Disclaimer: I own nothing Tolkien created and I never will, no matter how
much I wish.
Ch 6 Unforgettable Tales
Fred began inspecting Ned's wounds, she was surprised at how little pain they caused her, she was almost spilt in half. It didn't make a whole lot of sense but then nothing did lately.
Bob was sat looking down at the floor, not knowing what to say. She knew that she had to tell the story and yet something just didn't want her to, maybe it was the thought of recalling everything that had happened in Orthanc. She looked up at Ned who was waiting for her to speak but there was no impatience in her face.
"I guess I should start where I left you. On second thoughts maybe Fred should tell her story, that way it might make more sense."
Fred looked up at Bob with a shocked look. She didn't know whether she could tell her story, she'd never had to before. Just thinking about those things made her shiver but admitting them out loud would be worse. However, Bob and Ned had a right to know what happened, especially if they were telling their stories as well. At least Bob would say about David.
"I.Okay. I can do that." Fred tried to sound confident but the other two could see how much she was dreading this and both were ready to help her if she couldn't say anymore.
"Fred, I'm sure that it's not all that important if you don't want to tell us." Bob said watching Fred cleaning Ned's wounds gently.
"No, it's fine, it has been four weeks right?" She smiled.
Bob and Ned looked at each other; they were worried about Fred but sure that it would do her some good to relate her story.
"Well, after that pony incident I walked off into the woods, don't ask me why but I did. I was walking around trying to find my way back to camp when I heard something, I figured it was nothing and kept walking. Eventually the Wraith just grabbed me and carried me away. I don't remember much of the journey except that we were flying and that he was holding me really tightly. I also remember how incredibly scared I was, and cold, it was so cold up there.
"Anyway, we finally stopped and landed, I didn't recognise it at first but then I realised it was Orthanc. Saruman was waiting for me, he was expecting me. I didn't know why he wanted me but when he asked about Frodo and the Ring I knew that I couldn't tell him anything, mostly because I had absolutely no idea where you were. You know what I'm like with directions." She smiled.
"He took me to the dungeons, they were just like you think apart from the.the bodies around the walls. There must have been at least twenty of them, mostly Dwarves I think. I didn't look that closely though."
"I saw the same thing, it's where I got the Muithruil from." Bob said. Fred nodded.
"I stayed there not knowing what to do. In the morning, I assume it was morning an Orc came in and gave me some food, unfortunately poisoned food. I actually believed that I was being treated well. It made me see things. Terrible things." Bob and Ned accepted that she didn't want to say any more about that. "Then I was taken to Saruman's 'torture chamber'. That's where I met David." At this Fred smiled.
"Who's David?" Ned asked, she had heard that name before and was keen to know who it was. Bob shook her head indicating that it was something they shouldn't talk about.
"David was." Fred couldn't continue. "David was a friend." She said quietly and concentrated on the wounds that she was covering although she wasn't doing anything to them.
"Fred?" Bob ventured. "What happened after that?" She prompted her friend not wanting to rush her but gently reminding her that she had to tell the rest of the story.
"It was a torture chamber Bob, what do you think happened?" Fred snapped. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that." Bob nodded that it was alright. "After that everything happened. We tried to escape but we were caught and punished. One of the Orcs did this." She pointed to her bandaged eye. "Then Bob came."
Fred was now working on another of Ned's wounds. She tried not to look up into Bob or Ned's eyes knowing that they would only ask her more questions.
"Yeah then I came. I guess it's my turn to take up the story." Bob smiled, she didn't have any of the uneasiness Fred had but looked pleased that it was her turn and that Fred wouldn't have to say anymore. "I was taken by the Ring Wraith, as you know Ned and it took me straight to Orthanc. I didn't have quite the welcome, I was greeted by Orcs and taken to Saruman, I guess I wasn't important enough for an official welcome. Eventually Saruman appeared, he stared down at me a bit and asked me where the Ring was. He asked me a few times and then a bunch of Orcs appeared carrying a poker. Then they brought Fred in.
"I hardly recognised her, she was tied up." Bob hated saying this with Fred sat right next to her but her friend was making herself busy treating Ned's wounds and almost looked glad that she didn't have to tell the story herself. "Anyway Fred trusted me at least, they let her go. They threatened to torture Fred more if I didn't tell Saruman where the Ring was. I didn't of course." She looked sadly over at Fred who nodded that it was okay.
