Disclamier : I really wish I owned them but they belong to Tolkein. Bod for
me.
A/N : Hope you're enjoying the story. I know I'm enjoying writing it but I would enjoy it even more if you guys reviewed. Please don't be shy. You are my inspiration.
Ch 23 Paul and Wraiths
Bob sat up, she had been asleep for nearly four hours and she had almost got that horrible image out of her head, she could still feel that thing driving into her eye and she also heard Fred's screams, they echoed in her mind and no matter what she did she couldn't get rid of them.
Ned was alsleep by the fire that had been built without Bob's knowing. Bob wondered if she should wake her up and ask her where they were, not that she'd know anyway. She decided it was best to let her sleep, after all she had been stabbed a few days ago. She glanced over to Frodo and Sam who were also asleep, Bob noticed that Frodo was holding the Ring closer than the past few nights and wondered if he felt danger nearby, she knew that she couldn't hope to understand what the Ring felt like but she had a sudden urge to touch it.
She took a step towards Frodo walking as quietly as she could trying not to wake the others. She stopped suddenly when she heard a voice behind her.
'I see you want the Precious too. I knew you were not as good as you made out.'
Gollum surprised her and she jumped. At first she didn't understand what he was saying but she remembered that he was talking about the Ring. Her senses suddenly came back to her and she looked surprised to find that her hand was automatically reaching for the Ring that Frodo held in the palm of his hand. She pulled away quickly and took a step back. She no longer felt the need to touch it.
She stood and stared at Frodo for a moment. She didn't know why she had wanted to have the Ring although she knew that weak people were often drawn to it she didn't consider herself to be like that.
As she stood thinking she didn't notice the man limping up behind her, she finally turned round to see a gun pointed at her face. She screamed and instantly fell to the floor. She didn't know what to do, she had never had a gun pointed at her before and she hoped she never would have again.
The man seemed to be dressed in some kind of uniform, like a park ranger. That made sense they were in the forest. Why he was holding a gun to her head she didn't know and she didn't think she was in the position to ask.
He looked down at her for a while and quickly glanced around the camp as if looking for something in particular. He pressed the gun to her neck and finally spoke.
'Do you know that it illegal to build a camp fire in the woods ?'
Bob didn't know what to say, of all the things he could have said about them being out there all he was worried about was the fact that there was a camp fire out there. She didn't know what to say. She wondered whether she would be arrested, at least they would be out of the woods but she didn't think people could get arrested for a fire.
The man pulled the gun away and held out a hand to help her up. She looked at him for a minute and noiced that he was quite tall and obviously used to being in the woods. She wondered for a moment whether he had been sent to look for them but he didn't seem to know their names so that was impossible.
'Who are you ? What are you doing out here ?' He said impatiently as though she should have explained before.
'I.I'm lost. I got lost a few days ago and my friend is hurt, she needs help.' She knew the man wouldn't know what she was talking about but she had to say something and it was better to appear to be completely insane rather than have a gun to her head again.
The ranger looked at her suspiciously for a moment and then looked over to Ned who had not been disturbed by the sound of Bob screaming. Blood was soaking the blanket where her wound had been and Bob wondered how long it had been like that.
The ranger walked quickly over to her and rolled her onto her back, still Ned didn't wake.
'What happened to her ? Did you meet a wild animal or something ?' He asked whist inspecting Ned's wound.
'Something like that.' Bob replied.
Meanwhile Sam and Frodo had only just woken up and they were shocked to see a man hovering over Ned. Frodo immediately jumped up and ran over to the man and tried to push his away from Ned. Bob tried to shout at him to stop but he wouldn't listen. Finally she grabbed his arm and threw him to the ground, she didn't understand why Frodo was being so protective over Ned all of a sudden.
The ranger quickly got to his feet and took a threatening step towards Frodo but stopped when he saw how small he was. He gave them a strange look and said,
'Is this some kind of weird teenage party ?'
Bob could have laughed if their situation had not been so serious but she thought better of it and simply replied, 'Can you help my friend. She was stabbed.'
The ranger nodded and turned back to Ned. He quickly checked the wound and looked up at Bob.
'Tell me you didn't stitch this yourself.' Bob nodded and the ranger turned away with a sigh.
