Torech Besruth, Falathlorn, Lindon
11 Lairë in the Reckoning of Imladris
My family returned from an outing just north of Torn-en-Aduial, as I am told - rather, as they announced with laughter and delighted squeals as the doors banged open in the Gallery…
Cutch had taken Bainiel this morning to a greensward that lies just north of the vale of Falathlorn, where strawberries grow in profusion. Upon hearing their return, I left the silence of the library to meet their homecoming in shock. Cutch was grimy from the dust of the trails and tending to the cart and pony, his broad smile all the brighter for the impressive bounty of berries the two had brought back.
But Bainiel! Her little dress was covered in grass stains and dirt; her feet were brown as a halfling’s toes; and a smear of red and pink juice ran from her neck to her belly! There were leaves and flowers stuck haphazardly in her hair – whether by she or Cutch I could only guess – as if to make a flower tiara! But her face and eyes as she looked up at me dispelled any ire I might have held. Such a look of joy and wonder she gave me, the look of delight in the world and the adventure she shared with her father.
At that moment, I wondered who she was truly taking after, her father or myself? I decided that perhaps, it was both of us…
As Cutch passed to the Scullery to secure the harvest, I took charge of Bainiel and bustled her off for a wash and a change of clothes. Seeing her finally presentable again, I made to return to the library and heard the patter of feet behind me. Bainiel had followed me to the library with the most curious look in her eye – and I got the sense she was trying to tell me about her day. I picked her up in my arms and set her on my reading table – and she began speaking!
Cutch had apparently been working on her speech as they labored in the field. Bainiel spoke to me of “Tree!” and “Ri-ver!” “Staw-bey!” and, in a loud squeal, “Bird!” I praised her with wide eyes and a glad tone for all her new words, meeting her smile with my own. After a time, she began picking up items on my table, her face a study of thought, her eyes scrunched up as she tried to form a new word. I saw she was looking intently at one of the books I had opened in my research, so I made the attempt with her.
“Book,” I said slowly.
“B-b-buhgggh,” she tried to form the word.
“Boo-kk,” I repeated. She looked at my mouth and how I formed the sound, and repeated, “Boo-kkkkk…”
“Very well done!” I praised her with a wide-eyed smile, which she returned. Her attention turned to another item, a leather note-tablet I had been working on for field use. She picked it up, turning it in her little hands, and I glanced over to my reading of before – and in just that instant, when I turned my eyes back to her, Bainiel had the leather tablet in her mouth, happily munching on the spine!!
“No no, sweet one, that is not how Naneth devours books, and neither should you!” I laughed in spite of myself…
