Chapter 8
“Well, Master Harry, I’ll leave you to it. I’ll do my best to catch up with you before you head out in the morning.” Horf shook Harry’s hand and was gone.
“Alright, Teddy, let’s go give our girls some treats.” Told his still sleeping godson. “Then we can have a little drive.” He wondered how different it would feel to drive one pony as opposed to two?
~~~
March 22nd 2920
Harry gave Horf a wave and a grin, as he guided his much-increased caravan of wagons and ponies, out onto the road to Edhelland.
“And we’re on the move again, Teddy.” He sang softly to an infant, that had stubbornly gone straight back to sleep after his breakfast. Harry hummed along to the tunes in his head, enjoying the day and the brisk spring air.
Mid-morning saw him entering the city of Edhelland, he spoke to the watchman at the gate and as per the man’s suggestion, checked his vehicles and ponies into the livery-yards and set out into the city, he had things he wanted and a city was a good place to get them. Not to mention, the stuff that he wanted to sell, that was actually his first task of the day.
A stop at a used clothing merchant and a quick discussion there, followed by a few minutes of having the clothes he’d brought, inspected, and he was on the move with an extra few sovereigns. A stop for some good yeast and baker’s flour, before a visit to a stationer’s and the wool shop.
He bought reasonably large amounts of things, confident that he could put them in boxes and shrink the boxes before putting them in a stasis box. A stasis box would halt any charmed item put in it, it would stay at the same point as when the stasis was activated. No matter how long between activation and deactivation, the charms would still be strong.
The market got him a heap of fresh produce and there was even someone selling more dried fruit, which he was happy to stock up on. Then it was back to the livery-yards and lunch for both he and Teddy.
Just before he finished packing up, he decided to do another summoning of Lost, Abandoned and Discarded stuff, like he’d done at Dol Amroth. Coins, coin purses, coin pouches, gold dust, gold nuggets, gold ingots, silver dust, silver nuggets, silver ingots, mithril in any form, keys, locks, lockboxes, strongboxes, jewellery, jewellery boxes, books, dwarven clothing, dwarven-sized weapons and any containers holding any of the afore mentioned items. He could do a sort later, it didn’t have to happen immediately.
Heading out of the city by early afternoon, meant that he still had hours of daylight left and the time in the city had given his mares an easy first day, with the extra wagon. From here, it would be getting the job done, with little breaks in the villages, if Harry stopped to buy or sell his wares.
Camp that night, was just after a little town called Twin Bridges, named after the bridges that crossed the rivers Ringló and Morthond, that had an island peninsula between them. The watchman, that also did duty as a gateman, told him about an abandoned property a mile and a half from town, that they were letting travellers use as a camp area. He was the only one there and was able to use one of the farm’s fields, after checking the fences were sound, to let the ponies have room to run and stretch, which Harry enjoyed watching. Seeing ten ponies bounce around a field, snorting and bucking and almost dancing in the evening breeze, lifted his heart and made him laugh at their antics.
His laughter spiked Teddy and Harry was surprised to hear the little boy laugh with him. It made him sit down and work how old Teddy was, not by a calendar but how old he actually was. A boy needed a birthday and while Harry knew that in England Teddy had been born in April, here in middle-earth is was only March and the two didn’t match.
From the 4th of April to the 5th of May is thirty-one days and he’s been in middle-earth for eight days, so, so far that meant thirty-nine days, and according to the watch at Edhelland, today’s day was the 22nd of March. Which would put Teddy’s birthday, according to how many days since his birth, as the 12th of February. Until he was three or four, Harry planned to use that as his ‘official’ birthday, but privately, they would celebrate the 4th of April as Remus and Tonks would have done.
~~~
March 23rd 2920
Heading out with the mares rearing to go… well not actually rearing, but certainly eager to be on the move, Harry was unsettled, he’d felt unsettled all night. And had no clear idea why. He’d done a partial sort of the stuff from Edhelland and added it to his stock, the few things that he planned to sell, could wait until he got to Ethring, which was about sixty miles from Edhelland, or to Linhir, which was about the same again from Ethring.
Distances here confused him, most people didn’t say how many miles between places, but how many hours or days. Ethring was two days by horse or three by loaded wagon. Maybe that was what was unsettling him? He’d think on it for the day.
River Mill was a half day from Twin Bridges and Harry happily stopped there, opening his shop-cart to the locals. He sold a dozen pouches, two purses, three locks with keys, one lockbox and one satchel. He bought eight keys, six locks, one lockbox without a key, a tapestry purse, three purse frames and one jewellery box without lock or key. A good stop.
But the unsettled feeling hung around.
