As the sun rose, its warmth and light brought the company to life.  Frodo awoke to find Sam sitting beside him with his hand on his chest.  Frodo looked up at his friend and realised that he had fallen asleep, sitting upright, his head slumped forward onto his chest.  The events of the previous day returned to Frodo with a sudden clench of his heart.  He struggled to sit up, cursing the weakness that left him feeling so helpless.  Lord Elrond helped him to sit up and offered him a warm drink to ease him into the day.  Frodo eyed the liquid uncertainly and raised an eyebrow in silent question to the Elf.

“It is only tea, I assure you Mr Baggins” said Elrond with a smile. “I also have some for Sam; I believe he will be stiff and sore when he wakes, for he has not rested this night!”

“Is he alright”

“Frodo, he is brave and strong, and he loves you very much. But yesterday was a shock for him. It may take a while for him to understand your reasons for leaving. At the moment his grief and pain are great but he will, in time, see that it was the only way.”

Lord Elrond moved around behind Sam and began to gently massage the muscles in his shoulders. Sam’s head came up as he became aware of the hands easing the tension out of his rigid and quite painful muscles.  He opened his eyes to see Frodo holding a cup towards him. 

“Good morning Sam”. One look into the depths of the deep blue eyes of his friend all he needed to know that the anger and recriminations of the previous day were forgiven and forgotten.

“How about some breakfast, Mr Frodo”?

****

All that day and the next the party travelled steadily to the West. Even the Elves were subdued, the sad and solemn atmosphere of the Hobbits dampening their normal enthusiasm.  Bilbo appeared to sleep for much of the day, propped safely on his pony by elves on either side.  Frodo and Sam rode side-by-side, rarely speaking but occasionally reaching to touch the other as if to reassure themselves that they were as yet united.

When the party stopped for the night Sam attended to Frodo with his usual diligence.  The Elves relieved him of the necessity of caring for the ponies and of preparing meals.  When he was sure that Frodo had eaten his fill he set out his bedroll and helped him to get comfortable. He watched his friend until he was sure that he slept, and politely refused all offers from those who offered to take watch in his stead.  By sheer willpower alone he forced himself to stay awake, unwilling to surrender one minute of the short time he had left be with his master.

On the third day of travel Sam’s plight became a cause of concern to all who saw him.  His face looked gaunt and grey with exhaustion and dark smudges shadowed his eyes. The weather had turned colder and a light drizzle added to his misery. He shivered within his cloak and pulled his hood down over his face.  At midday they stopped to rest and to eat, taking shelter from the rain under a thick grove of trees. Sam insisted on attending on Frodo even though his hands were shaking so badly he could barely hold his cup. He drank his own tea in silence, not even having the energy to eat his own rations. Even Lord Elrond couldn’t break through the barrier of will he had erected.

“Sam this is madness, you are making yourself ill! You must rest and take care of yourself”

“Leave me be! I have the remainder of my life to rest and look after myself…. I promised to care for my Master and care for him I will, until you take him away from me! I have not given him into your care yet and I will not do so till the very end…. so please leave me be!”

Lord Elrond backed off, his healers’ sense telling him that to push harder would only worsen the situation.  Before the party started off again he spoke quietly to Gildor and asked him to stay close to Sam as they travelled. It was not long before Sam’s shoulders began to droop and his head dropped forward onto his chest.  Gildor moved up quickly, he put his arm around Sam’s shoulder to support him, and peering under his hood realised that Sam was fast asleep. Sam never stirred as he was lifted gently from his pony and cradled in the arms of the Elf. Sheltered with the folds of the Elven cloak his slept for the remainder of the day’s journey. When they stopped for the night pavilions were erected to protect the travellers from the rain. Sam slept on, cocooned within a nest of blankets, Frodo on one side, Bilbo on the other.

 Sam fought his way to wakefulness. He could hear softly spoken voices and at first thought them to be part of his dream. He felt a hand on his face and heard someone call his name.