"She did the right thing." Fred said but the slight tremble in her voice was enough to convey how hard this was for her.
"They hit Fred with the poker hoping that I would give in and tell them but I couldn't. They tried to find something that would hurt her more; Saruman knew exactly what he wanted to do. He said he could see everything that went on in the cell although I don't know how. It was a box, crawling with bugs, thousands of them; I've never seen anything like it. I offered to take her place but he wouldn't let me. I think he just liked hurting one person. Fred stopped me though, she wouldn't let me do it for her." Bob smiled. "Thanks for that.
"After that they handed me a hammer like object and some jagged pieces of metal, they wanted me to nail Fred into the box." At this both Fred and Bob looked at Fred's hands, the marks were still there. "I had no choice so I did." Fred could sense the regret in Bob's voice and decided she had to say something.
"She did the right thing, the Orcs would have been far worse." She smiled although it was shaky.
"They locked the box and left Fred in there with the bugs. There was nothing I could do, Fred herself told me that I couldn't tell Saruman about the Ring so. They took me back to the cell after that. Than I found the vest and the medallion. I had the vision then, of Gandalf. He told me that I should have hope and that everything was going to be alright and he passed his power on to me.
"When I woke up an Orc came to get me, in fact several Orcs came to get me. They took me to Saruman's torture room. I met him there, he had no idea that I had this new power so I confronted him I told him that I was capable of killing him now and told him that I knew about the Orb." Bob was about to continue when Ned interrupted.
"Wait a minute, what Orb? Have I missed something?"
"Okay. The thing that granted Frodo's wish to be somewhere else was an Orb, the legend is kind of long and complicated but the Orb can make a person's wish come true provided that person is strong enough to wield it, sort of like the Ring. Under Saruman's control it was powerful enough to open some kind of portal between Earth and Middle Earth. Quite clever actually. If you break the Orb." Bob stopped and looked at Fred who was staring at the wound she was dressing with a vacant look on her face. "Well, you'll find out later."
"Alright." Ned said not fully understanding but trusting Bob to tell her everything she needed to know.
"I offered to allow Saruman to keep the Orb if he reversed the spell and let both me and Fred go but he didn't want to so he tried to attack Fred. It was amazing, I felt so powerful, like nothing I've ever felt before and probably ever will again. You saw it Fred." Fred nodded.
"She was powerful, more so than even Saruman." Fred smiled at the memory.
"Anyway, after that me and Saruman fought. I managed to knock him out. It took a while and a lot of energy but it was worth it. Then I got Fred out and we went to find the Orb. That's where David comes in." Bob stopped and looked over to Fred again who nodded silently. She knew that David was an important part of the story but listening to what happened to him was something she was not looking forward to. "David was a very brave man. We got him out of his cell; he helped Fred through the halls. We were met by another band of Orcs and Saruman, we knew that we had to get past them and the only way to do that was to fight them. Fifty Orcs against three ordinary people. Not great odds.
"Luckily we won and managed to get to the room where the Orb was kept. There was something I didn't tell you about it, the person that broke it would most likely be killed. I volunteered but David insisted that he did it instead. He smashed the Orb which sent us back here." Bob finished her story, pleased that it was over.
All of them sat quietly for a moment just thinking about what had just been said. For Bob and Fred it was a painful reminder of what had happened in Orthanc and for Ned it was a glimpse into what they had suffered whilst she was in the New Forest. Fred had stopped working on Ned but when she realised that tears were building in her eyes she started work again. She bandaged Ned up. Still no one said anything.
After a few minutes Ned looked at Fred who was still looking at the floor with an unused bandage in her hands.
"Fred, are you alright?" Ned asked.
"I'm fine." Fred replied not looking up.
"Fred, you're shaking." Ned grabbed Fred's hand and held it tightly. Fred nodded slightly and allowed a tear to roll down her face.
"He was a good person." She whispered so quietly that the others could barely hear. She pulled away from Ned's grip and walked into the bedroom closing the door behind her. The two girls sat quietly for a moment. The silence was interrupted by the gentle crying of Fred from the next room.
Both of them sat there not wanting to say anything. Ned and Bob both looked towards the door, Ned looked more worried than anything else.
"She didn't tell me everything that happened did she?" She asked.