He camped that night at the side of a stream, where a waterfall tumbled eight or ten feet, down into a pretty pool. Deep enough to take each mare into the water and give them a good scrub down, after which, he needed a good scrubbing, too. It also gave him the chance to wash his and Teddy’s clothes and Teddy’s nappies, casting a sterilising charm on the nappies, just as a precaution. He strung them up on a rope to dry, while he fed Teddy and cooked his own dinner and tried to figure out why he was so unsettled.
~~~
March 24th 2920.
He got up that morning... to find a rabbit on his table. A dead rabbit. Not large, but very fresh. The still warm, kind of fresh. He had no idea how it got there, there was no-one camped around him and the main road was almost a quarter mile away.
There was a dead rabbit on his table…
Where did it come from?!
A quick spell and he knew that the rabbit was fresh and untainted, so he skinned and butchered it, ready for a stew for dinner that evening. The skin was prepped and he transfigured a few sticks into a frame, to dry it on and hung that on the side of the wagon.
A stop in Ciril Falls netted him a few coins but nothing great.
He decided to stop early for the night, a couple miles out of town and set up camp, near where the Ringló had sharp bend to it. He roped off an area for the ponies, a about a quarter acre, which for ten ponies wasn’t a lot of space, but it was the best he could do there. He fed them and saw to filling a large half-barrel with water and left them to their dinner. Next was Teddy and when he was dozing the well-fed doze, Harry turned his attention to his own dinner.
Another spell to double-check that the rabbit was safe to eat and Harry dusted it in flour and set it to brown for a quick and tasty stew.
An hour later, the reason for the unsettled feeling was suddenly discovered, when to Harry’s great shock and the surprise of the pony he was grooming, something dropped onto his shoulder.
A rather large, familiar something. With white feathers.
“H-Hedwig!?” Harry squawked.
“Hoot!” She replied, in a familiar deep voice.
“Oh, Merlin… Hedwig? How…? How are you here?”
She ignored his questions and nibbled at his ear, just like she’d always done, while Harry tried to ignore his tears.
The pony, Onyx, was quickly becoming one of this favourites, flickered her ears at the owl and stretched out her neck, snuffling at the bird. Hedwig, ignored the pony until it was almost touching her, then she snapped her beak at it. Onyx blinked and pulled back a little, before stretching forward again, she wanted to know what this bird was doing on their person. Hedwig let the pony sniff at her and after watching Harry run his hands down the pony’s neck, she nipped gently at Onyx’s nose and turned her action back to Harry.
“Alright, girls, no fighting. Hedwig’s my best owl and you’re my lead mare. Learn to get along, please.” Harry chided and surprisingly, both pony and owl seemed to accept that. Harry left the ponies and walked back to the wagon, huffing in amusement as he saw Teddy’s hand wave above the edge of his cradle and Hedwig turn in that direction, to focus on the movement.
“That’s Teddy, Hedwig, he’s Remus’ son and my godson.” Harry told the owl. “He’s my responsibility, now. Be nice to him, huh?” Hedwig leapt into the air and flew the few yards needed to hover above the cradle. “You need a stand, let me conjure up one for you, while I see to making one.” He waved his wand and a simple ‘T’ stand with an ‘X’ crossed foot shimmered into being beside the cradle and with a flap of her wings, Hedwig settled on it, still watching Teddy.
Harry walked around the wagon to the edge of the clearing and studied the few clumps of young trees.
“That will do.” His wand pointed at a coppiced chestnut and he selected a stem, that was roughly the same thickness as a broom. He cast a slicing hex at the stem’s base and lifted the rod free of the coppice. He sliced another four inches off the base and laid it aside, before cutting it off at approximately six foot long. Next was a series of slices lengthwise up the rod of about two foot, then he carefully shaped the four-inch piece that he’d laid aside, into a tapered cone. This was inserted between the long slices to push them apart, once apart, Harry used his wand to force the sliced wood into curved feet, creating a stable base that would hold the finished stand, upright. He measured the height to his shoulder and trimmed the rod, shaping the end into a broad tapered cone with a slice in the centre. The upper end of the rod that had been removed, was cut to length and a hole was made in the middle, it was then pushed over the tapered end of the rod and a fine wedge driven into the slice, securing the cross-bar to the rod.
Harry then turned the whole thing upside down and using a very fine hazel rod as a vine, wove it around the stand’s base, where the feet formed. When turned right-side up, the finished product was a simple, but sturdy stand for his owl.
Harry carried it back around the wagons and placed it beside the conjured stand and spoke to Hedwig. “What do you think, Hedwig? Is that okay?” The owl gave a tired hoot and with a clearly exhausted jump, moved to the chestnut stand. This caused Harry to actually look at her and he frowned. “Are you okay? You look… rough…” Hedwig just clacked her beak and settle down to snooze.
