In which the company has Battle Strategy Training and Sara gets quite a shock.
The sixth day from Rivendell began a marked change in their surroundings. The company continued to ascend into the mountains and soon they rose above the timberline and out onto the great bald rocks that topped the mountains. They were now so high in fact, that they began to see snow in the shadows of the rocks, and on the faces of the mountains that seldom saw sunlight. That night they had camped near a rather large patch of snow which was littered with large boulders. Having caught Sara looking particularly down and distracted Dwalin had suggested they try something new for training that night. He called it Battle Strategy Training and when Sara asked what that was he had replied by scooping up a handful of snow and lobbing it at Thorin's head. Sara drew in a breath and held it, wondering how Thorin would react.
The days since leaving Rivendell had been different then their time on the road from the Shire. The difference that Sara could note was mostly a change in Thorin, for he no longer held himself aloof from the group, but joined in the conversations, sharing in the laughter and joy of the others. He was less broodish and quicker to smile, even around Sara and Bilbo who he had never talked to unnecessarily before Rivendell. So how would this new Thorin react to Dwalin; she felt if anyone could get away with it, it would be the warrior. Thorin turned to face them shaking snow from his hair scowling. Dwalin said something to him in dwarvish and Thorin eyed them for a minute before his scowl turned into a smirk and he nodded. Fili and Kili whooped and several of the others grinned. Before Sara could react Dwalin had scooped her up and tossed her over his shoulder as he, Nori, and some of the others jogged to the large rocks at one end of the snow field. Sara spotted File and Kili hauling off a protesting Bilbo in the opposite direction towards Thorin, Dori, Ori and Gloin who were hiding in the rocks on the other end of the field.
"What are we doing?" asked Sara when Dwalin had set her down and Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur had joined them.
"I told you lass, Battle Strategy Training," he said packing snowballs.
"Really," she said skeptically. "Because it looks like you're trying to start a snowball fight."
"A snowball battle," corrected Nori packing his own ammo. "For the sake of strategy training."
"Well are there rules or objectives to this Battle Strategy Training," she asked, pulling the winter gloves Kili had swiped for her out of her coat pocket.
"No rules Ms. Sara," said Bombur. "The only objective is to take a prisoner and get them back to your camp."
"Okay," she nodded. "So who are we trying to capture?"
"Mr. Baggins of course," said Bofur peering up over the top of the rocks and getting a snowball to the face. They heard Kili cheer.
"And who are they trying to get?" she asked. Bifur grinned and pointed at her. "Me?" she yelped.
"Aye lass," said Dwalin throwing several balls in succession before turning his attention to her. "Keep yer guard up and don't let them take ya. Ya can use any means necessary to get away." A volley of snowballs dropped down on their heads which was soon returned under Dwalin's instruction. This back-and-forth continued for several minutes. "Nori can ya see Fili or Kili? asked Dwalin ducking behind the rocks again as a projectile flew above his tattooed head.
Nori who was perched in the rocks behind and above them shook his head. "No. They are not at their base," Dwalin swore under his breath.
"Nori, see if ya can find and intercept them wherever they went. Bofur come with me, we will sneak in and grab Mr. Baggins. Bifur and Bombur protect Ms. Sara. Don't let them take her away." With this, the group split. Sara climbed to the top of the large rock in front of her and got a face full of snow. She had just finished wiping her face when she was struck again. Growling in frustration she looked for the source of the attacks.
"Ms. Sara here," called Bomber tossing her several snowballs. She caught them and turned her attention to the snowfield littered with boulders, looking for her assailant. She thought she saw movement behind one other the rocks but no one showed themselves. Tossing a snowball in a high arch she was pleased to see it land behind the chosen rock and was further gratified to hear a dwarvish curse. Moments later there was a thwump and Sara felts snow and ice slide down the front of her coat and shirt beneath her chin. Bifur poked his head up to looking and ducked again just in time to avoid being hit. Sara stood inching forward to the edge of the rock trying to get a better view. She saw Dwalin and Bofur sneaking toward Dori, Ori, and Gloin who were manning the enemy base, but where were Thorin, Fili, and Kili? She was about to toss another snowball behind the rock where she thought she saw someone when she felt a cold wet splat on the back of her head. Confused, she turned and looked behind her.
