returnoftheshadow72

by Miguel

  That was done. Pillows put in beds. Nothing happens that night - but in the morning windows open, pillows on floor. The ponies have all vanished. Timothy [i.e. Timothy Titus the landlord] in a great state. They..... [?a bill]. He pays for ponies [?but there are] no more to be had. Shortage in the village. They go on with Trotter on foot. Trotter takes them to a wild hobbit hole, and [? gets his friend] to run on ahead and send a message to Weathertop by pony? Trotter [?guides them by quiet paths off the....] road and going through the woods. Once far in distance on a hill which looked down on to a piece of the road they thought they saw a Black Rider sitting on his horse [?scanning] the road [?and the country round].

  ..... Weathertop [?about] 50 [written beside: 100] miles from Bree.

  Commanding view all round.

  Gandalf had gone, but left a pile of stones - message. Waited two days. Must go on. Push on for ford. Help will be easy from Rivendell, if I get there.

  They come to Troll Stones..... of Road. Here owing to River ahead they [?are obliged] to go back to Road. Black Riders evidently expect them to visit Troll-wood [> Trollshaw] and are waiting on road where path joined it.

  At this stage, then, my father did not at all foresee the attack on the hobbits at Weathertop, just as in the earlier sketch given on p. 126 he did not foresee the attack on the inn. The visit to the Troll Stones had already been envisaged in that sketch (there described as 'foolish'), and there as here the Riders would only finally come upon them at the Ford.

  This is the first occurrence of the name Trollshaw, which appears on the LR map (Trollshaws) but nowhere in the text.

  The text in ink continues:

  Trotter was now accepted as a member of the party, indeed as their guide. They at once did as he suggested; and creeping to their bedrooms they disordered the clothes, and put a pillow longwise in each bed. Odo added a brown fur mat, a more realistic substitute for his head. When they were all gathered in the sitting- room again, they piled their things on the floor, pushed a low chair against the door, and shut the window. Peeping out Bingo saw it was still a clear night: he then closed and barred the heavy inside shutters, drew the curtains, and blew out the candles. The hobbits lay on their blankets with their feet towards the fire. Trotter lay in the chair against the door. They did not talk much, but fell asleep one by one.(16) Nothing happened in the night to disturb them. Both Merry and Bingo woke up once in the early and still dark hours, fancying they had heard or felt something moving; but soon they fell asleep again. They noticed that Trotter seemed to be sitting awake in his chair with his eyes open. It was also Trotter that drew the curtains and opened the shutters and let in the early light. He seemed to be able to do with next to no sleep. As soon as he had roused them they tiptoed along the passage to their bedrooms.

  There they found how good Trotter's advice had been. The windows were open and swinging, and the curtains were flapping. The beds were tossed about, and the pillows flung on the floor - ripped open. Odo's mat was torn to pieces.

  Trotter promptly went in search of Mr Butterbur, and roused him out of bed. What exactly he said to him he did not tell Bingo; but the landlord appeared very quickly, and he seemed very frightened, and very apologetic.

  'Never has such a thing happened in my time, or my dad's,' said he, raising his hands in horror. 'Guests unable to sleep in their beds, and all. What are we coming to? But this has been a queer week, and no mistake.' He did not seem surprised that they were anxious to leave as soon as possible; before folk were up and about; and bustled off to get them some breakfast at once, and have their ponies got ready.

  But before long he came back in dismay. The ponies had vanished! The stabledoors had been broken open in the night, and they were gone, and all the other ponies in the place as well. This was crushing news. They were already probably too late to overtake Gandalf. On foot there was no hope of it - they could not reach Weathertop for days, nor Rivendell for weeks.

  'What can we do, Mr Butterbur? ' asked Bingo desperately. 'Can we borrow any more ponies in the village, or the neighbourhood? Or hire them?' he added rather doubtfully.

  'I doubt it,' said Mr Butterbur. 'I doubt if there be four riding- ponies left in all Bree; and I don't suppose one of them is for sale or hire. Bill Ferny has one, a poor overworked creature; but he won't part with that for less than thrice its worth, not if I know him. But I'll do what I can. I'll rout out Bob and send him round right away.'

