Hilda Greenhill's Diary, 2nd entry
Continued from the last entry.
The first thing I became aware of was the motion of being on a horse, a strong arm around me and a warmth at my back. I struggled to open my eyes and it was several minutes before I was able to finally open them, as my body had little energy and wanted to pull me back into sleep. At first, I thought that my father or one of my brothers had become concerned about me because of the weather but as I became more aware of my surroundings, I realised that it wasn't.
I was on the back of an unfamiliar pony and I saw a horse being led by a pony with a male rider in front of us. An unfamiliar voice spoke up from behind.
"Fili, stop. I think she's coming round."
Fili turned to look over his shoulder and I saw that I was in the company of at least one dwarf. Fili reigned his pony in and dismounted. By this time, I was alert enough to realise whom the horse belonged to, but felt too weak at that moment to do anything. The dwarf holding on to me waited until Fili had come up along side us before dismounting. I wanted to shout at them, runaway, sure that these dwarves were stealing me away from my home and family but the weakness I felt prevented me and the presense of the horse didn't make any sense if that was the case.
"I'll help you down," said the dwarf who had been riding behind me. Very carefully and very slowly because I still felt extremely groggy, I got down from the pony. I then noticed that Trotter was there and relaxed a little. Trotter would not be happy in the company of strangers if they meant me harm. Both of the dwarves were young looking and had stubble instead of full beards, as if the beards were just beginning to grow. The one named Fili had long blonde hair and the unnamed dwarf had long dark brown hair which was almost black.
"What am I doing here?" I asked. "This isn't my farm." We had, in fact, entered the mountains, but were in one of the many wooded valleys between the peaks.
"Your farm was raided by orcs," said Fili.
"The sheep," I said. "I thought they'd been attacked by dogs or wolves."
"That'd be the wargs," said the dark haired dwarf. "I'm Kili and this is my brother, Fili." He indicated the other dwarf.
I was almost to afraid to ask about what had happened to my family, but not knowing was just as bad. "My family?" I asked. Suddenly my legs felt too weak to support me and it had nothing to do with the cold.
"I'm sorry - we didn't get to your farm quick enough. By the time we got there, it was too late," Kili said.
"I see," I said and couldn't say anymore. Just like that, my entire world was in ruins. Trotter came up to me and lent on me as I sat on the ground. I buried my hand in his fur. I don't know how long I sat there, but it seemed like an eternity. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Kili standing over me.
"We can't stay here. You're ill and the snow is falling again," he said.
I nodded and let him help me to my feet.