Disclaimer: I own none of the Tolkein characters or text, just Casey.
A/N: Thanks for the suggestions folks! Sorry about the delay with this chapter, but it took a lot of planning! So this is a very long one to make up for the delay! And OMG, why are they banning actor fics?! Talk about bad timing, cause I'll have to remove my Dom story now! [sniffs]. But rest assured I'm keeping this up, since it has nothing to do with the actors. I hope.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The boat scraped the bed gently and grounded to a halt. Sam leapt out of the boat and held a hand out to Frodo.
"Quick, or else they'll see us," he said to Frodo. His master clambered out, and Casey followed, but grabbed Boromir's forgotten pack as she went, which had been left lying all alone in the boat.
Eventually they left the wooded area and came to the barren slopes and stones of Emyn Muil.
The hobbits and the angel-elf stood on the brink of a tall cliff, bare and bleak. A chill wind blew from the East, which was where they looked. At the edge of the horizon far away, they could make out the dim outline of Mount Doom, in the land of Mordor. Every now and then a tiny gleam flickered upwards from there.
The silence was broken by Frodo.
"Mordor." He sighed. "I hope the others find a safer route."
"Strider will look after them," replied Sam reassuringly. Casey found herself wondering about Legolas.
"I don't suppose we'll ever see them again," said Frodo.
"We may yet, Mr. Frodo. We may," replied Sam again.
"I wish we could have said goodbye," murmured Casey. The two hobbits nodded in agreement.
"Well, I'm glad you two are with me," said Frodo. He was, deep inside, glad that he didn't have to make the perilous journey alone, but would have two loyal friends by his side to help him bear his burden all the way to Mordor.
Both Casey and Sam merely smiled, as Frodo began to make his way over the slope. They followed him.
That night they together in the cold, under an old gnarled tree. But they still felt as if they were being watched, and so bare and exposed.
Casey sat on the right of Frodo. To his left was Sam, who was lying stretched out on the ground with his head on Frodo's lap. Frodo's head was snuggled in Casey's shoulder. Casey was keeping watch for the night, with her keen eyes piercing through the gloom. But although Frodo felt troubled and tired, sleep did not come to him as easy as it did for Sam, who was snoring blissfully and dreaming about having beer at the Prancing Pony in Bree.
"Frodo? Are you still awake?" Casey asked. Frodo tilted his head slightly towards her.
"Yes," he whispered, "I can't go to sleep."
Casey wrapped her arms around him and kissed his head of curls softly.
"Why not?" she asked, stroking his hair.
"I can't help thinking that we are so delayed." Frodo sighed before continuing. "All my choices have proved ill. I should have left the Company long before and taken a different route. Every day that passes is a precious day lost, and I am so tired." He sighed again and snuggled deeper into Casey's arms. She stroked his face.
"I don't know what is to be done," said Frodo softly.
"You have to go to sleep, we've got another long day tomorrow," Casey said.
Frodo nodded, but then Casey sat upright. Frodo rose from her arms reluctantly, but was alarmed.
"What is it?" he asked.
"I think something is watching us," whispered Casey, "I think it's the same thing that was watching us when we were on the River."
"But I thought that was just Legolas."
Casey shook her head. Then her eyes flared open. "Look, can't you see those eyes out there?" Her voice fell to a whisper.
"It must be Gollum," said Frodo thoughtfully, "Gandalf always said that he had a part to play in my quest."
Casey looked perplexed, but Frodo merely settled his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes. Casey sat there thinking for a while.
It had been so strange, how she had suddenly been plucked out of her own world, and brought into this world. She had been immersed into all these different people so much that – why, her own world, her past was becoming a distant memory to her.
"I don't even know how I died," Casey murmured to herself. Soon, Frodo's heavy breathing overwhelmed her, and she fell asleep too.
For several days [although they had lost count] they clambered over the rocks and stones, sometimes retracing their steps if they could find no way forward and sometimes ending up in circles. But throughout their journey eastwards and southwards, they heard faint sounds behind them that even the simple hobbit ears of Sam could hear, of a stone falling or the imagined step of feet on rock. But whenever they paused and stood still they heard nothing, save the wind sighing – and yet that reminded them of breath softly hissing through sharp teeth.
