As the days became weeks, the four travelers made great time as they made their way eastward. Fortunately for everyone, it seemed that Anna adapted very quickly to constant travel, as her complaints regarding walking became few and far between, replaced by claims that her feet had indeed grown tougher in response. She had yet to develop the strength necessary to keep walking without taking a break every often or so, however ("Why couldn't we just get horses?" she asked more than once).They did find a bit of reprieve in the form of a small pond along their path; despite her claims, Anna quickly shed her shoes to dip her feet in the chill of the water, sighing gratefully. Elsa on the other hand declined, deciding it would be wise to keep her distance. She noticed that the hobbits viewed the pond with a certain degree of dread, staying as far off as it was possible. She could sense a notable difference between Sam and Frodo, however; with Sam, his seemed to her like the kind of dread that a small child who hadn't learned to swim had, but with Frodo, it appeared to be something deeper… She wondered how polite it would be to ask what their reasons were, but chose not to, leaving the question behind when Anna dried her feet off and declared her readiness to move on.
They traveled further on, and late into a cool summer evening at the end of a very long day of walking, the party stopped for a much needed rest deep within the woods; while Sam set to work building a small fire, Elsa stood watch, gazing around the woods for signs of trouble, while Frodo and Anna leaned back against the large branches of the tree nearest to them, sighing with relief yet again. As soon as the fire was properly kindled, sausages and other meats sizzled in a heated frying pan, filling the immediate air with their mouthwatering scents as they cooked. In the meantime, Frodo and Sam puffed smoke through those long pipes of theirs; they offered some 'pipe-weed', as they called it, to the two sisters, but Elsa refrained, sensing something unhealthy about them, as did Anna.
Twiddling her bare toes in the welcome cool of fresh air, Anna sighed and wondered aloud, "Did anyone bring a lute or guitar, or something?"
"I'm afraid not," was Frodo's reply.
"Shame," she sighed, "I could use a good song, right now; if only Kristoff were here..."
"Who's Kristoff?" Sam asked.
"Her boyfriend," Elsa said, "They've been dating for several months now," and then she added with something of a smile, "Though it feels like years."
Anna simply rolled her eyes at her sister's jest. "He's a good singer; give him a lute and he'll come up with a good song like that," she said, snapping her fingers. "I just wish I could remember the words to them—actually, now that I think about it, most of it was improvising, but that just means he's REALLY good at composition or..."
"I know a good couple of songs meself," Sam said, "But they're only good for the pub…and I'm afraid I'm not a very good singer."
"Oh, now that can't be true!" Anna protested.
"Yes it is," Sam said sadly and quietly, "If I were, I'd have Rosie's affections a long time ago…"
"Who's Rosie?" Elsa asked.
"Oh! No-nobody important…" Sam stammered.
"Rose Cotton, one of the barmaids at the Green Dragon" Frodo said, "Sam's had eyes for her for a long time, now."
"Mister Frodo!" Sam said, his cheeks turning bright red with embarrassment.
"What's she like?" Anna asked.
"Oh, well, she's…just absolutely wonderful," the blonde hobbit admitted, "But I can't even so much as talk to her; I'm no good for her…"
"Don't put yourself down like that!" Anna told him, "You won't get anywhere talking that way. When we're done and you go home, Mister Gamgee, the first thing I want you to do is to go up to that girl and tell her how you feel about her, and ask her out to dinner, or something. Promise?"
"But what if she—"
"Promise?" Anna said more forcefully. Sam turned to Frodo and Elsa with a look of pleading, but all they had to offer were sympathetic shrugs. Elsa for one knew from personal that Anna would refuse to back down until she got results; the hobbit had no chance against her tenacity.
Clearly knowing defeat when he tasted it, Sam sighed, "Promise. But how am I s'posed to tell her?"
"Well, sometimes you just have to let the words out and wear your emotions on your sleeves," Anna said, "Sometimes it'll all come out in a great big song, and the other person will join in—other people might join in too, maybe even the animals—and it'll be all great and wonderful with everyone dancing and singing…and when you're done, you just kind of forget that what happened, no one will talk about it, and everything goes on like normal…like nothing ever happened to begin with…"
The hobbits stared at her in utter confusion and disbelief. Elsa, meanwhile, thought about what Anna just said, and realized that, yes, things like that really did happen in their world…and yet that had never quite happened to her during her first sojourn here. What was up with that?
