Part 2

They scrambled to their feet, and Legolas picked up the basket and, with Melannen walking between them, holding their hands, they traced the trail of little footprints through the snow-covered Forest, tramping beneath the tall, dark pines until they reached a frozen stream, which they followed eastwards, gradually climbing up flights of snowy steps—pausing now and then to admire the delicate icicles fringing the sides of the gorge—and every step took them farther and farther from the Doro Lanthron road.

At last they came to a stone bridge.

“Across there?” asked Eowyn, doubtfully.

The child nodded.

“That is where his footprints lead, melmenya,” said Legolas.

On the northern bank the trail left the stream, and wandered back into the woods, and they continued to follow it, through the frosty undergrowth, until, as the light began to fail, they came to an abrupt halt at the foot of a sheer rock wall.

There, the elfling’s footprints turned east and skirted the cliff, then suddenly turned again, and disappeared into a crevice in the rock.

“Did you really come through there, Melannen?” asked Eowyn.

The boy nodded, vehemently. “Yes, Lady Melmenya.”

Legolas and Eowyn looked at one another, startled. Then they both laughed.

“It is Lady Eowyn,” said Legolas, “but I am sure,” he added, bending down to the child, and pretending to whisper, “that she will let you call her Gwanur Eowyn, if you like. And I am Gwanur Legolas.”

The laughter had raised their spirits and, without further consideration, Legolas led them into the passage, and they followed its twists and turns until, after a few minutes, they came to the other end, stepped out into the open, and found themselves looking down into a little valley. Snow-covered houses dotted the hillside, lined the road that wound along the valley bottom, and clustered together in a little town. Here and there, chimney smoke curled up into the dusky sky, and lights already shone invitingly.

“Where are we?” asked Eowyn.

“I do not know, melmenya. I had no idea that there were settlements this far out. Is this where you live, Melannen?”

The boy nodded, pointing—beyond the town—to the dense Forest that covered the other side of the valley. “Over there,” he said.