[Arry]

‘I have found Orcs to be clever, to a point,’ said Rôsgollo. ‘Cunning, in fact. But in a straight forward way. Nothing so refined and intricate as thinking they can make us believe that the group who is taking care to conceal its tracks is the one with the hostages when it is not. My thought would be that we try to overtake those Orcs heading west.’

Gaeredhel nodded his head at his brother’s words. ‘What bothers me also is that they have split their strength. They cannot know how many Elves and Dunedain will come after them. It concerns me that the group with the captives has plans of meeting up with a larger force. If we are to free the hostages, then it should be done before the Orc troops increase in number.’

‘The stream presents another problem, as Angóre has said,’ continued Rôsgollo. ‘He could not tell whether they went north or south along its course.’

‘But if the water is frigid, then they will have to come out of it at some point not far from where they entered as Angore said.’ Gaeredhel crouched down and with the point of his knife drew two parallel lines in the dirt to represent the stream. ‘Were I the Orc leader,’ he said, ‘I would have my troop travel as far as they could in the cold water. And ahead of my column I would send out scouts to see what problems lie ahead. They would not keep to the watery track but range out along the embankment and the areas to each side of it. Surely, if we travel just a small way up or down the stream we should be able to pick up these lone Orc tracks, coming and going.’

‘We can split up then, when we reach the frozen stream. Do you not think so, Angóre?’ Rôsgollo asked. ‘Since we are on horse, the time spent to find the scout tracks should be short. Two of us can go north and two to the south. Gaeredhel and I will split up, and keep in touch with one another as we travel along. When one of us has found the column’s direction the he will give notice, and the other and his companion can hasten back.’

‘Why can’t you ask the other Elves where they’ve gone, then?’ Faerim voiced the obvious question. He’d listened closely to the discussion and had wondered previously at the Elves ability to speak with each other without words.

‘A fair question,’ Rôsgollo answered. ‘And normally it would not be a problem to do so with Lord Ereglin. But something clouds his mind, keeps his thoughts hazy, and him hard to reach. I can sense that he is not far away, but I cannot rouse him to aid us in our search. At some point I am hoping he will break through whatever dams his thoughts, but until then we will just have to proceed as we are doing now.’

‘We should make haste, brother,’ Gaeredhel urged, making his way back to where his horse was tethered.

They mounted their horses and made their way as quickly and quietly as they could to where the westward tracks of the Orc group met the stream. Angóre and Gaeredhel, it was agreed, would head north, up the stream, while Faerim and Rôsgollo searched to the south