DISCLAIMER: Duh

ABBY'S NOTE: I finally got this computer working to the point that I can get on to the internet! Yay! ¡Es un momento muy bueno! (Sorry, I thought that since our screen name is Spanglish, we should have some Spanish in the entire story.) Hope you enjoy. Will post again soon. For real this time.

Chapter 19

The Rohirrim had been riding for about half an hour. Jethrin would continually attempt to check the she-elf's condition as well as he could while riding. She wasn't getting any better, but she didn't appear to be getting any worse. At least, not by human standards. Jethrin's mind began to wander. Where had she come from? How had she been captured by orcs? Where had the orcs been taking her?

We was startled when a strange voice called out from behind them:

"Rider's of Rohan! What new from the Mark?"

The Rohirrim turned and circled the four strangers who had seemed to pop out of the grass. Jethrin stayed behind the circle in order to prevent anything from happening to the injured elf in his care. He craned his neck to get a better look at the outsiders. Their backs were facing him, but he could tell that they were a strange group...

He let our a gasp of surprise. "Another elf!" he whispered, utterly shocked.

Legolas whirled around. "What do you mean another elf?"

The Rohirrim circle gave way, allowing the travelers to approach Jethrin.

"She was injured by orcs..." he said, his voice trailing off. He could think of nothing else to say.

Legolas took the wounded elf from Jethrin and laid her gently on the ground. He and Aragorn began to examine her wound while conversing in elvish. Gimli and Sam stood back to give them plenty of room. They could not help and would only be in the way.

"Excuse me, sir," Sam asked Jethrin politely. "You wouldn'ta been seein' two others that looked like me? There were two've my kind captured by the same orcs."

Jethrin shook his head. "I didn't, but perhaps Eomér might know something I don't," he suggested. Jethrin was less than hopeful. All the dead orcs were being burned, and he knew it would be easy to lose two small creatures amidst such a massacre. However, he did call Eomér over.

The hobbit asked Eomér the same question. He just shook his head. "We killed the orcs and left none alive. I did not see any little ones among them. We piled the carcasses and burned them," he said grimly, nodding to the area from which they had ridden from. Thick smoke was coming from a large fire a good ways off. "It's possible that..." Eomér's voice trailed off as a look of horror and comprehension crossed Sam's face. Sighing, he continued: "I wish that there was some good news I could give... but do not trust to hope. It has forsaken these lands." With that, he walked over to where Aragorn and Legolas were tending to the she-elf.

"What are your plans?" he asked.

Aragorn could tell that Lindi needed to get to Edoras as fast as possible. There was no way to heal her completely out in the middle of the open Rohan Plains where they were in clear view of anything that might be watching, and she needed rest. But while Eomér was adamant that there was no way that the hobbits could have escaped alive, he knew that he needed to look for himself.

"Legolas, you have to accompany Lindi to Edoras. I have to see if the hobbits really are..." Aragorn's voice trailed off, but Legolas understood. Aragorn continued: "Gimli can come with me, but I think that Sam should go with you and Lindi to Edoras. If the worse did happen--"

"Beggin' your pardon: Sam cut in (He has crept up to join the group and had overheard the conversation.), "but I've come this far, and I've seen my share o' bad things on... Weathertop. I'm no coward, and I'm not turnin' around now."

"Sam..." Aragorn said tiredly, "I know that you aren't a coward, but what good will it do if you go and see... the worst?"

"Well, what good'll come of me goin' to Edoras? I'll be 'f no use there, and if somethin' bad did happen to Merry an' Pippin, I'm gonna find out sooner or later," Sam said stubbornly.

Aragorn was in no mood to argue, and he could see that Sam was not going to back down.

"Fine, Sam. You and Gimli will come with me," he said. If the situation hadn't been so grim, Aragorn would have laughed at the irony: A Ranger and the Heir of Isildor being forced to obey a hobbit gardener.

------------------------------------------------------------

Gollum had found the path that he had been looking for. It wasn't much of a path, but it would lead them out of the mountains and into the Dead Marshes.

Gollum began to mutter to himself under his breath. "Nasty elfses... They have the Precious! It's ours... Nasty... tricksy... false!"

"Gollum! We can hear you!" called Ali in a slightly annoyed voice.

Gollum turned and glared at the two elves before turning his attention back to following the faint trace of a path and resuming his mutterings.

Within about forty-five minutes, Gollum had led them to the edge of the Dead Marshes.

"See! See! We leads you out!" Gollum said excitedly. His mood had changed from brooding and angry to falsely cheerful. Abby and Ali could see through what Gollum was trying to do, but they could also see that they needed the creature's assistance in order to make it Mordor.

"Good work, Gollum," said Ali approvingly. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor creature. Even if he was a lying, backstabbing creep. "Alright, I don't think the scenery is enough to stick around for. Let's keep moving," Ali said.

Gollum nodded. "Swift and silent as shadows we must be," he hissed before leading the elves into the mists of the Marshes.

ABBY'S NOTE: Sorry, but Lindi's not dead... yet.