"Erestor? Who are you talking to?" asked his mother, calling out from the tent they lived in.

"What?"

The elleth stalled, setting the bowl of batter down onto the table before she exited the tent. Erestor's answer bordered on fright of being found out about something, and she intended to find out what her son was up to. "Erestor, tell me with who are you speaking with?"

"You mean to say, 'To whom are you speaking'," said Erestor.

"Don't smart mouth, now, to whom are you speaking?" she asked, looking around and seeing no one. "You aren't talking to yourself again, are you?"

"What?"

Shaking her head, the elleth came forward. Erestor shifted nervously, his hands instinctively moving to cover his posterior. It didn't take much for him to push his mother over the edge, and as she approached, wiping her hands on her apron, he had the sneaking suspicion he had done just that.

A head popped out of the grass at that moment, startling the elleth. "Erestor! What is that?"

"What?"

"That!" The elleth pointed, and the head was lifted up as the entire animal rose up into view, sniffing at the air and twitching it's tiny pink nose.

"Oh…yes, her…" Erestor looked up at his mother. "She's…um…"

"If you tell me you were talking to that-" warned his mother.

"But I was!" Erestor exclaimed. "She was telling me that she's having problems with her den, because the deer are trampling the land she lives in, and twice she's had to move her litter, and now, the rains have come and washed out the new den, and she's settled into a tree, but the squirrels don't like her being there, because she eats the eggs of birds, and well, the birds drop the spare seeds to the squirrels, so you can see how having her in the tree isn't making the neighbors very happy, because-"

"Enough!" shouted the elleth.

"But-" protested Erestor.

"But nothing!" scolded the elleth. "You sound a fool when you say such things - it is lucky there is no one about to hear you. Now, you take yourself to the tent and wash up for dinner and do not speak any more of this silliness."

"What?"

"You heard me! Do not test me further," was the warning.

Erestor took a deep breath, on the verge of tears. "I haven't found a solution to her problem yet, and she has five children to look out for," he said, pointing to the creature next to him.

"Then she will understand that I need to take care of my child. To the tent." It wasn't a request, and Erestor hung his head, trudging to the dwelling, looking back over his shoulder at his friend.

"Don't worry," she chirped to him, "I'll come look for you tonight when your parents are asleep."

Erestor smiled and nodded back, receiving a rolling of the eyes from his mother. "I'm just saying farewell," he mumbled.

"Oh, Erestor," his mother said, shaking her head as they entered the tent. "Only Eru and the Valar can talk to animals."

"But I can talk to them, too!" he argued. He was growled at, and slunk back. "It's true."

"No more, now. No more of that nonsense. Go and wash up," she directed, pointing him outside.

Erestor snorted and stamped out, walking to the well. "I can too talk to them," he said, but only after he was out of his mother's range of hearing, and even then, very quietly.

Nearby, behind the cover of the trees, a cloaked figure watched from his horse. He nodded upon hearing Erestor's comment, and rode away with a smile on his fair face.