Author Notes: Sorry, I would've uploaded this yesterday, but never had the time. ^_^ All my new reviewers – hi! I'm glad you found this fic, glad you read it, and most of all, glad you reviewed it! Thank you so much! PerK- here's the next installment, so you don't have to be patient anymore. Tigrin – thanks for reading! And for reviewing! glad you like it so much ^_^ My veteran readers (yes, Morodiel, this includes you ^_^) – you guys – and I've said it before – you guys are the absolute greatest! You make me feel so good! Love you all! Morodiel – actuellment, ton français est très bon! Je le comprends bien! Mish – hey, thanks for reviewing this last chapter twice! So cool of you! Don't worry, Frodo loves Sam. He'll get him taken care of. IloveSam – me too ^_^ Yes, I did write that song! Glad you like it! Actually, I started out with just the song and sort of built the story around that. tiggivon – hi again! Yeah, the glen reminds me of a place I've been to several times (personally, I based it on a place in the Jemez Mountains that really looks like my description. I just translocated it to Middle-earth and made it my darling Sam's special place). And Butterfly, always the best – need I say more? ^_^ Onward and upward, mes amis!
« Bell, lass ? »
« Hmmm ? »
« Bell, have you seen Samwise ? » Hamfast asked. Bell looked up from her weaving, suddenly concerned.
« No… Not for a while » she answered slowly. Then thunder rumbled overhead, and they frowned at eachother.
« S' that storm from the west, » Hamfast said. Bell stood quickly and joined him at the window.
« Oh, dear, » she murmured. Their eyes widened as lightning streaked across the sky, and they turned to one another, alarmed.
« I need to get him home, » said Hamfast. « And quick. »
« D'you know where he is ? » Bell asked. Her husband shook his head.
« Never can tell where he'll go, » he said, walking for the front door.
« Wait ! Your cloak, » she said, handing it to him. He shrugged it on and smiled at her.
« Not to worry, lass. I'll find him, » he assured her.
« I should come with you, » said Bell, but he shook his head.
« Stay here in case he comes back before I do, » he said, and kissed her farewell. She stood in the doorway for a long moment looking after him, and bit her lip as another shiver of thunder shook the air. Sam, love, where are you ?
~*~*~*~*~*~*
Bilbo had completely given up on writing his book for the afternoon, and all other attempts to occupy himself failed miserably. Frodo, cousin, where *are* you ? You've been gone for four hours ! Oh, come back, please just come back… If I go looking for him, he'll think I don't trust him, and that's the *last* thing I need after this afternoon. But if I don't go looking for him – what if he's hurt ? What if he needs help ? And I'm just standing here doing nothing while he suffers? Oh, Bilbo, forget it. He's sixteen, not three. He can take care of himself. Besides, he'd probably get even angrier if I came after him. The boy just needs some time to himself, is all. Bilbo nodded, but wasn't convinced. What if he doesn't come home at all ? a little voice in his mind whispered. What if he runs away ? – Oh, shut up ! Bilbo countered.
« If he doesn't come back within the hour, then I'll go to the Gamgees and see if he's with them. He probably is. They've unofficially adopted him, anyway. But I'll wait the hour out. » - What about the storm ? – Storm ? What sto - crash ! the thunder sounded, and Bilbo whirled around, startled. Oh, the storm. Well… and he hesitated. He's sixteen. He can take care of himself. If he won't come to me, he'll go to the Gamgees, I'm certain. They'll take care of him, and I will wait this hour out. That's all there is to it. I will wait it out, and *then* go looking for him. White radiance filled the room for a split second, and was gone. Lighting ! Maybe I should – no. I am going to wait. I am going to wait. I am going to wait, he told himself sternly, and sat down heavily in his chair. In an instant, he was up pacing again. I am going to wait, even if it's the longest hour of my life. As it's quickly proving itself to be. Then the rain began to fall, and fall hard. In a few minutes, it was pouring. That's it. I don't care what he thinks, I've got to find him or I shall go completely mad. He grabbed his cloak from the hall closet and walked out the front door.
~*~*~*~*~*~*
The rain was icy cold and it stung their skin as the sudden winds drove it against them. Alright. Alright. I can cope, we can deal with this, Frodo thought, trying to be rational. He squinted up at the sky and saw only huge, dark clouds. He looked to the horizon and saw more. Lightning flashed again, and the wind picked up. I knew summer storms were unpredictable, but good grief ! It's August and it feels like November ! He looked down at Samwise, who was looking back up at him expectantly, one hand raised to shield his eyes.