Harry bit his lip and thought for a bit. “Hmm… I don’t think you’ve been taking care of yourself, have you?” The owl ignored him and continued to doze. “You need feeding up… And you could do with one of Hagrid’s revitalising potions. I wonder if I can make you one? I’d have to visit an apothecary or herbalist for ingredients, but I’m sure the library trunk that Hermione sent, will have some potions books, one might have that recipe. If so I can make a list of ingredients. Let me check on that.” He climbed into the wagon and scrabbled in the drawers under his bunk for the box, that Hermione had said was actually a library trunk transfigured into playing cards.
Back outside, he cancelled the goblins’ transfig and watched as the small box, slowly morphed into a decent sized trunk. Then he opened it and after a few minutes of studying how the trunk worked, he called up a group of books that might have the recipe he wanted. Recognising the book that Hagrid used, Harry pulled it out and after laying his notebook on the table, he jotted down the ingredients to an owl revitalising potion and one that was safe for horses, hippogriffs, hippocampus and centaurs. Maybe it was the horse part, that determined how the potion worked? Fingers crossed, that it was, his ladies deserved to be treated well.
He'd reach Ethring the next day, he was sure to find a decent herbalist or apothecary there. And as all of the ingredients were muggle plants, surely they’d have what he needed. That meant that he’d need to get a cauldron or pot, just for brewing the animals potions. Probably a good idea to have one for human potions, too. Whoops, better make that dwarven potions. Harry paused and wondered if human potions could be used on dwarves or not… hmm…
The rest of the afternoon/evening was spent sorting out the last of the Summoned stuff from Edhelland, as he fully expected to reach Ethring the next day and planned to do a Summons there, too. He planned to do the same in Linhir, Pelargir and Minas Tirith. After that…? He wasn’t certain. Edoras was too exposed and open and there was nothing but plains between it and the traitor at Isengard. Maybe Tharbad?
Maybe he should do a stock-take, soon, and see how much stuff he really had?
~~~
March 25th 2920
He left his wagon in the Ethring livery-yards just before midday and headed for the herbalist, that the watchman had told him about, he had potions to make and to do that he needed the ingredients.
The old lady listened to him, took his list and disappeared into the back of the shop, while Harry checked out the plants. He was quite surprised to find a selection of what he knew to be magical plants and he collected up seeds, seedlings and a large range of plants in tiny ceramic pots, he could come up with some sort of shelving/hanging system to hold them while travelling, he was sure of it. Mrs Weasley had a set of shelves with holes in the boards, he could do something like that to hang somewhere on the wagon. Perhaps behind the drive-seat? Or along one side? Something to think about, anyway.
The old lady returned, a basket in her arms filled with tins, bags and glass jars. His ingredients. She looked at his collection of plants and seeds and nodded approvingly, then went to find a box, for him carry them in.
Back to the wagon and after changing Teddy’s nappy, Harry did the Summons, as he was coming to think of it. Lost, Abandoned and Discarded Summons was just too much of a mouthful. As far as he was concerned, ‘Summons’ with a capital ‘S’ was clear enough.
As he was topping up with fresh and dried fruit, someone appeared beside him, coughing discretely to get his attention.
“My pardon, young Master.” The elderly dwarf said. “But I would like a moment of your time.” It might have been phrased as a request but the order behind it, wasn’t all that well hidden.
A quick glance at the dwarf’s Craft-beads and Harry knew he was facing a Master, not just of one Craft, but of at least three.
“Master dwarf.” He nodded formally to the other dwarf. “Give me one minute to pay for my purchases and I am done with the market.”
“I shall wait.” The dwarf nodded calmly and stepped away from the merchant’s stall.
“My thanks.” Harry nodded again and turned to the stall-holder. He wanted a ten-pound barrel of dried apple slices and the same of a mix of sultanas and currants. Once these were loaded onto the hand-wagon that he’d rented from the livery-yards, he pushed it over to the dwarf.
“Did you wish to speak here, or would you like to accompany me to the livery-yards and my wagons?” Harry asked.
“If you don’t mind, I would speak as we walk.” The dwarf requested and Harry nodded his agreement. “I am Barric, son of Verric, son of Rinnic.”
“Rinnic? Master Sílor is your cousin?” Harry asked. “Oh, sorry. Harry son of James, son of Fleamont. And this is Teddy, son of Remus, son of Lyall.” Harry gestured to Teddy who was comfortably snoring against Harry’s chest.