'We need to get her to a hospital unless you want her to die.'
Bob nodded and went to collect some of their belongings up, she went around quickly taking all the things she thought they might need. After about five minutes the camp site was demolished. She was careful to make sure there were no signs of them ever being there, they had avoided the Wraiths many times and she didn't want to be caught by them now.
The ranger watched her closely, he knew there was something else going on but he didn't know what it was. They were scared of something but the only thing he thought they had to be scared of was the occaisonal wild animal. But there was something more, something that they were scared of. He got the feeling that they didn't want to leave, that maybe they were in hiding.
It was then the ranger noticed Gollum. He didn't know what to say he had never seen anything like it. It wasn't human as far as he could tell. He stood in front of it and put his hand out as if to touch it. Bob quickly stopped him by grabbing his arm.
'I wouldn't do that if I were you. He bites.'
The ranger stood not knowing what to say.
Bob almost laughed at him for not knowing what to say, he was clearly confused as to what was going on and Bob had to admire him for not running away. She knew that he must have been pretty frightened, it certainly wasn't normal to see a strange creature and four people hiding out in the woods. Bob had thought about explaining everything to him but she thought twice when she had seen his reaction to Gollum.
He bent down and picked Ned up, surprisingly she didn't stir. For the first time Bob noticed the rangers limp, it was in his right leg and he had clearly been injured at some point quite recently. She decided not to bring it up.
'So why are you really out here ? You're hiding from something aren't you ?'
'Yes. We are being hunted.' Bob said with no further explanation.
'Hunted ? By what ? Is this some strange new craze or something ?'
'No.'
'What happened to your friend ?'
'She was stabbed. I think the blade might have been poisoned. She has been ill for some time. She forced me to stitch up the wound a few days ago and she has been getting worse.'
'Okay. So what's with the funny creatures ?'
'Funny creatures ? You mean Gollum ? He was stalking us, we caught him and tied him up. We had to take him with us, he's trying to get to something that one of the Hobbits carries.'
'Hobbits ? Are they the short people back there ?'
Sam looked up angrily at that remark and was going to protest but decided against it.
'Did you never see The Lord of the Rings ?'
'What ?'
'Never mind. Anyway, we have to be careful, there are still things out there. They have been trying to catch us ever since we came here. They took our friend, we're not sure how to get to her.'
'Did these things hurt your friend here ?' The ranger asked as he looked down at Ned who was still sleeping.
'No. It was a man. He told us his name was Frank.'
The ranger stopped suddenly, Bob continued to walk for a while before she realised he had stopped. 'Did you say his name was Frank ? He lives in a hut not far from here.'
'Yeah, that's the one. Do you know him ?'
'He gave me this.' He said indicating to his leg. Bob guessed that Frank had caused the injury that had given the ranger the limp. 'That guy is insane. Where is he now ? He's not wandering the woods is he ?'
'My guess would be no.' Bob said calmly, 'He's dead. I killed him.'
The ranger didn't know what to say. He almsot dropped Ned when he heard the news that Frank was dead.
'He's dead ? How did you kill him ?'
'With his own knife. He caught us and tied us up, he stabbed Ned and then tried to hurt me. I got free and slit his throat. I know it was probably wrong but I had no choice.' Bob tried to defend her actions but the ranger didn't seem too worried that Frank was dead, in fact, he had a smile on his face.
'You should be given a medal or something for that. The man was a heartless killer. He killed my family almost a year ago and gave me the limp leg to remember him by. He deserved to die. I've been trying to get him arrested for some time but he never leaves any evidence. I became a ranger to keep an eye on him. Looks like I don't have to any more.'
The ranger grinned, suddenly pleased that he had met the people.
'My name's Paul by the way. I must say I was a little surprised when I saw you guys out here. I know a way to a town, as soon as we get there they can help your friend.'
Bob smiled but knew that she couldn't just leave Frodo and Sam and Fred. However, the thought of a proper meal and a warm bed was very tempting. She nodded pleased that she had finally found her way out.
Paul walked forwards but was instantly stopped when the blade of a Ring Wraith sliced his neck. Bob hardly knew what was happening. His head fell off quickly. His body fell to the ground and was closely followed by his head. Ned also fell to the floor and was instantly covered in blood. The Wraith stood there for some time watching them but not moving.
