Expedition: Swanfleet, Day Five
37 Tuilë in the Reckoning of Imladris
(13th of May in the Shire-Calendar)
The Crossway House, Herne
Mother has elected to remain for at least one more night here in Herne, and the Household has settled in quite comfortably at the Crossway House. The women are all sharing one large common room, the hobbits kitted out with extra beds courtesy of the innkeeper; the men share a smaller room of the landing. Meals are provided by the staff, and are more than adequate even by hobbit standards: “good plain vittles”, as Gammer Goldflower declares.
Naneth also gave us leave to explore the town but urged that we do not travel alone; so Ardanion and I walked the paths of this place and saw quite a bit. Dumdum has been here with Ada, so he knows a bit about the region. There aren’t as many shops as there are in Bree, but then this place is very remote so deliveries and supplies just aren’t the same.
The people here are a lot like the Bree-landers, at any rate, but not all the same. You can pick out very easily who’s descended from Bree-folk, and who have Dúnedain blood in their veins. It’s the fair skin, the grey eyes and the height that you can tell who’s who. Just by walking around, both of us stand out like goblin-barkers at night, and people stare at us as we go by – well, at me more than him (must be the ears…).
Auntie Berry and Gammer Goldflower have been greeted like long-lost relatives to the few hobbits who live here. While Gammer chats on for hours, Berry is furiously writing things in a journal; I’m betting she’ll show it all to Naneth later.
As for the rest of the household, Uncle Kortheod and Auntie Plusheila spend a lot of time together; Aunt Hartagil sits in front of the fireplace with her boots off, baking her toes and drinking; and Auntie Iyenue is in the room, sharpening her blade and polishing her armor and gear. And what of Naneth? She keeps to herself in the upstairs room, looking closely at the map that Ardanion provided, and re-reading a letter from Ada that came along with the map (he gave it to her in private).
That all changed in the afternoon, because as we were returning to the inn, I spotted a bird hovering over the town at an extreme height – and only I could see what bird it was. I told Ardanion, who dashed into the inn and appeared a moment later with Naneth and the others behind her. Naneth let out a shrill whistle, and we were greeted by Windwalker’s shriek as he touched down on a fence at the edge of town.
Well, Book, the chaos that caused! An eagle appearing this close to town brought out several locals with bows; Naneth scolded them in a voice I rarely hear her use (except when Dumdum or me mess things up). She walked past the startled people, held her arm out to Windwalker who perched on her wrist, and she turned and entered the inn, Iyenue holding the door open while Berry and Gammer giggling loudly at the faces of the locals. Once inside, Naneth called the innkeeper to bring something for our eagle, either raw meat or fish. While that happened, Windwalker gave Naneth his news.
“The CutchMan is far and away from here,” the eagle said, “and I did part with him by the farm thy fledgling mentions; I deem it to be at least a two-day journey on foot or on horse. Tidings reach him of goblins that plague those lands, and he is resolved to aid those who cannot stand alone.
“Thy beloved also sends this word: he doth await thy decision, LadyRedElf, as to where thy journey shall take thee. Thou shalt follow thine own wisdom, but should thou heed my counsel, take this company south to the ruined city that spans the river, and I will bring word to thy beloved to abandon his errand and rejoin thee on the road.”
“I shall take thy word into my decision, O Sûlpadron,” Naneth replied, “but take thy rest for now. I shall make it known that any who disturb thee, do so at their peril.” (I love how Mother and Windwalker speak!) Naneth told me to take him outside and let him fly free to roost somewhere safe (Windwalker is not a small bird, I don’t know how Naneth does this!) Outside, I fed him a huge fish, and spoke to him myself.
“Windwalker, when you go to find Ada, could you also bring a message from me? Please tell him I am learning all I can on this expedition, and I can’t wait to see him again and tell him so.”
“Yea, fledgling, I shall bear thy message to thy sire gladly,” he said to me. “Forget not that he hath great pride for both thy brother and thee. Yonder great oak shall serve as my roost, until thy dam summons me once more.” And he flew off to the oak as I went back inside. I saw the entire company gathered in the common room by the fire, holding a council to decide the next leg of the expedition.
That talk went on for some time, with everyone putting their thoughts into the plan. Auntie Berry has learned there is a fair-sized hobbit-town south of Tharbad in Swanfleet; Ardanion reports there are orcs occupying Tharbad, but not near the goblins’ numbers; and everyone else was up for a good scrap and some adventure to be had. In the end, Naneth decided that we would continue south along the greenway and strike for Tharbad and points south, and that Windwalker would bring news to Ada to meet us there. It was already getting dark by this time, so we would set out in the morning. I rushed outside and called to Windwalker, gave him the messages, and saw him take off swiftly and flying east.
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