"Well master, we're in a fix and no mistake," said Sam. He hunched his shoulders dejectedly and peered out into the ever-present gloom. Beside him stood Frodo and Casey.
They now stood on the brink of a cleft that seemed to slope outwards. It looked like a great rampart or sea-wall whose foundations had shifted, so that its courses were all twisted and disordered, leaving great fissures and long slanting edges that were in places almost as wide as stairs.
"There's nothing for it but to scramble down this gully," said Sam.
"Yes, it looks much lower, about eighteen fathoms I think. We shall have to try," said Frodo.
"It looks like it's getting dark though," said Casey staring upwards, "Don't you think we should wait until tomorrow?"
"No! Not if I can help it," said Frodo with a sudden strange flush of urgency and – something else that Casey could not detect. "I'm going down to try it out. Don't you follow till I come back or call!"
"Shouldn't I go first, Mr. Frodo? After all, you should put the one lowest who is most likely to slip. I don't want to come down atop of you and knock you off – no sense in killing two with one fall," said Sam.
Frodo shook his head, and before Sam could stop him, he was over the edge.
Casey looked worriedly at Sam, but they were both helpless to do anything, as Frodo let himself down slowly, his fingers gripping the edge until his toes found a ledge.
Casey bit her nails nervously, while Sam leaned over the edge.
"Frodo?" Casey called out. "Are you okay?"
"Yes!" came his voice, "Just one step down! And this ledge broadens a little, I could stand here without a hold. I'll –" His words were cut short.
There was a dry splitting crack of thunder overhead, mixed with Sam's cries and then lightning seared down the hills. A shrill shriek filled the air that terrorised them so much that it pierced them with cold blades of horror and despair, stopping both heart and breath. Casey and Sam screamed and clutched each other. Involuntarily Frodo loosed his hold and put his hands over his ears. He swayed, slipped and slithered downwards with a wailing cry. Sam was the first to recover.
"Master!" He crawled to the edge and fell flat on his face. Casey did likewise.
There was no answer. Casey was about to lower herself down from the ledge when a faint answering cry was heard.
"All right! I'm here. But I can't see." Frodo's voice sounded weak. From where Casey now balanced on the ledge Frodo had been on, he was not actually very far away. He had not fallen but slid to a wider ledge slightly lower down. He stood up and steadied himself a little, leaning against the cliff, feeling his heart pounding.
"Frodo, I'm climbing down to you!" Casey called, before lowering her foot slightly lower down.
"No, don't! Stay where you are!" Frodo called back.
"Oh for a rope," murmured Casey. Sam heard.
"Rope!" he cried in excitement and relief. "How stupid I've been! You're nowt but a ninnyhammer Sam Gamgee, that's what the Gaffer often said to me. Rope!"
"Huh?" replied Casey, tilting her head upwards to stare at Sam.
"Stop chattering!" cried Frodo, who had recovered enough to feel both amused and annoyed.
"You mean you have rope?" said Casey cautiously.
"Yes, in my pack and all. Carried it hundreds of miles and I'd clean forgotten it!"
"Well what's it been doing in there, sleeping?!" shrieked Casey.
"Get busy and let it down!" cried Frodo.
Quickly Sam unslung his pack and rummaged in it. His search was rewarded when there indeed at the bottom was the rope made by the folk of Lorien, a coil of silken-gray. Sam cast the end down first to Casey. After Sam had pulled up Casey to the top, the rope was cast down again to Frodo. The darkness seemed to lift from Frodo's eyes, as the gray line came dangling down, with a faint silver sheen. Half-hauled, half scrambling, Frodo came up and threw himself on the ground, panting.
"It's good to be back," said Frodo, breathing deep, while Casey and Sam laughed in relief. Just then, the heavens split open, and rain fell down. The hobbits and the angel-elf ran for shelter back into the gully, although there was little to be found.
"Well, now what?" asked Casey once Frodo had got his breath back.
"It seems as if the storm has past and the rain's nearly over," said Frodo thoughtfully.
