes too much on himself, doesn’t he?”

Námo, sitting at the counter, nodded. “He’s always had a heightened sense of responsibility,” he commented. “That has never changed.”

“Let us hope that our little chat will do him some good,” she countered.

“We all live in hope,” Námo stated somewhat sententiously.

Estë snorted good-naturedly. “Well, I’m for home,” she said with an exaggerated sigh as she rose from the booth, smoothing the gingham dress and apron. “What about you?”

Námo shook his head. “I think I’ll stick around for a bit. The Arctic Fringe is playing tonight.”

“Hedonist,” Estë said with a laugh. Námo smirked. “Clean up for me, will you?” she requested as she faded from view.

The Lord of Mandos continued sitting at the counter for a few more minutes contemplating many things before giving a sigh and rising. He walked over to the booth where Glorfindel had had his conversation with ‘Esther’ and began clearing the table, quietly humming a popular tune.

9: Red Is So Not My Color

When the others returned from Fairbanks just before dinner, loaded down with packages, they found Glorfindel sitting in the reading lounge enjoying a cup of Earl Grey and a paperback mystery that he had bought in the town’s tiny bookstore, having stopped there on his way back to the Academy. The other Elves were not surprised to see him with such a book, for they knew that Glorfindel loved reading mysteries, especially historical ones set in distant times and exotic places and they recognized the author as one of his favorites. From the cover it appeared that this one was set in ancient Egypt.

“I think I know whodunit,” Glorfindel told them, “but I’m not entirely sure.”

“Why don’t you just read the end and find out?” Shane asked and all six Elves and several of the Mortals gave her disbelieving looks.

“What’s the fun of that?” Glorfindel asked with a smile. “Besides, I’ve read other books by this author and she always has a twist to the story. Just when you think you’ve solved the riddle, she throws in a piece of information that makes you rethink all your suppositions. She’s very good at keeping you guessing right to the end.” Then he looked at all the bags they were carrying and gave his friends a sly smile. “So, did you buy me anything?”

“Hey, man!” Jud said. “You should’ve come with us if you wanted anything.”

Glorfindel just laughed. “Perhaps next time.”

“Actually, mellon nîn, I did get something for you,” Daeron said, fishing through one of the bags and pulling out a smaller bag, handing it to Glorfindel. “The mall had a Christmas shop,” he explained, his eyes twinkling with mirth. “I saw this and thought of you.”

Glorfindel peered inside the bag, but whatever was in it was wrapped in tissue. He reached in and brought it out, unwrapping the rather large and heavy object.

“A snow globe!” he exclaimed, smiling widely. He shook the globe and watched the flakes swirl around the miniature image of a castle-like edifice with words over the entrance that read Santa’s Workshop. A snow-covered red-and-white-striped sign post in front was labeled North Pole and to complete the scene was an elf carrying a wrapped package and a reindeer with a suspiciously red nose.

“Not just any snow globe,” Daeron said with a wicked grin. He took the globe from Glorfindel and turned it over to show that it was actually a music box. Giving the key a few turns he released it and then they were listening to the tinny strains of ‘Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer’.

Glorfindel broke out laughing, giving Daeron a fierce hug. “Gen hannon,” he said with quiet sincerity.

“You are more than welcome, mellon nîn,” Daeron replied just as quietly. “Are you feeling better?”

Glorfindel pulled out of the embrace, giving the ellon a nod. “Yes, thank you, I am. Well, why don’t you all divest yourselves of your goodies and then we’ll go get dinner?”

The others agreed to that and they all dispersed, leaving Glorfindel alone to play with his snow globe.

****

On Monday, they went to their classes and in the afternoon, Glorfindel and the Twins started teaching archery. More students had signed up for the class who had never used a bow before. At first there was a lot of fooling around and joking, with nervous titters from some of the archers at their own ineptitude, but the utter seriousness with which the three Elves approached the task of teaching soon sobered the students and in a short while there was only the sound of arrows being released and hitting the targets with the occasional groan when an arrow went wide. Towards the end of the session, Phil asked the Elves to give a demonstration of their skills. Many had seen them shoot before but not all.

This time, they set up three targets and then Glorfindel paced out the distance which was not as far as it had been before, but it was certainly further than any Mortal could shoot and hope to hit the target. Then they took their positions with Glorfindel in the middle. Elladan was on his left with Elrohir on his right. What was odd about their stances was that Elladan was not facing his own target, but Elrohir’s, while Elrohir was facing Elladan’s target, for those targets had been set at a diagonal.

“So, why are you gonna shoot like that?” one of the students asked, clearly puzzled by the set up.

“It’s a test of skill,” Glorfindel explained. “We’ll shoot at the same time. The object is not only to hit the target, but also not to hit anyone else’s arrow.”

There were incredulous looks all around. Glorfindel ignored them and nodded to the Twins who took up their stances. “On the count of three,” he said and the Twins nodded. There was a slight pause and then Glorfindel yelled out, “Three!” Immediately arrows began to fly. None of the Elves paused but shot continuously until all arrows were spent.

A profound silence reigned over the archery field as the Mortals stared at the three targets. Nearly every arrow had landed somewhere in the three bull’s eyes. Two, however (one of them Elladan’s and the other Elrohir’s), were in their respective red zone. Both Twins muttered in disgust. Glorfindel just smiled. “You both hesitated for just a second. Why?” He was in teacher-mode and they recognized it.

“The wind,” Elrohir explained. “It shifted slightly at the last minute.”

Glorfindel nodded. “You did not sense the shift in time,” he stated.

“What do you mean, sense the shift in time?” someone asked. “How do you know if the wind is gonna shift or in which direction? That’s crazy, man.”

Glorfindel shrugged. “It is a skill, like any other, one that you must also learn to some degree. If the wind suddenly shifts as you’re shooting, the arrow might miss your target or at least not hit where you were aiming.”

“So, how long does it take to learn that?” another student asked.

Glorfindel gave the Twins a sardonic smile which they returned with ones of their own before Elrohir answered with a laugh. “Years.”

“Centuries,” Elladan chimed in, also laughing.

“Millennia even,” Glorfindel said with a wink.

“So you mean never,” someone said with a groan.

“No,” Glorfindel replied. “I mean that it’s a skill that one never fully learns. The best one can do is notice certain signs and make a guess as to which way the wind is going to go. An archer has to be aware of more than just the target in front of him. He has to be aware of all that is happening around him, including what other archers are doing.” He nodded towards the three targets to underscore his point. “We can teach you some of that; the rest just takes continuous practice, as with anything in life.”

Then the class was over and Phil gave the three Elves a wry look. “An interesting exhibition,” he said. “Do you have more such tricks up your sleeves?”

Glorfindel shrugged. “Perhaps. At any rate, we’re here to teach, not to show off.”

Phil nodded. “Yes, you are, and you are doing a great job. Ben and I are quite impressed. Some of the more experienced students have been asking about forming an archery club and perhaps competing against other schools. I know that several colleges in the state are forming such clubs and organizing meets. We’re planning to meet twice a week for a couple of hours, say from seven to nine in the evening, probably on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and perhaps on the occasional Saturday or Sunday afternoon, especially when preparing for a meet. Would you be interested in helping out?”

Glorfindel looked at the Twins who nodded. “Sure,” he said. “We’d be glad to.”

“Great,” Phil replied. “Ben’s gonna be in charge of it. He’ll let you know when the first meeting will be.”

The Elves nodded and then helped put away all the equipment before heading back to the Academy for dinner.

****

The rest of the week passed pretty much like the first as everyone settled into the routine of the classes and visiting the resorts and safaris. There were no major upsets until Friday morning. Deirdre came bouncing into the classroom along with Marian, both of them carrying several large bags.

“We finally got the outfits you’ll all be wearing as elves,” Marian announced with a smile. “We’ve brought samples for you to try on. There are several different sizes. Deirdre has the ones for the men and I have the women’s. We’ve also brought order forms for you to fill out. Part of your tuition goes towards the cost of the outfit, so you needn’t worry about paying anything. However, if you desire to have more than one set, you’ll need to pay for the second outfit. I believe the cost will be around fifty dollars. We actually recommend that you do order a second set so you can clean one set and wear the other. I’m afraid that none of the fabric is washable. You’ll have to have them dry-cleaned.”

“Why don’t we have you men step over to this side of the room?” Deirdre said as she moved to the back with her bags.

Marian set her bags near the desk. “Ladies,” she said with a nod to the female students and everyone began to move to their respective sides of the room. There were four bags for the men, labeled S, M, L/XL, and XXL. Evan began pulling out the clothes from the Medium bag, not being more than five-six, and stared at them, first in disbelief and then in mounting horror, as he pulled out one item after another. Zach took one look and uttered a swear word. The Twins looked at what Evan was holding up, looked at each other, then looked at Glorfindel.

“Awartham hâd hen,” Elladan said tightly and he and Elrohir started for the door.

“Daro!” Glorfindel shouted, not even bothering to look at them, his gaze fixed on what Evan was still holding up, the poor Mortal definitely still in shock, for his look of horror had not changed. It was as if he’d been frozen on the spot. “Dartho hí!” Such was the force of his command that the Twins stopped as one and everyone else looked at him with various expressions of amazement.

Glorfindel tore his eyes away to gauge the reactions of the other Elves. Nimrodel and Mithrellas were staring in shock at what Evan was holding up, while many of the Mortal women had suggestive leers on their faces. He glanced over at Daeron who was just shaking his head and muttering over and over again, “Red is so not my color.”

Nor mine, Glorfindel thought to himself. He stepped forward and gently took the clothes out of Evan’s hands. The Mortal came out of his shock at his touch and stared helplessly at Glorfindel. “I... I... can’t wear this!” he whispered, sounding on the edge of panic. “I’ll die of embarrassment. My mom...” he swallowed nervously, “my mom will think I’m... I’m gay or something.”

“Hell! I am gay,” one of the young men exclaimed, “and I wouldn’t be caught dead in that, not even as a joke.”

Glorfindel gave Evan a sympathetic smile. “It’s all right,” he said soothingly. “We’ll fix it. Trust me.”

Surprisingly, Evan seemed to do just that, for he smiled. “Thank you,” he said fervently, the relief in his eyes apparent to all. “Thank you.” He took a couple of steps back as if to avoid further contamination from what Glorfindel was now holding.

The Elf-lord looked at Deirdre and Marian. “Do you honestly expect any of us to wear this obscenity?” he asked coldly, his eyes flashing.

Deirdre, unaware of the danger she was in, nodded enthusiastically. “Oh yes. I know it’s not what you expected....”

“Not what I expected?” Glorfindel demanded, his voice going velvety soft.

Elladan and Elrohir recognized the tone and sought vainly for a place to hide, ending up moving behind Deirdre’s desk, their backs against the whiteboard, looking for all the world like twin deer caught in the headlights. Daeron raised an eyebrow and gave Glorfindel a disapproving look. The two ellith quietly began gathering the other young women and moved them into a corner away from the confrontation. By some instinct of self-preservation, the male students all stepped away from the ellon into another corner. Deirdre’s smile melted away and Marian gave a gasp of dismay.

“We...we modeled it on... on some nineteenth century lithographs of Santa and his... his...” Deirdre’s attempt at explaining petered away as Glorfindel continued to stare at her, the very image of an enraged Elf-lord and former Balrog-slayer, though she was unaware of this.

Glorfindel took another look at the outfit he was holding. Its overriding color was red, what Shane would later refer to as screaming red, and screamed it did. It was a two-piece outfit consisting of felt leggings that came only to the knees from what Glorfindel could tell. There was a white shirt with full sleeves and a high collar over which was a felt waist coat with huge gold frogs to close the front. There was also a large red bow tie. A pointy red felt hat with a jingle bell on the end of it completed the picture. Except for the hat, the entire outfit reminded Glorfindel of Little Lord Fauntleroy. He had seen the original black-and-white movie once and thought the whole story ridiculous from beginning to end. The child’s clothes were the worst. No self-respecting male child would have been caught dead in such an outfit, and Deirdre and Marian expected grown Men and Elves to wear it?

He glanced again to see what the female students were expected to wear. Lily happened to be holding the outfit and it proved to be similar to the men’s except it was a green... very, very green. He shook his head in disgust, shoving the offending clothes back into the bag. Then he gave Deirdre and Marian a scathing look.

“We’ll design our own outfits,” he said, still speaking coldly. “Class over.”

“Thank God!” one of the other students exclaimed in obvious relief.

Glorfindel stalked out of the room, his expression one of tightly controlled fury. “Elladan, Elrohir, godolo nin!” he called, not even bothering to look at the Twins, both of whom scrambled to follow their captain with the other three Elves right behind. Then, there was a sudden exodus as the other students swiftly left, leaving the two teachers standing there stunned, not sure what had happened.

****

Glorfindel made it as far as the lounge where snacks could be had between classes before he stopped dead in his tracks. The Twins, long used to his ways, neatly avoided him, flanking him and moving to face him. The other three Elves slowed so that now Glorfindel was more or less within a circle. On the perimeter were the Mortal students, silent and wondering. Some instinct told them that the golden-haired Adonis standing there in the center was their leader and he would make things all right.

“Wings would have been an improvement,” Elladan ventured, trying to gauge his captain’s state of mind. There were a couple of nervous titters from the Mortals as certain images came to mind and the tension among them began to ease.

It must have been the right thing to say for Glorfindel relaxed his stance and gave Elladan a sardonic smile. “That outfit gives the word ‘fairy’ a whole new level of meaning, doesn’t it?”

Now there was actual laughter and knowing grins.

“What were they thinking?” Evan asked. “I mean, I suppose girls could get away with wearing something like that, but....”

“Not all of us,” Lily chimed in. “I would’ve looked like an escapee from a nuthouse in that.” There were nods of agreement from some of the other female students.

“They’re rather impractical, too,” Jen said with a sneer. “I mean, c’mon! How do they expect us to wear those things and not freeze to death?”

“From the cut of the clothes, I think we’re expected to wear thermals underneath,” Nimrodel said, “but even so, they would never be warm enough.”

“So what are we going to do?” Mithrellas asked. “You told Deirdre we would design our own clothes and that can work for us, but what about the rest of the class?”

“And where would we find the material?” someone else asked.

“Or people to make them?” another chimed in. “I have no clue about sewing.”

“We will have to convince Marian to have whoever made those outfits make the ones we design,” Glorfindel stated.

“They’ll never go for it,” Daeron said. “For one thing, I suspect that there are already more of these outfits made than what was brought here today. The college is footing the bill and already they are paying out. It would cost too much for them to make the switch now.”

“Why do we even need such outfits, anyway?” one of the students groused. “Most of the time we’re going to be outdoors. Shouldn’t we just plan on wearing what we normally wear in the winter? It’ll be a lot cheaper.”

“But we need to wear something that allows us to stand out,” Nimrodel said, “so that our clients know who we are.”

“We’ll think of something,” Glorfindel stated confidently. “First, though, we need to convince the rest of the students that we should not be forced to wear anything so ridiculous.”

“No fear of that from the guys,” Jud said. “Only someone truly depraved would go for it.” There were nods and murmurs of assent from the young men.

“If the guys are not going to wear them, then I don’t see why we girls have to,” Lily said. “I know I won’t, even if it means leaving the college.”

Glorfindel thought for a moment. “We need a couple of those outfits to display,” he said.

“It’s done,” Elrohir said and gave his twin a nod. They melted away from the group back towards the classroom.

“How are they going to get a hold of the outfits without being caught?” Shane asked.

Glorfindel smiled. “Wait and see. In the meantime, since the rest of the morning is ours to do with as we please, I suggest you all go do whatever you’d planned on doing after this class.” He glanced at the clock. “It’s almost nine, so you have a whole lot of time before the afternoon nature walk.”

A few students did leave, but the rest stayed behind, grabbing drinks and snacks, congregating in small groups to discuss the outfits. Within a few minutes, Elladan and Elrohir came sauntering back, each with a bag, huge satisfied smiles on their faces. “The room was empty,” Elladan said as he handed his bag to Glorfindel, “though we could hear Marian and Deirdre arguing from down the hall. They must’ve gone to Marian’s office and just left the bags there for the next class.”

“Good enough,” Glorfindel said, taking a quick look at the bags. “Ah, you got one of each color. Even better.”

“Of course,” Elrohir replied with a scowl. “Do you think we’re stupid or something?”

“Never,” Glorfindel said with a smile. “All right. Listen up, everyone. We need to make a large sign saying something like ‘Would you be caught dead in this?’ and then we need to come up with a statement voicing our refusal to wear these even if it means expulsion from the college and then have people sign their names to it.”

“Where should we display it?” Lily asked.

“In the cafeteria,” Glorfindel replied. “They already have that bulletin board where we signed up for the phys. ed. classes.”

“I’ve got a large drawing pad,” someone volunteered. “I can cut out the letters.”

“And I can use one of the computers in the internet café to write up the protest statement and make enough copies for signatures,” Cassie said.

“Then let’s do it,” Glorfindel said. “We need hangers and safety pins so we can put these outfits together and hang them up on the board.”

“No problem,” another student said. “I’ll donate a couple of my hangers for the cause.”

“And I have safety pins galore,” another said.

Thus, in a short amount of time, they all congregated in the cafeteria. The clothes were spread out on tables and pinned together before slipping them onto the hangers.

“God! They look even worse when you put the whole thing together,” Matt said with a convincing shudder as Glorfindel found a couple of push-pins and hung the hangers on them.

Meanwhile, the student with the drawing pad was quickly drawing out the letters while a couple of others were cutting them out and handing them to still other students to stick on the board. Cassie came in just as the last letter was being tacked up and handed Glorfindel a piece of paper.

“I got twenty-five lines on the page for signatures,” she said, “so if I print out a dozen that will be enough for everyone to sign.”

Glorfindel nodded and glanced at the page. At the top in bold capitals were the same words as had been tacked on the board. Underneath was a short statement which he read aloud to the rest of the students:

“‘We, the undersigned, would like to express our dismay and disappointment in the Administration of the Northern Lights Community College’s Elf Academy for approving the design of the uniform which we as Elf Guides are expected to wear. We feel that it is insulting and will prove detrimental to our image as responsible tour guides. Therefore, we refuse to wear the uniform as designed. We respectfully ask the Administration to cease the production of further such uniforms. We also ask that a committee of students be formed who will offer designs for the uniform on which the rest of the student body can vote. Respectfully.’”

“Works for me,” Evan said and there were murmurs of assent from everyone else.

“Good work, Cassie,” Glorfindel said as he handed the piece of paper to Daeron who took a quick glance at it and nodded in approval.

“I’ll go print out the other sheets,” Cassie said with a grin and was off at a run.

Daeron went to the bulletin board and placed the piece of paper on a small card table that someone had lifted from the games lounge. He fished out a pen from a pocket and signed his name with a flourish. Then he stepped back, holding out the pen, and smiled. “Who’s next?”

There were shouts of glee and a mad rush, but the Twins got there first. Daeron ordered everyone else to get in line behind them and soon there were twenty signatures on the page just as Cassie returned with additional sheets.

“I w-wonder what the reaction of the n-next class will be to seeing these uniforms?” Zach said as he finished putting his signature on the second page.

“Let’s go find out,” Mithrellas suggested with a grin.

Everyone thought it was a great idea and they trooped back over to the classroom wing and tried to walk as quietly as possible, for by this time it was just after ten-thirty and the next class would have started. The Elves were amused at the attempts of the Mortals to tread softly. But when they reached the classroom there was a sign on the door. ‘Class Cancelled’, it read.

Glorfindel stared at it in satisfaction. “Good enough,” was all he said and everyone laughed. Glorfindel thanked them for their help and they all dispersed.

****

Everyone who walked into the cafeteria that day for lunch took one look at the display and signed the protest. Even the cafeteria staff signed it.

“You need all the signatures you can get,” one of the servers said as she ladled out some chicken noodle soup into a bowl for Glorfindel. “If I were a parent paying the tuition for this place, I would take my kid out of here so fast it wouldn’t even be funny.”

Glorfindel simply smirked and a thought came to him. When he joined the rest of the group at their table he outlined his idea. At once there was agreement among the rest.

“Go for it,” Daeron said with a malicious grin.

“I’ll get my digital and take a couple of photos,” Jud said. When Glorfindel nodded, he got up and left.

Glorfindel then stood up and went to the bulletin board. “May I have your attention please?” he shouted and his voice carried through the cafeteria without need of a microphone. In seconds the place went silent. “Thank you, everyone who signed the protest,” he said. “It occurred to me that as some of your parents might be footing the bill for you to be here they might want to know what the Administration is planning to do with regard to uniforms. I thought it might be a good idea to send them a picture of this display. If anyone is interested in having their parents see what you might be forced to wear....”

He got no further because most of the students started yelling and applauding. He held up his hands for silence, which was quick to come. “We need email addresses. Someone has already volunteered to take a picture of the display.”

Almost at once several students whipped out their cell phones and began taking their own photos.

Cassie stood up. “I’ll go print out some more sheets and everyone who wants to can just put down an email address.” At Glorfindel’s nod, she rushed off.

“If you’re interested, come to my table once Cassie gets back,” he said and went back to finish his lunch.

By the time lunch was over with, they had several sheets with email addresses on them. Jud had returned and taken several shots of the display from various angles and they agreed on two that would suit their purposes. One was a close up of the red outfit which they all agreed was the worse looking one. Cassie told them that she would plan to spend the next morning plugging in the email addresses and sending the photos to the parents.

“There are several computers in the café,” Shane pointed out. “Let’s each take a page and we can do it more quickly.”

Cassie nodded handing each a sheet. “I’ll create an email with the pics and forward it to your accounts and then you can plug in the addys and forward the email to the parents. It shouldn’t take more than half an hour or so.”

The others agreed with the idea and then they dispersed to get ready for the nature walk that was scheduled for the afternoon.

****

Words are Sindarin.

Mellon nîn: My friend.

Gen hannon: ‘Thank you’ (familiar form).

Awartham hâd hen: ‘We’re out of here’, literally, ‘we (exclusive) forsake this place’.

Daro!: ‘Stop!”

Dartho hí!: ‘Stay/remain here!’

Godolo nin!: ‘Come (together) with me!’

10: Winterdark Tarn

The afternoon’s nature walk took place at the Mount Horace Holiday Resort, one of the smaller resorts in the area, but blessed with easy access to the lower slopes of Mount Horace. The owners of the resort had carved out several trails, including some cross-country skiing trails.

“They’ll be clearly marked,” said Randy Snodgrass, the resort manager, when describing the cross-country trails, “and guides will not be needed, but we have other trails where they will be.” He handed them maps of the area with a half dozen trails clearly marked, color coded and given names, such as Snowflake Trail, Aurora Borealis Trail, and (for Glorfindel) the intriguingly named Winterdark Tarn Trail.

“Ah, that is one of the more strenuous trails,” Randy explained when Glorfindel asked him about it, “but also one of the most rewarding as it goes past a mountain tarn. It’s a stupendous sight with the mountain range behind it. Very desolate and lonely looking. It’s doubtful that any families will take that particular trail, but we have a lot of adults who come here and that’s one of their favorites.”

“Will we be guiding adult-only groups?” Lily asked.

“No,” Randy said. “At least not on the trails. They are all well marked and as long as you stick to the trail you eventually come back to the resort. Where we’ll need guides is for our wildlife tours. There is a specific trail for that which is not marked on your maps since what you have is given to our clients. If you’re hired by us or by one of the safari companies with which we are affiliated, we will show you the wildlife trail and teach you what to tell the clients.”

“Is it dangerous?” someone asked rather nervously.

“No,” Randy replied with a smile. “The trail is constructed in such a way that there is no way for there to be any contact with the wildlife, assuming it’s even seen. Sometimes you don’t see much of anything except tracks and we’ll teach you to recognize them. It’s still a lovely walk regardless.”

Then the students were encouraged to pick a trail. Glorfindel took one look at the other Elves and knew they would all want to take the Winterdark Tarn Trail. He had no objections, for it was his desire as well. Naturally, their six Mortal friends decided to tag along.

“How long does it take to walk the Winterdark Tarn Trail?” Glorfindel asked Randy, for though the Elves would have no problems, the Mortals might and there was a time constraint with the bus waiting for them.

Randy glanced over the group, no doubt estimating their physical abilities. “Normally, it takes about three hours, but that’s in the middle of winter when you have to deal with snow and all. In the summer the trail is easier. If you don’t dawdle along the way too much,” he gave them a knowing smile, “you should make it back in plenty of time. These trails are a bit more convoluted than the ones in the national park, so we’re allowing for the time it’ll take for people to do them.” He glanced at his watch. “If you’re back here by five you’ll be fine.”

“That gives us nearly three hours,” Daeron said.

Glorfindel nodded. “Let’s go then.”

There were cheers from the Mortals and smiles from the Elves. While most of the trails began just behind the main building, two trails began further up the slopes and a funicular was used to bring people to the starting point. They had to wait their turn, as other students had decided to try the higher trails. From what Glorfindel could tell, listening to the students chattering among themselves, most seemed interested in taking the Snow Queen Trail for some reason.

Finally, it was their turn and they piled into the funicular which was a single roller-coaster-type car with five seats, three people to a seat. The passengers sat with their backs to the mountain as the train moved along the tracks. It was a nice way to admire the view as they went up. Once at the top they scrambled out and looked about. They were on a wide plateau surrounded by tall pines. A sign post told them that the Snow Queen Trail was to the right while the Winterdark Tarn Trail went to the left. There were no others about. The Mortals huddled a bit in their jackets, for at this height it was colder than in the valley. The Elves never even noticed.

The Twins led the pack while Glorfindel and Daeron brought up the rear. They were quickly swallowed up by the pine forest around them as the trail wended its way along the side of the mountain, making a gentle but persistent climb. At first, the six Mortals chattered among themselves, oblivious to the serene beauty surrounding them, but after a time the silence of the forest impinged upon them and they fell quiet, much to the relief of the Elves.

They reached a point in the climb where a large pine had fallen across the trail, forcing them to clamber over it. Lily, being the shortest, needed help and Glorfindel pulled her up easily enough. Elrohir helped her find footholds on the tree limbs on the other side. When everyone was back on the trail, Elladan gave Glorfindel an enquiring look and Glorfindel gave him a slight nod.

“You guys are way too slow,” Elladan said with a grin. “Roy and I are going to scout ahead. We’ll meet you at the tarn.”

“Don’t wander off the path,” Glorfindel couldn’t help calling to them as they loped away. The Twins laughed, understanding the reference.

“If we come across any large spiders,” Elrohir called back, “we’ll be sure to send them your way.”

“Sp-spiders?” Zach stuttered. “I hate spiders. They cr-creep me out.”

Glorfindel gave him a sympathetic look. “Me, too, which is why Roy said what he did, but I doubt there are any that are of any danger to us. Okay, everyone ready?” There were nods and murmurs of assent and they set off again with Jud and Shane now leading.

Now the trail was steeper and as they climbed there was a drop-off on their left. The trail narrowed enough at times that they were forced to go single file but for the most part they could walk two or even three abreast. They paused when the forest opened up and they could see more of the mountains. In the open the wind was brisk and the Mortals closed up their jackets which they had opened during the climb. Knit hats and mittens or gloves were pulled out of pockets. Glorfindel noticed with amusement that Nimrodel was making a show of putting on a knit hat herself, though she didn’t bother with gloves. Mithrellas zipped up her coat and gave a convincing shiver. He and Daeron exchanged smiles at the ellith’s pretense.

“We’re going to be leaving the tree line soon,” Daeron said, pointing further up the trail and they could see that it left the forest completely with only scrub pine lining the trail on the mountain side. Large rocks and boulders were strewn about and they would have to climb over them. Glorfindel took a look at his map and tried to gauge where they might be.

“The tarn shouldn’t be too far ahead,” he said. “Darren, you and Della take the lead. I want the Mo... I mean, everyone else in the middle.”

“Hey!” Jud exclaimed in disgust. “We’re not babies, you know.” The other Mortals gave him their own disgusted looks.

“I didn’t say you were,” Glorfindel replied with a smile. “I want everyone to partner up. No, Lily, you go with Zach. Misty stay with me, okay?”

“A buddy system?” Cassie asked in disbelief. “Are you serious?”

“Very,” Glorfindel said and there was no levity in his voice or in his expression. “Those boulders can make for tricky climbing even without snow or ice, so I want everyone to help your partner if needed.”

When everyone was with a partner, they set off again, taking it slow as they maneuvered about the rocks. Sometimes there were natural stairs and that made it easy; other times, though, they were confronted with a jumble of granite that had to be navigated with caution. Daeron and Nimrodel were quite good at finding the best route for the Mortals to take. In between climbing rocks the trail would often level off, but now narrow enough that they had to go single file. There was a steep drop on both sides now, but on the right the drop was only a few feet into a dip between the trail and the mountain where scrub pines clung stoically to life. Above them and beyond were the naked granite peaks of the mountains, the higher ones still snow-capped. To their left they could see much of the valley where the resort lay, though that was hidden from them by a spur of the mountain further below.

“I wonder if that’s one of the cross-country skiing trails?” Matt asked as they took a breather. He was pointing down into the valley and they could see a definite trail across an open field.

“Possibly,” Jud said. “It must be spectacular in the winter. Everything is so silent, you notice?”

The others nodded. “Well, let’s get on,” Daeron said. “We still need to reach the tarn and it’s getting late.”

“I hope the Twins are there,” Mithrellas said softly to Glorfindel as they brought up the rear.

“They know better than to go any further,” Glorfindel said with a smile. “I trained them too well for them to do otherwise.”

They continued along the trail for another twenty minutes, clambering over one last jumble of rocks, following the trail around a bend to find themselves before the tarn. They stopped in awe, spreading out on the trail that wound along the shore of the tarn for a better view. Elladan and Elrohir were on the opposite side from where they were and waved at them, but the Mortals paid little heed, too mesmerized by the scenery. The tarn was quite large, perhaps a hundred and fifty feet across at its widest and it was very deep and still, reflecting the mountain peaks. The wind had died down to nothing and now the only sound was their breathing.

“We’ll take a ten minute breather,” Glorfindel said quietly, “and then we’ll go on.”

Everyone nodded, no one willing to break the utter silence any further than necessary. Glorfindel nodded to the other Elves and they walked along the shore to where the Twins waited for them.

“This climb will be tricky in the winter,” Elladan said without preamble.

“But doable if care is taken,” Daeron answered. “Probably only people with actual mountain climbing experience would take this trail. I imagine the resort owners discourage people with heart conditions and such from it.” They all nodded.

“At any rate,” Glorfindel said, addressing the Twins, “what are your impressions?”

“Same as the other places,” Elladan replied. “With a little work we could awaken some of the trees here, at least further below. I doubt these scrub pines will be of any use.”

“There’s something about the tarn, though,” Elrohir said soberly. “Dan thinks I’m imagining things, but I think something lives here, something....” He gave them a shrug and an apologetic smile, apparently unable to articulate what he was sensing.

Glorfindel cast his gaze at the scenery. The Mortals were still huddled together on the other side of the tarn. Jud, Zach and Cassie were hunting the ground for flat stones to skip across the water’s surface, while the other three either softly cheered or jeered at their efforts, their voices very quiet, as if they feared to disturb the silence enshrouding them too much. He closed his eyes and blocked out the sounds around him, stilling his own heartbeat and his inner thoughts as he’d been taught so very long ago by the Maiar and reached out with other senses. At first, he could detect nothing of interest. This high up perhaps only mountain goats would thrive, but there were none in the area. Nor were there any birds or small forest creatures. They were all below them on the lower slopes.

No. Nothing of interest, and yet.... He quested further and deeper and then suddenly felt it. It was a tone, deep and continuous, a single note that rang endlessly through the cosmos. He had heard it once in Aman and wondered. Why here? He wasn’t sure. Perhaps he could have heard it anywhere in the world. He’d been told that it was possible, but in some places apparently it was easier to detect. Yet, he didn’t think that this was what Elrohir was sensing, not even on an unconscious level. As skilled as he was, Elrohir simply did not have the ability to hear this particular tone, the final note of the Song of Creation that had brought Eä forth from nothingness by the will of Eru. So, he brought himself closer to the surface of consciousness and....

He opened his eyes and stared at the tarn. Yes, something lived there, something that slept. Something that perhaps should never be wakened. “All right,” he suddenly called out in a loud voice, shattering the stillness of the air around them. “Ten minutes are up. Let’s go.” He gestured for the Mortals to join them. Zach gave a last throw of a stone, and they all watched it skip across the tarn.

“What is it?” Daeron asked. “Did you sense anything?”

“I don’t know,” Glorfindel answered, “but I have a feeling something sleeps here that may not be friendly.”

“Like the Watcher in the water?” Elrohir asked, referring to the creature that had haunted the West Gate of Moria.

“No, or perhaps yes.” Glorfindel shook his head. “I don’t really know and I don’t really want to stick around to find out.”

“Is this place dangerous then?” Mithrellas asked with concern. “If people are coming here....”

“They’ve been coming here for quite some time,” Daeron pointed out in a reasonable tone.

“Yes,” Glorfindel acknowledged. “But I think it wise that we keep an eye on this place in the future. I’ll plan to come back here every few years to check on it.”

By now their friends had reached them and Glorfindel signaled for the Twins to take the lead once again. Almost as soon as they left the tarn, the trail began sloping down and there were no major obstacles along the way. Soon they were making their way along the lower slope, heading back towards the resort.

As they walked, Shane, who happened to be near the back of the group turned to speak to Glorfindel. “You know, that tarn was just a little creepy.”

“How do you mean?” he asked, very curious as to what any of the Mortals might have sensed even on a subliminal level.

“Don’t know exactly,” she replied with a shrug. “Maybe it was just the utter silence, but all the while we were there I had the feeling we were being watched. It made my skin crawl.”

Glorfindel glanced around at the rest of the group. “Did anyone else feel that way?” he asked, but the other Mortals just shrugged or shook their heads.

“I’m not making it up, you know,” Shane protested.

Glorfindel shook his head. “No, I don’t think you are.”

Shane looked mollified by Glorfindel’s words, but the ellon’s level of unease only increased. They would definitely have to keep an eye on the tarn.

****

When they returned to the campus for dinner they discovered that the display in the cafeteria had been removed.

