Thanks--again to all who have reviewed so far, and Natta! Thanks. French Pony, thanks, and don't feel bad; I had a fear of dogs until I was about eight or nine! So, yeah, there's some real fear behind that last chapter!

Chapter Five - Goose Bumps

The lunging dog didn't go for Merry. Pippin barely saw the second dog jump at him and immediately threw his arms up to protect himself. He fell over backwards with the dog's momentum and waited for a muzzle to begin tearing into his flesh, but it never came. He did feel the dog land on him, and was nearly crushed underneath it. Pippin heard the dogs cry out and whimper, then run off back towards the cornfields.

Pippin was still hyperventilating and trembling when he peeked around his shielding arms. He was almost too afraid to move. "Merry?" Pippin could hear his cousin gasping for air. "Are you all right?"

Merry sat up, holding his calf. "I was going to ask you the same thing."

Pippin slowly dragged himself up with no other thought than to go to his cousin's side. He saw a dull light eminating from behind him and then suddenly stood still. Slowly turning around, he couldn't remembering ever seening anything like it: a tall Man he looked, with a light and fair expression on his face. He wore a silver colored tunic with green trousers tucked inside soft leather boots. Over all he wore a bright yellow mantle that matched his long golden hair.

Pippin swallowed hard--who was this? What did he want?

The tall being stared down at the small figure before him and said. "Greetings, Peregrin Took!" He looked past Pippin to Merry, "And Meriadoc Brandybuck!"

"Hullo." Pippin turned around for a second to see if Merry understood anything about this--Man? Undaunted though, Pippin quickly recovered. "Sir, who are you, and how do you know our names?"

But Pippin was to never receive an answer to his question. The Elf suddenly turned about and departed into the darkness without another word.

Pippin quickly closed the distance between him and Merry. "Did you see what I just saw?"

Merry still stared in the direction where the Elf was standing. "I don't know..." He trailed off.

"You had better say yes!" Pippin nudged him.

Merry, still peering into the darkness asked, "Did you get a good look at him?"

"He stood directly in front of me! Of course I got a good look at him!" Answered Pippin. "Let me have a look at your leg." Pippin quickly scanned Merry's leg for an open wound. "That was too close, cousin! I only see a scratch on your leg where your trousers were ripped."

Merry, quite unsettled, looked around at the trees. "Let's get out of here. This place is giving me goose bumps!"

The hobbits dared not go back the same way they came, and so it took them a while before they came back around to where they left their packs. They divided their spoils before they moved on; there was plenty enough for both--even Pippin managed to scoop up a few ears of corn. After they feasted, they walked for several more hours until they were farther south of the East Farthing Road.

Pippin began to lag, "I must have a rest, Merry." He sat down where the moon shown upon a fir tree with a pile of soft needles underneath it's widespread branches. "I don't even have a blanket to lay on; we didn't plan on being separated."

Merry sat down next to his cousin. "I did manage to pack my cloak, though what pressed me, I cannot say. We can share it, but first let's eat what's left from our own little expedition earlier." Together they sat under the branches of the fir and quietly nibbled their left over potatoes. When he was finished, Merry got up for one last look around. When he did so, he noticed bits of light flickering through the nearby tree branches. He tapped Pippin's arm, "Look! It's Woodhall!"

"It looks so far away." Mumbled Pippin. "Can't we seek it out in the morning?" He was also finished with his late additional supper, and now laid back on the soft needles trying to doze.

Merry yawned, "I suppose...it won't hurt us to sleep outside tonight, though I can easily imagine myself in a soft feather bed inside of a bedroom." Soon the young hobbits were deep in slumber, worn out from their long and arduous day.

When Pippin opened his eyes, the morning sunlight was dancing upon his face through the boughs of the fir tree. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. He noticed Merry had already got up. "Merry?" Silence was his only answer, except for birds calling to each other from around the forest and a soft summer breeze wafting through the trees. He drank in a deep breath of the fresh air as it brushed past his cheeks. Pippin got up and looked about the area. No Merry to be seen. "Merry!" Pippin called louder this time.

"Up here!" Came Merry's far away sounding voice. Pippin looked up, squinting and shading his eyes to better search the trees. "Behind you, silly!" Pippin spun about and then crossed his arms seeking for the hobbit that belonged to the voice. Then he saw Merry waving.

"Why are you up in that tree?"

"C'mon up and see!"

It didn't take long for Pippin to see why Merry was up in the tree; it was an old apple tree. Not much fruit on it, but enough to feed two hungry hobbits. Pippin found a sturdy low branch and scooted out to pluck one of the sweet fruits. He took a bite and then thought about planning their activities for the day. "Are we still going after Frodo, Merry?"

Merry nodded, chewing a mouthful. Then after several more chews he swallowed, "Though I don't think we'll be running much of it like yesterday. He's probably got there already. I'm only curious as to why he had to go." Then he proceeded to clean off the rest of his apple.

Pippin paused before taking another bite, "You mean, we're going spy on Frodo when we find him?"

Merry flung his apple core away. "I prefer to think of it as....protecting our cousin." Then he began to relieve several branches of their burdens, gently tossing the apples to the ground.

Pippin finished his round of apple breakfast and began to climb back down to level ground and gather them up. "I only hope our chase isn't like this tree; rather fruitless!"

Merry and Pippin walked at an easier pace towards Woody End with a brief stop at Woodhall to see about food; both lads had kin there and were able to stock up on their provisions, although no one had a pony they could sell. Merry brought little money with him, and Pippin carried even less, so if anyone did have a beast of burden to sell, combining their wealth together they couldn't have afforded it.

On they marched with only one break until the sun was at its apex. They stopped for a light lunch and a nap in the shade of the woodland trees. Now that they weren't so much in a hurry and exhausted as they were the day before, Pippin felt he could now ask his cousin a few questions that have been on his mind.

"Merry?"

"Hmmm?"

"Why would an Elf be in the Shire?"

"I've been wondering about that myself, Pip. This was the first time I've seen one, too."

"And he knew our names! My father has told me that Old Gerontius had visited Elves with Gandalf. Do you suppose that's what Frodo's doing?"

"I don't know, Pippin.", was all Merry would say, though he puzzled on Pippin's question. Bilbo had visited Elves, and both he and Pippin believed Bilbo when he said so through his stories. But what was the connection? Why would Frodo take up with Elves? Then he remembered Bilbo's magic ring. Elves knew magic, and so did Gandalf. Merry fell asleep trying to tie it all together.