"Only about a quarter." Bob replied.
"Do you think we should go and see how she is?" Ned asked.
"No, just leave her alone for a while. I didn't know David well but she's right he was a good person and I think she really loved him. She misses him." Bob smiled. "Anyway, you still owe me a story. I've told you everything that happened to us now it's your turn."
"Well, not a whole lot happened after you left, we went a little further into the woods. Then a man came; it was Fred's father I think. He was with Aragorn. Then more of the Fellowship came, all seven of them. Then Aragorn tried to help me but failed, that's all I remember. When they buried me I could feel something but mostly it all seemed normal to me. Like it was meant to be happening, then you dug me up and that was it, everything really was normal again, all except this." She added pointing to her wound from the autopsy. "I think Fred did a pretty good job."
"Ned, Fred didn't really do anything, she cleaned the wound but as far as I know she didn't give you any painkillers. You didn't even notice it when we pulled you out."
"I'm not surprised, I don't think I knew what I was doing back there. Everything was so confusing and blurry. I couldn't hear properly, I don't know, maybe I was just underground for too long."
"You were laid still for almost a month, you didn't need any of your senses so your body shut them down to keep the rest of your body alive." Fred's voice came from the now open bedroom door.
"That makes sense, I couldn't hear, see or smell anything in there I just had a feeling that something was slightly odd."
They all looked at Ned hoping she could put it into words but she just shook her head. Bob sighed, knowing that it wasn't Ned's fault but at the same time feeling a little frustrated. She suddenly and unexpectedly remembered something from her dream that night.
"Ned, after the Wraith had taken me and you Frodo and Sam were alone did you go much further into the forest?"
"No why?"
"There was one other person in there that we needed to keep an eye on."
"Who?" Ned asked.
"Gollum."
"Gollum?" Fred said sitting down on the sofa and looking across at Bob and Ned.
"After you left and Ned was stabbed we realised someone was tracking us. Ned went off into the woods and found Gollum." Bob explained.
"And he wasn't taken back to Middle Earth with the rest of the Fellowship?"
"I don't know." Ned said trying to remember anything that might help. "Maybe."
"No he wasn't. I can feel him. I know it sounds stupid but this morning when I was sleeping I had a dream about the forest and I remember someone still lurking in the shadows, it was Gollum, I'm certain. He's still here."
"Bob, the police combed that area for evidence, they would have found him if he was still there." Fred reasoned.
"Come on, you know how slippery Gollum is. Ned, he got away from us once before he could easily have done it again. He had plenty of forest to hide in. It wouldn't have been hard to keep out of sight of the police."
"Yeah but there were only four of us, if what you say is accurate there should have been hundreds of police looking for Frank. I don't think they would have missed a strange grey creature lurking in the woods."
"He did it before. He followed us for days without us even knowing about it. He could easily hide in the forest and keep out of the way of the police." Bob was getting more and more irritated that they wouldn't believe her.
"Maybe you're right but he wouldn't be able to survive would he?" Fred asked.
"Look how long he managed to survive in Lord of the Rings. He went days without food and water. He could do it if he had to, which he wouldn't in the forest anyway, there's plenty of food and water and shelter. It's a perfect environment for him. He could survive and he had. I know it."
"I don't know Bob."
"I was right about Ned, wasn't I? And I'm right about this. I know I am."
They were all silent for a while thinking about the possibility that Gollum was alive and wandering around the New Forest.
"What if Bob's right? If Gollum really is out there he could cause trouble." Ned spoke to Fred.
"There is no way I am going out there again. Have you completely forgotten what happened last time we went on a 'quest'. I ended up in Middle Earth, Bob got psychic powers and Ned died. I say we let someone else deal with it. We did our part. Surely that's enough."
"Fred you know that's not true. No one else will understand. Besides they'll probably use him as some lab experiment."
"Good. He deserves that."
"Remember the Lord of the Rings story. They should be meeting Gollum soon, if they don't their world changes."
"I can't believe we're even thinking about getting involved in this again. It's too dangerous. Please, lets stay out of it." Fred begged although she knew that the other two were right.
"So what, we just wait for someone else to figure it out whilst Middle Earth is destroyed. Everything we fought for last time will be destroyed, do you really want that Fred."
"No, of course not but."
