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The River Camp, autumn, 2981
It was not a long walk from the front gate to Elrohir. He had only been to the hospital once but that was all he needed to remember. Plus Elrohir was one of Those he always knew the direction of, the way he always knew which way was West, even in the dark.
Which is why he did not waste time going inside the tent-maze to look for him but slipped around the side and found him way at the back, knelt in the grass with a hammer, ringing away at a tent-stake like a dwarf.
The ringing stopped.
“You again!” said Elrohir, standing the hammer on its head in the dirt. “You look familiar.”
“It is me.”
“So it is. What brings you here this time, you wrestle a troll?”
He was a bit too sad to answer so he went up and stuck his face in Elrohir’s neck.
“Hey, buddy. Branyo. What’s the trouble.”
“He did not come. He was supposed to come.”
“Ah. Yes, well…” Elrohir tossed the hammer toward a heap of stakes and scratched the back of the boy’s head for a minute, like he was a dog. “Does your mama know where you’re at?”
“I told her, first.”
“With your mouth?”
“I…well, with my mind.”
“…did she answer.”
He wrinkled his nose.
Elrohir said, standing up, “Alright, let’s go.”
The lady inside the entrance went looking for his mother, to let her know where he was. In Elrohir’s office they had apple butter on bread, which helped, a little. There were not many sweet things to eat anymore.
“You know what your dad does out there, right?”
“He is a doctor, like you.”
“He’s smarter and better than me. When our soldiers are so hurt they almost die he puts ‘em back together again, like broken cups. He’s the best one at it.”
“Nana is sad.”
“She is sad, but she’s not afraid, because even when your dad can’t come home, he is still safe. He isn’t by the fighting. She always knows, remember? She knows that he’s okay.”
“And you know.”
“Me too.”
“I wish he would come home. You came home.”
“He will too. As quick as he can. Need another slice?”
“Yes, please.”
When he was done he licked a last sweet glob off his thumb.
“Pretty good stuff, isn’t it.”
It was.
“Did you get to go ride with Grandpa yesterday?”
“We went way above the river, and I got a splinter on the bridge. Elrohir, can you sing splinters out?”
“Not as good as Grandpa can. Sometimes I have to pull them out, with tweezers.”
He would remember where to bring the next one he got.
“And then on the way back we came up through the hobbits. Do you know they breathe fire?”
“Really!”
“And they live in holes, like gophers.”
“You’d never been through the New Smials?”
“Elrohir, I get in trouble for going new places, remember?”
“Right, I remember now.”
Speaking of which. Nana was coming.
“Elhadron…”
He looked quickly at Elrohir, who said with his eyes, sorry, pal, you’re on your own.
“You scared me,” said Nana, crouching down.
“I’m sorry.”
“You need to tell me before you go find Elrohir all by yourself.”
“Yes, nana. I did. I tried. I will, with my mouth.”
“We will practice, alright? So it actually works, when you try?”
“Yes. Elrohir, can Nana have a slice?”
“Nana can have two,” said Elrohir. “She’s starting to look like she could use them.”
Nana took a bite, and said before she was even done chewing, “Where on earth did you get your hands on this?”
“I have my sources.”
“No, I don’t need another, save it for the next runaway. That is delicious.”
Elrohir spread up another for her, anyway. And she ate it. And then his uncle walked them up to the big house for dinner, and on the way holding his hand Elhadron could almost, out of the corner of his eye, pretend it was not him.