[Susan Delgado]

Eolinda watched the Elf disappear into the crowd and wished her luck. For a horse thief and general ruffian, the woman had been surprisingly steadfast. With a flip of her skirt, she gestured for Remdil to follow and turned after the boy. He was already nearly lost in the crowd; obviously he expected them to follow.

They stopped at several stalls in the marketplace, buying what Eolinda considered good, solid, well keeping staples, potatoes, grains, beans, and others. She got some fresh fruit too, because everyone needed fresh fruit and she suspected the children had done without. She considered them more of a treat anyway; she thought they probably wouldn't last long.
After they'd finished buying the food, Eolinda asked for details about the children. The boy gave them, looking mystified. When she stopped at a stall selling clothing and bought enough clothes and blankets to last each child all the way through the winter, he could only stare. This hadn't been part of the deal! When he questioned it, however, she merely shushed him and kept buying.

Remdil stared too, but for a different reason. He considered his money hard won, and Eolinda dipped deeper into the sack with every purchase. He sighed...he knew from long years of experience that there was nothing he could do about it.

They delivered Eolinda's purchases to the children, who were much more astonished than the boy had ever seemed to be, and gave the boy a few private moments to say goodbye. The moments turned into minutes and Remdil chafed at the delay. Eolinda seemed perfectly serene, however, and content to wait. Finally, the boy returned, having expended nearly the entire hour Dineniel had given them. He seemed a bit sadder, but at the same time lighter, as if a weight had left his shoulders. Silently, the three made their way back to the gate, where Dineniel waited nervously. It seemed she'd nearly been seen and had been waiting for a very long time. She was eager to go.

They mounted their new, stronger horses and set off. The boy rode behind Remdil, who was none too pleased about it, but the boy refused to ride the horse Dineniel had procured for him.

At Dineniel's suggestion, they rode slowly back toward Garolin. Dineniel that she might be able to find where they'd turned off the trail, despite the time and the rain. She couldn't. After half a day's searching, they stopped halfway between the two towns and for the first time began to consider that maybe the kidnappers had never even travelled on this road but had struck a trail through the trackless forest instead.

They made camp. Over an expertly prepared rabbit stew, they discussed their options, but found mighty few of them. They went to bed without coming to a conclusion about what they should do.

In the morning, they did the only sensible thing they could. Since Dineniel said the brigands were after the Silamril, they rode hard toward Ossiriand, where the Elf thought Beren and Luthien lived, though she seemed not entirely certain. They rode hard all that day and the next.

[ November 17, 2002: Message edited by: Susan Delgado ]