As the elevator moved down the apartment building, Merry pulled out his cell phone and hit a number.
A few minutes later, he was speaking to someone in cryptic tones.
"You get them?
Good. Be less than five. You coming?"
A snort at whatever the answer was."Sure, wimp out on us.
You're WHAT!?"
Frodo, Pippin, and Sam all looked at Merry, who was ignoring them. None of them were sure if they
wanted to know exactly what their friend was doing.
"Fine. Like I said, five. Later."
Flipping the phone shut, he looked at the three people staring at him. "What?"
"Care to tell us what that was about?" Frodo asked. Beside him, Pippin's and Sam's expression asked
the same thing.
The sandy-haired man just grinned. "Just something to make our trip faster. I had a feeling that we
would be going a fair distance from home."
He was saved from any further questions when the doors opened, and all four stepped out. Merry took
the lead, and the other three followed. Their curiosity grew as Merry lead them around back of the
apartment. Even more surprising was when they saw a friend of theirs, another bitalent by the name of
Fatty Bolger.
"Bout time you got here," he yelled at Merry. "I have my own life to live, you know."
Merry choked on laughter. "Sure. That's why your going to play distractor to anything that might be
looking for Frodo, right?" His eyes light up. "Did you get them?"
Fatty patted the trailer he was leaning against. "Damn good thing that I'm your neighbor, and that you
don't live that far from here. Otherwise, you'd have just been out of luck."
After aiming a swat at Fatty's shoulder, Merry opened the top half of the trailer door. "Perfect," he said,
a huge smile on his face. "You guys stand back."
With only that as a warning, Merry opened the doors. Out flowed four bright white horses. At least
they looked like horses.
Sam knew instantly they weren't what they appear. With a horse as a biform, he was sensitive to
anything that wore the same form. These weren't horses, they were something much more valuable and
rare.
"Elvensteeds."
Merry smiled brightly at Sam. "Yep. My da raised a whole herd. Smartest thing that go naturally on
four legs. Clever little shape shifters, too."
As if to prove a point, the one the stood next to Merry nickered and shifted. Not with the shimmer of a
biform, but just melting from one form to another. Where a white horse once stood, Merry now
balanced a beautiful metallic blue racing motorcycle. "We need to move, and this is the fastest way I
can think of."
The fact that Merry had had elvensteeds brought into town was testament to how badly the vision had
startled him. If his friendly neighborhood clairvoyant was that nervous, Frodo wasn't going to argue with
him.
He was the next to step of to one of the strange elvensteeds. Extremely rare, they were able to change
their form to best accommodate their rider. Legend had it that the shape shifting trait came from an
ancient race known as elves, who took these horses and changed them with great magic. Now,
however, no one knew if the legends were true or not. Still, elvensteeds were just magical. No matter
what their origins.
Placing his hand on the 'steed he was next to, Frodo watched as it became a cycle similar to Merry's,
only in a pale, icy blue. Nearby, Sam's had turned to a deep green cycle, and Pippin's to a metallic red.
Frodo looked at Fatty. "Are you sure you want to stay here? There are things out there that give me the
creeps." He shivered. When Fatty nodded, the dark haired man fished out his apartment keys. "Here,"
he said, tossing them to Fatty. "I don't want to come home and find out you got me kicked out of one of
the best penthouse apartments in the whole Shire," he warned. In a softer voice, Frodo continued. "Be
careful. Be safe."
With that, he revved up the fake engine that the 'steen had created, and started away. Behind him,
Frodo could hear the other three doing the same thing. Before they began to move, Merry yelled
something.
"I know a short cut to Bree," he yelled, barely heard over the engines. Frodo nodded to say that he
heard, and waved Merry in front. Smoothly, all four friends headed out, heading for the section of the
city that held the Prancing Pony and Gandalf.
***
They were weaving through back roads and alleys, having to keep their speed down because of the
sharp turns, something the 'steed definitely didn't like. Neither did Frodo. He waved Merry over, and
stopped.
"What's wrong?" Sam asked, looking around for a reason to stop.
Frodo shook his head. "I just wanted to ask Merry how short his short cut really is. This seems to be
taking a long time, since the 'steeds are going slower since none of us have gear for bikes."
"It shouldn't take that long," Merry told the others. "We've just had a lot of turns. That's allllyahhh!"
A large willow tree, which moments before had just been swaying in the wind, had wrapped several
long branches around Merry and was dragging him towards it. Pippin let out a yell as several more
branches did the same to him. The younger of the pair was quickly pulled into the trunk, and Frodo and
Sam watching in horror as it wrapped a layer of wood and bark between them and their friend. Both
rushed forward as it started to do the same to Merry.
