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Helped give them energy, yes, and helped to drive some of the adults nuts.

"Let them get rid of their energy before we need to behave for our hosts," Earendil grinned.

River was the first one to reach the shade of the trees (apple trees, filled with ripe fruit, though she didn't pay attention to that quite yet), and she flopped onto the grass (what sparse grass there was) in the shade and lay still to catch her breath.

"Ahhhhh," she sighed happily, closing her eyes and smiling. "Finally ... cool."

Amalirahc fell to his knees, but when he looked up and spotted the apples, he got up again and reached up, trying to pluck one from the branches.

"Don't you know that's stealing, taking what isn't yours?" an amused female voice came from somewhere above them, a few trees over.

Amalirahc and River both jumped, and River sat up like a shot and looked around. "Who said that?" she asked, surprised.

"Easy now, I'm coming down," the voice laughed. A sandaled foot appeared from the leaves of one of the trees, reached down tentatively, and once it found the top step of the ladder that was against the tree (though there were many ladders against trees) another foot appeared as the person started down.

"I wasn't going to steal it!" Amalirahc defended himself as a woman climbed down the ladder.

"Mm-hmm." When the woman turned to face them, it was as if they were looking at a slightly taller version of Queen Lothiriel, everything from her facial features to her long, tightly curled black hair, to her voice and the way she seemed to always be amused by everything. "And you weren't going to eat it, you were just going to taste it."

River giggled, but Amalirahc looked completely confused. "I don't even think that's possible," he mused, "unless I was just going to lick it, but then I wouldn't really taste the apple, just the inside ..."

Amalirahc stuck his hands behind his back, hiding them from the woman's view. "Don't cut off my hands," he said quickly, his dark face paling slightly.

The woman laughed. "Don't be silly, boy. At the most I'd give you a good smack upside the head."

Amalirahc relaxed so much that he had to sit down so that he wouldn't fall. Beads of sweat were gathered on his forehead, something that even the desert sun hadn't been able to produce on him.

"Welcome to our humble home," the woman smiled at the three of them. "I'm glad to see that someone else sees the humour in the situation," she added, grinning at River, who was still giggling. "You are much like your grandparents, River, though neither of your parents."

River's eyes grew slightly wider as she realized suddenly who this woman was. "You're Lothiriel's mother!" she exclaimed. "Maeglin said you were the first in the family with the Gift of Sight!"

The woman grinned widely at River. "Very good. My name is Nadya Aldrich. A pleasure to meet all of you."

Nadya smiled and shook her head. "No. As Amalirahc noticed, the apples are ready for picking, so I've been working in the orchard for three days now. Usually I have help, but my helper has gone off to ask my mother to prepare lunch for everyone. I'm not terribly fond of being in the orchard alone, but since you were coming, I felt it fine to let her go for a while."

River was puzzled by that last comment. "Isn't it safe to be out here on your own?" she asked.

"Quite safe," Nadya assured her, "but I had a terrible accident a long time ago - I fell from the top of a ladder - and if it should happen again, I would like someone around to fetch help."

Nadya gazed out at the desert beyond the orchard. "Well, we might as well go out and meet the rest of your group," she said cheerfully. "They can't bring the wagons through here, so we'll have to lead them around the plantation anyways."

River helped to hoist Amalirahc to his feet so that he wouldn't be left behind. "Come on, you," she grinned. "And let that be a lesson - don't take what isn't yours."

The wagons were not far behind the children, and Nadya waved as they approached them.

"Welcome!" she called out, smiling widely. "Please, take the wagons around this way. They won't make it through the orchard."

As the wagons made their way around the plantation, Nadya walked alongside the wagon with Lin and Earendil, the people she had met before.

"It's good to see you again, both of you," she told them warmly. "In person, I mean. We've been looking forward to your visit. Lothiriel told us when you left the Eastland, so we had a pretty good idea of when you would arrive."