Chapter 4, A Pair of Shoes

Elrohir’s absence wasn’t noted for many hours. Elladan and Legolas were not in the best of spirits after listening to a very boring lesson on the history of Arda all morning, so the little elves sulked through lunch and didn’t question when Elrohir never showed up to join them, assuming he was out somewhere having fun. The missing elf’s parents were also distracted, though of course by more serious issues than a bout of childish sulking. They were continuing discussions with their guests through lunch, leaving the care of the children to the many other adults who kept an eye out for Rivendell’s impish twins and so they, too, never realized that their youngest was nowhere to be found. Unfortunately, even those others failed to notice that Elrohir had not been seen for hours. It was so rare that he was separated from his twin for any length of time that everyone assumed he was cooped up in the library with his brother and no one thought it strange that he wasn’t around.

No, the disturbing truth wasn’t revealed until late afternoon, when Elladan and Legolas were finally released from the library and went looking for him. There was only a short time left before dinner and they had been told they could play quietly until summoned, so they rushed to find Elrohir. They expected that his day had been much more interesting than theirs and wanted to hear all about what he’d been doing while they had been trapped in the library. A quick search of his favorite places inside convinced them that he wasn’t there, though, and a similar search outside in the twins’ usual play areas also revealed no dark-haired little elf playing by himself. Frustrated, the boys ran back into the house and asked everyone they could find if they had seen Elrohir, but to their increasing dismay, learned that he hadn’t been seen by anyone since late morning.

Finally, they ended up outside the door to Rivendell’s large meeting chamber. They wanted to ask their parents where Elrohir had gone, but before they actually interrupted the adults, they hesitated.

“Maybe we should not bother them,” said Legolas, as he stared up at the large door, not eager to upset his parents and suffer a second lecture in the same day. “Elrohir will come back for dinner. We should just wait to talk to him when we eat.”

Elladan scrunched his forehead as he thought. He wasn’t anxious to have his ears blistered with another scolding either, but he couldn’t wait that long for word of his brother. In truth, somewhere deep inside, a bad feeling had been growing all afternoon. At first he’d pushed it aside, deciding it was a result of his irritation over his punishment, but once he realized Elrohir was missing, he finally connected the unease with his twin. Something was wrong with Elrohir. He knew it. And if interrupting his parents could help him figure out what that was, he would put up with whatever consequences were forthcoming. Thus, knowing in his heart that he had to go in despite the risk, he glanced over at Legolas and then back to the door before saying, “I must talk to my Ada before dinner. But…but maybe if we don’t knock and just wait inside quietly, they won’t get mad.”

Legolas didn’t really understand Elladan’s sense of urgency, but he nonetheless nodded and said, “All right.” Then he grinned and added, “At least if we get in trouble again, we’ll be able to share the punishment. I’ve decided it isn’t nearly as bad when you aren’t punished alone.”

Elladan, knowing how bored Legolas had been with the day’s lectures, smiled his thanks to his loyal friend and pushed aside the thought that it was usually Elrohir who shared punishments with him. The two of them knew all about the benefits of getting in trouble together. But thinking about his twin simply made Elladan more determined that he had to find him, so without further discussion, he reached forward and turned the knob on the door. It was a tall, heavy door and he had to ask Legolas to help pull it open, but when they had a wide enough crack, they squeezed in and then gulped as they saw the entire room full of people turn to them. So much for waiting quietly until there was a lull in the conversation.

It was Elrond as Rivendell’s master who immediately questioned the small intruders, glaring at them as he demanded, “Elladan, what is the meaning of this? Whatever mischief you are up to, this is not the time. We are busy right now with affairs that are not for little ears, so take Legolas and find something to do until it is time for dinner.”

Legolas, not feeling the same driving need to find Elrohir, turned immediately to obey, but stopped when Elladan didn’t budge. Seeing the dark-haired little elf stand his ground, Legolas turned back with a sigh. He just knew they were going to sit through another excruciatingly boring lecture tomorrow if they were not careful, but he was not about to let his friend face their angry parents alone.

Elladan was grateful for his friend’s presence as he gathered up the courage to speak, for the stern looks were making him nervous. As calmly as he could manage, however, he said, “Ada, I am sorry to bother you, but we wanted to play with Elrohir and I was wondering if you could tell me where to find him.”

