6

When he could no longer see Aragorn, Legolas turned back to the work at hand. His breath came in shallow gasps, but soon he mastered his emotions. Blank faced he continued to cut and bind the wild grass into stacks that would be used later.

"Where did you get this?"

The question that Aragorn had asked floated into his mind from nowhere. He had not answered the ranger then, because what he had found was too fresh in his memory. But now… he looked up and across at the field that he had finished ploughing yesterday. It lay there quiet and unassuming. The furrows he had made were rich and brown, awaiting clearing and seeding. It had been easy enough to plough for the soil was rich and yielding. He had started at the northern end and had worked back and forth in straight lines pulling the heavy plough like a beast of burden. He had stumbled he remembered clearly, right where the boundaries of that field met the other and the blade of the plough had sunk deep into the soil.

Irritated he had tugged at the plough and finding it stuck applied tremendous force. The blade had wrenched free and with it had come a grisly surprise. Impaled on the end of the blade was a bone. A human bone. Shock, revulsion and then quiet had chased through him. He had fallen to his knees and begun to dig, slowly at first and then frantically until he had unearthed the entire thing. The mostly rotted body of a man lay there, his chest sunken in. The corpse's clothes, what little there was left, were ordinary, but his boots, similar to the ones that Legolas wore were mostly whole. With him had been buried a sword of no particular craft, a pipe, a rolled cloak, a blanket and a small cloth bag. All his worldly possessions. The bag crumbled as Legolas touched it and shiny coins spilled out. The corpse's hair was shoulder length and light brown. A young man then, as young as Aragorn or younger. Legolas had looked at the putrefied face and for a heartbeat had seen the ranger lying there. With a feeling of growing horror Legolas had begun to heap handfuls of dirt back onto the body.

A cold drop of rain brought him abruptly back to the present. Looking up at the sky, he saw that angry clouds had gathered above while he had worked. Almost immediately it began to pour, heavy drops of rain beat down on him as he stood there staring out over the fields. Though it was early evening the sky slowly turned dark.

The rain gradually turned the ground to mud and soon it fell so heavily that it was difficult to see. Legolas stood there until his hair was plastered to his head and his clothes stuck to his body.

"Even the elements turn against us." he said softly.

He wondered how far Aragorn had got and if he had found shelter from the unforgiving rain.

00

There was no place to shelter and all Aragorn could do was hunch his shoulders against the harsh rain. He was wrapped tightly in the slick hooded cloak that Legolas had given to him. He was already tired and hungry and the cold rain did nothing to ease his plight. He breathed through his mouth for his nose was already clogged. He could see nothing for the rain fell as heavily as snow. It was not long before he lost all sense of direction, yet he did not stop walking. His movement in itself gave him some small comfort. After what seemed like days but were in fact hours he began to see feeble lights in the distance. Giving a desperate laugh he pulled his cloak even tighter and hastened his step.

00

The farmhouse was dark when Legolas entered. A single lamp was burning on the far side of the room, its poor glow doing little to relieve the gloom. The pot full of stew sat on the cold stove and the fire place was unlit.

"Why don't you change off and then have something to eat."

The voice caught him by surprise. Legolas had not seen Hiram seated at the table. The old farmer was in deep shadow and only barest hint of his face showed in the lamp light. Legolas stared at him for a moment and then moved off to do as he was bid. In the room where he normally slept Legolas shrugged off his wet clothes, wrung them as dry as he could and hung them on the back of the solitary chair to dry. He took a blanket and dried himself and dressed in his own clothes. It felt good to wear them again. When he returned to the kitchen the place was transformed. The fire burned merrily and the lamps were all lit. There were two places set at the table. Hiram was smiling, "Sit," he said to the elf as he stood there uneasily.

00

Hiram talked all through the meal, he seemed in rather high spirits. Not once did he enquire as to the whereabouts of Aragorn. It was as though the farmer had forgotten all about him. Legolas could do little but think about the ranger, he pushed the food around his plate hearing nothing that Hiram said. He was only too aware of the unrelenting thunder of the rain as it fell.

00

As Aragorn walked his feet seemed to grow heavier. He had just about come to the end of his strength. He could see just barely see the place through the heavy curtain of the rain; it was just a little further. He shivered as a rivulet of water trickled down his spine and a sneeze wracked his body. It was just a little further.

00

Legolas only realised that Hiram had stopped speaking when the silence had gone on for too long. He looked up to see the farmer studying him intently. His obsidian eyes seemed to have absorbed the orange glow of the fire and they shone eerily at him. Abruptly Legolas stood, his plate untouched. There seemed to be malevolence in the farmer's look. But before he could take a step the worm suddenly shifted in his ear. The resultant shriek made him gasp, hand flying to his head instinctively. The worm slithered sending Legolas into a paroxysm of pain. He staggered sideways going down on one knee as he fought to maintain his equanimity. Hiram watched him struggle with hard, flat eyes.

"Please," Legolas beseeched him through pain clenched lips.

But Hiram only smiled. "Why should I show mercy firstborn?"

Legolas' mouth opened but no words could he speak, instead a piteous whine issued from his throat. Legolas crawled away from the farmer, head down mouth open as he struggled to contend with the pain. But Hiram was incensed and he caught at the elf's trailing hair. Jerking cruelly he brought Legolas to his knees.

"Did I not take you in, did I not bring you back from the very brink of death? And this is the gratitude you show me? All I asked in return was a small favour. Your company, your time. Surely it was not too much for one such as you." Hiram wrapped the length of hair he held around his fist tightly until the elf's neck was taut, the soft skin of his throat exposed. Legolas groaned as this new pain assaulted his already shattered senses.

"I cared for you, as a father would a son, yet you sit there unmindful of me. You abused my mercy time and time again, you insulted my kindness." The farmer's raspy voice grated over his battered nerves. "When you sent your friend away today I thought you finally understood. But I was wrong. You are as contemptuous of me as ever."

Legolas tried to speak, to deny the accusations, but only a pain filled sound emerged. With an angry sneer on his lips Hiram began to shakethe elfback and forth as though he were no more than a rag doll.

00

Aragorn yanked open the wooden door and tumbled into the house as Legolas' terrible cries filled the air. He barely registered the flash of Hiram's burning eyes before he threw himself at the farmer. A solid backhanded blow threw Aragorn against the wall. Stunned by the power of that blow the ranger wheezed like an old man. Hiram slammed the elf's head against the wall and then loosed his hold. Legolas dropped without a sound. Hiram turned fully to the ranger. In the lamp light he looked bigger and suddenly dangerous. His maddeningly calm smile was on his face.

"You should 'a stayed gone boy." said the farmer.

……………………………………………