Chapter Twenty-Eight
*A/N WARNING!! If you haven't read 'The Two Towers' or the 'Return of the King' then here's this warning. This chapter contains Frodo, Pippin and Merry telling stories of the quest from these books. So there may be spoilers. If you don't want the books/films to be spoiled for you, then don't read this chapter. Nothing *big* happens in it anyway . . . it is just Frodo, Nina, Holly, Pippin, Merry, Portia and Nissa setting up camp after a days travelling, telling stories*
They rode across the fields and crops - Frodo, Merry and Pippin re-telling the stories of their travels, joking, laughing and re living past memories. Nina's arms were beginning to ache, carrying Lömadia for so long. But she knew that in the end it would be well worth it.
"Where are we stopping tonight Frodo?" Holly asked.
Frodo shrugged. "Maybe we could stop by Tom Bombadil's house"
"Ah!" Nina called out. "Tom Bombadil!"
"You remember me telling you about him, I see!" Frodo laughed.
Portia and Nissa chuckled lightly from the pony they were sharing, trying to at least get a hold of the tales of the quest, and now knowing why Nina used to run off with Frodo to hear these tales.
"We could stop off in the forest and light a fire." Merry suggested. "I cannot remember how far away we are from Tom Bombadil's."
"As long as you don't get swallowed by a tree again!" Frodo chuckled, remembering very well.
"Ah, yes," Pippin hid a smirk. "And if that does occur again, just remember the song Tom Bombadil sang to the tree . . ."
Nina let out a laugh, imagining the scene in her mind. She could imagine getting up to see two pairs of feet hanging out of a crack of a tree. At the time, Frodo said that he and Sam panicked terribly, but it wasn't until Tom Bombadil showed up and saved them, that they thought it was terribly funny!
"Yes, Nina, you can stop laughing at our expense!" Merry slouched.
"I'm sorry," she giggled. "I just caught the thought in my mind, is all!"
"That's exactly what I said!" Holly laughed along with her. "Jeez, Nina, you're arms look like they're going to fall off!"
"Yeah," Nina admitted, staring down at her sleeping daughter. "I'm afraid she may be a light baby, but after a while she tends to weigh a tonne"
"Then we better stop here, on the edge of the forest" Frodo said, bringing the pony to a stop and jumping off. Holly jumped off her pony and ran over to Nina, as Nina handed Lömadia down to her. Frodo helped Nina off the pony whilst Pippin and Merry acted like gentlehobbits, helping Portia and Nissa off their pony.
Frodo took Lömadia off Holly and that was it, Nina knew he wouldn't put her down now!
"You know, it's funny," Merry said as he and Pippin dumped some firewood onto the ground. "I could almost sense someone or something following us this evening"
"Gollum's dead," Holly commented, sitting beside her brother.
"Well done brains!" Pippin chuckled as Holly kicked him lightly.
"I'm serious," Merry said again, looking to Frodo, who just looked to his daughter again.
"It was probably your mind playing tricks" Frodo answered. "We were reliving past memories of the quest . . . I could almost feel Gollum's presence at one point I must admit"
Nina grasped his hand reassuringly. "But what is there left in Middle-earth that can destroy us now?"
Everyone looked around at one another, until Merry chuckled.
"Listen to us!" he laughed. "All we are doing is travelling to Rivendell so Nina and Frodo can marry. It's not as though we're throwing a ring into a volcano!"
"He's right," Pippin laughed too. "There's nothing in Middle-earth left but hungry orcs . . . and they would have took residence at Lothlorien .Besides, if there is anything, we have our swords and Frodo has Sting"
Frodo moved his cloak out of the way and pulled out Sting. Portia and Nissa gasped in amazement, having never laid eyes on Sting before, Nina noticed and chuckled.
"It's an Elven blade" she said. "It used to belong to Bilbo, and Bilbo took it on his quest. The blade glows blue when orcs are close . . . Bilbo gave it to Frodo for the quest"
"And what wonders did Sting do for you Frodo?" Portia spoke up, interested.