His glance flicked down to where Sam's small foot rested against his leg. A dark stain was growing on Frodo's breeches where the wounded foot bled into the fabric, and Sam's sprained ankle was beginning to exhibit some rather spectacular bruises. That ankle looks broken, not sprained, Frodo thought worriedly. I can't believe he's not crying. I would be screaming fit to burst. The rainshower was turning into a downpour, and Frodo's jaw shook as he tried to keep his teeth from chattering. I need to get him out of this rain, he thought, looking to Sam again.
« Well, Sam, » he began. « You definitely can't walk. » Sam shook his head. « I thought not, » said Frodo. At least he's not heavy. « And you need help. I think your ankle's broken. » Sam bit his lip.
« What're we goin' to do, then ? » he asked softly, so softly Frodo almost didn't hear him over the rain. He raised his own voice in response.
« I need to get you out of this rain, for starters, » he said. « So I'm going to have to get up. Alright ? » Sam looked at him uncertainly.
« Alright, » he said.
« I'm going to have to move your leg to pick you up. Can you do that for me ? » asked Frodo carefully. Sam hesitated, then nodded. Well, here goes nothing, Frodo thought. « Alright, then. One, two, three… » As quickly and carefully as he could, he lifted Sam up again, wincing at the child's sharp intake of breath. He looked down. Sam lay in his arms, his eyes tightly closed and his small fists clenched against the pain. « I'm sorry, » Frodo whispered. Sam gradually relaxed as the pain receded, and opened his eyes.
« S' alright, » he said weakly, putting his arms round Frodo's neck. The thunder crashed again so loud they could feel the vibrations in the air. As if on cue, the downpour became a deluge. Rain fell so thick and fast, Frodo could hardly see five feet in front of him. Sam whined low in his throat as the heavy rain pounded against his exposed ankle, and bit back a scream when Frodo shifted his arm to protect it. Frodo froze, and slowly moved his arm back to where it was.
« Sorry, » he said again. Sam swallowed hard and nodded. « Look, Sam – we're going to have to go back under the trees. » Sam stared at him.
« But the lightning – » he said.
« I know, » Frodo answered. « But it's not our choice. We need a shelter of some sort, and home is too far away for either of us, so it'll have to be the trees. » Sam's thoughts raced for a moment as he weighed the possibilities. Lightning could hit us, but we've got to get out of the rain, the meadow might flood, an' we need to get to higher ground. Father, my ankle hurts so badly ! He nodded again. Frodo hugged him close a moment before beginning the normally gentle and now suddenly arduous ascent out of the meadow.
It took forever, it seemed, just to move the short distance to the trees. The rain fell relentlessly, and turning back, Frodo could see the meadow filling like a pond. Faster, I have to go faster. He slipped on the long, wet grass that twined itself about his feet, and fell hard to the ground. By throwing his weight sideways as he fell, he managed to avoid landing on Sam, but the boy cried out in pain. Sorry, sorry, sorry… He struggled to his feet, Sam still in his arms.
« Are you alright ? » he shouted above the noise of the storm. Sam shook his head. « Perfect, just perfect, » Frodo muttered under his breath. I find you, befriend you, and now I prove my love for you by practically falling on top of you. Good grief. « Don't worry, little one, » he reassured. « We're almost there. » We have to be. I've been struggling up this slope for twenty minutes. We *have* to be near the trees. And I'll lie to you if we aren't, because I can't bear the pain in your eyes much longer. Frodo gritted his teeth and struggled onward.
At last ! At last ! he cried in his mind as the dark line of trees came into sight behind the veil of rain. Now that the ground was level, he was free to move faster. Sam had laid his head on Frodo's shoulder, and Frodo felt his small hands clenching and unclenching as the pain jolted through him. We've got to stop, got to sit down. Here…he walked a short ways under the trees, until they came to a huge, tall ash, whose overhanging branches guarded them somewhat against the rain. Perfect target for lighting, Frodo thought grimly, as the white light crackled against the dark clouds. Alright, so *this* shelter's no good…
Sam suddenly spoke up – if you could call the strained whisper of his voice 'speaking up'. He was sick with pain, and being cold only made it worse. He knew what Frodo was thinking, and thought he could provide a solution. « Frodo ? » he said softly. Frodo looked down at him. « Hmmm ? » he asked, bending his head closer to the boy, to hear him better.
« If you go north from here a ways, you'll see a great tall oak tree, an' if you turns left at the oak tree an' walks a bit, there's a sort of – of overhang, made by the hillside » he said, pausing in his explanations as pain streaked through him again.
« An overhang ? » Frodo asked, his voice still raised against the storm. Sam nodded. An overhang, the quiet voice said in Frodo's mind. He was startled and vaguely afraid, but decided it was his memory repeating it for him. Alright, then. I'll go for this overhang of yours, he thought, more than a little uneasy when Sam nodded as though he had spoken aloud. He shook his own head, and started walking.
~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N: Left you hanging *grins evilly*. Sorry about that, I'll fix it ASAP.