“That Ms Goodfellow came in, took one look, and ordered us to take it down, confiscating the clothes,” one of the staff told them when Glorfindel asked.

“It’s a good thing you took the signatures and email addresses with you, Cassie,” Daeron said to the young woman as they made their way down the line.

“And we have the photos as well,” Elrohir pointed out.

“Tomorrow we’ll meet in the internet café and send out emails to all the parents,” Cassie said with a smirk as she accepted the plate of linguini alfredo from the server.

“We still have to come up with an alternative to the monstrosity they expect us to wear,” Nimrodel said with a sigh as they settled themselves at one of the tables. “Any ideas?”

“Hey!” someone yelled from the next table over. They glanced over to see a young man they did not know. “I’m in the other section,” he explained and they nodded. “I had the morning off so I went into town. There’s a ski shop with some cool looking outfits. Maybe something along those lines would work. Sure as shooting, we’d freeze our butts off in that fairy queen outfit. Don’t know what the admin is thinking trying to foist that ridiculous outfit on us.” He shook his head in disgust.

“Thanks,” Glorfindel said. “I’ll go take a look tomorrow.” The young man nodded and returned to his dinner and his friends.

“Hmm.... a ski shop,” Nimrodel said. “That has possibilities. If we can find color coordinated ski pants and coats....” Her eyes unfocused for a bit as she started thinking.

Glorfindel tapped her hand with his fork. “Eat,” he ordered. “The movie will start soon.”

“What’s showing tonight, anyone know?” Lily asked but no one had a clue.

When they had finished their dinner and were settled in their seats once again for the movie, none of the Elves were at all surprised when it turned out to be Loch Ness.

“Now I’m getting creeped out,” Elrohir whispered.

Glorfindel was in total agreement.

11: Interlude

Saturday morning after breakfast, while Cassie and some of the other students invaded the internet café, Glorfindel and Nimrodel walked into town to visit the ski shop. It was one of the larger stores in town with aisles and aisles of poles and skis and boots and all the paraphernalia of downhill and cross-country skiing, as well as snow boards, toboggans and ice skates. One section held clothes appropriate for these winter sports. The two Elves looked over the garments with a critical eye.

“We want something that everyone can wear without looking foolish,” Glorfindel said as he took in the racks of coats, sweaters, ski pants and the like.

“And still be warm,” Nimrodel said with a wry grin. “I don’t know what Marian and Deirdre were thinking with those outfits, but no amount of thermal underwear would keep anyone warm in them.”

“Ridiculous and insulting,” Glorfindel said with obvious distaste. “I confess I was ready to join the Twins in their exodus, but I decided that would be the coward’s way out and would leave our friends in the lurch with no one to champion their cause.”

“Do they even know they have a champion or need one?” the elleth asked.

“It matters not,” Glorfindel answered imperiously. “They have one in me whether they know it or not, whether they think they even need one or not. Evan’s look of horror was all I needed to take on the role of guardian for these children against the so-called adults who would insult them and belittle them in such a fashion.”

“Well, let’s see if we can’t find something that any Elf would be proud to wear,” Nimrodel said with a smile and they continued to stroll through the clothing section, hoping to find something suitable, but nothing seemed appropriate. Either the colors were all wrong or if something looked like it might work, it would turn out not to be gender-neutral so everyone could wear it.

They were almost ready to give up when they turned into a cul-de-sac and found themselves looking at shelves of pullovers. They were in all shades including a lovely dark forest green and a red that was a bright cranberry. Nimrodel pulled one off the shelf to examine. It was bare of any logo or design, which was in its favor as far as they were concerned. It had a high neck and it was closed with a zipper that only opened to mid-chest. The sleeves were uncuffed and the whole thing fell to below the hips when Nimrodel tried it on. She took a look at the tag.

“A hundred percent polyester yet it has the feel and look of velour,” she said in satisfaction.

“Which means it’s entirely washable,” Glorfindel said with a pleased look.

Nimrodel checked the various sizes. “From small all the way to three-XL,” she said. “And the best thing about them is that they’re gender-neutral.”

“The forest green and cranberry red would satisfy the Christmas theme, but look! It also comes in white as well.”

“Red and white for the men and green and white for the women if everyone buys two of these?” Nimrodel asked.

Glorfindel shook his head. “Let them choose whichever colors they want. Actually, they could easily afford to buy all three colors for these are on sale for ten dollars each, three for twenty-five.”

“Still, even with thermals underneath, I doubt the Mortals would be warm enough in just these. They’ll need to wear some kind of arctic jacket.”

“The safari companies outfit their guests with arctic boots and overalls, remember?” Glorfindel reminded her. “There’s no reason why their employees shouldn’t be outfitted as well, at least with a coat. The rest would be provided by the Elf.”

“Yet, how does that distinguish the Elf guides from the other types of employees?” Nimrodel said. “These pullovers are very plain. There’s nothing to say that the person wearing one is a Christmas Elf.”

“Excuse me.”

They turned to see a young woman in her early thirties smiling at them. She had short black hair and brilliant blue eyes and stood only chest high to Glorfindel. She wore a waist length green cotton sleeveless tunic over her white turtleneck and grey slacks. The store logo of a downhill skier was stitched over the left breast, and there were deep pockets on the front. A name tag announced that she was ‘Sally’.

“I couldn’t help overhearing some of your conversation. Perhaps I could be of assistance?” Sally asked.

Glorfindel glanced at Nimrodel who shrugged, then turned back to the young Mortal with a gracious smile. “Perhaps you can,” he said. “We’re from the college, the Elf Academy actually.” Sally nodded in understanding and Glorfindel continued. “The various safari companies and resorts have decided that Elves should wear a distinctive uniform. Unfortunately, the one they came up with is very unsuitable.”

“Horrendous, actually,” Nimrodel put in with a grimace. “We students decided to come up with our own uniform because none of us will wear what they came up with.”

Sally gave them a sympathetic smile. “I see. What sort of uniform were you thinking of?” she asked.

“Nothing really fancy or expensive,” Glorfindel replied. “Part of our tuition goes for the cost of the uniform, but I suspect it is for their uniform, not ours. So, we need to come up with something that everyone can afford.”

“Hmmm... you know, we are having a sale on our winter wear and there’s also a student discount,” Sally said. “Why don’t we come up with something and see how much it will cost?” Both Elves nodded and Sally looked over the pullovers. “I think you were discussing the need for arctic coats.”

“Yes,” Glorfindel said. “We were thinking of these pullovers with black ski pants and an arctic coat, but we are not sure it will be distinctive enough.”

“Color is the key,” Sally said, all professional in her demeanor. “While green and red are traditional Christmas colors, white or silver, gold and blue are also becoming popular.” She paused to think, then gave them a brilliant smile. “Let’s take this white pullover and go hunting.”

Glorfindel raised an eyebrow at the sparkle of glee in Sally’s eyes as he and Nimrodel followed the young Mortal. He recognized it as similar to the glee he had often seen in the Twins’ eyes when they were about to go hunting for orcs. Sally apparently had the same adrenaline rush of the hunt as any hunter, even though her prey was the perfect outfit rather than orcs or a ten-point buck. He smiled at the image of her with bow and arrow hunting through the store for just the right pair of boots.

Sally, oblivious to Glorfindel’s thoughts, made her way to the ski jackets and went to a particular rack. “These are not our most expensive parkas,” she told them, “but they do the job. I like them because the style is somewhat different from the usual ski jacket.” She pulled one out to show.

The coat was white and consisted of a thick outer shell that had the look of suede to it, rather than the usual polyester, with a removable inner shell made of blue fleece. There were two deep pockets in the front as well as side pockets. When Nimrodel tried it on, it came to her hips. The fleece shell closed with a zipper while the outer shell had large buttons, giving the coat a somewhat old-fashioned look when completely closed. It had a detachable hood trimmed with black faux fur.

“This outer shell is insulated with a thin thermal layer,” Sally said, “so it’s warmer than it looks.”

“And it isn’t too heavy or bulky in spite of the layers,” Nimrodel said to Glorfindel.

“Now, let’s look over here at ski pants,” Sally continued. “I think if we combine the white pullover with this parka and black ski pants, we might have the beginnings of a nice looking outfit.” She grabbed a pair of ski pants and then sailed on through the aisles with the Elves in tow.

“It doesn’t look that distinctive,” Nimrodel said. “I suspect that you’re going to find a lot of people wearing the same outfit or something similar.”

“Ah...” Sally exclaimed in triumph, “but we haven’t finished. Now, here we have knit hat and scarf sets.” She searched through the racks until she found what she was looking for, pulling out two distinct sets. “This style of hat is different from the usual, as you can see,” she said. “It’s a style that’s popular in Europe. I think together with the old-fashioned looking coat the outfit will have an Old World look to it. What do you think?”

Glorfindel looked at the hats. They were shaped more like medieval peasant caps with earflaps. Braided drawstrings hung from the flaps and another was attached to the top. While obviously machined knitted, they looked as if they’d been hand-knitted with bands of colors and a design of stars and snowflakes. One hat was primarily red and white, while the other was green and white. Both were lined with white felt. The scarfs were striped with the same colors.

Sally took everything over to a counter where she laid the coat down, shoving the pullover inside it and the ski pants underneath. Then she wrapped the red-and-white-striped scarf around the neck and placed the matching hat just above the ensemble. She stepped back to admire her handiwork.

“Now I am thinking that the women could wear the red-and-white-striped scarf and hat set while the men wore the green-and-white one. Gloves and boots would be supplied by the students themselves. What do you think?”

The Elves stared at the outfit lying on the counter. Glorfindel tried to imagine how distinctive such an outfit might appear to others. He called up a mental image of Cassie and Matt wearing the outfit but with the appropriate hat and scarf set as Sally had suggested as they greeted families at the airport. He tried to imagine several students of both genders walking through the woods with their groups wearing this outfit and realized that Sally might have something there. The coat was indeed distinctive enough in style from the usual polyester parkas and that alone helped. He realized that Sally was correct. The striped colors of the scarf and the Old World look of the hat made the entire outfit distinctive, making the entire outfit stand out from the usual winter garb. He nodded and gave Nimrodel a glance. She was pursing her lips in deep thought but she nodded as well.

“So, how much would all this cost?” Glorfindel asked.

“It would be wise for you to buy two sets of the pullover and ski pants,” Sally said, “then you can wash one and wear the other.” Glorfindel nodded. Sally reached over the counter and grabbed a calculator and began punching in numbers. “With the student discount it comes to this,” she said, shoving the calculator at them.

“That’s just a bit more than the fifty dollars Marian said we would have to pay for the second set of that atrocious outfit,” Nimrodel stated. “If we can convince the administration to buy the coats for everyone then students are only out about thirty-five dollars.”

“Less than that,” Sally reminded them, “because they would get the student discount on whatever they buy themselves. If the college buys the coats, we can probably do a bulk discount that will save them money. Obviously, there aren’t enough coats in stock, but we can easily order more and they’ll be here before the holiday season. Same with the other stuff.”

Glorfindel nodded, feeling pleased. “We’ll have to buy two sets to model for the others,” he said, “though I’m not sure I want to spend the money in case the students nix the idea.”

“No problem,” Sally said with a smile. “I have a digital camera. I’ll take pictures of you both and print them out on the store’s computer to take with you. And I just thought of something. Over on McDowell there’s a commercial embroidery shop that does company logos and such. Perhaps they could design a distinctive name tag that you would wear on your coat letting people know you are an Elf guide. I’ll give you directions. It’s just a five minute walk around the corner.”

Glorfindel nodded. “We’ll go find our sizes,” he said, and Sally pointed to where the dressing rooms were.

“We have a display over by the windows,” she said. “I’ll meet you there to take the pics. Oh, and help yourselves to boots and gloves to complete the ensemble.”

Twenty minutes later, Glorfindel and Nimrodel walked out of the shop with two printouts of them in the outfits and directions to the embroidery shop. They turned to wave at Sally who waved back. Half an hour later, after consulting with Tom, who ran the embroidery shop, they had a printout of a computer mock-up for the name tag: a dark blue background with the person’s name between two snowflakes all stitched in white. The style of the letters was similar to the Celtic lettering found in the Lindisfarne Gospels. When asked for a name, Glorfindel, out of pure mischief, gave him his own. Tom merely raised an eyebrow but made no other comment as he plugged in the letters on the computer.

“We can glue the tag on stiff mounting board with a pin,” Tom had told them. “That way, when you’re no longer working as elves, you can remove the tag and wear the coat as you normally would.”

“I think we have a winner,” Glorfindel said with a huge grin as he and Nimrodel bade Tom farewell and made their way back to the college. Nimrodel grinned back in full agreement.

****

Just before lunch, Glorfindel went to the cafeteria and pinned the two photos of him and Nimrodel in the outfits on the bulletin board with the name tag printout in between. To one side of the photos was an itemized listing of the cost for the entire outfit including the name tag which would cost the students an additional five dollars. Nimrodel had grabbed some construction paper from the stationary store on their way back to the Academy and made a sign that read: THE NEW ELF LOOK!, with each word on a separate sheet of paper. She pinned it above the photos and then underneath all that she pinned up another sign that simply read: YES? NO? VOTE! Sheets of paper were placed on a table next to the bulletin board on which Glorfindel had written the slogan as a heading with NAME/YES/NO on a line below.

As students began to saunter into the cafeteria, they gravitated to the bulletin board, looking over the photos. There were smiles all around. Out came cell phones as many of them took photos of the display. Glorfindel suspected that these would be sent to their parents for comparison purposes. Then, they lined up to sign the voting sheets before heading for the cafeteria line. Glorfindel and Nimrodel had already signed the top sheet and naturally voted ‘yes’.

“Good job,” Daeron said as he and the other Elves found them sitting at the table digging into their lunch. “I think we may have a winner here.”

“Me, too,” Glorfindel said. He and Nimrodel then explained how they had come up with the outfits and there were pleased nods from everyone at the table.

“Now all we have to do is convince the Admin people,” Lily said.

Cassie shook her head. “Nah. Our parents will be doing the convincing for us,” and the others all agreed.

“We’re going to take the display down in between meals so Marian can’t order it taken down,” Glorfindel said. “I’ll put it back up before dinner and then again on Sunday before each meal. Hopefully by Monday we’ll have everyone’s signatures.”

In fact, it turned out that Glorfindel did not have to bother with the display on Sunday. Word had gotten around to those students who normally did not bother to eat on campus over the weekend and at dinner that evening the cafeteria was packed. When Glorfindel retrieved the voting sheets there was not a single NO marked off.

****

Monday, the classes with Deirdre and Marian were somewhat subdued. Glorfindel presented Marian with the protest sheets, along with the photos and voting sheets before her class began. “I think you have to agree that what you want us to wear is unsuitable,” he said to her firmly. “No self-respecting Elf would be caught dead in such an outfit. We’ve come up with our own uniform and you will see that it’s actually cheaper than what you designed. If the Administration is willing to foot the bill for the coats, the students can pick up the balance.”

“I’ll have to discuss it with others,” Marian said mulishly. “I rather resent you contacting parents over this. My office has been flooded with irrate emails since yesterday.”

“The parents are ultimately footing the bill for their children,” Glorfindel pointed out. “They have a right to voice their opinions on how that money is being spent. I believe if you think it through, you will find that our solution is fair to everyone. The students will not die of extreme embarrassment and the college will not lose any money.”

Marian still looked doubtful but offered no other protests.

****

And so life went on.

Classes became rather routine and the Elves settled into their roles as students. Glorfindel, Elladan and Elrohir continued to teach archery and worked with the students who formed an archery club to prepare them for competitions, though they themselves did not compete. More often than not, the Northern Lights Archery team came home with the trophy.

In the end, the Administration did agree to the new outfits and offered a formal apology to the students and their parents and also stated that the entire cost would come out of the tuition, so no additional money was spent by the students. Everyone was asked to go to the ski shop and check their sizes. Order forms were produced and filled out. The name tags were a slightly different case. It had been decided by the tourist agencies that, rather than using their actual names, each student would come up with what someone jokingly called a ‘nom d’elf’ as a working name. Tom assured the Administration that it would take only a week for him and his people to create the name tags for everyone so there was time for people to decide on a name.

Daeron had started to work with Zach on his speech impediment after the first week of classes, introducing him to plainchant as a way of modulating his voice and the speed of delivery. Zach was still not sanguine about singing or chanting every word he spoke as a guide, but Daeron insisted that he would not have to.

“We’re using the plainchant as a way of training you to speak slowly and distinctly,” Daeron explained with much patience when Zach complained about it for the twentieth time. “We know that you never stutter when you sing, since you have to concentrate on what you are singing. Using plainchant will help you with your concentration so that eventually it becomes second nature. Then we’ll see how well you speak without singing.”

So Zach continued his speech lessons and in fact, as the weeks went by, there was a noticeable lessening of his stuttering. When he was able to speak an entire sentence without stuttering once, Zach’s attitude changed and he became more cooperative and enthusiastic in his lessons.

Penny whistle lessons also were held. Glorfindel made a good show of not knowing one end from the other and it amused the other Elves to watch several of the young female students falling over themselves to be the one to teach him. Glorfindel took it all in stride and treated each and every one of them with a graciousness that they had never experienced before. It left them feeling as if they were someone special because ‘Loren’ had smiled upon them.

“And he doesn’t even half try,” Elladan complained to the others as they watched Glorfindel’s performance. “It’s so unfair.” Elrohir nodded in agreement but the older three Elves just shook their heads in amusement.

Labor Day came and went and the days were becoming decidedly chillier as summer gave way to autumn. Near the end of September, they finished the first set of classes. The final class was on the last Friday of the month and in lieu of the usual Friday afternoon nature walk, the Academy hosted a party for all the students. The Arctic Fringe came to play and there were friendly competitions in such activities as volleyball, archery, touch football, and tug-of-war, as well as fun races, such as three-legged, water balloon, burlap bag and egg-on-a-spoon. The Elves joined the fun, keeping their skill levels on par with the average Mortal and had a grand time. Glorfindel kept a short leash on the Twins and monitored their drinking, making them switch to sodas after their fourth beer. Neither ellon bothered to argue with their captain.

“So, Monday we start whole new classes,” Daeron said to Glorfindel and the others as they sat around a picnic table eating hot dogs, hamburgers and potato salad. “Should be interesting.”

Glorfindel nodded as he took a sip of root beer. “Winter survival skills and nature studies. I don’t think any of us will have a problem with those classes.” He flashed them a knowing smile and the other Elves snorted in good humor.

“I’m actually going to miss that cooking class,” Elrohir said. “I didn’t know there were so many ways to make hot chocolate.”

“It was fun making the gingerbread house,” Elladan averred with a smile.

“House?” Cassie exclaimed in disbelief. “More like a castle.”

The other Mortals nodded. “Totally awesome,” Jud said.

The Twins just shrugged. Glorfindel hid a smile. As a final project in the cooking class everyone got together in groups and constructed gingerbread houses in designs of their own choosing. Elladan and Elrohir decided to reconstruct Imladris and Glorfindel helped, being the only other Elf who knew the place intimately; none of the Sindar had ever seen it. Naturally, it was the largest of the ‘houses’ and everyone admired it.

“Well, you’ll have to put aside your aprons for the nonce,” he said to them with a wink, “and concentrate on remembering all that I taught you about surviving in the wilderness.”

“Hmph,” Elladan snorted. “As if we could ever forget those lessons.”

“So you guys know a lot about it?” Matt asked somewhat diffidently.

“Well, don’t forget, I was in Search and Rescue,” Glorfindel said with a smile, “and I made sure my friends knew something about surviving in the wilds in case they ever got lost.”

Everyone nodded, recognizing the logic of his words. Then Shane gave him a wicked grin. “So, does that mean you’ll be taking over the class from that Pettingill guy?”

The others laughed while Glorfindel just shook his head. In truth, he had no desire to do anything of the sort. He was actually looking forward to seeing how the former Marine handled the class and he was willing to sit back and watch.

“We’ll see,” was all he said and that just made everyone laugh the louder.

12: The Second Half of the Term Begins

Both the Wilderness Survival and the Nature Studies classes were held in a large auditorium classroom in the college’s Maths and Sciences building, for in these classes all the sections met at the same time. Both classes were three hours long, the Wilderness Survival class meeting on Mondays, while the Nature Studies class met on Wednesdays. On Fridays, the sections met together in another large classroom in the Education building for the ‘On Being a Tour Guide’ class. This class only met for one hour and then the rest of the morning was free.

“Well, not exactly free,” Mithrellas pointed out when Elrohir mentioned it Sunday evening during dinner. “We’ll be helping out at the post office on Friday mornings in a couple of weeks. I think the other sections will be helping out on other days of the week.”

“Do they really get so many letters to Santa, do you think?” Elrohir asked skeptically. “And why so early? Christmas is still three months away.”

“I asked someone at the post office once about it,” Cassie said. “She said that children start sending letters around Halloween. She figures that with Halloween the children are suddenly reminded that Christmas is not that far away and so the letters start coming in. Not too many at first, but by the second week of November they get pretty swamped, and all of them have to be answered.”

“Well, it should be interesting to see what the average child is asking for this Christmas,” Glorfindel said with a smile. “No doubt, most of the requests will be inspired by the latest toys and games advertised on TV.”

“No doubt,” Daeron said giving the Twins a knowing smile which they both pretended not to notice. As old as they were, they still acted like elflings at times and nearly every year around the holiday season they were both clamoring for the latest electronic gadget or game or whatever they happened to see being advertised on TV. Since none of the other Elves would ever buy whatever they were clamoring for, the Twins would have to buy it themselves. “Our Yule gift to ourselves,” they would say.

So, Monday morning they all trooped into the auditorium where they found seats. Paul Pettingill was already there, his demeanor stiff, dressed in his forest ranger uniform. There were seven other rangers, both male and female, lined up against the whiteboard, all in uniforms.

“Your section has the advantage of being able to practice what you learn here in actual winter conditions,” Pettingill told them once the class settled down and he had introduced his fellow rangers who would be assisting him with the class. “The other section had to make do with simulated conditions. The snow will be flying very soon and we will be going out in it. However, before we get to that part of the course we will be spending some time learning First Aid. Specifically, we will teach you CPR for both adults and children, as well as familiarize you with the standard First Aid kit and how to use it. If you are certified for CPR or you have emergency medical training you may be excused from the class until we get to the survival part of the course. However, I highly recommend that you take it anyway. Winters above the Arctic Circle are brutal and unlike what most of you are used to, even those who come from the southern part of the state.”

Glorfindel nodded to himself. He, of course, had all the necessary training, but it would not hurt to have his skills refreshed. While he had not been in Search and Rescue for nearly a year now, he had kept up with his certifications and had insisted the others do as well. Still, what Paul said made sense and he made a mental note to order the Twins to take the First Aid course. The other Elves would follow his lead in such matters, but Elladan and Elrohir had a tendency towards superiority over others because they were warriors and sometimes felt that they need not always do as others were required to do.

He recalled an incident when, not long after Nimrodel and Mithrellas had joined them, Elladan and Elrohir had tried to impress the ellith with their superior warrior skills. “Glorfindel taught us everything we know,” the older twin had said with a smirk. “That is very true,” Glorfindel had said, giving them a smile. “However, I have not taught you everything I know.” He had enjoyed watching their egos deflate, while the ellith gave him considering looks.

He dragged his thoughts out of the past as Pettingill continued outlining the course and what he and the other rangers hoped to teach them.

“.... and we’ll show you how to make fire in snow,” he was saying and then his posture loosened somewhat and he actually smiled. “Children love magic and they know that elves are magical creatures. We’ll show you one or two ‘tricks’” — he put his hands up, making a quoting gesture — “that will impress them.”

Glorfindel could not help smiling and warmed to the man, seeing another side of the Mortal beside the stiff former Marine persona he seemed to show to most of the world. He wondered if the ranger was a father. He could see the marriage ring on his finger and assumed that he was.

The rest of the class period was spent in organizing the students into smaller groups of eighteen and giving them their room assignments for the CPR and First Aid classes which would commence after the break period. Glorfindel made his way to the Twins as everyone went to find their assigned classrooms. They were the only ones not leaving.

“You will take the First Aid course,” he said in a no nonsense tone.

“We’re already certified,” Elladan, ever the spokesman for the two, protested. “You made us get recertified before we came here.”

“Very true,” Glorfindel admitted, “but you will take the course nonetheless. We all will.”

“Even you?” Elrohir gave him a suspicious look. “You were in Search and Rescue. You know more about it than anyone else. Why are you taking it?”

“Because what Ranger Pettingill said is true,” Glorfindel explained. “Arctic conditions are brutal and it is wise to know what to expect. You’ve been trained for general First Aid in various, shall we say, normal conditions, but not for this. This is different. Trust me when I say this. I crossed...”

“The Helcaraxë. Yes, we know,” Elladan finished for him in exasperation.

Glorfindel frowned. “You think you know what you face, but you do not.”

Now the Twins narrowed their eyes and gave him almost identical glares. “You forget we were on the Titanic,” Elrohir hissed softly. “We know all about it.”

“No, child,” Glorfindel said firmly. “You do not. You experienced that cold for a relatively short period of time. I spent over thirty years of the Sun trudging across the land bridge between Valinor and Ennorath. If I, who survived the Grinding Ice, am willing to take this course, you can do no less.”

The two ellyn still looked unconvinced, but complied to his demand and followed the other students meekly enough to find the classroom assigned to them. Glorfindel sighed, watching them go. Sometimes he felt as if he were in a constant battle of wills with those two. Perhaps he should just let them do as they pleased, but he had made a promise to Elrond, and an even earlier promise to Eärendil, to watch over his sons and he was not about to stop now.

“They respect you,” Daeron said softly to him, having watched the confrontation.

Glorfindel turned to the ancient minstrel. “Do they?” he asked. “Sometimes I wonder.”

Daeron raised an eyebrow. “Can you doubt it?” he retorted. “If they did not, they would have defied you a long time ago and would have left us to strike out on their own. They grouse and complain and snarl on occasion, but they have never openly defied you. You are their captain. You always will be.”

“I think I should just let them do as they please from now on,” Glorfindel said with a shake of his head. “They’re not elflings, after all.”

Daeron snorted. “They will always be elflings to us. You know this, and so do they. I sometimes think that they enjoy playing the role of being the youngest of our group, tweaking us old-timers with their shenanigans.” He gave the former Balrog-slayer a wry grin.

Glorfindel returned the grin with a disbelieving look but let it pass. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go find our classrooms.”

****

After the break, Glorfindel made his way to the small classroom to which he’d been assigned. He was not sanguine about the Elves not being all in the same class where he could keep an eye on Elrond's sons, but there was little he could do about it. The students had been assigned their classrooms alphabetically and unfortunately ‘DelaFiore’ was nowhere close to ‘Ronaldson’. Daeron and Mithrellas were in the same class but Nimrodel was by herself as was he. He only hoped the Twins would not cause too much trouble. The only one of their Mortal friends who was in the same class as he was Shane and the two took seats next to one another.

The instructor turned out to be Pettingill and Glorfindel sat back and watched the man as he handed out the Red Cross workbook on Adult CPR. “This is a three-hour course,” he told them. “CPR for children and infants is another hour and a half. The general First Aid course that will follow will take yet another session. That will leave us with five sessions for the rest. That’s one session less than the other section had because the final week of classes is exam week. Don’t worry, though. By the time I finish with you, you’ll know all you will need to know to survive in arctic conditions should it happen that you and your party get caught in blizzard conditions or some other unforeseen event occurs.” He gave them a somewhat grim smile and Glorfindel couldn’t help comparing him to the grizzled captain in Search and Rescue who had been his instructor when he had first joined the organization. They both had that same grim look to them that said ‘I’ll teach you what you need to know if it kills the both of us to do it’. Glorfindel had no doubt that Pettingill was more than competent in his knowledge.

“So, let’s get started,” the ranger said. He went to where there were a couple of dummies propped up against the teacher’s desk. “This is Bob.” He pointed to one of the dummies. “And this is also Bob.” He pointed to the other dummy and the class chuckled. “When you are practicing CPR on these dummies, you will address them as ‘Bob’. In real situations, assuming you know the person’s name, you would use their name where here you use ‘Bob’. It is important that you get into the habit of speaking the person’s name. If you take a look on page three of the workbook you’ll see how....”

****

“So, did you learn anything new?” Shane asked Glorfindel as they filed out of the room with their workbooks in hand when the bell rang.

Glorfindel shrugged. “No, nothing new, but I have taken this course numerous times. We always had to keep up our certifications in Search and Rescue and this is no different.”

Shane nodded. “It was strange to address a dummy as ‘Bob’,” she said, giving him a wry smile. “That Kelsey couldn’t stop giggling,” she added, naming one of the other students in the class.

Glorfindel chuckled. “Some people find it embarrassing at first. Ah, here are the others,” he said, nodding to where the other Elves and their Mortal friends were gathered in the main foyer of the building. He gave the Twins a searching look. Elladan raised a defiant eyebrow, but Elrohir smiled at him.

“Men maer,” he said, speaking softly for Glorfindel’s ears only. “Gwest e-maethor.”

Glorfindel nodded, satisfied. Whatever their failings, the sons of Elrond would never invoke the Warrior’s Oath lightly. If they gave it, they meant it.

****

The Nature Studies class proved more interesting for Glorfindel. Again they met in the large auditorium, but only Ranger Pettingill was there; the other rangers would not be needed until they were actually out in the field.

“We’ll examine the wildlife that is typically found in this area,” Pettingill told them, “including plants. You’ll need to recognize the different animals and understand something of their habits and habitats, because I assure you that you’ll be asked about all that by your clients. So, our first sessions will be spent in the classroom.” He motioned to several students sitting in the front to come forward to where several boxes were lined up against the whiteboard wall. “This is your textbook,” he said as he indicated to the students that they should start handing the books out. “It’s a Guidebook put out by the National Parks on identifying wildlife. You will notice that it is designed with children in mind, so feel free to buy crayons and color in the pictures.”

He gave them a smile and there was general laughter throughout the class. Glorfindel glanced through the book, smiling at the simple yet accurate line drawings of the various animals. Each animal was given a two-page spread with text describing it and its habitat in clear and simple language. There were illustrations of the animal’s tracks and even color photos. There was also a section on plant life, identifying the various trees and shrubs and such that could be found in the area. The layout was appealing to both children and adults.

“So, let’s take a look at the first page,” the ranger said. He flipped a switch on the wall and a screen came down in front of the whiteboard. Then he had one of the students dim the lights while he fiddled with his laptop and a photo came up on the screen. “The arctic fox,” he announced and Glorfindel compared the photo with the line drawing. “This is what its tracks look like in snow,” Pettingill continued as he showed the next slide. “Notice how....”

****

When the class ended, the Elves and their Mortal friends gathered together as they headed back to the Academy for lunch. The Twins had gleeful looks on their faces and Glorfindel was suddenly suspicious.

“iNad thelil cared, baw!” he commanded, giving them a frown.

Elladan and Elrohir gave him identical pained looks. “Gwestam, unad faeg,” Elrohir replied, his expression hopeful.

“Gwest e-maethor, Hest,” Elladan added in all seriousness.

Glorfindel sighed, not feeling sanguine about it but having no real choice. He nodded. “Don’t make me regret this,” he said, switching to English.

“Regret what?” Zach asked in confusion.

“Whatever it is these two are planning,” Glorfindel replied.

“And what are you planning?” Lily asked, giving the Twins a curious look, which was mirrored by the expressions on the other Mortals’ faces.

“It’s a surprise,” Elrohir told her. “Honestly, we’re not going to do anything bad.”

Glorfindel could see the sincerity in the younger ellon’s eyes and nodded. The Twins gave jubilant shouts and ran off. “We’ll see you later,” Elladan called out as they disappeared into the crowd of students exiting the building.

“What do you think they’re planning?” Daeron asked.

Glorfindel shrugged. “We’ll find out soon enough. C’mon. Let’s get something to eat.”

****

They were halfway through lunch when the Twins showed up again, carrying a couple of bags that Glorfindel recognized came from a department store in town. They did not bother to get any lunch but came directly to the table where everyone was sitting, their expressions triumphant.

“We were able to find enough for everyone,” Elladan said without preamble, “so we won’t have to share.”

With that, he and Elrohir tipped their bags onto the table, the others hastily moving their trays out of the way, and out poured several boxes of crayons. The others stared at the pile for a second, trying to understand what they were seeing, and then Glorfindel broke out laughing even as he reached for one of the boxes. The others all grinned and grabbed their own boxes. Glorfindel looked up at the Twins and gave them a particular look of approval and a nod, a look that he reserved only for when they had done a thing well. The two ellyn practically glowed with pleasure with the knowledge that they had impressed their captain with their idea.

“So, should we see who can stay inside the lines the best?” Matt said with a sly grin and the other Mortals laughed, though the Elves did not understand the joke.

“We should go through the guidebook and color in all the pictures,” Shane suggested, “and then at the next class show Ranger Pettingill.”

Everyone thought it a good idea and they decided that Saturday afternoon would be a good time to get together for the project. In the meantime, the Twins grabbed a quick lunch and then everyone went to ready themselves for the afternoon’s athletic classes.

****

On Friday, they gathered for the Tour Guide class. Roland Smith was a rather colorless man, tending towards the pedantic, using twenty words where five would have done. Glorfindel was glad that they only had to endure him for an hour a week. Still, he could not deny that Smith knew his subject. It had never occurred to him before this that there was so much that a tour guide needed to know about the tourism business itself. He had simply assumed that all he had to do was to lead groups of people around to various activities and that would be it. But, no. There was much more to it than that.

“Regardless of where you will be employed,” Roland Smith told them, “it is incumbent on you to have a plan for each and every group to which you are assigned. Every group will be different in their constitution, every group will have different goals and different expectations of what they think their holiday should entail. You need to be aware of this. When you are given a group to lead — and don’t worry, we will give you plenty of time to acquaint yourself with the group before they arrive — you will need to understand just what they are looking for in terms of activities. You need to be aware of the ages of any children in the group as well as their genders, because experience has taught us that boys and girls are interested in different things and you need to provide a balanced blend of activities that will satisfy both, as well as their parents. Planning ahead, then, is the key to success. And planning alternative activities will also be important, because weather conditions might not allow you to do certain activities. Having alternatives already in place just in case will make the experience much more pleasant for everyone concerned.”

