returnoftheshadow72

by Miguel

  At first it seemed to the hobbits that they were creeping like snails and getting nowhere; for each day the land looked much as it had done the day before. Yet all the while the Mountains which south of Rivendell bent westward were drawing nearer. More and more often they found no paths and had to make wide turns to avoid either steep places, or thickets, or sullen treacherous swamps. The land was tumbled in barren hills and deep valleys filled with turbulent waters.

  But when they had been about ten days on the road the weather grew better. The wind suddenly veered southward. The swift flowing clouds lifted and melted away, and the sun came out. There came a dawn at the end of a long stumbling night march. The travellers reached a low ridge crowned with ancient holly trees, whose pale fluted trunks seemed to have been formed out of the very stone of the hills. Their berries shone red in the light of the rising sun. Far away south Frodo saw the dim shapes of mountains, that seemed now to lie across their path. To the left of this distant range a tall peak stood up like a tooth: it was tipped with snow but its bare western shoulder glowed redly in the growing light.

  Gandalf stood by Frodo's side and looked out under his hand. 'We have done well,' he said. 'We have reached the borders of the country called Hollin: many Elves lived here once in happier days. Eighty leagues we have come,(9) if we have come a mile, and we have marched quicker than winter from the North. The land and weather will be milder now - but perhaps all the more dangerous.' 'Danger or not, a real sunrise is mighty welcome,' said Frodo, throwing back his hood and letting the morning light play on his face.

  'The Mountains are in front of us' eastward,' said Faramond. 'It seems we are turning eastward'.

  'No, it is the mountains that have turned,' said, Gandalf.(10) 'Don't you remember Elrond's map in Rivendell?'

  'No, I did not look very carefully at it,' said Faramond. 'Frodo has a better head for things of that sort.'

  'Well, anyone who did look at the map,' said Gandalf, 'would see that away there stands Taragaer or Ruddyhorn,(11) - that mountain with the red side. The Misty Mountains divide there and between their arms lies the land (12) of Caron-dun the Red Valley.(13) Our way lies there: over the Red Pass of Cris-caron,(14) under Taragaer's side, and into Caron-dun and down the River Red- way (15) to the Great River, and...' He stopped.

  'Yes, and where then?' asked Merry.

  'To the end of the journey - in the end,' said Gandalf. 'But at first the evergreen forest of Fangorn, through the midst of which runs the Great River.(16) But we will not look too far ahead. Let us be glad that the first stage is safely over. I think we will rest here for a whole day. There is a wholesome air about Hollin. Much evil must befall any country before it wholly forgets the Elves, if once they have dwelt there.'

  That morning they lit a fire in a deep hollow shrouded by two great holly trees, and their supper was merrier than it had been since they left the house of Elrond. They did not hurry to bed ' ' afterwards, for they had all the night to sleep in and did not mean to go on until the evening of next day. Only Trotter was moody and restless. After a while he left the company and wandered about on the ridge, looking out on the lands south and west. He came back and stood looking at them.

  'What is the matter?' said Merry. 'Do you miss the east wind?' 'No indeed,' answered Trotter. 'But I miss something. I know Hollin fairly well, and have been here in many seasons. No people dwell here now, but many other things live here, or used to - especially birds. But now it is very silent. I can feel it. There is no sound for miles round, and your voices seem to make the ground echo. I cannot make it out.'

  Gandalf looked up quickly. 'But what do you think the reason is?' he asked. 'Is there more in it than surprise at seeing a whole party of hobbits (not to mention Boromir and me) where people are so seldom seen? '

  'I hope that is it,' said Trotter. 'But I get a feeling of watchfulness and of fear that I have never had here before.'

  'Very well! Let us be more careful,' said Gandalf. 'If you bring a Ranger with you, it is best to pay attention to him - especially if the Ranger is Trotter, as I have found before. There are some things that even an experienced wizard does not notice. We had better stop talking now, and rest quietly and set a look-out.' It was Sam's turn to take the first watch, but Trotter joined him. The others soon fell asleep, one by one. The silence grew till even Sam felt it. The breathing of the sleepers could be plainly heard. The swish of a pony's tail and the occasional movements of his feet became loud noises. Sam seemed to hear his very joints creaking if he stirred or moved. Over all hung a blue sky as the sun rode high and clear. The last clouds melted. But away in the south-east a dark patch grew and divided, flying like smoke to the north and west.