Frodo smiled, handing Sting to Nina who smiled, examining the blade with awe. "It saved us from orcs; Sam even killed Shelob with it"
"Shelob?!" Nissa frowned.
"A giant spider!" Nina called out. "But Frodo does not want to be reminded"
"It's fine, really!" Frodo laughed at her enthusiasm, as though she followed him on the quest . . . and in a way, she did.
"I'm sure you would have heard Bilbo's tale in the Misty Mountains. Riddles in the Dark?"
Portia and Nissa nodded, remembering when they were much younger, listening to Bilbo's tales.
"Well, Gollum wanted the Ring . . . it had poisoned his mind for the 500 years that he had had it. He followed Sam and I for quite a long distance. It wasn't until the passage of the marshes that Sam and I caught Gollum . . . and we had promised to let him free once he led us to a safe entrance to Mordor. I tried to treat him with as much respect as possible - I knew it was the Ring that had made Gollum what he was. In reality, he was as much a hobbit as we all are - a hobbit named Sméagol. Gollum had promised to not to hurt me, I suppose deep down he was a nice person . . . though he did not take too kindly to Sam, and Sam did not take too kindly to him either, they often got into their little arguments and face pulling antics. But to cut a long story short, Gollum told us he knew a secret passage to Mordor, where no orcs went. We followed him, because I mistakenly trusted him. The tunnel was filthy, and I shall always remember the foul smell.
I remember calling Sméagol's name . . . but there was no trace of him, but nevertheless, Sam and I decided to carry on. It wasn't until Sam spoke that he felt a pair of eyes on him that we began to worry slightly. The phial of the Lady Galadriel was our light, and when we held it up, it seemed to keep the eyes away. We found we were surrounded by cobwebs, giant cobwebs at that . . . and when Sam tried to cut them down with his sword, he found that his sword only bounced off them. Sting, on the other hand, being an Elven blade, managed to slice though them as though they were grass.
As we tried to escape, She came out. A giant spider, with big bulging eyes and a claw at each end on her eight legs. They called her Shelob, and she was an ancient creature of Middle-earth. Las thing I remember is Shelob coming towards me, fangs out. And far away I saw Gollum attack Sam. The last thing I felt was a stinging pain on my neck and then it all went black"
Frodo brushed his curls off his neck so everyone could see a faint scar. Portia and Nissa especially gasped in shock, never hearing this story before. Everyone else had, but still, it sent shivers down their spines and made them lean in, gesturing Frodo to continue.
"What happened after I do not remember, I remember waking up in a tower surrounded by Orcs and -"
"Frodo," Nina shook her head. "Don't remind yourself of that"
Frodo let out a huff. "How can I not?"
"Just tell us the story about the orcs thinking Sam was an Elven warrior!" Holly said, changing the subject. She did not want reminding of the torture her cousin had gone through.
"Ah, yes," Frodo smiled. "Sam has told me this story many times and still it makes me laugh. Whilst I was in the tower, Sam told me that after he had killed Shelob with Sting; he lay by my side and wept, thinking I was dead. He said that was the hardest decision of his life. His choices were to stay with me, or to take the Ring and carry on to Mount Doom and save Middle- earth. He chose the right one of course; he took the Ring and headed back up the mountain, leaving my body in the doorway of the tunnel. He told me that as he climbed, he heard orcs down below. He said he watched as he saw two Orcs pick up my body and walk away. Sam, being Sam said he wouldn't let those scoundrels take my body, so he abandoned the task he set himself and went after me. He hid in the bushes as the orcs set up camp in the woods. He heard them laugh and joke about Shelob, saying that I was merely paralysed, not dead . . . and that that was how Shelob got her prey. They assumed Sam had been killed. Of course, Sam had the Ring and Sting . . . and of course, Sting glows blue were there are orcs. The Orcs picked me up and rushed to the tower, thinking that Sam was some kind of Elvish Warrior about to attack them! They probably would have laughed if they found out it was but a hobbit! Anyway, Sam saved me from those scoundrels and I'll be forever grateful to my friend"
"Sam? An Elvish Warrior!" Pippin laughed as Frodo finished and everybody joined in.
