I don't know why it sometimes works when I put italics and sometimes doesn't!

Anyway, I'm still continuing in crossing the movie with the book (where it suits me and the story), and therefore don't worry if it doesn't seem to come from the movie or the book, it supposed to be that way (a jumbled mess, to put it bluntly).

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CHAPTER 26 : Frodo and Sam

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Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee. Faramir sat in silence, thinking about these two strange characters he had met in the wild. Hobbits of the Shire. He had seen the maps of Middle-earth before, and the Shire was no short distance from Ithilien. What brought them so far out of their homeland? An errand of secrecy, they said. Well, what was there so important or dangerous that could come out of the Shire? Faramir just could not understand.

And yet they had travelled with Boromir, they had known him. They were the last ones who had known Boromir. For that one moment Faramir had wanted to bombard them with questions about his late brother. How did he die? What was his mission? What had happened in Rivendell? Did he mention anything about Gondor? But he had managed to keep himself from doing so in the end. He was the Captain of the Rangers, and for now, they were his "prisoners". He could not allow himself to relax in any way in front of them, not yet. And so his questions had to go unanswered.

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Liana sat in the courtyard with her friend Rianne. Rianne's mother, a serving-woman in Denethor's house, was working in the kitchens, and so Rianne had been left alone for the time being. Both eight-year-olds were enjoying this brief taste of freedom, just sitting on the bench with their feet hanging in the air, feeling the wind against their little faces, making conversation, thinking that it made them seem "grown-up".

"It's a pity your mother doesn't work for the Steward anymore. Otherwise we could meet more often…" Rianne remarked wistfully. "Why doesn't she work for the Steward anymore? I asked Mother once, but she said that she didn't know."

Liana shrugged. "Mother won't tell me, she said that it's not something that I have to worry about. It's in the past, she said, and so we needn't be worried by it anymore. She seems to like being a seamstress, though. She can make the prettiest dresses, and she made me one that day."

"Father bought some lovely cloth last week, and Mother promised that she'd make me a new dress as soon as she has the time, seeing that I'm growing really fast," Rianne said proudly. Like any other eight-year-old, she took particular pride in the rate of her growth. "Maybe one day we could wear our new dresses together."

Liana agreed to that, and the two girls lapsed into silence, seeing no more point in going on about their dresses. Liana looked around the courtyard, where she had spent so much time when she first came to Minas Tirith. Then her mind brought her back to her life before Minas Tirith. She had few memories of Osgiliath, few memories of her life before coming to Aislin, but she still remembered her real mother, and some of the happy moments she had had. And of course she remembered the horrors of that night. Sometimes they came to her in dreams, and she would wake up with a start, then drift back to sleep once she realised that she was still safe in Aislin's arms. She sighed. "Sometimes I wish I remember what Osgiliath looks like."

"I've never been to Osgiliath. I asked Mother about it once, and she said that there's not much of Osgiliath to go to now. All of the people from Osgiliath are in Minas Tirith now, anyway, but I haven't met any of them. They don't really come up to the Steward's hall." Rianne swung her legs up to sit cross-legged on the bench. "It must be nice, having Captain Boromir as your father."

"Captain Faramir too." Liana swelled with pride. "He's like my father too, although of course I call Captain Boromir my father. But Faramir is very nice to me. He was the one who found me first in Osgiliath, you know. He saved me."

Rianne looked at Liana enviously. "It must be really nice having two fathers…"

Liana thought of what she knew, what she and her mother now knew, and looked down at her feet to hide the tears that were threatening to spill out of her eyes. I have only one father now…

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Frodo sat in the cave, huddled next to Sam. He wondered what these Rangers wanted with the two of them. Thinking back to Boromir, he wasn't exactly sure he wanted to know. The Ring had taken Boromir. He had thought that he would simply use it to save his people, but he had not truly understood its power. It was likely that the Ring would do the same to Faramir and his men. If they found out about what Frodo was carrying, it was likely that Middle-earth would be destroyed.

Yet he had a little feeling about Faramir. Faramir was different, somehow. He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something about Faramir that said that he was different from his brother. He seemed wiser, for one. And gentler, though he was as firm and as in control as his brother had been. Perhaps, just perhaps, Faramir would understand the peril, and help.

Frodo's mind then drifted to Gollum. He wondered where Gollum had disappeared to, just before they were caught by the Rangers.

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Well, they had found him. Or rather, he had found them. Faramir stared down at that strange creature in the Forbidden Pool, catching fish, it seemed. He had never seen the likes of this creature before in his life. It looked pitiful, and dangerous, all at the same time. Its voice was raspy and alien, sending chills down his spine. What is this that we're dealing with here?

Then Frodo appeared, calling to him, and he began to follow, moving on all fours, cautiously.

The Rangers were fast, springing out from their hiding places, grabbing the creature.

Well, now we'll know what's going on, Faramir thought.