And
why should I tell her this?
A
stranger I just met
A
woman who I hardly know at all
And
should forget
A
journey we can only dream of
Enchantment
passing through
And
how is it I say these things
So
easily to you?
-
Aida
The Fellowship came to slowly, for even
Gandalf opted for a long-overdue nap during the four-hour journey from New York
City to Ocean City. The sudden stop of
the motor and the smell of salty sea air combined and served to wake everyone
gently, but without much prodding from Jason.
He slid out of the van with a smile at the
sight of Katie’s black Beetle car already parked in the driveway. “This is it… the Glouster family summer
home. It’s a Victorian… built about a
hundred years ago. Not very old for you
guys, but in this country it’s pretty old.”
Legolas paused behind the others, looking
about his shoulders anxiously as the wind played with his long hair. “That heavy scent on the air… what is it?”
Jason turned.
“Ocean air… it’s salty… kinda refreshing if you ask me. The beach is about one street that way, so
it’s pretty strong on the inland wind.”
That said, Jason sprang up the porch steps and
knocked on the door. The beat was
followed by a sharp succession of high-pitched growls and yips. The hobbits took a step back fearfully.
“What in Valar’s name is this noise?” Legolas
grimaced, instinctively covering his sensitive ears.
“That… would be the watchdog.” Jason sighed.
The door opened a creak and out sprinted a
tiny, rat-like creature about the size of a Mirkwood squirrel. It growled and barked and headed straight
for Jason’s shoe where it proceeded to dig its needle-like teeth into the toe,
apparently convinced that it was a ferocious creature far larger than it
actually was.
“That… is the watchdog?” Aragorn pointed at the
tiny black and tan thing, trying desperately not to laugh.
“’Fraid so.” Jason nodded, picking up the
miniscule excuse for a dog. “Meet
Maximus Decimus the Spaniard… Katie’s min pin and guard dog.”
“That is no dog…” Gimli sneered. “It looks more like a-“
“Say ‘rat’ and will you knock you all the way
back to New York City.” Came a female voice from the doorway. Everyone looked towards the willowy female
in surprise; Jason smiled and hugged her instantly.
“Katie, love!
Great to see you! It’s been since
Christmas! You look wonderful!” he
grinned, handing her back the now-growling Maximus.
“Kiss up.
I look exactly the same as I did at Christmas and you know it. Now get inside the house and introduce me to
your escapees from a Renaissance Faire.” She granted him only a half-smile.
“Sure thing.
C’mon in, everyone.” Jason nodded, ushering the Fellowship past Katie
and into the parlor. To her credit,
Katie remained unflinching as the Fellowship and their stunning array of
weaponry and species diversity swept past her.
She only gave Jason an odd look when the somewhat smaller members of the
company came into view.
“Munchkins?” she added under her breath. “Wrong show, Jay.”
“Um… hobbits actually… and one dwarf… an
Elvish archer… two human warriors… and an Istari wizard.” Jason amended
sheepishly once they had all sat down in the living room, where Maximus was
growling at Legolas’ boot ferociously.
“Gee… where’s the partridge and the pear
tree?” she quipped. “Tea anyone? If you’re overage, I can offer some wine
coolers too. Jason, make yourself
useful and go finish putting the groceries away for me.”
“Um… it might be better if I stay and explain
all of this. Guys… this is Katrina
Marie Glouster, my cousin and best friend.
Katie… this is, from right to left, Gandalf, Frodo, Aragorn, Boromir,
Samwise, Merry, Pippin, Gimli, and Legolas… um the Fellowship… of the Ring?” he
ended on a question.
“The Fellowship of the Ring?” Katie
repeated. “Oh I get it… Jay, you
promised no more role-playing! Last
year you kept me awake until dawn! And
I don’t remember there even being any Tolkien role-playing games. Although I give you major snaps for finding
hobbit-sized people. Not to mention
getting them to dress up like that.”
She paused to look Gimli up and down as he glared at her in his usual
manner. “Nice chain-mail, shortie…
would you all mind depositing your weapons of mass destruction somewhere else?”
Jason laughed nervously. “Right!
Um… hand up the swords and knives and staffs and axes… anything with a
blade on it. Legolas… the bow, please?”
Most of them handed over their weapons with
little more than an uncertain look towards Gandalf. Gimli proved to be a challenge, but he eventually relinquished
his battle-axe, refusing to give up his little hatchet. Legolas handed over his daggers without a
struggle… his bow however, was another story.