The elven lord’s eyebrows flew up at his son’s words. They were discussing the fate of the world and he was being interrupted so Elladan could play with his twin? Elrond left his seat and walked quickly over to the small elves, saying crossly as he approached, “I have been busy all day and have not seen your brother since your little escapade this morning. I suggest you look in the house and ask around—someone will be able to tell you where he is. Now,” his voice softened a bit as he placed a hand on each boy’s back and gently started to push them out the door, “run along and do not trouble us again, for we have important things to discuss before we break for dinner.”

Elladan was not to be deterred, however. Squirming away from his father’s hand he turned to him and said earnestly, “Ada, we have already looked in the house and asked everyone. No one has seen Elrohir for the longest time. I…” he dropped his voice and added a bit fearfully, “I think he needs to be found now.”

The elf lord stopped and looked down at the serious expression on his firstborn’s face and started to feel the first pangs of unease. This was beginning to sound like more than a bored little elfling looking for a playmate. He knelt and took his son’s shoulders in his hands and asked carefully, “Was he planning to do something naughty that you do not wish to tell me about, Elladan? Something that may have gone wrong and placed him in danger?”

The little elf shook his head quickly, dispelling that concern instantly. “I do not know what he was going to do, Ada. Honest. I just…” he looked around at the other elves in the room and then tugged his father down closer to him so he could whisper in his ear, “I feel something is wrong, Ada. You know.”

Pulling away from Elladan, Elrond frowned as he regarded his son. He was well aware that the twins were connected in some way that neither he, nor they, understood yet, so when Elladan insisted that something was wrong, he had to believe him. He squeezed his son’s shoulders to offer comfort and then rose, trying to ignore a twisting of fear in his stomach as he said to the group of elves at the table, “My apologies, but it seems we will have to break early for dinner.” His eyes sought his wife’s as he added, “Apparently my youngest hasn’t been seen since this morning, and I fear I will not be able to concentrate on anything else until I can assure myself he is safe.”

The assembled group rose to their feet with instant comments of concern, the cares of the world taking a back seat to the more immediate need of finding a lost child. Grateful for their understanding, Elrond held out his hand for Celebrian and the two worried parents went to look for their son.

Hours passed without anyone finding the slightest clue as to the small elf’s whereabouts. After an initial search confirmed Elladan’s assertion that no one had seen Elrohir since late that morning, Elrond had summoned his guard and a more thorough search had been taken of the house and the surrounding areas. The results were equally grim. The last one who could remember seeing Elrohir was one of the gardeners, who saw the little elf shortly before lunchtime walking alone down one of the paths. After that, nothing. No one else had seen him.

Afternoon turned to evening and evening to night while the search continued and an increasing number of Rivendell’s inhabitants joined the hunt for the missing elfling. Elladan and Legolas were initially allowed to participate as well, but eventually it became quite late and the two little elflings were sent in to eat a late dinner and then go to bed. They were both visibly upset to be sent away from the search, but when Celebrian pulled Elladan aside and solemnly asked him to go so she could concentrate on finding his twin, the small elf reluctantly agreed. Making her promise that she would wake him if they found anything at all, he and Legolas silently followed one of his father’s warriors back to the house, all the while wishing they could stay and help find their missing companion.

Dinner was a quick affair of bread and cold cheeses, after which the two gloomy boys were escorted to Elladan’s room where they would spend the night together. There, despite their belief that they should still be allowed to search, the exhausted elflings fell asleep almost before their heads hit their pillows. Their sleep was anything but restful, though. Throughout the night, Elladan found himself caught in one nightmare after another, never clear enough for him to remember, but after each one he woke up feeling increasingly frightened and desperately sad. His tossing and turning kept his little guest from sleeping soundly as well, so just before the dawn when yet another nightmare caused Elladan to cry out, Legolas woke up and blinked wearily as Elladan threw aside his tangled covers and sat up.

For a moment, Elladan said and did nothing as he shook off the haunted feeling of his nightmare, but then he looked over at Legolas and his lower lip began to tremble. He knew, of course, that Legolas had been sharing his room, but his nightmare had made him miss Elrohir with an almost unbearable ache and seeing the little blond prince in the bed next to him instead of his twin was enough to cause the tough little elf to finally break. Dropping his face into his hands, Elladan started to cry, not caring for once if it made him look weak.