"If you're so set on climbing, Mr. Frodo, then I say now is the perfect time to use the rope," said Sam.
"How long is it?" asked Casey.
"Thirty ells or say, about eighteen fathom: that's no more than your guess at the height of the cliff," replied Sam nodding to Frodo.
Frodo thought for a while. "Make it fast to that stump, Sam. You can have your wish and go first this time, and Casey and I shall lower you."
"Very well," said Sam heavily. "If it must be, let's get it over!" He took up the rope and made it fast over the stump nearest to the brink; the other end Casey tied about Sam's waist. Reluctantly he turned and prepared to go over the edge.
It did not, however, turn out half as bad as he had expected. There was one awkward spot however, where there was no ledge and the wall was sheer. But he trusted his weight to Casey and Frodo and to the rope, as they lowered him slowly and steadily until it was over at last. Amazingly enough, there was still excess rope.
"I'm down!" called Sam.
"Now you," said Frodo to Casey.
"Are you sure? You won't have anyone to lower you," she replied. Frodo seemed unsure for a moment, but nodded. He pulled the rope up determinedly and fastened the rope around Casey's waist. Casey moved over to the edge, and choked for a moment. When it was dark, it did not seem so high, but now that there was light, Casey discovered her fear of heights.
"I can't do this," she cried to Frodo, turning back.
"Then you'll get left behind," said Frodo, gently but firmly. He saw the fear in Casey's eyes, and stepped closer to her, tightening the knot around her waist reassuringly.
"Hello! Who's coming down next?" cried Sam from below. His voice sounded so far, so distant.
"Don't worry," said Frodo comfortingly, "I won't let you fall." Casey nodded, and went over the edge, holding her breath and squeezing her eyes shut.
However like Sam, Casey did not find it so bad. However at one point there was no ledge and she froze, as she saw the ground between her feet. Sam stood down below, looking not so small as before from the top, but still quite far down. She looked up and saw Frodo's head peering over the edge, his hair falling in front of his face. She gritted her teeth, closed her eyes and, trying to ignore the fact that her stomach was doing flip-flops, carried on going down. The moment her feet touched the ground, she fell into Sam's arms, almost crying with relief.
"Never again," she said into Sam's shoulder, as Sam patted her back and watched the rope sail upwards.
"Mr. Frodo, are you sure you'll be alright?" asked Sam as Frodo peered over the top.
"Yes, we'll catch you if you fall," said Casey wickedly, already recovered from her trauma.
"Very funny," Frodo said mockingly. He looked around the barren slopes of Emyn Muil, and tied the rope around his waist, so that it was shortened and therefore would pull him up before he reached the ground if he fell. However he prayed that the knot around the stump was secure as he made his way down. He did not have as much faith as Sam had in the slender gray line, but twice had to trust it completely when the smooth surfaces possessed no hold for even his strong hobbit fingers [A/N: sorry, had to put that in … aaaw …] and the ledges were far apart. But at last he too was down.
"Well!" he cried. "We've done it! We've escaped from Emyn Muil!" Casey enveloped him in a great hug, as Sam stared back at the cliff in despair.
"Noodles!" Sam said, as the couple looked at him in puzzlement. "Ninnyhammers! My beautiful rope! There it is tied to a stump and we're at the bottom. Just a nice little stair for Gollum to slip down!"
"We may as well have put a signpost to say which way we've gone," said Casey in equal despair. But Frodo laughed.
"If you can think of any way we could have both used the rope and yet brought it down with us, then you can pass on to me ninnyhammer or any other name the Gaffer gave you," said Frodo. "Climb up and untie it yourself if you want to!"
Sam scratched his head. "No I can't think how," he said solemnly. "But I don't like leaving it. It goes hard parting with anything I brought out of the Elf-country. Made by Galadriel herself too, maybe." He stroked the rope and bowed his head mournfully, as Casey tried to control herself from a fit of giggles, as Frodo glared at her, but couldn't help smiling too. Sam looked up and gave one last pull to the rope as if in farewell.