"Watch out," warned Sara, but it was too late. While they had been distracted with the assailant in front of them, Fili and Kili must have snuck up behind them, for just as Bifur and Bombur looked up the two princes dropped their beach ball-sized snowballs onto the cousins.
"Little sister," called Kili in a sing-song voice. "We've come for you." Sara spotted Nori sneaking up on them from behind.
"You haven't got me yet," she taunted, just missing Fili's ear with a snowball. He grinned tossing a snowball up and down in one hand.
"I would not be so sure of that Sara," replied Fili smirking. With his empty hand she saw him make several covert hand signs to someone behind her, but when she turned to look she saw no one. As she turned around again Fili and Kili pummeled her in the chest with several snowballs knocking her backwards off her rock just as Nori spring at them from behind. Sara's heart froze as she felt herself fall backward and she braced to hit the ground, but it never came. Instead, she felt someone catch her and she opened her eyes to see bright blue ones looking smugly down at her.
"You!" she accused pushing at Thorin's chest. "You were the one hitting me with snowballs!"
"Distraction is a useful tactic in battle Ms Sara," he replied, setting her on her feet but keeping a tight grip on her wrists. "Now that I have our captive, I need only return you to our our base." He began to pull her struggling after him. They had made it some distance when she had an idea and she let herself drop to sit in the snow. He looked down at her, an eyebrow raised. "You think this will prevent me from taking you back?"
"It's worth a try," she said, hoping he would take the bait.
"It is a childish and ineffective ploy," he said releasing her wrists and bending to pick her up. Quickly she grabbed his forearms pulling him forward and rocked backward using her legs to flip him up over her and into the snow beyond. She got to her feet quickly and stood over him just outside his reach.
"I don't know," she said giving a false shrug. "Seems to have worked pretty well on you."
He stared up at her. "I forget you are capable of such tricks," he said breathlessly, his eyes dilating despite the light reflecting off the snow around them.
"You didn't think I would come quietly did you?" she taunted before she dropped a handful of snow in his face. She was almost back to base, Thorin behind her and gaining ground, when her foot caught on a rock buried beneath the snow and she fell, her face pressing into the snow. Gasping she lifted her head only to feel strong arms close around her waist hauling her to a feet and pulling her tight against a broad chest.
"And you did not think I would let you escape so easily," said Thorin quietly into her ear. Sara struggled but knew unless she was actually willing to attack him, he had her right where he wanted her. She continued to struggle while she secretly undid the buttons and tie of her coat and then went limp in his grip. "What, giving up already?" he asked. She nodded mutely. He shifted his grip to her forearms and turned her around to look at her face. "It is unlike you to give in so easily," he said suspiciously. She ducked out of her coat, the soft fur aiding her exit.
"Your right, it's not like me," she called over her shoulder as she ran, leaving him clutching an empty coat. Growling, he took off after her but she didn't make it far before she quite literally ran into Fili and Kili who were running pell-mell away from the enemy base being pelted by snowballs. They grabbed her up off the ground and dragged her with them. "Having trouble uncle?" asked Kili cheekily as they brought her struggling back to him. "And we set it up so perfectly for you."
"She's a slippery minx," said Thorin scooping her up and pinning her arms to her side, holding her tightly so she could not wiggle. Nori came running around the corner, Bifur and Bombur behind him. Spotting her they gave a cry and charged.
"Go," said Fili. "We will hold them off." Thorin nodded to his nephews and began to run with Sara towards their base. She had about given up hope when she spotted Bofur and Dwalin, a frowning Bilbo thrown over the warriors shoulder.
"Bofur!" she yelled. "Help!" The hatted dwarf looked around but when he caught sight of her he laughed and shook his head, running after Dwalin. "Traitor!" she called angrily. She heard Thorin chuckle. They were about to the rocks that marked his base when a cheer arose from the other side of the snow field and Thorin groaned his step slowing before he set her down gently on her feet.
"Giving up?" she asked him.
