The day of the perilous adventure dawned bright and sunny. An omen of good fortune, hoped Bullroarer as he gathered the companions in about him. It was another meal served cold. Dried fruits, water, a few bites of way bread would have to tide them over for now. Branda had packed away the ale and Geneva, saying that their minds must be sharp and their feet nimble.
Bullroarer explained that as soon as the sun set, Daisy and Tomba would put themselves into position to be kidnapped. Then as Branda had explained yesterday evening, Tomba would free himself and Daisy and the pursuit of the two by the Trolls would begin.
‘How far do we have to run?’ asked Robin, worrying that she had not recovered enough to run a long distance.’ Hal and Daisy nodded their heads, too, glad that she had asked the question.
‘Well, I figured it like this.’ began the Took. If we count Tomba and Daisy as our first runners, we have six more pair of runners to string out along the rest of the two mile distance.’ He paused and looked out at the Hobbits. ‘Now I’ve figured it out that the distance each of these teams will have to cover is the distance from the Gatekeeper’s lodge at the West-Gate in Bree to the front door of The Prancing Pony.’
The companions began to murmur to each other, and one voice was heard above the others, saying, ‘Oh, I’ve done that distance many a time when I’d stayed for one pint too many and had promised to be home for dinner.’ ‘That’s right!’ smiled Bullroarer. ‘Just pretend you’ve “forgotten” your coin purse somewhere, and old Hap, the portly Innkeeper is chasing you down the lane waving his blackthorn stick at you. Though, I think old Hap may think a little faster on his feet than the Trolls do. Hobbits will look all the same to them!’ He chuckled at the thought of mistaking one Hobbit for another.
‘All of you girls will need to put on breeches – no skirts please. So we all look alike. And everyone wear a cap on their head.’
Someone called out the question of who would run when. ‘Well, after Daisy and Tomba have gone, I’d like Branda and me to be next. Everyone else can partner up and space themselves out along the route, hiding in the bushes and behind trees and rocks. Carl and Olo, you’ll be the next to last pair of runners. Hal and Gaddy! I’d like you two to be the last leg of the relay, and lead the Trolls to the Wargs’ den. You’ll have to make a lot of commotion, so the Wargs will be alerted. And then be very quick about jumping off into the bushes to hide so the Wargs and Trolls are left to face each other.’
Gaddy and Hal looked at each other, and nodded solemnly at Bullroarer. ‘Once you’ve sent the Wargs give chase to the Trolls, then hurry back to where Carl and Olo are and pick them up. And all of you work your way back to this pathway picking up the hidden pairs of runners as you go.’
The rest of the day was spent in idle pursuits. Everyone checked their easiest weapons to carry. Knives and arrow points were sharpened, rocks were gathered for slings, and Giles spent some time making sure his various items of importance were at hand.
Another light meal was taken in the early evening, while the sun was still up. The Hobbits slipped quietly into the woods, positioning themselves along a route from the Trolls’ cave to the Wargs’ den. Carl and Olo went all the way to Hal and Gaddy’s position and pointed out the opening to the den in the distance, then they made their way back to their position, and waited quietly.
The sun was just sinking below the horizon. Branda and Bullroarer watched as Daisy and Tomba made their way toward the mouth of the Trolls’ cave . . .
Calenedheliel's Post
Daisy quietly walked behind Tomba towards the troll cave. She was scared to death about what was going to happen. It was a lot of fun learning to sneak around and take things from the other companions but this was real and serious and Daisy didn’t know if she was really ready for this adventure. She started to think about what could go wrong and she voiced that idea to Tomba who assured her that all would be fine. She also thought about the wargs and decided that she would do her best to make sure that the wargs would not attack her or her companions ever again.
Daisy looked around the area they were in. The paths were much wider than anything she had ever been on and the foot steps she could see were amazingly huge. She had never seen a troll and now was not so sure this was the best way to see one.
They were approaching a large rock formation which Daisy assumed was where the trolls lived. She could see ahead to a large clearing, around an entrance, where it looked like the trolls spent a lot of time.
The closer they got to the clearing the louder and harder Daisy’s heart pounded. She couldn’t believe that she was about to enter the area and set thing in motion.
[ January 31, 2003: Message edited by: piosenniel ]
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Eldest, that’s what I am . . . I knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless - before the Dark Lord came from Outside.
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