Chapter 16 Time
When they got on to more level ground Strider stopped. The hobbits started unpacking Bill and repacking their packs. When they were done Strider gently put Frodo on the horse. Then the covered him up with cloaks and blankets he looked as if he were in a cocoon. He was conscious now and seemed as if he was a little stronger. " I can Walk" Strider and Sam looked at him. Frodo looked down "Well I should like to try" Strider chuckled to himself, and then looked at Frodo. " Frodo did you by any chance notice that you were injured last night" Sam was feeling a little better watching Frodo banter with Strider but then Frodo looked down and Sam could tell by looking at him though that he was a little stronger he was still way to weak to do any walking. "Why yes Strider I had but I am feeling much better now" with that comment Frodo felt the darkness coming to his eyes "Or at least I did a moment ago," he said right before he drifted off into darkness. Strider looked at Frodo with concern making sure he was all right. Sam was right there hovering " "He is Alright Sam I think we need to go" Sam took up the lead line that was on Bill and started to walk. Bill looked much better than when Sam got him. he had grown fatter and felt a real affection for his comrades especially Sam. He somehow knew that there was something wrong with the one that was on his back. I whispered to him and put protection in Bill that would help him to find the gentle path so that the hurt to Frodo would be lessened. On and On they walked Strider was always at Frodo's side making sure he was all right. Merry and Pippin took turns being on the other side and when Frodo had moments of lucidity they were there trying to bring a smile to his face. Frodo drifted in and out of the shadow world of pain. The pain was spreading from the wound out to his arm and to his side. He tried so hard to remain conscious aware that every time the blackness came he worried his friends. Every night when they stopped to rest Fordo saw that the darkness around him was becoming clearer and the daylight world was fading. That frightened him. But he had a lot of Strength inside of him and he was fighting it. More than the pain in his body it was watching his friends bowed under their burdens that was hurting him.
On the fifth day from Weathertop Frodo felt a little better and could stand without help but that did not last for very long. Strider was right there to catch him when the Darkness came to claim him again. When he came to, he noticed that Strider seemed to have a permanent look of sadness on his face as did Sam and Merry and even Pippin. They trudged along and the road climbed out of the valley that they had walked in for days. On the sixth day Strider told them that he would have to make for the road and cross it and over the bridge to get to the trails that lay on the other side and that was not something that he looked foreword to. As they approached the road and the bridge Strider told them to stay there in a little thicket close to the road and he would go and see if it was safe. After a while he came back with a puzzled look on his face. "I think that it is safe to cross this bridge, I found this on the Bridge" He opened his hand and there was a pale green jewel there. "I think that somehow this is a sign that it is safe to cross here for this is a beryl, an elf stone and was not left there by chance" So they crossed the road and as soon as possible left the road again on the other side. And still they kept walking, they were all very weary but they knew that they needed to get Frodo to help and Sam begrudged any stop that kept Frodo away from Rivendell. Then it started to rain and the rain soaked them all to the bone and the dampness seemed to creep into Frodo's wound and it made it hurt all the more. He even more than before, seemed to drift into a shadow world and it filled my heart with a strange foreboding I knew that there was still a shard inside of dear Frodo and I could feel it eking its way closer and closer to his heart and I knew that when that happened we would lose Frodo to the Dark. He was in more and more pain with each passing hour. He was drifting in a shadow world where he could feel dark things trying to take his soul. He was getting so weak he could not even say anything to his companions. Night passed into Daylight and the rain had passed and sunlight sparked on a clean new day. They traveled most of the ninth day when as if in a dream Frodo heard someone say "there are trolls ahead".
"There are trolls up ahead". It was Pippin. He had wandered ahead and all of a sudden had come running back with a look of fright upon his face. The late afternoon sun was shining and it cast a clean light upon all of the companions. Strider stopped and got a strange look on his face and said "Quiet everyone, I will come and check on this" He strode forth with Merry and Pippin just a little bit behind him and Sam following behind them leading Bill. They rounded a corner and there in a clearing were three large monstrous Trolls. Merry and Pippin and Sam were frightened. Strider took one look and walked up and smacked one of those trolls right on the face. I laughed as the hobbits fairly jumped out of their skin." You have forgotten some of your own family Stories gentlemen." All of a sudden the light dawned on the hobbits and they realized that these were the same trolls that Bilbo used to tell them about and they breathed a sigh of relief as one unit. "You also did not pay attention to the fact that it is daylight and a person never sees a living troll under that circumstance. I think that this may be a good place to stop for the night".