Chapter 35. Enemies, Blow the Alarm!

Fastred made his way cautiously, as silently as a wary hobbit can, and that is very quietly indeed. He was not far from the cave when he stopped. There was at least one watcher outside the cave, guarding the entrance. He moved very slowly in a half circle around the cave mouth, spotting another ruffian. He scouted thoroughly until he was convinced that there were only two watchers, and then finding a position where he could see both at once, he quietly strung his bow and took out several arrows.

He steeled himself as he drew back the string, reminding himself of what ruffians had done to Reginard Took, what they had intended to do to Elanor's sister, what they might already have done to Ferdibrand and Frodo in the cave. With two sharp snaps of his bowstring, the ruffians slumped, unmoving, behind their rocks.

Fastred stole quietly to the cave, picking up an abandoned torch, lighting it quickly, and ducking inside, only to find it empty; no sign that anyone had been there at all. The ruffians had taken the hobbits' supplies with them, and evidently Ferdi--and Frodo--as well. He looked about, started to crawl out again, then thought of the cleft behind the rocks where they'd cached some of their supplies.

Crawling over the rocks where of late Ferdi had been propped, he found Frodo huddled under his cloak, curled into as tiny a ball as he could make of himself, hands over his ears.

At Fastred's touch, the younger hobbit gasped and shivered, trying to draw himself tighter.

'Frodo,' Fastred said urgently. 'Frodo!' ...but there was no response.

Fastred took his water bottle from his belt, hesitated a moment, and then poured some of the contents over Frodo's head. Frodo merely shuddered, and then drew into himself again. Fastred lost patience then, and jamming his torch into the sandy floor of the cave, he grabbed Frodo's shoulders and shook him as hard as he could. 'Frodo!' he said. Saying the first thing that came into his head, he added, 'It's time to get up!'

'Merry?' Frodo whispered, and Fastred remembered that this was the name of the brother next in age after Rosie-lass. He'd play along.

'Dad says it's time to get up, lazy-bones,' he said. 'It's your turn to weed the cabbages.'

'You're only saying that because...' Frodo said, lifting his head, but his voice trailed off and his eyes widened at seeing Fastred and the cave behind him in the flickering torchlight.

'That's better,' Fastred said. 'Welcome back to the world.'

'They took him,' Frodo whispered.

'I know,' Fastred said. 'Where? Maybe we can get him back.'

'O Fas,' Frodo breathed. 'They're going to burn him... burn him alive.'

'Not if we have anything to say about it,' Fastred said grimly, and Frodo took heart from his determination.

Fastred eyed the younger hobbit keenly. 'What else did they say?'

Frodo stiffened as memory returned. 'They're going to set a trap for the King,' he hissed.

Fastred nodded. 'The King is coming,' he said absently, his mind awhirl. They had to warn the King, and they had to save Ferdibrand, and they had to do both within the same span of time. 'Where were they taking Ferdi?' he asked.

'To that old shed that leans against the near tower,' Frodo said.

Fastred nodded again. 'How many?'

'Two of them,' Frodo answered. 'The rest were to waylay the King.'

'Very well,' Fastred said. 'We'll fetch away Ferdi, first off, and then warn the King.'

Frodo clutched at his sleeve. 'Fas, they're going to attack the Havens next,' he said urgently. 'I heard them talking! This is not the only band of ruffians in the area; there are quite a few lurking hereabouts, waiting for a signal to join together and slaughter the Elves.'

'More ruffians hereabouts?' Fastred said. 'We'll have to go very carefully indeed. Got your bow? Good, let us go.'

***

They reached the shed in time to see the ruffians toss torches through the open door of the shed and then settle down to wait.

'How many times do you think we'll have to throw him back in?' one of them said, and the other guffawed.

'I'll wager my skinning knife that he doesn't crawl out at all,' the second said.

'You're on; I say we'll have to toss him back at least once,' the first ruffian said. 'His eyes were open as we propped him against the wall, you know.'

'You think he can crawl with that leg?' the second challenged. He got up, walked towards the door, peered in through the growing smoke, and swore.

'What is it?' the first said.

'Looks as if I'm going to lose a good knife,' the second grumbled. 'He's crawling--or dragging himself, at least. Tough little blighter.'

'Yah, the little rats are full of surprises,' the first agreed.

A heartbeat later he was sagging to the ground, for Fastred's arrow had found its mark, and before the second ruffian had time to react, Frodo's arrow struck.

Before the ruffians had stopped twitching, Fastred said, 'Come on! There's not much time, the roof's alight!' They sprang from behind their concealing rocks and ran to the doorway, finding Ferdibrand just inside. Frodo took one arm, Fastred the other, and they dragged him free just as the roof sagged alarmingly and flaming boards began to fall.

'Got to... get him under cover,' Fastred gasped. 'The fire might draw other ruffians.'

Frodo nodded, and they dragged the chancellor to a jumble of rocks not far from the tower, wedging him under some brambles.

