Returning Home: A Hobbit Fanfiction

Chapter 41 - Moves and Countermoves

~~ Elena ~~

~~Three days earlier~~

Elena kept her eyes on her sister for as long as she could, keeping a bright smile on her face as she waved with her good arm. She could feel Fíli and Óin behind her, both of them keeping silent in the crowd of cheering citizens. At last she dropped her hand and turned to face the others, her thoughts racing.

"So, what now?"

"What now?" Fíli repeated.

She nodded patiently. "What do we do now? Where do we go from here? I don't know about you, but I trust the Master about as far as I can throw him," she muttered, glancing over Óin's shoulder at the Master, who was stumbling down from his perch with the aid of Alfrid, a glass of wine already in his hand. 

Fíli followed her gaze and grimaced. "No, I can't say that I want any of us - particularly you - being anywhere near him. He's far too concerned with his own interests."

Óin nodded. "I'd say the only reason he agreed to help us was to make himself look good."

"That, and to spite Bard," Elena added, looking around the waterway for the smuggler despite herself. "They don't get along because Bard looks out for the people, and manages to outsmart the Master. Just look at how he got us here."

"We were all almost caught, and you were tipped overboard into freezing water, and forced to cling to a rope in an attempt to survive until we stopped," Fíli deadpanned. 

"And yet we still didn't get caught until Thorin decided to go and steal some weapons," Elena pointed out. She caught herself and shook her head. "But this petty bickering is pointless right now. Bofur wasn't on either of the boats, which means he should be here soon, and then we need to go find Bard."

"Bard? Why do we need to go find - Bofur!" Fíli cut himself off as the miner ran up to them, smelling of cheap wine and panting heavily.

"So you missed the boat too, eh?" he asked, resting his hands on his knees, before wrinkling his nose and frowning at Elena. "But you're a randir. Would've thought Thorin'd try to bring you along, what with them going towards the mountain and all."

"You'd think," Elena muttered, turning and starting to navigate her way through the now dispersing crowd. "Does anyone remember how to find Bard's house from here? I don't, and we're going to need his help."

"Help for what?" Fíli repeated, catching up to her, with the two others following at a slower pace. "A place to stay? I don't think he's going to want to help us anymore, Elena. Uncle kind of..."

"Burned the bridge, yeah. And then the supports. And then he dug up the road leading to the bridge. I think he kind of does that a lot," Elena snarked, still making her way determinedly down the wooden pathways. "Seriously, though, we're going to need his help. And I can't talk about it here." She lowered his voice so only the three around her could hear. "Not when the Master has his spies all about the place. It'd be too easy for someone to overhear something and ruin everything."

Fíli narrowed his eyes at her then nodded, pulling ahead of her and leading the way down the pathway. Bofur and Óin kept pace with them as they walked, casting concerned and confused glances at Elena as they went. 

Fíli took them down several turns and alleyways until they had arrived at the front of a house she vaguely recognized as being Bard's. He glanced back at her and looked around cautiously for anyone who might be watching before climbing the steps to the front door and rapping on it gently with his knuckles as they followed.