He paused for a moment to hand out sheets of paper. “So, to help you with this, we have designed planning sheets that you will fill out for each group. Over the next few weeks, I will give you examples of typical clients and typical tour packages that are offered by the various resorts and safari companies and you will learn to fill out these sheets for each. So, today, let’s take a look at what we have here. You will see at the top of the page....”

****

“Whew!” Cassie said with relief when the class was over and they were all leaving. “He really likes to talk, doesn’t he?”

“But he does know what he’s talking about, you have to give him that,” Glorfindel pointed out.

“These planning sheets are actually quite good,” Daeron said. “It’s one thing to plan, but it’s another to execute the plan successfully.”

Glorfindel nodded. “I was unaware that there was so much more that we as Elf Guides will have to do.”

“That’s for sure,” Zach said fervently and everyone nodded in agreement.

“Well, what’s everyone planning to do now?” Nimrodel asked. “We’re free until the afternoon.”

“Why don’t we go into town and do some shopping?” Glorfindel suggested. “I want to visit the bookstore and I need some more toothpaste.” Everyone agreed to the idea. “Then, we can stop at the Gold Nugget Café for lunch,” he added, remembering his one visit to the place and the waitress who had given him such sage advice. He had not had an opportunity to return to it and he was interested in seeing Esther again. “I’m getting a little tired of cafeteria food.”

That idea appealed to everyone even more, so they quickly divested themselves of their pens and notebooks and walked into town together. When they entered the café after doing their shopping, Glorfindel looked for Esther, wishing to say hello, but he did not see her. He also noticed that the café’s decor was different from when he was there last. When he asked their waitress about Esther, he was told that there was no one by that name working there.

“Are you sure?” he asked in confusion and gave a description of the woman, thinking that the waitress might be new and would not know all the other employees.

“Very sure,” she said. “I’ve been working here for ten years and I promise you there’s no Esther working here. Never has been.”

Glorfindel thanked the woman and gave her his order, but he did not have much appetite after that, picking at his roast beef sandwich while pondering the mystery of just who Esther was and why she had been there on that particular day when, on impulse, he had wandered into the café. If the others noticed his pensive mood, they gave no sign.

****

Words are Sindarin.

Men maer: ‘We (were) good’.

Gwest e-maethor: Warrior’s Oath.

iNad thelil cared, baw!: ‘Whatever you are planning, don’t!’, literally, ‘The thing you are intending to do, don’t!’. Baw, meaning ‘no, don’t’, is used with intentions.

Gwestam, unad faeg: ‘We promise, nothing bad’.

Gwest e-maethor, Hest: ‘Warrior’s Oath, Captain’.

13: ‘Pine Cone’ Is Not an Elvish Name!

The Friday night movies had ceased to be suggestive of messages for the Elves. In fact, beginning in September, they were all Christmas-related movies. So far they had seen White Christmas, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Miracle on Thirty-fourth Street, as well as The Santa Clause. The first Friday of October, which marked the end of the first week of the second half of the term, the movie was the ridiculous and rather atrocious Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. Why the school had chosen that particular movie was beyond comprehension. Yet, Glorfindel noticed that the students howled with laughter throughout the movie, throwing popcorn at the screen and making rude comments on the dialogue, costumes and acting (or lack thereof). He and the other Elves had noted during the past week that many of the Mortals, including their friends, were acting tense and stressed out. Glorfindel suspected that now that the term was half over, they were beginning to realize that their goal to become Christmas Elves was in sight and the reality of the situation was finally hitting them. Watching the antics that night and seeing the broad smiles and relaxed attitudes as the students happily cleaned up after the movie, Glorfindel decided that the strategy had worked. Perhaps no other movie could have helped relieve the tension among them.

True to Pettingill’s prediction, the snow began falling that very weekend. The Elves made a conscious effort to remember to put on warm coats, hats and gloves before venturing outside and not to walk on top of the snow (Glorfindel especially had to ‘pull rank’, as Daeron put it, on the Twins about that). They continued their classes. On Wednesday, they and their friends went to the classroom early before the other students. Ranger Pettingill was already there. He gave them an enquiring look as they trooped in with smiles on their faces. Wordlessly, they all opened up their guidebooks to various pages where the ranger could see that the line drawings had been crayoned in. He glanced at the pages, then up at the smiling faces of the Elves and Mortals.

“And you managed to stay inside the lines,” Pettingill said with a straight face. “I’m impressed.”

That set everyone laughing (the Elves had finally gotten the joke) and they spent a few minutes before the other students began shuffling in speaking with the ranger. Glorfindel confessed that he’d been with Search and Rescue.

“So all this is rather old hat for you,” the ranger said, “at least the CPR and First Aid parts.”

“True,” Glorfindel averred, “but as I have always kept up with my certifications even when I was no longer with SAR, I haven’t really minded.”

Pettingill nodded, obviously pleased with his answer and then it was time for the class to begin.

****

With the snow, physical activities moved inside. Basketball replaced softball and such activities as folk dancing, bowling and fencing were offered. Archery was still held and Glorfindel and the Twins continued to help out there. When they learned that fencing was also being taught they convinced Phil to let them teach that as well. All three ellyn had learned to use the rapier back in the seventeenth century and they had even been members of the famed Musketeers for a time.

“So, is there anything you guys can’t do?” Phil asked them when they ably demonstrated their fencing abilities.

The Twins shrugged almost as one. “Well, I’ve never gotten the hang of ribbon embroidery,” Elladan said with a straight face and would not look at Glorfindel, who merely shook his head in amusement.

Phil snorted good-naturedly and let it go.

****

On the following Friday, Roland Smith brought up the topic of names.

“We think it would be best if everyone comes up with a name that might be considered elvish rather than using your own names,” he told them. “We will be asking everyone to submit a name by next week so we can check to see that there are no duplicate-sounding names or ones that might be considered inappropriate before we send them to the embroidery shop so they can make your name tags. So, choose a name from your favorite fantasy novel or movie if you’re into that sort of thing, or make something up, perhaps basing it on some aspect of nature. Names associated with Christmas or the holidays in general as well as winter would probably fit the bill.”

Glorfindel had no doubt that he and the other Elves would simply use their actual names, but he wondered what names their Mortal friends would choose.

Later that evening, as they were watching The Bishop’s Wife with Cary Grant and David Niven, Nimrodel leaned over to whisper into Glorfindel’s ear. “So, did you ever know a Maia named Dudley?”

Glorfindel gave her an amused smile and shook his head. “But then, I cannot claim to have met them all,” he whispered back and Nimrodel chuckled as she settled back into her seat.

The topic of names came up again on Sunday during breakfast when Jud announced he’d found the perfect Elf name for himself.

“Frank Incense,” he said, making it two words. “Get it? My last name is von Frank, so... Frank Incense.”

The other Mortals groaned at the pun while the Elves looked a bit nonplused.

“Has anyone else come up with a name?” Glorfindel enquired.

There were several nods. “I was thinking ‘Pine Cone’,” Zach announced.

The Elves just stared at him in disbelief. “‘Pine Cone’ is not an Elvish name!” Daeron exclaimed in disgust, much to the surprise and confusion of the Mortals.

“Thoneredh,” Elrohir muttered, translating it into Sindarin. “What sort of name is that?”

“Anyone else?” Glorfindel asked, almost dreading the answer.

“Christmas Star,” Cassie ventured.

“Mistletoe,” Shane offered, “or maybe Sugar Plum.” She grinned as everyone rolled their eyes.

“Snowflake,” Lily answered, though she looked somewhat doubtful about it now.

“More like Nipiseg,” Mithrellas said with a laugh. “Little Snowflake,” she added, translating when Lily gave her a confused look.

“What about you, Matt?” Elladan asked the young man. “Did you come up with a name?”

Matt nodded. “Bernard,” he replied.

Everyone looked at him in surprise, especially the Elves. The name was so ordinary sounding compared to everyone else’s. “Bernard?” Nimrodel asked in disbelief.

Matt smiled. “Yeah, sure. Like the elf in The Santa Clause, remember? He was way cool.”

Shane gave Glorfindel a glare. “So what name have you chosen? You don’t seem to like ours all that much.”

“Glorfindel,” the ellon answered immediately.

“Glor-what!?” Shane demanded.

“Glorfindel,” he repeated with a smile.

“Okay....” she said, then looked at the Twins. “What about you guys?”

“Elladan.”

“Elrohir.”

Before she could ask, the other Elves volunteered their names.

“Daeron.”

“Mithrellas.”

“Jane.”

“Excuse me?” Shane asked, giving Nimrodel a jaundiced look while everyone just stared at her in disbelief.

The elleth laughed. “Just kidding. It’s actually Nimrodel.”

There was a pause as the Mortals contemplated the names. “Well, they sound pretty... different,” Lily finally said.

“They even seem to incorporate part of their real names,” Jud pointed out, sounding impressed.

Glorfindel hid a smile at that, for in truth it was just the opposite.

“What’s wrong with the names we’ve come up with?” Cassie asked. “It wasn’t easy to come up with a name that sounds like it might be elvish.”

“But ‘Pine Cone’?” Elrohir asked, looking at Zach. “Why ‘Pine Cone’?”

Zach shrugged. “I was taking a w-walk and saw these pine cones lying on the ground and just decided it was as g-good a name as any.”

“No one’s taking this naming thing seriously, you know,” Matt said. “I mean, why should they?”

“Why shouldn’t they?” Glorfindel countered. “If they don’t take their names seriously, how can they take the rest of it seriously? How do they expect their clients to take them seriously if they introduce themselves as Pine Cone or... or Sugar Plum?”

“So what are you saying?” Jud demanded. “This whole Christmas Elf thing is pretty wacky when you come right down to it. I mean, c’mon. Elves? No one believes in elves anymore. They’re just fantasy.”

Glorfindel had to force himself not to react to Jud’s words, as much as he wished to. He couldn’t fault the Mortal, or any of them, really, for their disbelief. Elves were indeed fantasy creatures to them, figures from nursery tales and nothing more. He could tell the others wanted to show their friends the truth of their existence, but centuries of caution took hold and they stayed silent.

“Yet, it behooves us to at least pretend that we believe in their existence,” Daeron said, “in order to complete the persona that we will present to our clients, especially the children. If we introduce ourselves with names such as ‘Pine Cone’, they’re going to know that we take neither ourselves nor them seriously.”

“He has a point,” Cassie averred after a moment.

“So, ‘Frank Incense’ is out, huh?” Jud asked, looking a little deflated.

“I’m afraid so,” Glorfindel replied with a sympathetic smile.

“How did you guys come up with your names, anyway?” Lily asked.

Glorfindel wasn’t sure how to answer that. “We just did,” was the best he could come up with, knowing it was an unsatisfactory answer.

“Maybe we can help you come up with names like ours,” Daeron offered to the Mortals.

“We can make a list and you can choose from it,” Mithrellas added.

“Why don’t we make a list that has enough names for all the students?” Elladan then suggested. “I imagine that some people will be hard-pressed to come up with something and this way we can... uh... make sure we don’t get any more... um... Pine Cones.”

“Would that be all right with you?” Glorfindel asked the Mortals. They all nodded.

“Though, I thought Snowflake was okay for a name,” Lily said with a sigh.

“We’ll find you one that’s even better,” Nimrodel promised her with a warm smile.

So it was agreed. Since it was Sunday and nothing was planned, the Elves gathered in the Twins’ room to discuss the matter of names.

“So, do we make up names like ‘Thoneredh’ or make a list of every Elf we’ve ever known and see if we can find enough names for everyone?” Elrohir asked.

“We either find names that can be used by both men and women, or we have to come up with two lists, one for each gender,” Glorfindel said.

“It might be easier to come up with two lists,” Daeron replied.

The others nodded. “I think it would be fun, though, to make up a few names that could plausibly be given to an Elf,” Mithrellas said.

No one had any objections to that. “Let’s see how many names we can come up with and then, if we need to, we’ll create other names,” Glorfindel said. “There are about two hundred and eighty-students, not including us. I think there are more women in the class than men, but we should come up with an equal number for each, so let’s say a hundred and fifty just to be safe.”

“Can we come up with a hundred and fifty names for each gender though?” Elrohir asked.

“Let’s see,” Glorfindel said and he asked Elladan to record the names for men while Nimrodel volunteered to do the same for women. Then they took turns calling out the names of friends and relatives long gone. When they had run out of names, they took a look at the lists. There seemed to be more male names listed and in fact, the list was only a few names shy of the hundred and fifty they were aiming for.

“We’ll have to create some names then,” Glorfindel said, looking over the list. “Anyone have any ideas?”

“Well, seeing as how it’s nearly winter and all,” Mithrellas ventured, “how about ‘Rhíuial’?”

The others nodded. In fact, the name was quite plausible and would not have raised any eyebrows among the Sindarin-speaking Elves of old. Other plausible names were offered by one or the other of them until both lists had the requisite number.

“All right,” Glorfindel said in satisfaction. “Now all we have to do is see that everyone gets copies of the lists.” He glanced at the Mickey Mouse clock that sat on the window sill. It was the Twins’ pride and joy. “It’s nearly noon. Let’s go find our friends and show them the list and see what they think.”

****

“Whoa!” Shane exclaimed when she was handed the list of female elvish names as they were all sitting down for lunch. Lily and Cassie were looking over her shoulders. “You guys work fast.” She scanned the names, mouthing them under her breath, though half the time she mispronounced them. “There are so many. How do we even choose?”

“Do these names even mean anything?” Matt asked as he, Jud and Zach were examining the list of male elvish names.

“You know,” Daeron interjected, his expression thoughtful, “we could hold a lottery.”

“What do you mean?” Glorfindel asked.

“Let’s do up the lists as planned and post them on the cafeteria bulletin board so everyone can see them and then make an announcement that there will be a lottery,” Daeron explained. “We’ll need four boxes, two for each gender. All the male students will put their names in one box and there will be another box with the male elvish names on slips of paper. Same with the women. Then we draw a student’s name and an elvish name from the appropriate box until everyone has a name. People can swap names if they want, but only after everyone has gotten one.”

“Hmm... that might work.” Glorfindel averred. “And if we make it into a party....”

“That will be even more fun,” Cassie said with a grin. The others liked the idea as well.

“We don’t have much time to organize it though,” Elladan pointed out. “The Administration wants that list of names by Friday.”

“We’ll have to arrange for something during the week, after dinner,” Glorfindel said.

“Wednesday night might be the best night,” Daeron said. “That will give us time to set something up with the cafeteria staff.”

Glorfindel nodded. “I’ll go speak to Grace,” he said, naming the kitchen manager and got up from the table and left. He was gone for about five minutes, and when he returned, he had a huge smile on his face.

“It’s all set,” he said as he sat down. “Grace says she’ll have the other section make loads of Christmas cookies during that morning’s cooking class and they’ll have everything set up for right after dinner. They’ll even provide us with a fruit punch.”

“We should get something set up for the bulletin board by tonight,” Daeron said, “so people have a chance to look over the list.”

“What if someone doesn’t want to do the lottery?” Zach asked.

Glorfindel shrugged. “No one is forcing anyone to do it and they have the right to choose their own names if they wish, but, you know, I think most will like the idea, especially if we make it into a party.”

“Just one thing,” Shane said waving the sheet of paper still in her hands. “Do you think you can provide us with a pronunciation guide?”

Nimrodel nodded. “I will use the computer and write up each name and how to pronounce it correctly.”

“If you make tables you can put each name into a box and then cut them out,” Cassie suggested.

“Thanks. I’ll do that,” Nimrodel said.

****

The announcement of the name lottery generated a great deal of excitement among the students and by Wednesday that excitement was at its peak. The cafeteria staff outdid themselves, for when people came in for dinner they found the place festooned with balloons and ribbons. Several tables were set aside along one wall filled with all kinds of holiday cookies courtesy of half the class. Two large punch bowls, one on either end, held delicious fruit punches with real fruit and ice cream floating on the top. Meanwhile, Daeron had found four boxes with lids. He bought some silver and gold wrapping paper and covered the boxes with them and then labeled them: MALE STUDENTS, FEMALE STUDENTS, MALE ELVISH NAMES, FEMALE ELVISH NAMES. The last two boxes were already filled with slips of paper. Blank slips were provided for students to write their names as they came in to eat.

When dinner was over, the tables cleared of trays, people went to the side tables and got some cookies and a cup of punch before settling back in their chairs. Glorfindel and the other Elves went to the front where another table had been set up with the boxes.

“Did everyone get a chance to put their name in?” Glorfindel asked and there were yells of assurance that that was the case. “Okay. So, this is how it will work. We’ll draw a name from each box, boy, girl, and we’ll draw a name from the appropriate elvish box. Darren is going to record the name for the guys and Misty will do the same for the girls. Once everyone has a name, if you don’t like what you have, you will be free to swap with someone else provided they wish to trade. However, I think you’ll agree that all these names are pretty cool. We have provided a pronunciation guide for each name as well, but if you’re not sure how to pronounce the name you have, just come to one of us and we’ll help.”

“Aren’t you gonna participate?” someone asked.

Glorfindel shook his head. “We’ve already got our names. See?” He pointed to a hastily made name tag pinned to his shirt pocket. All the other Elves had their own name tags. “Some of our friends thought they were very elvish sounding and asked us to help them come up with their own names. That’s how the lists got started and then we thought it would be fun to do this lottery. Some people probably are still hunting for a suitable name and are panicking right about now.”

There were appreciative chuckles throughout the room. “So, we’ll shake up the boxes just to make it more fair,” Glorfindel said and the Twins dutifully shook the four boxes before removing their lids. “And now, we’ll start.”

Elladan reached into the box for the men and pulled out a slip of paper. At the same time, Elrohir pulled out a slip from the box with male elvish names. They handed the slips to Glorfindel who took them and read them out loud.

“Jason Collins.” One of the young men leaped up, his eyes bright with a mix of curiosity and trepidation. Glorfindel smiled at him. “Congratulations, your name is now ‘Fingolfin’.”

Jason smiled as Glorfindel handed him the two slips of paper, motioning him to go to Daeron so he could make a record while the rest of the room broke out in applause. Then, Elladan reached into the women’s box and everyone hushed as his twin did the same with the box of female elvish names. They handed the slips to Nimrodel who would be announcing the names for the women.

“Chloe Williams,” she called out and the young woman gave a little squeal as she leaped up. “Congratulations, my dear, your new name is ‘Gwilwileth’.” She leaned over and whispered into the Mortal’s ear. “It means ‘butterfly’.”

“Butterfly,” Chloe said almost reverently as she took the slips of paper from Nimrodel and went over to where Mithrellas waited to record her names.

Meanwhile, the Twins moved back to the men’s boxes while Glorfindel spoke. “And next.....”

****

It took nearly an hour and a half to get through all the names. Every student had participated and there was much laughter among them as they tried out their new names with one another after the lottery was completed, attempting to pronounce the names as correctly as possible, running to one of the Elves when they weren’t sure if they were getting it right, and then running back to their friends with triumphant smiles as they grandly introduced themselves.

Looking about at the milling students, Glorfindel found it rather incongruous to hear a diminutive black student introduce herself as ‘Galadriel’ or Zach announcing that he was ‘Finrod’, but he could see that everyone was happy with their names and he was content. Their other friends had received names both real and created: Matt was now ‘Lossnor’, while Jud was ‘Gil-galad’; Cassie was now ‘Lossileth’, while Shane had gotten the name ‘Arwen’ and Lily would now be known as ‘Melian’.

“I think the lottery was a success,” Daeron said softly to Glorfindel as he handed him some punch.

Glorfindel nodded. “I think you are correct,” he replied and smiled as ‘Eärendil’ approached them and he spent a couple of minutes coaching Evan on how to pronounce his new name.

****

All names are Sindarin.

Lossileth: ‘Snowstar Lady’.

Lossnor: ‘Snowfire’.

Nipiseg: ‘Little Snowflake’ (nipis is a cognate of the Quenya niquis).

Rhîuial: ‘Winter Twilight’.

Thoneredh: ‘Pine-tree Seed’, which is the closest I could fine to ‘pine cone’ in Sindarin [thôn ‘pine-tree’ + eredh ‘seed’; in compound words thôn becomes thon, cf. Dorthonion ‘Land of Pines’].

14: Into the Wilderness

“The lottery was a great idea, amigo,” said ‘Celeborn’ to Glorfindel as he and the other students helped to clean up after the party. “You have great imaginations, not just in coming up with these names but also coming up with meanings for them. Silvertree. How cool is that?”

“Thank you, I’m glad you like your new name and enjoyed the party,” Glorfindel said and smiled, wondering what the real Celeborn would say if he knew that his name had been given to a five-eight Hispanic hailing from Chicago named Jésus who sported a tattoo of Our Lady of Guadalupe on his right bicep. He had the feeling the Sindarin lord would not find it at all amusing though perhaps Galadriel would see the humor in it.

Grace came over to Glorfindel just then with a trolley to pick up dirty dishes. “So, any names left over?” she asked somewhat diffidently.

Glorfindel gave her a surprised look but then went over to the table where Daeron had been sitting and took a blank slip of paper, writing on it and then going back to Grace. She took the slip and looked at it, then at Glorfindel.

“Eruanna?” she asked, giving it a decidedly American pronunciation.

“Air-oo-AH-nah,” Glorfindel corrected. “It means ‘Grace’.”

“Really?” the cook asked, giving him a pleased smile as he nodded. She went away, silently mouthing the name and Glorfindel couldn’t help grinning. It didn’t surprise him a bit when the other kitchen staff sauntered over to see if there were any names for them. Luckily, there were enough slips left over in both boxes so they just reached in and took one. They all went away with smiles on their faces.

“Guess everyone wants to be an Elf,” Elrohir quipped, having noticed the exchange, and Glorfindel chuckled.

****

The next morning, coming back from the showers, Glorfindel found Zach standing before the mirror.

“Greetings, fair guests,” he heard the young man say into the mirror. “I am your Elf Guide, er, Finrod.” He had to glance down at the slip of paper he was holding.

“Hello, Finrod.” Glorfindel canted his voice in the sing-song of a group of people greeting someone.

Zach turned around, looking embarrassed, as Glorfindel smiled, hanging up his wet towel and putting his shower paraphernalia away.

“Just practicing,” Zach explained.

“So I see,” Glorfindel said, sitting on his bed. “You’ll need to be more convincing about your name though.”

Zach chuckled. “Still not used to it.” He glanced down at the slip of paper and sighed.

“What’s wrong?” Glorfindel asked.

Zach shrugged. “It’s not very fancy compared to other names people got, like Jud getting ‘Gil-galad’ and your name, Glor-something.”

“Glorfindel,” the ellon corrected. He stood up and put his hands on the young Mortal’s shoulders. “Finrod is an honorable name,” he said in all seriousness. “The name of a great king and warrior among the Elves. Counted among the Wise. A friend to Mortals and beloved by all.”

Zach gave him a jaundiced look. “Oh?”

Glorfindel laughed. “Well, why not?” he retorted. “Give your name a history. Make it as grandiose as you like. There might be one or two children who will ask you about your name and you can tell them something like what I just said about Finrod.”

“I guess,” Zach said a little dubiously, then tilted his head to one side, giving Glorfindel a considering look. “A king, huh? Any particular kingdom?”

“Nargothrond,” Glorfindel said without hesitation.

Zach’s eyebrows went up. “You want to repeat that, slowly?”

Glorfindel grinned and complied with the request, helping Zach with the pronunciation.

“Nargothrond,” Zach said musingly. “I am Finrod, King of Nargothrond.” He gave Glorfindel a grin. “Cool,” he said and then went to his desk and started hunting around it.

“What are you doing?” Glorfindel asked.

“Looking for a pin,” Zach answered. “Some of us were talking last night and we thought it would be a good idea to wear these as name tags.” He held up the slip of paper with ‘Finrod’ on it. “At least until our real ones are made. We thought we should start getting used to calling each other by our elvish names so that when we’re working together we just automatically address one another by them rather than by our real names. Keep in persona, you know?”

Glorfindel nodded. “I think that’s an excellent idea. I have some pins here.” He went to his own desk and fished out a handful of safety pins and Zach took one, pinning the piece of paper on his shirt. Glorfindel did the same with his. Then he smiled at the Mortal and gave him a brief bow. “So, my Lord Finrod, allow me to introduce myself. I am Glorfindel of Gondolin, Lord of the House of the Golden Flower.”

“Oh?” Zach said. “You’re not a king, too?”

Glorfindel laughed. “Oh no. Far from it. I am just a humble lord of the realm.” He gave him another bow, placing his right hand over his heart.

Zach snorted. “You, humble? Hah!”

Glorfindel just smiled. “Let’s go get some breakfast... Finrod.”

Zach gave him a bow, sweeping his hand out. “After you... Glorfindel.”

****

When they reached the cafeteria, they found that just about everyone else was wearing name tags, addressing one another by their elvish names, though there were a few stumbles over pronunciation, causing much laughter. The other Elves found the entire thing amusing but readily got into the spirit of it, wearing their own name tags because their roommates were. Elladan, when he and Elrohir saw the others wearing name tags, rushed back to their room to retrieve theirs.

“After being ‘Misty’ for so long,” Mithrellas said to the other Elves as they were standing in line for breakfast, “it feels weird to hear someone calling me Mithrellas.” The other Elves agreed, but it made things easier for them and they were able to relax their guard just a little.

****

By the last week of October, Glorfindel’s class was ready to do a field trip, combining the Winter Survival and Nature Studies classes together. Arrangements had been made for the students to be bused to the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Reserve directly after breakfast on Wednesday where Ranger Pettingill and the seven other rangers helping him met them in the Park’s Welcome Center, a wooden structure with a large central foyer. The rangers were spread out around the room.

“We’ll split up into the same groups we had for the CPR and First Aid classes,” Pettingill announced when everyone was gathered together. “So find your ranger and we’ll get started. If you can’t remember who your CPR instructor was, come to me. I have the master list.”

As the students began making their way to whichever group they belonged, Glorfindel held the Twins back to speak to them. “No nonsense from either of you,” he said sternly. “Remember, you’re supposed to be Mortals. Try to act accordingly.”

“But we should not ignore our own training,” Elrohir protested.

“No. To do that would be foolish,” Glorfindel averred, “but try not to overdo it. If anyone asks, just tell them you used to be Boy Scouts.”

The Twins grinned as one. “We were never boys,” Elladan said.

“But we were scouts,” Elrohir added.

Glorfindel nodded and let them go, walking over to where Ranger Pettingill was waiting with the rest of their group. He gave Glorfindel a knowing look. “I gather that they are something of a handful,” he said. “I’ve noticed how you often take them aside to speak to them.”

“Their father left me to look after them when he had to go overseas,” Glorfindel replied.

“They’re a little too old to be ‘looked after’, I would think,” Pettingill said, “and you don’t look much older than they.”

Glorfindel shrugged. “I’m older than I look, older than they, at least. Their father never returned,” he said truthfully, leaving the ranger to draw his own conclusions. “They look to me for guidance.”

Pettingill raised an eyebrow. “Well, this is beside the point,” he said and then turned to the rest of the group. “Okay. Here’s the plan. We’re going to take one of the trails. You all have pens and a notebook. Your assignment is to record as much information as you can about the environment around you. If you see animal tracks draw a sketch of them and try to identify them. You may have to consult your guidebook later. Notice the types of trees and other plants as we walk. What birds do you see or can you identify them from their calls? Are there any other signs of wildlife that you notice? Anything and everything is to go into the notebook. Later, you will write up a description based on your notes to be handed in. Now, don’t fret about grading. Everyone should do the best they can. We don’t expect any of you to be sudden experts about arctic wildlife. If you simply tell us that you know what kinds of trees there are and such, that’s a start. Feel free to help each other out but try to do as much as you can on your own. Any questions? No? Then, let’s go.”

They headed out, starting out on the blue trail, though soon they veered off onto the green trail. Glorfindel could see another group further ahead on their trail as well as a group that had continued on the blue trail and knew that there was another group behind them. Apparently the rangers were timing when their groups would start so as not to interfere with other groups using the same trail. When asked, Pettingill told them that only the blue and green trails were being used as they were the easiest trails to walk.

“It doesn’t matter which trail we use,” he said, “both trails have something of interest to them. When you write up your report, though, make sure that you indicate that you were on the green trail.”

As they continued along, Glorfindel looked about him, breathing deeply, feeling the peace of the place seep into his soul. The day was pristine with newly fallen snow and the sky was clear. The other students walked more or less in silence, though occasionally there would be whispered conversations between some of them, commenting on what they saw.

“You’re not recording anything in your notebook, Mr. DelaFiore.”

Glorfindel turned his head to see the ranger walking beside him. Glorfindel gave him an amused look. “I really don’t need to,” he said, pointing a finger at his temple. “I have a very good memory.”

“Oh?” the man said in disbelief. “So, what have you noticed so far?”

Now Glorfindel smiled more broadly. “Do you want that chronologically or alphabetically?” he asked with a sly grin and Pettingill snorted, shaking his head. “All right, to answer your question: five elk came along this trail two hours ago coming from the northwest and heading east. Let’s see, what else?” he asked rhetorically, ignoring the ranger’s expression of surprise. “Ah... there’s a family of arctic hare somewhere around here.”

“How do you know that?” Pettingill demanded.

Glorfindel pointed to where there was evidence of rabbit tracks, very faint and overlaid with new snow, but there nonetheless. Pettingill just stared at him in disbelief, shaking his head.

“Should I go on?” Glorfindel asked with amusement. “There are two snowy owls in that tree over there.” He pointed towards one of the firs, “and I believe I heard a raven call just a while ago.” He could have listed every variety of tree and shrub along the trail, and had sensed much of the small wildlife, unseen by the Mortals, that lived just feet away from the trail, such as the colony of arctic ground squirrels getting ready to hibernate in their den or the arctic fox that was trailing them behind a screen of bushes, but he refrained from doing so as there was no outward evidence of their existence and Pettingill would think he was making it up.

The ranger shook his head. “At least pretend you are recording something for appearance’s sake,” he muttered as he trudged forward to see how the other students were doing with the assignment. Glorfindel watched him walk on, a slight scowl on his face. He had let his guard down far enough to forget the very advice he’d given the Twins. Sighing in disgust at his own stupidity, he whipped out the notebook and started writing down everything he’d noticed so far.

“Hey, Glorfindel!” Shane called from ahead. “You’re getting left behind.”

“Sorry, Arwen,” he called back. “Just writing something down.” He closed the notebook and sprinted forward to join the rest of the group, giving Shane a grin.

****

They continued along for a time. Some of the students noticed things others did not, pointing something out so that they were all scribbling away in their notebooks. Glorfindel did the same, even going so far as to pretend he didn’t recognize a set of animal tracks, though he knew full well what they were. He noticed Pettingill giving him a strange look, but ignored it. He was more interested in the tracks. They were those of grey wolves, at least two, possibly three. It was rare to see them and he wondered why they had come so far down from the mountains. He looked about and saw the ranger speaking to a couple of the female students about something and caught his eye. Pettingill excused himself and sauntered over.

“Grey wolves,” Glorfindel said without preamble, kneeling to examine the spoors more closely.

“I thought you didn’t know what these tracks were?” Pettingill said as he knelt beside him.

“You said to pretend, so that’s what I’m doing,” Glorfindel retorted, almost snarling.“You don’t seem particularly upset,” he said, casting the Mortal a suspicious look.

Pettingill gave him a sardonic smile. “Do you think all these tracks just happened to be here all at the same time?”

Glorfindel stared at the paw prints. Now that it was mentioned, there did seem to be more animal tracks than would usually be found. He gave the ranger a considering look. “This has all been set up.”

Pettingill nodded. “To some extent, but not everything. We’re giving you all an opportunity to practice what you’ve been taught so when you are in the field for real with your clients you will have the confidence of being able to describe what is actually there.”

“I see,” Glorfindel said, sitting back on his heels.

“Let’s keep it our secret, shall we?” the ranger asked.

Glorfindel smiled. “Now one thing I’m good at, Ranger Pettingill, is keeping secrets.”

“Call me Paul,” Pettingill said as he stood up and Glorfindel followed.

“Loren,” the ellon said, “or if you wish, Glorfindel.” He smiled, pointing at his name tag. Everyone had pinned theirs to their coats, determined to wear them from now on so as to learn everyone else’s elvish name.

Pettingill gave a snort of amusement, looking down the trail. “Well, we’d best move along. The others are getting ahead of us and there’s another group coming behind us.”

Glorfindel nodded and together Elf and Mortal walked along the snow-covered path in companionable silence, having come to an understanding.

****

They were about halfway along the trail, which now wound back on itself, though angling in a more southerly direction. The green trail actually crossed the blue trail at one point, thus permitting walkers the choice of either continuing on whichever trail they had originally taken or to take part of the other trail instead. Pettingill informed them that they should remain on the green trail. They had passed the junction and were heading downhill, the students chattering softly as they looked about them, when Glorfindel suddenly stopped, his senses alert.

“What is it, Lor... I mean, Glorfindel?” one of the students asked.

Glorfindel idly noticed that the Mortal’s name tag read ‘Aragorn’. He was wishing he had the real Aragorn with him at that moment, for the Dúnadan Ranger-turned-King would have been very helpful just then. He held up a hand to still any additional questions, for he saw that Pettingill was making his way back to him. He closed his eyes, straining his senses to the fullest.

“Why are the wolves running?” he muttered, frowning as he opened his eyes and looked back in the direction they had been walking.

“What do you mean?” Pettingill demanded. “The wolves generally don’t come down this far into the habitable areas. They tend to remain further into the mountains away from people.”

“But we saw those tracks,” said ‘Aragorn’, pointing back along the trail. “Those were wolf tracks... weren’t they?” he cast a dubious look at the ranger, who was concentrating his attention on Glorfindel who was still staring back along the trail, ignoring everyone else.

Then, with a muttered oath, he turned to the ranger. “Paul, get everyone moving double time back to the park entrance.”

“What’s going on?” Pettingill demanded. “What do you know that I don’t?”