"They still believed that when he entered the Tower. With Sting glowing like that, they did not dare touch him!"
After the laughing stopped, they all sat around the fire, talking.
"Pippin, Merry, tell us about the Ents!" Holly proposed.
"Well," Merry started. "After the fellowship left Lothlorien, we sailed up the River Anduin. We set up camp on the Shore . . . but we all panicked when Strider announced that both Frodo and Boromir had gone missing. So we split up, looking everywhere. Merry and I were together but suddenly a large army of Orcs called the Uruk-Hai came bounding towards us, growling, flashing their weapons up high. Pip and I ran, but it was no use . . . we were surrounded. We thought we'd be killed for sure, but Boromir appeared and fought to save us. He yelled at us to run away while he held them off . . . and we turned to run. Our hearts skipped beats as we turned and saw that Boromir had been struck with an arrow. We looked upon him helplessly . . . but brave Boromir, a true warrior would not go down. He began to fight the Orcs again, slaying lots of them. Lurtz, leader of the Uruk-Hai from Isenguard, stuck Boromir again with an arrow. But still, Boromir fought, and fought until an eighth arrow struck him and he could fight no more."
"We were picked up by some orcs and they ran off, carrying us on their backs" Pippin carried on. "We screamed for help, for Strider, Legolas and Gimli to help us. But they were fighting the Uruk-Hai too in the forest. We feared more of them had died . . . So there we were, being carted off on the backs of these orcs. They bound our hands and ankles together to we could not escape. I left my Elven brooch from Lorien on the ground so if Strider ever thought to look for us, this would be a path for him to follow. Days they travelled and Merry and I got restless, losing all hope. They said they were taking us to Isenguard to see the wizard Saruman. He wanted to Ring for himself so Merry and I came to the conclusion that he thought we had the Ring."
"When, the Orcs finally rested," Merry said. "They set us on the ground away from the group. They said they didn't want filthy Halflings like us around them no more. They rested on the edge of a forest. One Orc came towards us, scratching at us as if looking for something. I guessed he was looking for the Ring so I began teasing him. Pip soon caught the hint and began to do it too - doing impressions of Gollum, talking about the 'Precious' The Orc got restless and told us to give him it. We said he would, as long as he untied us. Suddenly, the Orc fell to the floor and we saw that he had been struck dead with an arrow. We both looked up and saw human riders . . . they started attacking the Uruk-Hai and we figured this would be a good chance to escape. I rubbed the rope that tied my hands together against the dead orcs sword and soon I was free. I helped Pippin and we dashed into the forest. We weren't going to risk our lives again - we had no idea whether those riders were good or evil. We decided to take our chances in the forest. We got in deep enough in the forest and talked about how pretty it was. Suddenly a voice boomed out; 'You almost like the forest?' it asked. We looked around nervously . . . not knowing. We thought our eyes were playing games when a walking tree came towards us and picked us up in his hands. He was friendly and said he liked us because we weren't like those Orcs, who wanted to cut down trees. We explained we were friends of Gandalf the Grey and the tree liked us even more. He said he liked Gandalf more than Saruman and we explained about Saruman's evil plan. The tree introduced himself as Treebeard. And that his race was called the Ents"
"We spent the night with Treebeard," Pippin added as Merry took a deep breath. "He taught us Ent songs and gave us plenty of food and water. The next morning, he brought the whole army of the Ents and they marched towards Isenguard, intending on declaring war."
"It was fun!" Merry laughed. "The Ents were magnificent fighters! Especially Treebeard, who carried us all through it!"
"We completely destroyed Isenguard . . . but no, we did not destroy Saruman . . . he and his slave Grima Wormtongue had locked themselves in the tower of Orthanc. The Ents stayed in Isenguard in case Saruman should ever try to break free. Soon, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli turned up with a mass of army, only to discover that Isenguard had already been destroyed! We were delighted to see Gandalf with them. We thought Gandalf had died whilst trying to kill the balrog in Moria. When in fact, he had fought the Balrog in the abyss and had become Gandalf the White for his bravery and courage. They seemed annoyed with Pip and I. Gimli roared about how worried they had been about us and how they worked hard to get that army so they could defeat the Uruk-Hai and save us from Saruman. I think they were more annoyed that they found Pip and I amongst the ruins of Isenguard, lying in the sun, smoking our pipes!"