  In the end, after an hour and more's delay, it turned out that only one pony could be got - and that had to be bought for six silver pennies (a high price for those parts). But Mr Barnabas Butterbur was an honest hobbit, and a generous one (not but what he could afford to be both); and he insisted on paying Mr Rivers (that is Merry) for the lost five animals, 20 silver pennies,(17) less the cost of their food and lodging. That made a very valuable addition to their travelling funds, since silver pennies were very valuable in those days; but it was not at the moment much comfort for their loss and delay. It must have been rather a serious blow for poor old Barnabas, even though he was comfortably off.*

  (* Footnote. Still, I believe he came out on the right side in the end; for it turned out that the ponies, wild with terror, had escaped, and having a great deal of sense eventually made their way to find old Fatty Lumpkin. And that proved useful. For Tom Bombadil saw them, and was afraid that disaster had befallen the hobbits. So he went off to Bree to find out what he could; and there he learned all that Barnabas could tell him (and a bit more). Also he bought the ponies off Barnabas (as they belonged to him now). That was very much to the delight of Fatty Lumpkin, who now had friends to whom he could tell tales, and (as they were his juniors) on to whom he could shift most of the little work there was to do.)

  Of course all this bother about the ponies not only took time, but brought the hobbits and their affairs very much into public notice. There was no chance of keeping their departure secret any longer - much to their dismay, and to Trotter's. Indeed they did not get off until after nine o'clock, and by that time all the Bree- folk were out to watch them go. After saying farewell to Nob and Rob,(18) and taking leave of Mr Butterbur, they tramped off, anxious and downhearted. Trotter walked in front leading their only pony, which was laden with the greater part of their luggage. Trotter was chewing an apple: he seemed to have a pocketful of them. Apples and tobacco, he said, were the things he most missed when he could not get them. They took no notice of the many inquisitive heads poking out of doors or popping over fences as they passed through the village; but as they drew near to the east end, Bingo saw-a squat sullen-faced hobbit (rather goblinish, he thought to himself): he was looking over a hedge. He had black eyes, a large mouth, and an unpleasant leer, and was smoking a blackened pipe. He took the pipe out of his mouth, and spat back over his shoulder as they went by.

  'Morning, Trotter! ' he said. 'Found some new friends?' Trotter nodded, but did not answer.

  'Morning, gentles! ' he said to the hobbits. 'I suppose you know who you are going with? That's dirty Trotter, that is; or so he calls himself - though I have heard other names not so pretty. But maybe a ranger is good enough for you.'

  Trotter turned round quickly. 'Bill Ferny!' he said. 'You put your ugly face out of sight, or you'll get it broken. Not that that'll do it much harm.' With a sudden flick, quick as lightning, half an apple left his hand and hit Bill square on the nose. He ducked and vanished with a yowk;(19) and they did not listen to the curses that came from behind the hedge.

  After leaving the village they went along the Road for some miles. It wound to the right, round the south side of Bree hill, and then began to run downwards into wooded country.(20) Away north of the Road they could see first Archet on some higher ground like an island in the trees; and then down in a deep hollow, to the east of Archet, wisps of rising smoke that showed where Combe lay. After the Road had run down some way and left Bree hill behind, they came on a narrow track that ran northward away from the Road. 'This is where we leave the open, and take t
o cover!' said Trotter. 'Not a short cut, I hope,' said Bingo. 'It was a short cut through woods that made us two days late before.' 'Ah, but you had not got me with you,' said Trotter. 'My cuts, short or long, don't go wrong.' His plan, as far as they could gather, not knowing the country, was to pass near Combe (21) and keep under cover of the woods while the Road was still near, and then to steer as straight as they could over the wild country to Weathertop Hill. They would in that way (if all went well) cut off a great loop of the Road, which further on bent away south to avoid the Flymarshes [written above: Midgewater]. Trotter also had a notion that if he came across any of his friends among the wild hobbits, one that he could trust, they might send him on ahead on the pony to Weathertop. But the others did not think well of his plan, as it would mean carrying heavy packs, and thought the Flymarshes [written above: Midgewater] would prove bad enough (from Trotter's description) without that.(22) However, in the meantime walking was not unpleasant. Indeed, if it had not been for the disturbing events of the night before, they would have enjoyed this part of the journey better than any up to that time. The sun was shining, clear but not hot. The woods were still leafy and full of colour, and seemed peaceful, clean, and wholesome. Trotter guided them confidently among the many crossing ways, although very soon they themselves lost all sense of direction; but as he explained to them, they were not yet going in a straight line, but making a zig- zag course, to put off any pursuit.

