[Susan Delgado]

In the early afternoon, Amaranth woke up a little to find that she'd left the forest and was walking across a low grassy hill. she stopped and looked around. Behind her, the trees ended in a line as straight as an arrow. A suspiciously straight line. She was about to turn back into the trees when she suddenly heard barking from over the hill. Olla's barking. she'd recognise it anywhere. Still, she was cautious. Olla could have been captured by Men who were using her as bait. Amaranth had heard of such things happening before.

She crept to the top of the hill, keeping as low as she could, and sure enough, she saw Olla tied on the other side, a few hundred paces away. The trees started again a way past that, and she could see two horses tied under the overhanging branches. No, not horses...ponies. Maybe even Hobbit-sized ponies. Still, she hesitated. She'd spent her whole life being wary of tricks and ploys played by Men and she wasn't going to throw caution to the wind just because her missing dog had spotted her and was having hysterics. Still, those ponies were very small and she knew that whoever owned them could probably wait just as long as she could. She decided to spring the trap.

She stood and approached Olla. She untied the rope around her neck and looked around again. Sure enough, two figures were approaching from behind the ponies. But they were not Men, or if they were they were children. No, they were defintely Hobbits. One was very large, the other much smaller.
"Hello!" The larger one called as they approached. "We're Baracas and Dinodas! Who're you?"
Amaranth backed off, distrustful of anyone, Man or Hobbit, who would steal her dog just so they could get her attention. She said nothing.
Baracas looked disappointed.
"Why did you steal my dog?"
Dinodas looked outraged at the notion. "We didn't! We found it running around and thought its owner would probably come looking for it, but if it belonged to a Man, we didn't want to be caught, so we put it where it wouldn't be missed. Wehn we saw you, we came out. We're looking for Hobbits, you see." Baracas nodded enthusiastically in agreement.
"Oh," Amaranth said, mollified. "Why're ye lookin' for Hobbits?"
"We're on a mission. We're gathering Hobbits to come and join us in a place where no Men will ever bother us."
"Oh! I've heard about that! Will ye be wantin' a comapanion in yer searchin'?"
"I don' see why not. Know of any Hobbit villages around here?" Baracas looked hopeful, but his face fell a little at her response.
"Nah. I'm from much farther north. But I'm good comp'ny."
"All right then, maybe we should go north then," Dinodas suggested, looking at Baracas for confirmation. Baracas shrugged and gestured the three of them toward the ponies.