We traveled in pairs, side by side, and since Frodo normally traveled alone, I was paired with him. I was glad, because it gave us a chance to talk.
"Frodo?"
"Yes, Alex?"
"How did you know I was cold? Last night, I mean."
"I was on watch."
"No. Gimli was."
"Only for the first half of the night," he explained. "I took the second half."
"That's pretty smart."
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, sorry. I mean the idea of 2 different watches during the night carried out by 2 different people to make sure that they both get enough sleep."
"Wow. You're pretty smart, too. How old are you?"
"Well, how old do I look? You know, in Shire reckoning."
"How do you know about Shire reckoning?"
"Strider told me."
"Oh. Well, I'd say you look about… I don't know, twenty, I guess."
"So… let's see, just into my tweens… so, twelve?"
"Yes, just about."
We stopped talking for a while.
"Frodo?"
"What Alex?"
"Why are you traveling like this? Always moving, avoiding orcs all the time?"
Frodo took a deep breath.
"A long time ago, nineteen rings of power were created. Three for elves, seven for dwarves, nine for men. But one more was made by Sauron of Mordor. He was killed by Icealdor, the king of Gondor. When Icealdor died, it went to a creature named Gollum. Then my uncle Bilbo, then me. The ring is evil. We are going to destroy it. It can only be destroyed in Mordor."
Again, silence.
"Is Strider his real name?" I ventured.
"No, its Aragorn. But don't call him that. If he wanted you to know that his name was Aragorn, he would have told you that."
"Why would I care about his name?" I asked.
"Aragorn is Icealdor's heir. Icealdor could have destroyed the ring, but he kept it. Because he was power hungry. I think Strider is afraid of the same thing."
"Wow. I would have never known. I'm sorry."