Lady of the Ring

Chapter 4

A flock of birds suddenly rustled in the trees above them causing Anne and the hobbits to jump in fright.

"We must get moving. Gandalf warned us not to be idle," Frodo reminded them worriedly and began walking.

Anne noted that Frodo was headed in a different direction than the one Gandalf took. She briefly wondered where 'the highest of Gandalf's order' resided but the thought left her mind just as quickly as it had entered.

"So how far to Bree?" Anne asked as she looked around. She couldn't see any signs of civilization nearby.

"Do not worry Lady Anne, it is only a three day journey from here," Frodo answered encouragingly and smiled.

Anne's jaw dropped open in surprise. "Wait a minute. Hold up! Did you say THREE days?" she asked for clarification.

Frodo nodded at her and continued walking, oblivious to her shock.

"And we're walking the WHOLE way?" Anne asked in a high pitch shriek.

"We have no horses Lady Anne," Samwise answered as if it was explanation enough.

"No, no, no," Anne repeated shaking her head in disbelief.

It was official. She was in a nightmare!

"You can't be serious?" she asked outraged. "I don't even exercise in the real world! Dream or no dream, unless Harry Styles is behind me personally motivating me the whole way, you can forget it," she finished and stopped walking, crossing her arms in defiance.

Frodo and Sam stopped and turned around to look at her.

"It is not that far Lady Anne," Frodo promised. "You'll see. We'll be there in no time."

"You really don't need to call me Lady Anne. It's just Anne. Although the 'lady' part does make me feel all Downton Abbey like." She smiled briefly before giving them a small curtsey. "Secondly, there has to be a plane, a car or at the very least a train we could take."

The hobbits looked at her as if she had sprouted flowers out of her head.

"I apologize Anne, but I do not understand you," Frodo said and looked questioningly to Samwise. The larger hobbit looked just as puzzled by her words as Frodo.

Anne sighed, realizing that she knew nothing about the dream world she had concocted in her subconscious. First things first, she needed to understand the world better.

"Well what is the fastest mode of transport you have?" Anne asked, figuring that would help clarify things for her.

"Horses of course," Frodo replied and chuckled like she had asked something completely ridiculous.

Really? Horses?

That was it, she was done. What was the point of dreaming if she couldn't fly on a dragon or play quidditch on a broomstick?

"Well this has been great and all but I think I'm going to wake up now. Hopefully, my next dream will be on a deserted island with Henry Cavill as my only company. See you two on the flip side," she waved and pinched herself.

Nothing happened.

She pinched herself again for good measure.

Nothing happened.

Well that was weird. So it was going to be the hard way then. Anne raised her hand and slapped herself hard across the cheek.

"Ouch!" she screeched. "That actually hurt," she moaned, rubbing her now stinging cheek. She stopped when she noticed the hobbits looking at her with wide, shocked eyes. They were staring at her like she was a crazy woman.