Chapter 30. One Ranger, Two Rangers, Three Rangers, Four

Haleth's gaze returned from the far distance and sharpened as his eyes fixed themselves on Ferdi's plate. 'Your food's going cold,' he said. 'Don't let that good meat go to waste.'

Ferdi obligingly forked up a few bites and then asked, 'How do you know it's good?'

'I can smell it from here,' Haleth said candidly. 'Enough to make the mouth water.'

'Then I'll order you a plate,' Ferdi said, but before he could slide down from the chair the sergeant held out his hand.

'No,' Haleth said firmly. 'Thank you. Very much. But the last time a hobbit tempted me to eat while I was on duty, I ended up with fifty lashes,' he nodded at the bed, 'or at least, he did.'

'But...' Ferdi protested.

'I will be released, when the King comes, more than likely, and I can sit down to nuncheon before taking up my duties again for the rest of the day,' Haleth said. 'A Man may miss a meal or two and suffer no harm. Hobbits, however...' He levelled a serious look at Ferdi. 'I'm told that they must eat quantities of food, and that, six times a day at the very least.'

'Who told you that?' Ferdi said. 'It sounds very agreeable.'

'Denny,' Haleth said. 'Turambor's son in law, who sharpens blades in the marketplace...'

But Ferdi was nodding. 'I met him at the welcoming feast,' he said. 'Quite a pleasant fellow, for one so tall.'

Haleth hid a grin. 'He said that he spent the better part of a month being fed by hobbits, until he thought he might burst if he'd had to remain a day longer.'

'Hardly that long,' Ferdi said. 'If you're talking about the time he was waiting to escort my cousin Hildibold to the Lake...'

'Perhaps it only seemed so long to him,' Haleth said. 'He said hobbits kept bringing him baskets of food, and he'd been told it would be a grave insult to fail to eat what was offered.'

'Ah,' Ferdi said, and this time it was the hobbit who hid a grin. He'd heard about that. Pippin had impressed on the local hobbits near the Brandywine Bridge that they must extend every courtesy to the Kingsmen who waited to escort Hildibold Took to the Lake, and they had taken him at his word, bringing him quantities of food deemed adequate by hobbits, but, from what Ferdi knew, probably enough to founder a Man, even one so tall as Denny.

'So, eat!' Haleth said.

As he complied, Ferdi cocked a thoughtful eye at the sergeant. 'You look as if you hadn't slept,' he observed.

'Perhaps I haven't,' Haleth said. 'Lack of sleep never hurt me yet.'

'Do you make a practice of it?' Ferdi said, absently eating another bite and chewing as he considered Men and their strange ways. 'Not sleeping, and not eating, that is?'

'Not so much as used to be,' Haleth said. 'When we were guarding the Breeland, we ate when we could, and found rest on occasion, perhaps not so often as we might have wished...'

'Breeland!' Ferdi said. 'You managed to distract me with food, just as my parents used to when I was only a young lad,' he added, shaking his fork at the sergeant, 'but I mean to have my answer now. What happened to Haldoron and Halbarad?'

Haleth lost the slight smile he'd been wearing for the past few minutes. 'Not while you're eating,' he said. 'Even Men know enough, not to spoil a good meal.'

Ferdi cleared his plate quickly and efficiently after that, and laying it aside, he turned back to the sergeant. 'Well?' he said. 'You cannot leave me... hanging.'

Haleth gulped at the hobbit's choice of words, but he nodded. 'I suppose I owe you the rest of the story, after bringing you this far,' he said. 'But it is not an easy tale, and your Thain might not want it told you.'

Ferdi rolled his eyes. 'I have seen something of the cruelties of Men,' he said. He nodded significantly toward the sleeping Steward, and then he raised his head, pointing to his throat. 'I've been at the end of one of their ropes,' he said, 'much as that poor fellow that Steward of yours condemned yesterday.'

Haleth saw the fine white scars there, reminders of a strangling rope; and sick, he thought of young Gwillam.

The hobbit continued grimly. 'I saw ruffians burn an inn and joke about the waste--that there were no hobbits within at the time.' And now it was the hobbit's turn to stare into the far distance. 'I shot an arrow into the heart of a ruffian who had a friend of mine by the throat, admiring the pretty colours Regi was turning as he struggled for air.' Looking to the sergeant again, he said, 'And I saw a ruffian dressed in guardsman's livery drive a sword into the breast of the Thain with such force that, had he not worn a mithril coat at the time, the thrust would have gone through his heart and out through his back, spitting him.'