To the complete surprise of the hobbits and the angel-elf, the rope came loose. Sam fell over in astonishment and the long gray coils slithered silently down on top of him. Casey couldn't control herself, and let loose a fit of hysterics as Frodo laughed along with her.
"Who tied the rope?" Frodo said. "To think I trusted all my weight to your knot!"
Sam did not laugh but looked rather hurt. "I may not be much good at climbing Mr. Frodo, but I do know something about ropes and knots. It's in the family, as you might say. I put as fast a hitch over that stump as anyone could have done."
"Then the rope must have broken," said Casey nonchalantly, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Or maybe it frayed over the rock edge," put in Frodo helpfully.
"I bet it didn't!" said Sam in an injured tone. He examined the rope and held it out for Casey to see, who took the rope from him. "Nor it hasn't either, not a single strand!"
"Then I'm afraid it must have been the knot," concluded Frodo, still smiling.
"Have it your own way Mr. Frodo," said Sam, "but I think the rope came off itself – when I called." He coiled it up and stowed it lovingly in his pack.
Casey rolled her eyes. "You're in love with that rope, and now the rope's in love with you," she said, as Frodo grinned cheekily at Sam. But Sam did not answer but looked up at the sky instead.
"Well, at least we have it, and that's the chief thing," said Frodo, "but now we have to think of our next move."
Casey yawned. "Yeah, sleep, I hope," she said.
"How beautiful the stars are, and the Moon! Imagine, they're probably shining down on Merry and Pippin, and everyone else too," said Sam wistfully.
"The moon isn't giving off too much light," said Frodo. "I don't think we'll try the marshes by the light of the moon."
"We'd better find some place to sleep for the night then," said Casey, looking around at her surroundings.
They picked their way over the broken feet of the Emyn Muil, but they could find no nook or hollow to shelter in. In the end, worn out, they just cast themselves on the ground underneath a boulder. There they sat huddled mournfully together in the cold.
"Well!" said Frodo standing up at last. "You two should sleep for a bit and I'll walk up and down on sentry for a while. Here Sam, take my blanket." Suddenly he stiffened.
"What's the matter?" said Casey sleepily.
"Look over there on the cliff!" Frodo whispered urgently.
A/N: Thanks for the suggestions folks! Sorry about the delay with this chapter, but it took a lot of planning! So this is a very long one to make up for the delay! And OMG, why are they banning actor fics?! Talk about bad timing, cause I'll have to remove my Dom story now! [sniffs]. But rest assured I'm keeping this up, since it has nothing to do with the actors. I hope.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The boat scraped the bed gently and grounded to a halt. Sam leapt out of the boat and held a hand out to Frodo.
"Quick, or else they'll see us," he said to Frodo. His master clambered out, and Casey followed, but grabbed Boromir's forgotten pack as she went, which had been left lying all alone in the boat.
Eventually they left the wooded area and came to the barren slopes and stones of Emyn Muil.
The hobbits and the angel-elf stood on the brink of a tall cliff, bare and bleak. A chill wind blew from the East, which was where they looked. At the edge of the horizon far away, they could make out the dim outline of Mount Doom, in the land of Mordor. Every now and then a tiny gleam flickered upwards from there.
The silence was broken by Frodo.
"Mordor." He sighed. "I hope the others find a safer route."
"Strider will look after them," replied Sam reassuringly. Casey found herself wondering about Legolas.
"I don't suppose we'll ever see them again," said Frodo.
"We may yet, Mr. Frodo. We may," replied Sam again.
"I wish we could have said goodbye," murmured Casey. The two hobbits nodded in agreement.
"Well, I'm glad you two are with me," said Frodo. He was, deep inside, glad that he didn't have to make the perilous journey alone, but would have two loyal friends by his side to help him bear his burden all the way to Mordor.
Both Casey and Sam merely smiled, as Frodo began to make his way over the slope. They followed him.
That night they together in the cold, under an old gnarled tree. But they still felt as if they were being watched, and so bare and exposed.
Casey sat on the right of Frodo. To his left was Sam, who was lying stretched out on the ground with his head on Frodo's lap. Frodo's head was snuggled in Casey's shoulder. Casey was keeping watch for the night, with her keen eyes piercing through the gloom. But although Frodo felt troubled and tired, sleep did not come to him as easy as it did for Sam, who was snoring blissfully and dreaming about having beer at the Prancing Pony in Bree.
