14. Heart and Mouth and Deed and Life '

They've taken an entire family?' Bergil said, feeling sick.

'Celandine and her eight,' Pippin answered. 'You remember her...?'

'I was at little Blossom's naming day,' Bergil said grimly. 'And what of Berimas? Is he dead? Elanor said she heard the head ruffian give orders to take only the "women" and children and kill the "men".'

'He would be dead, had he been there,' Pippin said quietly. 'The ruffians killed a Shirriff who tried to intervene.'

'I'll have to send another message to the King,' Bergil said soberly, 'to let him know that there are now hostages involved.'

'It might affect his course,' Pippin agreed. He shook his head. 'I'm glad I'm not in his shoes.'

'You don't wear shoes,' Regi said quietly. Pippin started to reply sharply, only to see the steward's nod towards the door.

Elanor stood there, her face stricken. 'I was looking for my Dad,' she said faintly. Ferdi went to her quickly, took her arm, and led her to a chair.

'Put your head between your knees,' he said, supporting her as she sagged, and easing her up again when the fainting fit seemed to have passed. 'There, now, Nell, that's better, I think.'

'The ruffians...' Elanor stammered. 'They've taken... more? Lasses and children? ...and killed...' she could not finish.

'Steady, Nell,' Ferdi said gently, rubbing her back with a soothing hand. 'Would you like a glass of water?'

The Thain took the hint and filled a glass, passing it to Ferdibrand, who held it to Elanor's lips and encouraged her to sip.

'Lasses...' Elanor said again. 'They wanted Rose; they were going to...' She shuddered. 'I could see it in their eyes...'

'Now, now, lass,' Ferdi soothed, but she didn't seem to hear him.

'The whole time they were playing... their "game",' her voice was bitter, 'they kept looking for her... I heard what they were saying,' she continued. 'Rose could hear, too, from the tree. She heard everything. She saw everything.' Elanor buried her face in her hands and wept while Ferdibrand soothed and Pippin stood by, feeling helpless.

'And so did you,' Reginard said quietly. 'You heard and saw everything, but you stayed strong, Ellie, you did everything right.'

'But I didn't,' Elanor sobbed. 'I didn't. I couldn't do anything.'

'Ah, Ellie,' Reginard said, 'Don't you even know what it is you did?'

She raised her head then, to stare at him.

'No,' he continued, 'I see that you don't... Don't you see, Ellie, when they were shooting those arrows into me, they hoped you'd break. They hoped you'd tell where Rose had gone, to try to save me.'

Elanor took a great, shuddering breath as Ferdi's hand gently clasped her shoulder.

'That's right, Nell,' the chancellor put in. 'Ruffians are all too fond of such games.'

'But telling wouldn't have saved me, you know, Ellie,' Reginard went on in a reasonable voice. 'They still would have killed me, and they would have... well, you know what they would have done to Rosie-lass. You saved your sister's life, Ellie, never forget that.'

Elanor stared into the steward's eyes, and he nodded slowly. Suddenly, very carefully, she rose from the chair, went to her knees by the bed, and laid her head upon his breast as if she were once more a young lass being soothed by the steward, as in the olden days when he picked her up with a scraped knee during a visit to the Smials.

He patted her back gently. 'You did just the right thing, Ellie, and I never want you to forget it.'

'I won't,' she whispered against his chest, and sighed.

***

The King's messengers travelled swiftly in all directions, to Rohan and Ithilien, to the Glittering Caves, to Ringlo Vale, Morthond, the Langstrad of Anfalas, Lamedon, Pinnath Gelin, and Lossarnach; and to Dol Amroth went a message in the hand of Prince Imrahil himself. The messengers bore the red arrow, token of Gondor, a call to arms, and there was a great stir everywhere the message was taken.

The King had outlawed slavery in all the land, and in Harad slavery was rearing its ugly head once again. It must be stamped out, and quickly, before the ill could spread.

Gimli the Lord of the Glittering Caves led a group of axe-wielding dwarves, marching southwards, to join a great army of the Rohirrim on their way to Gondor from the Riddermark. Prince Faramir, Legolas at his side, led out a force of Men and Elves together from Ithilien, and Men rode or marched from all the other Outlands, to muster on the Pelennor.

Looking over the field from the walls of the City, Gimli remarked, 'It seems a great gathering, to rescue just a few little folk, doesn't it?'

Legolas looked at him in astonishment. 'Have you forgotten that it was just a few little folk who rescued a greater gathering than this from certain destruction?'

The dwarf snorted. 'That is not what I meant at all,' he said. 'I'm just thinking... what's to stop this petty king of a small part of Harad from killing the hobbits and denying they were ever there at all?'

'A grim thought,' Legolas said soberly.

'We could go knocking on his door with the entire army, tear his kingdom apart, and never find the bodies,' Gimli went on.

'You're grimmer than usual this day, old friend,' Legolas commented.

The dwarf shrugged. 'Just trying to look on the bright side.'

'And what's the dark side?' Legolas wanted to know.

'The army could crush the hostages under their feet and never know,' Gimli muttered. 'Remember how tiny little hobbits are?'

***

Celandine had no idea how long they stayed in the hold of the little ship, for when they had finished eating, the hatch was shut again and they were left in darkness. Sometimes the hatch would be opened, and they would see stars above, and a lamp would be hung to light their mealtime; at other times, they saw sunshine.

One day the meal was slightly better than their previous fare, though they'd been well and generously fed throughout the journey, and the bottles they expected to be full of water proved to contain some sort of sweet juice, which they drank eagerly. Some time after they finished eating and drinking, there came a shuddering bump against the hull, and shouting erupted outside. The hatch was opened, and a Man came down, carrying sacks over his arm.

'Not the sacks again!' Celandine protested, but for some reason she was too sleepy to resist. She realised that there must have been something in the food or drink to make them sleepy. She wound the shawl about herself, tucking the babe in securely, and then the sack was popped over her head. She did not feel herself lifted up through the hatch, into the open air.