Chapter 9 - "A Bridge Too Far"

They made good time down the east side of Caradhras.

The last few hours on the mountainside were spent winding down a steep cut channel to the north of Moria and at the very top of the Dimrill Dale. Penny realised that at some point just after lunch, pretty soon after Erestor had pointed out the entrance to Moria, they must have crossed over the top of it without her even realising.

The streams and rivulets were combining to form waterfall after waterfall and the music for the afternoon was the loud splashing and roaring of the water tumbling down the side of the path more than the songs being sung. There were times when the songs could not be heard, even if Penny knew the singer had not stopped his tune. The path, cut deep into the rock and a little steep at times, zigzagged crazily, with large, low steps carved into it. They were clearly ancient and well-worn. The sharp turns had to be negotiated a little carefully at times with the horses, but were necessary due to the wall of water from the never-ending series of waterfalls to one side. Back and forth, towards the water and away from it, they snaked their way down into the shaded tip of the dale.

It was mid-afternoon when at last Penny found herself, still with Erestor beside her, riding beside the Mirrormere, her heart thumping as her knowledge of where she was, and the significance of the place, suddenly hit home.

This was the part of the journey she had most looked forward to: seeing all these places she had heard so much about. Of course she had known about the great battle in front of Moria's gates before she had come here, about the huge numbers of dead dwarves that had been burnt to save their bodies from the hordes of orcs since there had been no time to bury them and the numbers were too great to carry them home. A thing of honour, it had become, for a dwarf to say of a relative that he had been 'a burnt dwarf.' Then in Imladris, Erestor had read passages out to her from his histories about it all, about Durin, about Eregion, about the time when dwarves and elves were at peace and happy: before Durin's Bane was awoken and before Sauron burnt Eregion to the ground. The details made seeing this place at last all the more poignant.

She was so lost in her reverie, she did not even notice the worn path to her right as it joined the one she was travelling on. It was only as she trotted past a tall, broken standing stone, runes visible on it through the moss, that she suddenly realised where she might be. She glanced behind her to try and catch sight of the path, but it was already lost from view.

"What are you searching for?" Erestor asked quietly.

"Where they came down from Moria," she replied in English.

Erestor nodded but said nothing.

Penny wanted to stop and look in the water, to see what she might see there. It was a thing of wonder, Kheled-zâram, but there was no stopping to appreciate it more fully. The cool, dark water lay undisturbed, not to be troubled by the gaze of a foolish mortal girl with more knowledge than sense half the time. Even though they had made good time, Penny could sense that the pace was not lessening any. It was clear they wanted to make it to the relative safety of Lothlorien by nightfall, out of the gaze of any orc poking its nose out of Moria's gates. Their traverse across the mountains would not have gone unnoticed, even despite the business during the night. This was not the time to pause and indulge Penny's whims, and she knew better than to ask.

Instead she contented herself with watching the tips of the mountains roll by, reflected in the deep blue water, as they followed the path downhill and between the two arms of peaks on either side of them.

As they finally left the dale behind them, Penny glanced back to see the afternoon sun making Caradhras glow. She had to stop herself from pinching herself. There were times when the surrealism of her situation struck home hard. This was one of those times.

Even as she turned back to face the direction they were travelling, it struck her once more as the well of water from where the Celebrant sprung was pointed out to her. Ahead, the track led down into the valley that opened before her and in the distance could be clearly seen a band of dark green.

Lothlorien.

Quite why Penny was so nervous she was not entirely sure. She was desperate to see it, to actually see what it all looked like. At the same time she was worried about meeting Galadriel and she had not really got it clear in her head why this should be. She remembered back in the darkest days when she had first arrived in Imladris there had been some talk about how Galadriel should meet this weird phenomenon that Halbarad had dragged, weeping and wailing, to see Elrond, and that it would happen as soon as circumstances allowed.

Now that circumstances did allow, Penny was not looking forward to it in the slightest.

The pace was kept brisk even though they were out of sight of Moria. If anything it quickened still further a little now that journeying was easier both on horse and foot. Celebrant trickled along beside them to their left, growing into a steady stream, wider and faster as they got nearer to the treeline.

The songs had changed, Penny noted. One or two were now in a language she did not understand. She asked Mireth about it (Erestor having left her to join Elrond and Arwen somewhere further ahead) who explained these were songs in one of the Silvan dialects.