"Frodo? Are you still awake?" Casey asked. Frodo tilted his head slightly towards her.
"Yes," he whispered, "I can't go to sleep."
Casey wrapped her arms around him and kissed his head of curls softly.
"Why not?" she asked, stroking his hair.
"I can't help thinking that we are so delayed." Frodo sighed before continuing. "All my choices have proved ill. I should have left the Company long before and taken a different route. Every day that passes is a precious day lost, and I am so tired." He sighed again and snuggled deeper into Casey's arms. She stroked his face.
"I don't know what is to be done," said Frodo softly.
"You have to go to sleep, we've got another long day tomorrow," Casey said.
Frodo nodded, but then Casey sat upright. Frodo rose from her arms reluctantly, but was alarmed.
"What is it?" he asked.
"I think something is watching us," whispered Casey, "I think it's the same thing that was watching us when we were on the River."
"But I thought that was just Legolas."
Casey shook her head. Then her eyes flared open. "Look, can't you see those eyes out there?" Her voice fell to a whisper.
"It must be Gollum," said Frodo thoughtfully, "Gandalf always said that he had a part to play in my quest."
Casey looked perplexed, but Frodo merely settled his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes. Casey sat there thinking for a while.
It had been so strange, how she had suddenly been plucked out of her own world, and brought into this world. She had been immersed into all these different people so much that – why, her own world, her past was becoming a distant memory to her.
"I don't even know how I died," Casey murmured to herself. Soon, Frodo's heavy breathing overwhelmed her, and she fell asleep too.
For several days [although they had lost count] they clambered over the rocks and stones, sometimes retracing their steps if they could find no way forward and sometimes ending up in circles. But throughout their journey eastwards and southwards, they heard faint sounds behind them that even the simple hobbit ears of Sam could hear, of a stone falling or the imagined step of feet on rock. But whenever they paused and stood still they heard nothing, save the wind sighing – and yet that reminded them of breath softly hissing through sharp teeth.
"Well master, we're in a fix and no mistake," said Sam. He hunched his shoulders dejectedly and peered out into the ever-present gloom. Beside him stood Frodo and Casey.
They now stood on the brink of a cleft that seemed to slope outwards. It looked like a great rampart or sea-wall whose foundations had shifted, so that its courses were all twisted and disordered, leaving great fissures and long slanting edges that were in places almost as wide as stairs.
"There's nothing for it but to scramble down this gully," said Sam.
"Yes, it looks much lower, about eighteen fathoms I think. We shall have to try," said Frodo.
"It looks like it's getting dark though," said Casey staring upwards, "Don't you think we should wait until tomorrow?"
"No! Not if I can help it," said Frodo with a sudden strange flush of urgency and – something else that Casey could not detect. "I'm going down to try it out. Don't you follow till I come back or call!"
"Shouldn't I go first, Mr. Frodo? After all, you should put the one lowest who is most likely to slip. I don't want to come down atop of you and knock you off – no sense in killing two with one fall," said Sam.
Frodo shook his head, and before Sam could stop him, he was over the edge.
Casey looked worriedly at Sam, but they were both helpless to do anything, as Frodo let himself down slowly, his fingers gripping the edge until his toes found a ledge.
Casey bit her nails nervously, while Sam leaned over the edge.
"Frodo?" Casey called out. "Are you okay?"
"Yes!" came his voice, "Just one step down! And this ledge broadens a little, I could stand here without a hold. I'll –" His words were cut short.
There was a dry splitting crack of thunder overhead, mixed with Sam's cries and then lightning seared down the hills. A shrill shriek filled the air that terrorised them so much that it pierced them with cold blades of horror and despair, stopping both heart and breath. Casey and Sam screamed and clutched each other. Involuntarily Frodo loosed his hold and put his hands over his ears. He swayed, slipped and slithered downwards with a wailing cry. Sam was the first to recover.
"Master!" He crawled to the edge and fell flat on his face. Casey did likewise.