Legolas stared at him, still bleary from lack of sleep. He didn’t know how he could help his distraught friend, but after looking at Elladan in dismay for a moment, he gave in to instinct and climbed next to his friend, wrapping his arms around the sad little elf.

“Maybe they found Elrohir last night and he is in his room,” Legolas said, trying to penetrate Elladan’s grief-stricken sobs.

The dark-haired elf just shook his head, though, and said through his tears, “Ammë said she would wake me if he was found. She promised. And…and it hurts inside where I feel Ro. So I know he’s not here. He’s lost!”

Legolas didn’t quite understand what Elladan meant, but he did understand that it meant Elrohir was still missing, so the two little boys laid their heads on each other’s shoulders, Legolas fighting his own tears as he worried about his lost friend. Where could Elrohir be? He wouldn’t have just run away. He must have been playing and somehow was unable to return home. Maybe he was hurt or trapped somewhere. Regardless, wherever he was he would be hoping someone would come for him soon. With that thought, Legolas pulled away from Elladan, blinked away his tears, and said determinedly, “If Elrohir is still lost, then we have to find him!”

The woebegone little face that peered at him, eyelashes clumped with tears, almost made Legolas start crying again, but he pushed back his own sadness as he tried to be strong for the two of them. He scooted off the bed and, holding out his hand, said firmly, “You know him better than anyone, so wherever he is, we can find him. Come. Let’s go search for him.”

Elladan wiped his face with the back of his hands and sniffed, but then gave his friend a little smile. This was the kind of talk that he usually gave to his brother and if the situation weren’t so grim, he would have found this new role almost amusing. He was still terribly worried, but was grateful that in Elrohir’s absence he had someone by his side to give him a figurative punch in the arm when he needed it. His face filled with matching determination as he nodded to Legolas and grabbed his hand, a renewed strength in his heart as he was pulled off the bed. They would find Elrohir.

After quickly getting dressed, the two darted through the halls until they reached the main conference room which, even at this early hour was filled with people, some spilling out into the corridor. Pushing their way through the forest of legs, the little boys made it to the front of the group and ran straight to their parents, who were sitting at the head table studying a map of the valley along with several of the lieutenants of the Imladris Guard.

King Thranduil and his wife were the first to see the boys and alerted Elrond and Celebrian to their arrival by greeting them, “Legolas, Elladan, you are up early.”

Elrond and Celebrian dropped the map on the table and both knelt down to wrap their son in a hug as he ran into their arms. Much to his own disgust, Elladan wanted nothing more than to burst into tears again, seeing from their tired, haggard faces that they didn’t have any good news about Elrohir, but instead he bravely said, “Legolas and I have come to help. We are all rested and ready to find Elrohir.”

Celebrian smiled through a sudden sheen of tears and said lovingly, “That is wonderful, darling. I am sure we can use your help. Elrohir…Elrohir will be glad to see you when we find him. Now, can you sit quietly for a moment while Ada and I study the map for a moment?”

Elladan nodded soberly and glanced at his friend’s parents, surprised that they looked almost as worried as his own. But then he forgot about them when he noticed that another familiar face he was expecting wasn’t there. Tugging on his mother’s gown, he asked, “Where is Glorfindel? Why isn’t he looking for Elrohir?” For as long as he could remember, the powerful warrior had cared for the boys as if they were his own and Elladan couldn’t imagine why the captain of the Imladris Guard wasn’t there to help when Elrohir really needed him.

Elrond shared a look with Celebrian and answered for her, “Glorfindel took some of the guard and is searching outside the valley. We will hear his report later.” He did not add that they were looking for signs of foul play, but he saw the realization dawn in his son’s eyes and he gave him another quick hug before he could ask any more questions, almost as much to comfort himself as to distract his little son.

Further explanations and questions were forgotten, however, when the worried family heard a disturbance near the door. Four elves were pushing their way through, two male youths and two older females. When they reached the center of the room, the ladies curtsied shakily to their lord and lady while the young elves bowed nervously, then all fell silent when Elrond and Celebrian rose and stood before them.

“My lord,” began the lady on the right, who Celebrian noted with surprise was Leah, a good friend of hers as well as the wife of one of the realm’s warriors. Usually she was a bright, cheerful lady, but the confident woman that Celebrian had known for years was missing as she repeated in a tremulous voice, “My lord, my lady…my son and his friend have something to tell you.”