"Dwalin has already won," he said pointing to her cheering team and a grumpy Bilbo who stomped off to the field to join Balin and Oin who decided to refrain from Battle Strategy Training.
"So he won the battle. Are you going to let him win the war?" she asked folding her arms across her chest and rubbing them.
"What are you suggesting?" he asked shrewdly, handing her back her coat which she took eagerly.
"Round Two," she grinned buttoning her coat. "And and alliance."
"You wish to turn traitor yourself?" he asked eyebrows raised. "Why?"
"How else will I get my revenge on Bofur," she replied smirking. They 'trained' till the sun began to sink behind the mountains, the game quickly dissolving into bedlam filled with captures, pranks, betrayals, new and changing alliances and lots of wet snow.
"I like Battle Strategy Training," said Sara through chattering teeth as she sat pressed close to Dwalin's side near the fire trying to warm her frozen fingers.
He looked down at her, pleased to see her smile as he pulled her hood up over her head. "Aye lass, I thought you would."
Their path through the mountains became more treacherous as the days passed. The trail was narrow and often led along the sides of sheer cliffs, at times so narrow that Sara was sure they would not get the ponies through even when they had been unpacked, but somehow they always did. When the way was not narrow or dangerous it was deceitful, leading to dead ends or sheer drops and several times they had to backtrack to find the correct path. On the eighth day they were passing through one of these high narrow stretches the wind whipping around them, at times so strong they had to cling to the rock wall to keep from being blown away. The company was quiet save for the occasional warning of a loose stone or low hanging rock above their heads and all kept her eyes on the ground conscious of where they placed their feet. This silence unfortunately afforded Sara's mind time to wonder and brood. Since Rivendell her quiet moments had been plagued with memories from the mirror. The worst times were before sleep and often her dreams were dark and terrible, causing her to wake violently, drenched in sweat and panicked. With the nights growing frigid, Fili and Kili had taken to sleeping pressed close to Sara to keep her warm as had Bifur, Bofur and Bombur for Bilbo. Thankfully the princes were normally heavy sleepers and the times she had startled from sleep in their arms she been able to convince them that it was nothing, though she was not sure if Fili always believed her.
Sara staggered along the path behind Dori trying to focus her mind on any but her dark thoughts. The previous night had been particularly bad for her and she had gotten very little sleep, finally getting up and going to join Ori who have been on the second watch and he had kept her distracted from her dreams with questions about her schooling. This lack of sleep and her distracted thoughts were poor combination she knew, and she suspected were ultimately to blame for what happened that day. It was growing late in the day the sun not far from the horizon and Thorin had said they would stop the next suitable place they found. Sara was walking between Dori and Nori as Fili and Kili were guiding the two unpacked ponies, the food supplies having been split between several of the others. Dori had stopped and turned around to warn her of a loose rock but she had not heard him, too absorbed was she in memories of dragons and staring dead eyes. Her foot had slipped on the loose stone and she was snapped from her thoughts as her stomach lurched and she felt herself begin to fall. Dori's hand shot out like a striking snake, fisting in the front of her coat and shirt halting her fall and hauling her back upright again before slowly releasing her.
"Are you alright Ms. Sara?" asked Dori worriedly. She blinked up at him, suddenly very awake, her heart now racing in her chest.
"I… I think so," she said, blinking back tears of surprise.
"You must be more careful," said Nori behind her. "If you fell from here you would never be seen again, alive or dead." Sara had no doubt at that, for when she peered over the edge of the drop she could not see the ground through the low-lying clouds being blown quickly by. She swallowed thickly and drew further back against the cliff above her.
"What is the delay?" called Thorin from the head of the line.
"Ms. Sara slipped," Dori called back to him. Thorin made his way back past the others carefully, coming to stand in front of Sara.
"Are you well Ms. Sara?" he questioned looking her up and down.
"I'm fine," she assured. "Just tired."
"Keep your wits about you," he admonished. She nodded wearily and his expression softened slightly. "We will stop soon," he assured turning to make his back to the head of the group.