There was no answer. Casey was about to lower herself down from the ledge when a faint answering cry was heard.
"All right! I'm here. But I can't see." Frodo's voice sounded weak. From where Casey now balanced on the ledge Frodo had been on, he was not actually very far away. He had not fallen but slid to a wider ledge slightly lower down. He stood up and steadied himself a little, leaning against the cliff, feeling his heart pounding.
"Frodo, I'm climbing down to you!" Casey called, before lowering her foot slightly lower down.
"No, don't! Stay where you are!" Frodo called back.
"Oh for a rope," murmured Casey. Sam heard.
"Rope!" he cried in excitement and relief. "How stupid I've been! You're nowt but a ninnyhammer Sam Gamgee, that's what the Gaffer often said to me. Rope!"
"Huh?" replied Casey, tilting her head upwards to stare at Sam.
"Stop chattering!" cried Frodo, who had recovered enough to feel both amused and annoyed.
"You mean you have rope?" said Casey cautiously.
"Yes, in my pack and all. Carried it hundreds of miles and I'd clean forgotten it!"
"Well what's it been doing in there, sleeping?!" shrieked Casey.
"Get busy and let it down!" cried Frodo.
Quickly Sam unslung his pack and rummaged in it. His search was rewarded when there indeed at the bottom was the rope made by the folk of Lorien, a coil of silken-gray. Sam cast the end down first to Casey. After Sam had pulled up Casey to the top, the rope was cast down again to Frodo. The darkness seemed to lift from Frodo's eyes, as the gray line came dangling down, with a faint silver sheen. Half-hauled, half scrambling, Frodo came up and threw himself on the ground, panting.
"It's good to be back," said Frodo, breathing deep, while Casey and Sam laughed in relief. Just then, the heavens split open, and rain fell down. The hobbits and the angel-elf ran for shelter back into the gully, although there was little to be found.
"Well, now what?" asked Casey once Frodo had got his breath back.
"It seems as if the storm has past and the rain's nearly over," said Frodo thoughtfully.
"If you're so set on climbing, Mr. Frodo, then I say now is the perfect time to use the rope," said Sam.
"How long is it?" asked Casey.
"Thirty ells or say, about eighteen fathom: that's no more than your guess at the height of the cliff," replied Sam nodding to Frodo.
Frodo thought for a while. "Make it fast to that stump, Sam. You can have your wish and go first this time, and Casey and I shall lower you."
"Very well," said Sam heavily. "If it must be, let's get it over!" He took up the rope and made it fast over the stump nearest to the brink; the other end Casey tied about Sam's waist. Reluctantly he turned and prepared to go over the edge.
It did not, however, turn out half as bad as he had expected. There was one awkward spot however, where there was no ledge and the wall was sheer. But he trusted his weight to Casey and Frodo and to the rope, as they lowered him slowly and steadily until it was over at last. Amazingly enough, there was still excess rope.
"I'm down!" called Sam.
"Now you," said Frodo to Casey.
"Are you sure? You won't have anyone to lower you," she replied. Frodo seemed unsure for a moment, but nodded. He pulled the rope up determinedly and fastened the rope around Casey's waist. Casey moved over to the edge, and choked for a moment. When it was dark, it did not seem so high, but now that there was light, Casey discovered her fear of heights.
"I can't do this," she cried to Frodo, turning back.
"Then you'll get left behind," said Frodo, gently but firmly. He saw the fear in Casey's eyes, and stepped closer to her, tightening the knot around her waist reassuringly.
"Hello! Who's coming down next?" cried Sam from below. His voice sounded so far, so distant.
"Don't worry," said Frodo comfortingly, "I won't let you fall." Casey nodded, and went over the edge, holding her breath and squeezing her eyes shut.
However like Sam, Casey did not find it so bad. However at one point there was no ledge and she froze, as she saw the ground between her feet. Sam stood down below, looking not so small as before from the top, but still quite far down. She looked up and saw Frodo's head peering over the edge, his hair falling in front of his face. She gritted her teeth, closed her eyes and, trying to ignore the fact that her stomach was doing flip-flops, carried on going down. The moment her feet touched the ground, she fell into Sam's arms, almost crying with relief.
