Chapter 13
"Come on hobbits. Time to get up." Natasha sang out lightly. "The sun is shining, the elves have all ready left and that means hobbits need to be up so we can too."
Unfortunately, her good cheer only brought two grunts as her two companions burrowed deeper into their bedrolls.
"Oh come on!" Natasha exclaimed, after receiving a wallop from Sam when she tried to shake him awake. "We'll never get to Bree at this rate."
"Bree?" came the sleepy reply.
"Yes, we're going to meet Gandalf remember?" Natasha replied calmly. "Now get up. We should reach Bree first thing tomorrow if we head out now and make good time."
"But what about breakfast?" Sam asked, appalled at the idea that someone could just forget it. "Mr. Frodo needs to eat."
"And so do you Sam and don't worry. It's all ready been laid out by the elves, so dig in and let's go."
The hobbits ate in silence, their blissful expressions giving lie to Gildor's claim of providing 'poor fare.' By the time they had finished, Natasha had finished tidying the glen to where there was little sign of their passing.
Day birds sang their songs, completely unworried by the presence of two hobbits and a human and soon had the travellers calm enough to trade stories. It was the hobbits' turn and soon stories of Bilbo were amusing Natasha as they walked beneath the boughs of trees lining the road.
"It would be faster to cut through this cornfield." Frodo said suddenly as they passed the proud greens stalks.
"But Gandalf said to stick to the road, Mr. Frodo." Sam said uncertainly, looking to Natasha for support.
"Sam's right, though I'd like to get to Bree all the faster if we could." she replied reluctantly.
Frodo smiled triumphantly, heading off through the corn, leaving her and Sam to follow as they would.
"Stay close, Sam." Natasha pushed aside some corn so they both could step through. "You'd think he'd at least wait for a trail, but no…he has to go trailblazing. And not leaving much of a trail either."
Sam chuckled softly at this, easily keeping pace with her and Frodo now that he had gotten into the rhythm of the hike.
'Does this corn never end?' Natasha wondered in exasperation after about ten minutes of walking. 'And where the heck is Frodo? He's supposed to be the fearless leader in this part. Some leader. Lost his team in a cornfield.'
Suddenly, she and Sam stumbled out of the corn and onto a track, only to have no sight or sound of Frodo anywhere.
"Frodo?" Sam called, looking up and down the track.
"He's not too far Sam." Natasha tried to calm him down as his cries grew desperate.
"Frodo? FRODO!"
"What's wrong Sam?" Frodo asked coming around the bend in the track.
"Told you." Natasha muttered. Sam shot her a dark glare to which she snickered and rolled her eyes to the sky.
"I thought I'd lost you." Sam said petulantly.
'Oh…spider senses tingling!' Natasha thought as a prickling sensation ran up the back of her neck. 'or as Dad would say 'Danger Will Robinson!'.'
"What?"
"It's just something Gandalf told me." Sam muttered, now embarrassed with his mistake.
"Umm, guys, not that this isn't touching…" Natasha tried to grab their attention, while trying to find the source of the possible threat coming their way at high speed.
"What did Gandalf say?"
"He said 'Don't you lose him Samwise Gamgee.' And I don't mean to."
"Guys?"
"Sam!" Frodo exclaimed, laughing. "We're still in the Shire. What could possibly happen?"
Suddenly there was a WHOMP! And both hobbits, plus two new ones, were sprawled on the ground, struggling around each other to regain their feet.
"That." Natasha said throwing up her hands up in the air.
"Hey look Merry. It's Frodo!"
"Ohhh, no!" Natasha buried her face in her hands, hearing Merry's name. "Not you two."
"Hello to you too, Mistress Natasha." Merry made a face at her before turning to Frodo, mischief back in his eyes. "Hallo Frodo.
"Get off of him!" Sam said to the other hobbit, Pippin if Natasha's memory served, and it did.
"What did I do?" she asked, looking to the Heavens for an answer.
"What are you two doing here?" Frodo asked, but before they could answer, Sam worked it out, taking in the vegetables lying about on the ground.
"You've been into Farmer Maggot's crop!"
Hobbit arms were loaded up with the vegetables as Natasha watched in a sort of odd detachment. Gandalf had told her about the notorious Farmer Maggot. He didn't much care for other people, particularly when they stole his vegetables. All that was missing from this was the…ah there they are, right on cue. As luck would have it, Farmer Maggot had also brought along his fabled dogs, which could be heard baying as well as their crashing through the corn stalks.
"Good grief. Do you two do nothing by halves?" she asked in exasperation, earning her two dark looks that quickly turned to grins and shaking heads. "I didn't think so." she sighed.
Frodo was grabbed and dragged through the corn behind Merry and Pippin, leaving Sam and Natasha staring mutely at each other for only a moment longer before they too were running for their lives.
"I don't know what he's so upset about!" Merry shouted.
"No?" Natasha asked testily. "Could it be something you might have stolen perhaps?"
"It was just a few cabbages and carrots!" Pippin shouted back. "Oh and those three empty bags of potatoes we left him last week!"
