The Teacher

“Good morning Elrond,” Will said as the Elf-Lord approached the table. “I trust you slept well last night?’

“Yes, Will, I did. It was nice to sleep in a bed last night, after sleeping on the ground for the past week,” Elrond replied as he sat down and poured himself some tea.

“You can thank Penda for that. She re-stuffs the mattress every month. The girl has spoiled me since she came to live with me,” Will said as Penda joined them, and giving her uncle a kiss on the cheek, she sat down next to him. “I thought breakfast was about ready,” she said.

“It would have been,” said Will, “but the eggs have not been collected y

Suddenlyy hey heard yelling coming from behind the barn. They all turned and watched as Amros, Aerandir and the twins all walked out, chicken feathers in their hair. Glorfindel and Penda burst out laughing, Will shook his head, and Elrond tried his best to keep a straight face. He was not very successful.

“Ada,” Elladan said, glaring at his father, “it is not that funny. Those chickens are vicious.” Penda laughed harder. Recomposing himself, Elrond asked, “What are you doing with the chickens?”

“I asked them to collect the eggs this morning for breakfast,” Will said. “I thought they knew how.”

“Is that what you are trying to do?” asked Penda when she finally stopped laughing. “Come, I will show you what to do.”

She went to the barn, telling the four Elves to wait outside for her. When she came back out she had two empty baskets and a pail full of feed. Giving the baskets to Amros, she motioned for them to follow her.

Going to the back of the barn, she started throwing the feed onto the ground. The Elves watched as the chickens came out and began to peck at the food.
Turning to Elladan, who was still pulling feathers from his hair, she said “You can go in now, collect all of them.” The four Elves went into the enclosure. She could hear them moving about. Penda laughed to herself: mighty Elven warriors indeed, she would have loved to have seen them as they came running out earlier. She watched as the chickens finished eating and began to make their way back to the enclosure.

“Um, Elladan, Elrohir,” she said, but got no response. “Amros, Aerandir!” she called out.

“Yes, Penda!” It was Amros.

“The chickens are…” she replied.

“What about the chickens?” Aerandir called back.

“They are done, and are coming back,” she said as one of the “vicious” chickens stepped inside. Elladan came scurrying out, followed by the other three Elves. Taking the baskets, Penda looked to see how many eggs they had collected. There were fifteen to twenty eggs, not nearly enough to feed everyone. She thought of sending them back in but decided to finish the job herself.

Putting all the eggs into one basket, she told Elladan to take it to her uncle. She went back inside with the empty basket and finished collecting the rest of the eggs. Elrohir, Amros and Aerandir all followed her inside and watched as she gently pushed her hand under a chicken that had just settled back down and pulled out three eggs. She encouraged the Elves to try it, and a few minutes later they left with a basket full of eggs.

A short time later they were all sitting at the table eating a breakfast of eggs, fruit, bread and tea. Glorfindel and Elrohir teased Elladan mercilessly over his reaction to the chickens. Elladan knew they would not let him forget the incident down for a long time.

After breakfast they set about gathering provisions for the trip back to Imladris.

Penda prepared several loaves of bread and some sweet rolls, and after putting them into the oven she went to her room to pack her belongings. Because she had moved around a lot, it didn’t make sense to hang on to anything. She had a couple of changes of clothing, including a dress that Will had insisted she have, but never wore, and a small box that contained a few trinkets that had belonged to her mother.

She sat on the bed looking through the items that had belonged to her mother and started to cry softly. Penda barely remembered her mother; she had passed on when Penda was only five. She pulled out the false bottom of the box, revealing a band made of mithril. There was an inscription on the inside of it, in Elvish. Her mother had said that it belonged to her Elvish father. Perhaps one day she would show it to Elrond, he could tell her what it said.

Hearing a light tapping on the door, she turned to see Will standing in the doorway. He came in, closing the door behind him, and sat down next to her. Gently, he wiped the tears from her eyes, then pulled her into his arms. Penda wept harder. They spent the next half hour holding each other, saying little. Words were not necessary. They both knew how the other felt.

Both looked up when they heard someone knocking on the door. “Come in,” said Penda. The door opened and Elrohir walked in. “Penda, Will,” he said, “I don’t mean to disturb you, but the bread…”

“Oh my goodness!” said Penda as she jumped up and ran out the door. “I forgot all about it.” Going to the oven, she pulled the heavy door open with both hands, without thinking, and burned both of her hands. She screamed in pain. Elrohir, who had gone into the room to speak with Will, came out and saw her as she put both hands into a pail of water.

“Penda, what happened?” Will asked as he came out behind Elrohir.

“My hands, I burned them,” she said. “Please, Uncle Will, get the bread out of the oven.”

Upon seeing what had happened, Elrohir had gone outside to get his father. Elrond came in to see Penda in tears, Glorfindel standing next to her trying to help her.