“It’s unusual for one as young as you to have such a young child.” Barric commented.
“Teddy’s parents are dead.” Harry said. “A ship from Pelargir was washed onto the rocks of Tolfalas, less than a dozen people were saved. Teddy and I are all each other has now.”
“I heard about that storm…” Barric sighed. “You weren’t the only ones to lose loved ones. Even on land, people died.”
“Master Tavric called it ‘the worst storm in a century’.” Harry replied.
“Aye…” Barric agreed. “It’s left you alone, with a nadnith to raise.”
“Teddy’s no trouble, not yet anyway.” Harry grinned. “When he gets older? Oh, yes, if he’s anything like his father or mother, he’ll be a handful.” He laughed. “I’m kind of looking forward to seeing how much trouble we can get into, together.”
“And Mahal help those around you, huh?” Barric laughed.
“Definitely.” Harry nodded.
“I can imagine. Might I ask? You wear Tarbûnel beads for knife-fighting?”
“I do.” Harry confirmed. “After the storm, Teddy and I landed on a beach just south of Dol Amroth, with next to nothing. I approached Master Tavric for assistance in acquiring and replacing beads, clothing, wagons, ponies and supplies. He, Master Karol and the Guards’ Archery Master trialled me. I barely passed axemanship at utrab level, while my skills earnt me a Tarbûnel bead for knife-fighting. Everything else got me tarbûn beads.”
“Karol passed you?” Barric’s brows rose.
“He did.” Was all Harry said.
“Where are you heading after Ethring?” Barric suddenly seemed much more relaxed and confident.
“At this point? North of Minas Tirith.”
“May I request, as one Master to another, your assistance, please?” The formality of the question drew Harry to a halt.
“For what reason?”
“I have a tarbûn, he is ready for his Tarbûnel Trial, but as his Master, I cannot authorise his advancement, nor do I have the physical capabilities to stand against him while another Judges, not anymore.”
“Knife-fighting?” Harry asked.
“Aye.” Barric nodded. “We have a semi-permanent camp, an hour east of town. If you would join us for a few days, we would be most grateful.”
“The main road to Linhir?” Harry asked.
“Aye, but if you’re not in a hurry, I only have a few items left on my list to collect, I can show you the way.”
Harry considered the request, He’d only been assessed ten days ago, was that enough for him to qualify as capable of assessing someone else? On the other hand? He was brand new in this world and so many had helped him, he should pay the favour forward. He could use the good karma.
“Let me show you which rig is mine, I can give Teddy his lunch and make something for myself, while we wait.”
“Much appreciated.” Barric sighed in relief.
~~~
It was another hour or more before Barric reappeared by Harry wagon, his pony laden with boxes and bags.
“No.” Harry shook his head. “No, no, nope. Not happening. Your poor pony there will be on her knees, before we’ve been on the road for ten minutes. Unload that and stack it in the wagon. She?” He paused as Barric shook his head. “He. Right. We’ll tie him up between Willow and Hazel, they’ll keep him on track. Onyx and Ebony will pull the wagon and Feather will pull the feed cart.”
“Ah…?” Barric blinked.
“You can ride up front with Teddy and I, no need to walk, if you don’t have to.” Harry explained as he led the sturdy bay pony into the pen that currently house his wagon. “Strip him down.” He directed and a bemused Barric did just that, handing Harry each box as it came loose. Once the pony was down to just his girth and blanket, Harry left him with Barric while he packed away the few things he’d set out and rolled up the awning and secured it.
He harnessed Feather and slipped her between the shafts of the feed cart and tied Pearl, Flora and Iris to the rear of it, then hooked his shop-cart to the rear of the main wagon and tied Dancer and Delilah to that, a rope went between this pair, back to Feather, linking them in a chain. Last of all were Hazel and Willow with the unnamed bay pony of Barric’s between them.
“Done this a few times, young Master?” Barric nodded at Harry.
“Been on the road for over a week, now.” Harry agreed. “We’ve got a system going but usually, I put Willow and Hazel on either side of whomever is pulling the feed-cart .”
“Lad?” Barric looked slightly wild-eyed at Harry, as he moved around the mares. Hedwig had left the back of the seat and was perched comfortably on Harry’s shoulder, ignoring the dwarf that was staring at her.
“This is Hedwig, she’s been with me for years, now.” Harry was unconcerned about his passenger, as he untied Ebony, who was on the right, knowing that Onyx wouldn’t move until Harry told her to ‘move out’, then climbed up onto the drive-seat and waited for Barric to do the same. “Teddy can stay in his cradle and once we’re out of town, Hedwig will perch on the kickboard’s rail.” He ignored the startled looks he got from Barric and from those that walked past the yards. “Right-o, Onyx, Ebony! Time to move out. Come left!” He flicked the reins and as smoothly as though they’d been working together for years, Onyx and Ebony took the left turn that would let them pull out of the pens and into the livery-yards’ alley, the other ponies smoothly following their lead.