"Well, anyway, that's how it is in our land; totally normal" Anna said, and then flipped onto her side towards the fire. "But seriously, I could use some music right now…if only there was some way that you could listen to music anywhere and anytime you wanted…like if you had a tiny band of minstrels with you all of the time, and you could carry them in a teeny tiny box that you could fit in your pocket—oh, but you were the only one who could hear it because you had a pair of…"
Before she could go on, a strange, small sound began lilting in through the trees and above the chirping of the insects. The four of them looked around, curious as to what source it came from. Elsa realized it was a chorus singing, almost as if in response to Anna's desires—but who sung it? The voices were all perfectly in tune as they sang a melody that, while heavenly to say the least, was heavily tinged with somberness.
On hearing the song, Frodo sat up from his perch. After a few moments, he smiled.
"Wood elves!" he said.
"Elves?" Anna said, sitting upright in a bolt of motion, "Really!?"
"Can we go see them, Mister Frodo?" Sam asked, clearly as excited as Anna was.
"Actually," Elsa started, "I think it would be better if we try to—"
Her three other companions, however, had already taken off, leaving her behind; the hobbits slipped through the forest undergrowth with little difficulty while Anna followed close behind, nearly tripping and falling and getting bits of twigs and leaves caught on her dress as she went. She turned around briefly to wave at Elsa. "Come on!" she called out, "What are you waiting for?"
Elsa could only sigh before running after them.
The light of day quickly diminished into the faint light of the evening; the resulting darkness only added greater difficulty in avoiding the odd stone or tree root, resulting in one too many trips and stumbles along the way. Elsa did, however, succeed in catching up with Frodo, Sam, and Anna, but only because they ducked behind a fallen log crawling with vines of ivy. She quickly rejoined them, glad for the opportunity to catch her breath—then she looked up, and continued to do so in quiet awe.
Before them stretched a procession of about eleven or so elves dressed in long, flowing robes, traveling either on horseback or on foot while carrying banners and streamers. A soft light shone around their elegant figures, illuminating the trees nearby, while their voices projected their beautiful, yet bittersweet song throughout the forest as they sang in perfect unison. They took no notice of the four who watched from afar.
The sight stirred many memories from the depths of Elsa's mind; she thought back to her days living in the forest cavern, and of how often she had espied these people wandering through her part of the woods…knowing the things she knew now, she smiled at how she once believed them to be angels with pointed ears. Getting out and seeing the rest of the world probably had been indeed a good thing for her.
She looked over to see Anna's eyes alight with wonder, while her jaw hung slightly agape. She started to move forward as if in a trance, but Elsa's quick tug on her skirt pulled her back down, telling her not to do so.
"Where are they going?" Anna asked, "Why do they sound so sad?"
"They're going to the harbor beyond the White Towers," Frodo answered, "To the Grey Havens."
"They're leaving Middle Earth," Sam said, "never to return."
"Why?" Elsa asked, "Why would they do that?"
"I've heard it said that across the Western Sea is a place called the 'Undying Lands'," Frodo said, "A place of great beauty and wonder where they will never fade away."
"I don't know why," Sam noted, "but it makes me sad,"
Anna, meanwhile, leaned over and whispered into Elsa's ear, "You think maybe it has to do with…you-know-who?"
After clearing away the confusion at the statement, Elsa realized what her sister referred to…and it did make sense, after what Gandalf said concerning the Shadow. With this in mind, she watched in a somber reverence as the elves marched away in the woods, their melancholic lament fading away with them. It remained in her thoughts as they returned to camp, ate dinner, and struggled to fall asleep with some 'dirty great root' (as Sam put it) pushing into their backs.
Dawn came upon them sooner than they were prepared for it, and the heat of the summer sun bore down on the travelers as they pushed their way through a field of tall stalks of corn. Thus far, it proved to be the more difficult part of the journey, with the very ears proving to be a veritable barrier; with Anna following close behind, Elsa felt the temptation to simply freeze the whole field and shatter them to open a path, but no, that would be unfair to whoever owned said field. Besides, she had to take into account the element of stealth, so even then it was out of the question.
The two of them broke out of the vegetable jungle and into a trail cut through the field, with no small amount of gratitude. "Ick!" Anna said as she frantically brushed off insects and bits of plant matter clinging off of her dress, "the sooner we get to Bree, the better."
"What, you don't like the outdoors?" Elsa said.
"No, it's not that," Anna said, "I'm just saying I probably could've picked a better dress to go traveling in; this one's getting filthy!"
"Maybe you should have thought about that before trying to steal a Star Gem."