Glorfindel’s expression was one that none of the Mortals had ever seen before and even Pettingill took a step back in surprise. “There’s no time to explain,” the Elf-lord said. “Trust me. You need to get everyone back to the buses now.”

“What about the other groups?” Pettingill asked.

Glorfindel nodded towards the ranger’s belt. “You have a walkie-talkie. Contact the other rangers. Tell them to get the students back as quickly as possible.”

“And just where are you going?” Pettingill demanded.

Now Glorfindel’s expression became positively feral. “To run with the wolves,” he whispered hoarsely, and before anyone could comment, he was sprinting away, his feet barely touching the ground.

He did not know which trail the other Elves were on and was not sure he could reach them even through ósanwë. It was not a skill that Daeron or the ellith had ever fully developed and even the Twins were less proficient in it than he would have liked. He had attempted to teach them all how to send their thoughts at need, and there had been one or two occasions where it had actually worked, but it was a strain on all of them except Glorfindel. He missed the easy communication he had experienced with Elrond and Erestor and before them, Finrod.

He reached the junction between the two trails. There had been a group behind them and he had expected to see them by now. Staring at the bootprints that crisscrossed the two trails he noticed that the prints coming from his right were less distinct than those on his left and when he found a bootprint facing towards the direction of the park entrance he surmised that the group trailing his had gone that way back along the blue trail. Perhaps the rangers were mixing up the groups to make it a little harder for the students to simply copy each others notes as to what was seen on which trail. He didn’t know and didn’t care.

He stilled himself, calling out with his mind in an attempt to reach one of the Twins, Elrohir perhaps, for the ellon’s mind seemed to be less closed than his twin for the most part. He was frustrated in his attempt, for nowhere could he sense—

There was the howl of a wolf in the distance, followed by a second and then a third. Without thinking, Glorfindel ran to his left along the blue trail as it meandered its way back towards the park entrance. The trail climbed along a gentle ridge that bent toward the south, paralleling the green trail but at a higher elevation. He suspected that at some point the two trails would meet again. The howling of the wolves sounded closer as he ran swiftly on top of the snow now that he was out of sight of the Mortals.

His view was blocked by trees, but then the forest opened up and he found himself in a clearing. In the summer it would be an alpine meadow, but now it was simply a snow field through which the trail passed. Near the other side of the field he spied a group of students huddled together, expressions of fright on their faces. He recognized the ranger, Francine Doran, a thirtyish woman with a no-nonsense attitude towards life, though she had a dry sense of humor that often took others by surprise. She was speaking very quietly into her walkie-talkie. Very quietly indeed, for facing them was a pack of grey wolves who eyed the students warily as they milled about in front of the group. Evidently one group had surprised the other, for wolves were usually afraid of people and avoided them when possible.

Glorfindel slowed to a walk. He had hoped that one of the other Elves would be in this group, but they were not. Ranger Doran looked up as he approached, frantically signaling him to stop even as she continued speaking into the walkie-talkie.

“....he’s here,” He heard her hiss into the walkie-talkie, presumably to Pettingill. “What’s he doing here?”

“Listen to me,” Glorfindel said, speaking confidently to the frightened students, ignoring Doran altogether. A few of them turned their attention away from the wolves to look at Glorfindel. “The wolves will not harm you,” he said, speaking slowly and carefully, his tone nonthreatening. “Something has driven them out of the mountains. I want all of you to stay exactly as you are. Ranger Doran, turn that thing off. You’re creating an unnecessary disturbance.” His tone sharpened to that of a command and such was the force of his utterance that the ranger complied, though she looked decidedly unhappy about it.

Glorfindel, meanwhile walked up to the wolves who were no longer milling about in a threatening manner, though they were still acting wary and several of the younger males were growling. He heard several gasps and Doran was hissing at him, her voice full of anger. “Are you insane? What are you doing? Get away from them.”

Glorfindel ignored her, removing his gloves and holding out his hands towards the wolves so they could smell him. “Mae govannen, henair-na-chelf nîn,” he said softly.

The wolves went still almost as one at the sound of him speaking Sindarin.

“That’s it,” he continued in the same language. “Be calm.” He kept still, not meeting any of the wolves’ gazes directly, knowing it would be taken as a threat. He identified the one that had to be the alpha male and addressed his words to him. “Come and let us be friends,” he said and held out his left hand a little further.

The wolf came directly up to Glorfindel and sniffed delicately at his fingers for a couple of minutes and then sat on his haunches and gave the Elf’s hand a lick. Glorfindel reached out carefully with his right hand and began stroking the wolf's chin. There were gasps from behind but no other sound. When the wolf did nothing threatening, Glorfindel stroked his fur again.

“I am Glorfindel of Gondolin,” he said formally to the wolf, still speaking Sindarin. “What brings you so far from your home, my brother?”

He did not expect any sort of answer, and yet one came nonetheless: an image, very brief and distorted, of flames and a sense of heat. Then it was gone and Glorfindel found himself staring almost directly into the wolf’s eyes and hastily averted his gaze, though the wolf did not growl or make any threatening move.

“Fire,” he said in English, more to himself than anyone else. “Is that it, my brother? You flee a fire?”

He heard Ranger Doran give a hiss of dismay and then she was speaking quietly but urgently into the walkie-talkie. There was a pause and then she spoke more loudly. “A report just came in of smoke being sighted further in the reserve.” Glorfindel slowly turned to face the ranger who nodded. “Not sure what the cause might be,” she said. “Can’t have been lightning as there’s been no storms and it’s the wrong time of year.”

“Campers?” someone suggested.

Doran nodded, giving a grimace. “Possibly. We do have people camping out even during the early winter months when the temperatures aren’t so frigid as they will be later on. Won’t know for sure until it’s been investigated.” She grimaced. “Probably someone careless with a propane cookstove.”

Glorfindel turned back to the wolves. “It is dangerous for you here, my brother,” he said, speaking again in Sindarin. “Go. Find what you seek to the west.” He pointed with his left hand. For a long moment, the wolves did not move. Then the alpha male threw back his head and gave a brief couple of yips and he and the other wolves loped silently away into the trees, rapidly disappearing from sight.

Glorfindel watched them go, a wistful expression on his face, unaware that the Mortals were staring at him with various degrees of awe and surprise. Slowly, he turned to face the students. “Let’s get back to the buses,” he said authoritatively, and no one, not even the ranger, was willing to argue.

****

When they were back at the park entrance, they found most of the students milling around, looking anxiously to the north where a column of dark smoke rose in the sky. Glorfindel saw the other Elves huddled together, speaking softly. He joined them; all of them giving him considering looks.

“What is wrong?” Daeron asked solicitously, for Glorfindel was looking back along the trail, his expression still wistful.

“Wolves,” Glorfindel answered shortly. “I met some wolves fleeing the fire.”

“Ah.... and you wanted to run with them,” Daeron stated knowingly. The other Elves gave Glorfindel sympathetic looks, aware of his fascination with these particular creatures.

Glorfindel nodded. “Yes, I did,” he replied. Then he gave himself a shake and looked at his friends. “But I did not,” he stated the obvious, knowing the other Elves would understand what he meant.

“We are glad you did not, mellon nîn,” Daeron said, speaking for the others, who nodded. He took Glorfindel’s arm. “Come. I see they want us to get into the buses. Let’s find our seats and compare notes.”

“Most of those tracks were set up on purpose,” Elrohir said in disgust as they waited their turn to enter the bus.

“Not all,” Glorfindel said distractedly. “Not all.” He turned his gaze to the mountains and wondered if the wolves had found a safe haven. He hoped they had and sent a silent prayer to Lord Oromë to that effect. He felt something brush against his mind just then, a feeling of well-being infusing him, though he could not have said where such a feeling originated. Yet, he took it as a sign that the Vala had heard his prayer and was reassuring him. It was all he had to go on and so he accepted it for what it was worth.

“Are you coming, Glorfindel, or have you decided to put down roots?” Elladan called to him.

He gave himself a shake and turned away from the mountains. “I’m coming.”

****

Ósanwë: (Quenya) Interchange of thought, i.e. telepathy.

Mae govannen, henair-na-chelf nín: (Sindarin) ‘Well met, my brothers-with-fur’.

15: ‘Poor Jud Is Dead’

The fire, it turned out, was started by illegal campers. Luckily it was contained to a small area of woods, deterred by a sudden snowfall that was oddly localized, for nowhere else in the Brooks Mountain Range did snow fall that day.

Glorfindel couldn’t help but smile when he heard that, listening to the local news on his radio as he sat at his desk just after lunch, writing up the report of the day’s activities. He had learned during his time in Search and Rescue that it was best to write up reports as soon after the event as possible while one’s memory was still fresh.

“And it’s out of the way and I don’t have to worry about it,” he told Zach when the young man questioned him about it. Zach gave a shrug, staring at his own notes, which did not seem quite as full as those Glorfindel had made. He scowled.

“What’s wrong?” Glorfindel asked as he carefully made a sketch of the elk tracks he had seen.

“Oh, n-n-nothing really,” Zach said with a sigh. “I g-guess I’m not good at this n-nature stuff.” While Zach’s speech had improved dramatically over the last several weeks he did still occasionally stutter, especially when he was upset or excited or tired.

Glorfindel put down his pen and gave the Mortal a searching look. “Ranger Pettingill said not to worry about how much or how little you have to write about. If you don’t have too much about animal tracks or whatever, write down your impressions about the environment. What did the air smell like? How did the snow feel under your feet? Was the temperature just cold or frigid? Where was the sun in the sky? Was it already beginning to sink to the west? What colors did you see around you? Was there a bush with bright red berries? What was the trail like? Was it smooth or uneven? Were there inclines or was it predominantly flat?”

Zach stared at him in amazement, but he was nodding and reaching for his own pen, sitting down at his desk and scribbling furiously. Glorfindel smiled slightly as he watched the Mortal writing away even as he returned to his own report.

****

The forest fire had ruined the day’s schedule, for the rangers had planned to conduct a wilderness survival class at the park as well. The students would have eaten lunch there, for the Academy’s cafeteria staff had provided them with a bag lunch. Instead, they ended up bringing their lunch bags with them to the cafeteria, supplementing the ham and cheese sandwiches, potato chips and apples with chicken noodle soup and brownies which were on the menu for the students from the other section. Also, the usual Wednesday afternoon activities had been cancelled. Even Glorfindel and the Twins were excused from teaching the fencing class normally scheduled for that afternoon when Glorfindel reported to Phil shortly after their return to let him know what had happened.

“You guys deserve the day off,” the coach said. “So, don’t worry about it.”

Thus, once Glorfindel had finished writing up most of his report (he was still debating as to whether he should include the incident with the wolves), it was only about two o’clock. Zach had moved from scribbling into his notebook to writing out a fair copy of the report and even as Glorfindel put down his pen, Zach was doing the same.

“I re-re-membered more than I thought,” the young man said with a smile. “I’ll write this up on the computer later but I th-think I’ve got everything.”

“Good,” Glorfindel said with a smile. “So, now what should we....”

A knock on the door interrupted him and when he called out, the door opened to reveal the Twins. “Some of us are going into town,” Elladan said, “to check out the Halloween store. Want to come?”

Glorfindel and Zach exchanged glances and the Mortal nodded. “Sure, why not?” Glorfindel said, turning off the radio.

“Great!” Elrohir said. “We’re all meeting in the foyer in about five minutes.” Then they were gone.

“I’m just going to use the bathroom,” Zach said, rising from his chair, “and then I’ll meet you there.”

“I’ll wait,” Glorfindel said and Zach nodded, heading out the door.

****

It turned out that all the Elves and their roommates were going. Cassie and Matt were not with them, having gone to their own homes for lunch. Shane had called them on her cell phone but Matt was planning to see Gloria and Cassie had decided to take advantage of the free afternoon to drive over to Chandalar to visit her married sister who was pregnant with her third child. So, it was just the ten of them. It was cold enough (for the Mortals at least) that they decided not to walk into town, so they piled into Glorfindel’s mini-van, which made for a very tight squeeze, but they were all laughing as Lily, the lightest of them, ended up sitting on Daeron’s lap, much to her embarrassment, and Jud ended up crouched on the floor where there was a space between the middle seats and the door.

“This is highly illegal,” Glorfindel said with an arch look, “but I suppose we can overlook it just this once.”

“Just drive extra carefully,” Daeron told him.

“Always,” Glorfindel replied sincerely as he made his way towards the front gate. The ride was not long at any rate and the road was clear. He found a spot in the supermarket’s parking lot and then they were all piling out of the van. It was already nearly dark and the streetlights were lit. They made their way down the street, crossing over to a pedestrian-only street lined with small shops and a couple of restaurants. The shop they were heading for was actually a Christmas shop opened all year long, but it also had a section reserved for other holidays. At the moment, Halloween items were on display, though they saw that the store’s employees were beginning to bring out Thanksgiving-related items — several different cornucopia, plastic turkeys, ears of Indian corn, different types of gourds and the like. They made their way down the aisles to where racks of costumes and wigs and make-up kits were found, laughing when Elladan plopped a ridiculous looking tangerine-colored wig on his head. Even though Halloween was three days away, there were still plenty of costumes to look at.

“Have you guys decided what you’re going to wear to the party?” Jud asked the Twins. Because Halloween fell on a Saturday, the Academy decided to host a two-day event. Friday night they would be showing a Halloween-themed movie, though no one knew which one. Saturday morning many of the students had volunteered to go into town to help with an annual event known as ‘Paint-the-Town-Orange-Day’. This was when the town’s children would be supplied with paints and brushes and allowed to paint the store windows throughout the business district with Halloween- and Thanksgiving-related motifs. Each child who was participating was allotted a section of a store window and given whatever paints he or she desired. Parents usually watched over their children but others were needed to fetch paints and brushes and other painting material, bring hot cider and cookies to the budding artists and their half-frozen parents, and to help with the lunch that would be set up in the main square once the painting spree was over. The town was footing the bill for the paints, and the restaurants had gotten together to provide a pig roast, along with the usual hot dogs and hamburgers. In the evening the Academy would hold its own party for the students.

“Possibly,” Elrohir answered as he idly eyed the various costumes. “We haven’t really decided yet. What about you?”

Jud shrugged. “Nothing as yet,” he replied as he wandered down the aisle. Then he stopped and gave a slight gasp. “Hey, look!”

They all gathered around and saw an old-fashioned wooden coffin propped up against the wall. It was painted black and had no lid. Glorfindel noticed the calculating look in Jud’s eyes, glittering with glee at an inspiring thought and wondered what the Mortal was thinking.

“There’s no price tag,” Jud said, checking.

“It’s probably just a store prop,” Shane suggested.

“I wonder, though, if they’ll let me borrow it,” Jud replied.

“Whatever for?” Mithrellas asked in surprise.

Jud just gave them a wicked grin. “Ah... that would be telling.” He went off to speak to one of the store’s employees and came back with the manager who looked reluctant to give his permission.

“You’ll need to transport it yourself and I want it back on Sunday,” he finally said once he was assured that the coffin would be returned in good condition. “We’re going to be doing inventory so I’ll need it for that.”

They lingered a little longer in the store, some of them buying wigs and masks, though no one bothered with the costumes. Just before they left, Jud insisted on trying out the coffin. “Else there’s no point taking it,” he said as he gingerly laid himself in it. The coffin was a real one, according to the store manager, made especially for the store by a carpenter of the man’s acquaintance. Thus, it was sturdy enough to lift with a body inside it. When Jud got himself settled, Glorfindel gave Daeron a significant look and the minstrel smiled back, catching on to what Glorfindel was thinking.

“Well, let’s see if it works for real,” he said. “Dan, Roy, you grab that end and Loren and I will grab the other.”

“Hey, wait!” Jud exclaimed, attempting to sit up, but Lily pushed him back down with a giggle.

“Here,” she said, plopping her small bag of purchases onto his chest. “You can carry this for me.”

At once the others piled their own bags into the coffin and then to the utter bemusement of the store’s manager and employees and other shoppers, the four ellyn easily lifted the coffin and proceeded out the door, hastily opened by a couple of the employees. Jud was still protesting, but Zach made a shushing noise and put a finger to his lips.

“Be quiet,” he ordered. “You’re supposed to be dead.” The others all laughed as Jud groaned, clutching at one of the bags that was threatening to fall out.

It was, Glorfindel decided, a rather surreal scene as he and the others carried the coffin down the lighted street. None of the pedestrians could actually see Jud in the coffin, only the various bags piled in it and there was much laughter as the group made their way back to the van. When they reached the parking lot the Elves put the coffin down and Nimrodel helped Jud out. Then the coffin was lifted onto the roof rack and tied down securely with rope that was always in the van. They left their bags in the coffin. The Twins decided they were going to walk back to the college.

“It’ll be less crowded that way,” Elladan told them. Daeron decided he wanted to check the music store as well before it closed, so he bade them all a cheery farewell and loped off. Thus, it was only Glorfindel and the two ellith, along with the four Mortals who returned to the campus. Glorfindel drove more carefully than usual because of the coffin. When he reached the gate, the security guard took a look at the coffin and just rolled his eyes, no doubt remembering the crazy stunts he and his friends had pulled when they were in college. Glorfindel just grinned, giving him a wave as he drove through.

Once they reached the Academy parking lot, they scrambled to get the coffin down. “What do you intend to do with it?” Glorfindel asked Jud as they brought the coffin into the young man’s room, propping it up against the two desks. It made for very crowded conditions, but Glorfindel knew that Daeron could deal with it.

Jud just gave them a grin. “You’ll see,” was all he said and they had to be content with that.

****

During the next couple of days Glorfindel noticed Jud in whispered consultation with several other students, ones he’d befriended over the weeks. Evan and Zach were in the group, though none of the Elves were, not even the Twins, which surprised him. He was curious but did not try to pry, not even asking Daeron about it. Most likely the ellon knew no more than he did if Jud was not confiding in him. He wondered though that the young man had not included them in his plan, whatever it was, but decided that it wasn’t important. He turned his mind to other matters.

Friday night they gathered for the movie. It turned out to be The Fearless Vampire Killers, the last movie that Sharon Tate had made before her untimely death at the hands of Charles Manson. It was campy and zany and obviously a parody of all the vampire movies ever made. The students laughed uproariously at the gay vampire and found the ending hysterical. Glorfindel and the other Elves enjoyed the movie as well.

“Remind me to buy some garlic next time I’m in town,” Daeron quipped as they helped with the clean-up afterwards and the others chuckled.

Saturday after breakfast they all bundled up and went into town to help with the painting project. The weather had moderated slightly so it was not too cold, though the parents standing around watching their children run around with paint brushes looked somewhat frozen and bored. Glorfindel and the others had volunteered to bring hot drinks and snacks to everyone and were busy hauling thermoses of coffee, tea, cocoa and hot cider to the various painting stations, stopping to admire someone’s artwork and chatting amiably with the parents who were grateful for the hot drinks and adult conversation. The students had all decided to wear their Elf Guide outfits with their new name tags which were distributed on Friday. The townspeople were intrigued by them and Glorfindel found himself explaining more than once how he happened to be at the Academy and what he would be doing once the course was done.

“We’re seeing more and more tourists these past years,” one man told him with approval. “Good thing, too, as we need the economic boost.”

When it was time for lunch they all helped out serving at the picnic tables that had been put up under a huge pavilion in the town square. The smell of roasting pig permeated the air, setting mouths watering. There was a definite festive feel to the square and Glorfindel overheard snatches of conversation as he served the tables in which people were already planning Thanksgiving dinners and holiday shopping.

It was mid-afternoon before they all returned to the Academy to get ready for their own party which would begin after dinner, so everyone was encouraged to come to dinner in costume. The Elves had gotten together some weeks earlier to decide on what they would wear and Nimrodel had had the best idea and so they set out to implement it. They went to a fabric store and found the satins and silks and velvets and brocades they needed as well as acceptable trim.

“Too bad we don’t really have the time to do proper embroidery,” Nimrodel said as she looked over the selection of trims.

“These will do fine,” Glorfindel said. “No one is expecting authenticity here.” In the end, though, he grabbed some bright yellow and dark green ribbons, stating that it would be easy enough to do some ribbon embroidery along the hem of his tunic.

Their selections made, the next problem was finding a sewing machine, for, though they were all proficient in the art of handsewing, it would have taken too long. However, it turned out that the college offered courses in fashion design and textile arts and there were sewing machines available for students to use. So, they made arrangements with one of the teachers to borrow a sewing machine when classes were not being held and over the month they were able to put together their costumes.

Now, they all gathered in the Twins’ room to put on their costumes away from the eyes of the Mortals. They were actually reproductions of the type of clothes they had once worn when Elves had lived openly in Middle-earth. Elladan and Elrohir were wearing tunics and robes of rain-washed blue and silver, the colors traditionally associated with Imladris, while Daeron’s outfit was a more somber forest green and silver-grey. The ellith were wearing matching white brocade gowns. Glorfindel wore a tunic of deep blue velvet trimmed on the hem with ribbon embroidered spider-web roses. Over this was a dark green robe with blue velvet trim, again embroidered with spider-web roses.

All of them wore circlets of gold, silver or, in Glorfindel’s case, precious mithril. Other jewelry was worn as well — elvish-crafted jewelry hoarded over the long ages, never to be sold however desperate they might be for money, carried with them wherever they went in small wooden caskets with enspelled locks of Glorfindel’s design, which no Mortal would ever be able to open.

When they were finished dressing, having checked each other over, Glorfindel gave them a smile. “Tonight, my lords and ladies,” he said in softly spoken Sindarin, “the Elves come out to play.”

The others laughed as Elrohir opened the door and they made their way out with Glorfindel in the lead, escorting Nimrodel, while Daeron escorted Mithrellas and the Twins brought up the rear. As they processed down the halls to the cafeteria they encountered other students making their way there as well, all of them dressed in various types of costumes. The Elves ignored the sudden gasps of awe as the other students just stopped to stare at them as they went by. Thus, when they entered the cafeteria, they made quite a spectacle. Glorfindel stopped just inside the doors for a couple of moments to allow those already there to notice their entrance. Daeron and Mithrellas joined Glorfindel and Nimrodel and the Twins flanked the two couples. There was almost complete silence for a moment or two and then someone started clapping and soon the entire room was loud with applause. Glorfindel gave Nimrodel a slight smile which she returned and then the six of them made their way further into the room, thus allowing other students to enter.

The cafeteria staff had outdone themselves with decorations. Helium-filled orange and black balloons floated in the air above them and on the tables were ceramic jack o’lanterns with tealights lit inside. The tables were covered with orange tablecloths and there were Halloween cut-outs of black cats, ghosts and pumpkins taped on the windows. In the corner was set up a small sound system and someone dressed as Frankenstein was acting as the deejay. The Elves looked around to see if they could recognize their friends behind masks and wigs and various costumes.

“There’s Shane,” Mithrellas said, pointing to Little Red Riding Hood, who was conversing with Darth Vader, "but I don’t recognize anyone else. What was Lily planning to wear?” she asked Nimrodel.

“I think she was... oh there she is!” They looked to see Lily entering the cafeteria dressed in a traditional Chinese gown of deep red and gold, her hair done up in intricate braids. She carried a large red fan. She was gazing around and when Nimrodel waved to her she headed their way.

“Lily, you look lovely,” Nimrodel said with a smile.

Lily blushed. “Still can’t get rid of the glasses, though,” she replied with a sigh. “I started out not wearing them, but I couldn’t see where I was going so I had to go back to get them. But look at you! You’re all so totally awesome. One would actually believe you were real elves the way you’re dressed.”

The real Elves gave each other knowing smiles. “Ah, I see the food line has opened,” Daeron said. “Shall we?”

They all nodded and made their way to the line, grabbing trays. The cafeteria staff had donned costumes as well, though in keeping with state laws they were minimal, mostly wearing outrageous make-up and wigs. When they saw the Elves they just stared, forgetting their duties. Glorfindel nearly burst out laughing when he noticed Rachel, one of the younger women helping out in the kitchens, sketch him an unconscious curtsey, her eyes wide as saucers. He leaned over slightly, giving her a warm smile. “Is that plate for me?” he asked and the Mortal startled and practically thrust the plate of turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing and squash into his hands, reddening in embarrassment.

“I don’t see anyone else,” Elladan said as they made their way to what they considered ‘their table’, for it seemed they always sat in the same place for every meal and others never bothered to try to sit there. “Where are Zach and Jud? They’re going to miss dinner.”

“It’s hard to tell who is who in all these costumes,” Glorfindel averred. “Ah, I see Little Red Riding Hood is joining us. So where’s the Big Bad Wolf?” he asked as Shane plopped her tray on the table.

She gave them a wicked grin. “I think he’s dining with Grandma.” The others burst out laughing.

By now the food line had thinned down to a few students and there was still no sign of either Jud, Zach or Matt. Cassie showed up wearing a Snow White outfit, claiming she did not know where the others were either. Then, all of a sudden the lights dimmed out, leaving only the candles as illumination. Everyone stopped their conversations to look about, wondering what was happening. Glorfindel saw several students bring one of the tables to a cleared area. Someone brought a tall candle sconce with a white candle in it and placed it at one end of the table, lighting it before disappearing into the darkness. Frankenstein was fiddling with the cd player and then Alice Cooper’s Ashes to Ashes filled the room. The cafeteria doors, which had been shut, now opened slowly, and there were gasps from various students as they saw six men enter, all dressed in Dracula-style costumes, and carrying Jud’s coffin. They turned to their left and made their way through the cafeteria in a slow march until they had gone all the way around to where the table had been set up. There they laid the coffin down carefully, being sure not to jostle the candle and people could now see that someone was lying within it.

It was Jud, dressed similarly as the coffin-bearers, his hands folded on his chest in which he held  a single plastic white lily, his eyes closed. The coffin-bearers ranged themselves around the table so that everyone had a clear view of the coffin and its contents. Glorfindel recognized Matt, Evan and Zach standing there with their hands folded and their heads bowed looking like proper mourners. He was not sure of the identities of the other three. Alice Cooper’s voice faded into silence and then after a moment Zach started singing. As Glorfindel listened to the words, he had to force himself not to laugh out loud:

            “Poor Jud is dead,

            poor Jud von Frank is dead.

            All gather round his coffin now and cry.

            He had a heart of gold,

            And he wasn’t very old.

            Oh why did such a feller have to die?”

And then from out of the coffin, they heard Jud echo the last word and one of the other ‘mourners’ put a finger to his lips and made a shushing noise. That made everyone laugh, but they quieted down almost immediately as Zach took up the next verse.

            “Poor Jud is dead,

            poor Jud von Frank is dead.

            He’s lookin’ oh so peaceful and serene.”

“Serene,” echoed Jud and there were snickers among the audience.

            “He’s all laid out to rest,

            with his hands across his chest.

            His fingernails have never been so clean.”

“Clean,” echoed Jud, now lifting one of his hands and blowing on it before brushing it on his clothes. The same ‘mourner’ who had shushed him, quickly grabbed the hand and put it back in place. Now the whole room was laughing uproariously and there was some spontaneous applause. Zach then continued.

            “Poor Jud is dead,

            poor Jud von Frank is dead —”

“Not from where I’m sitting!” someone yelled out and the laughter started again. It took a moment for it to calm down so Zach could continue the song.

            “His friends are weepin’ wail for miles around.”

“Miles around,” Jud echoed.

            “The daisies in the dell

            will give out a different smell

            because poor Jud is underneath the ground.”

And then Jud started singing the next verse, never moving from the coffin, his eyes still closed:

            “Poor Jud is dead,

            a candle lights his head.

            He’s layin’ in a coffin made of wood.”

“Wood,” all six ‘mourners’ echoed.

            “And folks are feelin’ sad

            ’cuz they used to treat him bad

            and now they know their friend has gone for good.”

“Good,” the mourners sang.

Jud opened his eyes then and gave them the finger, which really set everyone off in hysterical laughter. Glorfindel found himself laughing so hard that tears were running down his cheeks. He had to hand it to these young Mortals. They were able to take a serious subject such as death and turn it into a comedy, but then, Mortals had always been that way and he admired them for it. He glanced around their table and saw that the others were equally amused by the show. Daeron caught his eye and gave him a thumb’s-up in approval.

Now all six ‘mourners’ and Jud were singing:

            “Poor Jud is dead,

            a candle lights his head.

            He’s lookin’ oh so purty and so nice.

            He looks like he’s asleep,

            it’s a shame that he won’t keep

            but it’s summer and we’re runnin’ out of ice.”

“Just throw him outside,” someone yelled.

“Pooor Juuud, pooor Juuud,” Zach intoned at the very end and then he blew out the candle. At once, there was a standing ovation as the students climbed to their feet, applauding and whistling their approval. The lights went up and Zach and the others helped Jud climb out of the coffin. They all bowed to the audience and then Jud took the candle while the other six lifted the table and carried it out of the way. Frankenstein turned on the cd player and everyone resumed eating. In a short while, Jud, Matt and Zach joined them once they had gone through the cafeteria to get their dinners. They had broad grins on their faces as their friends greeted them, congratulating them on a job well done.

“It was all Jud’s idea,” Matt said.

“When I saw that coffin,” Jud explained with a laugh, “I just knew what I wanted to do.”

“Well, I say you were very successful,” Daeron said, lifting his glass of water. “To Jud,” he toasted. “May he never lack for mourners.”

Everyone laughed at that as they toasted the young man who actually blushed.

When dinner was over the party began for real and it went on past midnight with dancing and playing silly games, such as pin-the-tail and bobbing for apples. At one point Glorfindel was standing in a corner, watching the party around him, sipping on a root beer. Daeron joined him, giving him a brief smile.

“Not bobbing for apples?” he asked slyly.

Glorfindel laughed. “In this outfit? I don’t think so.”

“The Day of the Dead,” Daeron said musingly.

“When the walls between the worlds grow thin,” Glorfindel added with a nod.

“Do you think our friends can see us?” the Sinda asked, looking more pensive.

Glorfindel sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know, but I would hope that if they do, they would approve of what we are doing.”

“I’m sure they do,” Daeron said softly, though there was just a hint of doubt in his voice. The two Elves continued watching the Mortals in their play, both of them lost in memories of friends and family long gone.

If you really are watching, gwador, Glorfindel sent a prayer winging into the ether as he thought of Finrod, I hope you are not too disappointed in me.

There was, of course, no reply.

****

Note: The song ‘Poor Jud is dead’ is from the musical Oklahoma. The verses have been adapted to fit the circumstances of this story.

16: Dear Santa

With Halloween over, there were only two more weeks of classes before the final exam. No one yet knew what form the exam would take and when students asked, they were simply told that the details would be forthcoming. By now everyone had had a chance to visit the various resorts and safari companies. Everyone had been given instructions on reindeer sleigh rides, snowmobiles, husky sledding and snowshoe walking and the students were as proficient as they were ever going to be, though they were assured that once they started working as guides on a daily basis they would do just fine.

Glorfindel especially enjoyed the husky sledding lessons. He thrilled at the utter silence with which the huskies pulled the sleds and commented to Daeron that he wished they had had such a means of transportation when they were crossing the Helcaraxë.

“It would have saved a lot of time,” he said to the minstrel as the two unhitched the dogs from the sled they were using during their practice run.

“Obviously,” Daeron replied with a smile.

With the tours to the resorts and safaris completed, Tuesdays and Thursdays were now open for the students to help out with answering children’s letters to Santa. Students were assigned the task on a rotating basis, and when they were not working at the post office they would be helping to set up the Christmas Market. This was in Wiseman’s main square. People were encouraged to buy gifts for families experiencing financial difficulties so that there would be at least one gift for each child and adult in the family. Wish lists were collected from various social agencies and distributed to the townspeople. The students were charged with collecting and wrapping the gifts and making sure that they were correctly labeled. There was also a collection of food, including turkeys, to provide Thanksgiving baskets for these same families. They would be doing the same thing for Christmas later in December.

The week after Halloween, in groups of about twenty, the students made a visit to the most important place of all: Santa’s Grotto. All the holiday packages that the resorts and safari companies offered included a visit to the grotto to meet Santa. This was an artificial cave built in the middle of a forest in a more or less central location to all the different resorts. It was important that all the students knew where the path began for there would be no outward sign of its existence. The idea was to make it as exciting as possible for the children (and adults) to be led along the trail to the Grotto, pretending the path was secret and known only to the ‘elves’. While the clients would walk the trail in the late afternoon when it was full dark, the students were walking it in the morning with the sun still just above the horizon.

“So you can’t mistake this trail for anything else,” said a young man named Ed Kent, who was acting as their guide, showing them the signs they would need to look for to know where the path started. The trail, they were told, would be lit by candlelight.

“Elf-path,” Glorfindel muttered as they moved along the trail.

“What was that?” Shane asked as she walked beside him.

Glorfindel shook his head, clearing his mind of long-ago memories of Mirkwood. “Nothing. I was just thinking out loud. We should refer to this as an Elf-path and make it more mysterious than it really is.”

“I like that,” Shane said, “and the candles lighting the way we can call elf-lights.”

Glorfindel smiled at her. “Indeed,” he replied. Several students who had overheard their conversation nodded in agreement.

The path wound its way through the forest until it came to a small glade. Glorfindel looked about and saw that the grotto had been cleverly constructed to appear as natural as possible. At the grotto’s entrance were two torches burning on either side. It had been built in such a way that only one person at a time could enter and many of the taller students (including Glorfindel, who was the tallest) had to bend down to clear the lintel. Once inside though, the grotto opened up into a large round cavern. Before them they saw a richly carved wooden throne with red velvet cushions sitting on a two-step dais. Folding screens were set up behind the throne and on either side, hiding the back half of the cave. The screens depicted winter scenes having to do with Christmas and Santa.

“There are cots and a propane cookstove in the back for Santa and his helpers,” Ed told them. He folded one of the screens back so they could get a peek. Glorfindel saw four army cots along the back wall. To the right was the two-burner cookstove sitting on a cabinet that presumably held cooking utensils and foodstuffs. Next to this was another table on which sat a large cast iron kettle that Ed told them served as a sink. Snowmelt would be used for washing. In the middle of the room there was a small wooden table with benches. On their left they saw two port-a-johns. On the door of one someone had tacked a sign that read: SANTA; the other door had a similar sign that read: ELVES. They all snickered at that. The entire cavern was lit with candles in hurricane lanterns and Glorfindel could imagine the awe which the little ones would feel when they were led here. He was looking forward to seeing their eyes grow wide with wonder.