  'Bill Ferny will have watched where we left the Road, for certain,' he said; 'but I don't think he will follow us far himself, though he knows the land round here well enough. It's what he tells other - people that matters. If they think we have made for Combe, so much the better.' Whether because of Trotter's skill or for some other reason, they saw no sign, and heard no sound, of any other living thing all that day, and all the next day: neither two-footed (save birds), nor four-footed (except foxes and rabbits). On the third day out from Bree they came out of the woodlands. Their way had trended downwards all the time, and now they came to flatter and more difficult country.

  They were on the borders of the Midgewater Marshes. The ground became damper, in places boggy, and here and there there were pools, and wide stretches of reeds and rushes, full of hidden warbling birds. They had to pick their way carefully to keep both dry-footed and on their line. At first they made fair progress: in fact they were probably going quite as quickly on foot as they could have done mounted. But as they went on their way became slower and more dangerous. The marshes were wide and treacherous, and across them there was only a winding ranger-trail, which it taxed Trotter's skill to find. The flies became a torment: particularly the clouds of tiny midges that crept up their sleeves and breeches and under their hair.

  'I'm being eaten alive! ' said Odo. 'Midgewater! There are more midges than water. What do they live on, when they can't get hobbits? '

  They were two miserable days in this lonely and unpleasant country. Their camping places were damp and cold, for there was no good fuel. Armfuls of dry reeds and rush and grass blazed away all too soon. And of course the biting things would not let them sleep. There were also some abominable over-grown cousins of the cricket that squeaked all round, and nearly drove Bingo wild. He hated crickets, even when he was not kept awake by bites to listen to them. But these crickets were shriller than any cricket he had met, and even more persistent. They were more than glad, when early on the fifth day from Bree they saw the land before them slowly rising again, sloping up until in the distance it became a line of low hills.(23)

  To the right of the line there was a tall conical hill with a slightly flattened top. 'That is Weathertop,' said Trotter. 'The old Road, which we have left far away on our right, runs to the south of it, and passes not far from its foot. We might reach it by noon tomorrow; and I suppose we had better make for it.'

  'What do you mean?' asked Bingo.

  'I mean: when we do get there, it is not certain what we shall find. It is close to the Road.'

  'But was not Gandalf going to camp there?'

  'Yes - but what with one thing and another, you are already three or even four days behind the time when he expected you to get there. You will be four or five days late by the time we reach the top. I wonder very much if we shall find him there. On the other hand, if certain persons were warned that you went east out of Bree, and have failed to find us in the wilderness, they may not unlikely make for Weathertop themselves. It commands a wide view of the lands all round. Indeed there are many birds and beasts in this country that could see us as we stand here from that hill-top. There are even some of the rangers that on a clear day could spy us from there, if we moved. And not all the rangers are to be trusted, nor all the birds and beasts.'

  The hobbits looked anxiously at the distant hill. Odo looked up in the pale sky, as if he feared to see hawks or eagles hovering over them. 'You make me feel most uncomfortable,' said Bingo; 'but I suppose it is all for our good. We ought to realize what danger we are in. What do you advise us to do?'

  'I think,' answered Trotter slowly and as if he was for the first time not quite sure of his plans, 'I think the best thing is to go straight forward, or as straight as we can, from this point, and make for the line of hills. There we can strike certain paths that I know, and in fact will bring us to Weathertop from the North, and less openly. Then we shall see what we shall see.'