It was as if it were waiting for orders or maybe it was just searching for the Ring. Bob knew that they had to get out of there, she turned to tell the Hobbits to run but they were already heading away from the Wraith. Bob wanted to run but she knew she couldn't just leave Ned there.
Ned was just coming back into consciousness and the first thing she saw was a Wraith staring down at her, she quickly realised that she was also covered in blood and that it was not her own. She turned her head to one side and saw the head of someone else but she instantly saw that it wasn't attached to a body.
Despite the pain that was racing through her body she knew she had to move out of the way of the Wraith. She rolled away from it and was instantly helped to her feet by Bob who was shouting at her to help herself up. Ned could tell that all Bob wanted to do was run out of there but she was intent on helping her friend.
Ned rose to her feet and stumbled away from the Wraith. She tried not to lose her balance but she couldn't help it. She felt herself falling to the ground but she was caught by Bob who dragged her forwards and away from the Wraith. She finally managed to get to her feet properly and Bob was gald that she was not putting so much weight on her.
They ran towards the wooded area in a hope to escape the Wraith. They reached the trees and ran further into the wood. After what seemed like hours they finally stopped, they were sure that the Wraith was no longer behind them but they still hid behind a tree in case it suddenly appeared.
Ned fell to the ground in exhaustion and Bob wanted to do the same but she resisted the urge to rest and leaned against the tree checking for any sign that the Wraith was coming after them but she heard nothing. She sighed with relief and looked towards Ned who was beginning to lose consciousness again. Bob dragged her to her feet and forced her to stay awake.
Bob led them through the forest always looking for Wraiths and Frodo and Sam, they could be anywhere in the forest and there was no way to find them. Bob hoped they hadn't gone too far. She also realised that they had lost Gollum, she didn't know whether he was alive or dead and she didn't really care. All she wanted to do was help Ned and find the Hobbits. Also she was thinking about Fred. When they had been attacked by the Wraith she had realised that there was a way of getting to Middle Earth although she was sure the others were not going to like it.
TBC
A/N : Hope you're enjoying the story. I know I'm enjoying writing it but I would enjoy it even more if you guys reviewed. Please don't be shy. You are my inspiration.
Ch 23 Paul and Wraiths
Bob sat up, she had been asleep for nearly four hours and she had almost got that horrible image out of her head, she could still feel that thing driving into her eye and she also heard Fred's screams, they echoed in her mind and no matter what she did she couldn't get rid of them.
Ned was alsleep by the fire that had been built without Bob's knowing. Bob wondered if she should wake her up and ask her where they were, not that she'd know anyway. She decided it was best to let her sleep, after all she had been stabbed a few days ago. She glanced over to Frodo and Sam who were also asleep, Bob noticed that Frodo was holding the Ring closer than the past few nights and wondered if he felt danger nearby, she knew that she couldn't hope to understand what the Ring felt like but she had a sudden urge to touch it.
She took a step towards Frodo walking as quietly as she could trying not to wake the others. She stopped suddenly when she heard a voice behind her.
'I see you want the Precious too. I knew you were not as good as you made out.'
Gollum surprised her and she jumped. At first she didn't understand what he was saying but she remembered that he was talking about the Ring. Her senses suddenly came back to her and she looked surprised to find that her hand was automatically reaching for the Ring that Frodo held in the palm of his hand. She pulled away quickly and took a step back. She no longer felt the need to touch it.
She stood and stared at Frodo for a moment. She didn't know why she had wanted to have the Ring although she knew that weak people were often drawn to it she didn't consider herself to be like that.
As she stood thinking she didn't notice the man limping up behind her, she finally turned round to see a gun pointed at her face. She screamed and instantly fell to the floor. She didn't know what to do, she had never had a gun pointed at her before and she hoped she never would have again.
The man seemed to be dressed in some kind of uniform, like a park ranger. That made sense they were in the forest. Why he was holding a gun to her head she didn't know and she didn't think she was in the position to ask.
He looked down at her for a while and quickly glanced around the camp as if looking for something in particular. He pressed the gun to her neck and finally spoke.