"Look, Elsa," Anna said, "I'm sorry about that, but I swear, right before I was going to, I decided not to. I didn't mean for…hey, where's Frodo and Sam?"
Elsa whirled around, realizing just then that they had been alone the whole time. How could she have been so foolish? There should have been some other path they could have taken where hobbits were less likely to disappear…
Then her ears detected the now all too familiar clanging of pots and pans further down the path, along with voices. She bolted down the path, with Anna following behind her. Her fears were alleviated when, coming around the bend, they came upon the two hobbits just a short distance away.
"There you are!" she sighed as she and her sister caught up with them, "Don't scare me like that again! I thought we'd lost you!"
"You and Sam, both," Frodo replied.
"Well, let's not let that happen again," Anna said, "My sister can be a bit paranoid, sometimes."
"Huh?" Elsa said.
"Well, you did kinda…that whole thing a while ago…" Anna reminded her vaguely.
"We're still in the Shire," Frodo said, "What could possibly go wrong?"
Suddenly, they heard something rustling through the corn, and before Elsa could do anything, WHAM! Two somethings crashed into Sam and Frodo, throwing them to the ground. Elsa leaped into action, and threw one of them off of Sam, with an arm raised and ready to strike—only to find a young blonde hobbit lying in a pile of cabbages, carrots, and other vegetables, staring up at her with brown eyes and wearing a dark green coat over a bright yellow waistcoat. He looked just as surprised as she was.
"What the—?" she started. She looked over and saw that the other one lying on top of Frodo was also a hobbit, this one noticeably younger than the others, who wore a coat of blue and a scarf around his neck.
"Frodo!" he said in a very thick brogue of an accent, "Look Merry, it's Frodo Baggins! We found him!"
"'Allo, Frodo!" said Merry, "Glad we caught up with you—by the way, who're your lady friends?"
Once he had gotten up on his two feet, Sam threw the other hobbit off of Frodo and helped his master onto his feet, and everyone dusted themselves off. The two new hobbits, in the meantime, started gathering their spilled produce back into the clutches of their arms, even handing some of it to a flustered Sam.
"Are you friends of Frodo?" Anna asked amid the commotion.
"Aye, I'm Peregrin Took, but everybody calls me Pippin," the younger hobbit answered, "Frodo's my second cousin once removed, and over there's Merry Brandybuck, my first cousin."
"What's the meaning of this?" Frodo demanded.
"You've been into Farmer Maggot's crop!" Sam exclaimed, his eyes having grown wide with fear at the sight of the vegetables in his arms.
"Who's Farmer Maggot?" asked Anna.
As if in response to her query, the noise of barking dogs burst out in the distance, along with some very angry shouting and cursing. Above the tassels of the corn, the long, claw-like blade of a scythe could be seen bobbing along towards them, menacingly.
"You need to return this right…" Elsa started to say as she and Anna turned back to the hobbits, only to find a pile of abandoned vegetables at the base of the stalks, the rustling of which betrayed the direction the four had escaped to. Anna glanced at her sister and shrugged before charging after them. Against her better judgment, this forced Elsa to follow close behind so as not to lose track of her wards. Their longer strides allowed them to quickly get the four scampering hobbits back within their sights, though they were surprisingly fast for how small they were.
"Don't know why he's so upset," Merry shouted back, "It's only a couple of carrots!"
"And some cabbages," Pippin added, "And those three bags of potatoes that we left here last week—oh, and those mushrooms the week before!"
"Yes Pippin," said Merry, "My point is, he's clearly overreacting! Run!"
Suddenly, the corn was behind them, and they were all back out in the open. The hobbits kept right on running, until Pippin, who had taken the lead, made a very sudden stop at what Elsa realized was a sheer drop. The other hobbits, failing to see this, all crashed into him and thus tumbled together down the slope. Anna came up close behind them, and teetered over the edge before to Elsa's shock she too toppled over and joined them in their fall. Elsa leaped after them, but instead managed to slide down the disturbed soil and through the forest undergrowth of ferns and such. She hopped over and around obstacles, until at last she found everyone in a dog-pile at the edge of a forest road at the bottom of the slope. Anna had already rolled off by the time Elsa came to her aid, while the others, still sore from their fall, struggled to get up.
"Is everyone alright?" Elsa asked as she helped Anna onto her feet.
"I'm okay," Anna said, dusting her clothes off, "And for the record, that was probably the best thing to happen all day!"
"Ooh, I think I've broken something," Merry groaned from under the pile—but all that had been broken was a thick carrot he pulled out from beneath him. Nevertheless, he still mourned the loss.
