Flying in with the Snow is (winterhawk) wrote in doorslogs, @ 2013-05-14 00:45:00 |
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Current mood: | Nervous |
The Year of the Snake Indeed.
Who: Chay and Frodo
What: Fitting a key in a lock
When: May Day.
Warnings: None.
With the last full moon of spring
June comes with soft quiet embraces
year to roam, whisper of home
we are making our final cases.
With Cael busy playing with a band tonight, it seemed like a good idea.
It's quiet here. It all has finally clicked together. The binding of the journal, the two faced snake in the amulet, the drawings at Atlatl Rock and the continued patterned curved snake but instead of sideways this one is moving upwards, the coiled snake found in the concentric rings, the ladder to the upper platform. It all made more sense now. Meso-american history speaks of the snakes with reverence. I thought perhaps it was fear of them originally, back then rattlesnake bites were not so easy to recover from. But how they had been tied to being an entrance to another land? That had always escaped my attention until now, now it was so much more understandable than I ever dreamed was possible. I touch the lintel of the third floor doorway at the hotel finally discovering where it was carved into the wood.
I can't understand why my hand is shaking, as I pull the amulet out of our pouch.
I felt like I had when I discovered my first set of mastodon molars. Destiny in the palm of my hand.
Two worlds are collectively holding it's breath waiting for me to insert the small amulet through the slot of a door. Most certainly Frodo is doing so. Do we dare open the door? And what if it comes out in the side of cliff in Moria, or in the ash pits of Mordor? With the snake, even the Lonely Mountain had distinct possibilities. Do other doors on this level lead elsewhere or back to Bag End? A home I never thought I would see again, Sam was the caretaker of it when I left, overseeing the growing of Byway trees that were leveled. Will it open at Lorien or behind Ithilien's waterfalls? It's tied to me and my black snake-skin journal.. Which with my story could be almost anywhere in Middle Earth. We paced in front of The Hotel door for several minutes and finally made up our collective minds.
We were here for a reason; as everything has a purpose.
The amulet slid into the slot as though it was made for it and the door opened with a soft click. We were going in with eyes wide open, the step in side the door and it almost felt as though the shift was instantaneous. Instinctively I ducked thinking that the ceiling was much too low and heard a soft chuckle in the back of my head. Sorry, thought for certain that I would hit it. I smiled at Chetan's words. It was a Hobbit home, for sure, but it was not quite home. The halls and windows were rounded features we loved so much, but the place was nearly void of furniture. Is is always this empty? Even when I was here in during the forced shift it was just an empty home.
I shook my head and made my way towards the front door. It and the steps to the entrance was familiar, but it was definitely not Bag End. "Well Mr. Chetan, you are in for a treat since this is The Shire, at least. Another door to open and go out into the well groomed.." I opened the door and stopped in surprise. "..well not so well groomed after all, I must say. I know where we are at least, It is my purchased second home of Crickhollow. Over there is the Old Forest, where my Lady Goldberry dwells. And that is the path that leads down to Buckland. The grass looks like it has had at least a full years growth since Merry and Pippin lived here after I left." The nice part about being at Crickhollow; as I swung the door behind me and pulled it tightly closed; was the seclusion. But it was also a pitfall at times like this. My first stop would have to be at BrandyHall in order to borrow a pony from my Uncle Rory, since there was no way I was going to walk the full two day journey between here and Bag End to see Sam and Rosie and all their children.
My eyes scanned the horizon when the bird of prey caught my attention, it was hovering over the Old Forest momentarily before diving down through the trees and I felt my 'companion' give a sigh of relief and settled more comfortably back in my head. "hard to give up the reins, isn't it?" I chuckled and started padding down the path toward the Brandywine River. "it was when the last time I was here we were fighting mountain lions and building those stables, you seemed to have missed out on all the fun."
It felt good to be in my own bare feet at last.
...
"Why Mister Frodo Baggins.. What brings you out to the old place? They not keeping you well fed enough up there at Bag End?" Aunt Mene greeted me with her usual "auntie' fervor with a large hug. Surprisingly not with 'it's been five or fifty years since we saw you here last'.. just the comfortable 'come and have something to eat with the family'. She gave me a second hug when I accepted her invite to an after-lunch-but-not-quite-dinner meal do you always eat this much? "No Auntie, the only one filling my plate up there is myself, so I am always as hungry as only a Brandybuck can be." There, that was a safe answer, as it was nearly the truth. "I was actually out visiting the old house by the Wall."
"Hmm. That old place, your mum and da loved to stay there when you were a wee lad, not surprising that you find it comfortable still. Do you know Rory has been considering putting it up for sale again, but if you are interested in it, I am sure he will sell it to you for Prim's sake. If you promise him more of the Old Winyards I daresay you can have it for an outright steal of a price."