“Sam, it is morning, are you with us?” He opened his eyes in confusion, expecting to see his familiar bedroom at Bag End.

“Mr Frodo…..!”

“Hush Sam, I’m here,” He saw Frodo at his side and behind him, Lord Elrond. “Come Sam, sit up and drink this and then we will have a proper Hobbit breakfast…. Lord Elrond’s orders!”

“I don’t understand,” he said shaking his head as if to rattle some sense into his muddled brain “What happened?”

“You fell asleep Sam, Gildor caught you before you fell to the ground and you have hardly stirred since”.

“Is this your doing Lord Elrond? Did you have a hand in this?” accused Sam.

“No Sam, though I was sorely tempted” said the Elf with a wry smile. “I had it on good authority from Gandalf that The Baggins clan were the most stubborn in the Shire but I believe you surpass even them! Now, we will not move another step until you have had a proper breakfast so I suggest that you stir yourself!”

“Yes SIR” said Sam rather forcefully for the normally respectful Hobbit.

****

As the sun rose, on what would be the final day of the journey, Sam and Frodo could be seen sitting together at the side of the glowing embers of the campfire. The two friends had not slept and the Elves had not intruded their quiet contemplations.

The night had passed slowly but to both of the friends’ morning had come too quickly.They had spent hours in quiet conversation, reliving memories, both good and bad. At times they had cried together, leaning on each other for support and comfort. Occasionally a soft chuckle would hover in the quiet night air at remembered mischief: the watchful Elves moved at the sadness conveyed by the outwardly happy sound. At other times they would rise and stroll silently about the glade, never moving beyond the sight of the assembled company but too restless and tired to keep still. As the morning bustle of activity stirred the camp the Hobbits recognised that they had at last come to a degree of acceptance, both of them aware that they could neither change the past nor deny the future. The chain of events that moved them set in motion long before their births. They bowed their heads to the inevitable.

Frodo and Sam had no need to speak together as they journeyed on, all speech unnecessary for they had opened and shared their hearts to one another.

Sam found Lord Elrond riding at his side. “Do I have you forgiveness, Sam?” he asked.

“Why would you seek my forgiveness? Me, a plain Hobbit gardener and you a great Elf Lord” he asked, puzzled.

“For not having the strength or the wisdom to save Frodo from pain and harm. I wish it had been within my power to spare you both from hurt!” Sam looked up at the Elf and saw grief and pain in his eyes

“I know you did what you thought was best, and maybe you were right. I just wish it had had a happy ending for Frodo… he has paid a bitter price…one that no Hobbit or Elf or Dwarf or Man should have to bear. Fate is a cruel master!”

They travelled on in silence for a time. As if to distract Sam, Lord Elrond asked him to describe the happenings in the Shire.  Hesitantly at first, Sam began to describe their return to the Shire from the time they had said goodbye to Gandalf.  He told of the locked gates on the bridge and their arrest by the Sherrifs. He laughed as he described how Merry and Pippin had force-marched the Sherrifs all the way from Frogmorton  to the Three-Farthing Stone, until they had given up exhausted and left their ‘prisoners’ to continue on to Bywater unescorted. He described their shock and anger at the wanton destruction of property and trees and the ugly, brick built houses and chimneys that had replaced them. As he told of Merry and Pippin ‘Raising of the Shire’ he glowed with pride, barely mentioning his role in the action. Lord Elrond noted the omission and smiled.

“Did you not have a part in these great deeds, Sam?” he asked with a chuckle.

“Well I suppose I did, but Merry and Pippin cut such a dash in their fine livery that they had the citizens roused and organised in no time. Not that it didn’t end in bloodshed! 19 Hobbits killed and 30 injured- some of them I’d known all my life. It wasn’t quite the homecoming we had expected!”