With a little shove, Leah pushed her son forward, a tall young elf with light brown hair. His companion quickly joined him when his mother also pushed him forward. The second elf was a shade taller, with dark hair and a face that looked like it would usually be filled with merriment, but now was somber and pale.

The lord and his lady said nothing as they waited, only a lifetime of courtly poise preventing them from demanding that the youngsters tell them if they knew something about their lost child.

The first elf swallowed hard as he felt the burning gaze of the pair and hesitated before speaking. Then another little shove from behind, from his mother no doubt, loosened his tongue and he managed to whisper, “My lord…my lady…we know where Elrohir is.”

Celebrian grabbed her husband’s arm, almost overcome by a conflicting mix of hope and dread as Elrond said in a tight voice, “Continue.”

The elf started to tremble as he said, “I…I am Belmandren, my lord, and this is my friend Johir. We were just playing a trick on him. We never thought he’d st-stay there. We thought he’d come out after awhile. B-but this morning when we heard that he was missing, we realized that he must still be in the cave.”

“What cave?” The elf lord’s voice was so cold that most in the room could not avoid shuddering.

Belmandren opened his mouth, but only squeak came out. He felt like he wanted to be sick. What had started out as harmless fun had blossomed into a full-blown nightmare and suddenly the horror of what he’d done robbed him of the ability to speak. Remembering the delight in Elrohir’s face as he looked around the cave, he knew that he would never forgive himself if something had happened to the little elf who had followed him so trustingly.

“What cave?” repeated a very, very hard voice.

Thankfully, at that point Johir answered Elrond’s question shakily, “Out past the north gardens and the orchards, my lord. Near the rainbow falls. There is a small opening that leads to a wider cave. We took him inside and after awhile, left him there. But we were certain that he would come out after he realized that we were not returning. We did not mean for him to come to harm!”

Elrond was grateful for his wife’s hand on his arm, for without it he may not have been able to keep himself from reaching out and shaking the two boys in front of him. They had taken an innocent little elfling and left him alone in a cave…as a joke? Bile rose in his throat as he imagined his child alone in the dark, afraid, perhaps hurt. He shook with the effort it took to force back his fury.

There was someone, however, who had absolutely no compunction against lashing out at the two boys. Elladan, who had been forgotten for the moment, slipped past his parents and ran to the two, screaming, “I hate you! I hate you!” and pounded his fists first into Johir and then Belmandren. They both tried to fend him off, not really hurt by the small elf, but shocked by the sudden attack.

Then Elrond did come forward and grabbed his little son around the waist and picked him up, Elladan kicking and screaming “Let me go!” as he tried to get back to the two mean elves who had hurt his brother.

Elrond wrapped his writhing child in a firm embrace, his mouth right by Elladan’s ear as he told him sternly, “Hush now. This is not appropriate and will not help us find your brother. If you wish to come with us to the cave, you will settle down, immediately.”

His words worked like magic, for the elf heard in his father’s voice the promise that he would be left behind if he didn’t obey. His breaths coming in gulps, he ceased his fighting instantly and nodded, saying breathlessly, “I’ll be good. I promise, Ada. Please, I’ll be good.”

Holding Elladan at arm’s length for a moment to make sure he had truly calmed down, Elrond then set him down and glared at him in warning before turning back to the two shaken boys. “I believe it is time for you to lead me to my son,” he said grimly.

Pausing only to send a couple of runners after torches and ropes, Elrond and his searchers were outside and heading toward the cave within moments. Johir and Belmandren led the way, with at least a score of elves following behind. At first they all were walking quickly, but soon it became apparent that the pace just wasn’t fast enough, so the elves started running, Elrond and Thranduil scooping up their young sons and carrying them as they went.

Just a short time later, the group was standing outside the cave entrance and then one-by-one, crawled into the cave itself.

“Elrohir!” Elrond, as the first one through, called loudly as soon as he entered the cave, but only the quick scurrying sound of the cave’s inhabitants answered him.

“Elrohir, where are you?” added Celebrian, joining her husband and looking about anxiously for her child.

No little voice answered. No little feet came running toward them.

