Snow and the 13 dwarves

Chapter 25: Laketown

(Sarah's POV)

It was freezing.  And very foggy.
Ice chunks were floating everywhere in the water.
I had no idea how Bard was able to navigate through it all.

Everyone's breath came out in puffs of fog, and we weren't all completely dry. So now, we were wet and freezing. I wrapped my arms around myself and continued sitting against the side of the barge, shivering and trying to ignore the pain.  I grouchily muttered to myself, "Darn cold... Can't deal with anything under forty degrees..."

Vigorously rubbing my arms and hands to get at least a little heat, I asked, "How is it so cold here?"  "Autumn is almost over," Bard replied as he steered the boat, "In a few weeks, winter will be upon us.  Now that is when it gets really cold."  That didn't sound pleasant.  "Well that's just flipping fantastic," I mumbled, rubbing my hands together. In my discomfort, I glanced over at the dwarves.  They were all standing and talking amongst themselves around the barrels.

"Hey Kili, Fili," I called, coughing in the cold, "Could you- sorry- Could you come here please?"What is it, Sarah?" they asked, coming over. I motioned for them to sit on either side of me and said, " Warm me up. I need heat."  They did as they were told. I slipped my arms through theirs and just sat there, shivering.

"How are you so cold?" Fili asked, "You're wearing your sweatshirt."  "I'm still soaked- in wet clothes- all over my body," I replied, my teeth chattering, "And it's- freezing." I gave him a look. "Does that not compute with you?" 

He seemed to put two and two together, but he didn't respond. It was silent for a minute. I leaned against the mast as the other dwarves talked.  "I say we throw this boatman overboard," I heard Dwalin whisper.  "That's not nice, Dwalin," I commented, frowning. "He's fine. Just do what he says."  Dwalin scoffed, but was silent.

Suddenly, everyone gasped as two large stone ruins appeared out of the fog.  "Watch out!" Bofur exclaimed, bracing himself for impact.  I did the same, and heard his voice echo as Bard easily dodged the hazard.  "What're you trying to do?" Thorin asked unhappily, "Drown us?"  "I was born and bred on these waters, master dwarf," Bard replied calmly, "If I wanted to drown you, I would not do it here."

I almost shuddered at those words.  Thorin scowled at him, but held his tongue all the same. Balin sat at a bench, counting the money we were to give to Bard for smuggling us into Laketown.  "Everything appears to be in order," he said, looking at the coins. "Only... We're twenty silver coins short."  Thorin and the rest of the company automatically looked to Gloin for cash since he was one of the greedy ones in the group.

"Come on, Gloin," Thorin said, walking over to him, "Give us what you have."  Gloin feigned surprise.  "Don't look to me!" he spluttered, "I have been led dry by this quest!  And what have I seen?"  He went on talking about how all he had seen was misery and naught.  Thorin rolled his eyes, as did the rest of us.  "Come on," Thorin continued sternly, holding out his hand.  Gloin reluctantly reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bag of money.  He put it into Thorin's hand, and Thorin tossed it to Balin, who proceeded to open it up and pour out the contents.

"We are still ten coins short," Balin stated, recounting the money once again.  "What?" Gloin exclaimed, "I thought I had twenty!"  He started accusing the others of stealing, and then they all started quarreling.  "Enough!" Thorin shouted, "Does anyone else have anything of value?" Everyone looked over themselves.

I saw that Nori was looking at me. "What?" I asked. He pointed and said, "Sarah's got a shiny necklace we might could use."  Everyone's gaze turned to me.  I looked down and saw that my necklace was hanging out of my shirt. I was surprised it hadn't come off in the rapids. Thorin came over to me and asked, "Where did you get it?"  "I found it in the troll cave," I replied, knowing where this was going.  He held out his hand and said, "We need it, Sarah." I held it in my hand and protested, "But Gandalf enchanted it to give me good luck."  "We don't need luck," he replied gruffly.