Haleth opened his mouth to speak, but Ferdi was not quite finished. 'I have seen the bodies of Men hanging in the woodlands outside the Bounds of the Shire, hung up by Rangers--what makes them better than ruffians? And I saw a flogging yesterday, a terrible thing,' he said. 'While I understand the Steward sought to redress his own wrongs, I confess I can't make heads nor tails of his methods. More than fifty lashes, he took, before the King stopped them. Why not one? Why not none at all?' He shook his head. 'Truly, I have little understanding of the ways of Men. And I do not wish to know more, as things stand.'

'And your Thain has ordered you to this post,' Haleth said, bemused. The chieftains among the Halflings had taken on a daunting task, attempting to shield the majority of their fellows from the less pleasant side of the affairs of Men, while at the same time fighting against the insular tendencies of their race. He had heard Thain Peregrin, on an earlier visit to the Lake, expounding on his desire for hobbits "to get to know the best of Men without learning the worst of them."

'I fear there's little sense in half the things my cousin orders,' Ferdi said, 'though it usually turns out he had some reason or other, in the end.'

Haleth had no time to be surprised, for the hobbit fixed him with a stern look. 'I have finished my meal,' he said. 'And now I insist upon knowing what happened to the two Rangers who were taken by Orcs. My meal will certainly not digest as it should, when I am in such a state of suspense.'

'It may not digest as it should, with what the tale holds,' Haleth said.

Ferdi laughed, a humourless bark, not at all hobbity. 'Tell on,' he said. 'The not-knowing is worse than the knowing, I find.' He levelled a steady gaze at the sergeant. 'But when you reached the place where the Orcs had swooped from the trees, they were already gone,' he prompted.

Haleth swallowed a few times and cleared his throat. At last he said, 'Had the sons of Elrond not been with us, I doubt we'd have known their fate for certain, though certainly there was no doubt as to what would have befallen them. The storm had worsened, the wind and snow--to my eyes there was no path to follow, and my chief bent searching this way and that, to no avail. The blowing snow had covered all sign of them.'

'But there is more of a tale to tell,' Ferdi said, 'else the Steward would not lie here, battered but living, and Halbarad would not have fallen in the Southlands.'

'The sons of Elrond,' Haleth said, his voice taking on a reverential tone. 'They would appear among us at times, bringing word to our chief from the Grey Wanderer, or the Lord Elrond, or they might come when the number of foes grew threatening though how they knew to come at just such times is beyond my understanding...'

Ferdi, though patience was not one of his virtues, waited.

At last Haleth said, 'They talked to the trees.'

The hobbit did not seem surprised at the idea of talking and listening to trees. Perhaps this was yet one more facet of the jewels that were Halflings, unknown to Men. Or perhaps he had some knowledge of Ents and Elves from his kinsfolk, the Thain and Master.

'Listening, they were able to discern which way the Orcs had gone, carrying their prisoners, and so we followed, into the teeth of the storm. Darkness fell, and still we followed the whispers of the trees. We stopped only once, for I was faltering and even my chief seemed weary, but a mouthful from Elladan's flask and we were ready once again to forge on.'

'Darkness! They were taken in daylight?' Ferdi said. 'But to my understanding...'

'That is why they surprised us in the first place,' Haleth said. 'We did not expect them to be abroad in daylight. In actuality, they were not--they were resting in the trees, out of sight. However, in the dim light of the storm, with heavy clouds hiding the sun, they were able to fight and overcome us, in part because of the element of surprise that was in their favour.'

'Ah,' Ferdi said, and with a wave of his hand, as one who is used to being obeyed, 'Continue.'

Haleth smiled briefly and complied. 'Through the night we went, fearing no ambush, for the Orcs would have no thought of pursuit in the storm, and the trees would warn us when we neared them.'

Ferdi made a sharp movement, as if he'd ask just how the trees would warn them, but he contained himself with merely a nod at Haleth. Evidently he did not want to interrupt the flow of the story.

'Through the night and into the dawning,' Haleth said. 'The storm was blowing itself out, and the dawn was brighter than the previous day. Elladan held up his hand, and laid his palm against the bole of a graceful tree, and leaned close. At last he straightened and said, low, "They have hidden themselves, found a shelter of sorts, half a mile to the East, and have kindled fire."

'My chief muttered an oath, and Elrohir looked very sober. Had I had anything in my stomach to speak of, I'd have lost it, taking his meaning. Manflesh is a great delicacy amongst that foul kind.'

Ferdi moved uneasily once more, but setting his jaw he nodded at Haleth to go on. 'Not knowing is worse than the knowing,' he muttered in encouragement.