Once again the girls helped the hobbits back on to their feet. Immediately, Frodo turned to Merry. "What is the matter with you, Merry?" he asked, "I thought I asked you to watch Bag End for me while I was away!"
"Don't worry, the place is fine," Merry assured him, "The windows are all boarded up and the locks are all secure. Absolutely nothing to worry about!"
"Then why have you and Pippin come?"
"Well, as soon as I read your note," Merry explained, "I knew that you had to be up to something important, and we couldn't just let you go off alone! You need our help in some way on this adventure, so we're coming along!"
Elsa almost bristled at that. These two hobbits had no idea what they were getting into—but then again, neither did she for the most part. Besides, this journey and its goal had been meant to be kept secret. Above all, she didn't want to risk the well-being of any more people than necessary…had it been up to her, she would have been going on this mission alone.
There was only one thing for her to do.
"Look, we sincerely appreciate the concern," she said as gently as possible, "but we can't let you come along."
"Why can't we come?" Merry protested, "We just found a shortcut for you!"
"A shortcut to what?" Sam asked, clearly as nonplussed as Elsa was about the wannabe 'recruits'.
"Mushrooms!" Pippin exclaimed, scrambling to a small cluster of fungus blooming nearby.
Ignoring him, Elsa turned back to Merry. "I'm sorry" she said, "It's too dangerous to come along…you wouldn't understand."
"And who are you to tell us we can't join your party?" Merry questioned, "Who elected you to be the leader, anyway?"
"Well, she is a…" Anna started, but Elsa shot her a warning glance before she could continue with her original thought. "…She's the most experienced one here, so…"
"I think we should get off the road," said Frodo, who had wandered a ways off from the group.
"Who are yeh, anyway?" Merry asked, "I don't recall seeing anyone like you two in the Shire."
"I'm Anna, and this is my sister, Elsa," Anna said, "We're friends of Frodo."
"Well, so are we, and cousins on top of that!" Merry said, "If anyone should be deciding who comes along, it should be Frodo!" He then sidestepped the two sisters, saying, "Frodo, we can come along, right? What do you say?"
But Frodo said nothing. His back turned to the rest of them, he seemed to be staring down the road, but why, none of them knew.
"Frodo?" Elsa asked.
A cold wind whipped up the leaves along the path, accompanied by something like a shriek in the distance…
Suddenly, Frodo came alive again. "Get off the road!" he shouted, "Quick!"
Elsa then remembered Gandalf's words, and quietly cursed herself for having forgotten the advice.
Scrambling to their feet in the confusion, the group made to the other side, carrying as much food as possible, while a strange fog crept in from down the road. Jumping off, they discovered a hollow beneath the thick, tangled and gnarled roots of a tree; here, the hobbits tucked themselves beneath it, but for Anna and Elsa, no room could be found.
All around them, the light began to grow dim, though no cloud hung above them in the sky. Elsa, however, remained stuck where she stood, unsure of what she should do.
"Elsa, go!" said Frodo, "We'll be fine!"
"No, no, I can't leave you!" she whispered, "I can stand guard, fight off whoever it is…"
"Elsa!" Anna's whisper came from behind. She turned to see her younger sister some distance further down the slope, gesturing to a growth of bushes thick enough for the two of them to hide in.
She turned back to the hobbits, still unwilling to move.
"Elsa, go!" Sam urged.
All her instincts, her past experiences, and her heart screamed out for her to stay, to fend off the encroaching enemy and protect the nephew of her friend…and it was only through great effort that she tore herself away to join her sister down below. The two of them crouched down beneath the leaves and laid down flat on their stomachs, their eyes fixed on what would happen far above them.
The hobbits jostled and whispered demands of silence from each other before finally settling in. By that time, the forest became empty of any birdsong and the cries of other animals. The air, meanwhile, grew cold…
"Elsa, are you doing that?" Anna whispered.
Elsa shook her head. As far as she could tell, this was nothing like the kind of cold that she could generate; this had a clammy feel to it…it was more like the cold of death than anything else.
A man dressed in black robes upon a black horse appeared almost out of nowhere, stopping right above the hiding place of the hobbits.
From her hiding place, Elsa couldn't make out much of the figure upon the horse; he sat hunched over like a gargoyle upon his steed, leering around the area. She could see the glint of armor beneath the rider's robes, but no face could be seen in the utter blackness beneath his hood, while the scabbard for a long sword hung by his side. The horse itself was an unseemly sight; the hair of its mane matted together in places and hung like a loose, tattered curtain over its neck, while a deformed tongue lapped over chapped lips nearby discolored skin. Beneath the armor and bridle, a red glimmer shone out from its otherwise dark eyes.