Patting down his pockets, Sam pulled out a lighter. He never did find out why he had it, but he did.
"Frodo," he yelled, tossing it to the other man. Pulling off his extra shirt, Frodo wrapped it around a
fallen branch. A quick twist to tie it off, and the young man lit the shirt on fire. Tossing the lighter back
to Sam, Frodo thrust the flaming cloth into the willow's branches. Merry's scream made him jump back.
"PUT IT OUT!! HE'LL KILL US IF YOU DON"T!!"
Tossing the makeshift torch to the side, Frodo looked helplessly at Sam. "Any bright ideas, GB?"
Sam shook his head. "If only . . ." He stopped, cocking his head to listen. "What's that?"
Frodo also paused to listen. "Don't know, GB. Sounds like . . . Singing?"
It was singing, and it was getting closer.
Hey dol! Merry dol! Ring a dong dillo!
Ring a dong! Hop along! Fal lal the willow
Tom Bom, jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo [1]
A strange man burst out from a nearby grove of trees, startling the two younger men before him.
"What's this? Old Man Willow attacking some strangers once again? Stop that right now, you hear me,
Willow Man. You're a tree. Do what trees do. Feed from the sky, drink from the earth. Don't be
touching those who move about."
There was a strange shudder through the tree's, and both Merry and Pippin flew from the tree as if they
had been tossed by strong arms. They landed hard, with loud grunts, rolling until they hit against Frodo
and Sam.
"You all right there, younglings?" asked the stranger. For the first time, Frodo and Sam looked closely
at the one who saved their friends, while Merry and Pippin looked upon their savior for the first time.
Dressed in blue, with large yellow boots, and a tall battered hat crowned by a bright blue feather, the
man looked older. His ruddy face was wreathed in wrinkles, but they were more from spending a great
deal of time outdoors than from old age. A long brown beard grew down that weathered face. Bright
blue eyes twinkled from among the wrinkles. "Hello, young ones. My name is Tom Bombadil. Nice to
meet you. Who might you be?"
The name had stuck all of them dumb, and they started at the man with shocked looks.
TBC...
[1] This is actually the song Frodo and Sam first hear Tom sing as Old Man Willow are taking their
friends.
A few minutes later, he was speaking to someone in cryptic tones.
"You get them?
Good. Be less than five. You coming?"
A snort at whatever the answer was."Sure, wimp out on us.
You're WHAT!?"
Frodo, Pippin, and Sam all looked at Merry, who was ignoring them. None of them were sure if they
wanted to know exactly what their friend was doing.
"Fine. Like I said, five. Later."
Flipping the phone shut, he looked at the three people staring at him. "What?"
"Care to tell us what that was about?" Frodo asked. Beside him, Pippin's and Sam's expression asked
the same thing.
The sandy-haired man just grinned. "Just something to make our trip faster. I had a feeling that we
would be going a fair distance from home."
He was saved from any further questions when the doors opened, and all four stepped out. Merry took
the lead, and the other three followed. Their curiosity grew as Merry lead them around back of the
apartment. Even more surprising was when they saw a friend of theirs, another bitalent by the name of
Fatty Bolger.
"Bout time you got here," he yelled at Merry. "I have my own life to live, you know."
Merry choked on laughter. "Sure. That's why your going to play distractor to anything that might be
looking for Frodo, right?" His eyes light up. "Did you get them?"
Fatty patted the trailer he was leaning against. "Damn good thing that I'm your neighbor, and that you
don't live that far from here. Otherwise, you'd have just been out of luck."
After aiming a swat at Fatty's shoulder, Merry opened the top half of the trailer door. "Perfect," he said,
a huge smile on his face. "You guys stand back."
With only that as a warning, Merry opened the doors. Out flowed four bright white horses. At least
they looked like horses.
Sam knew instantly they weren't what they appear. With a horse as a biform, he was sensitive to
anything that wore the same form. These weren't horses, they were something much more valuable and
rare.
"Elvensteeds."
Merry smiled brightly at Sam. "Yep. My da raised a whole herd. Smartest thing that go naturally on
four legs. Clever little shape shifters, too."
As if to prove a point, the one the stood next to Merry nickered and shifted. Not with the shimmer of a
biform, but just melting from one form to another. Where a white horse once stood, Merry now
balanced a beautiful metallic blue racing motorcycle. "We need to move, and this is the fastest way I
can think of."