Haleth returned the nod, and fixing his eyes upon a corner of the ceiling, he recited, as if he told a story belonging to another man, another time. 'We crept upon them, staying downwind, and the trees told the sons of Elrond where the sentries perched, and so we avoided them, finding at last a sheltered drift overlooking the hollow where they'd made camp. Ah, but it was cold, burrowing under the snow, but a good covering... While the sons of Elrond drifted away, one with the shadows of the trees, Aragorn and I burrowed into the drift, moving cautiously forward until we could see into the hollow. There were my kinsmen, one lying near a small fire and the other in the grip of Orcs. The one had a bloody rag tied around his head and a few whip weals on his back, and he lay without moving--they'd evidently given up trying to rouse him and had kicked him to one side. The other had been beaten bloody, and their chief bent over him, growling questions, but the Ranger only shook his head when they pressed him. They wanted to know our pattern of patrols, it seemed, and our meeting places.'

Ferdi nodded. The ruffians who'd invaded Tookland had wished much the same information about the Tooks, but had never managed to gain it, and in part because the better part of the plan resided inside the head of Thain Paladin, who stayed well away from the borders during the Troubles, and what parts Ferdi knew when he made his forays to the outer parts of the Shire were not enough to threaten more than a small number of Tooks at a time.

'They especially wanted word of our chief, and a way to trap him,' Haleth said quietly, his eyes still fixed on the corner of the ceiling as if it held all the answers to his questions. 'I glanced at him, and his expression chilled me to the bone, worse than the icy stream where I'd sought refuge, or the snow that lay upon our backs. At last Haldoron, for it was he they questioned, fell silent beneath their blows, and he lay limp in their grasp. Their chieftain swore a foul oath and lifted a brand from the fire, laying it upon Haldoron's savaged back. He jerked and screamed, coming to full wakefulness, and how the Orcs howled with glee. "That's right!" they shouted. "Wouldn't want him to bleed to death! Cauterise the wounds! And cook our dinner nicely, in the meantime!" ' Haleth shuddered and fell silent.

Ferdi gulped, for his own meal was sitting uneasily on his stomach, but he raised his chin one more and said steadily, 'But you cannot leave it at that point, either. You must go on.'

Haleth took a shuddering breath, but meeting the hobbit's gaze and finding courage there, he forged on. 'Their chieftain took Haldoron by the hair,' he said, 'raising his face to meet its own fierce and merciless gaze, and it said... it said...' Another breath, and he said, ' "You drive me nearly to pity, Tarkil," it said. "I will strike a bargain with you. Tell us what we want to know, and I may slit your throat before we begin to feed upon your flesh." '

Ferdi suddenly put a hand to his mouth, but soon he mastered himself and nodded. 'Foul creatures,' he whispered. 'The ruffians of the Troubles pale by comparison.'

'The others set up an outcry at this, of how the flesh is tastier with the blood still in it, but the creature pointed to Halbarad, lying in the snow, and said they might begin on him while the chieftain finished chit-chatting with their other guest.'

'But they didn't...' was wrung from Ferdi, a protest. He might not have been able to bear the rest of the story, save for the fact that he knew Halbarad had survived to ride South to join Aragorn in battle, and that Haldoron lay before them now. But Haleth's tongue appeared to be tied.

'And then the Elven-arrows began to fly,' Elessar said quietly from the doorway. 'Elladan and Elrohir had quietly crept up the trees and slain the sentries, and when that task was accomplished they began to shoot those upon the ground, sowing confusion and slaying many, including the chieftain, before the Orcs quite realised they were under attack. It was relatively quick business, after that, to leap from concealment and ply our swords and knives.'

Haleth started and bowed low. 'My--my Lord,' he stammered. 'I...'

'You'd rate a flogging for telling that tale to any other of the Halflings,' Elessar said, and Ferdi made a face at the word. Did Men think of nothing else but floggings and such? 'However,' the King added, 'I believe that this one was assigned here, in order to hear that tale told, and so you are excused from any penalty. But in future...'

'Forgive me, my Lord,' Haleth whispered. 'I... I never tell that tale, nor even think on it. I cannot imagine what brought me...'

'Enough,' Elessar said, with a slice of his hand cutting off the sergeant's apologies. 'You are relieved. But, wait,' he added, as the sergeant made move to go.

Two healer's assistants appeared then, and it was clear that Elessar had heard the whisper of their feet in the corridor. One bore a basin and kettle, and laying the basin down, poured steaming water into it. From a folded cloth that the other bore, the King took two dark-green leaves, which he bruised and cast into the water, and a living freshness rose into the air and filled the room with life and promise.

Ferdi felt refreshed, much as if he walked the Green Hills under the stars, smelling the growing things under his feet, and the colour began to return to Haleth's countenance, and the haunted look left his eyes. The Steward sighed, and began to breathe more deeply, and the King lifted the dressing from Haldoron's back and began to bathe the abused and broken skin with the fragrant water.

At last he looked once more to Haleth's face, and seeming satisfied with what he saw there, he said, 'You are dismissed. Go, and find yourself a meal, and report at your usual time on the morrow.'

'Sir; yes, Sir,' Haleth said, straightening with a salute. And turning to the door, he marched away.