From there on to the main road to the gates, through and out of the city only took a few minutes.
“I don’t know many ponies that would take a verbal command, as easily as yours have.” Barric was, reluctantly, impressed.
“They’re good girls.” Harry grinned and held up his wrist for Hedwig to step onto, before lowering it to the level of the kickboard’s rail, where she stepped off and settled down to preen a few feathers, before taking a nap.
Harry followed Barric’s directions and pulled his rig off the main Ethring-Linhir road, about three miles from the city. Then when the dwarf pointed, he did his best to guide Onyx and Ebony through the gap in the trees and around the camp to the clearing that Barric suggested. Half an hour to set up camp and Barric and another dwarf were there with a pair of hand-wagons to take all the boxes and bags that had been unloaded off of Barric’s pony. A sturdy roped enclosure and his mares were all enjoying a roll in the dust.
“Dirty girl.” Harry chided, affectionately, giving Dancer’s ears a rub. “Off you go, now, no more treats today.” The delicate grey mare snorted and pranced away, pirouetting like a ballet dancer, which was obviously how she earned her name.
“Now that’s a nice little mare.” A young dwarf, a few years younger than Harry, spoke as he approached. “Not for sale, I guess?”
“Not a chance.” Harry laughed.
“Didn’t think so.” The dwarf sighed. “But worth an ask.”
“If you don’t ask, you’ll never know.” Harry agreed. “But no, none of my ladies are for sale.”
“Blast…” The dwarf grunted.
“I’m Harry, son of James.” Harry used the casual introduction, as it seemed the young dwarf wasn’t interested in being formal, any more than Harry was.
“Kalin, son of Brolin.” The dwarf replied. “Barric says you’re a Master? So young?”
There was a whimper from Teddy’s cradle and a demanding hoot from Hedwig.
“Whoops, hang on a sec.” Harry retrieved Teddy from his cradle on the drive-seat. “Thanks Hedwig, you’re the best babysitter ever.” He settled Teddy in his arms and turned back to Kalin. “This is Teddy, son of Remus. I’m his Hand.” He said to the wide-eyed dwarf.
“His parents?”
“All we have is each other.” Harry answered, sadly.
“Oh, sorry.” Kalin grimaced and ducked his head.
“So am I.”
“Master Harry.” Barric joined them. “Is young Teddy well? I’d like to introduce you to the other two Masters, here.” He barely glanced at Kalin and the young dwarf scurried away.
“Give me five, I think Teddy needs a clean nappy, first.” Harry quickly saw to that and then followed Barric to a tent on the far side of the clearing.
“Jonna, daughter of Lirrin, son of Merric. And Torvik, son of Torvas, son of Torlin. This is Harry son of James, son of… Fleamont(?).” He looked at Harry to ensure he got it right. Harry nodded. “Harry is Hand to young Teddy, son of Remus, son Lyall.”
“Masters.” Harry gave a formal bow to both the dwarrowdam and the dwarf.
“Young Master, Barric says that you have a Tarbûnel bead for Knife-fighting?” Jonna asked.
“I do. Master Karol of Dol Amroth Trialled me, I stood against him for eleven minutes.” Harry answered, he’d learned that this information was rather important. His comment drew surprised sounds from all three masters.
“Eleven minutes, against Karol? The Karol? Karol Black-Ear?” Torvik demanded.
“That would be him, yes.” Harry nodded.
The three exchanged a long speaking look, with Barric looking quite smug, while the other two seemed just plain stunned.
“Master Harry, we have here a dwarf that is ready for a Tarbûnel's Trial, but we have no-one that can Judge him. We would be most grateful, if you would stand as his Judge.” Torvik said, his voice heavy and formal.
“Before I say yes or no, please be aware that it is only a matter of days since I earnt my own Tarbûnel Beads.” Harry said.
“Eleven minutes, Master Harry.” Jonna said. “No-one has stood against Karol for more than seven, not in the last twenty years. Eleven is… I have no words…” Her voice trailed off.
“Ah.” Harry grunted. “That would be why Tavric and Sílor were rendered silent, then.”
“I would say so.” Barric grinned.
“Then, yes. I would be honoured to stand as Judge for your dwarf’s trial.” Harry said.
“Excellent.” Jonna grinned. “Now to your fees?”
“Do you have anyone that can do a tattoo?” Harry asked.
~~~