Disclaimer: I don't own. You no sue. Please.
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They traveled mostly in silence for a few hours. They were cutting across a field, when Sam suddenly stopped. "This is it."
"This is what?" asked Valora, confused. She had to turn back to look at him, as she and Frodo had taken a few steps before noticing that Sam had stopped.
"If I take one more step," answered Sam, "it'll be the farthest away from home I've ever been."
Frodo and Valora looked at each other, smiling slightly. Frodo went back to him. "Come on, Sam."
Sam took a deep breath and reluctantly took another step.
"Remember what Bilbo used to say." said Frodo. "'It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your front door. You step onto the road and if you don't keep your feet, there's no telling where you might be swept off to.'"
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
They had stopped for the night. It wasn't quite dark yet, but it would be soon enough. Sam was cooking at the fire while Frodo laid on a slanted tree trunk, both smoking their pipes. Valora sat a few feet away, combing out her long, dark hair.
The sound of many voices singing beautifully reached Frodo's ears. "Sam, Valora, listen." They stopped and listened. It took a few seconds longer for Valora to hear, as the Hobbits had better hearing.
Frodo smiled. "Wood-elves."
A few moments later, they were sneaking through the woods, following the sound of the singing. They hid behind a log and watched in awe. A procession of Elves was traveling through the woods. Seeing Elves in these parts was a rare thing. They were very beautiful creatures.
"They're going to the harbor beyond the White Towers. To the Grey Haven," whispered Frodo.
"They're leaving Middle-Earth," said Sam softly.
Frodo nodded. "Never to return."
They sat in silence for a few moments. "I don't know why, "said Sam, "it makes me sad."
They watched for a few more moments before sneaking away, back to their camp.
Valora knew what Sam meant about being sad that the Elves were leaving and not really knowing why. She was puzzled. Why would anyone want to leave this place? It was so beautiful here. She didn't understand.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
"Everywhere I lie, there's a dirty great root sticking into my back," complained Sam a couple of hours later.
Frodo sighed. "Just shut your eyes," he said sleepily, "and imagine you're back in your own bed, with a soft mattress and a lovely feather pillow."
Sam tried to do just that. "It's not working Mr. Frodo," he whined. "I'm never going to get to sleep out here."
Valora rolled her eyes and rolled over to look at him. "Neither will we if you don't shut up." She rolled back over and pulled her blanket over her head. She loved Sam. Honestly, she did, but her patience was wearing thin. She was too tired and too afraid of what she'd gotten herself into.
Frodo laughed softly. "Don't pay any attention, Sam. You know how she is when she's cranky."
"I heard that." Valora's voice was muffled under the blanket.
Sam and Frodo laughed lightly.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
A day and a half later, as they were walking through a corn field, with Sam lagging a bit behind, Valora began seeing strange images in her head again. This time, she managed to keep her balance without holding onto anything, but she still had to stop and raise her hand to her forehead. She saw Gandalf. He was speaking with another man, who looked like he was a wizard as well.
"You did not seriously think that a Hobbit could contend with the will of Sauron?" asked the strange man. "There are none who can. Gandalf, against the forces of Sauron, there can be no victory. We must join with him, Gandalf. we must join with Sauron."
Valora shook her head, trying to clear away the images and voices. She squeezed her eyes shut against them. But they were still there. She saw Gandalf and the other wizard fight. She saw Gandalf, his head bleeding. His staff was missing. He was in pain.
"I gave you the chance of aiding me willingly," snarled the strange man, who now held Gandalf's staff as well as his own, "but you have elected the way of pain."
Gandalf flew through the air and towards the ceiling. He screamed the entire time.
The images were gone.
Valora breathed deeply. What the hell was that? Some kind of waking nightmare? She shook her head again. When they got to Bree, she was going to have to ask Gandalf about it.
"Miss Valora?"
She looked down at Sam, who had caught up with her.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
"It's nothing," she assured him. "It's just... it's nothing."
He looked at her quizzically, but said nothing.
They kept walking and found a bit of a trail in the middle of the field. Looking around, they realized that they couldn't see Frodo anywhere. A sliver of fear went through both of them.
"Mr. Frodo?" called Sam, sounding a bit afraid. "Frodo! Frodo!"
Frodo came out from around a bend in the trail, looking concerned.