“Hello.”

Glorfindel and the other students in the group turned to see an older couple come into the cavern. The man was in his late sixties, Glorfindel guessed, with long white hair and beard that he realized were quite real. He was also fat, though not obese and the crinkles around his eyes bespoke of someone who laughed a lot. Beside him was a woman who looked to be a few years younger, perhaps in her late fifties or early sixties. She, too, had white hair and wore wire-rimmed glasses. She was plump and had a ready smile.

Ed made the introductions. “This is George Chandler and his wife, Abby,” he said. “They will be playing ‘Santa’ and ‘Mrs. Claus’.”

George reached out and began shaking hands with everyone. “We’re really excited about this,” he said. “Abby and I have been doing this for a few years now and to have real professional elves helping out will be a boon.”

“Oh yes,” Abby chimed in, nodding to everyone. “Before now our elves have usually been college students on Christmas break looking to earn some money, but most of them had no clue.”

“George and Abby are professional actors out of Fairbanks,” Ed explained. “During the Christmas season they come here and play Santa and the Missus for us.”

“So, when you bring your clients in, I’ll be sitting here,” George said, pointing to the throne, “and Abby will be standing over there. We will have hot drinks and gingerbread cookies ready for everyone. The resorts will give us a list of their clients and when they will be coming. I think the first group will be scheduled for just after sunset and the last group will come here around seven or so.”

“You’re going to be doing this every day?” someone asked.

George shook his head. “We trade off with two other couples who are also professional actors, so we’re only going to be here every third day. We start on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and then the final day will be the twenty-first. That’s twenty-four days, so we will be working eight days.”

“I noticed there were four cots,” Glorfindel said, pointing to the back of the grotto. “Why four?”

“We’ll have a couple of helpers with us,” George explained. “Not Elf Guides, but people from the town who will be here with us, helping to make the gingerbread cookies and bringing supplies. There’s an access road behind the grotto leading to Wiseman and supplies will come that way. We’ll only be working for about four hours a day entertaining the kids, but experience has taught us that it is wise to be here by noon to set up and the weather can turn suddenly. If we are forced to spend the night....” He gave them a shrug and a hearty laugh. “It does help to have your own cot to sleep in.”

The students snickered. After a few minutes more in which George explained how the students should conduct themselves when they brought their clients into the grotto and what the routine would be, they bade the couple good-bye. George and Abby waved enthusiastically from the grotto’s entrance as they retraced their steps back to where they had left the bus.

“So, that was Santa,” Shane said musingly.

“Well, one of them, at least,” Glorfindel said with a sly smile and Shane laughed, playfully hitting him on the arm. Glorfindel reached down and scooped up some snow and quickly made a snowball to throw at her. Shane squealed with laughter when it hit her and she was ready to counterattack almost immediately. The others in the group quickly caught on and before another minute had gone by they were all engaged in a riotous snowball fight. Their guide tried to get them to stop, but when Glorfindel neatly hit him in the face with a snowball, Ed’s eyes glowed with the light of revenge and he was soon throwing snowballs with as much abandon and glee as the rest. It was some time before they made it back to the bus, most of them wet with melting snow.

****

The other Elves eventually visited the grotto in their own groups and everyone commented on the experience.

“Elf-path and Elf-lights,” Elrohir said, looking amused when Glorfindel told them his and Shane’s idea. “Thranduil should have lit the forest road to his stronghold with candles. It would have made the journey so much nicer.”

They all laughed at that.

“Too bad they didn’t have us Elves help with the construction of the grotto,” Elladan said. “We could have built a doorway that opened only with a Word of Power. That would’ve impressed the Mortals to no end.”

Glorfindel gave the younger Elf an amused look. “And do you even know any Words of Power? Certainly none of the Mortals would be able to use it. There would have to be an Elf in every group and even then they would have to be taught the Words. Most Elves of my acquaintance had little experience with such things. Only the most powerful of our people ever employed them.”

“Including you?” Daeron asked, his eyes bright with mischief.

“Yes,” Glorfindel said shortly, all levity aside, “and the first time was a mistake that almost cost the lives of half the population of Eldamar, including all three kings and their queens.”

Daeron’s smile melted away and the others gave him sober looks. Glorfindel’s own mien was dark, his eyes stormy with memories and emotions to which the others could put no name.

“The first time?” Nimrodel asked softly.

Glorfindel looked at her, and she shuddered slightly at his expression, so cold and distant, but then he seemed to realize the effect he was having on his fellow Elves and his expression lightened somewhat as he gave her a shrug. “I’ve had to use them once or twice since,” was his only answer and the others were wise enough not to pursue the matter further.

****

When it was their turn to go to the post office, they found themselves herded into a back room where there were four long tables set up with seating for eight at each table. Before each chair was a stack of letters, perhaps six or seven. There were also sheets of fine white stationary, envelopes, and several pens of different colored ink.

“Take a seat,” said one of the postal workers whose name was Joan. She was in charge of collecting the letters to Santa that flowed into Wiseman’s post office.

When everyone had found a place, she pointed to a stack of letters at one of the tables. “We’ll start you off with these and when you are finished, just raise your hand. We’ll come along and collect the letters and give you some more.” Then she pointed to several large posters hanging on the walls where they could easily be seen by everyone regardless of their position. “This is what you will write.” Each poster had the same message, a standard reply to the letters that the children sent:

Dear (Child’s Name),

Thank you for your letter to Santa. As you know, Santa is very busy getting ready for Christmas, so he asked me to write to you. Santa will do his very best to fulfill your wishes. He thinks it would be a good idea if you also tell your mom and dad what you want. That will make your parents very happy.

Be good and may you have a merry Christmas.

Sincerely,

(Your Name)

Santa’s Head Elf

“In previous years,” Joan continued, “we would sign the letters ‘Mrs. Santa Claus’, but I understand that each of you have come up with an elvish-sounding name, so we thought it would be easier to have you just sign the letters with whatever name you came up with. We’ve made a concerted effort to make sure that letters written by children from the same family are together. It wouldn’t do to have two head elves, would it?” She gave them a wry look and they all chuckled.

“You have different colored flow pens and we have plenty more if you run out of ink. If you are good at calligraphy, go for it, but at least make it legible for the children’s sake. You have a regular pen to write the child’s address on the envelope. You will see that they are already stamped. To save on wearing out tongues, these envelopes are self-adhesive. Just remove the strip on the flap. Any questions? No. Then write away.”

Glorfindel picked up the first letter on his stack, opening the letter to see a childish scrawl. He smiled at the simple language telling Santa how good she had been and what she wanted for Christmas. It was signed ‘Your very best friend, Sandy Fairchild, age 8’.

He took one of the flow pens and placed one of the pieces of stationary before him. It had a letterhead depicting a scene of Santa’s workshop and underneath, ‘Santa Claus, North Pole’. Glorfindel carefully wrote out the letter, then signed his name. Giving the letter a once over he then added the anga tengwa to the right of his name, embellishing it with stars.

“Cool.”

He looked up to see Evan, who was seated across from him, leaning forward to get a look at the letter, giving Glorfindel a smile.

“Is it supposed to mean anything?” Evan asked.

“I guess it’s supposed to be a ‘g’ in the Elvish script,” Glorfindel said diffidently, as if he had just made it up on the spot. “I would imagine that Elves would have a different writing system than we do.”

Evan nodded. “That makes sense. Let’s see... I wonder what an ‘e’ for Eärendil would look like?” he mused.

“How about this?” Glorfindel said, taking the letter Evan had just finished writing and next to his Elvish name he drew the yanta tengwa, which looked a bit like an upside down ‘v’. “And then you can fancy it up however way you want,” he added. “Elves were lovers of stars, so that would be an appropriate embellishment, like I’ve done with mine.”

Now the other students at their table were taking a look at what Glorfindel had done with his letter and wanted to know with what Elvish letter their names would begin. Students at the other tables, including the other Elves, got up to see what all the fuss was about. Glorfindel gave Daeron a wry grin and the minstrel nodded.

“Why don’t we make up an Elvish alphabet that everyone can use?” he suggested, giving Glorfindel a significant look.

“That’s a good idea,” Glorfindel said on cue. “Here, I’ll make up a chart and then we can make copies at the copier out front. Anyone who wants a copy can chip in the dime.”

There was a chorus of agreement. Glorfindel used the back of one of the pieces of stationary and quickly drew the chart for the Beleriandic Sindarin mode, neatly labeling each tengwa with the appropriate English letter or, in some cases, combination of letters. In the meantime, Joan had come around to see what was going on and when Glorfindel explained she readily agreed to make copies for everyone.

“I’ll take the master copy back to the college and put it on the bulletin board in the cafeteria with an explanation of what it is,” Glorfindel said to the others while they were waiting for Joan to return. “Then anyone else who wants to can make a copy for themselves.”

Everyone thought it was an excellent idea and when they were handed their copy of the tengwar, they looked for their letter and spent a couple of minutes practicing writing it and deciding on how they wanted to embellish it. Then they all returned to the business of writing letters, but now they ended each letter with their personal ‘elf-sigil’ as one of the students put it.

During a break in letter writing, while everyone was standing around stretching, drinking cider and nibbling on molasses cookies provided by the post office personnel, Evan happened to be standing next to Glorfindel. “That’s real cool about the alphabet,” he said. “I can’t believe you made that all up just on the spur of the moment.”

Glorfindel refused to look at Daeron, who happened to be standing nearby, giving him a wide grin. “Oh, I’ve been thinking about it for quite some time now,” he said with a shrug. “You know, sort of wondering what my name would look like in Elvish. I’ve been doodling around with it for weeks now.”

“It’s a neat looking script,” Evan said. “I wonder what the elves would have called the letters though? Certainly not ‘ay’, ‘bee’, ‘cee’, ‘dee’ and so on.”

“Hey! Maybe we can come up with names for these elf-letters,” Shane suggested, coming over to join the conversation.

Daeron’s grin grew even wider and Glorfindel resisted a sigh. “I’m way ahead of you,” he said, going to his seat and neatly writing out the names of the tengwar underneath the English letter for each tengwa. By the time he was finished everyone wanted a copy. Glorfindel simply handed his copy to Evan.

“Write in the names on your copy and then pass it along,” he said and Evan quickly complied.

As the post office was closing up, Joan thanked them all for their help. “You guys are really taking this elf business seriously,” she said with a thin smile as she gathered up the last of the letters.

Shane shrugged. “Well, that’s what they’re paying us for,” she said and the other students chuckled as they filed out of the building and headed back to the college.

****

The wilderness survival outing that had been interrupted by the forest fire was rescheduled for the Wednesday after Halloween. All was going well until Zach managed to trip over a tree root hidden in the snow and nearly knocked himself out hitting the trunk of the same tree. He had a gash on his left temple that bled rather copiously and the students all clamored for the honor of practicing their first aid skills on him. In the end Ranger Pettingill had Glorfindel tend to the wounded young man who sat there cursing a blue streak for his clumsiness.

“J-just wh-wh-what I need!” he protested as Glorfindel pressed a coldpack on the gash.

“It’s not too bad,” Glorfindel said gently, speaking in the same tones that he remembered Lord Elrond using on the Dúnedain patients that had made their way to Imladris, the same tone he had employed countless times during his days in Search and Rescue. He removed the coldpack and gave the gash a clinical examination. “It will need stitches though.”

Zach groaned as Glorfindel turned to Pettingill who was looking over his shoulders. “Does Wiseman have a hospital or clinic? He’s going to need stitches.”

“The college clinic should do,” Pettingill said as he straightened. “Okay, listen up,” he said to the other students. “I’m going to take Mr. Austin and Mr. DelaFiore back to the college. Ranger Doran will take over.”

Francine Doran nodded and spoke up. “Okay, get into groups of three. One of you will begin making fire in the snow, another will construct a shelter using whatever materials are at hand, including the snow, and the third person in your group will collect berries and roots and anything else that’s edible. Decide who’s going to do what and....”

As the students complied to Ranger Dorans instructions, Glorfindel helped Zach to Pettingill’s jeep. The Mortal was woozy and Glorfindel thought he might have a concussion. He and Zach piled into the back of the jeep while Pettingill drove.

“Zach,” Glorfindel commanded, “keep awake.” He had noticed the young man was fighting to keep his eyes open. “Come. Tell me how to make fire in snow since we’re not going to get the chance to do it for real today.”

“That’s it,” Pettingill said, looking into the rearview mirror. “Keep him talking.”

Zach was reluctant at first but Glorfindel would not take no for an answer. “I’ll start out. First, you run to Home Depot and buy a propane stove and lots of waterproof matches and then....” Zach uttered a sound of protest and Pettingill snickered. “No?” Glorfindel asked innocently. “All right, then you tell me.”

“You either d-dig a hole in the snow and line it with a layer of sm-small-to-medium-sized sticks to protect the burning wood from melting snow, or if you have a fire pan....”

“And what’s a fire pan?” Pettingill asked as he turned onto the access road leading to Wiseman.

“It’s any flame-resistant metal pan with high sides to keep ashes and wood inside and you can lay it on rocks or logs,” Zach told them.

“So far so good,” Glorfindel said. “What kind of equipment do you need?”

“Hmm... an axe, waterproof matches or tinder in a zip-lock plastic bag and... um...” He gave a yawn and Glorfindel shook him.

“You’re doing fine,” he said. “Keep going.”

“And a snow shovel and....”

****

When they got to the clinic they had to wait for fifteen minutes. Glorfindel kept Zach talking, asking him about anything he could think of to keep the young man awake while Pettingill spoke to the nurse and filled out the necessary forms. As the head instructor at the time of the mishap, he was responsible for all the paperwork. Finally they were ushered into an examining room where the doctor took a look at the wound.

“Stitches for sure,” he said as he went to a cabinet to start preparing the necessary equipment. “We’ll just give you some novocaine....”

“I’m aller-lergic to novocaine,” Zach stuttered, looking suddenly pale.

The doctor raised an eyebrow. “Well that makes things interesting.”

Glorfindel touched Zach on the shoulder and the Mortal looked at him. “I know a trick that will keep you from feeling any pain, if you will trust me.”

For a moment Zach just stared at him and then he nodded. Glorfindel turned to the doctor. “It’s a sort of hypnosis,” he explained. “It’ll only take a moment to implement.”

“Well, it’s highly irregular, though I’ve read about using hypnosis rather than drugs to keep a patient from feeling pain during a procedure. Very well. As it is, I would have to hunt for a substitute for the novocaine anyway and that will take a few minutes, so go ahead.”

Glorfindel nodded and turned back to Zach who was looking at him somewhat doubtfully. He smiled warmly. “There is nothing to fear, Zach,” he said softly as he put a forefinger on the Mortal’s forehead. “Just take a deep breath and let it out. That’s it. Again.” Then he began to sing an ancient lullaby, ignoring the astonished looks on the doctor’s and Paul’s faces. In a matter of minutes Zach’s eyes were glazing over. Glorfindel moved to sit next to him on the examining table before turning to the doctor with a nod. “He’ll feel no pain, but I suggest you do this as quickly as you can.”

The doctor grunted but complied and soon he was stitching up the gash. Zach never flinched. Though his eyes were wide open, it was obvious to the others that he did not see them. “What is he seeing?” Paul asked.

“A pleasant memory where there is no pain,” Glorfindel replied, keeping his eye on Zach, monitoring him on a deeper level than any medical instrument of Man’s devising. “He is reliving it as if he were actually there.”

Five minutes later the doctor declared that he was done. “I think we’ll keep him here for the night for observation,” he said as he cleaned his instruments.

Glorfindel nodded as he leaned forward and whispered into Zach’s ear, bringing him out of his state. The Mortal blinked several times before he was able to focus on the here and now. “Is it over?” he asked, tentatively reaching up to feel the stitches. Glorfindel grabbed his hand and pulled it down.

“Yes, it is,” he said. “The doctor is going to keep you overnight for observation.”

Zach grimaced. “Do I have to wear that stupid hospital gown?”

The other three men laughed. “I’ll go back to our room and grab some stuff for you,” Glorfindel offered and the doctor nodded.

“How are you feeling?” he asked Zach, checking his vitals. “Any pain? I can give you some ibuprofen if you need it.”

Zach shook his head slightly. “No pain,” he replied. “Actually, I’m feeling hungry, which is odd because breakfast wasn’t that long ago.”

“Not odd at all, but a very good sign,” the doctor said with relief. “Let’s find you a bed and I’ll order you some lunch. I think it’s chicken noodle soup and tuna fish sandwiches. How does that sound?”

Zach nodded. “Sounds good, just so long as I don’t have to wear that stupid gown.”

“I’ll go get your stuff right now,” Glorfindel said, standing. “I’ll be back shortly.”

He and Pettingill exited the room, leaving Zach with the doctor and a nurse who had come in at the doctor’s call.

“An interesting trick,” Pettingill said to Glorfindel as they were making their way out of the clinic. The ranger had offered to drive him over to the Academy and Glorfindel had accepted.

“It works,” Glorfindel said, “or at least, most of the time. I used to employ it when I was in Search and Rescue, usually when dealing with hysterical people, children especially.”

“I can see how that would be beneficial when you’re trying to rescue someone,” the ranger said with a smile and Glorfindel smiled back.

****

Everyone wanted to visit Zach at the clinic and several of his friends banded together to buy him a miniature potted Christmas tree decorated with ribbons and miniature ornaments from a local florist as well as a chocolate Santa from the Fanny Farmer shop in town. Glorfindel stopped at a toy store and selected a stuffed reindeer toy with a red nose, which brought much laughter to all who saw it.

“Just in case you need a friend during the night,” Glorfindel said, and only the other Elves knew that he was being serious.

Zach thanked everyone for their gifts, but they could tell he was somewhat upset. “The doc says it’ll be a couple of weeks before the stitches come out,” he groused when someone asked him what was wrong. “How can I be an elf looking like this?”

Elrohir smiled. “Just tell people you were in a battle against evil monsters attempting to destroy Santa’s workshop.”

“What sort of monsters?” Zach asked, intrigued in spite of himself.

Elrohir shrugged. “I don’t know. Make something up. Murderous snowmen led by Frosty who’s turned evil because he’s wearing the wrong hat.”

That set everyone laughing and they spent several minutes elaborating on the ellon’s words, coming up with more absurd ideas of who would attack Santa’s workshop and what role Zach as ‘Finrod’ played in the battle. By the time the nurse came along to shoo everyone out, Zach’s attitude was more positive.

“I’ll come by tomorrow after breakfast and pick you up,” Glorfindel told Zach as he was leaving. “I think you should spend the day quietly resting.”

“I was looking forward to answering letters to Santa,” Zach said with a sigh.

“We’ll see how you’re feeling tomorrow,” Glorfindel replied. “If you don’t overdo it, I guess it’ll be all right. Have a good night.”

“Thanks, Loren,” Zach said with all sincerity. “I’m glad we’re friends.”

“As am I,” Glorfindel said warmly. “See you in the morning.”

****

Note: The anga tengwa is No. 7 and is used for ‘g’ in Sindarin. The yanta tengwa is No. 35 and is used for ‘e’ in the Beleriandic mode of Sindarin.

17: Final Exam

Glorfindel drove over to the clinic the next morning to pick up Zach who was sitting in the waiting room, clutching the potted Christmas tree in one hand and the stuffed reindeer toy in the other, the overnight bag Glorfindel had brought him the day before sitting at his feet.

“I was tempted to eat the chocolate Santa last night,” Zach said when Glorfindel asked him about it, not seeing it, “but decided the last thing I needed was to spend another night in the clinic with a stomachache, so I have it in my bag. I’ll probably share it out with everyone else. It’s really too big to eat by myself.”

“How do you feel otherwise?” Glorfindel asked as he took the potted tree and bag and headed for the van.

“Fine,” Zach said. “There’s hardly any pain and ibuprofen takes care of that.”

“Do you still want to go to the post office, then?” Glorfindel asked.

“Yeah, sure,” Zach answered. “I really don’t feel like sitting around doing absolutely nothing.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that, you know,” Glorfindel responded with a smile. “Sometimes, doing absolutely nothing has its appeal.”

“Yeah, I know, but not today.”

“Fair enough,” the Elf said as they settled themselves into the van and buckled up. “I’m not scheduled for post office duty today. I’m supposed to help out at the Christmas Market, but I made arrangements to switch with Cassie. So, we’ll go to the post office, but if at any time you feel tired or dizzy or in pain you are to let me know and I’ll bring you back to the college so you can lie down and rest.” He gave the Mortal a stern look, one that took Zach aback in its intensity. “Promise me that you will not ‘brave it out’, as they say, and that you will tell me if you’re not feeling well. Head injuries, even one as mild as yours, are not to be taken lightly.”

“I pr-promise,” Zach replied with a gulp.

Glorfindel stared at him for another second or so, assured that the Mortal was sincere. “Good enough,” he said as he turned on the engine and headed out towards town.

****

True to his word, Zach complained of having trouble reading the letters after about three hours. As it was almost lunchtime, Glorfindel said he would drive Zach back and see him settled before returning to the post office after lunch. The other students were planning to eat in town since it was more convenient. Joan, aware of what had happened to Zach, told Glorfindel not to bother returning in the afternoon.

“It might be better to have someone keep an eye on him, just in case,” she told him.

“Why don’t you put together a stack of letters for me to do while I’m babysitting then,” Glorfindel said with a smile.

“Hey!” Zach protested.

Joan chuckled. “I’ll do that. If you want to give me five minutes, I’ll get everything together for you.”

Glorfindel nodded. “I’ll give them to one of my friends who’ll be here tomorrow.”

“I really don’t need a babysitter,” Zach protested as he and Glorfindel made their way to the van now loaded down with a couple bags of letters and writing paraphernalia.

“Joan is right, though,” Glorfindel said. “It would be best to keep an eye on you for another day or two just in case. I was absolutely serious about not taking a head injury lightly.”

“Fine,” Zach groused, “but if I get bored watching you write letters, I’m going to go down to the internet café and play.”

Glorfindel chuckled. “Let’s get some lunch first.”

As it turned out, Zach ended up sleeping most of the afternoon while Glorfindel quietly sat at his desk reading the children’s letters and writing responses. Just for fun, he signed nearly half the letters with ‘Finrod’, copying the elf-sigil Zach had created using the formen tengwa.

“I can’t believe I slept four hours!” Zach exclaimed with a yawn when he came to and looked at the clock.

“You must have needed it,” Glorfindel said with a shrug as he folded the last letter into an envelope and sealed it, putting it in the bag with all the others. “Why don’t you go freshen up and we’ll take a short walk outside and get some fresh air before dinner. I know I can use some, having sat here all afternoon watching you breathe in and out.”

Zach stuck his tongue out at him and Glorfindel chuckled. Five minutes later they were bundled up and stepping outside. It was already dark and the streetlights were on, casting a yellow-orange glow on the snow drifting lazily down. They walked around the campus for about a half an hour before Zach decided it was too cold and then they went inside to get ready for dinner.

****

The weekend passed quietly. Zach slept a bit more than usual, but Glorfindel was not unduly concerned. He was experienced enough with all kinds of injuries to know that the Mortal’s body was healing itself and sleep was often the best healer. By Monday, though, Zach was his usual self. Glorfindel caught him staring into the mirror, scowling as he tried to rearrange his hair so as to cover up the stitches as much as possible.

“You’re taking the wrong attitude,” Glorfindel said. “Let it alone. The stitches will be out before Thanksgiving and I suspect when you’re wearing a hat the scar will be mostly hidden anyway.”

“I guess,” Zach said mournfully, but he moved away from the mirror and followed Glorfindel out as they headed for breakfast.

Afterwards they made their way to their Wilderness Survival class to find that Roland Smith was there along with Pettingill. On the desk were several boxes with manila envelopes in them. There were also other boxes stacked along the wall underneath the whiteboard, but these were closed.

“Next week is your final exam,” Roland Smith said once everyone settled down. “The proof, as they say, is in the pudding, and you will be demonstrating everything you’ve learned in the last four months by simulating what you will be doing for real in a couple of weeks.” He paused to pick up one of the manila envelopes. “Everyone will get one of these packages. Inside is a profile of a local family who has volunteered to act as tourists. There are also copies of the planning sheet you’ve learned to fill out. You will find another piece of paper telling you on which day you will be meeting your family. We are giving you the rest of this week to look over the profiles, plan the tour based on the preferences marked off by the family and fill out the necessary forms, just as you will do for real when you are working for one of the resorts or safari companies.”

He stopped and took a look at the envelope in his hand and called out a name. One of the students rose and went down to take the envelope even as Pettingill was picking out another envelope and calling out another name. In about fifteen minutes everyone had a package and was perusing its contents while Smith continued his spiel.

“You will have until Friday noon to decide how you plan to conduct the tour and fill out the planning sheets. Since this is an exam and not the real thing, you will write a brief essay describing your reasons for planning the activities as you have. We also have an evaluation form for you to fill out giving us feedback on the courses and the Academy. This is our first year in running this Academy and we are looking for ways to improve it for next year.”

One of the students raised his hand and Smith acknowledged him. “Where do we meet our families?” he asked.

Smith nodded. “Normally, you would go to Fairbanks and meet your clients either at the airport or the train station, get them fitted out with arctic clothing and bring them to the hotel where they are staying. Since all the families you’ll be working with next week are from Wiseman, we’ve arranged to have you meet them at the Grange Hall over on Brooks Street. If you take a look at your planning sheet you will notice that you’ve been assigned to one of the resorts or safari companies. Now, this is not an indication that that is where you will be working. We ran a computer program that randomly matched a student with a family and with one of the resorts or safari companies. So when you meet your family be sure to tell them that you’re their Elf Guide So-and-So from Rainbow Lake Resorts or wherever. All tours will begin promptly at nine.”

“What about transportation?” another student asked.

“Each morning around eight,” Smith explained, “vans will come to the Academy from the different resorts and safari companies. You will be assigned a driver who will take you to the Grange Hall where you’ll pick up your family and then go from there. We’ll be doing this in groups of thirty-six over eight days starting on Sunday. Along with the driver there will be someone from the resort or safari company accompanying you. They will be evaluating your performance. The families will also be asked to fill out an evaluation sheet after the tour.”

Then Pettingill spoke up. “If the weather turns sour on the day you’re scheduled to do your tour, you’ll do it on the following Monday. We’re reserving that day for such an eventuality but we’ll all keep our fingers and toes crossed that it will be unnecessary. If you’re in the middle of a tour and the weather turns, you’ll be evaluated on what you did before the rest of the activities are cancelled and there will be no penalty attached.”

“Everyone will submit a copy of their planning sheet and essay by Friday noon,” Smith then said. “That way we can check them over and make sure there are no fatal flaws as well as to alert the various resorts and safari companies. Please do not change anything on your schedule once you’ve submitted it. Both the driver and the evaluator will have a copy and they will not appreciate any changes you’ve made in the meantime.”

Pettingill then went to one of the boxes by the wall and opened it up, pulling out several booklets. “These are the Handbooks that you and your fellow students created over the semester,” he told them as he began handing them out. “Feel free to use these for references as you’re working out your tour schedule and be sure to bring it with you on the tour just in case.”

Once everyone had a copy, Smith continued. “Remember, all forms need to be submitted to me by Friday noon. We’re giving you the week to work on this so if you have any questions or concerns, if you’re not sure what your family is looking for in terms of a tour, whatever, you can come to me or to one of the other instructors. We won’t help you fill out the forms, but we will offer suggestions. None of you have done this before and there may be some logistical problems of which you are as yet unaware. We’re taking that into account. Eventually, as you guide more and more groups you’ll know what can and what cannot be done. So don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Classes are cancelled for the rest of the week, though we would like you to continue with your work at the post office or at the Christmas Market,” Pettingill then said. “So good luck.”

With that, the two instructors exited the classroom, leaving the students to gather in groups to talk among themselves. The Elves naturally gathered around Glorfindel as did their roommates and other close friends.

“So, who are the lucky ones who get to do this on next Sunday?” Glorfindel asked with a smile.

It turned out that Glorfindel and Matt lucked out; the others were all scheduled for other days with Zach scheduled for the last day, much to his disgust and chagrin.

“I’ll have to wait a whole week to get it over with,” he complained and the others commiserated with him.

“Cheer up,” Nimrodel said, giving him a hug. “You’ll have the advantage of hearing about all our mistakes beforehand so you’ll be able to avoid them yourself.”

That didn’t exactly cheer Zach up but he nodded anyway as they made their way out of the classroom. Glorfindel rifled through the handbook as they walked along. He was quite impressed with the professional look of its layout and was amused by the illustrations that had been done by some of the students. Everything they needed to know to be good Elf Guides was in the booklet. He made a mental note to discuss with Daeron the possibility of creating their own handbook for when they set up their own Elf Academy. He had some ideas that had not been incorporated into the present handbook. In the meantime, the others in the group were deciding if they should go and start on their forms or take advantage of the free time to do something fun.

“Before it gets too weird around here,” Shane said knowingly.

“We haven’t been to Fairbanks for quite some time,” Cassie suggested. “Why don’t we grab the bus and go down and hang out at the mall? Maybe there’s a movie we can catch or something.”

Everyone thought it was a great idea and within the hour they were at the bus station buying tickets for the next bus to Fairbanks which would be leaving in half an hour. Glorfindel, though, found himself musing on the past for some reason even as he sat in the midst of the group. The Mortals, as usual, were chattering away, speaking of nothing and everything as the mood or the thought struck them; the Elves were quieter for the most part. They seemed to have picked up on Glorfindel’s mood.

“What is it, mellon nîn?” Daeron asked him softly. “You are very quiet all of a sudden.”

Glorfindel gave him a weak smile. “Just thinking,” he answered.

“Ah, thinking...” Daeron echoed. “A dangerous occupation.”

Glorfindel’s smile widened and he allowed himself to be drawn back into the present, determined to enjoy the outing and not spoil it for the others.

****

The week went by both slowly and quickly for them all. There was a lot of cursing and hair pulling on the parts of all of them as they struggled to work through the forms and come up with reasonable day-long tours for their respective families. Not every family wanted to engage in the same activities. Some wanted to engage in more of them than others, all wanted to visit Santa Claus. That part of the tour was, thankfully, already arranged for them. With thirty-six groups a day, averaging two children in each group, they were assigned a particular hour in which they would bring their group to the grotto. Thus, nine groups would meet up at the grotto more or less at the same time.

“So, I’m thinking the best thing to do is plan the tour backwards,” Daeron said to them as they gathered for dinner on Tuesday, all of them discussing the difficulties they were having putting a tour together.

“What do you mean?” Jud asked.

“Start with the visit with Santa,” Daeron explained. “You know what time your group is scheduled to arrive there. You know which activities your family wants to engage in and how long it will take to do each activity assuming there are no delays. Factor in meal times and travel time from one location to the next and space out your activities accordingly. According to the instructions, the visit to Santa ends the tour, so if you’re scheduled to see Santa at three o’clock, you have less time to do all the other activities than someone whose group is scheduled to see Santa at seven o’clock.”

They all nodded in understanding. “Well, that makes things a little easier, I guess,” Lily opined.

****

Glorfindel looked over his forms one last time. It was Friday morning just after breakfast and he planned to hand everything in as soon as he could. He had been assigned to guide a family consisting of parents of three children, a boy, aged twelve, and twin girls, aged nine. The family had selected husky sledding, snowshoe walking and reindeer sleigh rides as their activities of choice. It was the policy of the resorts and safari companies that children had to be at least ten years of age before they were allowed on snowmobiles, so that activity, thankfully, had not been selected. The boy, Kevin, was interested in photography and hoped to get some good pictures of the mountains according to the father; the twins, Kimberley and Kathryn, were more interested in seeing some of the wildlife. Glorfindel had spent the week carefully mapping out the logistics of the activities, coming up with alternatives in case of the weather or it turned out they had more or less time than originally planned for an activity. He was lucky in that his family was scheduled to meet with Santa at four o’clock. If he delayed the nature walk until the afternoon, it would take nearly an hour for them to drive from there to the grotto.

Satisfied that he had thought of every contingency, he put the papers together and stuck them back into the manila envelope to hand in, making sure his own copies were safely put away until he needed them. He looked up at Zach sitting at his own desk, looking over his papers with a grimace.

“It’s going to be fine,” Glorfindel said soothingly. “I think your plan is a good one. Don’t worry about it. I don’t think the instructors are expecting us to get everything right. That’s why they’re using volunteers from the town to help out before we deal with paying customers. Come. Let’s get rid of these and go do something to take our minds off things.”

Zach nodded, giving a sigh, and soon they were walking along the corridor, heading towards Roland Smith's office where they were to drop off their plans.

****

Sunday morning, Zach got up with Glorfindel to wish him luck. Those students who were doing their exam that day were gathered at the cafeteria early to grab some breakfast, though most were too nervous to eat much. The other Elves were there to see him off as well, giving Glorfindel last minute (and rather useless) advice, which he accepted with good-natured grace. Then they gathered in the foyer where Deirdre was pointing out which van they would take to the Grange Hall. Glorfindel, for the purposes of the exam, was now an employee of Alaska Tundra Safaris, one of the smaller companies. All thirty-six students were dressed in their Elf Guide outfits with their name tags pinned to their coats. Glorfindel waved farewell to his friends, then went in search of the van assigned to him, introducing himself to the two men who were waiting for him.

“Jim Bedford,” the driver said, giving him a hearty handshake.

“Andy Norton,” the other man said, also shaking Glorfindel’s hand. “Welcome to Alaska Tundra Safaris, if only for a day.” The man smiled and Glorfindel warmed to him immediately. It was obvious Andy was attempting to put him at ease, believing that he must be nervous, and were he Mortal he probably would be, but he was not and this was just another experience in a long line of experiences that he had had in his long life, or actually, lives if one included his time in Mandos.

“Thanks,” he said. “So what happens now?” He decided to act a little nervous for the benefit of the two men.

Andy grinned. “We’ll drive to the Grange Hall where you’ll meet your family. As soon as you have them, bring them to the van and we’ll get going. Jim and I are both familiar with the schedule you’ve created. A good one, by the way. I’m really impressed. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you’d been doing this all your life.”