"Thank you Dori," she said squeezing his forearm. "I will be more careful," she promised. She reached under her coat to pull her shirt back down into place and felt something cool slide down her belly and drop from her. Her heart stopped as she saw her necklace bounce in front of her and fall over the edge of the cliff. "No!" she yelled lunging forward to grab for it. She would have toppled over the edge had Nori and Dori not grabbed her and dragged her back as she struggled against them frantically. Dwalin pushed past Nori to grab Sara by the shoulders shaking her slightly.
"By Durin's beard lass, what has gotten into ya?" he asked restraining her.
"Let me go! I have to get it back! I can't lose it!" she shouted eyes wild trying to break his grip on her.
"Get what lass? Yer making no sense. What did you lose?"
"My necklace," she cried still struggling. "I have to get it." The others had gathered closer, watching.
"Lass," said Dwalin grabbing her face and looking her in the eyes. "If it went over the edge, it's gone."
"No," she cried tears slipping from her eyes. "It's all I have left of them."
"Of who lass?" asked the warrior still holding her face.
"My family Dwalin," she cried pulling away from him, her hands over her face and she sobbed. "It was all I had left of my family."
"Oh lass." He pulled her into him holding her tight. "I'm sorry lass." It was quiet save for Sara's crying until Bilbo spoke.
"Is your necklace gold?" he asked, kneeling to look over the edge.
"It was," she cried mournfully.
"Is!" said Bilbo excitedly. "I can see it!"
"Where?" asked Dwalin releasing Sara and turning to see where the hobbit was pointing. About thirty feet down her necklace had been caught on a tiny lip of rock.
"How will we get it?" asked Fili looking warily over the edge the wind whipping his hair back and forth. It was quiet for a moment.
"Send me," said Bilbo. They all looked at him like he was crazy. "Lower me down on a rope," he explained.
"That could work," said Kili.
"But it is very dangerous," said Balin looking down at their hobbit.
"Yes," said Bilbo eyeing the edge. "But with Mr. Dori on the other end of the rope I shall be at no greater risk than I am walking along this path; less I should think if it's a sturdy rope."
"Are you sure Mr. Baggins?" asked Dori.
"Balin is right," said Sara concerned for her friend. "It's too dangerous."
"You should not have to part with the last reminder of your family if I can retrieve it," said Bilbo taking her hands in his. "I understand how important it is to you and I will see it returned."
"Thorin?" asked Dwalin. The dwarves all looked to their King, waiting for him to speak.
"Do as you wish Master Baggins," was his only reply.
Fili brought forth their best rope, tying it around Bilbo, and a few minutes later the hobbit was being hauled back over the edge, her necklace clenched tight in his fist and looking rather wind blown. Sara rushed forward hugging the startled hobbit tightly, pressing kisses to his cheeks thanking him over and over again.
"Steady on lass," said Dwalin pulling her off the rather pink hobbit. "Let our burglar breathe."
"I'm afraid the chain is snapped," said Bilbo holding out the necklace to her. She took it holding it to her lips looking relieved.
"Gloin should be able to fix it when we reach Camp," said Dori.
"We must reach camp first," said Thorin. "Now that burglar and necklace are restored let's keep moving, the sun is not far from setting."
Soon after they found a spot on the path that widened out leaving room for them to make a small camp. They would be cramped for the night and would be bedding with the ponies but it was better than not at all and at least it was mostly sheltered from the wind. There was not really even enough room to build a fire on the ledge but with the sun sinking, no one wanted to risk being caught on the treacherous path at night. They had had a simple supper such as they could manage from their supplies and after they ate Sara sat between Gloin and Dwalin with Fili in front of her as she teased some knots out of the back of his hair. Kili and Bilbo sat with their backs against one of the ponies as Bofur tried to explain poker to them and Nori using Sara's paper cards. Gloin had his small tools out and was studying her necklace as he worked to restore the gold chain.
"Are ya all right now lass?" asked Dwalin beside her as he cleaned his odd knuckle dusters. "Ya were quite upset earlier."
"Yes," she said, glancing at him. "I'm sorry to cause such a scene."
"You must miss them a lot lass," he said rubbing at the knuckle guards with a cloth.