They sighed in relief. "I thought I'd lost you," said Sam.
"What are you talking about?" asked Frodo, confused.
"It's just something Gandalf said."
"What did he say?"
"'Don't you lose him, Samwise Gamgee.' And I don't mean to."
"Sam, we're still in the Shire. What could possibly happen?"
No sooner were the words out than something came barreling out of the field and knocked Sam over. A second later, Frodo was knocked over in a similar fashion. Valora looked down at them in confusion. What was this all about? It took her a few seconds to realize what it was that had knocked her friends over. Two other Hobbits. She very nearly groaned out loud when she realized who they were. Not those two! she thought miserably.
"Frodo," said Pippin in surprise, propping himself up a bit. "Merry, look. It's Frodo Baggins."
"Hello, Frodo," said Merry cheerfully, dusting himself off. He had already climbed off of Sam.
Sam leapt to his feet and yanked Pippin off of Frodo. "Get off him!" He helped Frodo stand and dusted him off.
"What's the meaning of this?" asked Frodo.
Merry scooped a bunch of vegetables off of the ground and handed them to Sam. "Hold these." He and Pippen scooped up the rest of the items they had been carrying when they crashed into Frodo and Sam.
Sam looked down at the armful of vegetables and gave Merry and Pippin a disapproving look. "You've been into Farmer Maggot's crop!" he accused.
They froze as they heard an angry voice approaching.
Merry grabbed Frodo by the shoulder and started running through the field. Pippin followed, leaving Sam and Valora behind. Sam looked down at the vegetables he still held and back towards the rapidly approaching angry voice. He dropped them and they both took off after the others.
"I don't know why he's so upset," said Merry as they ran. "It's only a couple of carrots."
"And some cabbages," said Pippin. "And those three bags of potatoes that we lifted last week. And then the mushrooms the week before."
"Yes, Pippin," said Merry in exasperation. "My point is, he's clearly overreacting."
Just after they exited the field, they came to the edge of a steep hill. Pippin managed to stop in time, still clutching a cabbage and a few carrots. Merry and Frodo managed to stop just in time as well. Sam, unfortunately, was looking behind him and didn't realize they had stopped. Valora saw what was about to happen and called out a warning, but too late. Sam crashed into the other three and they all went tumbling down the hill.
"Oh, god!" Valora ran to the edge and saw them all rolling down. After a moments hesitation, she began to quickly run down after them, doing her best to stay upright.
The four Hobbits landed in a heap after rolling down the entire hill and falling off a small ledge a few feet above the ground.
"Ooh. That was close," said Pippin after a moment.
Oh," moaned Merry. "I think I've broken something." He pulled a broken carrot out from under him and looked at it sadly.
"Frodo, Sam!" Valora barely managed to maintain her balance as she reached the bottom of the hill. She looked very worried. "Oh, my god! Are you guys okay?"
"Trust a Brandybuck and a Took," grumbled Sam pushing himself up into a kneeling position.
"What? asked Merry. "That was just a detour." He began to dust himself off. "A shortcut."
Sam gave him a wry look. "A shortcut to what?"
"Mushrooms!" exclaimed Pippin, still lying on his belly in the dirt.
Sam and Merry immediately leapt to their feet, pushing Pippin back down into the dirt as he tried to get up in the process, and raced to the mushrooms.
Valora rolled her eyes. They were fine. She jumped down to the ground.
Frodo stood and looked around as the three other Hobbits gathered mushrooms. He realized, at about the same time Valora did, that they were on the road. Gandalf had told them to stay off the road. "I think we should get off the road," he said. The others ignored him and continued to gather mushrooms.
"Guys, he's right. We should move," said Valora. To her annoyance, they ignored her as well.
Frodo and Valora glanced worriedly down the road. A breeze seemed to kick up out of nowhere and, in the distance, they heard a screech. The sound made the hairs on the backs of their necks stand on end. Valora could swear she'd heard that sound before, but she couldn't remember where.
Now thoroughly frightened, Frodo spoke urgently. "Get off the road! Quick!" The urgency in his voice actually got the attention of the other Hobbits and they all ran for the side of the road. They hid quickly in a hollow under some tree roots. Valora wasn't sure she could fit there as well, so she ran a bit further and hid behind a large tree.