  'What's that?' said Sam in a whisper to Trotter. Trotter made no answer, for he was gazing intently at the sky, but before long Sam could see what it was for himself. The clouds were flocks of birds going at great speed - wheeling and circling, and traversing all the land as if they were searching for something.

  'Lie flat and still,' hissed Trotter, drawing Sam down into the shade of a holly-bush - for a whole regiment of birds had separated from the western flock and came back flying low right over the ridge where the travellers lay. Sam thought they were some kind of crows of a large size. As they passed overhead one harsh croak was heard.

  Not till they had dwindled in the distance would Trotter move. Then he went and wakened Gandalf.

  'Regiments of black crows are flying to and fro over Hollin,' he said. 'They are not natives to this place. I do not know what they are after - possibly there is some trouble going on away south: but I think they are spying out the land. I think too that I have seen hawks flying higher in the sky. That would account for the silence.(17) We ought to move again this evening. I am afraid that Hollin is no longer wholesome for us: it is being watched.'

  'And in that case so is the Red Pass, and how we can get over it without being seen I don't know,' said Gandalf. 'But we will think about that when we get nearer. About moving on from here tonight: I am afraid you are right.'

  'It is as well that we let our fire make little smoke,' said Trotter. 'It was out again (I think) before the birds came over. It must not be lit again.'

  'Well, if that is not disappointing!' said Faramond. The news had been broken to him as soon as he woke (in the late afternoon): no fire, and a move again by night. 'I had looked forward to a real good meal tonight, something hot. All because of a pack of crows! ' 'Well, you can go on looking forward,' said Gandalf. 'There may be many unexpected feasts ahead of you! Personally I should like a pipe of tobacco in comfort, and warmer feet. However, we are certain of one thing, at any rate: it will get warmer as we go south.'

  'Too warm, I shouldn't wonder!' said Sam to Frodo. 'Not but what I would be glad to see that Fiery Mountain, and see the road's end ahead, so to speak. I thought that there Ruddyhorn or whatever its name is might be it, till Mr. Gandalf said not.' Maps conveyed nothing to Sam, and all distances in these strange lands seemed so vast that he was quite out of his reckonings.

  The travellers remained hidden all that day. The birds passed over every now and again; but as the westering sun grew red they vanished southwards.(18) Soon afterwards the party set out again, and turned now a little eastward making for the peak of Taragaer which still glowed dully red in the distance. Frodo thought of Elrond's warning to watch even the sky above, but the sky was now clear and empty overhead, and one by one white stars sprang forth as the last gleams of sunset faded.

  Guided by Trotter and Gandalf as usual they struck a good path. It looked to Frodo, as far as he could guess in the gathering dark, like the remains of an ancient road that had once run broad and well-planned from now deserted Hollin to the pass beneath Taragaer. A crescent moon rose over the mountains, and cast a pale light which was helpful - but was not welcomed by Trotter or Gandalf. It stayed but a little while and left them to the stars.(19) At midnight they had been going on again for an hour or more from their first halt. Frodo kept looking up at t
he sky, partly because of its beauty, partly because of Elrond's words. Suddenly he saw or felt a shadow pass over the stars - as if they faded and flashed out again. He shivered. 'Did you see anything?' he said to Gandalf, who was just in front. 'No, but I felt it, whatever it was,' said the wizard. 'It may be nothing, just a wisp of thin cloud.' It did not sound as if he thought much of his own explanation.(20)

  Nothing more happened that night. The next morning was even brighter than before, but the wind was turning back eastward and the air was chill. For three more nights they marched on, climbing steadily and ever more slowly as their road wound into the hills and the mountains drew nearer and nearer. On the third morning Taragaer towered up before them, a mighty peak tipped with snow like silver, but with sheer naked sides dull red as if stained with blood.