The worried parents looked around the cave without seeing any of the beauty as they waited for the rest of the search party to enter. They saw nothing to indicate a little elfling was trapped in there. But once everyone was inside, Elrond’s eyes turned to Johir and Belmandren, who had been standing off to the side, conferring quietly.

“Perhaps you can tell me exactly where you left my son?” Elrond asked them, trying to keep the anger from his voice as he pictured his youngest alone in this vast darkness.

Belmandren’s face was a study in misery as he answered, “That is just what we were discussing, my lord. It was dark, but we believe it was on that ledge, right there,” he said, pointing to the back of the cavern at a small shelf about four feet off the ground.

“Why would he sit there and not follow after you?” asked Thranduil suspiciously, his own heart aching at the thought of Elrond’s little missing son. He and the lord of Rivendell didn’t always see eye-to-eye, but when it came to the well-being of the children, animosity was forgotten and he hurt to think of the lost child.

“We kind of told him that…” mumbled Johir, the rest of the sentence unintelligible as the young elf stared at the floor.

“What did you tell him?” demanded Thranduil, raising the boy’s chin up with a firm hand.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Johir glanced over at Belmandren, his fear evident as he looked back to the stern elven king. “We kind of told him that…that the rats would eat him.”

“You what?” shouted an appalled Leah, who had been standing behind Belmandren. She was so ashamed and wished desperately that her husband wasn’t assigned to one of the patrols scouting outside the realm’s borders—she needed his support right now in dealing with this terrible situation. She turned her son until he faced her and asked in disbelief, “Belmandren?”

Belmandren’s eyes filled with tears as he nodded and choked, “I am sorry, Ammë. I know now it was stupid…and mean. But it was just supposed to be a silly joke. We really didn’t mean to hurt him,” he ended in a whisper.

“My lady…” began Leah, turning to Celebrian in dismay.

But Celebrian cut her off, “Later, Leah. Right now…I just need to find my baby.” She walked away from the other woman, afraid that if she stayed, she would say something unforgivable. Besides, the important thing was to focus on finding her little boy, who would be scared and perhaps hiding.

The other elves just shook their heads in disgust and a few glared at the boys, but they all silently agreed with Celebrian that their first order of business was to find wherever Elrohir may be tucked away. They fanned out to all ends of the cave, peering into holes, climbing up to look in high-up cubbyholes, disturbing a large number of rats, but finding no sign that Elrohir was there or even that he had been there.

Some time later, after having circled the room several times himself, Elrond stopped abruptly when he felt a tugging on his tunic and looked down to see Legolas in his path. He dropped down onto a knee and smiled gently. “Hello little one. Have you something you wish to tell me?” he asked encouragingly.

Legolas glanced back into a dark corner and nodded before saying quietly, “Elladan is crying.”

Elrond sighed. He knew his eldest would be upset that they still hadn’t found his twin, but he had hoped that being part of the search would have distracted Elladan. Determined to comfort the one son that he could, he patted Legolas on the shoulder in thanks and after listening carefully, followed the sound of a little sniff around a large rock and found Elladan sitting on a boulder in an unlit corner.

His heart went out to the little elf. His firstborn always tried to be so brave and tough, but right now he was the picture of abject misery. Elladan’s chin rested in his fists, while slow tears rolled down his cheeks and between his little fingers.

The elven lord bent down and ran a loving hand down his little son’s back. “We will find him, sweetling. He’s just hiding a bit better than we’d thought,” he said tenderly.

“Scared,” whispered Elladan.

“Don’t be, little one,” said Elrond, leaning forward to kiss his son on the forehead. “No matter how good the rascal is at hide-and-seek, Elrohir cannot fool us for much longer.”

His father’s words did not elicit the appropriate little smile, however. Instead, Elladan shook his head and whispered, “Not me.”

Elrond laughed softly and agreed, “You are right, he never could fool you for long, could he?”

But the little elf shook his head harder and looked up at his father with serious, tear-filled eyes as he said quietly, “No, Ada. I mean I wasn’t talking about me being scared. Ro is.”

The elven lord reprocessed the conversation and realized what Elladan was telling him. He knelt on the ground and pulled his firstborn onto his lap. “You think Ro is scared? Well, I expect he might be, but your brother may have just fallen asleep and cannot hear us.”