Seconds later, someone approached and stopped on the road where they had been standing. They couldn't see whoever it was, but they could hear the snorting of a horse. Frodo turned his head and looked through a small gap between the roots. He could see the hooves. When the rider dismounted, Valora risked a peek around the tree, carefully using her dark hair to conceal her fair skin and blend in with the tree. Her eyes widened. Now she remembered where she had heard that screech before. It was when she had gotten a mental picture of a black clothed figure on a black horse, back when Gandalf had told them about the Ring and that the enemy knew where it was.
The Black Rider knelt down, so close to the hiding place of the Hobbits. It seemed to be sniffing the air. The Hobbits noticed that something very odd was happening. All sorts of foul little creatures, spiders, centipedes, even the worms in the ground were reacting to the Black Rider's presence.
Frodo felt odd. He pulled the Ring from his pocket. In his mind, he heard a voice speaking to him. It urged him to put the Ring on. He almost did. But, thankfully, Sam smacked his arm and brought him out of the trance-like state he had been in.
Merry threw the sack they had put the mushrooms in several yards away. The Black Rider took off after it as it heard the sack land. The five took the opportunity to run for it. "What was that?" asked Merry when they stopped a few minutes later.
Frodo said nothing. He didn't know what it was. Not exactly. But he was certain that they had just had an encounter with one of the enemy. He looked down at the Ring in his hand.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
The sun had set. They knew that Gandalf had said to travel only by day, but they couldn't afford to stop and risk being found by that Black Rider. They couldn't risk the enemy finding the Ring. They knew that The Black Rider was somewhere close, as they could sometimes hear the hoofbeats of its steed and occasionally hear its screech.
The five darted through the trees, being careful not to be seen or to make too much noise. "Anything?" called Sam to Frodo, who was in front.
Frodo looked around for any sign of the Rider. "Nothing."
"What is going on?" asked Pippin.
"That Black Rider was looking for something..." said Merry, "or someone." He walked up next to Frodo. "Frodo?"
Frodo looked guiltily at him.
"Get down!" hissed Pippin.
They all pressed themselves against the forest floor and held their breath as the Black Rider appeared not too far ahead of them. After a moment or two of looking around, it rode off.
"I have to leave the Shire," Frodo told Merry. "Sam, Valora and I must get to Bree." Merry nodded. "Right." He thought for a second. "Bucklebury Ferry. Follow me." He got up and led them towards the river.
As they reached a small road that they had to cross, the Black Rider appeared. They darted around it the best they could and ran as fast as they could. Frodo, unfortunately, had a harder time getting past it than the others. It took him an extra moment to get away. The others leapt over a small fence and ran for a raft that sat at the end of a small pier.
"Get the ropes, Sam!" cried Merry as he grabbed the pole that was lying on the raft. Sam and Pippin both began to hastily untie the ropes that kept the raft from drifting. Valora said a silent prayer that it would hold them all.
"Frodo!" cried Sam.
Frodo was fast approaching, with the Black Rider right on his heels. They all called for him to hurry. "Go!" he yelled. They pushed off, still yelling for him to hurry up. The Black Rider was steadily gaining on him. When Frodo reached the end of the pier, he took a flying leap and landed on the raft. Sam caught him, easing his fall and keeping him from falling right off the raft, but was knocked over himself in the process. Valora herself very nearly fell off the raft entirely.
The Black Rider skidded to a stop at the edge of the pier. Then, it turned around and began to ride back to the road.
"How far to the nearest crossing?" asked a still breathless Frodo.
"The Brandywine Bridge. Twenty miles." Merry pushed them along with the pole as fast as he could.
They watched in silence as the Black Rider reached the road and headed in the direction of the bridge. It was joined by two more Black Riders. As they left, they let out eerie howls. It was a sound none of the five on the raft would ever forget.
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Okay. Time for shameless self-promotion. I have three short stories written in the Pirates of the Caribbean section. I'd love it if more people read them. Two of them, I'm told, are pretty funny. The third one only got 1 review, but it was a good review. If you're interested, they are entitled "What I Get for Saving a Damsel in Distress," "A Name I'll Not Soon Forget," and "Revenge Will Be So Sweet."