Glorfindel laughed. “Hardly. I put a lot of sweat, blood and tears into that schedule.”

“And it shows,” Andy said.

They reached the Hall and Glorfindel climbed out, effecting a nervous smile, and headed inside along with the other students who were acting as guides that day. Inside, there was mild chaos as groups of families arrived. The students were herded towards one side of the hall where a table was set up. On the table were placards with the names of families. Glorfindel found his — Michaelson — and took it to the other side of the hall where all the families were congregated. He held up his sign and after about five minutes a couple approached with three children.

“We’re the Michaelsons,” the father said. “I’m Dave and this is my wife, Janna, and our children, Kevin, and the twins, Kim and Kathy.”

Glorfindel smiled and gave them a graceful bow. “And I am your Elf Guide, Glorfindel of the House of the Golden Flower,” he said, “presently employed with Alaska Tundra Safaris, at your service.”

The twins’ eyes widened and even the boy who had that world-weary look of all twelve-year-olds, seemed impressed. Dave and Janna gave him indulgent smiles.

“Shall we?” Glorfindel said, motioning them to follow him out to the van. “I understand, young Kevin, that you are interested in photography.”

“Yessir,” the boy replied, responding automatically to the grave attention that the Elf-lord was giving him, though he was unaware of this. “I’m gonna be a world-famous photographer someday.”

“I see you have forsworn using a digital camera for a more traditional type,” Glorfindel remarked as he helped the parents get the twins into the van and safely buckled in.

“My dad says I should know how to use a real camera before I use a digital one,” Kevin explained with a sigh, holding up his Leica for Glorfindel’s inspection.

“Your father is most wise, young Kevin,” Glorfindel said with a slight smile, “and you do well to listen to him, for he knows of what he speaks. Learn the intricacies of the traditional camera and you will have mastered a skill few will have in the future. That will help you in your chosen career.” Kevin’s expression became more thoughtful.

“So I’ve been telling him,” Dave said with a grin, “but I’m just his father, so my words don’t count.”

Glorfindel laughed. “Indeed.” Then he turned his attention to the twins. “And you, dear maidens, I believe wish to see something of the animals who live in the wilds.”

The twins, who were identical, giggled as one and nodded, their short braids bobbing up and down. “Are you really an elf?” one of them asked.

Glorfindel nodded. “Oh yes, I am.”

“How old are you?” the other twin asked and Glorfindel decided he would learn which twin was which before lunchtime.

“I am older than the trees, but younger than the mountains,” he replied, borrowing the phrase from a John Denver song.

“How old is that?” the first twin asked.

Glorfindel laughed. “Very old,” he replied. “I remember when the First Peoples came over the land bridge across what you call the Bering Strait.”

The twins looked suitably impressed, Kevin looked skeptical and their parents looked amused. Glorfindel could see Jim smiling as he drove to their first destination, the Lightfoot Reindeer Farm, while Andy made a notation on his clipboard, his expression carefully neutral. It was not a long ride and during the time Glorfindel explained what the schedule would be for the rest of the day. “We will save the nature walk until after lunch,” he said. “The morning will be best for photography, so I’ve arranged the activities so young Kevin can use his camera as much as possible.”

The parents nodded, looking pleased, and Kevin’s expression became more excited as they made their way to the Lightfoot’s farm. The twins were shy around the reindeer, but Kevin came right up to them and stroked their foreheads.

“He is unafraid,” Glorfindel commented to Dave in an approving voice. “That will stand him in good stead in the future, for if he means to pursue his chosen craft he will sometimes be in dangerous situations to get that one perfect shot.”

Dave gave him a considering look. “You speak in an old-fashioned manner and yet you talk about rather modern subjects.”

Glorfindel smiled wryly. “I am an Elf, Dave Michaelson, but I also live in this world alongside Mortals. It is rather difficult even here in the wilds of north Alaska to get entirely away from MTV and computer games.”

Dave gave him an astounded look and then broke out in loud laughter. Andy, standing nearby and watching the interaction between them, scribbled away on his clipboard, a faint smile on his lips.

When Glorfindel suggested teaching Dave how to drive the sleigh, he knew he had won the man over, for there was a gleam of anticipation and delight in the Mortal’s eyes as he climbed aboard the sleigh next to Glorfindel while his family huddled behind them, wrapped in thick woolen blankets. Dave proved an excellent student and in a short while he was handling the reins quite well. Kevin insisted on taking a picture of his father holding the reins while the rest of the family sat behind him, all of them smiling into the camera. Then, Glorfindel offered to take a picture so Kevin could be included in the shot. He pretended not to know how to handle such an instrument and Kevin proudly showed him what to do. Both Dave and Janna gave Glorfindel approving smiles over their son’s head. Jim, who was standing about watching it all then offered to take a picture of the family with Glorfindel.

“Then you can show everyone who your Elf Guide was,” he said to the children and they all agreed to that.

After the reindeer sleigh ride, they drove to the Northern Lights Holiday Resort where they would do some husky sledding. Here everyone was encouraged to give it a try, even the twins who squealed with delight when the dogs began moving. Glorfindel was patience personified as he taught the three children how to maneuver the sleds while employees of the resort instructed the parents. Each child was paired with an adult with the parents taking the twins. Glorfindel had by now figured out which twin was which and the entire family showed surprise when he addressed Kimberley correctly when she asked him a question. Even Andy was impressed by this feat. Glorfindel took Kevin in his sled and off they went. They would travel for about a half an hour before switching partners and then it would be nearly time for lunch, which would be taken at the resort as part of the program.

“I trust that you are having a good time,” Glorfindel said as he helped hand out bowls of tomato soup and plates of grilled ham and cheese sandwiches to the Michaelsons as they sat around a table in a log cabin warmed by a fire.

Everyone nodded. “This is the best day ever,” Kevin declared. “I got lots of cool pictures.”

“And the day is only half over,” his father said with a smile.

“Indeed,” Glorfindel replied. “After lunch we will walk a special trail using snowshoes and with any luck we might see some animals along the way, or at least their tracks.”

The twins cheered and clapped and everyone settled in to eat their lunch and warm up. When they were done, Glorfindel gravely thanked the two women who had provided them with the lunch, which flustered them, though they were obviously pleased, and the rest of the party gave their own thank-yous as they left the cabin.

Glorfindel had planned the day in such a way that it would take them some time to go from the Northern Lights Resort to the Mount Horace Resort where the nature walk would take place. This would leave them with about an hour and a half to walk the trail before heading for Santa’s Grotto. He was aware that the twins would start to flag in energy long before that, so he wanted them to rest in the van. He entertained them during the long drive with tales of ancient days when the stars were young and Mortals had not yet woken to walk the world. He eschewed telling them the elf tales that had been devised for the guides and could be found in the handbook for actual tales of the First Age, describing Gondolin and its terrible fall, though he pretended that he had survived the battle with the balrog, not wishing to get into messy details about being a Reborn and he kept the description of blood and gore to the absolute minimum. Everyone was duly impressed with his tales, including Andy and Jim, and the children were surprised when Jim announced that they had arrived at their destination.

“Wow!” exclaimed Kevin. “It doesn’t feel like a whole hour’s gone by.”

Glorfindel smiled. “Then I have succeeded in diverting your attention for a time from the long and rather boring drive.” Everyone nodded in agreement.

It turned out that the Michaelsons were well acquainted with snowshoes and how to walk on top of the snow, so it was only a matter of minutes before everyone was kitted out and Glorfindel led them along the nature trail. By now, the sun was dipping below the horizon and Kevin was forced to put his camera away. The twins looked about them in wonder, hoping to see an animal. Glorfindel, of course, was well aware of the wildlife around them. At one point he stopped them and pointed silently at tracks that ran parallel to the trail.

“Do you know what animal made these tracks?” he asked the children softly. All three shook their heads. “An arctic hare,” Glorfindel replied. “See you how long the stride is?” he asked and went on to describe the habits of the hares. “If you are very quiet we may see them yet.” The children stilled as much as possible, only their eyes flitting back and forth as they looked about for signs of the hares. Glorfindel closed his eyes and quested with his mind, touching the dim thoughts of a hare who was nearby and after about five minutes he heard startled gasps from the Mortals. He opened his eyes to see a hare bounding across the space between one tree and the next before it disappeared again into the forest.

He smiled at the delighted faces of the children and then motioned them on. They saw no other animals, though Glorfindel pointed out the tracks of some lemmings and an arctic fox, but that was all right. The children still were entranced and impressed that he recognized the spoors and could even tell them how long ago the tracks had been made. By the time they reached the end of the trail and were removing their snowshoes, it was completely dark. Glorfindel could tell that the twins were beginning to flag in their enthusiasm and even Kevin was wilting a bit. The parents just looked cold. He glanced at the sky, gauging the time and came to a decision. “We still have some time before we can visit Santa,” he said. “Why don’t I show you how to make fire in snow and we’ll toast some marshmallows before we go on?”

All three children perked up at that and in minutes he had them running about gathering small bits of wood as he set about making the fire pit. He had thought about this all week, wondering how long the youngsters would last after such a full day in below freezing temperatures. As part of his ‘plan’ he had listed this very activity as an addition to the other activities given enough time before they were due to meet with Santa. Glorfindel had purchased the bag of marshmallows himself and had brought them with him in a small bag that he had thrown into the back of the van. There was a small but complete first aid kit in the bag as well as a large thermos of hot cocoa in case there was need for a warm drink between activities. He had found a set of eight wooden cups at a dollar store and had bought them as well, stowing them away in his bag.

Now he brought everything out, pouring the cocoa which was still steaming into the cups and handing them to the grateful adults while the children were still hunting for sticks with which to toast their marshmallows.

Janna gave him a warm smile. “This has been a wonderful tour. Thank you.”

“You are most welcome, Janna Michaelson,” Glorfindel said with his own smile. “I have enjoyed your company and that of your children very much.”

Just then, the children all ran up holding out several sticks and Glorfindel opened the bag of marshmallows and began handing them out while everyone found seats on logs. The fire was very welcome, for the sky was clear of clouds, making it even colder. Glorfindel looked up and smiled. “Ah, look, my friends. The stars of Elbereth shine forth. There is Gwilwileth the butterfly and look, over there is the Cerch Belain, the Sickle of the Valar.”

“Who are the Valar?” Kevin asked, as he watched his marshmallow bubble and turn brown.

“They are the Guardians of Arda, which is our name for this world,” Glorfindel replied. “You might say that they are angels of the highest order sent by the One to watch over us.”

“You mentioned someone,” Janna said. “Elber-something.”

“Elbereth,” Glorfindel corrected. “The Queen of the Valar and maker of the stars. Would you like to hear a hymn to her which the Elves sing?”

There were nods all around. Glorfindel was amused to see that even Andy, who should have been acting as a neutral observer, was nodding along with the others even as he blew on a marshmallow before eating it.

“I will sing it in the language of my people and then I will translate it,” Glorfindel said and he proceeded to sing in a clear, ethereal voice:

“A Elbereth Gilthoniel, silivren penna míriel o menel aglar elenath! Na-chaered palan-díriel o galadhremmin ennorath, Fanuilos, le linnathon nef aear, sí nef aearon!”

As he ended the hymn he saw that Janna had tears running unheeded down her cheeks, freezing even as they fell. The children sat with their mouths open in perfect ‘Os’, their marshmallows forgotten. The three men were equally stunned. Quietly, he translated into English, speaking the words:

“O Elbereth, Starkindler, white-glittering, sparkling like jewels, the glory of the starry host slants down. Having gazed far away from the tree-woven lands of Middle-earth, to thee, Ever-white, I will sing on this side of the sea, here on this side of the Ocean.”

He paused for a moment before speaking again. “That is only a rough translation, I’m afraid.”

“It’s beautiful,” Janna said, futilely wiping the frozen tears from her cheeks.

“I think we should get going,” Glorfindel then said in a more normal voice, breaking the spell he had woven. “Let’s put out the fire and be on our way.” It took only a few minutes before they were ready to leave. During the trip to the grotto, Glorfindel, at the request of young Kathy, taught them the hymn. Not that any of them sang it quite right, but it kept the children occupied so that the time went quickly for them. Jim brought the van to the designated spot and everyone climbed out.

“Here you must hold hands,” Glorfindel said to the children, putting out his own hand for Kim to take. He led them silently to the Elf-path and the children gasped to see the lights flickering in the snow. He smiled at the wonder on their faces as he brought them to the clearing and ushered them into the grotto. He had timed their arrival so that they were actually the last group to come during that hour. The other families had come and gone and they were alone. A couple he did not know greeted them cheerfully, the woman plying them with hot cider and cookies. The man playing Santa was quite jovial and very humorous so that even Glorfindel was laughing at his jokes as he spoke to the children. The twins were naturally enthralled and willingly spoke of their Christmas wish list. Kevin, being older and wiser, was more reluctant.

Glorfindel bent down to whisper in his ear. “You don’t have to believe that Santa is a real person,” he said. “Just believe in the Spirit of peace, good-will and unstinting generosity that he represents.”

Kevin gave him a considering look and after a moment nodded. He then went up to Santa, holding out his camera. “I want to be a photographer when I grow up,” he said and Santa nodded. “So, I need more film for my camera.”

“Is that all, Kevin?” the man said solemnly. “Is there nothing more that you want? Is there no deep desire that you keep hidden within your heart?”

Glorfindel watched the interplay between the man and the child with great interest. All the jollity was gone from the man as he gazed down at the child who hesitated, looking back at Glorfindel, perhaps for some reassurance. Glorfindel was not sure what the boy was looking for but he nodded encouragingly anyway. Kevin turned back to Santa and in a voice that was more of a whisper he said, “I... I would like a telescope so I can see Elbereth’s stars more closely.”

Santa gazed up at Glorfindel and the other adults. Kevin’s parents simply nodded and Glorfindel warmed at the thought that perhaps he had in some small way sparked that interest for star-gazing in the child. The man looked back down at the boy and gave him a bright smile. “I’ll see what I can do,” he said gently and Kevin’s whole face lit up. Glorfindel realized that as grown-up as the boy tried to act, especially in front of his younger sisters, he was still more child than adult.

“And now, why don’t we sing a song before you must leave,” Santa suggested and the children nodded. “What song would you like to sing?”

Glorfindel was not at all surprised, though certainly Santa and Mrs. Claus were, when the three children began singing the hymn that he had taught them, their voices piping sweetly, Kevin’s only breaking once. When they were finished, there was a moment of silence and then Santa spoke.

“Well, that was certainly different. Thank you, children, for a lovely song.”

“Glorfindel taught us,” Kathy said, giving the Elf a shy smile.

“Ah....” Santa gave him a knowing look. “Well, he’s an elf after all,” he said with a smile.

And then it was time for them to leave. Back in the van Dave and Janna thanked Glorfindel for a wonderful tour. “You made this day very special for all of us,” Janna said.

“No, dear lady,” Glorfindel said with all sincerity. “It was you and your lovely family that made it special. I thank you for allowing me to give you this day and its memories. May you have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.”

The children fell asleep soon after as they headed back, the twins laying their heads on their parents’ laps while Kevin, the last to succumb, nestled against Glorfindel who wrapped a protective arm around the child and planted a brief kiss on his head.

“He’s too old for the Santa thing,” Dave said, giving his son a fond look. “Yet, I think today you gave him back something of the magic of the season and I thank you for that.”

“You never stopped believing?” Glorfindel asked.

“Oh sure, when I was his age,” Dave said with a chuckle. “But, you know, when you have kids of your own....” He gave a shrug. “I guess you regain some of that belief in magic you once had as a child.”

Glorfindel nodded and they lapsed into silence for the rest of the trip back. Once at the Grange Hall, Glorfindel bade them all a fond farewell. Jim offered to drive him back to the college which he accepted. Andy shook his hand in farewell as he had his own transportation. “A most interesting day,” he said.

“I hope you don’t judge the other students by me, though,” Glorfindel said.

Andy shook his head. “Not to worry. Each student is judged on his or her own merits.”

When he entered the Academy he was unsurprised to see the other Elves waiting for him in the reading room, which they had to themselves.

“How did it go?” Daeron asked somewhat anxiously.

Glorfindel gave them a smile. “You know, I think I’m going to enjoy being an Elf Guide,” he said as he removed his coat, “but I am so glad this day is over with.”

The others smiled and started demanding details. Glorfindel held up his hands to still their words. “Let me freshen up and I’ll tell you all about it over dinner.”

Everyone agreed to that and half an hour later they were seated in the cafeteria along with their Mortal friends while, first Matt, then Glorfindel told them how their day went.

****

Gwilwileth: Sindarin form of the Quenya Wilwarin ‘butterfly’, which we call Cassiopeia.

Cerch Belain: Sindarin form of the Quenya Valacirca ‘Sickle of the Valar’, which we call Ursa Major or the Big Dipper.

Notes:

1. The formen tengwa is No. 10 and is used for ‘f’ in Sindarin.

2. The translation of the hymn to Elbereth is from Tolkien’s The Road Goes Ever On.

18: Blizzard

Mithrellas and Cassie were scheduled to give their tours on Monday, Shane’s was on Tuesday, while Elrohir and Lily were giving theirs on Wednesday. Jud and Nimrodel were scheduled for Thursday, while Elladan’s tour would be on Friday and Daeron’s on Saturday. Zach, of course, was on the last day. The next few days stayed clear and, at least among the Elves and their immediate friends, there were no major mishaps on any of the tours. The worst that happened was Lily forgetting where the Elf-path to Santa’s Grotto began.

“I was so nervous,” Lily explained as they gathered around their table in the cafeteria eating dinner Wednesday evening. It was now nearly nine o’clock. During this week the cafeteria stayed open late to accommodate those students whose tours did not end until after eight. Lily’s and Elrohir’s groups had both been scheduled to meet with Santa at seven, so their friends delayed eating their own dinners until they could join them and tell them about their day. “My eyes aren’t all that great in the dark, and I couldn’t find the stupid entrance to the Elf-path!” she practically wailed. “I’m sure the evaluator must’ve thought I was losing it. She’s probably going to fail me.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Nimrodel told her roommate, giving her a hug and a smile.

“Did you find it eventually?” Elladan asked but Lily shook her head, still looking morose.

“What did you do?” Glorfindel asked sympathetically.

“I pretended that the reason we couldn’t find the path was because someone in the group did not believe in Santa, that there was an enchantment on it so that not even an elf could find it,” she replied with a rueful smile as the others gave her considering looks. “It was all I could think of to explain why I was having trouble finding the path.”

“That was very clever, though,” Daeron said. “How did your family react to that?”

“Oh, I suspect the parents knew the truth,” Lily answered with a sigh, “and the evaluator as well, but the kids actually believed me, insisting very loudly that they did indeed believe in Santa and maybe one of the grown-ups was the nonbeliever.”

They all chuckled at that.

“So what happened?” Shane asked.

“Just about then, I showed up with my group,” Elrohir told them. “I was surprised to see Lily there running around looking for the path.”

“I was never so happy as when Roy showed up, though,” Lily said, giving them a blush.

“I asked her what was amiss and she told me this story about the path being hidden and why. I knew what she was really trying to say so I played along, reminding her that even though one Elf could not break the enchantment hiding the path, two Elves could if they joined forces. I had everyone in both groups hold hands with Lily right behind me and then started mouthing some elvish-sounding nonsense even as I led them right to the entrance. The children were quite impressed.”

“I’m going to have to find a way to remember where the entrance is from now on,” Lily said with a sigh. “I can’t depend on someone else showing up in the nick of time to help me out the way Roy did.”

“I like the idea of the path being hidden because there’s a nonbeliever in the group, though,” Daeron said. “I think I might incorporate that into my own tour.” The others all nodded.

“So what elvish-sounding nonsense did you spout to find the path?” Elladan asked his twin, giving him a sly look.

Elrohir’s expression turned mischievous. “Annon edhellen, edro hi ammen! Fennas Edhellim, lasto beth lammen!”

“That’s pretty cool,” Jud said. “You’ll have to teach us that so we can use it ourselves.”

The other Mortals all nodded enthusiastically while the Elves hid smiles behind their hands, trying not to laugh. Glorfindel rolled his eyes at Elrohir, but then gave him the ‘okay’ sign, letting him know that he had done the right thing. The younger ellon fairly glowed.

****

It snowed Thursday, but not enough to cancel the tours. However, the clouds stayed and thickened over the next couple of days. By Saturday there was some concern that the next day’s tours would have to be cancelled, for there was heavy snow in the forecast for overnight. Zach was despondent.

“It’s been bad enough having to wait all w-w-week while everyone else has done their tours,” he complained to Glorfindel later that evening as they entered their room after bidding their friends good-night, “but to have to w-wait another day!” He groaned, throwing himself on his bed.

“It may not come to that,” Glorfindel said, trying to comfort him. “You’re going to make yourself sick with needless worry and then where will you be?”

“Every time I look over my plan it seems more and more stupid,” Zach said with a scowl. “I keep wanting to change it but I can’t.” All week long Zach had listened to everyone else describe how they had conducted their tours and now he was obviously feeling that the plans he had made were somewhat inadequate.

“Your plan is perfectly fine as it is,” Glorfindel assured him. “Now, my advice to you is to try and get some sleep. You’re not going to do yourself or your group any good if you show up half dead from lack of sleep.”

“I don’t think I can sleep at all,” Zach confessed with a sigh, though he got up and started getting himself ready for bed. “I have butterflies in my stomach. I just want to get it over with.”

“I know,” Glorfindel said sympathetically. He started softly humming an ancient lullaby as he readied himself for bed as well. He kept it up even after the lights were out. He heard Zach sigh after several minutes went by and then soon after he could tell from Zach’s even breathing that the Mortal was now fast asleep, softly snoring. He smiled to himself as he settled further into his covers and then allowed himself to slip onto the Path of Dreams.

****

Glorfindel woke and saw by the clock that it was not yet six. He climbed out of bed, glad to see Zach still sleeping soundly. Taking a look out the window he saw that the predicted snow had not come, yet deep in his bones he knew a storm was on its way. Eschewing a shower, he slipped into some clothes and made his way quietly out of the room and headed for the foyer. They had been told that if a day’s tours were cancelled a notice to that effect would be posted in the foyer no later than six-thirty. He was not too surprised to see the Twins already there, checking the chalkboard that had been placed on a table against the wall. At the top were the words FINAL EXAM TOURS with the day’s date written beneath. The rest of the board was blank. The Twins were both grimacing as they turned almost as one when they heard him coming.

“There’s a blizzard coming,” Elladan said without preamble.

“I know,” Glorfindel said. “It isn’t six-thirty yet. They may still be checking the forecast to be sure.”

Elrohir gave him a sardonic look. “They should consult us,” he said. “Our weather-sense is more accurate than any of their fancy instruments.”

“True,” Glorfindel averred, “but since they don’t know that we are Elves they have no reason to consult us about the weather, do they?”

“What if they don’t cancel?” Elladan asked, his expression one of concern. “I do not like the idea of Zach or any of the others out there with a blizzard coming, and then what of the families?”

Glorfindel shook his head. “We will just have to accept their decision to hold the tours if they don’t cancel,” he stated. “It’s possible that they will think the blizzard will hold off at least long enough for most of the tours to finish.”

“But you know as well as we that the worst of the storm will hit us by mid-afternoon,” Elrohir retorted.

Glorfindel gave them a helpless shrug, having no answer.

As six-thirty approached, other students began making their way to the foyer to check the chalkboard. They huddled in groups, speaking softly, alternately glancing at the clock to check the time and out the window to check the weather. At six-twenty-five, a car pulled up and Glorfindel saw Roland Smith climbing out and heading their way. He went to the door to let the man in. Smith nodded his thanks but did not speak, stamping the snow off his boots and removing his gloves as he walked to the chalkboard. There was absolute silence as he picked up some chalk and scrawled the words ‘AS SCHEDULED’ across the board.

There was a collective sigh of relief from the other students who started heading back to their rooms, all of them smiling, and Glorfindel realized that these children were as anxious to get their tour over with as Zach was. They must have resented being the last group to go, though logically speaking, someone had to be last.

Elladan went over to Smith as the man put the chalk down. “Are you sure it’s wise?” he asked softly. “There’s a storm coming.”

“But not until later this evening,” Smith said. “We consulted the meteorologists at Fairbanks and even the guys at NORAD and they all assured us that nothing will happen before six or so. Most of the tours will be done by then and if we have to we’ll cancel the Santa visits for the last groups and reschedule them for later.”

Elladan was about to protest, but Glorfindel put a hand on the ellon’s shoulder to get his attention and shook his head. “I’ll go tell Zach the good news,” he said with a grim smile and the Twins snorted in disgust.

Zach was still sleeping when Glorfindel returned to their room. He bent down and gently shook him awake. “You need to get ready,” the Elf said quietly when Zach opened bleary eyes. “It looks as if today’s schedule still holds.”

The Mortal fairly leaped from his bed to look out the window and then he grabbed his bathrobe and rushed off to take a shower. Glorfindel smiled and took the liberty of getting out Zach’s Elf Guide outfit so that it was ready for when the young man returned. Once Zach was dressed the two of them made their way to the cafeteria even though Zach insisted he was too nervous to eat anything. Glorfindel, however, was just as insistent that he eat something.

“It’s going to be a long day and you should have something on your stomach before you venture out into the cold,” he told the Mortal as he steered him towards the cafeteria. “At the very least have some tea or coffee and some toast. The vans won’t be here for another hour anyway, so you might as well sit and relax.”

Surprisingly, at least to Zach if not to Glorfindel, all the other Elves and their friends were waiting for them in the cafeteria to wish Zach good luck with his tour. They sat around the table, reminding him of all the things not to do while he munched on some dry toast and drank cocoa. He mentioned his fear that he would start stuttering badly again because he was so nervous.

“You’re going to do fine,” Daeron assured him with a smile. “Just speak slowly and carefully and remember everything I taught you.”

Zach nodded and then it was time for him to leave. Everyone accompanied him down to the foyer and waved encouragingly as he headed outside to find his driver.

“I hope he does okay,” Shane said as they stood before the foyer window overlooking the parking lot and watched Zach climb into a van belonging to the Arctic Village Holiday Resort. “I know he’s been very nervous about this all week, more so than the rest of us.”

“He’ll do just fine,” Glorfindel said with as much confidence as he could muster, “but it wouldn’t hurt to keep our fingers crossed.” He glanced upward. “I don’t like the look of the sky. Something tells me that we’re in for a real blow sometime today.”

The other Elves nodded, knowing that Glorfindel’s words were very true.

 “Let’s hope it holds off until everyone is safely back,” Jud said. “When does Zach have his family meet with Santa?”

“He’s scheduled for five o’clock,” Glorfindel said.

“Hmm.... not early but not late,” Daeron muttered.

“So, with any amount of luck, he’ll be back here by around six-thirty,” Lily opined.

“And all we have to do is wait,” Nimrodel said somewhat grimly, taking one of Mithrellas’ hands and clenching it, her eyes darkening with memories of her own experiences of being lost in mountain storms. Only the other Elves understood what she must be feeling.

“I hate waiting,” Lily replied with a sigh.

No one bothered to comment on that, for they all felt the same way.

****

The morning dragged for them all. Glorfindel tried to keep himself from worrying about Zach by writing the next installment of his ‘Letter to Finrod’. When ships still sailed to Valinor he would periodically ask someone who was leaving Middle-earth to convey some letters he had written to his gwador, describing all that was happening to him. He gave Círdan a final bundle of letters to take with him when that ancient Sinda boarded the Last Ship. And even though he had no means of sending any more letters to Finrod the habit remained and he now had a large collection of unsent missives carefully stored away in a safety deposit box. He doubted that his gwador would ever read a single word, but he found some comfort in writing out his thoughts and feelings in this manner. Addressing his thoughts to Finrod made it seem less like a diary or journal and more like an intimate communication between friends and heart-brothers even though it was only one-sided.

Now, however, he had trouble putting any thoughts down and after a time he simply gave up and went to see what others were doing. He stopped first at the Twins’ room to find Daeron and Jud already there, the four of them playing penny-ante poker. They had no idea where the ellith were or where the rest of their friends had gone to.

The ancient minstrel took a glance out the window and frowned. “It’s started to snow,” he commented unnecessarily, for they could all see that it was so.

“Maybe it’ll just be a few flakes,” Jud opined, though he did not seem very confident in his pronouncement.

“We can only hope,” Glorfindel replied, then sat down on the edge of Elrohir’s bed and waited until the next deal to play with Daeron lending him some pennies.

****

Cassie and Matt, being used to arctic travel, had braved the weather and joined them for lunch. It was a quiet affair as Glorfindel and the others gathered in the cafeteria, none of them very hungry, all of them continuously glancing out the windows at the snow falling. It had ceased to be a few flakes an hour ago and it was now coming down hard enough that even the Elves had difficulty seeing anything through it.

“I know Zach will be disappointed and feeling cheated that he won’t be able to finish his tour,” Elladan said at one point when they were discussing whether the tours would be called off.

“Most likely,” Glorfindel replied, “but he will be evaluated on what was accomplished in the tour up to the point where it’s cancelled and as long as he has shown the evaluator competence in what he was able to do, he’ll pass with no problem.”

“They may reschedule part of the tours,” Cassie said. “The kids will be really disappointed not to meet Santa. I’m sure they’ll try to make it up to them if they can’t see him today.”

Everyone nodded.

“I wish there were some way to know for sure if Zach and the others are okay,” Lily said.

“Why don’t we all go over to the Grange Hall after we’ve had lunch?” Glorfindel suggested. “The snowfall isn’t so bad yet that we can’t drive there. All the tours have to return there anyway and we can be there when Zach comes.”

Everyone thought that was a good idea. Appetites suddenly reappeared and they ate with more enthusiasm. Half an hour later they were heading for the van while Cassie and Matt went to their own cars. As he was pulling out, Glorfindel saw Evan and Maggie struggling through a drift. He stopped and rolled down the window.

“Evan!” he shouted.

The two Mortals made their way over. “Jen and Chloe are out in this,” Evan said by way of greeting.

“Get in,” Glorfindel said with a jerk of his head even as he rolled his window back up and the two climbed in. He noticed with approval that both Cassie and Matt had stopped to offer lifts to other students who apparently had had the same idea as they to go to the Grange Hall. The road was slick with snow which had not yet been plowed and the going was slow but Glorfindel got them there without much trouble.

“Hey, look!” Elrohir called out. “Some of the vans are back already.”

They could see that at least three tour vans were parked in front of the Hall and a fourth was turning into the parking lot just ahead of them.

“Let’s hope the others get back as well,” Daeron said grimly.

Inside the Hall there was utter chaos. A great number of other students, perhaps having come into town earlier for whatever reason, were there, looking anxious. Townspeople were there as well and Glorfindel thought perhaps these might be friends and neighbors of those families still out in the storm. He caught sight of the Michaelsons and went over to greet them, bringing the others along.

“One of our neighbors was doing the tour today,” Dave told him after quick introductions were made. “She’s a single mom. Husband just up and walked out on her and their four kids without looking back.” He gave them a disgusted look.

“We’ve sort of adopted them,” Janna went on to explain, her expression more anxious for the safety of their friends. “Nicole’s kids and ours play together all the time.”

Kevin and the twins all nodded, their expressions ones of distress and worry.

Something rang a bell in Glorfindel’s mind at the mention of Nicole’s name. “Would that be Nicole Lord?”

Dave and Janna gave him a surprised look. “Why yes, it is?” Janna replied. “But how did you know?”

“My roommate, Zach, was assigned to guide your neighbor and her children,” Glorfindel said. He glanced around. By now more people, both townspeople and students, were streaming into the Hall looking for friends. He saw Marian with Deirdre, Roland Smith and Paul Pettingill off to one side apparently having an argument. “Come,” he said to everyone, “I want to find out what’s happening.”

They made their way across the floor and Glorfindel could see the angry look on Pettingill’s face even as he heard the last part of the man’s words to the other instructors. “....warn you not to hold the tours today?”

“Paul,” Glorfindel said as he sidled up to the ranger.

Pettingill blew out a breath and gave him a nod of acknowledgment. “Loren.”

“You were against the tours being held?” Glorfindel asked, stealing a glance at Roland Smith who looked, if anything, mutinous, as if the weather and everyone else were involved in a conspiracy against him.

Pettingill nodded, looking grim. “Any fool who can read the signs would know there was a major storm coming.”

“Fairbanks said it wouldn’t hit us until around six or so,” Smith protested.

“Bah!” Pettingill exclaimed in disgust. “With all their fancy-dancy equipment, they’re still wrong half the time. Nature doesn’t lie. I warned you as early as Friday that the tours should not be held today.”

Glorfindel and the other Elves exchanged considering looks and their estimation of the ranger went up several notches. Glorfindel turned to Marian. “I see four, no five, students back,” he said nodding to where another student in an Elf Guide outfit was herding her charges into the Hall. A table had been hastily set up to one side where hot drinks and snacks were being distributed. “Where are the others?”

“That’s what we’re trying to determine,” Pettingill answered before Marian could open her mouth. “I’ve got my rangers contacting all the resorts and safari companies. Ah, here’s Francine.”

They turned to see Ranger Doran approaching with a clipboard in one hand. She gave them a nod in greeting then without preamble began her report to Pettingill. “We’ve got seven tours holed up over by Chandalar,” she said, glancing at her clipboard. “They’re with the Lightfoots. Lucy says Max is out with a sleigh rounding up strays. Based on the information Ms Goodfellow gave us as to where various tours were scheduled to be at this hour, there should be another tour making its way to the Lightfoot farm. Lucy will call as soon as she has confirmation.”

“So that takes care of twelve, possibly thirteen tours,” Pettingill said. “Go on.”

Doran glanced at her clipboard again. “Mount Horace reports three tours there, and Arctic Village has another two. I’ve got the names of the students in each group.”

“Is one of them Zachary Austin?” Glorfindel asked, hoping against hope.

Francine glanced down the page on her clipboard, checking all the names and shook her head. “Sorry, no.”

“Hey, there’s Chloe!” Evan suddenly yelled out and started calling the young woman’s name.

Chloe came over looking half frozen but gave them a brave smile. “Thought we would never get back,” she said by way of greeting. “We found another van stuck in a drift and everyone got out and pushed.”