"Yes Pippin, my point is, he's clearly over reacting."
"Oh no, I don't think he is." Natasha added another two cents worth, looking over her shoulder to check on the progress of the dogs.
Except it was the wrong time to look, for all four hobbits stopped at the edge of a cliff and she barrelled right into them sending the four of them rolling down the hill.
"Ow! Ow! Damn it! That's enough!" Natasha shouted, and suddenly found herself at the bottom, seated while the others rolled to her down the hill. "Oops. Good thing Gandalf's not here to notice that. Could have been ugly that time. Now how did I do that?"
Meanwhile, four hobbits were busy extricating themselves from each other, quibbling the entire time.
"AHHHHH!" Merry and Pippin screamed when Natasha suddenly appeared with a loud pop.
"Aha so that's how I did it. Cool!" Natasha did a little dance then turned serious again, watching the hobbits dust themselves off.
"Trust a Brandybuck and a Took." Sam said angrily.
"What? That was just a detour. A shortcut.
Natasha snorted. "A shortcut to what?"
"Mushrooms!" Pippin shouted as though on cue.
"Oh gods no!" Natasha cried in anguish.
Three of the four hobbits ran to the small patch, stuffing the growing fungus into every available pocket and pouch they could find. Frodo stood on the Road, for they had found it again, looking nervously up and down its length.
'The Road!' Natasha's mind screamed, and needles raced up and down her spine. 'That means…'
"Everyone off the Road. Now!" she shouted, startling the hobbits into motion.
She could feel something coming along the road, coming fast. Maybe it was the pounding of her heart, but she could swear she could hear a horse. The hobbits scurried across the Road, jumping a root, hiding as far into the crevice in the bank as they could. Seeing that they were safe, Natasha climbed into the tree, hiding amongst the leaves.
Birds and squirrels fell silent, the only noise the rustling of the leaves. Natasha watched down the Road, in the direction she had felt the danger coming from. Her vision narrowed, sounds and smells vanished from her perception and the land beyond the bend appeared in her mind's eye. Gasping, she nearly fell out of the tree in surprise. Wrapping her arms around her body, she tried to force her body to stop shivering. Oh, but the evil permeating from that being was intense. Much worse than that coming off an orc. Pain assaulted her senses and she had to force her attention back to the situation at hand.
The being stopped beneath her tree, and Natasha stopped breathing when it dismounted with a clang of old armour. She could have sworn her heart stopped when the thing lunged to smell at the ground.
'What is it doing? It sounds like smelling…' Natasha wondered. 'Quick think of something. What have you got? Think stupid!'
But before she could think of something, Merry took the initiative and, tossing the much prized mushrooms, sent the being charging after the resultant crashing. Leaping from the tree, she grabbed Frodo and Sam by their shirt fronts and propelled them down the hillside.
"What was that thing?" Pippin asked, collapsing onto the ground after several minutes of running.
They were all looking at Natasha. And all she could do was try to calm her own pounding heart. It bled for the horse, like its hooves had bled onto the ground. She'd felt it's pain, could almost feel its terror.
"I don't know. Gandalf never covered this in my lessons. Rather remiss on his part, if I may say." she babbled for a moment before pulling herself together as heat gathered in her palms. "Let's go."
She barely took the time to notice of Frodo's nod, jogging off, leaving the hobbits to keep up, though she was never too far ahead of them to begin with. However, once night fell, it was a different story. Natasha slowed, stopping every few trees to check for pursuit. Pippin and Merry didn't bother to make any concession in their movements, making noise and walking out in the open.
"What is going on?" Pippin huffed as he bent over trying to catch his breath.
"Shhh!" Natasha hissed, straining her hearing. Nothing.
"That black rider was after something…or someone." Merry said, watching Frodo carefully.
"Merry." Natasha placed a hand on his shoulder. "We need to get Frodo to Bree. Any questions will have to wait until then."
Merry nodded, "Bucklbury ferry. This way!"
Dashing out of their paltry hiding place, they spooked the black rider's horse. Or this could have been another one, there was really now way of telling if this one was the same as the one from earlier.
"Frodo, move!" Natasha shouted, running back to him.
They skirted the horse, Natasha swinging a branch at the horse's head to spook it even more as she passed and ran for dear life. Over a fence they jumped, giving them a clear view of the Brandywine River and the Ferry. But as they hit the trail leading to the dock, the Black Rider caught up with them, barrelling down on the last of them, Natasha and Frodo.
"Keep going Frodo, come on! Don't look back!" she shouted, which of course was the wrong thing to say because as everyone knows, once you hear those words, you automatically look back.
"AHHHHH!" Frodo screamed, putting on speed at the end of the dock and launching himself onto the departing Ferry which Merry and Pippin were trying to keep steady.
"Natasha!" Sam shouted.
"Get this thing moving." she said, landing neatly on board just as the Black Rider slid his horse to a stop at the edge of the dock. "How far is the nearest crossing?" she asked taking one of the punting poles and giving a push.
"Brandywine Bridge. Twenty miles." Merry answered.
"Well at least we have some breathing room." Natasha muttered.