Everyone laughed.
"So . . . how did Saruman get to the Shire?" Nissa asked. "I know he was Sharkey"
"Gandalf tried talking to him in Orthanc. Saruman insisted he had no power left and was going to stay in the tower. He begged for us to leave him alone. He looked defeated and helpless . . . and just believed that" Merry answered. After the quest, when we had all been united, we travelled home and we saw Saruman and Wormtongue begging for money. We ignored him and he gave a threat . . . but we knew he had no power. It wasn't until we four hobbits got to the shire that we realised it had been taken over by Orcs. You know what happened from there, we were shocked to discover that Sharkey was Saruman . . . and that his threat was indeed, true. He had threatened that it would not be happy ending for us. He had gotten together some left over Orcs from the Uruk-Hai. But in the end, it was Wormtongue that saved us. Frodo managed to make Wormtongue see that Saruman did not care for him and treated him badly. As Saruman stabbed Frodo, Wormtongue grasped a knife and attacked Saruman, killing him."
"Wow," Nissa gasped. "So it was Wormtongue . . . sounds an awful name"
"He looked pretty awful too" Frodo added. "Like a hunchback. Not like a human being"
As darkness crept over, Holly suggested they get some sleep so they could travel to Bree the next day. Everyone set up their blankets and fell asleep. Frodo laid Lömadia between himself and Nina and kissed them both goodnight.
"I love you," Nina whispered to him, her eyes closed.
Frodo smiled and moved strands of hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry about your parents"
Nina looked asleep but was still conscious. "I'll be fine," her breath was only coming out as a sleepy sigh now. "I'm the happiest Hobbit-lass in the shire . . . well in Middle-earth"
Frodo smiled again, kissing her cheek softly before falling into a deep sleep.
*A/N WARNING!! If you haven't read 'The Two Towers' or the 'Return of the King' then here's this warning. This chapter contains Frodo, Pippin and Merry telling stories of the quest from these books. So there may be spoilers. If you don't want the books/films to be spoiled for you, then don't read this chapter. Nothing *big* happens in it anyway . . . it is just Frodo, Nina, Holly, Pippin, Merry, Portia and Nissa setting up camp after a days travelling, telling stories*
They rode across the fields and crops - Frodo, Merry and Pippin re-telling the stories of their travels, joking, laughing and re living past memories. Nina's arms were beginning to ache, carrying Lömadia for so long. But she knew that in the end it would be well worth it.
"Where are we stopping tonight Frodo?" Holly asked.
Frodo shrugged. "Maybe we could stop by Tom Bombadil's house"
"Ah!" Nina called out. "Tom Bombadil!"
"You remember me telling you about him, I see!" Frodo laughed.
Portia and Nissa chuckled lightly from the pony they were sharing, trying to at least get a hold of the tales of the quest, and now knowing why Nina used to run off with Frodo to hear these tales.
"We could stop off in the forest and light a fire." Merry suggested. "I cannot remember how far away we are from Tom Bombadil's."
"As long as you don't get swallowed by a tree again!" Frodo chuckled, remembering very well.
"Ah, yes," Pippin hid a smirk. "And if that does occur again, just remember the song Tom Bombadil sang to the tree . . ."
Nina let out a laugh, imagining the scene in her mind. She could imagine getting up to see two pairs of feet hanging out of a crack of a tree. At the time, Frodo said that he and Sam panicked terribly, but it wasn't until Tom Bombadil showed up and saved them, that they thought it was terribly funny!
"Yes, Nina, you can stop laughing at our expense!" Merry slouched.
"I'm sorry," she giggled. "I just caught the thought in my mind, is all!"
"That's exactly what I said!" Holly laughed along with her. "Jeez, Nina, you're arms look like they're going to fall off!"
