Chapter 14. We enjoy the luxury of stopping and resting

We'll rest now, my companion says quietly. We have made good time this day.

We have been walking steadily with occasional pauses to graze or drink, following the Sun as she has glided down the sky-bowl towards the horizon.

I stop obediently and drop my head. Soft blades of grass tickle my nose, an agreeable feeling I had almost forgotten... My teeth clench and tear and chew, and the grass I swallow feels filling and satisfying for the first time in I don't know how long, exactly.

In my heart, I can hear Youngest's delighted laughter. Look at 'im go! It's as if he's never tasted grass before!

And Master answers in the same vein. He hasn't! Not the grass in this Valley, at any rate.

Youngest protests. You're having me on, Cousin! He's been grazing every day since we arrived!

Master's next words are thoughtful. But haven't you noticed, Pip, how everything here seems fresh and new every morning? I'm sure the grass is no exception!

I... Youngest says, and then stops. New every morning, he echoes in a low tone. So it's not just me, then...

Not just you? Master says, and for some reason he has set aside his playful tone and speaks gently to the youngster. What do you mean, Pip?

Youngest seems reluctant to answer at first, and when Master asks the same question again, the youngest hobbit says, very low, I was afraid you'd all laugh at me... chide me for speaking nonsense... as people so often do...

From the corner of my eye (I do not stop grazing, of course), I can see Master rest his arm across Youngest hobbit's shoulders. It's only nonsense when you mean it to be so, the older cousin says quietly. Do you think I haven't noticed? You can spout the most ridiculous nonsense upon realising that spirits around you need lifting! Yet you can also make perfect sense when such is your intent...

Well don't tell Merry that, Youngest answers, and ruin my reputation!

Master laughs and lifts his arm from Youngest's shoulders in order to cuff the younger cousin gently on the head. There you go again... he says.

My companion interrupts my thoughts, saying, There is another little rill just ahead, perfect for quenching our thirst. He tosses his head, adding, The water is icy cold as if it just came from melting snow... and perhaps it did! Melted, and seeped into the ground, and ran along like a river underground until it emerged on the plain for our refreshment.

The voices of my hobbits are fading in my memory, even as the light is fading from the sky above us. Even as I raise my head to look at him, my companion's coat seems to shimmer and change from silver-white to the colour of the deepening twilight around us. 

I try to hold on to my hobbits, to keep them with me for just a little longer. I wonder where they might be now? And might they ever think of me in that dark place where they have gone?

And now it is fully dark in this place, as well. When I look about me, I might be alone for all I can see of my companion, for the darkness has cloaked him in invisibility. You are not alone, the Voices whisper. Listen!

I listen and hear the comforting sound of my companion grazing nearby. I am not alone.

Listening more intently, I become aware of a trickling sound ahead. Ah, the water my companion promised... Suddenly, thirst makes its presence known to me. I move in the direction of the sound until one of my forefeet actually splashes in the stream, and yes! The drips of water that splatter against my front legs are indeed icy cold!

Dipping my muzzle, I drink deeply.

My companion whickers from very close nearby. Though I cannot see him, I can hear him drinking, and I can smell the comforting odour of a fellow equine.

As I lift my head from the little stream, I ask, Are we ready to move on?

He answers by laughing softly at first, so I ask further, Do you need more time to rest and graze? From what you said earlier, you have come a long way, and I really have no idea of the distance you have travelled...

My companion laughs a little louder at this, actually snorting in response. But then he answers, I was thinking of you, little one. You're the one, I deem, who could benefit the most from grazing and drinking – yes, and resting! As well as sleeping. Even if you cannot relax enough to lie down upon the soft grass but choose to stay on your feet as you doze...

I raise my head higher in my surprise. I am well! I insist.

But darkness has fallen, my companion says. And I know very well that you cannot see me in the dark...

How do you know that? I challenge.

I know, he answers, his tone half humorous and half serious. And I would not have us become separated, should my attention lapse – I am a horse, after all! – and without you able to see me in the darkness.

We could walk nose-to-tail, as the pack ponies do, I say.

Pack ponies?

If I could shrug like one of my hobbits, I would. I've seen parties of Dwarves passing by, I say. Some of them travel with strings of pack ponies.

Passing by here? my companion sounds astonished.

Passing by in the Bree-land, I clarify.

Ah, the great horse says, and I hear him shake his head and neck. In any event, I can scent no danger in the vicinity – something of a rarity in these parts, let me tell you!

Ah? I echo.

Indeed, he says. And so, I think our best course is to rest this night, at least as long as the breeze brings no tidings of enemies to our nostrils.

I nod. It seems a good idea to take our rest when we can find such, I agree. I imagine we still have a very long way to go to reach the Valley... For we travelled for more days than I could count to come to the Doors under the Mountain, where my companions left me.

I hear the great horse toss his head. Did I not say you are wise, Greatheart? he says.

Actually, I don't recall it, not exactly. But I take his answer as his way of confirming that, yes, we still have a long way to go.

***