"While Sindarin is our main language in Imladris, some among us are of Silvan descent and know one or several varieties of the language."

'And just when I thought dealing with two languages at once was bad enough,' Penny thought to herself, despairingly.

The songs sung in Sindarin were joined in by many, though. Penny understood enough to know they were tales of the beauty of Lothlorien, some had sections in them where Galadriel's name was mentioned a good few times. One bright spark even started up a ballad about Doriath, clearly showing that Lothlorien was nearest thing in existence to the beauty that had been Doriath as far as the elves were concerned.

It was nearing early evening when they reached the trees. The songs tailed off into silence as they passed by stumps of relatively recently felled trees, most blackened from fire. Indeed there was an entire swathe of forest just to their right that in the quickening gloom seemed to be nothing but the charred remains of trees, the ground black and ashen. Even so, grass was reclaiming its hold, and weeds and summer flowers, their petals closing for the night, could be seen here and there even amongst the sooty remnants of battle.

Mirkwood had been burnt and badly, Penny knew. Even if she had not told Elrond as much, the messengers that had criss-crossed Middle-earth since the war brought him the same news. However, it seemed that, while Lothlorien had not suffered nearly as badly in that respect, it had still not been left unscathed. Fighting had been fierce. Many had fallen. There were some who were travelling to Lothlorien with Penny hoping to meet friends long unseen and who would not find them again on this side of the sea.

Soon enough, though, they were out of sight of any burnt or butchered trees and crossing the Nimrodel. Penny could hear the falls splashing somewhere to her left in the ever-increasing gloom. The songs had started up once more and the mood lifted. Many got off their horses and waded through the water, little more than ankle or shin deep at that point. Penny had little choice, given Eleniel was riding her mare, but Eleniel did get out of the saddle to join Penny, Mireth and Celebdor as they crossed on foot together.

It was cold but refreshing. Penny took her boots off and then regretted it because she could not feel her toes well enough to put them back on quickly afterwards, but at least she did not feel quite as tired as she had done before.

As it turned out, there was a slight hiatus on the other side of the Nimrodel, so she did not in fact delay anyone as she feared she might. Penny at first assumed it was due to some putting their boots back on (those that had bothered to take them off – not everyone had), or else others climbing back onto their horses.

It was only as murmurs, laughs and greetings filtered through to her that she realised something else was going on. Glancing up she saw, a little distance away, a group of ten or so ellyn she did not recognise busily greeting Elrond, bowing low to him, Glorfindel, Erestor and Arwen. A few then moved through some of the crowd nearby, smiling at the occasional face they recognised. Snatches of an unfamiliar language, though clearly elvish, could be heard.

"Ooh, my first sight of Galadhrim," Penny muttered, grinning. "I wonder if any of them are Haldir or his brothers. Probably not."

It did not seem like she would find out any time soon either since no sooner were the greetings made than they set off again, this time with the welcoming committee leading the way. Night was falling and already under the trees it was very dark so lamps were now lit, little flecks of light slowly growing in number in the gloom as one candle lit another all the way along the group.

Penny was vaguely aware that the trees were getting bigger as she walked along beside Mireth. She did not have time to stop and stare, but the size of the trunks (as best she could make out in the shadows) were definitely getting wider.

Mellyrn.

Had to be.

A thrill went through her just to think about it. She was vaguely aware she was grinning inanely. She strained her eyes in the darkness, peering ahead to see if she could distinguish the Galadhrim, dressed all in grey, from the others, but they were too far ahead of her, lost amongst the twinkle of lamps winding in and out of the trees somewhere.

It did not take long for them to reach the Celebrant, now swollen to a small river or large stream (depending on your point of view). There was no permanent means of crossing established as yet: the war was won but it was early days yet to be building bridges. Moria was still chock-full of orcs for a start.

Where they grouped on the southern bank the trees thinned a little on either side of the water, allowing the starlight to filter down to them. Penny watched as the Galadhrim threw ropes across to others who had appeared from the dark on the other side of the river and secured them to trees on either side. It was not long before two or three single ropes provided a means for those on foot to cross. Penny gaped in awe as various elves quickly began to cross at speed, near running across the ropes. It was her first taste of elvish acrobatics.

Mireth saw the expression on her face and laughed.