"We have worked so hard to make sure nothing changed, look what happened to you. Are you really going to ignore all that? Are you prepared to destroy Middle Earth? Come on Fred, after everything that happened. Are you going to let David's death be in vain?" As soon as Bob had said this she instantly regretted it.
"How could you say that? You know I don't want anything bad to happen. And I do know what we fought for. I just don't want it to happen again."
"It might not. We'll make sure it doesn't." Ned reassured her.
Fred thought for a moment trying to understand what they were going to do. She could hardly believe herself when she said yes. After everything that happened and she was going back into the danger zone. Maybe she really had gone insane. Although she knew it was the right thing to do, they had worked so hard to keep Middle Earth from falling, she wasn't going to let all that disappear.
"We leave in the morning then." Ned said getting up and walking to the bedroom. "Get some rest, we might have to do a lot of searching tomorrow." Bob nodded and followed her.
Before going into the bedroom she turned to Fred who was looking down at the floor. "Are you sleeping out here?" Fred nodded but said nothing. "Nothing bad is going to happen Fred, I promise. We're not in danger just looking for Gollum.
"I know. I just.Go and get some rest Bob." She nodded and went into the bedroom shutting the door behind her. Fred sighed and laid down on the couch, she wanted to sleep but memories of what had happened in Isengard wouldn't allow her any rest so she eventually gave up trying.
**
Ned was in the bed whilst Bob was laying on the floor with a blanket over her, she was looking up at the ceiling.
"Ned, are you awake?" Bob almost whispered.
"No." Came the annoyed reply.
"Good. Maybe Fred's right, we shouldn't be going into the woods. Perhaps we should just tell the police or something."
"Who do you think is going to believe us?"
"I don't think it's fair that we should drag Fred back into that forest, she's been through enough. You didn't see what they did to her in Orthanc. What if we just get her into trouble again?"
"We can't chance that Gollum is out there. You know how much trouble he can cause. Fred is coming with us, we can't just leave her here."
"I know that but. I don't know maybe she is just being paranoid but I'm getting a very bad feeling about this." Bob sighed.
"There's only one way to find out. We'll leave early tomorrow morning, if we get there early we can get it over and done with and be back here in time for dinner. Don't worry Fred will be safe, nothing is going to happen to her.
Ch 6 Unforgettable Tales
Fred began inspecting Ned's wounds, she was surprised at how little pain they caused her, she was almost spilt in half. It didn't make a whole lot of sense but then nothing did lately.
Bob was sat looking down at the floor, not knowing what to say. She knew that she had to tell the story and yet something just didn't want her to, maybe it was the thought of recalling everything that had happened in Orthanc. She looked up at Ned who was waiting for her to speak but there was no impatience in her face.
"I guess I should start where I left you. On second thoughts maybe Fred should tell her story, that way it might make more sense."
Fred looked up at Bob with a shocked look. She didn't know whether she could tell her story, she'd never had to before. Just thinking about those things made her shiver but admitting them out loud would be worse. However, Bob and Ned had a right to know what happened, especially if they were telling their stories as well. At least Bob would say about David.
"I.Okay. I can do that." Fred tried to sound confident but the other two could see how much she was dreading this and both were ready to help her if she couldn't say anymore.
"Fred, I'm sure that it's not all that important if you don't want to tell us." Bob said watching Fred cleaning Ned's wounds gently.
"No, it's fine, it has been four weeks right?" She smiled.
Bob and Ned looked at each other; they were worried about Fred but sure that it would do her some good to relate her story.
"Well, after that pony incident I walked off into the woods, don't ask me why but I did. I was walking around trying to find my way back to camp when I heard something, I figured it was nothing and kept walking. Eventually the Wraith just grabbed me and carried me away. I don't remember much of the journey except that we were flying and that he was holding me really tightly. I also remember how incredibly scared I was, and cold, it was so cold up there.
"Anyway, we finally stopped and landed, I didn't recognise it at first but then I realised it was Orthanc. Saruman was waiting for me, he was expecting me. I didn't know why he wanted me but when he asked about Frodo and the Ring I knew that I couldn't tell him anything, mostly because I had absolutely no idea where you were. You know what I'm like with directions." She smiled.
"He took me to the dungeons, they were just like you think apart from the.the bodies around the walls. There must have been at least twenty of them, mostly Dwarves I think. I didn't look that closely though."