“C’mon, Legolas… you won’t need it, I
promise.” Jason pleaded, fully aware of
Katie’s thinning patience.
“No.” Legolas said flatly. “Do not make promises you cannot possibly
keep, Jaycen. If we are attacked, I
will need it.”
“We won’t be attacked! I told you there are no goblins, orcs,
wargs, none of that! The most dangerous
thing that could come through that door is the pizza delivery guy!” Jason insisted.
“Jay, you’re speaking another language again.”
Katie patted his shoulder before approaching the elf. Her expression was mild enough, but the fire blazing in her blue
eyes almost made Legolas take a step backwards.
“Listen, Vulcan-boy… this is my family’s
house and what I say, goes. So either
you give me the archery set or I snag that bow from you the first chance I get
and knock you over the head with it several times in rapid succession. Now hand it over.”
Legolas swallowed imperceptibly. How dare this puny mortal female order him
about? And how on earth could her face
be so gentle while issuing such threats?
He was uncomfortably reminded of his father’s description of Galadriel,
the Lady of the Wood, and thought it might be best to humor her for now.
He frowned in displeasure and slung his quiver
from his shoulder. “Take them… if only
so we are spared the noise of your harpy-like screeching.” He muttered softly.
She heard him and her eyes narrowed as she
flung his beloved weapons into her closet with more force than was absolutely
necessary. Legolas winced internally,
hoping she hadn’t snapped the cord… he only had two spares left with him.
“Katie, dear-heart, favoritest cousin of
mine…” Jason pulled her from the closet and sat her down in an armchair. “Sit down… I have some explaining to do.”
“That’s the understatement of the
Millennium. Can we start with why I am
entertaining nine wackos who apparently think they actually are the
Fellowship of the Ring?” Katie sighed.
“Well… they are the Fellowship.” Jason,
already flustered, blurted it out.
“Look, you read the Lord of the Rings trilogy, right?”
“Yeah… like thirteen years ago… and you
never read them at all.”
Okay… different approach… do you remember
physics class from college?”
“Jay… there’s a reason I took dummy science…
cut to the chase.” Katie mumbled.
“Okay, okay… these are not some weirdos… or
even just really good method actors.
They are the Fellowship… just as Tolkien wrote about them.”
“Jason…” she sighed. “What the hell kind of an explanation is that?”
“The true one, Katrina.” Gandalf spoke, rising
to approach her. “It is, you must
admit, somewhat vain to think that yours is the only reality there is. As a writer of your world once wrote ‘there
are more things in heaven and earth than can be dreamt of in your
philosophies’.”
“Um… Gandalf, right?” she bit her bottom
lip. “You’re trying to tell me that
Tolkien’s books… are true?”
“From a certain angle. It is a rare occurrence when the powers that
separate dimensions have small snafus, as you term them… but not
impossible. John Tolkien may have been
one of the few in your realm to have a version of second sight… but into our
world and not his own. What would have
been prophecy to us… was no more than creative inspiration to him. It’s not the first time such a thing has
happened… just never before on such a grand scale.” Gandalf explained while
Katie stared at her hands.
“Holy… you’re not pulling my leg. But how, if it’s so rare to even glimpse
other places… how did you all get here?” she asked, finally convinced.
Gandalf grinned. “Valar’s wisdom. When we
were under attack on our journey, I summoned a distraction, expecting something
more along the lines of a sudden firework or the like… instead, we received your
rather fanciful cousin plopping into out midst.”
Jason grinned sheepishly. “That’s me… one big distraction.”
“Especially when one lands on a Ringwraith’s
head.” Merry piped up cheerfully.
“Okay… but how did you get here? I’m pretty sure New Jersey Transit doesn’t
offer service to the Greater Middle Earth area.” Katie asked, succumbing to the
now-raging fascination.
“I cast another open-ended spell asking Valar
to hide us someplace where Sauron’s forces could never find us. Thus we were delivered here.” Gandalf
smiled.
“Valar must have one hell of a sense of
humor.” Katie smiled in return.
“I’ve often had that very same thought
myself.” Gandalf nodded. “So now we are
taking our opportunities to rest and recuperate, thanks to your sweet
hospitality, Miss Katrina.”
Katie sighed, but smiled nonetheless. “You know… it’s a damn good thing this place
has eight bedrooms. We’re going to need
every single one.”
“Katie!” Jason yelled happily, sweeping her up
into a twirling hug. “You wonderful,
darling, little elf of a cousin of mine!”