The hobbits, aware of the presence lurking above them, shuffled about nervously in their seats.
The rider, meanwhile, silently peered around at the surroundings, and Elsa could tell that it was searching for something.
Frost began to slowly grow from her hand.
The rider dismounted from his horse and wandered around for a bit. He seemed barely able to stand upon his shaky legs, while his body twitched involuntarily, but still remained the sense that it was searching…
In a dark flash, the black rider rushed over to the uppermost root right above the hobbits and knelt down; his hands clenched upon the wood, the scalloped armor upon them giving the impression of the talons of a bird of prey.
The rider peered around some more. A soft sniffing sound whispered through the air…was he trying to smell them out? Below, the hobbits gazed upward in utter terror.
Elsa's heart drummed against her chest. She felt the warmth of Anna's hand upon her arm, but it was no use…she watched helplessly, praying for a miracle to happen.
Then, she saw Frodo's eyes go blank before shutting, as if in a daze…then she saw a flash of gold in his fingers…
Frodo, no!
The rider's head jerked to the left, suddenly aware of something.
Her own heart started drumming faster. Snowflakes danced above their hiding place.
Frodo seemed unaware of what happened. The Ring, meanwhile, lay pinched within the fingers of one hand, while the finger of the other lay poised to enter the space within it….
Frodo, STOP! PLEASE!
Sam reached across and clasped Frodo's shoulder, shaking him out of the trance and causing him to put away the Ring again.
While the Rider looked the other way, Merry threw a sack of vegetables in the other direction, its invisible landing punctuated by a thud.
A high-pitched shriek escaped undoubtedly from the Rider as he flew from the perch and back onto the saddle of the horse, upon which he galloped away.
They waited for the Rider to disappear from sight. Satisfied and relieved, Elsa stood and waved to the hobbits. They scrambled away from the hollow and followed them further down the hill with a vigor induced only by fear.
They didn't stop for some time, but by the time they did, the sun shone with its regular strength, the birds sang, and the air took on the natural heat of summer—but the effect upon the group still lingered as they clambered down. They collapsed, gasping and hyperventilating upon the ground, desperate to calm their nerves after the shock of the encounter.
"What was that!?" Merry asked.
"I don't know," Anna said, "But I hope we don't run into that guy again…" However, the look in her eyes held the knowledge that perhaps it was far from over.
To Elsa, what the Rider had been looking for was all too clear. She looked over at Frodo, pale with the shock of the encounter; she could see that he clutched something within his hands.
She turned to Merry and Pippin. "You two have to go home, now," she declared, "It's too dangerous to come with us."
"Elsa, no!" Anna said, "It's too dangerous for them to leave us!"
She realized the truth in Anna's words. If that Rider had been searching for them, there could be no question that it was looking for a hobbit…any hobbit, until it found the right one. They had no choice, now.
Thus it was that they gained two new members of their small party, but as night fell swiftly upon them, rest would have to wait for the travelers some other time. It seemed that Merry's ruse hadn't fooled their pursuer for long, and now the specter of the Black Rider continually haunted the forest, filling the space between the trees with the noise of that hideous shriek and the drumming of his steed's hoof-beats.
Though she remembered Gandalf's instructions not to travel during the dark, Elsa knew they had no choice but to keep moving to safety, so long as the Black Rider remained nearby. Out of all of the hobbits, Merry seemed to be the one most knowledgeable of the pathways through the old forest, and She, Anna, and the hobbits followed his lead through the trees. As the shadows grew stronger, they were forced to duck behind trees and bushes, peering around for a sign of their hunter. When no such sign could be seen, they all scurried forward to the next spot, keeping to the shadows as much as they could; the role of lookout fell primarily upon the hobbits, who, thanks to their shorter stature than the girls, could remain hidden while scanning the area.
At the moment, the duty had fallen upon Frodo, who scurried forward and peered around the forest from behind the thick trunk of a tree.
"Anything?" Sam asked.
"Nothing!" Frodo responded, and everyone moved from their hiding spot forward to his position.
"What is going on?" Pippin asked, his misguided steps betraying exhaustion.
"That Rider was looking for something," Merry said in a surprisingly serious voice as he caught up, "Or someone." He walked right past Elsa, and stared Frodo in the eye. The brown-haired hobbit could only look at him with an eyeful of worry.
