[Mithalwen]

Cir had decided to wait for his sister to stir before getting breakfast. After the hearty of the night before even he was not yet really hungry. He smiled at the the sight of his elder sister once more deep in the paths of elvish dreams. She was never at her best in the first thing whereas he liked the cool brightness of morning and would catch up with rest later if necessary.

Even the excitement of the wolf attack was not sufficient to rouse her today and he wondered if she had drunk more freely of the hobbits ale than he ... even if she hadn't it would be something to tease her with later he thought wryly. Given that they had so few possessions with them it took little time for him to be ready. He did not call for hot water but paused in the yard and washed any remaining sleep from his head under the pump. The body of the great wolf that lay there still was more sobering even than the cold water.

He knew his father would say that wolves were the wildest of all wild creatures and servants of Morgoth, but there was something about the slain beast which disturbed him. What had driven the pack to attack the inn,so dangerous and unnecessary when it was spring and easier pickings could be found in the relative safety of the woods further from habitation. There were wolves and worse in the Misty Mountains he knew but he had never heard of any attacking settlements. Rivendell was perhaps safe but would the dwellings of the dunedain in the Angle? He had not heard of a wolf attack there - but then, he thought ruefully, he was always being told he didn't listen.

Cir had not determined the path his feet had taken but they had carried him away from the village and into the woodland and with a start he realised that he had been tracing tracks the wolves had made on their way to the village. He had never thought of himself as much of a tracker and was generally content to leave suce things to those who seemed to enjoy them and was suprised that he had been able follow relatively subtle signs without trying. ... maybe it was just chance that had brought him to this place where paw prints were clearer in a patch of soft earth. More to test his skill than anything he followed the trail until he made a discovery that placed him on the horns of a dilemma. And though he resented at times not being allowed to make his own decisions, he knew he had to consult his twin and ran back to the Golden Perch as if the hounds of Sauron were after him.

"Guess what I've found" he demanded, bursting into their room without ceremony and getting a less than warm response from his sister.

"A silmaril? " she asked sarcastically before covering her head with a pillow to block out her brother and the light.

"No wolves!" he replied excitedly.

"You woke me to tell me THAT?", Cir was struck on the head by the pillow thrown with some force, "I know there were wolves - and they came to the Inn, you hardly found them ...go away and leave me to sleep..."


Mor words tumbled form the boy's mouth:
"Not those wolves ... wolf cubs .. in a sort of den in the woods ... I think they may have belonged to the ones the hobbits killed or chased off ..they were all alone and looked ... well hungry and not very strong. I didn't want to leave them .. but I know what Ada would say about interfering . and I thought the mother might come back ... So what shall we do?" Cir crouched close by his sister's bed, his face now about a foot away from hers, was expectant.