The water was warm and soothing after so many days on the road, and it was a good hour before Sara returned to camp. Dressed for comfort in her sweats and Hogwarts t-shirt she received her brush from her tent. Her wet hair fell in loose waves that dripped water on her shoulders as she brushed it. Bilbo sat nearby combing the curly hair atop his feet.
There was a lazy contentment in camp and as she watched the dwarves putting their hair and beards back in order she suspected that she was not the only one who enjoyed being clean once again. Dori and Nori sat working to get each other's elaborate braids back in order. Gandalf was missing, though he had left with the dwarves to bathe. She wondered, not for the first time, where the wizard disappeared to and why. Fili and Kili were whispering to each other by their bedrolls, but by the glances they stole at her, she suspected she was the subject of their conversation. She was running her fingers absentmindedly through her hair when the two princes approached on either side of her.
"Mistress Miller?" Sara sighed. No matter how many times she told him to call her Sara or at least Ms. Sara or even Ms. Miller, Kili continued to call her Mistress Miller. She suspected he did it just to be obnoxious, much as he never seemed to be able to remember Bilbo's name.
"What is it oh beautiful Mistress Kili?" she replied, deciding on a different tact. "How may I help you?"
Kili had just opened his mouth to reply when he frowned and Fili let out a belt of laughter. Kili scowled at his brother slugging his shoulder.
"That's not funny!"
"Oh aye, lad, it is," said Bofur grinning. "Ya have been asking for that one for quite a while now." Kili huffed and crossing his arms across his chest. Fili continued to chuckle.
"Don't dish if you can't deal," said Sara, setting down her brush. Kili only groused.
"Oh, come on," said Fili, clapping his brother on the shoulder. "Don't be sore. Bofur is right you've been begging to get some of your own back for quite a while now." Bobo nodded his head in agreement, packing his pipe.
"What do you want Kili?" asked Sara, taking pity on him. Kili sighed and unfolded his arms.
"I wanted to ask a question, but Fili and I are not sure if it's too personal."
"You never know big you don't ask. What's your question?"
Kili took a deep breath. "We wanted to know why your hair is blue. Do all humans from your world have such strange hair?" Sara's face was blank for a moment and then she let out a soft chuckle and the group seemed to hold its breath waiting for her answer.
"No Kili, it's not too personal a question. My hair is blue because I dyed it that color."
"You mean like dyeing wool?" asked Bilbo. A few of the other dwarves were still as they listened in. Even Thorin seemed to be unusually still as Bifur and Ori came to sit nearby.
"I guess so," said Sara, a bit surprised by their interest. "Me and my roommate got our hair dyed about a week before I came to Middle Earth."
"But why would you get your hair dyed?" asked Ori, looking troubled. "Do people in your world have to dye their hair for any particular reason? Is it a type of punishment like having to shave your beard?"
"Wait," said Sara, seeing the hesitant looks on their faces. "You think I have blue hair because of something I did, like a punishment for a crime?"
Fili, Kili, and Ori nodded. The camp was unusually quiet, and Sara was suddenly aware that all ears waited for her response. She shook her head.
"No hair dying is not a punishment. People dye their hair for fun, to try something new."
"For fun?" asked Ori, supprised.
"Yeah, me da wanted to try a new color." She dug her phone out of her pocket and found the picture. "See, her's is pink."
She held out the phone for them to see and they passed it gingerly around the group. Bombur and Nori moved closer, interested.
"So, what color is your hair normally?" asked Fili, as he passed the phone to Nori.
"It's dark like Kili's hair." She tipped her head so they could see the roots. "See it's already growing in." Kili touched her part grinning.
"Will you always have blue hair?" asked Fili, looking worried.
"No, it's only a temporary color. It wears off in about six to eight weeks. But I haven't been able to wash my hair as much as normal so it may take longer. Washing it takes the color out faster." She took her phone back from Bombur who moved off with Ori and Nori, satisfied now their questions were answered.
"It's so soft," pouted Kili as he fluffed her hair.
"Benefits of shampoo and conditioner."
"Why don't you do anything with it? You always have it up in a tail. It would look so pretty in braids," asked Fili. Bilbo and Bofur nodded their agreement and even Bifur smiled at the suggestion.
"Being on the road there's not a lot of time to do anything with it and a ponytail is just easy and practical. Without a mirror, I can't do anything elaborate. Well that, and I've never been very good at braiding my own hair. I can never get them tight enough and they fall out a few min later."
Kili played with a curl and regarded her, chewing his lip.
"Can I braid it for you?" he asked. Fili jabbed him in the shoulder, frowning. Kili stuck out his tongue as Bifur watched the two princes with a knowing look.
