'Right-oh', said Rory, 'so how was this bloody Ring found again?'
'Actually', answered Gandalf 'by a friend of mine, a hobbit, Bilbo Baggins sixty
years ago. He found it when on an adventure withthirteendwarves and now his heir
Frodo has come through great danger to bring it here to Rivendell.'
'Oh, then that's the nasty smell here'. remarked Rory.
'Nasty smell!', exclaimed Gandalf, blinking hard and looking surprised.
'Yep,' said Rory, 'ask Elrond, he'll tell you that I always thought that Ring and its boss
stank,'Rory replied to the wizard.
'And then the joke about 'I'm with stupid', Elrond said from the window he was looking
out of.
Gandalf looked blank and, then both he and Aragorn looked at Elrond for the
explanation.
'Rory said that anyone powerful enough to make an evil Ring to control all the
other rings, and put part of his soul into it, and then let a mortal take off
him, was stupid. So she said the inscription on the ring should read, 'I'm with stupid',
said Elrond his eyes dancing with suppressed laughter.
Aragorn looked at the small woman. 'This is not a joke, Lady', he said severely.
'We are talking at the least of great evil and suffering being unleashed on the
world, maybe the very destruction of Middle Earth itself. Sauron is very
powerful, and this is not funny at all.'
'Yeah, I know', she replied. 'You forget, I was there in the Last Alliance; I
know Sauron is powerful, evil, and all the rest of it. Sometimes a little joke
just helps people cope with difficult and dangerous situations'.
Aragorn looked unconvinced. Gandalf looked at Rory, and said, 'very well, Rory,
enough of the Ring, what about yourself?'
Elrond suddenly became business like, 'yes, Rory what did happen to you. You
vanish like you never existed, and then quite literally drop in on me'. He
paused, then said 'Am I right in thinking that you originally went back to your
time for two years and then once again you arrived here, again with no real idea of
what is happening to you?'
'HHmm, here goes then', said Rory. 'I knew that I would get asked if I knew
what had happened, so I have been laying here trying to make sense of
everything. Of course I owe you an explanation, so I will tell you what my life
has been for the last 2 years.'