'Do you know that it illegal to build a camp fire in the woods ?'
Bob didn't know what to say, of all the things he could have said about them being out there all he was worried about was the fact that there was a camp fire out there. She didn't know what to say. She wondered whether she would be arrested, at least they would be out of the woods but she didn't think people could get arrested for a fire.
The man pulled the gun away and held out a hand to help her up. She looked at him for a minute and noiced that he was quite tall and obviously used to being in the woods. She wondered for a moment whether he had been sent to look for them but he didn't seem to know their names so that was impossible.
'Who are you ? What are you doing out here ?' He said impatiently as though she should have explained before.
'I.I'm lost. I got lost a few days ago and my friend is hurt, she needs help.' She knew the man wouldn't know what she was talking about but she had to say something and it was better to appear to be completely insane rather than have a gun to her head again.
The ranger looked at her suspiciously for a moment and then looked over to Ned who had not been disturbed by the sound of Bob screaming. Blood was soaking the blanket where her wound had been and Bob wondered how long it had been like that.
The ranger walked quickly over to her and rolled her onto her back, still Ned didn't wake.
'What happened to her ? Did you meet a wild animal or something ?' He asked whist inspecting Ned's wound.
'Something like that.' Bob replied.
Meanwhile Sam and Frodo had only just woken up and they were shocked to see a man hovering over Ned. Frodo immediately jumped up and ran over to the man and tried to push his away from Ned. Bob tried to shout at him to stop but he wouldn't listen. Finally she grabbed his arm and threw him to the ground, she didn't understand why Frodo was being so protective over Ned all of a sudden.
The ranger quickly got to his feet and took a threatening step towards Frodo but stopped when he saw how small he was. He gave them a strange look and said,
'Is this some kind of weird teenage party ?'
Bob could have laughed if their situation had not been so serious but she thought better of it and simply replied, 'Can you help my friend. She was stabbed.'
The ranger nodded and turned back to Ned. He quickly checked the wound and looked up at Bob.
'Tell me you didn't stitch this yourself.' Bob nodded and the ranger turned away with a sigh.
'We need to get her to a hospital unless you want her to die.'
Bob nodded and went to collect some of their belongings up, she went around quickly taking all the things she thought they might need. After about five minutes the camp site was demolished. She was careful to make sure there were no signs of them ever being there, they had avoided the Wraiths many times and she didn't want to be caught by them now.
The ranger watched her closely, he knew there was something else going on but he didn't know what it was. They were scared of something but the only thing he thought they had to be scared of was the occaisonal wild animal. But there was something more, something that they were scared of. He got the feeling that they didn't want to leave, that maybe they were in hiding.
It was then the ranger noticed Gollum. He didn't know what to say he had never seen anything like it. It wasn't human as far as he could tell. He stood in front of it and put his hand out as if to touch it. Bob quickly stopped him by grabbing his arm.
'I wouldn't do that if I were you. He bites.'
The ranger stood not knowing what to say.
Bob almost laughed at him for not knowing what to say, he was clearly confused as to what was going on and Bob had to admire him for not running away. She knew that he must have been pretty frightened, it certainly wasn't normal to see a strange creature and four people hiding out in the woods. Bob had thought about explaining everything to him but she thought twice when she had seen his reaction to Gollum.
He bent down and picked Ned up, surprisingly she didn't stir. For the first time Bob noticed the rangers limp, it was in his right leg and he had clearly been injured at some point quite recently. She decided not to bring it up.
'So why are you really out here ? You're hiding from something aren't you ?'
'Yes. We are being hunted.' Bob said with no further explanation.
'Hunted ? By what ? Is this some strange new craze or something ?'
'No.'
'What happened to your friend ?'
'She was stabbed. I think the blade might have been poisoned. She has been ill for some time. She forced me to stitch up the wound a few days ago and she has been getting worse.'
'Okay. So what's with the funny creatures ?'
'Funny creatures ? You mean Gollum ? He was stalking us, we caught him and tied him up. We had to take him with us, he's trying to get to something that one of the Hobbits carries.'
'Hobbits ? Are they the short people back there ?'
Sam looked up angrily at that remark and was going to protest but decided against it.