"I suppose so," said Sara. "Me and my roommates used to have braids trains."
"Braid trains?" asked Fili as Kili moved to stand behind her.
"You sit in a line and braid the hair of the person in front of you."
"You could do my hair lass," said Bofur, winking.
"I don't see how I could," she said slyly. "I never see you without that hat of yours. The others tell me you don't even take it off to bathe."
"Aye! That's not true," he said, scowling at the others, yanking off his hat. His damp hair tumbled onto his shoulders. But then he caught sight of Sara's triumphant grin. The others chuckled as Kili began to section off Sara's hair.
"Okay, okay, so the others didn't tell me that; I just wanted to see if I could get you to take your hat off for once."
"Very funny lass," he said, jamming his hat back over his ears. She smiled.
"Really though, come here and I will braid it for you. So long as you don't want something as involved as Mr. Dori or Mr. Gloin that is. Just me how you want it done."
And that was how Dwalin found the group several minutes later. Kili behind Sara chewing his lip as he attempted a complicated braid in her hair with Fili's help and Sara sitting on the log with Bofur on the ground in front of her as she did his simple braids with Bilbo and Bifur looking on. Dwalin gave an unmistakable snort of derision and stalked off muttering something in dwarvish under his breath.
"Don't be jealous just cause ya haven't got enough left to braid," called Bofur after him. Dwalin made a rude hand gesture, not turning around, and Sara was surprised to see that at least some things seemed to be universal.
Kili was struggling with Sara's hair, not able to hold all the different strands in place without losing them. "This is not working," he whined.
"That's because to do this braid, you usually use pins to help hold it in place till the end. Let me try," said Fili pulling his fingers through her hair and undoing the little progress Kili had made.
"Well you're done Mr. Bofur," said Sara, tying the end of one of the simple braids with the strip of leather he had given her.
"Thank you much, Ms. Sara," he said, standing and giving her an exaggerated bow before replacing his hat. He moved off to find Bombur. Fili was now sectioning her hair, his fingers quick and nimble.
"Anyone else want their hair braided?" asked Sara. "Bilbo?"
"I should say not," said the hobbit. "Thank you all the same." Bifur shook his head beginning to whittle at a block of wood.
"What about you Kili? Let me braid your hair?" He wrinkled his nose. "Oh, come on, I let you try mine." He sighed and sat in front of her and she began to pull his hair back over his shoulders.
"I have a question if I may ask it," said Bilbo, watching Bifur carve the block in his hands.
"What's your question Mr. Baggins?" asked Fili.
"I have noticed that you dwarves tend to favor braids and beads in your hair and I was wondering if there was a specific meaning behind them?"
"Actually, I've been wondering that too," said Sara. "Some of you have braids and some don't and you all wear them so differently. In my world men typically wear their hair short, and even the few who have long hair don't usually put as much effort or care into their appearance." It was a moment before Fili answered.
"Dwarves take great pride in our hair and beards; even the women. It is a mark of our health, prosperity, and sometimes our station. Most braids don't mean anything," he said, moving to sit on her left, having tied her hair off for the moment. "One of the styles that does carry meeting is one my uncle and I wear." He pinched the two braids at the front of his hair.
"We both wear the king's braids. They are positioned over the temples to symbolize that our people and the duty we owe them are always foremost in our minds and the beads on the end bear the symbol of our people." Sara reached out to examine the bead.
"It's beautiful," she said, letting it fall back to his shoulder as he rose to return to her hair. "What other braids carry meaning?"
"There's the family braid," said Kili. "Hey, Gloin!" The red-maned dwarf looked and Kili waved him over. Gloin looked suspiciously between Fili and Kili as he stood in front of them.
"We are explaining braids to Ms. Sara and Mr. Buggins, want to show us your family braid?" asked Kili.
"I don't think Thorin would like you telling our secrets to them," said Gloin. Bifur snorted but continued his whittling.
"Oh come on, it's not like it's a secret, and who are they going to tell anyway?" Gloin looked like he wanted to refuse. "You can tell us about Gimli," wheedled Kili. This was another name that Sara was familiar with. She looked up at Gloin sharply.
"You're the father of... I mean to say, you have a son named Gimli?" she asked, catching herself. This was apparently the right thing to say. The suspicion in Gloin's eyes melted away and he beamed with pride.
"Yes my Gimli, my pride and joy. He is a bit younger than Fili and Kili here, but still too young a lad to come questing though he begged his mother."