'He's breathing,' Frodo said. 'Ferdi, can you hear me?' He unstoppered his water bottle and held it to the chancellor's mouth, but the water dribbled out again.

'We'll have to leave him here,' Fastred said. 'There's still the matter of the trap the King is riding into.'

Frodo nodded. 'The King can save Ferdi,' he said.

'Yes, but first we've got to save the King,' Fastred said grimly. 'Come on.'

They cautiously made their way to the top of the hill, creeping upwards so as not to show a silhouette to any watching eyes; and throwing themselves flat, they peered over the plain.

'There,' Frodo pointed.

The riders were much closer now, perhaps an hour away in Fastred's estimation.

'Do you see the trap?' he asked. 'It will be well hidden from the plain, but we ought to be able to catch a glimpse of them from up here.'

They searched, until suddenly Frodo stiffened. He put his hand on Fastred's arm. 'There,' he breathed. 'They've gone to ground, don't know if there's a natural depression or they dug a ditch...'

'Looks like a streambed,' Fastred said critically. 'The path runs alongside it, I think, but I didn't notice it when we came.'

'The King might not notice it, then,' Frodo said. 'So the ruffians are under cover of the streambed...'

'And we will conceal ourselves behind the ruffians...' Fastred said. 'There are too many for us to deal with. We'll have to hide and wait, warn the King's party, and then support them in the fight that follows.'

'With three quivers of arrows between us, I think we can support them quite handily,' Frodo said bravely. He was still a little shaken over his first kill, the ruffian by the burning shed.

They crept into position, arriving not long before Elessar and his guardsmen. From their vantage point above the stream, the hobbits could see the riders clearly now, Leotred on the saddle before a guardsman, another hobbit riding before the King--the Thain? Frodo caught his breath as he recognised his father, Mayor Sam, sharing Bergil's saddle. The Sun gleamed from a golden head, and Frodo realised that Legolas, Gimli riding behind him, was also a member of the King's party.

'They're in a cave, partway up, on the northeastern side,' Leotred was saying as the rescue party approached the near hill. 'We thought it best to get Ferdi under cover...' His head jerked up at a sudden shrill kee-kee-kee-kee. 'Merlin!' he hissed, and shouted, 'Danger!'

Instantly Elessar swept his sword out, his guards following suit. Belatedly, the ruffians erupted from the streambed beside them. The fight was fierce but brief, and at the end, one guardsman lay wounded, dragged from his horse and stabbed, and a horse was lamed. The King had a bruised arm from fending off a striking club, but otherwise the rescue party was relatively unscathed. Quite a few ruffians lay in the path, pierced by arrows, in addition to those slain by the guardsmen's swords, the scimitar wielded by the black-clad King of Haragost, the knives of Legolas, and Gimli's axe.

Elessar slipped from his horse and lifted Leotred down. The hobbit was shaking with reaction, eyes wide with horror, and the King bent to address him.

'Are you all right?' he said gently.

Absently, the hobbit shook his head. 'I don't think so,' he said quietly, then met the King's eyes. 'It was necessary,' he said, his tone becoming more firm. 'They would have killed us without mercy.'

'You have the right of it,' the King said, surprised once again by a hobbit.

Leotred took a deep breath, then lifted his head and called, 'Fas! Fas! Where are you?'

'Here!' the answer came from a jumble of rocks partway up the hillside from the streambed. The guardsmen looked up as two small figures slowly emerged from concealment.

Frodo's face was pale, his eyes were wide, his hand holding the bow trembled as he stumbled down the hill. Fastred was grim-faced, and he steadied the younger hobbit several times before they reached the King's party.

'Good shooting,' Elessar said quietly, and the Greenholmer jerked his head in a nod.

'Frodo, are you all right?' Mayor Samwise said, moving to his son's side.

'No, I don't think so,' Frodo muttered, passing a hand over his eyes. 'After hearing all your stories... the doing is so much worse...' His father put a comforting arm around his shoulders, and he leaned against the Mayor's solid support.

'Thanks for the warning,' Leotred said. 'It came just in time.'

'You were the merlin?' the King said. 'Clever idea.'

'It was a signal Leot and I worked out, up on the moor, when we were lads,' Fastred said soberly. 'We mostly used it when carrying out mischief, or avoiding angry older sisters, or tag-along little brothers.'

'Where's Ferdi?' Pippin said.

Frodo swallowed hard and shot a look at Fastred.

'What's happened?' the Thain demanded, intercepting the look.

'Those ruffians...' Fastred indicated the crumpled forms surrounding them, 'they got hold of him, before they laid this trap.'

Pippin closed his eyes in grief. 'He's dead, then,' he said opening them again.

'Not quite,' Fastred answered. 'At least, not when we left him.' He pointed up the hill. 'We concealed him near the base of the tower.'

'Let us go to him then, at once,' Leotred said, but his brother stopped him.

'We must go cautiously,' he said. 'That might not have been the only band of ruffians in the Tower Hills.'

'Good point,' the King said. 'We will go, on our guard.'

