Chapter ten

Going On

Frodo did think hard; he though so hard that he barely had time to eat his meals, help Jim plow the fields, or go to the saloon on Monday evening. He hardly had time to sleep.

Then one night Frodo was sitting at his desk thinking, when Sam came up behind him.

"Well, Mr. Frodo, what do you think, are we gonna go further and further west like idiots, or are we gonna take the Ring east?"

"Sam we're not gonna go on the wagon train. You're right, we have to fulfill the quest or die trying," Frodo said.

Sam threw his arms around Frodo's neck, then ran out of the room blushing. "Oops, wasn't supposed to give him a hug!"

'Lizabeth was helping them get their stuff together when she came upon a little gold ring on a chain. "Purty," she said. "Is he married? Naw, Frodo ain't married. Can't be!"

Frodo came into the room and saw the Ring on its chain dangling from her finger. With a cry, he leapt forward.

"'Lizabeth! Why do you have that?" Jerking it roughly out of her hands he ran out to the barn, climbed up into the loft, and flopped down breathlessly.

A few minutes later he heard Sam's voice. "Mr. Frodo? Mr. Frodo, please come out of your hiding place." Sam climbed up the loft.

Frodo sat up with bits of hay clinging to his hair. "She had the Ring, Sam!"

"Mr. Frodo, you scared her half to death! I came in and she was white and shaking all over! You're so mean!"

"Uhhhh, well I didn't mean to, but she would've taken it and kept it, Sam, forever!"

"Come on, Mr. Frodo, we need to finish saying goodbye."

"I don't wanna say goodbye, Sam."

"Fiddlesticks! Come on." Frodo followed Sam down, and they went into the house.

"Now say you're sorry to 'Lizabeth for scaring her," Sam ordered Frodo in a whisper.

"Sorry," Frodo muttered, and went back outside.

Sam rolled his eyes and said to her, "Mrs. 'Lizabeth, I don't think you understand how much that ring means to him. He's real sorry for the way he acted." Sam grinned at her. "Don't worry though, 'Lizabeth, he'll be himself in just-"

"HELP! SAM! HELP!"

Sam and 'Lizabeth rushed outside and saw Frodo bouncing up and down on something invisible. His face was green. "HELP SAM!-*bouncing* HELP!"

Sam got his pistol out and put it on the invisible bouncy thing, and sure enough, it started to bounce, too. "Jump to the side, Mr. Frodo!" Sam said. Finally, after lots of bouncing, Frodo fell with a thud on the ground. Sam and 'Lizabeth ran over to him, and he was green all over now. "Whaaaaaa-?" Sam said in surprise.

"What is it Sam? My head hurts. Can you help me up please?"

Frodo reached out his hand, then jerked it back, looking at it carefully. "Whaaaat? Why am I green?"

They never found out why he turned green, but when the quest was finished, Galadriel told them she'd put the town there for them to rest in. Later, when Sam told her all that had happened, and the bar fights Frodo had gotten into, she swore to Celeborn that she would never put a western town in Middle Earth again. When they told Elrond they had found more splinters in Frodo's shoulder, Elrond decided he wasn't a good doctor or surgeon so he gave up that profession.

Merry and Pippin, of course, were jealous that they hadn't gotten to be there.

And so Frodo and Sam went back to the Shire and tried to make them forget about the whole thing. But it never worked. Oh well!

THE END