All Who Wander Are Not Lost

Chapter 17

T.A. 2938 -Summer

"Don't trust everything you see, even salt looks like sugar." -Unknown

Thennil picked up her clothes for what seemed like the hundredth time that week. She was never this disorganized, so why were her things spread from east to west, piled up in the corner, and tossed under her bed? It looked like a cyclone had happened in her bedroom and her wardrobe and dresser had puked all of it's contents up on her floors. Even her shoes were tossed over the floor, the laces to her boots tied together, was she sleepwalking?

A giggle erupted as she looked around her room in puzzlement, eyebrow quirked. Snapping to the left where her small balcony lay, she noticed a small shadow, before hearing the muffled noise of someone shushing the noisemaker. Going into stealth mode, she crept up to the window, listening to something slide over the railing. Jumping out onto her balcony, she leaned over the railing, the shadows disappearing around the corner, laughter echoing off of the walls and trees. She rolled her eyes, guessing the culprits. Well, they should be careful, they had just instigated some retaliation!

Sitting in the alcove down the hall from her brother's rooms, she continued to read her book, thoroughly enjoying the chapter. The pages were rough against her fingers, and the leather of the cover reminded her of the soft calf-skin boots that her mother had given her for her begetting day all those years ago. Hidden back in her alcove, she heard her two brother's and young Estel tramping down the hall. Although elves were known to be one of the cleanest races, the males of the race were still inclined to come in covered in dirt and grime up to their necks. Her brother's were no exception. She had to stifle a laugh when they began talking about how they got dirty that day.

"Elrohir, why did you dump me in that mud puddle? I was perfectly clean, and Ada had just complemented me on how good I was doing?" the young voice of Estel asked, irritated.

"You were looking a little too clean, brother, it's not normal."

"So? I hate baths, why would I get dirty more often? Then I'd have to take way more baths!" the youth complained, she could hear the shuffling of feet as Estel tried to push his elder brother.

"Hey! Enough of that! I'm not as dirty as you are, so I'll only need to take a short bath."

"Ahhh!" Elrohir screeched, stumbling. Estel giggled, and she could hear his small feet pounding down to their room.

"I'm going to get you for that, maggot! No one messes with my hair!"

"Only if you catch me first!" the lad laughed, slamming the door in his brother's faces.

"Not fair, you're the one that started it, Elrohir," Elladan grumbled, shoving his twin.

"Whatever, we'll get in through the window, come on!"

It didn't take her brother's too long to get out of the house and make their way around to their windows. From her alcove she could hear them whispering and hushing one another as they amended the wall outside the window to their room. After a few moments there was a loud angry scream from the bathroom, which she recognized as Estel's, and something being thrown. She chuckled as the noise quieted and the sound of splashing water was heard amid laughter. She smirked as a squeal came fro Estel, he was undoubtably being scrubbed down by his two older brother's. Knowing that it took them about a half hour to get him entirely clean before they sent him to get dressed, she waited a few minutes before standing to put her plan into effect.

Laughing silently, she reached down and grabbed the handle of the large bucket of mud and other things from the stable, twine, and a few wooden nails from the floor. Silently she ran up to the door, listening to the noise of water. It didn't take her long to realize that her brother's would be done bathing the small boy soon. By the time she heard the boy exit the bathing room she had all of the pegs in place, and was almost done with the twine. She had wiggled the nails into the crevice in the wall next to the doorframe, then had it travel up to the side of the door, then it wound it around the ones she had placed in the wooded beam above. She had finished the twine my tying it to another upright support, then using her ability to climb silently one-handed, she had climbed up onto the beam, and placed the bucket tilting off of the beam, only being kept from totally falling by the tension from the twine. Hopping quietly to the ground she smiled mischievously, envisioning what a mess the boys would be once they walked out their door. Checking the slip knot that she had made on the bottom of the door, she made sure that it would unknot easily.