Chapter 8
Sam was tired. Not only had Rosie forbidden him to ride Bill –Elanor was to ride Bill, after all she had the smallest legs –Rosie had also forbidden afternoon tea. Sam had tried all the old tricks. Mr Frodo was tired, Mr Frodo had been very ill, Lord Elrond would be angry if he hadn't taken proper care of Mr Frodo. Rosie had taken none of it. She had the strength of a few dozen cave trolls according to Merry, and had a temper to match.
They had been walking for what seemed like days. They had stayed in the Prancing Pony in Bree, (Rosie had been furious at the mere mention of the 'pint' despite Merry trying to persuade her it was a medicinal thing) and had then begun the long trek to Imladris. However, unlike when they had previously walked this road, they did not have the keen eyes and ears of the ranger to guide them. Nor did they have his skill in path finding. However, eventually after walking around in circles for a few days, they arrived at Weather Top, to find no nazgul, but only the little sword Frodo had dropped there all those years ago. Thinking how nice it would be to have Strider (or Stomper as Legolas had nicknamed him) to tell them a few elven tales, the Hobbits curled up and began smoking pipes, much to Rosie's annoyance.
Half way through the night, the hobbits were awoken by Bill. Bill had apparently found a friend and was eager to introduce everyone to him. This involved a rather large amount of snorting, rolling and kicking people in the stomach. Gandalf had wanted to spend a quiet night before entering into the madness of a riotous Imladris, and so had decided to spend a few evenings at weathertop so he could once again remember how he also had defended against the Nazgul. His quiet reprieve however, was disturbed by the snores of hobbits. Before he could sneak off, Bill had alerted the hobbits to their visitor. Elanor was delighted to see her friend again, but her mother alas, was not nearly so pleased to see Gandalf. Mercifully for her, Gandalf simply smiled at the hobbits, curled up and began to snore, in the hope that no one would bother him if he did.
Merry and Pippin, annoyed at having their beauty sleep ruined, spent the rest of the night eating and discussing plans to get revenge on Gandalf. Sam hadn't noticed the arrival of Gandalf, mainly due to the amount of alcohol he had consumed the previous night, he had been very surprised when brandy had appeared in a pint, but as he knew he must eat (or drink) what was put in front of him he did not complain. Frodo had wanted a chat, but being the sensible hobbit that he was, he had accepted that the wizard was not on talking terms that evening. Trying hard not to think of what happened here a few years ago, and also trying not to think of how insensitive his friends were at making him spend the night here, he too went to sleep. Elanor, after tangling herself up in Shadowfax's mane, curled up next to the horse and fell into a deep sleep.
Bill and Shadowfax however, had a lot to catch up on. So much to the extent that they spent the rest of the night throwing horse-insults at each other in the hope that one would leave the other in peace. It was only when Gandalf woke at dawn that the 'stupid animals' as he called them stopped their insults and quietened down. In the hope of a few more hours' peace, Gandalf dozed off once more.
Merry and Pippin were up at first light getting some sort of breakfast together. Unfortunately, they only had eggs, bacon, sausage, cheese, tomatoes and a large flagon of ale. Rosie had forbidden them to touch the rest, and being hobbits of sensible nature, they had decided to avoid Rosie's wrath.
Once they had finished eating most of what they had just cooked, Merry and Pippin decided it was time to wake the others. The best way to do this, they concluded after much debate, was to either to set off one of the fireworks they had carefully brought with them, or it was to be polite and respectful, telling their elders that the sun was up, and thus it was breakfast time. Needless to say by the time they had reached any sensible conclusion of this argument, Elanor had woken and was demanding food. The noise was enough to even wake Frodo from his terrible nightmares.
Sitting up and looking around, Frodo suddenly burst into floods of tears about how unfeeling Gandalf was at bringing them here, how everyone hated him, how he wanted nothing better than to be rid of them all, and that he wanted his precious. Rosie, seeing an opportunity to get one over Gandalf, wrapped her arms around Frodo and sang a lullaby to him, telling Merry and Pippin to make breakfast and be quick about it. Gandalf, she said, was a spiteful old man who should not be allowed anywhere near decent folk.
Gandalf looked at her, and despite his best efforts was unable to stop himself bursting into fits of laughter. This inspired Rosie's anger to greater heights. Not even Sam had seen her like this when he had once walked into Bag End with dirty feet when she had just cleaned the floors. Gandalf, upon reflection had never seen even Galadriel so angry, even when Haldir had tried to seduce her in front of Celeborn.
Elanor had a voice to match her mother's. Wailing as loudly as she possibly could, Elanor reached out frantically for Shadowfax, who had become her new cuddly toy. Shadowfax, being the legendary warhorse that he was, braced himself, bared his teeth, laid his ears back, shook his mane and whinnied at Rosie, as if she was an orc attacking his little charge.
Seeing as no one was paying any attention to them, Merry and Pippin started on a second breakfast. Sam and Frodo soon joined them, leaving Rosie, Gandalf, Bill Elanor and Shadowfax to sort their own problems out.
After a few more hours of heated discussion, the little company set off, going at quite a pace as Rosie insisted on 'making up for lost time.' Because Elanor wanted to ride Shadowfax, Gandalf had to stay with them. Gandalf braced himself for the gruelling five days ahead.