Please review this story or any other stories of mine you might read. (Smiles sweetly) Come on. You know you want to. ;]
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They traveled mostly in silence for a few hours. They were cutting across a field, when Sam suddenly stopped. "This is it."
"This is what?" asked Valora, confused. She had to turn back to look at him, as she and Frodo had taken a few steps before noticing that Sam had stopped.
"If I take one more step," answered Sam, "it'll be the farthest away from home I've ever been."
Frodo and Valora looked at each other, smiling slightly. Frodo went back to him. "Come on, Sam."
Sam took a deep breath and reluctantly took another step.
"Remember what Bilbo used to say." said Frodo. "'It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your front door. You step onto the road and if you don't keep your feet, there's no telling where you might be swept off to.'"
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
They had stopped for the night. It wasn't quite dark yet, but it would be soon enough. Sam was cooking at the fire while Frodo laid on a slanted tree trunk, both smoking their pipes. Valora sat a few feet away, combing out her long, dark hair.
The sound of many voices singing beautifully reached Frodo's ears. "Sam, Valora, listen." They stopped and listened. It took a few seconds longer for Valora to hear, as the Hobbits had better hearing.
Frodo smiled. "Wood-elves."
A few moments later, they were sneaking through the woods, following the sound of the singing. They hid behind a log and watched in awe. A procession of Elves was traveling through the woods. Seeing Elves in these parts was a rare thing. They were very beautiful creatures.
"They're going to the harbor beyond the White Towers. To the Grey Haven," whispered Frodo.
"They're leaving Middle-Earth," said Sam softly.
Frodo nodded. "Never to return."
They sat in silence for a few moments. "I don't know why, "said Sam, "it makes me sad."
They watched for a few more moments before sneaking away, back to their camp.
Valora knew what Sam meant about being sad that the Elves were leaving and not really knowing why. She was puzzled. Why would anyone want to leave this place? It was so beautiful here. She didn't understand.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
"Everywhere I lie, there's a dirty great root sticking into my back," complained Sam a couple of hours later.
Frodo sighed. "Just shut your eyes," he said sleepily, "and imagine you're back in your own bed, with a soft mattress and a lovely feather pillow."
Sam tried to do just that. "It's not working Mr. Frodo," he whined. "I'm never going to get to sleep out here."
Valora rolled her eyes and rolled over to look at him. "Neither will we if you don't shut up." She rolled back over and pulled her blanket over her head. She loved Sam. Honestly, she did, but her patience was wearing thin. She was too tired and too afraid of what she'd gotten herself into.
Frodo laughed softly. "Don't pay any attention, Sam. You know how she is when she's cranky."
"I heard that." Valora's voice was muffled under the blanket.
Sam and Frodo laughed lightly.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
A day and a half later, as they were walking through a corn field, with Sam lagging a bit behind, Valora began seeing strange images in her head again. This time, she managed to keep her balance without holding onto anything, but she still had to stop and raise her hand to her forehead. She saw Gandalf. He was speaking with another man, who looked like he was a wizard as well.
"You did not seriously think that a Hobbit could contend with the will of Sauron?" asked the strange man. "There are none who can. Gandalf, against the forces of Sauron, there can be no victory. We must join with him, Gandalf. we must join with Sauron."
Valora shook her head, trying to clear away the images and voices. She squeezed her eyes shut against them. But they were still there. She saw Gandalf and the other wizard fight. She saw Gandalf, his head bleeding. His staff was missing. He was in pain.
"I gave you the chance of aiding me willingly," snarled the strange man, who now held Gandalf's staff as well as his own, "but you have elected the way of pain."
Gandalf flew through the air and towards the ceiling. He screamed the entire time.
The images were gone.
Valora breathed deeply. What the hell was that? Some kind of waking nightmare? She shook her head again. When they got to Bree, she was going to have to ask Gandalf about it.
"Miss Valora?"
She looked down at Sam, who had caught up with her.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
"It's nothing," she assured him. "It's just... it's nothing."
He looked at her quizzically, but said nothing.
They kept walking and found a bit of a trail in the middle of the field. Looking around, they realized that they couldn't see Frodo anywhere. A sliver of fear went through both of them.
"Mr. Frodo?" called Sam, sounding a bit afraid. "Frodo! Frodo!"
Frodo came out from around a bend in the trail, looking concerned.