“Yes, the darkness cast a long shadow; there was little of Middle Earth that did not feel the taint of Mordor! And yet Sam, I hear that much of the stain has been removed already from the Shire, by your hand especially. You have put the Lady’s gift to good use and the groves and fields of the Shire blossom under your stewardship”

“Well growing things have always been my business and my pleasure, I am first and last a gardener”. “Is that so! Well from what Frodo has told me, he has planted a few seeds of his own and when they come to fruition he intends you to be a little more than a humble gardener!”

“What do you mean…? What seeds?”

“Never you mind for now, for each comes to bloom in its own season,” He said with an enigmatic smile. “Now, you have not yet told me about the changes in your life. I understand that you have now a wife and daughter”

This was a subject on which Sam needed no encouragement to speak. Love and happiness flowed from him as he described Rosie and Elanor.

“I never really understood before the joy of holding your own child in you arms, seeing the trust and love in the depth of their eyes and knowing that you have created something so perfect. I never thought to find such blessing in my life” he had to swallow down the tears that had come unbidden to overwhelm him. “I wish that I could have seen Frodo with a child of his own in his arms: he would have been a wonderful father! It’s just one more thing that the Ring took away!”

“I know Sam, becoming a Father changes your life forever” now it was Lord Elrond’s turn to turn his face away to hide his emotion. “Treasure every moment with your family, for each one is precious and will never come again.  Children grow so quickly that before you realise it their childhood is gone and they seek a life of their own”.

After a moment he put his hand on Sams arm “Sam, may I ask a favour of you?  I will never see my daughter, or indeed my step-son again except in memory… When you see them, as I am sure you will, will you embrace her and give to her the love of a father in my stead?”

“It would be an honour,” said Sam awed that he should be tasked with such a request. He continued with a wry grin “though I may have some explaining to do to the King!”

“Then you embrace him too and tell him that you stand in my stead, and that he should mind you as he would me!” Sam was not fooled by the stern expression, when the words were filled with such love and longing.

****

The Grey Havens were bigger than Sam had ever imagined. They passed through the gates and he gazed in wonder at the fair buildings that surrounded the harbour.  Sam stared in open-mouthed amazement, as he looked out upon the vast, endless expanse of water that moved in ceaseless motion upon the shingle beach. He had never realised that the ocean would have a voice of its own and he sat transfixed, wondering how he would ever explain it or the effect it had on him. Part of him wanted to run back to the safety of the Shire, to hide from the vastness that filled his vision. The other part wanted to stay here and drink in the beauty and wonder of its majesty and power.  It made him feel insignificantly small and at the same time honoured to be experiencing its grandeur.

He felt Bill move forward and realised that the company were moving on towards the harbour wall. There a great white ship sat, high in the water, sails furled, and waiting only for the passengers to board. This them was truly the end of the road.

He slid down from the saddle and moved to help Frodo dismount. Sam felt strangely calm. He felt Frodo tremble, he put an arm around his shoulders and whispered softly “It’s alright Frodo, it’s nearly time, don’t fret no more. You’ve had a long, painful road to bear and now it’s done.”

He spied Gandalf waiting for them and he gently ushered Frodo to his side. Gandalf greeted them warmly and gestured to two familiar figures hurrying towards the Quay. It was but a brief reunion but one that brought comfort to them all.  Frodo embraced his cousins and whispered his farewells.

Finally turning to Sam he held his dearest friend in a tight embrace. “I will wait for you, if that is your choice. Go now and be happy, a heart as big as yours will fill the Shire with happiness. Your friendship and love have been the blessing of my life. I love you Sam…. don’t forget me!” With that he turned and supported by Gandalf went aboard the ship.

At that moment Sam felt a physical pain within his chest as the hard knot of grief settled within his heart. He reached out blindly, seeking support. He felt Merry and Pippin move to his side and they stood together, locked in memory and grief as the white ship sailed, taking its precious cargo away across the sea.

*******