"Never again," she said into Sam's shoulder, as Sam patted her back and watched the rope sail upwards.
"Mr. Frodo, are you sure you'll be alright?" asked Sam as Frodo peered over the top.
"Yes, we'll catch you if you fall," said Casey wickedly, already recovered from her trauma.
"Very funny," Frodo said mockingly. He looked around the barren slopes of Emyn Muil, and tied the rope around his waist, so that it was shortened and therefore would pull him up before he reached the ground if he fell. However he prayed that the knot around the stump was secure as he made his way down. He did not have as much faith as Sam had in the slender gray line, but twice had to trust it completely when the smooth surfaces possessed no hold for even his strong hobbit fingers [A/N: sorry, had to put that in … aaaw …] and the ledges were far apart. But at last he too was down.
"Well!" he cried. "We've done it! We've escaped from Emyn Muil!" Casey enveloped him in a great hug, as Sam stared back at the cliff in despair.
"Noodles!" Sam said, as the couple looked at him in puzzlement. "Ninnyhammers! My beautiful rope! There it is tied to a stump and we're at the bottom. Just a nice little stair for Gollum to slip down!"
"We may as well have put a signpost to say which way we've gone," said Casey in equal despair. But Frodo laughed.
"If you can think of any way we could have both used the rope and yet brought it down with us, then you can pass on to me ninnyhammer or any other name the Gaffer gave you," said Frodo. "Climb up and untie it yourself if you want to!"
Sam scratched his head. "No I can't think how," he said solemnly. "But I don't like leaving it. It goes hard parting with anything I brought out of the Elf-country. Made by Galadriel herself too, maybe." He stroked the rope and bowed his head mournfully, as Casey tried to control herself from a fit of giggles, as Frodo glared at her, but couldn't help smiling too. Sam looked up and gave one last pull to the rope as if in farewell.
To the complete surprise of the hobbits and the angel-elf, the rope came loose. Sam fell over in astonishment and the long gray coils slithered silently down on top of him. Casey couldn't control herself, and let loose a fit of hysterics as Frodo laughed along with her.
"Who tied the rope?" Frodo said. "To think I trusted all my weight to your knot!"
Sam did not laugh but looked rather hurt. "I may not be much good at climbing Mr. Frodo, but I do know something about ropes and knots. It's in the family, as you might say. I put as fast a hitch over that stump as anyone could have done."
"Then the rope must have broken," said Casey nonchalantly, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Or maybe it frayed over the rock edge," put in Frodo helpfully.
"I bet it didn't!" said Sam in an injured tone. He examined the rope and held it out for Casey to see, who took the rope from him. "Nor it hasn't either, not a single strand!"
"Then I'm afraid it must have been the knot," concluded Frodo, still smiling.
"Have it your own way Mr. Frodo," said Sam, "but I think the rope came off itself – when I called." He coiled it up and stowed it lovingly in his pack.
Casey rolled her eyes. "You're in love with that rope, and now the rope's in love with you," she said, as Frodo grinned cheekily at Sam. But Sam did not answer but looked up at the sky instead.
"Well, at least we have it, and that's the chief thing," said Frodo, "but now we have to think of our next move."
Casey yawned. "Yeah, sleep, I hope," she said.
"How beautiful the stars are, and the Moon! Imagine, they're probably shining down on Merry and Pippin, and everyone else too," said Sam wistfully.
"The moon isn't giving off too much light," said Frodo. "I don't think we'll try the marshes by the light of the moon."
"We'd better find some place to sleep for the night then," said Casey, looking around at her surroundings.
They picked their way over the broken feet of the Emyn Muil, but they could find no nook or hollow to shelter in. In the end, worn out, they just cast themselves on the ground underneath a boulder. There they sat huddled mournfully together in the cold.
"Well!" said Frodo standing up at last. "You two should sleep for a bit and I'll walk up and down on sentry for a while. Here Sam, take my blanket." Suddenly he stiffened.
"What's the matter?" said Casey sleepily.
"Look over there on the cliff!" Frodo whispered urgently.