"You get me more Old Winyards and I say you can have her all to your own for the signing of the paperwork young Frodo, my lad." Uncle Rory wrapped an arm around my Auntie and gave her a large squeeze before putting out a hand to shake mine. "Tis good to see you lad. We have missed you around here, well at least when it is mushrooming season. Did not think you would stay gone for long. I can sell you the old house for the price of Primula and Drogo's inheritance. You being the only lad willing to stay out there close to the Old Forest. It does seem as though no one else would want to buy it otherwise, no how."
"Not Merry or Pippin?"
"Lad, they are too young to be holding property."
True there. If they were still the same as what they were when they were in their tweens, then it was no wonder the place looked like it did. The old place could use some fixing up to get it back to the place that it was when I lived there the night before we fled The Shire.
"All right, Uncle Rory, I never knew what I was going to spend mum and da's inheritance on after Unkle Bilbo adopted me anyways, might as well have the money go back into the family."
"And that house go to someone who loves it."
"Well first thing, before I go back to Bag End, I will hire someone to clean up the land around her, she needs that much at least. Leave the inside work to me. I can get her settled back into a friendlier looking home."
"Very right and proper. But come in, can not say I am surprised to see you. Rumor had it from one of the children that you were wandering on the road. We can not keep you away from Menegilda's dinner table can we? We can do the paperwork while she is dishing you up some stew and cheesy bread. And gather up some of the lads to witness the signing of the documents."
"No sir, you can not. Nothing would keep me away from Aunt Mene's cooking."
...
The meal was most excellent and with only a quarter of the inhabitants of Buckland in the BrandyHall this day eating at the hall, it was easy enough to carry on a conversation with Uncle Rory. As the afternoon meal continued on a confusion arose in my mind. None of them acted surprised to see me. Did none notice that I had left Middle Earth at the Grey Havens? Was I that much of a recluse before, that actually leaving The Shire permanently was not even missed? Or talked about even as a rumor? The meal finally ended when Uncle Rory and seven of my second cousins, once removed on my mothers side, and I went into his study to sign the papers handing the deed of Crickhollow, once again back into my possession. The drafting of the documents took some time and we finally gotten around to signing our names and dating the document.
"Why Frodo Baggins, you have gotten as white as a linen sheet a hangin' in the sun, which for you to become paler than you already are, is quite a feat. Are you feeling peaked?"
I clenched the quill tighter and gave a short shake of my head, and hurriedly scratched in the dates and then watched as my seven cousins signed the bill of sale all nice and legal in the required red ink.. Oh, we had gotten back to The Shire alright.. We had gone back in time to before the start of the quest. Working with Chay's hands for so long I failed to realize that I had all ten fingers again.
Which meant..
"F-Fine.. I am just fine.. Do you mind if I borrow a pony, Uncle Rory? I am afraid I can not stay for the night."
"Well you do not look so fine, you look like you have seen a ghost. But if you are wanting to ride, I will not deny you that. It looks like you could use some air."
"Just a bit. I forgot something that was on my list of errands tomorrow and just now remembered it. Maybe cleaning the old place will have to wait, since I will need to head back to Hobbiton tonight."
"The inside perhaps. In the morning I will send a couple of the younger lads up there to clip and clean the yard for you."
"Thank You, Uncle Rory. It will make a nice little hole to hide away in."
"You mean hide from Lobelia and Lotho in?"
The queasy feeling in my stomach returned and I nodded since I didn't trust myself to speak right away. Lotho, alive. So many things are backwards and the clock is in reverse. He seemed to understand 'that' look on my face and laughed. "Yeah, your Cousin Bilbo would often hide from their visits too."
Oh, Uncle Rory!
You have no idea!
...
With shaking fingers I saddled and put on the tack, trusting to the surer fingers of my companion, to get it right. When we finally had the blanket and small saddle set firmly in place I swung up onto the pony and pointed it's nose toward Hobbiton. So what is so wrong, Frodo? Ah I was waiting for that question from Chetan. I pushed a hand into my pocket and afraid I would feel the chain and the weight on the end of it, just like it was when Gandalf and Bilbo entrusted me with it before. Just the thought that it might be there already ate at me. I clicked my tongue at the pony to get him moving. If it were not in my pocket, it would be one place back at Bag End locked away in the chest. Who now holds the Ring if it is not found to be still locked in there?
"Seems we have a problem, Chetan, having to do with the time frame. It's SR1417. That's before I left on my quest. No wonder, no one wasn't surprised that I was at Buckland." Chay didn't respond for a moment lost in thought and it worried me. Have we changed anything that wasn't done before?
"No."
And even more confidently I replied again. "No. I bought the house next to the Old Forest, as a staging place. I just thought I was rebuying it, after thinking that Meriadoc sold it back to The Master of the Hall. It.. Even by mistake it.. is.. in the right time frame as my purchase."
If I, Sam, Aragorn, and Legolas are not the only ones sent back from to the past.
Who knows what someone from your land might do that could change our future?