"Yeah," Nina admitted, staring down at her sleeping daughter. "I'm afraid she may be a light baby, but after a while she tends to weigh a tonne"
"Then we better stop here, on the edge of the forest" Frodo said, bringing the pony to a stop and jumping off. Holly jumped off her pony and ran over to Nina, as Nina handed Lömadia down to her. Frodo helped Nina off the pony whilst Pippin and Merry acted like gentlehobbits, helping Portia and Nissa off their pony.
Frodo took Lömadia off Holly and that was it, Nina knew he wouldn't put her down now!
"You know, it's funny," Merry said as he and Pippin dumped some firewood onto the ground. "I could almost sense someone or something following us this evening"
"Gollum's dead," Holly commented, sitting beside her brother.
"Well done brains!" Pippin chuckled as Holly kicked him lightly.
"I'm serious," Merry said again, looking to Frodo, who just looked to his daughter again.
"It was probably your mind playing tricks" Frodo answered. "We were reliving past memories of the quest . . . I could almost feel Gollum's presence at one point I must admit"
Nina grasped his hand reassuringly. "But what is there left in Middle-earth that can destroy us now?"
Everyone looked around at one another, until Merry chuckled.
"Listen to us!" he laughed. "All we are doing is travelling to Rivendell so Nina and Frodo can marry. It's not as though we're throwing a ring into a volcano!"
"He's right," Pippin laughed too. "There's nothing in Middle-earth left but hungry orcs . . . and they would have took residence at Lothlorien .Besides, if there is anything, we have our swords and Frodo has Sting"
Frodo moved his cloak out of the way and pulled out Sting. Portia and Nissa gasped in amazement, having never laid eyes on Sting before, Nina noticed and chuckled.
"It's an Elven blade" she said. "It used to belong to Bilbo, and Bilbo took it on his quest. The blade glows blue when orcs are close . . . Bilbo gave it to Frodo for the quest"
"And what wonders did Sting do for you Frodo?" Portia spoke up, interested.
Frodo smiled, handing Sting to Nina who smiled, examining the blade with awe. "It saved us from orcs; Sam even killed Shelob with it"
"Shelob?!" Nissa frowned.
"A giant spider!" Nina called out. "But Frodo does not want to be reminded"
"It's fine, really!" Frodo laughed at her enthusiasm, as though she followed him on the quest . . . and in a way, she did.
"I'm sure you would have heard Bilbo's tale in the Misty Mountains. Riddles in the Dark?"
Portia and Nissa nodded, remembering when they were much younger, listening to Bilbo's tales.
"Well, Gollum wanted the Ring . . . it had poisoned his mind for the 500 years that he had had it. He followed Sam and I for quite a long distance. It wasn't until the passage of the marshes that Sam and I caught Gollum . . . and we had promised to let him free once he led us to a safe entrance to Mordor. I tried to treat him with as much respect as possible - I knew it was the Ring that had made Gollum what he was. In reality, he was as much a hobbit as we all are - a hobbit named Sméagol. Gollum had promised to not to hurt me, I suppose deep down he was a nice person . . . though he did not take too kindly to Sam, and Sam did not take too kindly to him either, they often got into their little arguments and face pulling antics. But to cut a long story short, Gollum told us he knew a secret passage to Mordor, where no orcs went. We followed him, because I mistakenly trusted him. The tunnel was filthy, and I shall always remember the foul smell.
I remember calling Sméagol's name . . . but there was no trace of him, but nevertheless, Sam and I decided to carry on. It wasn't until Sam spoke that he felt a pair of eyes on him that we began to worry slightly. The phial of the Lady Galadriel was our light, and when we held it up, it seemed to keep the eyes away. We found we were surrounded by cobwebs, giant cobwebs at that . . . and when Sam tried to cut them down with his sword, he found that his sword only bounced off them. Sting, on the other hand, being an Elven blade, managed to slice though them as though they were grass.