Sara froze in place, her back straightening before she answered. "You can't really miss someone you never knew," she said simply her hand stilling in Fili's hair.
"What about your grandma?" asked Fili, turning his head slightly to look at her in confusion. Sara dropped his hair all together now.
"She was not my biological family," she said. Fili turned around to face her now.
"Then who was she?" he asked.
"Clarisse Miller was a kind sixty three year old woman who adopted an abandoned baby she found on her doorstep," Sara said in a clipped tone. She leaned forward resting her head in her hands staring at the ground. "Look, I don't like to talk about my family," she said. The company was quiet until Fili broke the silence once again.
"But why were you left on the doorstep? What happened to your parents?"
"I don't know!" she yelled at Fili. "I don't know why I was abandoned. I don't know who my parents were. I don't know my real name. I don't even know my own birthday."
"Sara, I'm sorry. I did not..." began Fili but he stopped when Sara looked up at him tears in her eyes again.
"I don't know who I am or where I'm from. I don't know who I belong to and my whole life I've lived wondering why I wasn't wanted. Wondered who could leave their child, hating the family I never knew for abandoning me but always desperately wanting to know them, to meet them. I've lived so long hating them and longing for them and then I went and looked at that cursed mirror of Lady Galadriel and now I'm so confused. If they loved me and wanted me then why was I left. Why didn't they come for me. I don't know if they are alive or dead or they just could not be bothered. I just … I don't … I don't know." She had cried since coming to Middle Earth, but never like this. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed now, the fear, exhaustion, and uncertainty of it all on top of everything else finally catching up to her. Fili reached for her and when she didn't rebuffed him he pulled her into his lap hugging her tightly.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to upset you Sara." She cried into his shoulder for several minutes the others quiet. Kili and Bilbo came to sit on either side of Fili. Bilbo pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket and placed it in her hand. When Sara finally began to calm she pulled away from Fili wiping her face and nose. "I'm sorry Sara," said Fili once again.
She shook her head. "It's not your fault Fili," she said. "I'm sorry for blowing up at you. I haven't slept well lately and I'm tired and grouchy and on edge and it all just caught up with me. I'm sorry for yelling at you. My family has always been a really touchy subject for me." All was quiet for a few moments and Fili shifted Sara in his lap so he could see her face better.
"You need to know something," he said, taking her face in his large warm hands. "Whether or not you ever find you family, you always have me. Even if the Valar take you away tomorrow, I will always be your brother. I want you. Mahal, I'm going to fight Thorin for you, but even if I lose, you are always my sister. I would sooner stop being a dwarf than stop being your brother." He kissed her forehead and pulled her back down to his shoulder where she began to cry again.
"I thought you were supposed to make her feel better, not make her cry again," said Kili. Sara laughed through her tears turning her head to look at him. "See," said Kili smugly. "I make her laugh. I must be a better brother than you Fili." She laughed harder but stayed in Fili's lap for many long minutes. The others returned their attention to their respective tasks or at least pretended to and Gloin came to sit in front of Fili.
"Ms. Sara," he called holding up her necklace. "I have repaired the chain."
"Thank you," she said, holding out her hand but Gloin hesitated to give it back to her.
"I would like to clean it properly for you," he said slowly. "May I open it?"
"Open what?" she asked.
"Your locket," he clarified holding her necklace higher.
"But it's not a locket," she said confused.
"Lass," said Dwalin from his seat nearby. "If Gloin says it's a locket, it is. He is one of the best jewelers we have."
"But how could I not know?" she asked sitting up now as Fili released her. "I have been wearing it for seven months."
"It is well crafted," said Gloin. "The hinge is on the inside. It is designed so unless you already know what it is or were trained to notice certain things you would not know."
