Chapter I
I wondered what we had just gotten ourselves into.
Halbarad and I only meant to spend a rare, relaxing, night at the Pony and ended up saddled with the job of retrieving lost horses. And the merchant, whose horses we were going to try and find, did not seem like the kind who would be content to stay behind. He did, in fact, insist on going with us. I think he thought we would steal the animals. Rough though we Rangers may be, we are honest.
Halbarad followed me upstairs as I entered our small room. We packed our bags and gathered belongings in silence.
The merchant was waiting in the courtyard. Three horses were saddled, and a rope connected a pack horse to the saddle of the third.
"How long do you expect this will take?" He had a dull, dry voice. "I do have a schedule to keep."
I glanced at Halbarad; he glanced at me. Then he answered that his estimate was a few weeks at the latest. The merchant fumed at this, but Halbarad had not mentioned – on foot – we could move faster through the woods than him, and that the horses may not be able to move through some of the quicker paths to Deadman's Dike.
There was also the potential for an orc ambush, or wolves and wargs roaming the woods. But we doubted that he would listen.
Our "companion" mounted the black horse and grabbed the pack horse's rope. I moved toward the grey, while Halbarad mounted the chestnut.
Without a word, the merchant turned to the old North road and left Bree.