Chapter 6 The truth will out
Merry, Pippin, Sam, and Frodo ran, they ran so hard and so fast and as far away from that Black Rider as their legs could take them. Their paths lay in the trees, for the trees brought them some safety and cover from that evil thing. They ran until there was no breath left in them. It was then and only then when they felt it was safe, that they threw themselves to the ground. The breath did not come back to them very fast, but they felt that they could rest in the safety of the trees for a while. Pippin and Merry knew that what ever that Black thing was, it was like nothing that they had ever seen in the Shire, and though they asked Frodo and Sam what it was, they would not say anything about it. When they had rested for a while Merry decided that some questions needed answering So Merry took an apple from his pocket and started to eat it. He looked at Frodo and said "Frodo what is going on"
Frodo had the ring in the palm of his hand and he realized that the ring and that Black rider were part and parcel of one another, and somehow without any sure knowledge, Frodo Realized that that Black rider would never give up, and that it was actively looking for this round piece of metal that he had in his hand. He turned and looked at his cousins and realized that unless he could get them to go home they would be hunted too, and he did not have the heart to tell them that they were in more and more danger with every passing second that they were with him. He looked at Sam, and Sam gave him this look of understanding. He looked at Merry and then Pippin and then back to Merry again. He took a deep breath and said "Merry! Sam and I are going on a trip and you and Merry need to go home!" Merry looked at him and with a very straight face said "Why Frodo…. Pippin and I are also on a trip! Which way are you going?"
Merry knew there was more to this then he could fathom and he was not going anywhere until he had it figured out. He also knew that no matter what he said Pippin would go along with him, wherever he was going in thought or in deed and Pippin didn't care what the reason was. Frodo looked at Merry and Pointed in the General direction that the town of Bree lay, which was where Gandalf had told him to go. "Well Frodo my dear, Pip and I are going that way too aren't we Pip" Merry looked right at Pippin and gave him a look. Pippin looked at Frodo and Said " Yep ya dinna know that we were going on an adventure for ourselves did ya" Somehow Frodo knew that they were not really telling them the truth, but he did not want to hurt their feelings by calling them liars. He also knew that they were not going to go anywhere, unless it was with him. Frodo knew his cousins and knew that there was a stubborn streak in their blood. He knew this because he had the same stubborn blood flowing through his veins. "Well Frodo my dear you are in Luck for we have decided to go with you and help you out with what ever it is you are doing, and besides four heads are better than one don't cha think?"
Frodo gave up! He turned and started walking, and besides night was coming and he wanted to put as much distance as he could from himself and those Black riders. Sitting here and arguing with his cousins was not going to help anything. He looked over his shoulder and said to Merry "Well come along if you are going to"? Sam just shook his head and with a grumble on his lips fell right in beside Frodo. I was happy, I knew that all I had to do was to get them together and Merry and Pippin would do the rest.
Merry and Pippin started after Frodo. It was not to long before the sunset and night started falling fast. I could not help them and all I had to share were the feelings of my heart. I knew that they were in terrible danger. It was not long before my feelings proved right. As night fell they heard a horrible sound from the distance, the sound of a creature screaming. What they had heard was the sound of a Ringwraith communicating with the others of it's kind. When the ringwraith screamed, The Hobbits instinctively knew that they were in trouble and started running. Closer and closer grew the sounds.
They were running toward the road when they stopped for a moment to rest, and Merry came up to Frodo and said: "Frodo that black rider was looking for something or someone" Just at the point Pippin whispered "Get down" for he had spotted a black rider riding down the road that lay in the distance. Frodo looked at Merry and realized that he needed to tell him something. That he needed to tell him the truth. "Merry that black rider is looking for me and something that I am carrying. It is something that Bilbo had, and I inherited. Sam and I are in danger and now so are you". Frodo took a deep breath and continued, " I wanted you to go home so that you would not be in danger with us, now what are we going to do" Merry looked at him and then he looked at Pippin and then at Sam. Then he looked back to Frodo " Frodo we have guessed for along time that you were going to leave the shire" Frodo looked up with a Start. Merry continued, " We had hoped beyond hope that we would know when you planned to go and join Bilbo, but you gave us the slip and caught us unaware. I do not know why we were right there in time to run into you but I tell you this, you will not get rid of us so easy now. At first it was a lark, a desire to go on an adventure with our cousin, but now you are being hunted and we will not leave you. Will we Pippin" Pippin looked at Merry and at Frodo and with a big grin said "you'd have to drag us home tied in a sack if you want us to not follow you now. Besides I have always wanted to go on an adventure, this is going to be fun" Frodo looked at his youngest cousin and just shook his head, Pippin was just so young and so unaware of danger. Well for that matter all the hobbits were not truly aware of what Danger meant. Such was the Nature of a Hobbit. There was an old saying that spoke of this and it was true (Five minutes after a hobbit had the life scared out of him, you would never know it from the way he acted or the way he looked) Frodo looked at Merry and said. "Merry! Sam and I must get to Bree" Merry looked at Frodo and started thinking. He had such a good head on his shoulders, especially when it was turned to something other than mischief. And Merry was the kind of Hobbit that thought well under stress. I smiled to myself and thought for the most part. After a minute or two He looked at Frodo and Said "Buckleberry Ferry Follow me" and he took off running, the Hobbit lads running right behind him All of a sudden I was brought up with a start, for Even the wise do not know all things. I realized that my Hobbit Lads were running straight into danger!