There and Back Again: Edith's Story

Author's Note: Hey all! So, this is a new idea I got as I was trying to brainstorm ideas for my other hobbit story. I ended up going a different path than most stories. It'll be a little different than some of the stories that are around. The way this is going to work, I will go by the book plot, but there will be some movie dialogue. I know The Hobbit movies came out a few years ago. I know. The main hobbit characters will still be like how they looked in Peter Jackson's film even though this will follow mostly the book and it's more of a historical twist. I don't know if that makes sense or not. Kind of like Outlander, but not really. I hope you all enjoy!

.*.*.*.*.

The year was 1950, almost Christmas. Snow fell gently as Edith made her way home for the night with her fiancé. There had been another brawl between the two. Jack could have kept up with her, but he chose to stay a few paces behind. He listened to the heels of her shoes clicking on the cobbled road as she stomped in anger. Her blonde curled hair bounced back and forth as she did. From her square, red purse, she dug the house keys and walked up the steps to their duplex. Angrily, she fumbled for the right key. Edith growled in frustration as the keys dropped to the ground. She bent down to pick them up with her gloved hand.

"Here, let me—,"

"You've done enough!" Edith spat, glaring at Jack. "I can't believe you just went and told everything to my Mama, even though I specifically asked you to not!"

Edith finally unlocked the door and shoved through, not even noticing the snow she'd brought in. She threw down her back on the bench in the corridor and shrugged her jacket off and took off her grey scarf.

"Edith, I'm – I'm sorry…I didn't mean to say any of it! She was interrogating me like I was a goddamn Nazi!"

"You had to say that we didn't want a wedding! You had to say that I don't want my family there!" Edith shouted.

"What more do you want me to say?"

"Stop being such a bum!" Edith exclaimed, storming up the stairs.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to read! Now please, leave me alone!" she yelled.

She found that nothing comforted her more than reading did, especially when she and Jack were in a feud. Her favorite book had been The Hobbit. During the long years of the war, she found it a great comfort. During that time, like many women her age had volunteered as nurses to take care of their men. Some had gone to work at factories to help build machines and weapons.

It seemed like so long ago when she picked up the dusty book and flipped through the first few pages. It had been 1943 when she came across it. She had picked it up on the way to the nurse's station. A bookstore had been destroyed and many books were scattered around. She had offered then to return it to the bookshop keeper, but he gave it to her as a gift. A gift during a dark time. To this day, she cherished the memory it gave her and the fun it was to read. Though it had been a children's book, Edith had been much like Bilbo. As the days and years darkened, so much had changed within her own life. She had been just a child in so many ways before she volunteered, though she had been twenty. The war had changed everyone.

Edith sighed as she looked back on those days. The heaviness seemed to drench the room she sat in. She shook her head before taking her pumps off and unzipping her royal blue evening dress. With care, she placed her dress in the closet and went for her warmer nightgown. It was cold tonight and she wondered if Jack would even come upstairs or then stay downstairs in the guest room. Edith was at last in her warm night gown. She slipped on some wool slippers her mother had given her a year or two back. Edith grabbed her shawl and book before heading out the door. As she opened the door, she bumped into Jack. Edith looked at him with wide eyes.

"I left my toothbrush," was all he said.

She let him pass. Once she let him go, Edith went down the stairs to the kitchen to make herself a piping hot cup of tea. The gas stove had been an irritant to light but eventually she was able to make it work. One, two scoops of Earl Grey into her tea cup. Once the water boiled, the kettle making a dreadful whistle, she poured the boiling water over the leaves. With her book and a cup of tea, she nestled on the sofa. Edith switched on the lamp that had its home on the coffee table beside the sofa. A smile twitched at the corners of her mouth as she read through riddles in the dark. Gollum had been a rather disturbing figure to her, but she enjoyed the match nonetheless. Edith wondered if she would have ever survived or if she would have been eaten by that ghastly creature. Her thoughts were disrupted when Jack had come downstairs. He stood at the archway, gazing at her intently.

"Edith, I really hope we could talk about this tonight rather than you deliberately ignoring me and going to bed angry." Jack said.

"I have nothing left to say to you about what happened," she replied, closing her book for a moment.

"Look, I know you are angry with me. It wasn't at all right of me to say such horrid things to your parents. I should have kept quiet."

She sighed and looked down at her lap.

"You can sleep in the guest room tonight, Jack. I'm not ready to forgive you for what happened."

"Edith—,"

She forgot about her tea when she had gotten up. Edith left the room and down the corridor, only to continue walking down the carpeted corridor. There was a moment when she couldn't see her own hand in front of her. Slowly, she reached out in the darkness and pressed a hand against the wall. The wall had opened with a creak. Firelight was the next thing she had seen. Deciding to follow through, Edith stepped through the doorway, into another home – into another world. The door closed behind her and she heard a lock click. Edith went to grab the handle and shook it, her eyes widening. No! Jack! She thought.

.*.*.*.*.

Jack ran his hand through his hair in frustration. He wondered how anyone could be so determined as she was. Suddenly, the house had felt too quiet. It was unnerving. A few seconds after Edith left hurriedly, he turned towards the corridor. It was dark, except for a small light coming down from the end of it. A door in the wall had opened and Jack could see Edith looking at it curiously before stepping through the threshold.

"Edith, no!" Jack shouted.

The door shut behind her and the lock clicked as he ran over. He pounded his fist on the door, rattling the knob in his hand, hoping somehow it would open if he used force.

"Edith!" he called continuously. "Edith, open the door!"

There was no answer from the other side. He let out a scream of frustration and kicked the door. What on earth could possibly have happened? This door had not been here before. Edith had gone through and now she was gone. There was no logical explanation for Jack to comprehend what he had just witnessed. Was this a door that led to the neighbor's duplex? It had to have been! His eyes went wide as he ran back towards the front door. He nearly tripped as he ran next door, pounding on the door like a madman.

"What the bloody hell are you doing, man?"

"Is my fiancé here? Did you see her come through, Mr. Whittaker?"

"No! There is no one here besides me and Mrs. Whittaker. Has Edith gone off again?"

"Are you certain she hasn't come through to another room?"

"There aren't any doors connecting our duplexes, Jack. Sorry. Maybe they once did but not anymore."

"Damn it!" Jack growled. "If you happen to see her—,"

"I'll pop on by if I see her, not to worry – but I won't be pounding on your door in the middle of the night."

"Sorry about that, I just saw her leave but she – she didn't," Jack stopped and took a deep breath.

"She didn't tell you she was planning on leaving, eh?"

"Did she tell you?"

"No, we never really take the time to talk, only the usual social graces and such." Mr. Whittaker replied.

"Sorry to bother so late. Good night."

"I'm sure you two will be just fine in the morning."

Jack nodded before going back to his own duplex. She had just vanished. How could this possibly have happened? He needed time to think before going to find her again. And if he did find her, he would make certain of it to never lose her as he just had.