"I suggest you go by horse, Pen-ii."

She pointed at those already urging their horses into the water, which foamed and swirled around the horses' legs at about knee height.

"Do not fear! I have no intention of attempting that." Penny pointed as Naurdir effortlessly sped across, as if it was the most normal thing in the world to be doing. "Not even in daylight, let alone in the dark!"

She shook her head at him, now grinning at her from the other side of the river.

Mad. Completely and utterly bonkers.

"You can cross with me," Eleniel said to her. Indeed most of those on horseback had offered places to others and nearly every horse now had two if not three riders on its back. It would make the crossing that much quicker, given how many of them there were.

"You are sure you will not attempt it?" Celebdor asked, trying to look serious. "You are not scared of a tiny piece of rope, are you?"

"No, I am scared of falling off a tiny piece rope. In fact, that is the point: it is a TINY piece of rope. All very well for elves to go dancing about on it, but not me. No, thank you."

"Oh, come on, Pen-ii," Celebdor grinned, grabbing Penny by the wrist and attempting to drag her towards the riverbank. "It is easy enough!"

"Oh, stop it!" Mireth laughed, even as Penny struggled against his hold. "Leave her alone! Stop teasing her!"

"Yes, stop teasing me, Celebdor!"

"Is there a problem?" Lindir stopped his stallion beside them, one eyebrow raised and a faint smile on his face.

"Yes, Celebdor thinks I should fall into the Celebrant," smirked Penny, finally wriggling free of him.

"No, I do not!"

Celebdor did 'injured innocence' very well.

"You want me to fall off a rope and into a river! I do not think that is very friendly."

Mireth laughed. "She has a point."

"Who says you will fall?" Lindir was grinning. "You may surprise yourself."

"Oh, not you as well," Penny muttered.

"What was that?" Lindir was already off his horse, sharing a glance and grin with Celebdor.

"Nothing." Penny turned to climb up beside Eleniel, grasping hold of the saddle to pull herself up. "Now if you will excuse-ARGH!"

Lindir grabbed her under her arms and Celebdor caught hold of her ankles. Sniggering like schoolboys, they ran towards the nearest rope with her. Mireth was calling out for them to stop but laughing too hard to make herself particularly coherent. Eleniel just watched in astonishment.

"What are you doing?!" she cried before collapsing into giggles.

Penny was wriggling like mad and screeching like a banshee. She had lapsed into English in her fury, which was probably no bad thing given the names she was using for Lindir and Celebdor at that precise moment.

"PUT ME DOWN!"

"No. And if you do not stop wriggling, you will land in the Celebrant," chortled Lindir.

"THIS IS NOT FUNNY!"

"I beg to differ," grinned Celebdor, turning to give a quick wave to the group of elves now forming on the opposite side of the bank to watch the proceedings with an amused air. As he made to step backwards onto the bridge, he paused. "Pen-ii, stop moving. You do not want to get wet, I am sure."

Penny went as stiff as a board in fright. She whimpered, screwed her eyes shut and muttered expletives under her breath.

For a moment nothing happened.

Then she felt herself being lowered gently to the ground to sound of laughter.

"Ai, Pen-ii, as if we would do that to you."

"Not that we could not do it, but I do not trust you to not start wriggling and squealing halfway across," Lindir sniggered. "You landing in the river is one thing. Taking Celebdor and myself with you is something else entirely."

Penny coloured the air blue. The phrase 'bloody elves' (with notable additions) was used rather excessively.

"Do I want a translation of all that?" Lindir asked, one eyebrow raised and a faint smirk still on his face.

"It would give me great pleasure. Unfortunately I do not have the vocabulary."

"Ah," said Celebdor. He caught Lindir's eye and the pair broke into hysterical sniggering.

Penny narrowed her eyes at them.

"Argh! I give up!"

She stomped over to Eleniel, hauled herself up into the saddle and pointedly looked in the opposite direction from Lindir and Celebdor, now trying to make apologies in between grins and snickering.

Penny noticed Eleniel was making strange spluttering noises.

"Et tu, Brute?" she murmured.

"Do not be upset, Pen-ii. They meant no harm by it. And the expression on your face was priceless!" Eleniel was giggling, but kindly.

"When you have quite finished the fun and games," a quiet yet clearly amused voice said on Penny's right, "Do you think we could actually cross the river, hmm?"