"I saw the same thing, it's where I got the Muithruil from." Bob said. Fred nodded.
"I stayed there not knowing what to do. In the morning, I assume it was morning an Orc came in and gave me some food, unfortunately poisoned food. I actually believed that I was being treated well. It made me see things. Terrible things." Bob and Ned accepted that she didn't want to say any more about that. "Then I was taken to Saruman's 'torture chamber'. That's where I met David." At this Fred smiled.
"Who's David?" Ned asked, she had heard that name before and was keen to know who it was. Bob shook her head indicating that it was something they shouldn't talk about.
"David was." Fred couldn't continue. "David was a friend." She said quietly and concentrated on the wounds that she was covering although she wasn't doing anything to them.
"Fred?" Bob ventured. "What happened after that?" She prompted her friend not wanting to rush her but gently reminding her that she had to tell the rest of the story.
"It was a torture chamber Bob, what do you think happened?" Fred snapped. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that." Bob nodded that it was alright. "After that everything happened. We tried to escape but we were caught and punished. One of the Orcs did this." She pointed to her bandaged eye. "Then Bob came."
Fred was now working on another of Ned's wounds. She tried not to look up into Bob or Ned's eyes knowing that they would only ask her more questions.
"Yeah then I came. I guess it's my turn to take up the story." Bob smiled, she didn't have any of the uneasiness Fred had but looked pleased that it was her turn and that Fred wouldn't have to say anymore. "I was taken by the Ring Wraith, as you know Ned and it took me straight to Orthanc. I didn't have quite the welcome, I was greeted by Orcs and taken to Saruman, I guess I wasn't important enough for an official welcome. Eventually Saruman appeared, he stared down at me a bit and asked me where the Ring was. He asked me a few times and then a bunch of Orcs appeared carrying a poker. Then they brought Fred in.
"I hardly recognised her, she was tied up." Bob hated saying this with Fred sat right next to her but her friend was making herself busy treating Ned's wounds and almost looked glad that she didn't have to tell the story herself. "Anyway Fred trusted me at least, they let her go. They threatened to torture Fred more if I didn't tell Saruman where the Ring was. I didn't of course." She looked sadly over at Fred who nodded that it was okay.
"She did the right thing." Fred said but the slight tremble in her voice was enough to convey how hard this was for her.
"They hit Fred with the poker hoping that I would give in and tell them but I couldn't. They tried to find something that would hurt her more; Saruman knew exactly what he wanted to do. He said he could see everything that went on in the cell although I don't know how. It was a box, crawling with bugs, thousands of them; I've never seen anything like it. I offered to take her place but he wouldn't let me. I think he just liked hurting one person. Fred stopped me though, she wouldn't let me do it for her." Bob smiled. "Thanks for that.
"After that they handed me a hammer like object and some jagged pieces of metal, they wanted me to nail Fred into the box." At this both Fred and Bob looked at Fred's hands, the marks were still there. "I had no choice so I did." Fred could sense the regret in Bob's voice and decided she had to say something.
"She did the right thing, the Orcs would have been far worse." She smiled although it was shaky.
"They locked the box and left Fred in there with the bugs. There was nothing I could do, Fred herself told me that I couldn't tell Saruman about the Ring so. They took me back to the cell after that. Than I found the vest and the medallion. I had the vision then, of Gandalf. He told me that I should have hope and that everything was going to be alright and he passed his power on to me.
"When I woke up an Orc came to get me, in fact several Orcs came to get me. They took me to Saruman's torture room. I met him there, he had no idea that I had this new power so I confronted him I told him that I was capable of killing him now and told him that I knew about the Orb." Bob was about to continue when Ned interrupted.
"Wait a minute, what Orb? Have I missed something?"
"Okay. The thing that granted Frodo's wish to be somewhere else was an Orb, the legend is kind of long and complicated but the Orb can make a person's wish come true provided that person is strong enough to wield it, sort of like the Ring. Under Saruman's control it was powerful enough to open some kind of portal between Earth and Middle Earth. Quite clever actually. If you break the Orb." Bob stopped and looked at Fred who was staring at the wound she was dressing with a vacant look on her face. "Well, you'll find out later."
"Alright." Ned said not fully understanding but trusting Bob to tell her everything she needed to know.