"We wanted to show your family braid to Ms. Sara," said Fili, cutting across Gloin before he could build up steam. Gloin seemed disappointed to be cut off, but obliged them all the same, pulling a braid from beneath his hair and beard. There were two golden beads on the end of the red braid.
"The family braid is pulled from the hair behind the left ear," said Fili, tapping his fingers on her head to indicate the spot. "When braided, it hangs over one's heart. There is one bead for each member of the family, so there is one for Gloin's wife and one for their son Gimli."
"Then there are courting and pregnancy braids," said Kili, as Sara finished off his hair. He turned to face her. "The courting braid comes from behind the right ear and only our women wear them. When she agrees to court a dwarf he will braid it for her and put his bead on the end. Like this one here." He tapped a small braid behind her right ear. "This would be where a courting braid would be, but without the bead, it's just another braid. When the pair are wed the courting braid is switched to the other side and becomes a family braid."
"That's true enough," said Gloin, sinking into the log beside Bifur. "In fact, most meaning comes from the beads themselves and not the braid. The pregnancy braid, in truth, is just a family braid. When our women are with child, they will braid a ribbon into their family braid so that others will know of their delicate condition."
"In celebration?" asked Bilbo.
"Partly," said Gloin. "But also so that she will be taken care of by all she comes across. There are much fewer females than our males, and even those that do marry often have a difficult time conceiving; so when they are expecting they are very well cared for."
"That's very sweet," said Sara. "So king's braids, family braids, and courting braids that eventually turn into family braids, and ribbons for those who are expecting. What about the other beads?"
"The other beads mean something specific to the person who wears them, and how and where they are worn is a personal choice and not dictated by anything. They may be a mark of profession, age, a memory to not be forgotten, a family bead, and many others," explained Kili. "The only beads and braids that have a specific and universal meeting are the ones we just mentioned, all the rest are a personal choice."
"You're finished," said Fili, flipping one of the small braids over her shoulder. Gloin had turned to talk to Bilbo who asked more about his wife and son. Sara felt Bilbo would be up late that night listening to the dwarf expound upon his family.
"Told you your hair would look beautiful in braids, Mistress Miller," said Kili, grinning. His grin fell into a frown. "It's a shame you can't see them for yourself."
"Who says I can't." She pulled out her phone and snapped a few pictures from different angles. "Oh Fili, that's awesome! Thank you."
"How did you do that?" asked Kili, peering at her phone. "Capture a portrait so quickly. It's like magic."
"Not magic, technology. Here come sit next to me. You two as well," she called to Bilbo and Bifur. They did. "Lean in and look at the phone." She raised her phone and there was a flash of light, causing several of them to jump.
"Oh sorry, I had the flash on, but look." She held out her phone for them to examine. Bifur let out an excited string of dwarvish.
"What did he say?" asked Sara, turning to Fili.
"He's astounded," said Fili. "Says it's quite remarkable."
"How exactly do you do that?" asked Kili, peering over her shoulder.
"Just hold it like this till you have your target in view and then press this button."
"May I try?" She handed him the phone.
Fili and Kili spent the rest of the night snapping candid pictures of the rest of the company with her phone and when they finally returned it to her, the camera roll was filled with very interesting pictures of the others. Sara laughed as she looked through them, the two brothers were too creative for their own good. There were several snapshots of Dwalin practicing with his axes, though the following picture showed that Dwalin had indeed caught them. They even managed to sneak a good picture of Thorin cleaning his harp. As she studied the picture she was tempted to delete it, but in the end, decided against it. When else would she get a photo of him not scowling?
The next week passed much as the first had, save for a change in scenery. They left the rolling hills and farmlands, instead traversing through lands filled with sand and rocks. Stunted trees and bushes dotted the landscape, and there were a few days without ready water. They were traveling along what Gandalf said was the great East-West Road toward the Misty Mountains.
Life on the road was largely uneventful, the company passing fewer and fewer travelers as they went. Sara spent a good deal of time talking to Bilbo who was having an even more difficult time with the dwarves than she was. Most of them still ignored him, not so much actively, as through their uninterest. No one was openly rude to him, in fact, they were so polite it was almost cold. Bofur was the unwavering exception to this as he often sought out the halfling. But save for the conversations that were shared with Sara, Gandalf, or Bofur, he mostly kept to himself.
Sara, for her part, was faring better. Fili and Kili were often floating around her, talking and teasing. They both seemed to have taken to braiding her hair and that was frequently how they could be found after the evening meal. Sara could tell by the sidelong glances that some of the others were not particularly comfortable with this, but no one said anything so she didn't either.
