Homeward Bound Part One: An Unexpected Journey

Chapter Forty-Eight

Bilba stood on the shore of the lake and watched for her friends to return.

They'd arrived in record time after two days of travel and set up camp on the edge of the lake. Fili and Aragorn had managed to hail a bargeman and had left for the town while Kili and Bilba waited.

It had taken hours for them to return and, when they had, it had only been with Bard's children and a handful of others. Aragorn had tersely stated that the Master was causing trouble. He had told the people of Lake-town that news of the orcs was false, a trick designed to get them out of the town so the dwarves could attack and hold Lake-town hostage behind them. The claim was ridiculous but, for many, apparently not so ridiculous as claiming a random army marched on them from a supposedly dead and empty land. The result had been a split with well over half siding with the Master who, greedy and corrupt as he was, was still more trusted than a strange man and a dwarf who'd snuck out of the town with his friends.

That had been over a day ago. Refusing to simply abandon the rest of the town Aragorn and Fili had returned several times. Currently those who had chosen to come were huddled just behind where Bilba stood. There were at least fifty but that represented only a portion of the residents of Lake-town.

Bilba chewed on her lower lip. Fog lay over the area, especially thick on the lake, the sun not yet up enough to break it. Through it she could see the vague shape of the barge returning, little more than a dark shadow on the water.

She would like to say the morning was quiet aside from the sound of morning birds and the patter of a light rain.

The birds were silent, however, and she couldn't hear the rain.

That morning they'd awakened to the sound of horns and the vibration of boots shaking the earth.

The army was early.

The barge was a little over halfway across. Behind them Bilba began to see the flicker of fire through the fog, the sharp, acrid scent of smoke reaching her nostrils.

The first scream, sharp and quickly silenced, startled her. She clutched her oversized coat tighter around her, her eyes fixed on the blurry shape of the barge.

Another scream rang out, followed by another and another still. The fog began to grow black and the flickering changed into sharp tongues of fire, reaching high into the sky.

Behind them a murmuring and restlessness had started. Bilba had tried to get them to head toward Mirkwood immediately but most had refused, either still not entirely convinced or desperately hoping friends and loved ones would follow.

Kili shifted closer to her. "They're coming around the edges of the lake."

Bilba shook her head. More screams came from Lake-town, a cacophony of tortured wails and she choked back a sob at the sounds of suffering. Her fingers curled into a fist, beating lightly against her leg as she mentally raged against her own impotence.

"Why?" she whispered, her voice catching. "They can't cross from Lake-town, there aren't enough ships. It's faster to walk around the lake. Why are they doing this?"

"Because they can," Kili said simply. His own expression was grim, one hand clenching the hilt of his sword as though he longed to draw it and use it to lop off the heads of the orcs attacking Lake-town. He glanced toward the people behind them and then at her. "The fog is burning off, Bilba. They'll see us soon."

"They're almost here," Bilba said, nodding toward the barge. Indeed it had grown close enough she could make out the sight of Fili, grim and stiff, standing at the helm.