Elladan started chewing on the tip of his littlest finger, something that he’d done as a baby when he was distressed. Elrond couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Elladan do that, which told him without a doubt that his son was highly upset. Burying his head in his father’s chest, the little elf choked, “No. He is scared and so lonely.”

Elrond felt a chill run through him. “Elladan,” he asked carefully, “can you tell what Elrohir is feeling?”

He held his breath as he waited for an answer, but the little elf said nothing, only nodding as he kept his head buried against his father.

“Is that a ‘yes?’ You can feel that he is scared?”

Elladan still said nothing, but nodded again slowly.

Breathing in deeply, Elrond tried to think what this could mean. Was it possible that the connection between the twins allowed one to know the other’s feelings? And if so, could it be used to help find the missing child? With a guarded hope, he asked, “Elladan, can you tell where your brother is?”

Elladan’s sad shake of his head quickly crushed Elrond’s hope and he sighed deeply, disappointed. He kissed the top of the little dark head nestled in his arms and squeezed Elladan tightly before lifting him out of his lap. “Well, I know you both will feel better when we find him,” he said sympathetically, “so how about we look for your brother?”

Elladan nodded and took his father’s hand, but then didn’t budge when the elven lord tried to go back to the main chamber.

“You do not wish to help me search?” his father asked gently.

“Can’t we look here?” asked Elladan intently.

“Here?” Elrond looked up at the cave wall that rose straight up, ending in darkness far above his head. They were so far away from the cave entrance that no light penetrated this dark corner and if not for the torches, they would have been standing in pitch black. What would make Elladan think his brother would have come all the way back here? He asked curiously, “Why?”

The little elf shrugged and said, “He might be here.”

Having no where better to look, Elrond decided to humor his small son and, holding his torch in his left hand, easily scaled the wall in front of him. He expected to find nothing at all, but about ten feet up, he saw that there was a large ledge, previously hidden in the shadows. Climbing carefully onto it, he crawled forward lightly and his heart started thumping when he found a small tunnel leading off to the right. Maybe Elladan had been right!

“Elrohir?” he called out almost breathless with hope.

Once again, he heard the sound of rats scurrying around at the sound of his voice, but once again there was no answering call.

“Elrohir!” he shouted louder, but again with no answer.

His shouts did alert the other searchers, though, who gathered around at the base of the wall and looked up.

“Elrond, did you find something?” asked Celebrian hopefully.

“Aye…there is a ledge up here that leads to a tunnel. Elrohir is small enough that he could have fit through it.”

“Can you see the end? Anything?” called up his wife again.

“Nay,” he answered in frustration. “It is too narrow for me—all I can see is that it takes several turns. I cannot tell if he is down there, but I have called and heard no answer. Perhaps you may be able to fit.

“I am coming up,” called the slim elven woman, determined that if her baby was down that tunnel, she would go to him.

She joined her husband within seconds and took the torch from him, crawling a few feet down the tunnel before backing out and looking at Elrond, her eyes dark with worry. “It is very narrow, Elrond. I will try to push my way through, but I would feel better if you could tie a rope around me, so if I get caught you can pull me back.”

They had a rope thrown up and after tying a loop around Celebrian’s foot, she started back down the tunnel, pushing the torch in front of her as she went. It wasn’t a straight channel, so she couldn’t tell how far it went, but she wriggled and pushed her way through, ignoring the suffocating tightness of the small passageway as she focused on finding her son. About five minutes after she started, her search was rewarded with the first real sign of Elrohir. A small shoe lay in her path and she scooped it up joyfully, hugging it to her before she started crawling again, the shoe held tight in her hand.

Only a few feet further, however, the tunnel narrowed to the point that the slim woman couldn’t fit through, no matter how much she pushed and twisted.

No! She was so close and she knew Elrohir had come this way. She called out desperately, “Elrohir! Elrohir, answer me!”

The only answer she received was from her husband, listening at the other end of the tunnel. “Do you see him? Is he there?”

She didn’t answer her husband, focused only on pushing her way through the obstruction and reaching her child. “Elrohir! Baby, it’s ammë. Please let me know you can hear me,” she cried out.

“Celebrian!” shouted Elrond again, “Have you found something?”

This time Celebrian answered her husband’s calls. “He’s here. I know he’s here, but I can’t get through,” his wife said in a choked voice. “I can’t get through,” she whispered again, dropping her head down.

