The Beacon Keepers and Watchers-Part 2

Hello guys! I'm SO SORRY for the long delay on this last and final chapter. And, if you were keeping up with my profile page, and I had listed this story under the 'finished', when really this chapter will end it.

Also, I can not let a main character meet the family, because it doesn't fit with J.R.R. Tolkien's overall plan. But, I have something special planned, and I hope you guys like this story and chapter. I hope I did the idea justice.

AN/ Um...If you are a 'big fan' of LOTR, as I am, I'm sorry, but I do not know any of the names of the other beacons, and the name I gave to their particular beacon was made up. If you are bothered I'm not 'getting my facts straight', I'm sorry. I LOVE LOTR, but I tried looking up names of the beacons. It has been so long since I have read the books, I can't even remember. The books and movies are blending together! So please, forgive me, look over it, and love it for the idea, not the small details!

So...here it is!

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Kathryn vaguely heard the front door of the house shut. It was Saturday, and that was the one day that her brother and father went out to hunt for food for the rest of the week.

She got up, and slipped down to her favorite spot. All her young life, she had spent most of her time here. Just thinking and dreaming.

Her thoughts turned to the breathtaking scenery around her, that she had seen millions of times. It was starting to get samey. She tried to stop her thought from going to where she knew it was, but it came anyway. 'What a boring existence'.

She chided herself. Her job was honorable. Her father had been doing it all his life, and yet he still did his job with honor and grace.

She looked out at a large mountain a long way from here, where a thick foggy haze was clinging to the mountain tip and dripping below. Then, all of the sudden, she saw a sparkle of dark red spring up through the fog.

She stood up slowly, not believing her eyes. She stepped back, looking at the large flame from the distant mountain top. The beacon was lit. Once in a very few times, the beacons were being lit, and it was in her life time.

She raced back up to the house, then stopped. Andy and her dad were still gone hunting, and wouldn't return till dusk. The beacon could not wait that long. Shaking, she knew she had to do it herself.

She went inside the house, and grabbed a branch waiting on the wooden table. She hurried to the fireplace, and lit the branch on fire. It sprung up on he end, flickering red, yellow, and orange.

She dragged herself to the mound of wood awaiting on the top of the hill. She could feel the wait of all of her ancestors' on her, pressuring her to do it right, to honor the family.

Her hands still shaking, she held the torch away from her and the wood, as she picked up the bottle of oil. She twisted off the cap, and watched the honey-like liquid seep out, wobbling along with her shaking hands. She spread it out on the large stack.

Then, she took a step back. Holding her breath, she slowly placed the burning end of the torch to the stack of oil covered wood. It sprung to life, catching the whole bottom row on fire. She dropped the torch onto the wood, that was burning quickly. She stepped farther down the hill, still watching the mound in aw.

The rows lit up quickly, sending a shooting flame upward, to alert the next beacon. The intensity of the heat was so over powering, that she could feel it, along a safe distance from the beacon. The flame rose higher and higher, getting hotter and hotter.

She watched the other beacons start to light up. She figured that she had to keep the fire going. She gathered an armful of logs, then threw them on the bonfire. The smell of the honey wood and the crackling, burning smell of the wood calmed her. Her hands stopped shaking, and she sat down, watching the blazing icon.

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Kathryn watched as the beacons that were lit before her started to die down, so she didn't feed any more to the fire, that was dwindling down now.

Suddenly, she heard a crack below her, on the slope of the hill. An instinct deep inside her drover her up, and she ran down the hill to tell her family what had happened when they were away.

"The beacons were lit today! The beacons were lit!"

The scene she saw made her breath become labored, and her heart to beat faster. She saw her brother, stumbling slowly up the hill. When he got closer, she saw that his eyes were red, his face shone with unshed tears.

She slowed down, and looked her brother in the eye. "Wha...What's wrong!" She asked, her voice cracking.

"Dad's dead." Andrew said in a dead voice, his eyes staring fixedly in front of him. Kathryn stopped smiling, her mind in shock. "No..."

In slow motion, her heart stopped beating, and she slowly sank to the ground, her eyes brimming over with the tears she wasn't too ashamed to let fall.

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Um...Well, I was on the bus home, when I thought of the idea to finish this. But when I got home and started writing it, it didn't come out like I had planned/hoped. Something's mixing, or wrong, or something. It's not quite like I pictured it, but it's okay!

I hope you liked it!

Bye the way, if you ever want to check out which stories I have ended or finished, any upcoming stories, or upcoming chapters, check my profile!