'Did you never see The Lord of the Rings ?'
'What ?'
'Never mind. Anyway, we have to be careful, there are still things out there. They have been trying to catch us ever since we came here. They took our friend, we're not sure how to get to her.'
'Did these things hurt your friend here ?' The ranger asked as he looked down at Ned who was still sleeping.
'No. It was a man. He told us his name was Frank.'
The ranger stopped suddenly, Bob continued to walk for a while before she realised he had stopped. 'Did you say his name was Frank ? He lives in a hut not far from here.'
'Yeah, that's the one. Do you know him ?'
'He gave me this.' He said indicating to his leg. Bob guessed that Frank had caused the injury that had given the ranger the limp. 'That guy is insane. Where is he now ? He's not wandering the woods is he ?'
'My guess would be no.' Bob said calmly, 'He's dead. I killed him.'
The ranger didn't know what to say. He almsot dropped Ned when he heard the news that Frank was dead.
'He's dead ? How did you kill him ?'
'With his own knife. He caught us and tied us up, he stabbed Ned and then tried to hurt me. I got free and slit his throat. I know it was probably wrong but I had no choice.' Bob tried to defend her actions but the ranger didn't seem too worried that Frank was dead, in fact, he had a smile on his face.
'You should be given a medal or something for that. The man was a heartless killer. He killed my family almost a year ago and gave me the limp leg to remember him by. He deserved to die. I've been trying to get him arrested for some time but he never leaves any evidence. I became a ranger to keep an eye on him. Looks like I don't have to any more.'
The ranger grinned, suddenly pleased that he had met the people.
'My name's Paul by the way. I must say I was a little surprised when I saw you guys out here. I know a way to a town, as soon as we get there they can help your friend.'
Bob smiled but knew that she couldn't just leave Frodo and Sam and Fred. However, the thought of a proper meal and a warm bed was very tempting. She nodded pleased that she had finally found her way out.
Paul walked forwards but was instantly stopped when the blade of a Ring Wraith sliced his neck. Bob hardly knew what was happening. His head fell off quickly. His body fell to the ground and was closely followed by his head. Ned also fell to the floor and was instantly covered in blood. The Wraith stood there for some time watching them but not moving.
It was as if it were waiting for orders or maybe it was just searching for the Ring. Bob knew that they had to get out of there, she turned to tell the Hobbits to run but they were already heading away from the Wraith. Bob wanted to run but she knew she couldn't just leave Ned there.
Ned was just coming back into consciousness and the first thing she saw was a Wraith staring down at her, she quickly realised that she was also covered in blood and that it was not her own. She turned her head to one side and saw the head of someone else but she instantly saw that it wasn't attached to a body.
Despite the pain that was racing through her body she knew she had to move out of the way of the Wraith. She rolled away from it and was instantly helped to her feet by Bob who was shouting at her to help herself up. Ned could tell that all Bob wanted to do was run out of there but she was intent on helping her friend.
Ned rose to her feet and stumbled away from the Wraith. She tried not to lose her balance but she couldn't help it. She felt herself falling to the ground but she was caught by Bob who dragged her forwards and away from the Wraith. She finally managed to get to her feet properly and Bob was gald that she was not putting so much weight on her.
They ran towards the wooded area in a hope to escape the Wraith. They reached the trees and ran further into the wood. After what seemed like hours they finally stopped, they were sure that the Wraith was no longer behind them but they still hid behind a tree in case it suddenly appeared.
Ned fell to the ground in exhaustion and Bob wanted to do the same but she resisted the urge to rest and leaned against the tree checking for any sign that the Wraith was coming after them but she heard nothing. She sighed with relief and looked towards Ned who was beginning to lose consciousness again. Bob dragged her to her feet and forced her to stay awake.
Bob led them through the forest always looking for Wraiths and Frodo and Sam, they could be anywhere in the forest and there was no way to find them. Bob hoped they hadn't gone too far. She also realised that they had lost Gollum, she didn't know whether he was alive or dead and she didn't really care. All she wanted to do was help Ned and find the Hobbits. Also she was thinking about Fred. When they had been attacked by the Wraith she had realised that there was a way of getting to Middle Earth although she was sure the others were not going to like it.
TBC