It was a quiet night, moon shining upon the rolling hills of Shire.
Rosie was walking towards her home humming a tune her mother taught her. It was dark, but she wasn't afraid. Why should she be? Shire was a safe place with lots of friendly hobbits.
However, as she was walking along an apple orchard a cold wind picked up. She shivered and looked around suddenly feeling someone……something watching her.
"What am I thinking" she scolded herself in her mind. "It was probably just my imagination."
She looked around again, but seeing nothing, she sighed and continued down the road, slightly faster then before. She was about five minutes away from her house, when suddenly the still air of the night was pierced by a shrilling cry. Something in it made Rosie freeze and she couldn't turn around, even though she heard a noise…
…...clop..clop..clop……..
"Those are…those are hooves!" she thought.
When you live in a shire, the first thing you think about when you hear the sound of hooves on the road is a small, happy pony, probably with an equally happy hobbit riding it. But something sharp and cold in that sound told her, that this wasn't a pony.
The horse was coming closer now; she could almost hear its heavy breathing.
Panic suddenly coursed through her veins at that thought and she quickly stumbled off the road and into the near bushes. She hid there and fearfully watched the road.
A black horse walked along the road near the bushes Rosie was hiding in.
It stopped and she could see the rider that was sitting atop it. He lifted his head and a sniffing sound filled the air. Rosie stared transfixed as the rider turned his head and -even though she was hidden- looked straight in her eyes. She couldn't move even when he pulled on the reins and slowly started to move towards her.
All of a sudden, another cry pierced the air and the rider snapped his head towards the sound. The black horse reared on its hind legs and galloped of into the darkness.
After a few tense moments, Rosie finally managed to stand on her shaky legs and she slowly started walking along the road, towards her home. She couldn't…….she didn't know WHAT that rider was, but she knew it wasn't human.
She couldn't understand what was he doing in the Shire, but suddenly memories of Sam filled her mind and she felt worry fill her heart. Was that…was that thing looking for Sam?
She didn't know, but she could only hope he was okay.