[Child of the 7th Age]

Bingo glanced over at Sam and ruefully shook his head, "Nope. There's no blood. Just a bruise on the outside, and my insides hurt. But Sondo putting on the band has helped a little. I'm tough. If I have to go on like this, I will."

Clearly, none of the lads knew much about herbs or where to find them in the forest. A real potion would not be forthcoming that night. He would just have to do the best he could without it.

Bingo settled uneasily into a pile of leaves, being careful to lie on his good left side. He slept a little but only fitfully, waking up at the slightest noise or when he managed to twist the wrong way and the pain came surging up. The night seemed to drag on endlessly. Once or twice, he awkwardly sat up in bed and gazed around at the clearing. He thought he say two feral eyes in the bushes, golden and unblinking as they stared back at him. Another time, he swore he heard the distant patter of footsteps, not down in the ravine but up above. Craning his neck upward, he saw what appeared to be a shapeless grey shadow gliding forward. Bingo could not exactly make out the form of the thing, but it looked like a gigantic bearded ghost in voluminous robes gliding through the thicket of trees. His eyes grew round in trepidation, and, despite his resolve to be brave, he found himself shuddering. What if this restless spirit of the dead wandering the forest in the dead of night decided to attack them? He wondered if ghosts ate hobbits.

For the rest of the night, Bingo could not sleep. Visions of the floating ghost continued to occupy his mind. As the first strains of daylight filtered into the ravine and his companions awakened from their sleep, Bingo spoke in halting terms, first describing how he had broken his rib and then what he had seen late last night. "There's a ghost out there. I swear. I glimpsed it on the ridge. It's gigantic. Maybe twelve feet tall. And truly horrible. Looked as if it would like to swallow us all."

One of his companions burst out chuckling. "Bingo, I think you broke more than your rib. Your brain must be a little cracked!"

"Laugh if you want....but I swear I saw a ghost. And for all I know, that thing may be waching us now." He glanced up uneasily hoping his brother Reggie and Sassie and all the others were alright.