An Unexpected Journey

Chapter Seven: On the Road

Thalia rolled her eyes at the curious looks that some of the dwarves gave her as they travelled through the forest on horse and pony back; she was staying as far away from Gandalf as possible since she doubted shouting at him again would do her any good since he was her way home.

“What is it with you and horses lass?” Gloin asked as his pony passed her horse as they continued on through the forest making Thalia grin and shrug her shoulders amused.

Thalia didn’t know what it was but when they had started out that morning all the horses and ponies had refused to leave her alone until it had been decided that the chestnut mare named Breeze was her ride for the journey.

“I have no idea… it’s always been like this,” Thalia admitted looking ahead of them, she had always had some strange connection with horses and it was clearly still going strong in this strange new world; Thalia furrowed her brow as a sound reached her ears making her look back.

Gandalf glanced at her as they continued on their way, he knew Thalia was hearing but he doubted the dwarves would notice until the sound caught up with them; he had a feeling that this would happen and he was pleased that it had.

“Can anyone else hear that?” Thalia asked curiously looking behind them, she pulled her horse to a stop allowing a couple of the dwarves to pass her; they snorted and muttered between themselves as they passed her as if thinking that she was making it up.

Thalia rolled her blue eyes as she waited for a moment before she caught sight of Bilbo hurrying after them; she smiled to herself suddenly relieved to see the small hobbit again and that he had changed his mind.

“I signed it,” Bilbo called making everyone else stop and look back at him, the dwarves watched as the hobbit took a deep breath as he slowed as Balin approached him; Bilbo quickly handed over the scroll that had his contract on it.

Balin quickly checked that everything was in order before he pocketed the scroll and nodded at Thorin signalling that everything was in perfect order for the hobbit to join them on their quest like Thalia had.

“Welcome, Master Baggins, to the company of Thorin Oakenshield,” Balin said looking over at the king, a couple of the other dwarves cheered as Bilbo smiled nervously as he glanced at Thorin who seemed far from pleased that he was going to be coming with them on this journey.

“Get him a pony,” Thorin commanded before he moved his own on, Bilbo started to protest about being put on a pony but the dwarves didn’t listen as they lifted him up and plopped him on one.

Thalia took a deep breath as the dwarves returned to their talks and laughter, she moved her horse to ride next to Bilbo who smiled pleased to see her; the two fell into sink before the dwarves started to pass around sacks of money.

“What’s that about?” Bilbo asked making Thalia shrug as she watched the dwarves continue to exchange the money; she groaned softly as she spotted Gandalf approaching them making Bilbo look at her confused as the wizard rode next to them.

“They took bets on whether you’d turn up or not,” Gandalf said smiling at the hobbit, there would be no stopping the hobbit if he put his head to something like this; he was going to be an important part of the company.

Thalia moved Breeze away from Gandalf before she could say something that she would come to regret. Balin raised an eyebrow at Thalia, anyone could see that after her snapping at the wizard the day before that she was staying as far away from him as possible.

“You don’t seem to like Gandalf, I thought you magical folk were more agreeable than this,” Balin said looking at Thalia, she huffed as she glanced back at the wizard who was talking with Bilbo; she knew that everyone could see that she didn’t like the wizard and she wasn’t ashamed to admit that she didn’t not after what he had done.

“That might be true here… but back home things are different,” Thalia mused as she thought about the divide between good and evil back home and how everyone grouped together when it came to magical clicks and most witches didn’t spend time together only if they came from the same covens and family circles.

***

Thalia muttered under her breath climbing off her horse and searched through her bag, pulling out her khaki jacket with faux fur trim zip-through hood; she looked around as the other members of the company started to prepare camp for the night, she pulled on her coat to keep herself warm.

“What month is it?” Thalia asked curiously as she looked at Balin, she had stuck close to the dwarf on the ride and she had spoken with ease to a couple of the other dwarves as they travelled since they were all curious about her world and the differences between the two realms.

“It’s the end of Astron,” Bilbo said making Thalia look at him a little confused, she nodded her head in thanks hoping that the days would grow warmer from here.

Thalia didn’t want to spend the entire trip freezing and they still had a long trip ahead of them and Gandalf had told her it would take months for them to travel to the Lonely Mountain.

Thalia took a deep breath, she quickly worked out that Astron was this world’s April and she had been asking as many questions as she could about this world; especially if she was going to be in the country for a number of months.

“You can tell us more about your world over dinner Thalia… I’m interested to hear more about it,” Dori said making Thalia nod her head, she knew it was only fair since she had been asking them about their world for most of the journey.

Thorin glanced at Thalia as she moved to help Bilbo, he couldn’t help but worry that it had been a mistake to bring her in to the company; she was a risk for the company and he knew that Gandalf had been wrong to involve her.

“You look worried,” Oin said walking past his king, he could tell what was on his mind and he didn’t blame him for worrying; they were all a little concerned in the members that the wizard had chosen to accompany them.

Thorin nodded his head as he turned away, he didn’t know what Gandalf had been thinking when he had chosen the hobbit or the witch; even after his talk with Thalia, he couldn’t help but worry.

“Relax laddie… I’m sure the old wizard has some idea of what he is doing, plus the lass seems to be able to hold her own,” Oin said watching the two young princes; he chuckled as they started to pester Thalia, who was quick to shoot them down since she wasn’t in the mood for being messed around with right now.

Thorin nodded his head moving to collect his things from his horse, he hoped his friend was right especially since their quest would rely on them all being in the best of conditions when it came to fighting for their lives.

“Besides… if Thalia can handle Dwalin then she had my vote,” Oin said looking over at the other dwarf, Thorin chuckled and nodded his head as the sun slowly started to set behind them.