"Of course, Erestor. My apologies," Eleniel murmured, muttering to the horse and moving forward towards the Celebrant.

Penny glanced at Erestor and could see a smile playing on his lips and his eyes twinkling in the dark. He clearly caught her look and his face broke into a grin. Before she could say anything he moved off towards Lindir and Celebdor.

"Ai, you two…!" he chuckled.

Laughter met his words.

With many sharing horses and others able to quickly run across the ropes, crossing the river did not take too long at all. Those who had led the crossing did not wait but carried on into the trees a little way before stopping and setting up camp for the night. With the numbers involved it was easier to use awnings than try and house people in the few talans round about. Also, now they had crossed the Celebrant, there was no concern about sleeping on the ground. It was why they had risen so early and pushed so hard all day: to get this far and within the safety of Lothlorien's borders.

Not all of the Galadhrim who had greeted the party were still with them since some had stayed on the south side of the river and had returned to guard duty on the borders. However, their numbers had been replaced if not swelled by those who had been waiting on the northern side. Penny was not entirely sure how many, but at least twenty Galadhrim seemed to be with them now. They showed great respect to Elrond, Arwen, Glorfindel and Erestor. Lindir they seemed to know also, inclining their heads and murmuring greetings towards him.

As the evening meal was prepared and everyone grouped round the fire, Penny watched as these new faces shared stories, sang songs, swapped jokes and generally made themselves at home. She was completely ignored. The few times one or two of them noticed her, their gazes slid over her with a mild curiosity, if that, and then moved on. Penny was a little surprised her being among them all did not excite more comment, but thought little of it as she ate. Afterwards she was to discover her presence had already been 'explained.'

Lindir introduced her to two or three of those he knew, explaining it was many years since he was last in Lothlorien and that several of the Galadhrim with them were all youngsters he had not met before.

"And by 'youngsters' you mean?"

"Well, the youngest here is six hundred or so," one of the Galadhrim replied. His tone was merely polite.

"You speak Sindarin?" another asked her.

"I have learnt it at Imladris, yes. I make mistakes and am still learning, but-"

"That was gracious of Lord Elrond to gift you with our language. It is an honour for you."

"I realise that. I am most grateful for-"

"You say she lost her memory, Lindir?"

"Indeed. One of the Dunedain found her. Halbarad?"

They shook their heads, they did not know him.

"He is a kinsman of Estel's."

Ah, him they knew. Of course.

"He found her and brought her to Imladris."

'Yes, I am standing right here!' Penny fumed inside her head.

"And he allowed her to stay? Lord Elrond is indeed most kind."

"Yes, he is," Penny tried to interrupt, but got no further.

"So she has no idea where she comes from? How extraordinary. The poor child."

"Excuse me, I am not a ch-"

Lindir's glare silenced Penny instantly.

"Humans are so frail," one of the Galadhrim mused. "I do pity them at times."

Penny raised an eyebrow, opened her mouth to say something, saw Lindir looking at her and said nothing.

"It must have been very hard for you." One of the Galadhrim finally addressed her directly. His tone was kindly but pitying, as if talking to an injured infant.

"It was. The elves of Imladris have shown much patience and kindness. I can never repay them."

The Galadhrim responded as if that was only to be expected, right and proper – not simply that she would have been shown kindness, but that obviously, as a mere mortal, of course she could never hope to repay them. They clearly thought it mildly amusing that she even hoped she could.

Penny knew elves could be sniffy about mortals. She had had some impression to that effect from several in Imladris who were never unkind towards her but at times a little indifferent. The isolation of Lothlorien bred that sentiment all the stronger, it would seem, as the Galadhrim continued to discuss her story with Lindir over the top of her head.

The thing was… she could tell they were not being rude, were not doing it deliberately. They were kind, courteous, even made sure she had enough to eat and drink, but at the same time she was merely a mortal and not nearly as important or interesting as anyone else there. No sooner had her history (such as it was) been established than the conversation moved on to other matters and she was entirely forgotten once more.

Later in the evening Lindir managed to talk quietly to her.

"You have to forgive them if they seem a little… distant."

"Try 'rude' or 'condescending,' Lindir."

"Now, that is unfair. They were very kind to you…"

"They discussed me with you! I was standing right there and they were talking to you not me!"