“Who was in the other van?” Glorfindel asked.

“Kelsey,” Chloe replied. “She looked absolutely terrified. She’s from Southern California and she’s never been in a blizzard before.”

“So that’s another two groups accounted for,” Marian said with a sigh. “That makes nineteen, maybe twenty, if Max Lightfoot found the other group.”

“That still leaves sixteen groups unaccounted for,” Daeron said softly, “including Zach’s.”

Pettingill turned to Doran. “Anything else?”

“Rainbow Lake says that they had three groups over there for lunch and they all set out about the same time in spite of the fact that the manager begged them to remain at the lodge. He has no idea where they were heading.”

There were grim looks all around. “Hopefully, they did not go too far and have turned back,” Pettingill stated. “What about the other resorts?”

“No word from them,” Doran answered. “Lines might be down in places.”

“They all have shortwave,” Pettingill said. “Contact them that way,” he ordered and Doran saluted and headed away, handing her clipboard to her superior. Pettingill turned to the others. “All right. Let’s get more organized.” He called out for attention, his voice ringing through the Hall and voices quieted to listen. “I need every student who was giving a tour today to come to me and report in. Someone stand by the doors and when other groups come in direct them to me. We need to know who’s where.”

Six students made their way to where Pettingill was and gave him their names, assuring him that everyone in their group was accounted for. Chloe did the same. Three other students came in with their groups, all of them looking half frozen, reporting to Pettingill who had moved to a table that Glorfindel and Daeron had commandeered and set up in the middle of the room. Francine Doran showed up in the meantime and told them that Max had found the eighth tour group and the three that had left Rainbow Lake were now back there. She handed him the list of students’ names.

“That leaves ten groups still missing,” Glorfindel said. He glanced over the list of students’ names and where they were located that the ranger had written out. He saw that Jen was safe with the Lightfoots and there were others he knew, but Zach’s name was not on the list. By now the Hall was nearly filled to capacity with townspeople and college students all wondering where their friends were. Marian managed to find a large chalkboard from somewhere which she had brought in. Cassie offered to copy out the information from Pettingill’s list so everyone could see.

It was now fully dark, made more so because of the storm. Some of the families had decided to return to their homes but most still lingered about, including the Michaelsons. Glorfindel and the other Elves stood stoically to one side waiting for news of Zach while their Mortal friends fidgeted, their sense of worry increasing with every passing minute. During the next hour all the remaining tours reported in safe, all but one.

“Zach is still out there,” Jud said as Cassie recorded the thirty-fifth tour group’s name on the chalkboard. “Where is he?”

Glorfindel came to a grim decision. The idea had been building inside him during the interminable wait. Now that all but Zach’s group were accounted for, he had no reason to sit around any longer. He turned to the other Elves. “Tôl hi i-lû,” he said gravely. “Tirathan am mellon vîn anim.”

“Govedinc gen,” Elrohir said and Elladan nodded.

“We all will go, my Lord Glorfindel,” Daeron said formally, though speaking English, and the two ellith nodded.

“What are you talking about?” Pettingill demanded angrily. “No one is going anywhere in this. And what’s all this ‘lord’ business?”

Glorfindel ignored him. “Daeron, we’re going to need more blankets than what I have in my van.”

“At once, my lord,” the minstrel said and ran off.

Glorfindel was already turning to the next item on his mental list. “Nimrodel, you and Mithrellas find some thermoses and fill them with hot sweetened tea. It won’t be miruvor but it will have to do.”

“How many should we bring?” Nimrodel asked.

“As many as there are people in Zach’s group,” came the answer and the two ellith nodded.

“I brought a thermos along for my group,” Chloe said.

“Let’s go see if the other students did the same,” Nimrodel said and she and Mithrellas went off with Chloe to check.

“You’re not really intending on going out in this, are you?” Marian demanded. “That’s insane.”

Glorfindel ignored her, turning his attention to Pettingill. “We need to determine the last place Zach’s group was sighted and then extrapolate from that which way they would have headed.”

“Marian’s right,” the ranger stated firmly, ignoring Glorfindel’s request. “It’s not fit for man or beast out there. You don’t stand a chance of finding them.”

“But then, I’m not a Man,” Glorfindel replied with a wry grin and proceeded to do something he had not done in centuries — he pulled back his hair, revealing the leaf-shaped ears, and began putting his golden locks into braids. There were gasps from the Mortals around him. Elladan and Elrohir saw what Glorfindel was doing and began braiding their own hair, revealing the pointed tips of their ears.

“Who... what are you?” Marian asked faintly.

Glorfindel gave her a cool stare as he continued braiding his hair. “You wanted Elves, Marian. Well, you’ve got them.”

“Is this a joke?” Pettingill demanded angrily, confusion written all over him. “There aren’t any such things as elves.”

Glorfindel gave the ranger a sympathetic look. “No, Paul. This is no joke. We are the Eldar, what you call Elves, the Firstborn of the Children of Eru, as you Mortals are the Secondborn.”

“Yo-you guys are really for real?” Jud asked, his eyes wide as he watched Daeron come up loaded with several blankets, obviously re-evaluating his relationship with his roommate.

“Yes,” Glorfindel said shortly.

“And that’s not Welsh you’re speaking,” Shane put in.

Glorfindel shook his head.

“If... if Elves are for real,” Kevin Michaelson then asked, looking both fearful and hopeful at the same time, “does that mean Santa is, too?”

The adults gave each other uncertain looks, not sure how to respond to the child. Janna gave her son a hug and a smile. “I guess so, honey,” she answered and now Kevin’s expression was more thoughtful.

Daeron dropped his bundle of blankets and saw the warrior braids on the other three ellyn while all the Mortals around them stared at them in disbelief. By now others in the Hall were beginning to realize that something important was happening though they did not know what. Conversations were quieting down and many were making their way towards their group. Daeron gave Glorfindel a sardonic look. “Are we hunting orcs, my lord, or looking for lost children?”

Glorfindel gave a shrug. “I just don’t fancy having my hair blowing in my eyes,” he answered.

Daeron nodded and started braiding his own hair, though only in a single back braid, for he had never earned the warrior braids that the other three ellyn were now sporting. Nimrodel and Mithrellas came up just then with Chloe who stopped in surprise at the sight of the four ellyn. The ellith gave Glorfindel significant looks and Glorfindel just shrugged as he finished with the last braid. He glanced around and noticed the Michaelson children staring up at him in awe and wonder, in complete contrast to the expressions of disbelief and perhaps even fear that he saw among many of the adults. Their friends seemed unsure how to react, but he suspected that in the end they would accept them for themselves.

“Paul, where were they last seen?” he asked the ranger.

Pettingill started and blinked a couple of times, trying to gather his thoughts together. He rifled through a set of papers which were the plans each student had submitted. He pulled one out of the stack and gave it a glance. “The weather started turning sour about one o’clock, but most groups were still out in it until two-thirty. According to this plan, Austin’s group should have reached Lookout Safari’s husky farm by one-thirty. They were scheduled to be there for about an hour and a half before heading for the grotto with an intermediate stop at the Steiner Farm for some hot cocoa and cookies.”

Glorfindel nodded, well aware of the details of Zach’s plan but wanting confirmation. “Can you contact Lookout Safaris and see if they were there? And the Steiner Farm as well.”

Pettingill nodded and called to Ranger Doran, giving her orders to contact the safari company. Five minutes later she was reporting her findings. “They did indeed reach Lookout,” she told them, “but they cut the sledding short according to the manager because of the weather. They were only there for about an hour. The manager says he tried to convince them to stick around but the evaluator nixed the idea, said they were going back to Wiseman. That was almost two hours ago.”

“What about Steiner’s?” Glorfindel asked.

Doran shook her head. “They never made it that far.”

“They must have gotten stuck somewhere,” Daeron offered. “What’s the most direct route from Lookout to Wiseman assuming they decided not to stop at Steiner’s but decided to come directly here?”

Pettingill pulled out a map from his coat pocket, one that was creased and worn and obviously had had much use. He flattened it out on the table and everyone gathered around. “Lookout is here down by Bettles.” He pointed to the southwest of Wiseman. “If they were heading for Wiseman they would have had to cross both the Middle and South Forks of the Koyukuk to reach the James Dalton Highway. The road is unpaved and chancy in bad weather.”

Elrohir pointed at the map to a spot closer to Wiseman. “The Steiner Farm is here. If I remember correctly, somewhere before you get to the farm is the road that leads to Santa’s Grotto from the south.” They all nodded at that. There were actually two roads to the grotto, one from the south and one from the north. Zach’s group would have had to double back after visiting the Steiner Farm but it would have only been a slight detour.

“That would certainly be closer than Wiseman or even Steiner’s,” Daeron pointed out. “Once at the grotto they would have shelter, warmth and food.”

“That road is also more protected from the weather than the main highway,” Elladan added. “They may have decided to skip Steiner’s altogether and go directly to the grotto, especially if the main road was proving impassible.”

“We’ll have to make our way in that direction then and hope we spot them along the way,” Glorfindel said. “We’ll need torches. Without the stars to guide us we’re going to be as blind as any Mortal.”

“I’m coming with you,” Pettingill stated firmly.

“You’ll only slow us down,” Glorfindel said as he took off his coat and grabbed a couple of the blankets, wrapping a thermos into them and tying them with cord that Elladan had found, strapping the whole on his back. The others were doing the same. Elrohir had gone to the van and retrieved Glorfindel’s first aid kit as well and Nimrodel was attaching it to Glorfindel’s pack, making sure it was secure. Torches were found and batteries checked.

All the Mortals just stared at the six Elves as they prepared themselves to venture out into the blizzard. “What are you going to do?” Shane asked them. “It’s going to be rather awkward driving with those packs on your back, assuming you can even get out of the parking lot.”

Glorfindel gave her a wide smile. “We won’t be driving,” he answered and then with a nod to the others he headed for the doors, the Mortals stepping back to give them room. “But you can’t go out there without coats,” Marian protested. “You’ll freeze to death.”

Glorfindel just smiled. “No, Marian, we will not.” Then he saw the Michaelson children huddled around their parents. He knelt down and gestured for them to come to him. “Fear not! We will return with your friends. I give you my word.”

“And when an Elf-lord gives his word, he means it,” Daeron said with a faint smile to the children. “Only death will stop him from fulfilling his oath.”

“And sometimes not even then,” Glorfindel retorted, giving the children a smile and a wink.

“You can’t go out in this,” Pettingill protested one last time. “You’ll never survive the cold.”

“I’ve survived much worse in my time,” Glorfindel assured him as he stood up and then he addressed the other Elves. “We’ll take it at a steady pace,” he instructed. “Daeron, you’re with me. Nimrodel, Mithrellas, you’re in the middle. Elladan and Elrohir will bring up the rear.” Then he and the others stepped outside. They paused for a moment to get their bearings and Glorfindel pointed towards the south. They all nodded and then they were off, running lightly and swiftly on top of the snow while the Mortals huddled around the doorway and windows, watching in wonder and disbelief until the Elves were swallowed up by the storm.

****

Words are Sindarin.

Annon edhellen, edro hi ammen! Fennas Edhellim, lasto beth lammen!: ‘Elvish gate, open now for us! Doorway of the Elven-folk, listen to the word of my tongue’. The attentive reader will recognize this as Gandalf’s door-spell before the West Gate of Moria. For obvious reasons I have altered it slightly.

Tôl hi i-lû: ‘Comes now the time’.

Tirathan am mellon vîn anim: ‘I will look for our friend myself’.

Govedinc gen: ‘We (inclusive) go with you’.

19: An Unexpected Encounter

The Elves ran through a storm-shrouded ghost town. The blizzard had effectively shut everything down. Being Sunday, traffic had been sparse anyway, and now no one was on the streets save them. All was dark except for the eerie glow of the streetlights illuminating their way. Glorfindel had decided not to make for the access road to the James Dalton Highway, but to cut across country, angling towards Bettles, where Lookout Safaris had its headquarters. He did not expect to take them that far though, for Bettles was nearly sixty miles as the craban flies. He was making for the Steiner Farm which was where Zach’s group was heading when all trace of them was lost. He intended to backtrack from there, hoping to find the van somewhere along the way.

As they moved out of the town and into the countryside, they also moved out of the worst of the storm, for it had been traveling southeast. Snow still fell but not as heavily and they made better time. They traveled in silence for nearly an hour, the three Sindar easily keeping up with Glorfindel’s pace while the Twins brought up the rear.

"We should be near Steiner’s by now," Daeron said to Glorfindel as they maneuvered around a copse of firs. It was the first time any of them had spoken since leaving the Grange Hall.

Glorfindel nodded, never breaking his stride. "I’ve never been there. My tour took me to the north."

Daeron nodded. "My group stopped there and I think Elladan’s group did as well."

Glorfindel slowed to a stop, giving Nimrodel, who was directly behind him, fair warning. "Elladan," he called and the ellon loped up to see what his captain required of him. Elrohir and the ellith gathered around as well. Glorfindel gave the older twin a smile. "Daeron says you’ve been to the Steiner Farm."

Elladan nodded. "Yes." He looked about him, understanding what Glorfindel required of him. Daeron, estimable Elf though he was, did not have the same training in tracking and scouting that the Twins did. Here in the pristine wilderness where there were no roads or other manmade landmarks to guide them, only his own innate awareness of the land would help them. There was no moon nor stars to guide him, but he was sure of where he was and pointed more to the southeast than south. "It’s beyond that hill," he said with every confidence that he was correct.

Glorfindel nodded. "Lead us, then," he ordered and the younger ellon took point and they set off once again.

"Do we stop at the farm?" Daeron asked as they made their way up the hill. It was not a large hill but it was steep and even for the Elves the going was not easy.

"I would rather not," Glorfindel said, "but it might be wise to do so in case by some miracle Zach and the others made it there after we left the Hall."

They reached the crest of the hill and paused to look about them. "There," Elladan said, pointing to the right. They all looked and saw a glimmer of light and smoke rising from a chimney.

With a nod from Glorfindel they set off again. Going downhill was easier though they took care but soon they were crossing a field bounded by fences and then they were at the farm. Somewhere a dog barked and even as Glorfindel was knocking on the farmhouse door, it opened. The light from inside temporarily blinded them. A large figure stood before them and before Glorfindel could say anything he was being grabbed by the arms and hauled into the house.

"Get yerself in, lad, before ya freeze to death," a gruff voice commanded.

"Fred!" they heard a woman call out anxiously. "Is it them?"

"No, Ellen," Fred replied, ushering them all into the hallway before closing the door.

By now their eyes had adjusted and they saw a large burly man with a shock of white hair and a grizzled beard and keen blue eyes that saw everything and forgot nothing. The man turned to them and stopped in surprise, noticing them for the first time, staring unabashedly at their ears.

"Oh, glory be!"

They turned to see a woman wiping her hands on an apron. She was somewhat younger than the man, her hair still a soft brown, her eyes hazel and normally they would be twinkling with humor, for they could all see the laugh lines around them, but at that moment they were dark with shock at the sight of them.

Glorfindel gave them a bow. "My name is Glorfindel," he said, "my friends and I are looking for the ones who are lost."

Fred glanced at Ellen and then back at the Elves, frowning as he examined them more closely. He pointed to Daeron. "You were here yesterday," he said almost accusingly.

Daeron nodded, giving him a bow. "Yes. My name is Daeron. We are friends of the young man who is acting as an Elf Guide for the tour that was supposed to come here but never did. You have seen naught of them?"

"No," Ellen answered for her husband. "Fred even went out with the plow to see if perhaps they were stuck somewhere along the way."

"I jus’ got back, actually," Fred said, "not more ‘n twenty minutes ago. Had to turn back when the drifts got too high even fer the plow."

Glorfindel frowned. "How far did you get?"

"Not that far," Fred replied. "Maybe half a mile, no more. But how didcha get here?" He eyed them now with more suspicion, suddenly realizing that there was no way they could have come by way of the road.

"We ran across country from Wiseman," Glorfindel said absently, thinking of their next move. He ignored the looks of astonishment on the Mortals’ faces.

"You... you’re not human, are you?" Ellen ventured faintly as if afraid she might be offending them.

Glorfindel shook his head and smiled. "Nay, lady. We are the Eldar, the ones you call Elves. Now we must go, for we still have to find Zach and the others." He turned to Fred. "Can you contact Wiseman, let them know we’ve made it this far? I know they will be anxious to hear any news. Tell them we’re heading for Santa’s Grotto." Fred nodded in bemusement as the Elves made for the door.

"Wait!" Ellen cried out.

They stopped and gave her their attention. "I’ve got hot cocoa simmering on the stove," she told them. "You should have some before you go out again."

"I assure you, lady...." Glorfindel started to say, but Ellen shook her head.

"No. Elves or not, you’re not going out until you’ve had a proper warm up," Ellen insisted, taking Glorfindel’s arm in a rather familiar fashion, much to his amusement. "The storm’s not going anywhere and your friend isn’t either. I do not think ten minutes is going to change the outcome either way. Now you all come into the kitchen. We’ve got a good fire going."

Glorfindel allowed himself to be dragged into the kitchen with the others trailing, Fred bringing up the rear. It was perhaps the largest room in the house, a combination of kitchen, dining room and sitting room, for there was a large fireplace at one end in which sat a woodstove before which were a couple of rocking chairs and a bear rug. The room smelled of roses and cinnamon and oranges and they saw several bowls of potpourri scattered around. Swags of different dried herbs hung above the counter separating the kitchen area from the rest of the room. The entire ambiance was one of warmth and welcome and in spite of themselves, the Elves felt themselves relaxing. Fred gestured for them to go to the fireplace while Ellen made her way to the kitchen to start ladling out cocoa into earthenware mugs.

"There now," she said as she and her husband handed out the mugs. "You just warm yourselves up. Why, none of you are even dressed properly! How you’re not all suffering from frostbite is beyond me."

The Elves smiled as they drank their cocoa. "We are Elves, lady," Nimrodel answered her. "We are not as affected by the cold as Mortals are."

"But we are grateful for the cocoa," Elrohir added, smacking his lips. "Dark chocolate, too. You’ll have to give me the recipe."

Both Ellen and Fred gave the Elf astounded looks and Glorfindel and the others snickered. "Elrohir has been collecting hot chocolate recipes ever since we took the cooking class at the Elf Academy," Glorfindel explained.

Now the two Mortals were looking bewildered. "Elf Academy?" Fred asked. "Yer all at that Elf Academy?"

The Elves nodded.

"B-but why!?" Ellen exclaimed.

Glorfindel shook his head. "That is entirely too long a story to tell at this time." He drained his mug. "We must be going. We thank you for your hospitality." He gave the two Mortals a respectful bow which the others echoed. They started towards the front door but Fred stopped them.

"Go out the back way," he said, pointing to a door at the other end of the room.

"If you find them, bring them here," Ellen said. "We’ve plenty of room for everyone."

"That depends on where we find them," Glorfindel said. "It is my hope that they made it to the grotto."

"They cancelled the visits to Santa before the first group got there," Fred told them, "so there won’t be anyone else there."

Glorfindel thanked the couple again and then they were making their way through a mudroom to the outer door. Fred and Ellen were right behind them.

"The road to the grotto is in that direction," Fred said as the Elves stepped outside to get their bearings and the man pointed to the left. "Good luck."

"Godspeed," Ellen said and then she was closing the door against the cold.

Glorfindel looked about, gauging the landscape. It had stopped snowing for a bit though he did not think the storm was entirely spent. "Come. Let us go," he said quietly and they set off again in search of their friend and the others.

****

They found the road easily enough, for they came upon the cleared part that Fred had made with the plow and though the rest of the road was hidden under the snow it was apparent where it lay for there were clumps of trees on either side and they could see the occasional wooden post sticking up on their right indicating the location of a fence, so they used that as a guide. They walked in silence again, keeping their eyes open for any tell-tale sign of the van.

"Look!" Mithrellas cried after they had been walking for about thirty minutes.

They all stopped to see where she was pointing. The road had been rising along a shallow incline so that the fields on their right were perhaps two or three feet below it. Mithrellas was pointing down into the valley. At first Glorfindel, flashing his torch about, was not sure what the elleth had seen but then Elrohir tapped him on the shoulder and shone his own torch on a particular spot. It was an irregular hump of snow where all else around it was flat. Without a word Glorfindel started down and the others followed. Elrohir and Elladan leaped up to the top of the hump, proving that it was indeed the van when they started brushing off the foot of snow covering the roof. Silently, grimly, they all began clearing the snow away. It was not easy for the snow was high, but they continued working. Elladan knocked on the roof once a section of it was completely cleared and bent to listen but shook his head when he heard no answering knock. It took another fifteen minutes or so for them to clear enough space so they could at least shine a torch through a window, dreading to see what they might find.

"Empty," Daeron whispered, sounding both relieved and worried.

Glorfindel nodded, looking about him, trying to imagine what might have happened. "They were making their way to Steiner’s but then the van slid off the road, crashing through the fence," he said, pointing to the section of the front fender that was free of snow where they could see a dent. "They didn’t continue along to the farm, so they must have decided to make for the grotto. How close are we?"

"Fairly close," Daeron said. "At least, close to the turn off. I think they would have done better to have kept going to Steiner’s."

"I wonder who made the decision to abandon the van and head for the grotto?" Nimrodel asked.

Glorfindel gave her a grim smile. "We’ll have to ask when we find them. Elladan, you and Daeron take point, we’ll follow."

They headed back up to the road. "How long do you suppose it’s been since they abandoned the van?" Mithrellas asked Glorfindel.

"We know that Zach cut the husky sledding activity short," Glorfindel replied. "The original plan called for them to be at Lookout sledding until about three or so. Allowing for time to unhitch the dogs and all that, Zach figured they would be on their way again by three-twenty, three-thirty at the latest."

The others nodded. "Then they would have made their way to Steiner’s for hot chocolate before going on to see Santa," Elrohir said.

"Yes," Glorfindel averred. "Zach was hoping to time the visit to the grotto so that they would be one of the last groups there. He didn’t want it to be too crowded for the kids." They all nodded, for they had done something similar with their own tours. Glorfindel continued. "Fred said the visits to Santa were cancelled before the first group arrived there, so the word must have gotten out to everyone by around two-thirty, which is about when Zach ended the husky sledding. Thus, they must have known that Santa was off the list, so why were they headed for Steiner’s?"

"It is as I said," Elrohir replied. "The storm was hitting Wiseman around that time. Bettles wouldn’t have been affected yet, if they ever were, for the storm front was heading southeast into the Yukon Flats. But once they were on the James Dalton Highway heading north, they would have been driving right into the storm. It’s possible the driver decided to make for Steiner’s as being a safer route and closer than Wiseman."

"They should have continued on then," Nimrodel said, "instead of heading for the grotto."

"Someone must have decided that the grotto was closer," Glorfindel replied.

"It is, actually," Daeron said as he pointed to his right. "There’s the turn off. The entrance to the Elf-path lies less than a quarter of a mile further on."

Glorfindel nodded. "Then it’s possible they made it there after all."

"We can hope," Elladan said darkly. "Judging from the amount of snow covering the van they must have had the accident around the time we were leaving Wiseman and that was at the very height of the storm. They should have stayed in the van, it would have given them some protection."

"But they didn’t and we must hope for the best," Glorfindel said. "Damn! The storm’s picking up again."

It was true. From the time they had left the Steiners, the wind had begun to rise and the snow, which had stopped, began to fall again. Now they were back into white-out conditions.

"Listen!" Elladan suddenly exclaimed, holding up a hand as a signal for them to stop.

The others strained to hear whatever it was that Elladan had heard, but the howling of the wind made it difficult. There were lulls in the wind, though, and faintly they heard:

"Ru... deer... shy... nose but... saw...."

"Someone’s singing!" Mithrellas exclaimed.

"Shush!" Glorfindel admonished, trying to gauge the direction.

"...glows... oth... rein... laugh...."

"That way," Elrohir said pointing to their left and they headed off the road and into the trees lining it.

They did not have far to go for their torches picked up a large pile of snow between a couple of firs that formed a roof over it. The mound was clearly not formed by nature, for there was a hole about halfway up and they could clearly hear voices emanating from within the mound.

"Finrod!" Glorfindel cried as he reached the mound and began digging frantically to widen the hole, the others right behind him, helping. "Finrod!" he called again.

"Here!" came the muffled sound of Zach’s voice and Glorfindel nearly sagged with relief. Until that moment he had not realized just how much he had worried for the safety of his friend.

Glorfindel undid his pack, as did the others and they began digging out the entrance enough to crawl through. Glorfindel went first, finding himself in a small hollow tightly packed with several people. He flashed his torch about and nearly laughed at the cries of protest from those within. He saw Zach sitting in the middle of the group with a young boy-child, who could not have been more than three, huddled in his arms. There were three other children huddled between the adults, two girls and another boy, ranging from about six to perhaps eleven. Two women, one of them obviously the children’s mother, and a man completed the group. They were all staring at him with various degrees of wonder (the children) and disbelief (the adults).

"Ah, Finrod, gwador nîn," he said in as nonchalant a voice as he could manage, "I see you have everything well in hand and did not need rescuing after all."

Zach gave him a jaundiced look. "I w-would comment on that but there are w-women and children present," the Mortal replied.

Glorfindel laughed, as much from relief as from Zach’s retort.

"How did you even find us?" one of the women asked. She wore a coat with the Arctic Village Holiday Resort logo on it, as did the man.

"We heard you singing," Glorfindel replied. "Let’s get you all out of here." He backed out of the hollow and Zach pushed the little boy off him, and in a matter of minutes everyone was climbing out of the snow mound, the Elves helping them to stand, encouraging them to move around to get circulation back in their legs while they undid their packs, wrapping the children up in the blankets and handing out the sweetened tea for everyone to drink. The children all made funny faces at the taste but with some encouragement on the part of the Elves and their mother, they drank their share.

All the while the Mortals, including Zach, stared at the Elves, not sure how to react. The young man glanced back and forth between the six whom he thought of as his friends, staring at their ears in the light of the torches, clearly puzzled and upset. "You... you’re real, aren’t you?" he finally asked, staring at Glorfindel. "Elves, I mean? All this time and...."

"Yes, we’re real," Glorfindel said with a smile.

"Like Finwod?" came the excited voice of the little boy whom Zach had been holding.

Glorfindel looked down at the toddler standing next to Zach and knelt so he was at eye level with him. "Oh, no," he remarked with a light laugh. "Finrod is just playing being an Elf, but we are the real thing."

"Why Finwod not an Elf?" the boy demanded as he grabbed Zach’s hand. "I like Finwod." He gave the young man an adoring smile that caused Zach to blush.

Zach knelt beside them. "Because I am human like you. See?" He reached up and pulled off his hat to reveal his rounded ears. "My name is actually Zach, Zachary Austin."

Glorfindel gave the mystified child a gentle smile. "Finrod is not a real Elf but he is an Elf-friend, and among my people, that is a very high honor. Very few Mortals are ever called Elf-friends."

The little boy stared intently at the Elf and then back at Zach who gave Glorfindel a puzzled look. "Elf-friend?" he asked.

"Time enough for explanations later," Glorfindel said as he stood. He turned to the other Mortals, giving them a respectful bow. "I am Lord Glorfindel of Gondolin," he said formally, "and with me are Lords Daeron of Doriath, Elladan and Elrohir of Imladris, and the Ladies Nimrodel and Mithrellas of Lothlórien. We are indeed Elves and we are here to render aid."

"I’m... I’m Nicole Lord," the children’s mother said, "and this is Adam, Rachel, Hannah and Caleb." Caleb turned out to be the toddler.

"Ralph Penner," the man introduced himself, "I’m the driver."

"Beth Henderson," the other woman offered.

"Santa’s Grotto is not far," Glorfindel said. "Nimrodel and Mithrellas will carry the maidens while Daeron and I will carry Adam and Caleb. Everyone else stay close. Elladan, you take point. Elrohir make sure no one lags behind." With that he bent down and lifted Caleb onto his back and the other children were easily lifted as well, though Adam protested that he was too big to be carried. Daeron assured him that he was no burden and proceeded to walk on top of the snow to prove it, which astounded the Mortals who were forced to trudge through it. Luckily it wasn’t too deep along the road which was protected by the surrounding woods.

"So, why did you not go all the way to the grotto?" Glorfindel asked Zach, who was walking beside him. "It’s only a little further on."

"We couldn’t see where we were going or how far we had come," Zach explained, "and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to find the path. The kids were having a hard time so I decided the safest thing to do was to build a shelter."

"The safest thing would have been to stay with the van," Glorfindel retorted.

"Ms Henderson thought otherwise," Zach said with a scowl. "At least I was able to convince them to stop and seek shelter. I had the kids help which kept them warm."

"You did a good job," Glorfindel said. "You obviously were listening when Paul was giving that particular lecture." He smiled at the young man.

"Hey!"

They stopped at the sound of Elladan’s shout. The ellon had loped ahead to find the path and now was returning. "What is it?" Glorfindel demanded.

"I thought Fred said there was no one at the grotto," Elladan replied, "but the path is lit. Those candles should have gone out long before this."

Glorfindel shrugged, having no answer. "Then at least it will be easy to find our way," he said and they went on.

The path was indeed lit with candles and clear of snow. Glorfindel and the others put the children down so they could walk and they made their way to the clearing where they found the torches lit. Not having any other choice in the matter, Glorfindel indicated that he would go in first. Stooping to clear the lintel he made his way into the grotto to find it lit and occupied.

"Welcome, my children, welcome," came a deep voice, rich and warm in its tone, a voice Glorfindel recognized.

The ellon blinked in confusion and shock even as the others made their way in with Zach and Caleb coming to stand beside him. He heard gasps from more than one throat, but his attention was fixed on the couple standing before him on the dais. The male wore a floor-length coat of red and gold brocade in a floral pattern with wide sleeves. A hood lay on the back trimmed with ermine, as were the sleeves and the hem and front, which was open, revealing a deep red velvet tunic underneath that fell to just below the knees. The hem and placket were trimmed with gold thread in a Celtic knotwork pattern. Pearls were sewn inside each knot. Black leather boots disappeared under the tunic’s hem and a black leather belt cinched his waist. His hair was not white but a rich chestnut brown, nor did he have a beard. On his head was a wreath of holly and ivy. His eyes were a deep blue ringed around the pupils with gold.

And sitting calmly on his left shoulder was a snowy owl gazing at them unblinkingly.

The female wore a sleeveless overgown with a high waist and flowing skirts of the same red brocade as the male’s robe. The neckline was off the shoulder revealing the red velvet undergown which had sleeves tight to the wrist with pearl buttons from wrist to elbow. The undergown’s neckline was also trimmed with gold thread in the same Celtic knotwork pattern with pearls inside the knots. The hem, large armholes and neck of the overgown were trimmed with ermine. Her dark hair was crowned with a wreath of balsam bestrewn with red ribbons and four white candles which cast a warm glow about her.

Both figures were smiling warmly as the Elves and Mortals huddled together before them, staring at them in awe.

"Welcome, children," the male said again. "We’ve been waiting for you."

"M-my Lord Manwë? Lady Varda?" Glorfindel finally whispered, shock and disbelief written large upon his face.

"Glorfindel, my son, it is good to see you again," Manwë said warmly, a twinkle in his eyes as if he were sharing a joke with the Elf.

Then Glorfindel did something that none of the other Elves had ever seen him do. Instinctively he went to his knees, giving the couple before them his obeisance. Everyone else stayed where they were. The Mortals, of course, were clueless and fidgeted somewhat nervously, not sure what was happening. The other Elves were simply stunned into immobility at the sight of the proud Elf-lord on his knees.

"Now, now, none of that," the Elder King chided gently. "Up you get, son. You’re frightening the little ones."

Glorfindel rose somewhat reluctantly, feeling confused and disoriented. Never in his wildest dreams had he ever imagined this scenario and he was at a loss as to understand what it all meant. Manwë, meanwhile, turned to Varda.

"Perhaps, my dear, some refreshments are in order," he said and the Queen of Stars nodded.

"I’ll just go see what’s keeping Olórin, shall I?" she said somewhat coyly as she stepped down from the dais, giving Glorfindel a wink when the ellon started at the name.

Manwë laughed at the interplay between his Spouse and Glorfindel and then gestured. Nearly everyone gasped when chairs cushioned with red velvet suddenly appeared. "Please sit and make yourselves comfortable," he said even as he sat on the throne behind him, the owl fluttering up to perch on the back. The Mortals hesitantly took their seats; Zach putting Caleb on his knees. The Elves were even more reluctant, but when Glorfindel took one of the chairs, they, too, sat. Presently, Varda returned with another, both bearing trays with steaming cups of mulled cider for the children and wine for the adults. Glorfindel just stared at the newcomer who wore a white floor-length tunic over which was a dark green velvet sideless surcoat belted at the waist with gold braid. On the front of the surcoat was embroidered, not the expected eagle that was Manwë’s emblem, but a snowy owl in flight. The newcomer gave the ellon a warm smile.

"It has been a long time, hasn’t it, my friend?" Olórin said.

Glorfindel could only nod as he took the proffered cup. The Maia then turned to where the Twins were sitting. "Good to see you both as well," he said.

"Do... do we know you... sir?" Elladan asked.

"Ah, how soon they forget," Olórin said with a shake of his head. "Do you two still insist that it was Legolas who managed to misplace Glorfindel’s second-best sword?"

Now the Twins just stared at him in wide-eyed wonder. "Mi-mithrandir?" Elrohir whispered.

"The one and only," the Maia said with a laugh as he handed the ellon a cup of wine.

Then Manwë spoke, not to the Elves but to the Mortals. "You must forgive us, my children. Some of us have not seen each other in a very long time."

"Is you Santa?" Caleb suddenly demanded, his brows furrowed. "You don’ look like Santa."

"Caleb!" his mother admonished, clearly embarrassed, but Manwë merely waved his hand in dismissal.

"It’s quite all right, my dear. Come here, child," he said and Caleb reluctantly climbed down from his perch on Zach and made his way to the throne. Manwë picked him up and set him on his knee.

