Predator or Prey | The Hobbit

TWENTY-ONE

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Predator or Prey

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE.

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After the small fight with the guards of Lake-Town, Bard continued to lead the Company to the safety of his home.

"Da! Our house, it's being watched." The voice of a young, teen male said.

Selene froze in her spot after hearing the first word from the kid. This was Bard's son. If he had other children in his home, she would spook them. Her thoughts ran around in her head, not noticing how the dwarves, Bilbo and Bard were staring at her.

She felt small hands latch around her wrist and squeezed. That broke her out of her thoughts and she followed the hand to see Bilbo staring up at her worried. "I'm sorry, Selene." He looked away and she followed his gaze to see Bard walking up to her.

The tall man leaned closer to her, so no one could see her face. "My house is being watched right now. So, you and the others will have to enter my home from a different end." He went on and explained where they were going to go and to follow a certain path that would lead to his home.

"But... your son? And if you have other children... I do not want to scare them." Selene whispered, looking down at her boots.

"They won't be." Bard shook his head and waited for her to trust him. When she did he pulled away.

Thorin, on the other hand, did not like how close the man was to Selene. If he wanted to talk to her, he could have spoke to her one pony length away from her. And the fact that Selene let the man get close to her like that, made his stomach churn. Why did she allow that to happen? It upset him a little, so when Bard ordered for the group to get going, he gave the man a dirty glare, before slipping himself into the ice cold lake. The others following suit.

Bard and his son walked back to their home, arms full of fruits and vegetables. Just as they reached the door, he let his son walk in first. He turned back and whistled to catch the attention of the two men on the boat that were obviously spies from the Master. He tossed an orange down and one of the men caught it.

"You can tell the Master I'm done for the day." He walked inside his house, instantly greeted by the rest of his children.

"Da! Where have you been?" A young girl ran up to him and hugged his waist. He wrapped his free arm around her head to return the affection.

"Father! There you are! I was worried." An older girl greeted, hugging him as well.

Bard handed her his bag he carried around. He shut the windows and locked them. He turned to his son and said: "Bain, get them in."

His son, Bain, complied and ran down the steps of their home.

"Are we having people over, Da?" His youngest daughter asked.

Bard squatted down to her level and placed his hands on her shoulders. Sigrid stood behind her younger sister and Bard cleared his throat. "Listen, I'm helping a few people right now and they need a place to stay for a bit. With them, is a woman. Her eyes may spook you, but she means no harm." His daughters gave him questioning looks and he sighed. "Just trust me, okay?" He kissed the girls' forehead just as he heard heavy footsteps of the dwarves coming up the stairs.