Elboron returned a short time later, empty-handed and perplexed.

“The book wasn’t where I thought I left it, and it wasn’t with Faelivrin’s thing’s either. Tungol, have you been looking at the Shire book recently?”

“The one with the pictures of creatures from the north? With the wolves that ran across the frozen river?”

Elboron nodded.

“And snow bears? And mountain trolls and bog walkers? And the big man who turns into a bear? And giant bees? And giant bat ladies that swoop down like dragons? And dragons? With huge long teeth and claws and scaly armour, and breathing fire, and missing a scale so you can shoot them when they fly past and—”

“Yes, Tungol, that book precisely!”

“I haven’t seen it for a long time.”

And so, the hunt for the misplaced book began. Elfwine, Eboron, and Théodwyn quickly found themselves absorbed in the search—and in various rare and exciting books encountered while scouring the shelves.

Just as quickly, the younger boys grew restless. Even Faelivrin soon found her patience waning.

“Come play, Fael,” Tungol urged, tugging her sleeve.

“I’m helping look for the book,” Faelivrin protested weakly, watching Elfwine and Elboron drag a ladder across the room to reach the higher shelves.

“You’re too short, like us,” Leoflic said. “Come play!”

“Well . . .”

“We can play Beren and Lúthien,” Tungol offered.

“Hmm . . . I suppose that’s fine,” Faelivrin said, her reluctance dissolving rapidly. With Elboron safely occupied, the opportunity to steer a familiar game in more congenial directions was too good to pass by.

“What about me?” Leoflic asked.

“Oh,” said Tungol, surprised. “You’re Beren, of course. I’m Huan. I’m always Huan.”

Tungol dropped to all fours. “Now we sneak to Morgoth’s castle!”

Unfortunately for Faelivrin, it quickly became clear that casting Leoflic as Beren did nothing to advance her creative vision. In fact, her preferred storyline—“Lúthien guides her hapless beloved through the wastes with consummate Elven grace”—had devolved precipitously into “Beren and Huan frolic incongruously through enemy territory while an increasingly huffy Elf-maiden looks on.” Finally, she’d had enough.

“You’re not playing right!” she shouted across the courtyard. “You’re just . . . running around!”

With that, she turned on her heel and stomped back to the library. If nobody was willing to actually have fun, better to be bored with the grown-up cousins than bored with the babies!

Leoflic and Tungol looked at each other, nonplussed.

“But . . . what did she think the game was for?” Leoflic asked.

Tungol shook his head sorrowfully. “She never likes the good parts.”

It soon became obvious to the boys that Faelivrin had no plans to return.

“Now what?” Leoflic asked. “We can’t be Beren and Lúthien with no Lúthien.”

Tungol didn't have to think for long.

“We should play Wingfoot! He can race in the sky, like Elfwine said! You can be Wingfoot, and I’ll be Huan, but now Huan can fly, and they can race! And Wingfoot has to fly upside-down, so he’s slow, so Huan has to win, and—”

“I don’t want to fly slow and upside-down!” Leoflic looked dismayed. “I want to fly fast and . . . and not upside-down!”

Tungol snorted. “Me too. Fael should be Wingfoot. She’d like being slow! But you . . . you can be Eärendil! Then we can really race! When we went to see Uncle by the sea, I saw a dog, and he was splashing in the waves, and he was running, and there was a swan ship coming into the harbour, and I think the dog wanted to race it! He was barking at it and I saw the captain point at the dog and laugh, and then he saw me and waved at me! Elboron said he was waving at someone else, but I saw!”

“I am Captain Eärendil, and I’ll wave at you,” Leoflic said loyally.

“And I will wag my tail at you,” Tungol replied. “But I’ll still be faster!”

With that, the race was on. The gardens rang with peals of laughter as the boys pelted across the large courtyard, around corners, and along winding flagstone pathways.

All would have been well if the King of the Reunited Kingdoms had not arrived at the house of his Steward at precisely that time.
 

*   *   *

Note: "Lord of the Rings Online" players may recognize some of the more exotic creatures Tungol recalls seeing in Sir Peregrin's book of beasts. I couldn't resist.