During the day the princes often rode with her, peppering her with questions about her world. Sometimes they were joined by Bofur and Bilbo and on occasion even Ori. The scribe was eager to record what he learned about her world and he perpetually seemed to have one of the pens in his hands. He especially loved to hear fairy tales and asked for them often. After several requests for stories, Sara told him about the audiobooks on her phone and offered to let him listen to them. He eagerly agreed, and after showing him how her phone and headphones worked, he was occupied for the rest of the day. Nori and Dori fussed over their younger brother trying to get him to return the headphones but Ori seemed to have grown more fierce and his desire to learn and brushed them aside.
Bofur had taken to teasing Sara about her coat which she had become rather attached to. She wore it every opportunity she got. She slept in it and wore it long into the day until she could no longer bear the heat. As soon as it became the slightest bit chilly back on the coat went. For this, the hatted dwarf had teased her relentlessly. She teased him right back about his hat which he was never without and soon the teasing escalated.
While she was distracted Bofur stole the coat and kept it from her with the help of Fili and Kili. She tried her best to get it back but as it turned out the three of them made an excellent team. It wasn't until goosebumps covered her arms as evening fell that Dwalin got involved. He stalked into the fray and the three of them wilted as he snatched her coat from them, threatening them if they ever kept it from her again.
"Ya best learn to defend what's yers lass," he said, tugging the hood up over her head.
Sara had her revenge, even if it was unintentional. She offered out the last few strips of her Big Red Gum to Fili, Kili, Bilbo, and Bofur. After chewing the red strip a few seconds Bofur spluttered and spit out the offending cand. He reached hastily for his waterskin but gulped too quickly and lapsed into a coughing fit.
"Ya tried to burn my tongue out," he accused, his eyes still watering as he coughed again. Fili and Kili laughed raucously as Bofur continued to cough for a good five minutes, but on the sly Kili slipped his stick of gum back to her unchewed. As it turned out Bilbo and Fili liked the gum and chewed happily.
"It's quite good," said Bilbo, looking as though he were trying to suck all flavor from his piece. "It reminds me a bit of your cookies."
"Well, they both have a strong flavor of cinnamon although the cookies also have ginger as well."
"What's going on?" called Gandalf, as they approached where he had reined in his horse. "Thorin is quite cross with your slow pace." Sara glanced ahead. Thorin was glaring directly at her.
"I was just sharing the last of my gum," she said, offering Kili's piece to the wizard. "It's kinda like a candy where I am from."
"Rather a strong flavor, but not altogether unpleasant," he said after he gave it a few chews. "But come, Thorin will not wait."
Later that night Sara was sitting with Bifur and Bofur. The past few days Bifur had taken to sitting near Sara whenever he could. When she had asked why Bofur had translated that Bifur found her company to be the most entertaining of the group and that it amused him to watch Fili and Kili make fools of themselves. Bifur had also begun to teach Sara how to whittle, correcting her grip and showing her tricks to use. She would never be much good, especially when compared to the skills of Bofur and Bifur but it was nice to do something with her hands.
"I don't think I'll ever get the hang of this," she said, showing them yet another butchered piece of wood.
"Don't despair lass," said Bofur, pocketing his own beautifully carved owl. "Ya can't expect to be very good at first, besides to compare your skills to ours is not right; we've been doing this since long before you were even thought about." Bifur nodded his agreement.
"You all make it sound like your centuries older than me," she said. "I always feel like such a baby."
"That's cuz ya are lass. Tell me, how old do ya think I am?" She looked at him contemplating.
"Maybe thirty-eight?" Bofur burst out laughing.
"Oh lass," he said, smiling. "I have ta spend more time with ya. I am one hundred and twenty-six years old, probably better than five times yer age. How old are ya?"
"Twenty-four," she said, feeling childish. Bofur nodded. "But I don't get it, you don't look a hundred anything. None of you look over sixty. Certainly not Fili, Kili, or Ori."
"Hate to break it to ya lass, but they're all over seventy. Fili is in his eighties."
"No, I don't believe you. You're trying to trick me." Smirking Bofur called Fili over.
"Go ahead, ask him."
"Ask me what?"
"Fili, how old are you?" she asked, hesitantly.
Without a beat, he replied, "Eighty-two. Why, how old are you?" Her stomach dropped. Was she really so young?
"Twenty-four," she replied. Fili sucked in a breath looking a bit shaken.
"Now, don't go getting yerselves worked into a tizzy," said Bofur. "Ms. Sara, how old do humans in your world live to be, and when do ya first come of age?"
"Well, the average lifespan is about eighty years and most consider you an adult between eighteen and twenty-one, in the United States anyway. What about dwarves?"
