.~*~.
Emelie and the hobbits were jogging at a good pace through the woods. She
was sweating but her long legs were covering a lot of ground and she constantly
had to slow down to make sure that the hobbits could keep up. As the sun
began to set, they slowed to a walk, their breaths loud in the stillness
of the twilight. Finally Pippin asked the question that everyone had been
thinking. "What was that?" They all looked at Frodo expectantly, but Emelie
knew that he couldn't possibly know any more than they knew. She sighed
and kept walking.
It was pitch black now and Emelie was wishing she was back home with her
flashlight and a few Energizers. But the moon was bright and visibility
wasn't too bad. Then she heard Merry gasp and point through the trees.
There, backlit by the moon was a horse and rider. Emelie gasped and stepped
back, knocking into Pippin. As the horse trotted down the knoll, away from
them, they slowly began to breathe again and pressed onward. Merry had
mentioned a ferry so Emelie listened for the trickle of a stream or the
roar of a waterfall, but heard nothing. She was going to ask them about
this ferry when all of a sudden a shriek erupted from the trees in back
of them and Emelie swung around and screamed. The black rider was right
there. With another scream, Emelie took off, going in which ever way seemed
best, since the hobbits were behind her. When she glanced back, she saw
the black rider galloping through the trees and saw the hobbits trying
to make their way through the woods towards the left of her. Abruptly she
changed directions and tried to follow them as best she could. They were
ahead of her now. Then she realized that Frodo wasn't with them.
"Frodo?!" She half yelled, half screamed. She glanced over her shoulder
and saw Frodo running a few feet in front of the rider. "Shit!" she said.
i> Frodo's the only one of us who actually matters./i> Heart racing,
she stopped and turned around, waiting for Frodo to catch up to her. When
he did, she heard him letting out a fearful sob with every step. As she
started to run alongside him, she contemplated picking him up and carrying
him, but then she figured that Frodo probably weighed more than she did
although he was only up to her waist. So she grabbed his arm as started
pulling him through the trees. At last they emerged into a clearing and
when she looked around frantically she saw a small dock and a tiny raft.
The other hobbits were on it, hurriedly undoing the ropes that tied the
raft to the dock. Running faster, she practically dragged Frodo till they
came to a fence. Luckily, it was only knee high oh Emelie and she vaulted
over it and in one swift motion, swung around and lifted Frodo up over
it. He was lighter than she had expected. Then she dropped him to the ground
and sprinted for the raft, jumping onto it in one swift stride, and helped
Frodo onto it too. She felt the raft sway under her weight and quickly
sat on the wood, not wanting it to tip. A shriek brought her back to the
present and her head jerked up. The horse and rider were mere yards away
on the dock that she had been standing on only seconds before. Mouth open,
eyes wide with fear, she looked at Frodo, amazed when he asked when the
next crossing was. i> How can he think at times like this? /i>
Emelie closed her eyes and made an unsuccessful attempt to calm her jumping
nerves. After a while she began breathing evenly and when she opened her
eyes she was amazed to find that it was still dark out and they were still
floating down the river. "Almost there now." Merry said softly. The fear
and shock of their chase seemed to have worn off. But when they stepped
off the ferry and onto the land, it all came back. It was as if the water
had made them safe, but now that they weren't in its borders, it could
no longer protect them. They came onto a road and Emelie noticed that it
was raining quite hard. Frodo went and knocked on a large wooden gate in
a large wooden fence that seemed to have just appeared out of no where.
A flap opened at just above Emelie's eye level and an old man with a crooked
nose peered out. "Whadda you want?" He snarled. Frodo was the one who spoke
though. "We want to stay at the inn." The man blinked and then peered down
through the hole. When he saw the hobbits, he bent down and looked through
the lower flap. "Four hobbits and a girl?" He cackled, then opened the
gate. "Strange folks traveling in strange parties." As the five walked
through the gates, Emelie glared at the man. He seemed like a dirty old
man with a dirty old mind, Emelie thought. If he had been back in her would,
he certainly would have been one of those toothless homeless guys who sit
on the street guzzling whiskey and whistling at every girl that walks by.
Emelie shuddered and they made their way through the crowd, getting some
pretty weird looks from some people who looked pretty weird. Then they
saw it. A sign swinging in the wind. i>The Prancing Pony/i>.
So sorry for taking so long although I'm sure not many people were waiting. :) Please review if you like. Thankees.