"Frodo, can you hear me?" yelled Aragorn desperately, resisting the urge to shake the Hobbit roughly by the shoulders.
"Ungggghghgghgng," moaned Frodo in response. Aragorn took that to mean yes, so he pressed on:
"Where is your phone?" Frodo looked confused, so Aragorn repeated his request, louder this time. "WHERE IS YOUR PHONE?"
After a few moments, Frodo finally responded. His response was less than helpful, however:
"Unff..f.f. …pofhcket…."
"It's in his pocket, Strider!" cried Sam happily, retrieving the phone from his Master's front pocket. He handed it to Aragorn, who moved aside to make a very important call. Sam set about ensuring that Frodo was comfortable, at the same time straining to hear what Aragorn was saying.
"It's got a passcode!" shouted Aragorn angrily, marching back over to the cluster of Hobbits on the ground. He shook the phone in Sam's face and demanded that he ask Frodo what the passcode was. Unfortunately, they were unable to get anything vaguely discernible as words out of Frodo, and for a moment all seemed hopeless. Then Merry piped up:
"What about the voice activation?" There was silence, then:
"Voice activation?"
"Voice activation?"
"VOICE ACTIVATION?"
"VUNGSANFTVAFGG?"
"Quiet, Frodo," snapped Aragorn, who was studying the phone in his hand. Somewhat hesitantly, he pressed the 'Home' button….. "Hello?" he said nervously, waiting anxiously for a response. He and the three conscious hobbits jumped in surprise when they were answered by a loud voice:
"Hello, Frodo. How can I help you?" The four in the clearing exchanged excited glances before Aragorn focused his attention on the phone. He spoke carefully, enunciating each word to ensure that the technology would understand his request.
"Call…. Rivendell." There was a beeping sound, a moment of silence, then…
"You can only call the emergency number when your phone is locked. Unable to contact Rivendell." Aragorn growled in frustration before an idea came to him.
"Call the emergency number!" Another beep, then:
"Dialling emergency number."
"Right, now we're getting somewhere," proclaimed Aragorn enthusiastically. The Hobbits seemed more hopeful now that a possible rescue seemed likely, and they sat quietly as the emergency number rang. After what seemed like hours, but was really only a minute or two, the operator picked up on the other end.
"Good evening, Middle-Earth Emergency Services, Tadd speaking. How may I help you?"
"Yes, hello," shouted Aragorn, "we need to contact Lord Elrond of Rivendell, it's urgent."
"What is the urgent matter?"
"Our friend has been stabbed, he needs help," cried Pippin desperately.
"Can I ask where he has been stabbed, and with what?" replied the operator calmly. Pippin looked at Aragorn for assistance, as the little Hobbit did not know the answer to the second part of the question.
"He has been stabbed in the shoulder with a Morgul blade," said Aragorn sadly, hating the situation.
"Ahhhh…" replied the operator, "I can get you in touch with a funeral service if you…"
"That will NOT be necessary," snapped Aragorn tersely, "just get a message through to Elrond. We need him!".
"I'll see what I can do, sir. In the meantime, is the Nazgul that stabbed him still around? I could contact Pest Control if necessary."
Aragorn and the Hobbits looked around nervously, reminded of the presence of their pursuers. Aragorn hesitated a moment before responding; "Well… not that we can see but it's possible they will return. We really do need to contact Rivendell."
"Of course, sir, hold on a moment."
Then followed a very tense few minutes, as the Hobbits and Aragorn waited with baited breath for the Operator to speak again. It seemed they had been put on hold. Finally, they heard the line crackle to life again and the clear voice of the Operator rang through the clearing:
"Help is on the way, sir. Lord Elrond also said that he doesn't know where you found these Hobbits but if it was in a tavern again then he would take his sword and…"
"YES thank you," interrupted Aragorn hastily, ignoring the curious looks on Merry and Sam's faces (and the rather traumatised one on Pippin's). "That will be all."
"Very well then, good luck sir."
And with that, the line went dead. Aragorn let out a long breath and said "Now we wait."
I really enjoyed writing this, I honestly did. I hope to update again very soon, but it takes a while to come up with a decent idea for a chapter. Feel free to suggest some scenes you would find amusing!
Meg xxx