"I offered to allow Saruman to keep the Orb if he reversed the spell and let both me and Fred go but he didn't want to so he tried to attack Fred. It was amazing, I felt so powerful, like nothing I've ever felt before and probably ever will again. You saw it Fred." Fred nodded.
"She was powerful, more so than even Saruman." Fred smiled at the memory.
"Anyway, after that me and Saruman fought. I managed to knock him out. It took a while and a lot of energy but it was worth it. Then I got Fred out and we went to find the Orb. That's where David comes in." Bob stopped and looked over to Fred again who nodded silently. She knew that David was an important part of the story but listening to what happened to him was something she was not looking forward to. "David was a very brave man. We got him out of his cell; he helped Fred through the halls. We were met by another band of Orcs and Saruman, we knew that we had to get past them and the only way to do that was to fight them. Fifty Orcs against three ordinary people. Not great odds.
"Luckily we won and managed to get to the room where the Orb was kept. There was something I didn't tell you about it, the person that broke it would most likely be killed. I volunteered but David insisted that he did it instead. He smashed the Orb which sent us back here." Bob finished her story, pleased that it was over.
All of them sat quietly for a moment just thinking about what had just been said. For Bob and Fred it was a painful reminder of what had happened in Orthanc and for Ned it was a glimpse into what they had suffered whilst she was in the New Forest. Fred had stopped working on Ned but when she realised that tears were building in her eyes she started work again. She bandaged Ned up. Still no one said anything.
After a few minutes Ned looked at Fred who was still looking at the floor with an unused bandage in her hands.
"Fred, are you alright?" Ned asked.
"I'm fine." Fred replied not looking up.
"Fred, you're shaking." Ned grabbed Fred's hand and held it tightly. Fred nodded slightly and allowed a tear to roll down her face.
"He was a good person." She whispered so quietly that the others could barely hear. She pulled away from Ned's grip and walked into the bedroom closing the door behind her. The two girls sat quietly for a moment. The silence was interrupted by the gentle crying of Fred from the next room.
Both of them sat there not wanting to say anything. Ned and Bob both looked towards the door, Ned looked more worried than anything else.
"She didn't tell me everything that happened did she?" She asked.
"Only about a quarter." Bob replied.
"Do you think we should go and see how she is?" Ned asked.
"No, just leave her alone for a while. I didn't know David well but she's right he was a good person and I think she really loved him. She misses him." Bob smiled. "Anyway, you still owe me a story. I've told you everything that happened to us now it's your turn."
"Well, not a whole lot happened after you left, we went a little further into the woods. Then a man came; it was Fred's father I think. He was with Aragorn. Then more of the Fellowship came, all seven of them. Then Aragorn tried to help me but failed, that's all I remember. When they buried me I could feel something but mostly it all seemed normal to me. Like it was meant to be happening, then you dug me up and that was it, everything really was normal again, all except this." She added pointing to her wound from the autopsy. "I think Fred did a pretty good job."
"Ned, Fred didn't really do anything, she cleaned the wound but as far as I know she didn't give you any painkillers. You didn't even notice it when we pulled you out."
"I'm not surprised, I don't think I knew what I was doing back there. Everything was so confusing and blurry. I couldn't hear properly, I don't know, maybe I was just underground for too long."
"You were laid still for almost a month, you didn't need any of your senses so your body shut them down to keep the rest of your body alive." Fred's voice came from the now open bedroom door.
"That makes sense, I couldn't hear, see or smell anything in there I just had a feeling that something was slightly odd."
They all looked at Ned hoping she could put it into words but she just shook her head. Bob sighed, knowing that it wasn't Ned's fault but at the same time feeling a little frustrated. She suddenly and unexpectedly remembered something from her dream that night.
"Ned, after the Wraith had taken me and you Frodo and Sam were alone did you go much further into the forest?"
"No why?"
"There was one other person in there that we needed to keep an eye on."
"Who?" Ned asked.
"Gollum."
"Gollum?" Fred said sitting down on the sofa and looking across at Bob and Ned.
"After you left and Ned was stabbed we realised someone was tracking us. Ned went off into the woods and found Gollum." Bob explained.
"And he wasn't taken back to Middle Earth with the rest of the Fellowship?"
"I don't know." Ned said trying to remember anything that might help. "Maybe."
