The Teacher

“Shouldn’t we have been there by now Ada” asked Elladan. They had found the fork in the road; the lone oak tree and had followed the path that Penda had spoken of. But there was no homestead. The path came to a dead end.

“We should have been, son, but it appears as though we were mislead. We will go back to the fork in the road and follow it to the left.”

Two hours later they found another lone oak tree with a road next to it. They followed the road and within the hour they found William’s homestead.

Riding up to the cabin, they stopped near the front door. Smoke was coming from
the chimney, so they knew someone was home. Slowly the door opened and an elderly
man stepped out. He had grey shoulder-length hair, and walked with a limp.

“Elrond? Is that you?”

Elrond got off his horse, and walked up to his old friend. “Mae govovannen, mellon nin.”

“Creoso mel lonamin,” said Will. “I was not expecting you for a few weeks yet. I know how busy you are. I hope I didn’t take you away from anything important.”

“No, you did not. Your letter sounded urgent; I did not want to put off coming any longer than necessary. We had a few delays, but we are here now.” He motioned for the others to dismount, telling Elladan and Elrohir to put their horses away.

“It is good to see you,” said Will. “Come, let us sit down, we shall talk.” While the twins put the horses in a small pen next to the barn, the others made their way to a small fire pit with several chair’s and log’s spread around it, near the front of the house.

“We would have been here earlier, but we had an encounter with a band of orcs this morning, and then we were given bad directions here.” Elrond said, watching as Will lit a fire.

“Really, that’s odd; everyone in this area knows where I live; who could have gotten the directions wrong I wonder. But you are here now and that is what matters. Now, tell me, how was your trip?”

Elrond told him of all that had happened, going into great detail about their battle with the Uruk-hai, knowing his friend would enjoy it.

“But you don’t look like you were in a battle; how did you manage that?” Will asked.

Everyone looked at Elrond. He told Will of the pond and their encounter with the young maiden, Penda, and how she had given them the wrong directions, leaving out some of the details, such as seeing her swim naked and how she had slapped Elrond. “Enough of that, though, Will; you said in your letter that you have something of great importance to ask me. What can I do for you?”

“I have a favor to ask, one that must be thought on carefully. If you say no, then I will understand.”

“You know you have only to ask me and I will do it if it is within my power.”

“I am growing old,” said Will, “and it is time to make preparations for when I am gone. I have a niece, one with long red hair, who rides a l bla black stallion….”

Elrond’s eyes got bigger, Glorfindel smiled to himself, and the others just sat there, listening. Will continued to talk and when he was done Elrond looked at him and said that he could consider the favor taken care of. “Where is Penda now, Will?” he asked

“She is down at the small pond over the hill,” he said “She enjoys sitting downre, re, especially during the evening.”

“Then shall we go down and meet her?” With that they all headed in the direction of the pond.


Mae govannen mellon nin: Well met my friend
Creoso Mel lonamin: Welcome my friend