"Well, they know me. And besides, you had just said your Sindarin was not perfect."

Penny gave him a 'look'.

"They meant nothing by it," he smiled. "They are unused to mortals here. Ah, you are young. You would not understand."

Penny glared at him. Clearly it was catching whatever it was. She was aware they were likely to be staying here a week or thereabouts, but if she was going to be the 'idiot child' (i.e. stupid mortal) for the duration there may be hell to pay at some point. She was 'due' in a day or two too, which would not help her tolerance levels one iota.

Gah, this was going to be a nightmare, she could feel it in her waters.

"Bloody elves," she muttered as she headed over to her tent.

"You are going to have to translate that phrase for me sometime, you know," Lindir grinned at her retreating back, getting only a 'hrumpf' by way of response.

Lindir knew well enough the phrase in question was not flattering if only by virtue of the fact that it was always said in her own tongue and only when she was supremely irritated by something. Frankly, he dreaded to think but considered it could not be much worse than some of the things he had been called in his time. Glorfindel had been particularly inventive in his insults after the hair-dying incident, after all, since he (like Penny herself and everyone else) had guessed it was Lindir who had been responsible even though nothing had ever been proved.

He chuckled to himself, and then took in a deep breath as he headed back to the fire and company. Ai, it was good to be back in Lothlorien once more.

"Lindir?"

Lindir glanced towards Lord Elrond to see Erestor with him and the two sitting a little apart from the rest.

"Might I have a word?"

"Of course." Elrond stepped over to them, gladly accepting Erestor's offer of a cup of wine.

"That was a cruel trick you played on Lady Pen-ii today," Elrond chuckled. "You and Celebdor should be ashamed."

"Oh, nonsense!" Lindir laughed. "She is used to us by now. She would do much the same to us in return if she felt she could."

"Indeed?" Erestor raised an eyebrow. "Actually, I think you may be right, there, Lindir. She is something of a 'free spirit' compared to most mortals."

Lindir said nothing but his face spoke volumes.

"I just wanted to ask you not to do too much to bring her to attention again, Lindir," Elrond said quietly. "Her presence amongst us was questioned by the border guards and they seemed a little concerned when they realised she was a stranger even to us in some respects. They have accepted though that she is travelling with us, is known to us as trustworthy… My word is enough, thankfully."

"I am surprised Lady Galadriel did not warn them a mortal…"

"She did," Erestor interrupted, "but said little more than that. It may be that Galadriel did not want to bring too much attention to her either. She has not yet met Pen-ii, after all. She only has the few reports we have sent her."

Lindir looked at them. Galadriel had been sent information about Pen-ii? Why? Was it thought she perhaps could shed some light on who she was? Did they even know?

Penny knew. Lindir had sensed that very early on: Penny knew exactly who she was and where she came from.

"For the time being, we would like her to go as unnoticed as possible, though that is a little difficult given she is the only mortal amongst us," Elrond continued. "Once she and Galadriel have spoken it may be things will change. Ultimately it is down to Pen-ii, not us, as to what she may wish to have said about her."

Lindir was silent for a moment. "I take it you know she has spoken to me, then? Hinted there is more-"

Erestor held up a hand, instructing Lindir to stop talking, as he glanced over Lindir's shoulder at someone clearly within earshot.

Elrond nodded by way of reply to Lindir.

"It will become clear, Lindir. Forgive me for not having taken you into my confidence. You will have to forgive Pen-ii the same also. You will understand why. In the meantime if you could restrain yourself, Celebdor, or anyone else from doing anything that may make her scream, shout, rant or do anything else that elicits comments and raised eyebrows from our hosts then I would be most grateful."

Elrond had the barest hint of a smile as he spoke. He clearly had been amused by the antics at the river, but was still making it clear it was not wholly wise given the circumstances. 'Whatever those circumstances may be,' Lindir mused.

"Of course, Elrond. Forgive me."

"Nothing to forgive," Elrond smiled. "Though given her reaction to the idea of walking along some rope above a river, I wonder how she will cope with talans in the height of the trees of Lothlorien."

"Well, we shall cross that bridge when we come to it," beamed Lindir.

Elrond and Erestor looked at him, shaking their heads but unable to restrain a chuckle.

"Sorry," Lindir sniggered. "I could not resist."