"No he wasn't. I can feel him. I know it sounds stupid but this morning when I was sleeping I had a dream about the forest and I remember someone still lurking in the shadows, it was Gollum, I'm certain. He's still here."
"Bob, the police combed that area for evidence, they would have found him if he was still there." Fred reasoned.
"Come on, you know how slippery Gollum is. Ned, he got away from us once before he could easily have done it again. He had plenty of forest to hide in. It wouldn't have been hard to keep out of sight of the police."
"Yeah but there were only four of us, if what you say is accurate there should have been hundreds of police looking for Frank. I don't think they would have missed a strange grey creature lurking in the woods."
"He did it before. He followed us for days without us even knowing about it. He could easily hide in the forest and keep out of the way of the police." Bob was getting more and more irritated that they wouldn't believe her.
"Maybe you're right but he wouldn't be able to survive would he?" Fred asked.
"Look how long he managed to survive in Lord of the Rings. He went days without food and water. He could do it if he had to, which he wouldn't in the forest anyway, there's plenty of food and water and shelter. It's a perfect environment for him. He could survive and he had. I know it."
"I don't know Bob."
"I was right about Ned, wasn't I? And I'm right about this. I know I am."
They were all silent for a while thinking about the possibility that Gollum was alive and wandering around the New Forest.
"What if Bob's right? If Gollum really is out there he could cause trouble." Ned spoke to Fred.
"There is no way I am going out there again. Have you completely forgotten what happened last time we went on a 'quest'. I ended up in Middle Earth, Bob got psychic powers and Ned died. I say we let someone else deal with it. We did our part. Surely that's enough."
"Fred you know that's not true. No one else will understand. Besides they'll probably use him as some lab experiment."
"Good. He deserves that."
"Remember the Lord of the Rings story. They should be meeting Gollum soon, if they don't their world changes."
"I can't believe we're even thinking about getting involved in this again. It's too dangerous. Please, lets stay out of it." Fred begged although she knew that the other two were right.
"So what, we just wait for someone else to figure it out whilst Middle Earth is destroyed. Everything we fought for last time will be destroyed, do you really want that Fred."
"No, of course not but."
"We have worked so hard to make sure nothing changed, look what happened to you. Are you really going to ignore all that? Are you prepared to destroy Middle Earth? Come on Fred, after everything that happened. Are you going to let David's death be in vain?" As soon as Bob had said this she instantly regretted it.
"How could you say that? You know I don't want anything bad to happen. And I do know what we fought for. I just don't want it to happen again."
"It might not. We'll make sure it doesn't." Ned reassured her.
Fred thought for a moment trying to understand what they were going to do. She could hardly believe herself when she said yes. After everything that happened and she was going back into the danger zone. Maybe she really had gone insane. Although she knew it was the right thing to do, they had worked so hard to keep Middle Earth from falling, she wasn't going to let all that disappear.
"We leave in the morning then." Ned said getting up and walking to the bedroom. "Get some rest, we might have to do a lot of searching tomorrow." Bob nodded and followed her.
Before going into the bedroom she turned to Fred who was looking down at the floor. "Are you sleeping out here?" Fred nodded but said nothing. "Nothing bad is going to happen Fred, I promise. We're not in danger just looking for Gollum.
"I know. I just.Go and get some rest Bob." She nodded and went into the bedroom shutting the door behind her. Fred sighed and laid down on the couch, she wanted to sleep but memories of what had happened in Isengard wouldn't allow her any rest so she eventually gave up trying.
**
Ned was in the bed whilst Bob was laying on the floor with a blanket over her, she was looking up at the ceiling.
"Ned, are you awake?" Bob almost whispered.
"No." Came the annoyed reply.
"Good. Maybe Fred's right, we shouldn't be going into the woods. Perhaps we should just tell the police or something."
"Who do you think is going to believe us?"
"I don't think it's fair that we should drag Fred back into that forest, she's been through enough. You didn't see what they did to her in Orthanc. What if we just get her into trouble again?"
"We can't chance that Gollum is out there. You know how much trouble he can cause. Fred is coming with us, we can't just leave her here."
"I know that but. I don't know maybe she is just being paranoid but I'm getting a very bad feeling about this." Bob sighed.
"There's only one way to find out. We'll leave early tomorrow morning, if we get there early we can get it over and done with and be back here in time for dinner. Don't worry Fred will be safe, nothing is going to happen to her.