"Get down!" Anna suddenly whispered. They all ducked at her word, crouching down behind the sparse shrubbery. Elsa looked straight ahead to where Anna had seen, and framed by the trunks of two trees in the distance, she could see the dark silhouette of the Rider and his horse yet again as the wind blew around them. He paused in the light of the moon before riding over the crest of the hill away from them.
Elsa wondered, how long did this horseman intend to stalk them? There had to be a way to elude him, somehow. Her mind sifted through multiple ways that she could use her powers to escape the Rider; perhaps she could raise a winter fog? No, that would possibly work to his advantage, instead; besides, there was plenty of fog around him, already. Or perhaps she could create snow dummies to bait him off? But how much time would that give them to get away before he caught on to the ruse? Probably not for very long, considering he had the advantage of a horse…
"Well?" Merry asked again.
"I have to leave the Shire," Frodo finally answered, "We must get to Bree."
"Why?"
"We need to get to Gandalf," Anna replied, "He said he'd meet us there."
"Right," Merry whispered, and Elsa found, much to her surprise, a glimmer of understanding, and something of calculation going on behind the hobbit's eyes. "…Bucklebury Ferry's not too far off from here. That'll get us to Bree fast enough."
"How do you know that?" asked Anna.
"My family's got a knack for the waterways," was Merry's brief reply, "Now follow me."
Conceding to the possibility of Merry knowing what he was talking about after all, the group shuffled away from the tree and trailed behind Merry onto a new path as fast as they could.
As if out of nowhere, the Black Rider suddenly strode right in front of them, that terrible shriek piercing the night. While the other hobbits managed to duck around the horse, the Rider did not seem to care; his focus, clearly, was upon Frodo, as he directed his horse to stand specifically in front of him.
Instinct took over as Elsa jumped to the fore between Frodo and the Rider. Caring not for the consequences, she swept her hand, and an arching wall of ice leaped up between them and the Black Rider in a semicircle, trapping him and his steed. With their pursuer occupied, the group bolted away through the underbrush, with Merry shouting to keep them all in line with the sound of his voice.
As they ran, Elsa heard the crash of ice being smashed by thick hooves. But still, she and Anna kept on running, overtaking the hobbits in their flight.
Breaking out of the trees, they entered open space and hopped a fence towards the banks of a river where there stood a small, thatched-roof cottage with a plume of smoke billowing out of the chimney. A single pair of glowing lamps and the light of the moon against the water revealed the presence of a dock, along with a single raft tied to the post.
They all sprinted across the dock and onto the raft, where Merry ordered Sam to start untying the ropes. Elsa took a moment to take a head count; she found Anna, Sam, Merry, Pippin…but where was Frodo?
Her answer came running along the path to catch up; somehow, Frodo had fallen clear behind. She couldn't believe that she had forgotten to make sure he had been with them the whole time!
"Wait!" she told Sam, "Wait up!"
Right behind him, the Black Rider came charging down the path after him.
Everyone called out after him, begging him to run as fast as he could. In spite of Elsa's own pleading, the raft split off from the dock, a gap of water growing wider between them.
"Run, Frodo!" she and Anna shouted.
His feet struck against the wood of the docks.
The gap opened up too wide between them. Elsa felt the need to freeze the water between them…
But the rider was gaining upon the hobbit. Barely a few feet separated him from the horse.
They had no other option.
"JUMP, FRODO!" she shouted.
And Frodo did, leaping across the water, and landing into Elsa's arms upon the raft.
The Rider, meanwhile, pulled the reins and brought the horse to a complete stop, just inches away from the edge of the dock.
As Merry used a staff to push them away, the Rider seemed to grow smaller with the distance. Knowing that they were safe, everyone breathed a little easier. Anna, however, had the audacity to say, "Ha ha!" in defiance.
A deafening shriek from the Rider frightened her back into submission, however, and they watched as the Rider turned around and galloped back towards the main road.
"How far to the nearest crossing?" asked Frodo.
"The Brandywine Bridge," Merry answered, "Twenty miles."
Anna, meanwhile, shuffled over to Elsa and whispered, "What's up with all the guys in black robes trying to kill us?"
Elsa could only shrug. She felt certain that these weren't connected to the Phantom from earlier…they had been looking for Frodo, after all.
If their hearts hadn't been chilled by the one horseman, they certainly became so, for across the river, they watched as two more riders, identical in their garb and color of horse, galloped past while their original pursuer rode to join them.