“Let me see your hands,” Elrond said as he walked up to her. Penda just looked at him.

“Give me your hands, Penda, and I will ease your pain,” he said as he pulled them from the cool water.

“He is a healer, Penda,” Will said as he pulled the loaves of bread from the hot oven; “he can help you.”

As soon as her hands came out of the water the pain came back. Elrond could see the pain in her eyes. He made her sit down in one of the chairs near the fireplace. Kneeling down in front of her, he took her hands in his. “So small,” he thought as he wrapped his hands around hers, and closed his eyes. Penda felt the pain ease as a tingling sensation swept through her hands and into her arm. Slowly she leaned back into the chair and fell asleep

“What happened?” Glorfindel asked, coming up behind Elrond. When they had heard Penda scream he had been outside talking to Elrond and Elladan. All three had been running to the house to see what the screaming was about when Elrohir had come running outside.

“She burned her hands,” Elrond said as he looked at the burns. The skin was red and would be for several days, but only one hand would blister. “They should be wrapped to protect them,” he said. “Elrohir, look in my pack; I have salve and a few bandages that I can put on them. Elladan, I may need more bandages, check with Will and see what they have here.” The twins went to do their fathers bidding. Knowing Elrond would need the bandages, Will had gone into Pendas room to find some. He came back out with them and after giving them to Elladan; he sat down across from Penda and watched his friend work on her hands

After her hands had been wrapped, Elrond picked Penda up from the chair and carried her to her room, Will following behind him. “She will sleep for an hour or two,” he said as he put her on the bed. Will covered her with a blanket, then they left her.

Penda woke an hour later. The searing pain in her hands had been replaced by a dull throb. Lifting them she saw that they had both been bandaged. Getting out of bed, she went outside and found Elrohir sitting at the table by himself, working on some arrows

“Ahh, you’re awake,” he said, turning to her as she stepped outside.

“What happened?” she asked sitting down across from him.

“Ada put a slight sleeping spell on you so that he could tend to your hands,” he said as he picked up an arrow.

Penda looked around, not seeing anyone else. When she looked at Elrohir again he knew what was on her mind.

“Your uncle is in sleeping, Glorfindel is in the barn, and Ada and the others have all gone down to the pond to bathe and do some fishing, ” he said.

“And what of Glorfindel and yourself?” she asked. “When will you bathe?”

“Do my ears deceive me? Is our young wildcat concerned about us bathing?” It was Glorfindel. When he had heard Elrohir talking to someone, he had come out to see who it was.

“Perhaps she is concerned with our safety,” said Elrohir, winking at Penda as he continued. “Perhaps she wants to go with us to stand guard.”

“I was only asking because...” Penda said.

“No, I think she has another motive,” Glorfindel said, interrupting her.

“And what would that be, Glorfindel?” Elrohir asked.

“Mayhap she wants to know so that she can wash our backs,” Glorfindel said as he sat down next to her.

“That would be difficult, Glorfindel, with both hands bandaged,” Penda said as she glared at Glorfindel, then at Elrohir.

“Ahh, perhaps, but I am sure we could manage,” Glorfindel replied, “I am sure, however, that Elrond would have something to say about it, not to mention your uncle.”

“All kidding aside, Penda,” said Elrohir as he picked up another arrow, “Glorfindel and I will go down after the others return. We stayed behind in case you or your uncle woke up before we returned.” Penda smiled, thanking Elrohir.

“How are your hands feeling?” Glorfindel asked her.

“The pain is still there, but it is just a dull throb,” Penda answered, frowning. “I don’t know how I will be able to ride tomorrow. Perhaps Lord Elrond will delay our departure for a day or two, at least until I can use my hands.”

“Don’t count on it, Penda,” Will said as he came out to sit next to her.

“Your uncle is right, Penda,” Elrohir said. “Ada will not put off our departure. Do not worry, we will help you.” The group became quiet. Penda watched as both Elves worked on the arrows.

Turning to her uncle, she was about to ask him something when she noticed his face was pale. “Uncle, are you feeling well?” she asked.

“I am fine, Penda,” Will said. But he wasn’t fine. His left arm had been hurting all afternoon, it was what had woken him up. And the dull ache in his chest wasn’t helping. He wouldn’t say anything to her, though; he didn’t want to worry her, he would talk to Elrond; perhaps the Elf Lord had something he could take.

“But Uncle, your face looks so pale,” she said as she felt his forehead. “Are you sure you’re feeling alright?”

“Yes, I am fine,” he snapped back at her, causing Penda to pull her hand back away from him. “I am sorry, my dear, I did not mean to snap at you; I am just tired is all,” Will said, patting Penda on the arm.

“It’s okay, Uncle,” Penda said.

“Penda,” said Elrohir. “Shall we go inside and get something together for our noon meal? I’ll do the work; you just tell me where everything is.” They both went inside leaving Will and Glorfindel sitting at the table.