"Dwarves," said Fili, looking as though he were doing some fast calculations, "Usually live to be about two hundred and fifty and we are considered to come of age at forty. But we are not considered a full adult until about sixty-five years of age."
"That put ya at about twenty-seven if ya were a human, and Kili at about twenty-five, respectively," said Bofur. Fili's face brightened visibly.
"That still leaves me the youngest one here," complained Sara.
"Not if you convert to human years," said Fili. "Ori is seventy one which makes him twenty-three." There was a wicked gleeful look on his face. "Oh, he won't like to think that he's younger. Hey Ori!" Fili went to get Ori as the scribe had Sara's headphones on and had not heard him call. Sara watched him go but got caught up in another spectacle.
Thorin and Dwalin were sparring. She had seen them do it before in the evening but tonight they caught her attention. She had been watching them for several minutes when she asked Bofur, "So I am guessing that Balin is the oldest, but what about the others? How old are they?" Bofur smiled as he followed her eyes to the king.
"Why do ya ask lass?" She didn't hear him as she was too busy watching the fight. "Seems they're going at it a bit harder than usual," he commented. Sara didn't respond, too fixated on how fluid the dwarves' movements were. They moved pretty fast for their bulk, even Dwalin.
"Are you asking me to divulge the ages of everyone here lass, or just one person in particular?" asked Bofur, watching her. "Cause if yer asking about who I think yer asking, the answer is one hundred and ninety-five."
She looked back at him. "What did you say"
"Thorin lass, he is one hundred and ninety-five."
"No, now I know you are lying. No way is he the oldest here."
"Aye, he is lass."
"But he looks so young, how can that be true?"
"That would be the direct bloodline to Durin the Deathless at work there. Those who have Durin's blood sometimes age a bit funny, and they usually live extraordinarily long lives compared to others of our race."
"If you say so. It still sounds crazy to me, and here I was feeling all grown up at twenty-four." Fili returned with Ori, Bilbo, and Kili trailing curiously after them.
"What's going on over here?" asked Kili.
"We are discussing the ages of humans and dwarves," said Bofur and he quickly caught the others up on the conversation. Ori looked unfazed by the revelation of his relative age.
"I already knew about the age ratio between humans and dwarves, so it's not a big surprise to me. I learned about it while transcribing some old records ages ago," said Ori.
"Well that's no fun," said Kili.
"Actually, Ms. Miller I've been wanting to ask you something," said Ori. "I've been listening to your books and I was wondering if there are any stories about dwarves?"
Sara had anticipated this question and remembered what Gandalf said about the need for secrecy regarding Tolkien's works. She had already prepared her answer and was just grateful that she had the digital copy on her phone.
"Yes, there are some though not many. There is a famous children's story called Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. I will warn you though, most times dwarves are not portrayed accurately. Just keep in mind that my world believes dwarves, wizards, elves, and magic to all be fiction."
"Will you tell us the story Ms. Miller?" asked Kili.
"I can do better than that. I will show you the movie."
"What is a movie?" asked Fili.
"A moving portrait I guess would be the easiest way to explain it. Can I have my phone, Ori?" He handed back her phone and headphones.
Sometime later found Fili, Kili, Ori, Bilbo, Sara, and even Bofur all sprawled out on the ground watching the phone they had set on a knot of a tree so all could see. The dwarves and hobbit had thought the story rather fun, but the dwarves had been disappointed with their portrayal; though some aspects were correct. The princes had snickered and whispered that at least they got one of the dwarves right and Sara had a sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with Thorin, as they kept glancing at the king who was sitting sharpening his blades. Sara thought she had figured out the joke when they continued to snicker whenever Grumpy was on screen. As the movie went on she found it harder and harder to stay away.
"Whoever heard of a kiss waking someone from death," said Kili as the movie ended.
"And dwarves that lived in the houses of men," said Fili, frowning. "What did you think, Ori?"
"I liked it, though Ms. Sara was right when she said that we would not be portrayed entirely correctly." At the mention of her name all turned to her, only to find her asleep atop her sleeping bag, tucked cozily in her coat, her hood over her head. Kili reached out to wake her up, but Bofur stopped him.
"Nay lad, let her sleep where she is. It will do her no harm and that coat of hers will keep her plenty warm."
They placed her phone near her and left for their beds. Had anyone been watching, as indeed a certain king was, they would have seen a Dwalin lay a blanket over the girl late in the night. Thorin raised an eyebrow in question as Dwalin passed on his way back to bed. The warrior just shrugged and continued on. Thorin shook his head returning to the watch, trying not to let his eyes drift too often to the sleeping girl.