[mark12_30]

Cami rejoined Gamba, Phura, Azraph, and Kesha on the bow. Gamba had been thinking.

"You said this ... range... is six hundred miles long, " he replied. "Is that how big this island is?" Six hundred miles?"

Cami laughed. "It's not an island. It's land. "

"But..."

"After the mountains end, the land keeps going. Although... north is better than east."

"It is?"

"We will go north, " Cami said firmly.

His bafflement penetrated her soul, and she said, "Wait here." Not that they had gone anywhere else in days and days, she smiled, but he dutifully did not budge, nor the Hobbrim either, until she returned carefully carrying a large map. She spread it carefully on the deck, and told them each to hold a corner.

"We are ... here, " she tapped the vellum. There are the mountains, from here to here; we will be going to Minas Anor... right here... and then we will go up the river, and to the forests."

Gamba squinted at the runes, and shifted so that he could see them right side up. "An... du... in. Anduin."

"Yes, " she smiled at him. He was obviously getting rusty, and almost against her better judgement she began plotting how to return him to his studies. Wait, she told herself. We have years and years for that.

He studied the river, and tapped at Minas Anor. "This is where the tombs are?"

"Yes, " she said.

He wrinkled his nose. "Then I'm going up here." He pointed to the very top of the Anduin, as far away from Minas Anor as he could be and still be on the river.

"Gamba, darling, " Cami began. That was too far from Rivendell to suit her!

His jaw tightened with resolve, and he pointed again. "La... Lang... Langwell, " he announced. "Right up there. Langwell river. That's where I'm going."

"But, " Cami began, her jaw dropping. and Phura laughed.

"No caves for him, " Phura chuckled. "Not ever again. Right, Gamba?"

Gamba sat back, satisfied. "This... Greenwood. That's a forest, right? A big one. And there are mountains over here. I bet there are elves in that big forest."

"Well, yes, there are, " Cami admitted reluctantly. She pointed hesitantly to Thranduil's kingdom, across from Erebor. "There are wood elves here."

"That's where I'm going, then, " he finalized.

"But, there are also elves here, " she pointed hopefully to Lorien, "and here-- " she pointed to Rivendell.

"That forest isn't as big as Greenwood. I'm going to Greenwood. And Rivendell doesn't show a forest at all. Forget that. I want the big forest. I'm going there. Langwell."

She sighed at him, frustrated already. And then she softened. "When you come of age, Gamba, you can go wherever you want to go. But until you do, " she said with a wry smile, "I would rather that you stay with me, and with Rose. And we weren't planning on going quite so far North. Perhaps here, " she tapped the Anduin near the Gladden fields, "Or here, by the Carrock. Or here, maybe, by the Old Forest Road crossing. We haven't really decided that. And all those spots are right next to Greenwood."

"Not far enough from those tombs, " Gamba said flatly, and Cami shook her head, and almost regretted showing him the map. But she shook that off. Perhaps there were other forces at work in the boy than his own whim. She watched him for a while, and suddenly knew that to be true. And she smiled, and reached up, and ran her fingers through his curls. To her surprise, he blinked back tears. But just as quickly, he shook himself, and returned to gazing at the Langwell river, and the north end of Greenwood.

[ December 11, 2002: Message edited by: mark12_30 ]