She laughed.
“Put me down, you great ogre… you have errands to run before it gets too
late.”
“Anything!”
“More groceries for one, since I didn’t expect
to be feeding nine when I left this morning.
And six more sets of sheets. Go
to the Target in the middle of town… down Park Place.” She instructed him. “King-size… get light cotton if you
can. Ask for Babs, she’s the manager
and tell her they’re for me… she’ll give you a discount. Got it?”
Sir, yes, sir!” Jason saluted before
goose-stepping out the door.
“Funny, Jay… don’t be too long!” she yelled as
he skidded out to door, leaving her to fend for herself. She turned and addressed them all with a
definite blush to her cheeks. “So… let
me get those drinks? Is everyone
overage, because I definitely need something stronger than tea for this one.”
“Overage?” Legolas repeated.
“Yeah… you have to be over the age of
twenty-one to legally drink anything alcoholic in this country.” She nodded.
Gandalf chuckled to himself. “Miss Katrina, I can assure you that we are
all vastly overage… Legolas alone is over 2500 years old.”
Katie promptly dropped her jaw to the
ground. “Christ… how long do you guys
live for?”
Gandalf smiled at her. “Humans in Middle Earth live for roughly
fifty years or so, hobbits eighty or so, dwarves commonly live to see
two-hundred and fifty… elves on the other hand are immortal so long as they are
not slain.”
“Holy Mary… immortal… and fair. Sounds as though you got the long end of the
stick there, Legolas.” She whistled, collecting her thoughts. “You don’t look a day over twenty-five.”
“I am very many days past twenty-five, Lady
Katrina.”
“Please… all of you… don’t call me
Katrina. The only person who calls me
Katrina is my mother and that’s usually right before she’s about to launch into
a tirade at me. Kate will do.” She
smiled a bit nervously.
Luckily, she managed to keep her wits about
her long enough to serve drinks and a bowl of pretzels to the always-hungry
Pippin and Merry. For pure noise value,
she switched the television on to a music channel and couldn’t help but giggle
over everyone’s startled reaction to the box with moving pictures in it. Only Gandalf and Legolas seemed at all adept
at hiding their certain unease. She
sensed that for Gandalf, this was old hat… but Legolas was just being stubborn.
“Here now… Maximus, leave him alone.” She
scolded her little dog as he once more gave a warning series of barks at
Legolas’ boot.
“I do not think that this creature likes me
very much.” Legolas commented in mild irritation, his ears buzzed with every
high-pitched yap the dog made.
“Well… he’s never smelled elf before…
apparently he thinks you’re a threat.” She explained by way of apology as she
shooed Maximus into his crate. That
done, she sighed and sat on the low table across from the blonde elf. “Look… I know I seemed a bit hostile
earlier. I didn’t mean to be… and I’m
sorry.”
“Sorry?” he repeated with a skeptical
look. “Whatever for?”
“For… well… for being a bitch. I’m not a big fan of weapons and I think
your stubbornness to give the bow up irked me a bit. If I snapped the bow string, I’ll replace it, I promise.” She
sighed.
His expression softened somewhat. “That will not be necessary, although I do
thank you for your offer.”
“So…” she breathed, searching for a new
subject, not quite sure why she wanted to continue talking with the strange
elf. “What do you think of… this place,
so far?”
“It is… very different from Middle Earth.”
“So I hear.
But different isn’t bad, is it?”
“Not at all… however, I have not yet seen any
great deal of your world. As of right
now it is… a rather confusing and alarming place. These transports that rumble and shriek… the great silver dragons
overhead…”
“I hope you’re referring to airplanes…” she
smiled.
“I believe that is what Jaycen called it,
yes.” He nodded. “So quick and…
hurried. In my short time here, I saw
not one person slowing down to look at anything.”
“I agree… we are a very rushed society. But we only live for seventy years… we have
a lot to get done in the short span of time, don’t you think?” she shrugged.
“I suppose.” He met her eyes, tilting his head
at her in a studying manner.
“What?” she asked, aware of his scrutiny.
“I have never seen a mortal like you before…
the color of your hair is… strange to me.” He noted.
“Red?
But Gimli has red hair.” She pointed out.
“His is rusty, like one of his old axes… your
hair is lighter, like rays of a sunset.
I have never seen such a color before.
I think it suits you.” He commented, his voice serious.
“Well… thank you.” She blushed yet again.