"Show me please," she asked coming closer to see. He nodded and took a tool from his pocket and popped open a small seam she had never noticed before. The embossed gold front swung open and something bright pink fell out into the dirt. Frowning Sara moved out of Fili's lap and reached to pick up what she saw was a folded sticky note. Gingerly she opened it and in it's folds she was surprised to find a Micro SD card. Carefully lifting it between two fingers she saw her grandmother's familiar handwriting on the sticky note and she smiled as she read one of her grandmother's favorite quotes. 'We lose ourselves in books, we find ourselves there too.' Somehow Sara didn't think her Grandmother had ever full appreciated this quote, at least not as well as Sara did now as she sat surrounded by Bilbo Baggins and Thorin Okensheild's company of dwarves high in the Misty Mountains of Middle Earth. Smiling she continued to read 'Even when I am gone, never stop reading. I love you my Sara.' Sara tried to blink back tears, she felt she has cried more than enough for one day. Drawing her phone from her pocket she pried off the back switching the Micro SD card inside for the one from the locket. Reattaching the back and powering on her phone she waited impatiently.
"Thorin, Balin," called Gloin an odd note in his voice. Sara was too distracted thumbing through her phone to notice as the three dwarves bent low over her locket talking rapidly in dwarvish and shooting questioning looks at her. She finally found the new file folder, it had taken a minute as it was unnamed. She pressed the icon and saw a single word file simply named "H." Holding her breath she opened the document and read the first line… and promptly dropped her phone. She picked it up quickly and read the first line again. 'In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit.' She checked the title. 'The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien.' Her grandmother had put a digital copy of The Hobbit on the SD card she left in the locket. Clarice had been dying and she still took the time to leave this for her, knowing that Sara would not want to read the Hobbit after her death. She could not have known that Sara would soon be living though the same book they had determined to read together, but she had wanted to share one of her favorite books with her granddaughter and knew that Sara would find it difficult to after her passing and so had left her this last gift.
"Ms. Sara," called Thorin from Gloin's side.
Should she read it? She held all the answers she could want here in her hand. Gandalf had expressed his sentiment that it was a shame she had not been more familiar with their present story. Now she could be. Sara had often warred with herself about what if anything to reveal about the future. Until now it had not mattered because her knowledge was of the future. She had told the council she would not speak of the future, but she had mostly said that so that she would not give Sauron or Saruman information that they could use later. But now, she could find out the fate of the Quest, she could find out the fates of Fili, Kili and Thorin. Maybe armed with knowledge of what was shorty to come she could avoid all the suffering she had seen in the mirror.
"Ms. Sara," called Thorin again.
Dwalin nudged her with an elbow. "Lass, Thorin is calling ya."
If she read it it could hardly affect anyone else… unless she told them. Gandalf had suggested that maybe she was here to introduce change into the story, could that be so? Or he had suggested that she was already a part of the story without knowing it. Could this then be a way to find out what the Valar intended for her. If she was really a part of the story anyway then she would just keep doing what she was doing and help the book turn out the way it was intended, but if the book and reality were different, what then?
"Sara," questioned Thorin crouching in front of her. Her eyes were blank, glassy and unfocused.
"Is she alright?" asked Nori who came to stand behind her.
If the book and reality did not match then perhaps she was indeed here to introduce change to fix events so they would be ideal for the the Fellowship. But how would she know what to do, what to change? Gandalf's words to her outside the inn came to her mind. 'The Valar are very wise and know much of what was, what is, and what will be. Trust in the trust they have placed in you.' Suddenly, Sara wished very much that Gandalf were here. He would know what to do, wouldn't he?
"She seems spellbound," said Ori who was now standing behind Thorin. Bilbo nodded his agreement.
"She certainly does," said the hobbit.
"Kiss her Thorin," suggested Bofur. "It works in those fairy tales she's always telling us." Thorin shot the toy-maker a warning look, but was glad Sara was obviously not in the current moment. Nori looked unobtrusively over Sara shoulders and down at her phone, frowning a bit as his eyes began to trace left-to-right. Thorin reached out a hand and tried to take the phone from her but she held onto it with a grip like death and her eyes were still glazed over. He shook her arm and called her name again, but no response came. Sighing he reached out and pinched her nose shut waiting. Balin began to protest this but Sara jerked out of Thorin's grip gasping and blinking up at him.
"What?" she groused rubbing her nose. "What did you do that for?"
"You were unresponsive," replied Thorin looking over her face.