As we tried to escape, She came out. A giant spider, with big bulging eyes and a claw at each end on her eight legs. They called her Shelob, and she was an ancient creature of Middle-earth. Las thing I remember is Shelob coming towards me, fangs out. And far away I saw Gollum attack Sam. The last thing I felt was a stinging pain on my neck and then it all went black"
Frodo brushed his curls off his neck so everyone could see a faint scar. Portia and Nissa especially gasped in shock, never hearing this story before. Everyone else had, but still, it sent shivers down their spines and made them lean in, gesturing Frodo to continue.
"What happened after I do not remember, I remember waking up in a tower surrounded by Orcs and -"
"Frodo," Nina shook her head. "Don't remind yourself of that"
Frodo let out a huff. "How can I not?"
"Just tell us the story about the orcs thinking Sam was an Elven warrior!" Holly said, changing the subject. She did not want reminding of the torture her cousin had gone through.
"Ah, yes," Frodo smiled. "Sam has told me this story many times and still it makes me laugh. Whilst I was in the tower, Sam told me that after he had killed Shelob with Sting; he lay by my side and wept, thinking I was dead. He said that was the hardest decision of his life. His choices were to stay with me, or to take the Ring and carry on to Mount Doom and save Middle- earth. He chose the right one of course; he took the Ring and headed back up the mountain, leaving my body in the doorway of the tunnel. He told me that as he climbed, he heard orcs down below. He said he watched as he saw two Orcs pick up my body and walk away. Sam, being Sam said he wouldn't let those scoundrels take my body, so he abandoned the task he set himself and went after me. He hid in the bushes as the orcs set up camp in the woods. He heard them laugh and joke about Shelob, saying that I was merely paralysed, not dead . . . and that that was how Shelob got her prey. They assumed Sam had been killed. Of course, Sam had the Ring and Sting . . . and of course, Sting glows blue were there are orcs. The Orcs picked me up and rushed to the tower, thinking that Sam was some kind of Elvish Warrior about to attack them! They probably would have laughed if they found out it was but a hobbit! Anyway, Sam saved me from those scoundrels and I'll be forever grateful to my friend"
"Sam? An Elvish Warrior!" Pippin laughed as Frodo finished and everybody joined in.
"They still believed that when he entered the Tower. With Sting glowing like that, they did not dare touch him!"
After the laughing stopped, they all sat around the fire, talking.
"Pippin, Merry, tell us about the Ents!" Holly proposed.
"Well," Merry started. "After the fellowship left Lothlorien, we sailed up the River Anduin. We set up camp on the Shore . . . but we all panicked when Strider announced that both Frodo and Boromir had gone missing. So we split up, looking everywhere. Merry and I were together but suddenly a large army of Orcs called the Uruk-Hai came bounding towards us, growling, flashing their weapons up high. Pip and I ran, but it was no use . . . we were surrounded. We thought we'd be killed for sure, but Boromir appeared and fought to save us. He yelled at us to run away while he held them off . . . and we turned to run. Our hearts skipped beats as we turned and saw that Boromir had been struck with an arrow. We looked upon him helplessly . . . but brave Boromir, a true warrior would not go down. He began to fight the Orcs again, slaying lots of them. Lurtz, leader of the Uruk-Hai from Isenguard, stuck Boromir again with an arrow. But still, Boromir fought, and fought until an eighth arrow struck him and he could fight no more."
"We were picked up by some orcs and they ran off, carrying us on their backs" Pippin carried on. "We screamed for help, for Strider, Legolas and Gimli to help us. But they were fighting the Uruk-Hai too in the forest. We feared more of them had died . . . So there we were, being carted off on the backs of these orcs. They bound our hands and ankles together to we could not escape. I left my Elven brooch from Lorien on the ground so if Strider ever thought to look for us, this would be a path for him to follow. Days they travelled and Merry and I got restless, losing all hope. They said they were taking us to Isenguard to see the wizard Saruman. He wanted to Ring for himself so Merry and I came to the conclusion that he thought we had the Ring."