  There seemed nothing else to do. In any case they could not stop in that comfortless land, and the line of march that Trotter proposed was more or less in the direction that they must take, if ever they were to get to Rivendell. All that day they plodded along, until the cold and early evening came down. The land became drier and more barren; but mists and vapours lay behind them on the wide marshes. A few melancholy birds were piping, until the round red sun sank slowly into the western shadows. They thought how its soft light would be glancing through the cheerful windows looking on to the garden at Bag-end far away. They came upon a stream that wandered down from the hills to lose itself in the stagnant marshland, and this they followed while the light lasted. It was already nearly dark when they camped under some stunted alder-trees on the stony banks of the stream; now dark before them loomed the bare side of the nearest hill, bleak and barren. They set a watch that night, but those that were not watching slept uneasily. The moon was waxing, and in the early night hours a grey cold light lay on the land.

  Next morning they set out again soon after sunrise. There was a frost in the air, and the sky was a pale clear blue. They felt refreshed, as if they had had a night of good sleep, and were glad to have left the damp heavy air of the marshes. Already they were getting used to much walking, and to short commons (or shorter at any rate than they would have thought possible to walk on in the Shire). Odo declared that Bingo was looking twice the hobbit that he was.

  'Very odd,' said Bingo, tightening his belt, 'considering that there is actually a great deal less of me. I hope the thinning-process won't go on indefinitely, or I shall become a wraith.'

  'Don't speak of such things!' said Trotter quickly, and with surprising earnestness.

  Before long they reached the feet of the hills; and there they found, for the first time since they left the Road, a track plain to see. This they took, turning and following it south-west.(24) It led them up and down, following a line of country that contrived to keep them hidden as often and as long as possible from view, either from the hill-tops above, or from the flats to the West. It dived into dells, and hugged steep banks, and found crossings over the streams, and ways round the bogs that these made in

  hollow places. Where it crossed a flatter and more open space it often had lines of large boulders on either side, screening the marchers almost like a hedge.

  'I wonder who made this path, and what for?' said Frodo, as they passed along one of these avenues, where the stones were unusually large and closely set. 'I am not sure I quite like it - it has a, well, rather barrow-wightish look? Is there any barrow on Weathertop? '

  '
No!' said Trotter. 'There is no barrow on Weathertop nor on any of these hills. The Men of the West did not live here. I do not know who made this path, nor how long ago, but it was made to provide a way to Weathertop that could be defended. It is told by some that Gilgalad and Valandil [later > Elendil] made a fort and strong place here in the Ancient Days, when they marched East.' 'Who was Gilgalad?' asked Frodo; but Trotter did not answer, and seemed to be lost in thought.(25)

  It was already mid-day when they came towards the south- eastern end of the line of hills, and saw before them, in the pale clear light of the October sun, a green-grey ridge leading up like a sagging bridge on to the northward side of the tall conical hill. They decided to make for the top at once, while the day was broad. Concealment was no longer possible, and they could only hope for the best. Nothing could be seen moving on the hill.

  After an hour's slow plodding climb, Trotter reached the crown of the hill. Bingo and Merry followed, tired and breathless. The last slope had been steep and stony. Odo and Frodo were left below with the baggage and the pony, in a sheltered hollow under the western flank of the hill. On the top they found only a pile of stones - a cairn of long forgotten meaning. There was no sign of Gandalf, or of any living thing. All about and below them was a wide view, for the most part of a land empty, deserted, and featureless - except for patches of woodland away to the south, where they caught also the occasional glint of distant water. Beneath them, on the southward side, ran the ribbon of the Old Road, coming out of the West and winding up and down until it faded behind a ridge of dark land in the East. It too was empty. Nothing was moving on it. Following its line eastward they beheld the Mountains - now plain to see, the nearer foothills brown and brooding, with taller greyer shapes behind, and behind them again the high white peaks glimmering out of clouds.