  There was a black look in the air, and the sun was wan. The wind was now gone towards the North. Gandalf sniffed and looked back. 'Winter is behind,' he said quietly to Trotter. 'The peaks behind are whiter than they were.'

  'And tonight,' said Trotter, 'we shall be high up on our way to the red pass of Cris-caron. What do you think of our course now? If we are not seen in that narrow place - and waylaid by some evil, l as would be easy there - the weather may prove as bad an enemy.'(21) 'I think no good of any part of our course, as you know well, Master Peregrin,' snapped Gandalf. 'Still we have to go on. It is no good whatever our trying to cross further south into the land of Rohan. The Horse-kings have long been in the service of Sauron.'(22)

  'No, I know that. But there is a way - not over Cris-caron, as you are well aware.'

  'Of course I am. But I am not going to risk that, until I am quite sure there is no other way. I shall think things out while the others rest and sleep.'(23)

  In the late afternoon, before preparations were made for moving, Gandalf poke to the travellers. 'We have now come to our first serious difficulty and doubt,' he said. 'The pass that we ought to take is up there ahead' - he waved his hand towards Taragaer: its sides were now dark and sullen, for the sun had gone, and its head was in grey cloud. 'It will take us at least two marches to get near the top of the pass. From certain signs we have seen recently I fear it may be watched or guarded; and in any case Trotter and I have doubts of the weather, on this wind. But I am afraid we must go on. We can't go back into the winter; and further south the passes are held. Tonight we must push along as hard as we can.'

  The hearts of the travellers sank at his words. But they hurried with their preparations, and started off at as good a pace as they could make. It was heavy going.(24) The winding and twisting road had long been neglected and in places was blocked with fallen stones, over which they had great difficulty in finding any way to lead the pack ponies.(25) The night grew deadly dark under the great clouds; a bitter wind swirled among the rocks. By midnight they had already climbed to the very knees of the great mountains, and were going straight up under a mountain-side, with a deep ravine guessed but unseen on their right. Suddenly Frodo felt soft cold touches on his face. He put out his arm, and saw white snowflakes settle on his sleeve. Before long they were falling fast, swirling from every direction into his eyes, and filling all the air. The dark shapes of Gandalf and Trotter, a few paces in front, could hardly be seen.

  'I don't like this,' panted Sam just behind. 'Snow is all right on a fine morning, seen from a window; but I like to be in bed while it's falling.' As a matter of fact snow fell very seldom in most parts of the Shire except the moors of the Northfarthing. There would occasionally, in January or February, be a thin white dusting of it, but [it] soon vanished, and only rarely in cold winters was there a real fall - enough to make snowballs of.

  Gandalf halted. Frodo thought as he came up by him that he already looked almost like a snow-man. Snow was white on his hood and bowed shoulders, and it was already getting thick on the ground under foot.

  'This is a bad business! ' said the wizard. 'I never bargained for this, and left snow out of my plans. It seldom falls as far south as this except on the high peaks, and here we are not halfway up even to the high pass. I wonder if the Enemy has anything to do with it. He has strange powers and many allies.'

  'We had better get all the party together,' said Trotter. 'We don't want to lose anyone on a night like this.'

  For a while they struggled on. The snow became a blinding blizzard, and soon it was in places almost knee-deep. 'It'll be up over my head before long,' said Merry. Faramond was dragging behind and needed what help Merry and Sam could give him. Frodo felt his own legs like lead at every step.

  Suddenly they heard strange sounds: they may have been but tricks of the rising wind in cracks and gullies of the rocks, but it sounded like hoarse cries and howls of harsh laughter. Then stones began to fall whirling like leaves on the wind, and crashing onto the path and the rocks on either hand. Every now and again they heard in the darkness a dull rumble as a great boulder rolled down thunderously from hidden heights in the dark above.

  The party halted. 'We can't get any further tonight,' said Trotter. 'You can call it the wind if you like, but I eall it voices and those stones are aimed at us, or at least at the path.'