"When, the Orcs finally rested," Merry said. "They set us on the ground away from the group. They said they didn't want filthy Halflings like us around them no more. They rested on the edge of a forest. One Orc came towards us, scratching at us as if looking for something. I guessed he was looking for the Ring so I began teasing him. Pip soon caught the hint and began to do it too - doing impressions of Gollum, talking about the 'Precious' The Orc got restless and told us to give him it. We said he would, as long as he untied us. Suddenly, the Orc fell to the floor and we saw that he had been struck dead with an arrow. We both looked up and saw human riders . . . they started attacking the Uruk-Hai and we figured this would be a good chance to escape. I rubbed the rope that tied my hands together against the dead orcs sword and soon I was free. I helped Pippin and we dashed into the forest. We weren't going to risk our lives again - we had no idea whether those riders were good or evil. We decided to take our chances in the forest. We got in deep enough in the forest and talked about how pretty it was. Suddenly a voice boomed out; 'You almost like the forest?' it asked. We looked around nervously . . . not knowing. We thought our eyes were playing games when a walking tree came towards us and picked us up in his hands. He was friendly and said he liked us because we weren't like those Orcs, who wanted to cut down trees. We explained we were friends of Gandalf the Grey and the tree liked us even more. He said he liked Gandalf more than Saruman and we explained about Saruman's evil plan. The tree introduced himself as Treebeard. And that his race was called the Ents"
"We spent the night with Treebeard," Pippin added as Merry took a deep breath. "He taught us Ent songs and gave us plenty of food and water. The next morning, he brought the whole army of the Ents and they marched towards Isenguard, intending on declaring war."
"It was fun!" Merry laughed. "The Ents were magnificent fighters! Especially Treebeard, who carried us all through it!"
"We completely destroyed Isenguard . . . but no, we did not destroy Saruman . . . he and his slave Grima Wormtongue had locked themselves in the tower of Orthanc. The Ents stayed in Isenguard in case Saruman should ever try to break free. Soon, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli turned up with a mass of army, only to discover that Isenguard had already been destroyed! We were delighted to see Gandalf with them. We thought Gandalf had died whilst trying to kill the balrog in Moria. When in fact, he had fought the Balrog in the abyss and had become Gandalf the White for his bravery and courage. They seemed annoyed with Pip and I. Gimli roared about how worried they had been about us and how they worked hard to get that army so they could defeat the Uruk-Hai and save us from Saruman. I think they were more annoyed that they found Pip and I amongst the ruins of Isenguard, lying in the sun, smoking our pipes!"
Everyone laughed.
"So . . . how did Saruman get to the Shire?" Nissa asked. "I know he was Sharkey"
"Gandalf tried talking to him in Orthanc. Saruman insisted he had no power left and was going to stay in the tower. He begged for us to leave him alone. He looked defeated and helpless . . . and just believed that" Merry answered. After the quest, when we had all been united, we travelled home and we saw Saruman and Wormtongue begging for money. We ignored him and he gave a threat . . . but we knew he had no power. It wasn't until we four hobbits got to the shire that we realised it had been taken over by Orcs. You know what happened from there, we were shocked to discover that Sharkey was Saruman . . . and that his threat was indeed, true. He had threatened that it would not be happy ending for us. He had gotten together some left over Orcs from the Uruk-Hai. But in the end, it was Wormtongue that saved us. Frodo managed to make Wormtongue see that Saruman did not care for him and treated him badly. As Saruman stabbed Frodo, Wormtongue grasped a knife and attacked Saruman, killing him."
"Wow," Nissa gasped. "So it was Wormtongue . . . sounds an awful name"
"He looked pretty awful too" Frodo added. "Like a hunchback. Not like a human being"
As darkness crept over, Holly suggested they get some sleep so they could travel to Bree the next day. Everyone set up their blankets and fell asleep. Frodo laid Lömadia between himself and Nina and kissed them both goodnight.
"I love you," Nina whispered to him, her eyes closed.
Frodo smiled and moved strands of hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry about your parents"
Nina looked asleep but was still conscious. "I'll be fine," her breath was only coming out as a sleepy sigh now. "I'm the happiest Hobbit-lass in the shire . . . well in Middle-earth"
Frodo smiled again, kissing her cheek softly before falling into a deep sleep.