They sighed in relief. "I thought I'd lost you," said Sam.
"What are you talking about?" asked Frodo, confused.
"It's just something Gandalf said."
"What did he say?"
"'Don't you lose him, Samwise Gamgee.' And I don't mean to."
"Sam, we're still in the Shire. What could possibly happen?"
No sooner were the words out than something came barreling out of the field and knocked Sam over. A second later, Frodo was knocked over in a similar fashion. Valora looked down at them in confusion. What was this all about? It took her a few seconds to realize what it was that had knocked her friends over. Two other Hobbits. She very nearly groaned out loud when she realized who they were. Not those two! she thought miserably.
"Frodo," said Pippin in surprise, propping himself up a bit. "Merry, look. It's Frodo Baggins."
"Hello, Frodo," said Merry cheerfully, dusting himself off. He had already climbed off of Sam.
Sam leapt to his feet and yanked Pippin off of Frodo. "Get off him!" He helped Frodo stand and dusted him off.
"What's the meaning of this?" asked Frodo.
Merry scooped a bunch of vegetables off of the ground and handed them to Sam. "Hold these." He and Pippen scooped up the rest of the items they had been carrying when they crashed into Frodo and Sam.
Sam looked down at the armful of vegetables and gave Merry and Pippin a disapproving look. "You've been into Farmer Maggot's crop!" he accused.
They froze as they heard an angry voice approaching.
Merry grabbed Frodo by the shoulder and started running through the field. Pippin followed, leaving Sam and Valora behind. Sam looked down at the vegetables he still held and back towards the rapidly approaching angry voice. He dropped them and they both took off after the others.
"I don't know why he's so upset," said Merry as they ran. "It's only a couple of carrots."
"And some cabbages," said Pippin. "And those three bags of potatoes that we lifted last week. And then the mushrooms the week before."
"Yes, Pippin," said Merry in exasperation. "My point is, he's clearly overreacting."
Just after they exited the field, they came to the edge of a steep hill. Pippin managed to stop in time, still clutching a cabbage and a few carrots. Merry and Frodo managed to stop just in time as well. Sam, unfortunately, was looking behind him and didn't realize they had stopped. Valora saw what was about to happen and called out a warning, but too late. Sam crashed into the other three and they all went tumbling down the hill.
"Oh, god!" Valora ran to the edge and saw them all rolling down. After a moments hesitation, she began to quickly run down after them, doing her best to stay upright.
The four Hobbits landed in a heap after rolling down the entire hill and falling off a small ledge a few feet above the ground.
"Ooh. That was close," said Pippin after a moment.
Oh," moaned Merry. "I think I've broken something." He pulled a broken carrot out from under him and looked at it sadly.
"Frodo, Sam!" Valora barely managed to maintain her balance as she reached the bottom of the hill. She looked very worried. "Oh, my god! Are you guys okay?"
"Trust a Brandybuck and a Took," grumbled Sam pushing himself up into a kneeling position.
"What? asked Merry. "That was just a detour." He began to dust himself off. "A shortcut."
Sam gave him a wry look. "A shortcut to what?"
"Mushrooms!" exclaimed Pippin, still lying on his belly in the dirt.
Sam and Merry immediately leapt to their feet, pushing Pippin back down into the dirt as he tried to get up in the process, and raced to the mushrooms.
Valora rolled her eyes. They were fine. She jumped down to the ground.
Frodo stood and looked around as the three other Hobbits gathered mushrooms. He realized, at about the same time Valora did, that they were on the road. Gandalf had told them to stay off the road. "I think we should get off the road," he said. The others ignored him and continued to gather mushrooms.
"Guys, he's right. We should move," said Valora. To her annoyance, they ignored her as well.
Frodo and Valora glanced worriedly down the road. A breeze seemed to kick up out of nowhere and, in the distance, they heard a screech. The sound made the hairs on the backs of their necks stand on end. Valora could swear she'd heard that sound before, but she couldn't remember where.
Now thoroughly frightened, Frodo spoke urgently. "Get off the road! Quick!" The urgency in his voice actually got the attention of the other Hobbits and they all ran for the side of the road. They hid quickly in a hollow under some tree roots. Valora wasn't sure she could fit there as well, so she ran a bit further and hid behind a large tree.