The fact that Merry had had elvensteeds brought into town was testament to how badly the vision had
startled him. If his friendly neighborhood clairvoyant was that nervous, Frodo wasn't going to argue with
him.
He was the next to step of to one of the strange elvensteeds. Extremely rare, they were able to change
their form to best accommodate their rider. Legend had it that the shape shifting trait came from an
ancient race known as elves, who took these horses and changed them with great magic. Now,
however, no one knew if the legends were true or not. Still, elvensteeds were just magical. No matter
what their origins.
Placing his hand on the 'steed he was next to, Frodo watched as it became a cycle similar to Merry's,
only in a pale, icy blue. Nearby, Sam's had turned to a deep green cycle, and Pippin's to a metallic red.
Frodo looked at Fatty. "Are you sure you want to stay here? There are things out there that give me the
creeps." He shivered. When Fatty nodded, the dark haired man fished out his apartment keys. "Here,"
he said, tossing them to Fatty. "I don't want to come home and find out you got me kicked out of one of
the best penthouse apartments in the whole Shire," he warned. In a softer voice, Frodo continued. "Be
careful. Be safe."
With that, he revved up the fake engine that the 'steen had created, and started away. Behind him,
Frodo could hear the other three doing the same thing. Before they began to move, Merry yelled
something.
"I know a short cut to Bree," he yelled, barely heard over the engines. Frodo nodded to say that he
heard, and waved Merry in front. Smoothly, all four friends headed out, heading for the section of the
city that held the Prancing Pony and Gandalf.
***
They were weaving through back roads and alleys, having to keep their speed down because of the
sharp turns, something the 'steed definitely didn't like. Neither did Frodo. He waved Merry over, and
stopped.
"What's wrong?" Sam asked, looking around for a reason to stop.
Frodo shook his head. "I just wanted to ask Merry how short his short cut really is. This seems to be
taking a long time, since the 'steeds are going slower since none of us have gear for bikes."
"It shouldn't take that long," Merry told the others. "We've just had a lot of turns. That's allllyahhh!"
A large willow tree, which moments before had just been swaying in the wind, had wrapped several
long branches around Merry and was dragging him towards it. Pippin let out a yell as several more
branches did the same to him. The younger of the pair was quickly pulled into the trunk, and Frodo and
Sam watching in horror as it wrapped a layer of wood and bark between them and their friend. Both
rushed forward as it started to do the same to Merry.
Patting down his pockets, Sam pulled out a lighter. He never did find out why he had it, but he did.
"Frodo," he yelled, tossing it to the other man. Pulling off his extra shirt, Frodo wrapped it around a
fallen branch. A quick twist to tie it off, and the young man lit the shirt on fire. Tossing the lighter back
to Sam, Frodo thrust the flaming cloth into the willow's branches. Merry's scream made him jump back.
"PUT IT OUT!! HE'LL KILL US IF YOU DON"T!!"
Tossing the makeshift torch to the side, Frodo looked helplessly at Sam. "Any bright ideas, GB?"
Sam shook his head. "If only . . ." He stopped, cocking his head to listen. "What's that?"
Frodo also paused to listen. "Don't know, GB. Sounds like . . . Singing?"
It was singing, and it was getting closer.
Hey dol! Merry dol! Ring a dong dillo!
Ring a dong! Hop along! Fal lal the willow
Tom Bom, jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo [1]
A strange man burst out from a nearby grove of trees, startling the two younger men before him.
"What's this? Old Man Willow attacking some strangers once again? Stop that right now, you hear me,
Willow Man. You're a tree. Do what trees do. Feed from the sky, drink from the earth. Don't be
touching those who move about."
There was a strange shudder through the tree's, and both Merry and Pippin flew from the tree as if they
had been tossed by strong arms. They landed hard, with loud grunts, rolling until they hit against Frodo
and Sam.
"You all right there, younglings?" asked the stranger. For the first time, Frodo and Sam looked closely
at the one who saved their friends, while Merry and Pippin looked upon their savior for the first time.
Dressed in blue, with large yellow boots, and a tall battered hat crowned by a bright blue feather, the
man looked older. His ruddy face was wreathed in wrinkles, but they were more from spending a great
deal of time outdoors than from old age. A long brown beard grew down that weathered face. Bright
blue eyes twinkled from among the wrinkles. "Hello, young ones. My name is Tom Bombadil. Nice to
meet you. Who might you be?"
The name had stuck all of them dumb, and they started at the man with shocked looks.
TBC...
[1] This is actually the song Frodo and Sam first hear Tom sing as Old Man Willow are taking their
friends.