"Are you okay Ms. Sara," asked Bilbo, clearly concerned.
"Yes," she said, quickly shoving her phone into a pocket much to the disappointment of a certain thief behind her. "I was just thinking."
"Did ya solve all the world's problems lass," asked Dwalin. "Because I don't think I've ever seen anyone think quite that hard." She scowled at him and he chuckled.
"Ms. Sara," insisted Thorin. She looked at him. "I have some questions for you if you don't mind answering them, and I prefer you, to use your own words, not blow up at me, as they may be of sensitive nature." She hesitated before nodding slightly. He held up her necklace. "Where Ms. Sara did you get this?"
"I already told you," she said.
"Humor me," said Thorin standing. "Tell us how you came to possess this necklace."
She sighed wearily. "My grandmother found it around my neck the night I was left on her doorstep. She found me in the basket wrapped in a blanket wearing it."
"Was there any other indication as to where you came from? A letter? Anything at all?" he asked.
"No, nothing. Not even my clothes give a hint. They were handmade, no tags." She had always thought that was a bit odd.
"You have been looking for your family?" he questioned.
"Yes," she said rubbing her temples. "My whole life, but in earnest for several months now."
"And you have never found any trace of them?" he asked. She shook her head. "And they have never come to find you?" She shook her head again. "You are sure this is the very same necklace you were found with? You didn't trade it accidentally for another while here in Middle Earth or get it mixed up with another?" he asked holding it out to her. She took it from him and turned it over in her hands.
"Yes it's the same one my grandmother returned to me just before she died. I could not forget it if I tried. There's even a note inside from her," she said as she held out the pink sticky note for their inspection. Balin took it from her reading the strange colored note paper. "Why are you asking me all this?"
"I do not believe you are from Earth," said Thorin holding her gaze. "And I don't think the Valar sent you."
She peered up at him in disbelief. "After all this time, all the strange things you have seen me do, all the things you have heard me say, every odd thing from my world, and you are still doubting this?"
"You misunderstand me," he said calmly. "I believe that you were reared on Earth. How could I doubt that, your very demeanor is a testament to your other worldliness. But," he said crouching in front of her again looking her in the eye. "I don't believe that is where you hail from. The Valar did not send you to us," he said softly. "They returned you to us, to your home, to Middle Earth." She stared up at him unsure of what to think.
"Why would you think that?" she asked.
He took the locket from her and opened it pointing to the inside. "Do you see this mark here on the inside of your necklace?" he asked. She squinted down and did indeed see a mark that was too precise, too clean to be unintentional.
"Yes," she said. "What about it?"
"This is a craftsman's mark, used to identify an individual or a guild's handiwork," he explained patiently.
"Okay," she replied. "So what about it?"
"Ms. Sara," he said placing it back in her hand. "This is the craftsman's mark of the guild of Dale, the city that once sat at the foot of Erebor, our home. Your necklace was made in the city of Dale before it's fall to the dragon Smaug."
"But if it was destroyed over a hundred years ago how did I get this?" she asked.
"Lass," said Balin coming to stand by her. "Some of Dale's inhabitants escaped to Esgaroth, Lake Town." She looked at him, eyes wide. "You may have family in Lake Town."
"It would explain why you could not find them," said Thorin. "You were looking in the wrong world."
Sara stood quickly, shock pulsing through her. She almost lost her necklace, bawled her eyes out, found she possessed a copy of The Hobbit all along, and now she was not even Sara Miller of Earth. She was Sara… who knew of Middle-earth. These revelations swam in her mind which was feeling rather warm and fuzzy and…
Sara collapsed. Nori jumped forward quickly to catch her before she could hit the ground, scooping her up in his arms.
"I told ya it'd be too much for her to take in at once," said Balin frowning at Thorin.
"She needed to know," was Thorin's only reply.
"Lay her down and let her rest," Oin instructed. Nori carried to her to where Fili and Kili were spreading out her sleeping bag. He laid her down gently, and quietly slipped her phone into his pocket. All eyes, but Bifur's, were focused on Sara as Nori walked back to Thorin saying he would take first watch. Bifur's eyes were on the thief.