She cried quietly for just a moment, but then picked her head back up. Falling apart wasn’t going to get her son back. She pushed the torch as far forward as she could with her fingertips and strained to see anything in the darkness. Although she saw no more signs of her little boy, she shouted forward, “Elrohir, I…I will be back. I love you little one. Just…just wait a little longer, baby. I will be back.” Then she turned her head and shouted back the way she came, “I need your help to pull me out Elrond, it is too tight to crawl backwards.”

It took a bit of doing to bring Celebrian back out of the passage and she lost a fair amount of skin to scrapes as she was pulled through the rock, but when she was out, she presented Elrond with her trophy, Elrohir’s little shoe.

“Look. He was there, Elrond,” she said with tear-filled eyes. “But the tunnel narrows too much for me to get through. I could not reach him,” she choked.

Elrond held the small shoe tenderly and squeezed his eyes tight in pain as he gathered his wife in his arms. They shared a desperately worried look, knowing that if the slim woman couldn’t get through, there wouldn’t be any chance for any of the others to make it. Still, there had to be something they could do. Climbing back down to the cave floor, the two of them worked through possibilities with the gathered rescuers and were discussing the need for a stonemason when Elladan interrupted them.

“Let me go, Ada. If Elrohir could make it through, I could too.”

No one could argue with his logic, of course, but Elrond wouldn’t even consider such a thing. “Absolutely not!” he forbade. “We do not know what lies at the end of the tunnel. I will not chance losing you as well.”

Elrond turned back to the gathered group, only to have his small son once more interrupt, “But Ada, I’ll be careful. Please let me go. Ro needs me.”

“Elladan, no,” Elrond repeated firmly. “It could be dangerous. We do not know why Elrohir is not answering, but there may be something there that could harm you. We will find a way to make the opening bigger, so one of us can fetch your brother. Now, please wait quietly while we make plans. The more you interrupt us, the longer it will take to get your brother freed.”

The little elf plopped to the ground, his arms across his chest, his face in a perfect scowl. Seeing the beginnings of a classic sulk but having no time to deal with it, Elrond grimaced in irritation and then once more turned to discuss ways to enlarge the tunnel without collapsing it completely.

None of the adults paid attention to the small child on the floor, which was just what Elladan had planned when he’d started his pretend sulk. He allowed himself a tiny smile of triumph and then with a wink for Legolas, who had been watching his friend suspiciously, he crawled over to the wall and quickly began to scale it.

The rapid movement caught the eye of Celebrian, though, who was facing her son and she shouted, “No!”

Elrond, who was closer, turned at her shout and saw his son scrambling up the wall. He leapt forward and stretching, just managed to catch onto the bottom of Elladan’s left foot. He held tight, but Elladan wriggled and kicked, and managed to slip away, leaving his father holding his shoe. In the split second that it took for Elrond to realize that Elladan had pulled away and then start climbing himself, Elladan flew up the remainder of the wall and quickly crawled into the tunnel, safe from his father since the larger elf couldn’t make it past the narrow entrance.

The furious elven lord called for Elladan, leaving no shadow of a doubt that he expected his son to obey immediately and come back. But after several minutes of shouting, he realized that Elladan was not going to comply and he turned around and gracefully dropped back down to the floor.

“He ignored me!” he hissed to Celebrian. “He ignored me and went down the tunnel after Elrohir. When I get my hands on him….”

Elrond expected an equally angry mother to be agreeing with him, but instead, Celebrian touched his arm softly and he finally looked into her eyes, surprised to see gentle tears instead of anger at their son’s disobedience. She gave him a sad smile as she shook her head.

“Nay, my love,” she said softly. “You should not be angry. Elladan had to go to his twin. It is the way they are. Nothing we said could have kept him from going.”

With that, he followed her eyes to the large boulder that Elladan had been sitting on earlier and with a pang, he understood. There, on its smooth surface, was a small pair of shoes. Elrohir’s right and Elladan’s left. In their own simple way, they told the story of the twins. Each little shoe was perfectly formed and unique unto itself, and yet separately, each was but a piece, incomplete, whereas together they formed a perfect pair. Finished. Truly whole.

The great elven lord closed his eyes and sighed in painful acceptance. Soft tears filled his eyes as he took his wife’s hand and together the anguished parents prayed for their sons’ safe return.

***************