He had the bodies of the ruffians dragged into a place of concealment ("We shall bury them later"), ordered the rest of the guardsmen to dismount, and sent scouts ahead and to the sides.

They toiled silently up the hillside, the only sounds the heavy boots of the guardsmen, the clink of a horse's shoe against a stone, the jingle of a chain. Their breath came harshly at the last as they made their way towards the tower and the pall of smoke that still hung in the air nearby. Reaching the base of the tower, they skirted the burnt-out shed and came at last to the jumble of rocks and brambles where the younger hobbits had left the chancellor.

Fastred held Frodo back. 'Let Leot,' he said.

Frodo nodded.

Elessar posted guards while Leotred crawled beneath the concealing brambles.

'He's alive,' his voice floated back.

Fastred crawled after him, and together they pulled Ferdi out into the open.

Pippin fell to his knees with a soft exclamation of shock and grief, but Leotred had already begun to work as Elessar bent closer.

'Barbarians,' the King of Haragost said softly. 'They should have the skin flayed from their bodies, for work like this...' Elessar put a quelling hand on his shoulder, and he quieted, but his face was grim. That one of the little people, of the race of the one who had vanquished the Dark Lord, should be so served...

Gimli saw with shock the ruin the ruffians had made of this hobbit who'd befriended him, and turned away, sickened. Legolas stared down at the chancellor, his face set in grim lines.

'Just as I feared...' the hobbit healer said, once he had bandaged the damaged hands and turned to the broken leg, which had also suffered the attentions of the ruffians. He looked to the Thain. 'We've got to take the leg before it takes him.' He shook his head. 'I wish we had him in Greenholm, instead of this wild place, but he's nearly out of time.'

'Take the leg...' Elessar said in a tone of protest. 'Why not try to save it?'

'You can't save this kind of damage,' Leotred replied, surprised that a healer would ask such a question. 'Even if he didn't die of the infection, he'd never be able to use it again.'

'And you know all there is to know about such things?' Elessar asked quietly.

Leotred flushed. 'Of course I don't,' he said, 'but I helped Healer Woodruff take off a leg that was less damaged than this one.' He looked up at the King. 'If you have a better idea, I'd like to hear it.'

'If we were in Minas Tirith,' the King said slowly, 'or Fornost, the Lake, or Rivendell...' He gave a sharp exclamation. 'The Grey Havens! They're closer even than Greenholm, and the Elves there have the same skills in healing as at Rivendell. As a matter of fact, I believe the sons of Elrond are there now, consulting with Cirdan.'

Frodo gave a jerk. 'The Havens,' he said. 'That's what the ruffians said...'

'What?' demanded the King.

The hobbit turned haunted eyes to him. 'They were waiting to join a larger group, several groups of ruffians, to attack the Grey Havens,' he said. 'They plan to kill the Elves and take the harbours and the ships, to become corsairs.'

'Corsairs...' King Ha'alas said grimly. 'Just when we've rid ourselves of the Corsairs of Umbar, more plot to take their place.'

'Preying on the ships supplying Fornost,' Elessar said, his face set.

'Exactly,' Frodo said. ' "Fat, rich prey," they called it, "easy pickings" and that the Elves would never be expecting attack.'

'I think our ruffian friends are going to be wrong in this instance,' Elessar said grimly. 'We go to the Grey Havens, then, to warn Cirdan, and to try and save the chancellor's leg.' He picked Ferdi up as gently as he could, and led the way down the western side of the hill, towards the Sea.

***

A/N: Notes from original posting

Notes to Readers:

The Muse is plugging along at Merlin. The wedding on the Far Downs is written, can you believe it? ...in rough draft, at least, so stay with us through these current difficulties, the reward is coming...

Thanks for the reviews! Very helpful, quite motivating.

PansyChubb, very astute guesses.

FantasyFan, I was truly distressed... Chapter 34 was horribly difficult to write and I still have trouble reading it over. If you find any typos, let me know, I could not proof it as carefully as usual. Please don't close the book! O and thank you for explaining the dead parrot. I laughed myself silly, and now every time a hobbit says "Wakey, wakey..."

Bookworm, this part of Merlin gives me that same adrenaline rush. Not an altogether pleasant feeling... perhaps that is why I have finally sworn off RL roller coasters...

runaround, I could just *hear* you say that. A bodyguard. But I thought Ferdi *was* a bodyguard. No wait, he's a chancellor...

Aratfeniel, what do you mean, "yet"? Have you been listening in on our conversations, speculating on how long Ferdi and Regi live, since the Professor didn't specify?

Aemilia Rose, I hope I did not leave it like that for too long... and there will be another chapter, (internet) allowing, the day after tomorrow.

Look for a new chapter to this story, if ff.net agrees, in two days. Warning: we have entered rough waters, and more breakers are ahead!

Look for the newest chapter to "Flames", in case you are following that story, on the morrow. (Flames is finished, by the way, on paper. Now all I have to do is type it in... O and it has been so much fun to write the chapters following the Race!) Thank you for your patience.

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