"You are correct, little one," the Elder King said. "I am not Santa. I am, however, a very good friend of his. He wanted me to tell you and your brother and sisters that he knows how difficult it has been for you this past year and he knows you have all tried very hard to be good. He is very proud of you and so am I." Then he gave the boy a kiss on his forehead. "But come, let us speak of why you are here." He turned to Glorfindel. "I see you took Estë’s advice to heart. I am glad."

"Estë?" Glorfindel echoed, trying to grasp what the Elder King was saying, and then he recalled a certain conversation in a café. "Esther," he whispered, his universe doing a sickening right turn as certain truths became self-evident. Manwë nodded. "And... and Nate?" the ellon asked.

"Ah... that was Námo," Manwë answered with a twinkle in his eyes and Glorfindel found himself shaking for no particular reason. Olórin was beside him immediately and placed a hand lightly on his head.

"Take a deep breath, child," the Maia said gently, "and let it out slowly. That’s it. Again. Good. Feeling better?" Glorfindel nodded.

"We have been watching all of you," Manwë said to the Elves, "and we are pleased with what we have seen."

"Watching..." Glorfindel said, his eyes narrowing. "In the woods...."

Manwë nodded. "Yes."

"Who...?"

"Can you not guess?" Varda asked with a faint smile as she joined Lord Manwë on the dais where another throne appeared. Somehow the dais was able to accommodate both thrones even though it was no larger than before. "It was Oromë. Who else would be able to waken the trees but the Lord of Forests? Did you not sense that?"

Eyebrows went up at that revelation, but before anyone could respond to Varda’s words, Manwë spoke again. "I know losing your jobs and having to start all over again...."

"You know about that?" Daeron interjected and then paled as he realized he’d just interrupted the Elder King of Arda and Eru’s vice-gerent.

Manwë laughed. "Oh yes, for we arranged for all this to happen."

"I don’t understand," Glorfindel said. "You mean Elf Academy was your idea?"

"No," Manwë replied. "That was the doing of Mortals, but when we learned of it, we decided to take advantage of the situation and arranged for all of you to attend."

"But why?" Glorfindel asked, still confused.

Now Manwë’s expression became more solemn. "The Dagor Dagorath is nigh," he said quietly.

There were startled gasps from all the Elves and confused looks from the Mortals. Manwë nodded. "Nigh but not yet. You six have been chosen to prepare the Mortals who will listen and take heed. It is time for them to remember what has been forgotten in the long ages since Men and Elves walked together. That is what the Elf Academy will ultimately be about. Not preparing people to be Elf Guides, but to be warriors."

"We... we were going to go to Finland," Daeron said, his tone bleak. Glorfindel suddenly realized that of all of them, only the minstrel seemed to have invested a great deal of himself in seeing their plans realized. He was not sure why that was so. The others, himself included, were willing to go along but it was not an overriding need.

Manwë gave Daeron a sympathetic smile. "You would have had to start from scratch and build up your infrastructure. Here, though, it is already in place. All you have to do is... um... take over." He gave them a sly wink and Glorfindel suddenly burst out laughing.

"We’ve been doing that from the beginning," he said, "though not for the same reasons as you have stated."

"I know," Manwë said. "We have been highly amused by it all."

Glorfindel now sobered. "Amused. Yes, I am sure you have been."

"No, son," the Elder King chided gently. "Do not take that attitude. There is too much at stake here."

"So, what are we supposed to do when we, as you say, take over the Academy?" Nimrodel asked in the brief silence that filled the grotto.

"Pretty much as you originally planned," Manwë said, "but with this difference: you and others will begin teaching the Mortals the true history of Arda and their place in Ilúvatar’s plans, for we will need as many allies as we can find when once the Final Battle begins. Our Fallen Brother’s spirit has left its mark in the minds and hearts of most Mortals, but there are still some few who will heed us who are the Guardians of Arda. It will be your task to awaken within them hope, hope that many have lost, believing evil has overcome good."

"Others?" Glorfindel enquired, a glimmer of hope welling up within him.

"Yes," Varda spoke then. "You thought you were the last of your kind on these shores, but that is not true. Others still abide here in Middle-earth, believing that they, too, are alone. It will be up to you to find them and recruit them for the Academy. It is time for the Elves to rise again and become the teachers of the Secondborn that they were always meant to be."

"How?" Daeron asked. "How do we find them?"

"I am sure you will find a way to contact them," Manwë replied with confidence.

There was a long pause. The Mortals had remained quiet, instinctively sensing that the conversation did not involve them. Glorfindel was about to ask a question when Caleb, who had not been sitting very still for the last few minutes suddenly spoke up, his voice somewhat pained and anxious. "Baffwoom, mama. Go pee-pee."

That seemed to break whatever spell lay over them. Nicole looked mortified but Manwë merely laughed. "Olórin, will you do the honors?" he asked as he put the child down.

The Maia bowed and held out his hand to the child. "Of course, my lord. Come, young Caleb. I will show you where you may go."

The boy gave his mother an anxious look but when she nodded, he took the Maia’s hand readily enough and the two went behind the screens. Glorfindel then asked his question. "How long?"

"I do not know," came the reply. "None of us do, not even Námo, but the signs are there and we know it will be soon. How soon, not even we who call all times soon can say. It may be that the children of this generation will see it, or it may not come for another hundred years, but it is coming and so we must prepare."

"A hundred years," Elladan said. "That leaves us little time. I think you are leaving things a little late, lord."

"All is as Ilúvatar has counseled me in my heart and I but follow His decrees," Manwë answered. "You already have a core group of Mortals who will help you. The people of Wiseman know of you now. They will be the vanguard. Eventually, Northern Lights Community College will have a completely different focus and the Elf Academy will be at its center. It will not happen overnight, but it will happen. It must, if we are to have any chance of succeeding against what comes."

"So what do we do?" Glorfindel asked.

"Do as you originally planned," Varda answered. "Be Elf Guides for the next month. We will be arranging matters so that you will be given certain families to guide. Reveal yourselves to them and to no others. After the New Year, you and those running the Elf Academy will begin modifying the curriculum. When the next class commences, they will still be Elf Guides for the tourist industry, but they will be something more. They will be the seeds of hope that are sown in secret."

"All done," Caleb exclaimed as he ran back into the main chamber and the adults all smiled indulgently as he climbed into his mother’s arms.

"And so are we," Manwë said as he and Varda stood. Glorfindel and the Elves hastily got to their feet and the Mortals followed. The Elder King gave them all a beatific smile. "Go back to the road. You will find the van waiting and the road to the highway clear. My People have been very busy while we have been having our little chat."

"Wh-what about us?" Zach suddenly asked, indicating the other Mortals. "Wh-where do we fit in?"

"Did not Lord Glorfindel name you an Elf-friend?" Manwë asked and Zach nodded, surprised that this person knew about that. "You will learn in time what that means, but for now, you and the other Mortals who have befriended these six Elves will have an important role to play in the near future. It was no coincidence that any of you applied and were accepted to the Academy. Now, go with our blessing and with the blessing of the One. Olórin will see you safely to the van."

Glorfindel and the other Elves gave Manwë and Varda their obeisance and the Mortals clumsily followed suit. As they filed out of the grotto with the Maia leading the way, Caleb, holding Zach’s hand, turned and waved. "Bye-bye."

Manwë and Varda smiled. "Farewell, child," Manwë said. Glorfindel was the last to leave, pausing before the entrance, giving Manwë and Varda a considering look. The owl was back on Manwë’s shoulder.

"Your gwador is very proud of you," Manwë said without preamble. "He is anxiously awaiting the day when you and he will be reunited once again. Until then, child, be the Elf-lord that you are and that this world needs. Be my vice-gerent here in Middle-earth even as I am Ilúvatar’s."

Glorfindel nodded and gave the Elder King a low bow. "I live to serve," he stated formally.

"As do we all," Manwë replied and then he and Varda were no longer there and Glorfindel was left alone. Varda’s throne and the chairs were also gone. All was as it must have been when the Mortals playing Santa and Mrs. Claus had left earlier that afternoon. With a sigh he stooped down and made his way outside where everyone else was gathered.

Olórin was holding one of the torches that had been burning beside the entrance and silently he led the way back down the path, now dark, for the candles were all burned out. They eventually reached the road leading to the Steiner Farm. At the entrance of the turn-off they found the van looking no worse for wear, pointing towards the main highway. Olórin stopped and gave them a short bow. "Here I will leave you. Take the highway back to Wiseman. You will find that the road is passable, though care must still be taken. Farewell, my friends. I am sure we will meet again soon." And then, the Maia simply wasn’t there.

The Mortals gasped and the Elves gave one another considering looks. "Let’s get the children buckled up," Glorfindel said.

"We’ll make better time going cross country," Elladan said, indicating himself and his twin.

"We’ll stop at the Steiner’s and let them know everyone is safe," Elrohir added. "I still want to get that recipe from Ellen."

"Mithrellas and I will go as well," Nimrodel said. "There’s not enough room in the van for all of us anyway."

Glorfindel nodded. "You will reach Wiseman before we do. Go to the Grange Hall and let them know we’re coming. I don’t know about anyone else, but I could use a good hot meal right about now."

No one had any objections to that and the four Elves set off, lightly running over the snow as Glorfindel and Daeron helped to get everyone else into the van while Ralph got into the driver’s seat and turned the key over. The van started up immediately, much to their relief. Five minutes later they were on their way.

****

Words are Sindarin.

Craban: A kind of crow of large size, a raven.

Gwador nîn: My (sworn) brother.

20: The Return of the Elves

The drive back to Wiseman was done in virtual silence. Glorfindel was reluctant to talk, saying only that he preferred to tell their story once and it would be best to wait until they were back at the Grange Hall. Both Elves were introspective and the Mortals sensed that engaging them in small talk would be out of the question. The children began to fall asleep almost as soon as the van started, with Caleb succumbing first, a thumb stuck firmly in his mouth. Adam was the last to succumb, fighting to stay awake with the grown ups, but the excitement of the day finally caught up with him and by the time they were turning onto the James Dalton Highway, he was fast asleep.

At one point, Nicole turned to Zach, laying a hand on his knee to get his attention and speaking softly so as not to disturb the children. “I want to thank you,” she said.

“For what?” Zach asked, looking puzzled.

“For giving my children such a wonderful day,” she replied. “You did a marvelous job of being our Elf Guide.”

Zach shook his head. “I don’t think Ms Henderson would agree with you.”

“Oh?” Glorfindel asked. “Why is that?”

Zach muttered something that even the Elves could not hear. It was Beth Henderson who answered, giving a snort. “Half the time he sang, not songs, mind you, but responses where other people would simply have spoken. It was rather annoying, if you ask me.”

Glorfindel could see Zach blushing even in the dark. Daeron asked the obvious question. “Why were you singing?”

“I w-was so nervous, afraid I would screw up big time and fail, that wh-when I opened my mouth, all I could think to do was to s-s-sing, because I didn’t want to make things worse with my stuttering.”

“Finwod sing good,” came the sleepy voice of young Caleb as he stirred, but when they looked they could see he was fast asleep again.

“And I think it was just wonderful,” Nicole said with a smile. “Even Adam, my resident skeptic, told me that he thought you were cool and he’s not easily impressed with anything these days, not since his father left us.”

“For what it’s worth, kid,” Ralph interjected from the driver’s seat, “I think you did okay, especially there at the end. You kept your cool and kept the kids from freaking out when we couldn’t see our hands in front of our faces. That was smart thinking, making that shelter. The folks at the Academy taught you well. As for the singing, well, my wife says I can’t carry a tune in a bucket to save my life, but I think it added to the mystique that you were attempting to create for the kids.”

“Ralph is right,” Nicole added. “My kids think you’re great. Caleb especially adores you. You’re his hero. Anyway, in spite of the blizzard, we had a fun time and you helped make it so. I just wanted to let you know.”

Glorfindel smiled at the young man and leaned over to whisper in his ear. “The real Finrod would be proud of you, as am I.”

Zach gave the Elf a considering look and when he saw the sincerity in the ellon’s eyes, he smiled back, looking less tense. They lapsed into silence again. Glorfindel noticed Beth Henderson eyeing them rather doubtfully, but he knew that Nicole’s enthusiastic recommendation would go a long way towards countering any negatives that the evaluator might mention in her own report. He had every assurance that Zach would pass.

As Olórin had told them, the road was passable but there were still some tricky spots. Ralph drove carefully, keeping to a steady forty miles per hour all the way. By now, the storm had spent itself and when they entered Wiseman two hours later, they could see plows out clearing the streets and people with snowblowers and shovels clearing sidewalks and driveways. Ralph took them directly to the Grange Hall which was a hive of activity as people were clearing off their cars in the parking lot. Two of the college buses were there, presumably to take back to the college any of the students who had come to the Hall earlier and became stranded there because of the blizzard.

People stopped what they were doing when they saw the van coming into the parking lot and when everyone started climbing out, several of them ran into the Hall to let others know of their arrival, while others congregated around their small group, most of them staring at them in curiosity. Among them were the Twins and the ellith.

“There’s a hot meal waiting for you all,” Elladan said, as he took a still sleepy Caleb into his arms while Elrohir herded the two girls in front of him. “Everyone is waiting rather impatiently to hear our story,” he added with a wry grin.

“No doubt,” Glorfindel said, “but not until after we’ve eaten. I refuse to tell any tale on an empty stomach.”

“And they will watch every forkful avidly until the last bite is gone,” Elrohir quipped and Daeron snickered.

As they stepped inside, all noise stopped as people turned to them. The children huddled close to their mother, not sure what to expect. Zach stayed close to Glorfindel, perhaps for the same reason. Then, somewhere someone began clapping and almost immediately the entire Hall burst out into applause as Elladan led the group to a table where hot soup and baked chicken were waiting for them. Marian, Deirdre, Roland and Paul were there to greet them, looks of relief on their faces. Their close friends were also there and Jud and Matt organized some of the other students to act as guards, cordoning off the area from the rest of the crowd so that Glorfindel and the others could eat in peace. Only when the plates were cleared did Glorfindel agree to speak.

To make it easier for everyone to see and hear them, the Elves moved onto a small stage that took up a part of the Hall. A table was set up and they sat behind it; carafes of water and thermoses of coffee and tea were placed on the table in between the three microphones. Chairs for the audience had been set up while they were eating and now the Hall was settling down to hear what Glorfindel had to say. He looked across the room and saw that many more people had come in, forced to stand along the perimeter of the Hall, for there were not enough chairs for everyone. No one seemed to mind. He looked down at the front row and smiled. Zach was there with Nicole and her children as were the Michaelsons. Jud, Matt, Cassie, Lily, Shane, and Evan were also there along with several other students who had become good friends of the Elves. Marian and the other instructors from the Academy sat in the second row along with the president of the college and several of its trustees. He even saw Grace and Phil Gordon and others from the college whom he knew sitting several rows back. The rest of the audience was comprised of townspeople, many of them having come originally to learn the fate of their friends and neighbors who had been on the various tours when the blizzard struck and who had ended up staying when the roads became impassable.

Glorfindel glanced at the other Elves and gave them rueful looks. Daeron, sitting next to him on his left, nodded to him gravely, while the Twins, who were on either end, gave him identical grins. Nimrodel, who was on his right, gave him a thumbs-up while Mithrellas, sitting between Daeron and Elladan, winked at him. He then looked back over the audience and, leaning slightly towards the microphone before him, he began to speak.

“I am Lord Glorfindel of the House of the Golden Flower, and once I lived in a city named Gondolin....”

****

It took some time for them to tell their stories and even so, they left much out, giving only highlights. Daeron, fully in loremaster-mode, gave them a brief account of the first three Ages of Middle-earth, describing the conflict between the Elves and the Mortals who sided with them against Morgoth and his servant Sauron. When he spoke of the fall of Númenor the name ‘Atlantis’ was on more than one Mortals’ lips as they began to re-evaluate their own history and legends. Elladan then spoke of the glories of the Fourth Age under the rule of the Telcontar dynasty which ended so disastrously with the coming of the Ice Age and all knowledge of what had gone before was lost among Men, save for distorted legends of a golden age.

Eventually, Glorfindel went on to explain how it was that they had come to Wiseman and to the Elf Academy and what they had hoped to accomplish in doing so.

“You wanted to set up your own Academy in Finland?” Marian asked in disbelief when Glorfindel finished that part of the narrative.

The Elf-lord gave a shrug and smiled. “It sounded like a good idea at the time,” he said and there were chuckles all around as Daeron rolled his eyes and gave Glorfindel a punch on his arm. “At any rate,” he continued when the Hall calmed down again, “that is no longer an option. We have been told that we are to use Wiseman and the Elf Academy here as our... um... headquarters, I suppose you can say.”

“Those people,” Zach spoke up. “The ones at the grotto. Who were they? You seemed to recognize them, though none of the other Elves did.”

Glorfindel sighed, wondering how to explain. “They were Lord Manwë and Lady Varda,” he said.

“Are they Elves, too?” Nicole Lord asked. “They seemed... I don’t know... different somehow.”

Glorfindel nodded. “They are the Valar, the Guardians of this world, or at least two of them. There are fourteen altogether and Lord Manwë is the Elder King who speaks for the One.”

“Angels?” Shane asked, wrinkling her nose at the thought.

“More like archangels,” Glorfindel corrected, then turned back to Zach. “The other who was there in the green surcoat, Olórin, is a Maia, one of the innumerable servants of the Valar. They are what you might call your garden-variety angel.”

“But how is it you knew them when no one else did?” Zach insisted.

“You remember Daeron telling of the Great Migration and how many of the Elves traveled to Valinor while others remained behind in Middle-earth?” Zach and many others nodded. “I was born in Valinor. I remember the Light of the Two Trees. Later, though, I journeyed back to the Mortal lands, but while I lived in Valinor I knew the Valar.” He wasn’t going to go into details of how he knew them or that he came back to Middle-earth twice, dying in between.

“They seemed so... ordinary, not like what I would expect from angels,” Ralph said then.

Glorfindel shook his head. “They take on forms similar to our own in order to converse with us, but I assure you, if you ever met the Valar in their natural state, you would not survive the encounter. Even we Elves who can stare into the heart of the sun without suffering hurt cannot look upon them when they appear to us in their true forms.”

There were murmurs among the audience at that and it took a minute or two for the noise level to quiet down and then Marian asked a question. “What do you intend to do now?”

“We were told that after the New Year we and the college administration should sit down and discuss altering the curriculum at the Academy,” Glorfindel replied. “Oh, not to worry. We will still be training people to be Elf Guides, at least for now. That has not changed, but we will be training them to be more than that. There is a battle coming, what people today refer to as Armageddon.” He had to hold up his hand to still the sudden outburst of surprised exclamations from the Mortals. “We do not know when it will happen, not even the Valar know, yet even the dimmest of Mortals can see that the world is heading for a final confrontation between good and evil.” There were nods of agreement all around. “We need to prepare ourselves for it and that is what the Academy will ultimately be about. Mortals have a role to play, even as we Elves do, though I have no idea just what that will entail, but in the past Elves and Mortals stood shoulder to shoulder against the might of Morgoth and his servant Sauron. We will do the same again.”

There was a scattering of applause at that. Then, Paul Pettingill stood up and the Hall quieted to hear what he had to say. “All this is well and good, but what about the rest of us?” He gestured to include the townspeople. “Where do we fit in? What role do the people of Wiseman play in all this?”

“You know who and what we are,” Daeron answered before Glorfindel could respond. “Half the students at the Academy come from Wiseman or the nearby communities. In early medieval times, monasteries were the bulwarks of civilization, repositories of learning so that not all knowledge would be lost. Wiseman is in a similar situation. We are an island of light in a world of darkness, but that light needs to spread if darkness is not to prevail. The people of Wiseman, for reasons best known to the Valar and the One, have been chosen to be the vanguard of a new knowledge, or rather an old knowledge regained.”

There were murmurs among the crowd which quieted when Paul held up his hand. “Humans being what they are, I very much doubt that everyone in Wiseman or at the college is going to agree to this. Someone’s likely to put your faces on the internet and then we’re going to be bombarded by newshounds. We’ll have no peace and you will most likely be carted off to some government laboratory where you’ll be sliced and diced.”

“I know,” Glorfindel said. “We will have to prepare for that somehow.”

“Why don’t you just make it into a joke?” Jud suggested, a wicked gleam lighting his eyes.

“And how do we do that?” Elrohir asked, giving the Mortal a smile.

“Simple. Make everyone Elves,” came the unexpected answer.

“Would you like to explain that statement?” Glorfindel asked, gesturing for the Mortal to come forward.

Jud sauntered up to the stage, a wide grin on his face. “It’s like this: if you want to hide a tree, where’s the best place for it?”

“With other trees,” Daeron replied for them all. “And so?”

Jud shook his head, a look of feigned disgust on his face. “For Elves you’re pretty dense. The ears, Spock, the ears.”

There was a brief moment of silence as they all tried to figure out what Jud was saying and then Zach started laughing. “Of course. It’s the ears that are the give away. Hey! I remember seeing plastic pointed ears in all that Halloween stuff where we found your coffin.”

“Exactly!” Jud exclaimed with a triumphant look. “Every student who goes through Elf Academy gets fitted for Elf-ears. Then, when someone comes snooping around, all they’ll see is a bunch of students being funny, pretending to be Elves because they’re at the Academy.”

“Hide in plain sight,” Glorfindel said musingly. “It just might work. It is something we’ll have to explore further. In the meantime....”

“In the meantime, it’s getting very late and it’s time we were all on our way now that the roads are somewhat passable,” Dave Michaelson said and there were murmurs of assent.

“I agree,” Glorfindel said, smiling down to where the Michaelson children and Nicole’s children were already fast asleep. “There is time enough for further discussions later. It is enough for now that you know who we are and why we are here.”

“What will you do now though?” Marian asked. “I mean, now that you’re not going to act as guides....”

“Why not?” Elladan retorted.

“But... you’re Elves!” Marian protested.

All six Elves started laughing. “And who better to play at being Elves, than Elves, Marian,” Glorfindel responded, giving Daeron a wink. “I think I can speak for the others when I say that I quite enjoyed acting as a guide this past week and I am looking forward to being one for the next month or so.” He held up a hand to still any further protests. “Also, we were told to continue acting as Elf Guides. Certain families will be assigned to us and we have been commanded to reveal to them our real identities. So, we will continue acting as guides along with the other students. And now, I think it’s time to adjourn. The hour grows late, as Dave has reminded us.” He stood and so did the other Elves and then everyone else was getting up, with several people folding the chairs to put away while others drifted off to their cars. Marian called out to the college students, informing them that buses were waiting to take them back to the college and then she and several others gathered around the Elves.

“It seems absurd to have you acting as guides, though,” she said to them. “It seems somehow demeaning.”

Glorfindel laughed. “Marian, I have been everything from a warrior in Gondolin to a waiter in New York City.” Several eyebrows went up in disbelief. “This is no different, and it is what we wish to do. Do not overly concern yourself on our behalf.”

Marian still looked doubtful, but let it go. Glorfindel turned to Zach and their other friends who were gathered around them. “Come. Let’s go back to the Academy.”

****

The next month passed quickly for them all. At first, even their closest friends were a little diffident around the Elves, as if unsure just how to act around these ancient beings, but by the end of the week they began to act more naturally around them, much to the Elves’ relief. Glorfindel insisted that they receive no special treatment from anyone and that wherever they were originally slated to work, that would be fine. Thus, Glorfindel found himself an employee of Arctic Gates Safari, while Daeron worked for the Lightfoots. Nimrodel was employed with Rainbow Lake Holiday Resort and Mithrellas went to work for Lookout Safaris. Elladan was hired by Northern Lights Holiday Resort while Elrohir ended up working for Mount Horace Holiday Resort.

“I can keep an eye on that tarn while I’m there,” the ellon said and Glorfindel nodded.

As busy as the resorts and safaris were, the Elves were somewhat surprised when they realized that they were not working as often as the other students. Sometimes two or three days would pass before they were assigned a family. Mithrellas wondered why they were being treated differently from the other Elf Guides, but Glorfindel reminded them that Lord Manwë had told them that certain families would be assigned to them.

“I have the feeling the Valar are manipulating the schedules for their own purposes,” he said and while the others were not happy about it, they realized that there was little they could do. At any rate, when they were acting as guides, they enjoyed themselves and found creative ways in which to reveal their true identities to those assigned to them. They looked forward to seeing the expressions of shock mutating to wonder and delight on the Mortals’ faces, especially on the faces of the children, when they realized just who their guides actually were.

During the week between Christmas and New Year, they were assigned groups of adults, most of them young adults in their late twenties and early thirties looking for a little adventure. It surprised the Elves how many wanted to take the Winterdark Tarn trail, but when several people spoke of how creepy the tarn felt to them, the Elves began to see things in a different light. As with the families, when they revealed themselves to these young adults, shock turned to joy.

“I always wished there were Elves,” one young woman who ran her own ad agency told Daeron. “I’m glad to know that they are real. It makes everything feel more special.”

After the New Year, which was celebrated in grand style, the various resorts and safari companies combining resources to fete all their employees for a successful season, the Elves got down to the serious business of taking over the Elf Academy.

“As if we haven’t already,” Elladan quipped.

A large house, almost a mansion really, situated at one end of town, was given over to the Elves as their headquarters. It had originally belonged to an oil baron who died, leaving no heirs. It had stood empty for nearly twenty years. The town ended up paying the back taxes on it and sold it to the Elves for one dollar. Over the weeks after the New Year, the house was completely renovated and by the end of February the Elves were moved in. It was here that meetings were held between them and the college administration to discuss how the new Elf Academy would be run.

Daeron was at a loss, at first, to figure out how to contact the other Elves that Lord Manwë had insisted were out there. Then, he hit on an idea, working with those knowledgeable about creating websites to modify the Elf Academy’s existing site. He created a message in tengwar which was added to the webpage. To the Mortals, it would appear as an interesting but ultimately meaningless design; for any Elves who saw it....

“That’s assuming they even know how to use a computer,” Daeron commented somewhat sourly.

“Why shouldn’t they?” Glorfindel countered. “We do, so unless they’re hiding somewhere in the Amazon or the Himalayas, I’m sure they will see it. If nothing else, the Valar will make sure that they do.”

At first, though, it did not appear as if Glorfindel’s prediction would come true. Then, around the beginning of March, Daeron received an email with a single sentence written in Sindarin: “Is this for real?” He returned the email with one of his own, a much longer email, also written in Sindarin explaining everything. Two weeks later, two cars pulled into the driveway of the mansion, now known as ‘Edhellond’, and five people climbed out. When Glorfindel answered the doorbell and saw five Elves standing before him he greeted them warmly in Sindarin. The newcomers burst into tears of relief as Glorfindel and the other Elves gathered around them, welcoming them. None of them were known to Glorfindel or the others, but that did not matter; they were Elves and, therefore, they were family.

Three more Elves, all of them Noldor, appeared in mid-May — an ellon and his wife and their daughter, who had been born at the beginning of the present Age.

“Finally, someone who is actually younger than we are,” Elrohir exclaimed when he was introduced to the elleth. The other Elves just laughed, except the elleth, who stuck her tongue out at the Twins, which just made their elders laugh the harder.

On Mid-summer’s Day, a lone Elf stepped off the bus from Fairbanks and made his way to Elf Haven. Perhaps it was just coincidence that Nimrodel happened to be the one to answer the door. Perhaps not. When she opened the door and saw who was standing there, giving her an uncertain smile, her shriek brought everyone else running only to find her in a clench with the stranger, the two of them crying and kissing each other, refusing to let the other go.

Thus it was that Nimrodel was at last reunited with her beloved Amroth and there was much rejoicing among the Elves. That night they held a grand celebration, inviting only the closest of their Mortal friends to join them to listen to Amroth’s tale of survival against all odds.

“I thought I was the last,” he told them, “and I should have faded long ago, but something within me would not let me take that route.” He smiled lovingly at Nimrodel who was practically glowing with joy. “Now I’m glad I didn’t.”

“Fifteen,” Daeron said to Glorfindel during a lull in the festivities. “Fifteen Elves, including us. That’s not very many.”

“But it’s a start,” Glorfindel pointed out. “More may come later, but if not, then we will make the best of what we have.”

All of the Elves’ closest friends from the Academy were asked to stay on, either working for one of the resorts or safari companies or working with the Elves themselves. Zach, Jud, Shane, Lily, Evan and Chloe became personal assistants to the Elves. Matt, Cassie and Jen, being natives of Wiseman, acted as liaisons with the mayor’s office, heading a newly created ‘Elf Relations Department’.

The Academy curriculum was given a complete overhaul. The ‘Wilderness Survival’ and ‘Nature Studies’ classes were unchanged, though they became more intense. Shortly after Amroth showed up, he and the Twins took Paul and the other rangers on a week-long wilderness training expedition, ‘Elf-style’, as Elladan quipped with an evil grin. When the group returned, Glorfindel asked the Mortals how it went, for they all looked a little worse for wear.

“I thought Marine boot camp was tough,” Paul commented while the other rangers all nodded, “but that was a walk in the park compared to what we just went through.”

Glorfindel smirked. “Just be thankful I wasn’t with you. You might not have survived at all.”

The rangers gave him disbelieving looks while the Twins nodded enthusiastically. Amroth stood to one side smiling knowingly, giving Glorfindel a wink when he caught the ellon’s eye.

‘Dealing With Children of All Ages’ was also left unchanged, but ‘Elf Legends’ became ‘Elf History’ — actually ‘The True History of Arda’ — and ‘Elf Etiquette’ became ‘How to Speak Elvish’ — actually ‘Beginning Sindarin’. The courses were given ‘fun titles’, as Shane put it, to disguise their real purpose to the outside world. Both courses were also offered to the community at large, including courses especially designed for children, shortly after the holiday season ended and several classes had to be set up with all the Elves teaching  because of the huge turnout. They found it both amusing and encouraging to be greeted on the streets with a shy ‘mae govannen’ or ‘aur vaer’ from the Mortals whom they met.

Plans were made to also offer a course in Beginning Quenya to any who were interested, whether students or townspeople. Glorfindel would teach that course but it was purely an elective and would be taught on Saturday mornings. He did not think too many people would sign up for it and was pleasantly surprised when forty people showed up for the first class that was held after the Spring break, including Zach and their other close Mortal friends from the college, as well as the Michaelsons, Nicole Lord and her children, Ralph Penner, Andy Norton and even Francine Doran.

Archery, Fencing and Martial Arts were now mandatory for all budding Elf Guides. Elrohir insisted that the Cooking class remain unchanged, and even volunteered to help out.

“I’ll teach them how to make the best hot chocolate this world has ever seen,” he said with a smug smile and everyone just laughed. Elladan quipped that perhaps his brother should just open his own hot chocolate stand in Wiseman’s main square and forget about teaching. Elrohir retorted that he was thinking of doing just that once the tourist season started. “I’ll make enough money in a week to retire to the Cayman Islands,” he stated. The others just shook their heads, highly amused, knowing that the ellon had no intention of doing anything of the sort.

And then, it was the end of July and a new school term was beginning. The new class was larger than the previous one. Marian, who, along with Deirdre, had agreed to remain on the Academy staff in administrative roles, confessed to Glorfindel that they had originally hoped for more than the two hundred and eighty-eight students who had applied the year before.

“We were hoping for closer to three hundred and fifty students,” she told him, “and were rather discouraged when so few applied.”

“I suspect that was the doing of the Valar,” Glorfindel said with a slight smile. “Two hundred and eighty-eight is twice one hundred and forty-four, which is a very auspicious number for Elves.”

This second class of the Academy numbered closer to four hundred. None of the Elves were all that surprised when they discovered that several of the adults who had been on the tours in which they had acted as guides had applied to the Academy, with a number of the families to whom they had revealed themselves moving into Wiseman over the summer. It did not escape anyone’s notice that many of the adults were skilled workers and craftspeople. When it turned out that one of the men was actually a blacksmith by trade, Glorfindel had the Twins begin teaching him the making of swords.

“We will change the fencing class to sword-fighting next year,” he told them and the Twins nodded in agreement.

Some of the Mortals, though, opined that learning to fight in such an archaic manner in a world of nuclear weapons seemed pointless, almost suicidal, but Glorfindel was adamant. “I have a feeling that the Dagor Dagorath will be fought in a far different manner than most people think when they speak of Armageddon.” The Mortals shrugged, but did not offer any other arguments, trusting that the Elf-lord knew what he was about.

“So, Zach,” Glorfindel asked his friend and assistant as he straightened the robe he was wearing, “what do you think?” The two of them, along with the other Elves and their Mortal friends were standing outside the cafeteria waiting to enter for the orientation meeting to introduce the new students to their teachers. All the Elves were dressed in robes reminiscent of what they had worn in earlier ages. Indeed, Glorfindel, Daeron, Elladan, Elrohir, Nimrodel and Mithrellas were wearing the same garb they had worn to the Halloween party, except now the original trim had been replaced by intricate elvish embroidery.

Zach looked Glorfindel and the other Elves over in their flowing robes of silk and satin and brocade, glittering with jewels. Glorfindel and the Twins, as well as Amroth and a few of the other ellyn, all wore warrior braids. The Mortal gave them a broad grin. “I think the students are going to be very surprised when they see you lot trooping in looking like rejects from a fantasy computer game.”

They all laughed at that. “Come,” Glorfindel said, giving Zach and the others a wide smile. “Let’s get this over with.”

Jud and Matt opened the doors for them and the Elves entered the cafeteria, heading for the platform set up for their use. All conversation in the room ceased as the students stared at the Elves, not really sure what they were seeing. Glorfindel smiled as he saw the interplay of emotions on the Mortals’ faces, ranging from disbelief to wonder to knowing smiles among those who were already in the know and held up his hand to forestall the rising murmur among them. He glanced over to where Grace and the other kitchen staff stood watching and nearly laughed when the woman sketched him a brief curtsey. Then he turned his attention back to the waiting students and began to speak, eschewing the use of a microphone.

“Good evening, everyone. I am Lord Glorfindel of the House of the Golden Flower. Welcome to Northern Lights Community College’s Elf Academy....”

****

Words are Sindarin.

Edhellond: Elf Haven. The original Edhellond was located northwest of Dol Amroth.

Mae govannen: Well met.

Aur vaer: Good day/Good morning.

- Meth -