  'I do call it the wind,' said Gandalf; 'but that does not make the rest untrue. Not all the servants of the Enemy have bodies or arms and legs.'(26)

  'What can we do?' asked Frodo. His heart suddenly failed him, and he felt alone and lost in dark and driving snow, mocked at by demons of the mountains.

  'Stop here or go back,' answered Gandalf. 'We are protected at present by the high wall on our left, and a deep gully on the right. Further up there is a wide shallow valley, and the road runs at the bottom of two long slopes. We should now hardly get through there without damage, quite apart from the snow.'(27)

  After some debate they retreated to a spot they had passed just before the snow came on. There the path passed under a low overhanging cliff. It faced southwards and they hoped it would give them some protection from the wind. But the eddying blasts whirled in from either side, and the snow came down thicker than ever. They huddled together with their backs to the wall. The two ponies stood dejected but patiently in front of them and served as some kind of screen, but before long the snow was up to their bellies and still mounting. The hobbits crouching behind were nearly buried. A great sleepiness came over Frodo, and he felt himself fast sinking into a warm and hazy dream. He thought a fire was warming his toes, and out of the shadows he heard Bilbo's voice speaking. 'I don't think much of your diary,' he heard him say. 'Snow(storm) on December 2nd:(28) there was no need to come back to report that.'

  Suddenly he felt himself violently shaken, and came back painfully to wakefulness. Boromir had lifted him right off the ground. 'This snow will be the death of the hobbits, Gandalf,' he said. 'We must do something.'

  'Give them this,' said Gandalf, fumbling in his pack that lay beside him, and drawing out a leather flagon. 'Just a little each - for all of us. It is very precious: one of Elrond's cordials, and I did not expect to have to use it so soon.'

  As soon as Frodo had swallowed a little of the potent cordial, he felt new strength of heart, and the heavy sleepiness left his limbs. The others revived as quickly.

  Boromir now endeavoured to clear away the snow and make a free space under the rock-wall. Finding his hands and feet slow tools, and his sword not much better, he took a faggot from the fuel that they carried on one of the ponies, in case they should need fire in places where there was no wood. He bound it tight and thrust a staff in the midst, so that it looked like a large mallet; but he used it as a ram to thrust back the soft snow, till it was packed hard into a wall before them and could not be pushed further away. For the moment things looked better, and in the small cleared space the travellers stood and took short paces, stamping to keep their limbs awake. But the snow continued to fall unrelenting; and it became plain that they were likely enough to be all buried in snow again before the night was out.(29)

  'What about a fire?' said Trotter suddenly. 'As for giv
ing ourselves away: personally I think our whereabouts is pretty well known or guessed already - by somebody.'

  In desperation they decided to light a fire if they could, even if it meant sacrificing all the fuel that they had with them. It taxed even Gandalf's power to kindle the wet wood in that windy place. Ordinary methods were of no use, though each of the travellers had tinder and flint. They had brought some fir cones and little bundles of dried grass for kindling, but no fire would catch in them, until Gandalf thrust his wand into the midst of them and caused a great spark of blue and green flame to spring out.

  'Well, if any enemy is watching,' he said, 'that will give me away. Let us hope other eyes are as blinded by the storm as ours. But anyway a fire is a good thing to see.' The wood now burned merrily and kept a clear circle all round it in which the travellers gathered somewhat heartened; but looking round Gandalf saw anxious eyes revealed by the dancing flames. The wood was burning fast, and the snow was not yet lessening.

  'Daylight will soon be showing,' said Gandalf as cheerily as he could, but added: 'if any daylight can get through the snow- clouds.'

  The fire burned low and the last faggot was thrown on. Trotter stood up and stared into the blackness above. 'I believe it is getting less,' he said. For a long while the others gazed at the flakes coming ..... down out of the darkness, to be revealed for a moment white in the light of the fire; but they could see little difference. After a while, however, it became plain that Trotter was right. The flakes became fewer and fewer. The wind grew less. The daylight began to grow pale grey and diffused. Then the snow ceased altogether. As the light grew stronger it showed a shapeless world all about them. The high places were hid in clouds (that threatened still more snow), but below them they could see dim white hills and domes and valleys in which the path they had come by seemed altogether lost.