Seconds later, someone approached and stopped on the road where they had been standing. They couldn't see whoever it was, but they could hear the snorting of a horse. Frodo turned his head and looked through a small gap between the roots. He could see the hooves. When the rider dismounted, Valora risked a peek around the tree, carefully using her dark hair to conceal her fair skin and blend in with the tree. Her eyes widened. Now she remembered where she had heard that screech before. It was when she had gotten a mental picture of a black clothed figure on a black horse, back when Gandalf had told them about the Ring and that the enemy knew where it was.
The Black Rider knelt down, so close to the hiding place of the Hobbits. It seemed to be sniffing the air. The Hobbits noticed that something very odd was happening. All sorts of foul little creatures, spiders, centipedes, even the worms in the ground were reacting to the Black Rider's presence.
Frodo felt odd. He pulled the Ring from his pocket. In his mind, he heard a voice speaking to him. It urged him to put the Ring on. He almost did. But, thankfully, Sam smacked his arm and brought him out of the trance-like state he had been in.
Merry threw the sack they had put the mushrooms in several yards away. The Black Rider took off after it as it heard the sack land. The five took the opportunity to run for it. "What was that?" asked Merry when they stopped a few minutes later.
Frodo said nothing. He didn't know what it was. Not exactly. But he was certain that they had just had an encounter with one of the enemy. He looked down at the Ring in his hand.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
The sun had set. They knew that Gandalf had said to travel only by day, but they couldn't afford to stop and risk being found by that Black Rider. They couldn't risk the enemy finding the Ring. They knew that The Black Rider was somewhere close, as they could sometimes hear the hoofbeats of its steed and occasionally hear its screech.
The five darted through the trees, being careful not to be seen or to make too much noise. "Anything?" called Sam to Frodo, who was in front.
Frodo looked around for any sign of the Rider. "Nothing."
"What is going on?" asked Pippin.
"That Black Rider was looking for something..." said Merry, "or someone." He walked up next to Frodo. "Frodo?"
Frodo looked guiltily at him.
"Get down!" hissed Pippin.
They all pressed themselves against the forest floor and held their breath as the Black Rider appeared not too far ahead of them. After a moment or two of looking around, it rode off.
"I have to leave the Shire," Frodo told Merry. "Sam, Valora and I must get to Bree." Merry nodded. "Right." He thought for a second. "Bucklebury Ferry. Follow me." He got up and led them towards the river.
As they reached a small road that they had to cross, the Black Rider appeared. They darted around it the best they could and ran as fast as they could. Frodo, unfortunately, had a harder time getting past it than the others. It took him an extra moment to get away. The others leapt over a small fence and ran for a raft that sat at the end of a small pier.
"Get the ropes, Sam!" cried Merry as he grabbed the pole that was lying on the raft. Sam and Pippin both began to hastily untie the ropes that kept the raft from drifting. Valora said a silent prayer that it would hold them all.
"Frodo!" cried Sam.
Frodo was fast approaching, with the Black Rider right on his heels. They all called for him to hurry. "Go!" he yelled. They pushed off, still yelling for him to hurry up. The Black Rider was steadily gaining on him. When Frodo reached the end of the pier, he took a flying leap and landed on the raft. Sam caught him, easing his fall and keeping him from falling right off the raft, but was knocked over himself in the process. Valora herself very nearly fell off the raft entirely.
The Black Rider skidded to a stop at the edge of the pier. Then, it turned around and began to ride back to the road.
"How far to the nearest crossing?" asked a still breathless Frodo.
"The Brandywine Bridge. Twenty miles." Merry pushed them along with the pole as fast as he could.
They watched in silence as the Black Rider reached the road and headed in the direction of the bridge. It was joined by two more Black Riders. As they left, they let out eerie howls. It was a sound none of the five on the raft would ever forget.
_______________________________________________________________________
Okay. Time for shameless self-promotion. I have three short stories written in the Pirates of the Caribbean section. I'd love it if more people read them. Two of them, I'm told, are pretty funny. The third one only got 1 review, but it was a good review. If you're interested, they are entitled "What I Get for Saving a Damsel in Distress," "A Name I'll Not Soon Forget," and "Revenge Will Be So Sweet."
Please review this story or any other stories of mine you might read. (Smiles sweetly) Come on. You know you want to. ;]