One Geek to Rule Them All

An Unexpected Journey

Strider followed her gaze and thought better of it. The small girl was right. You could never be too careful. He nodded in approval of her caution. "Come. I know a place where we can talk and get out of the rain," he said, leading them to the main street.

Kitty  grimaced when she stepped in a particularly deep mud puddle. She knew some areas of England could be rustic, but these streets weren't even cobbled. She suspected he had led them to some kind of medieval tourist trap, because everyone was dressed like they had just come from RenFest. Kitty seriously had to do a double-take when two midgets with larger than average bare feet dashed in front of her to slip through the gap that had opened up between her and her companions to cross the busy street. There was just no way... Those had to be the most realistic hobbit costumes ever. She shook her head and quickly caught up with the others.

"OMG, Devin, you'll never guess what I just saw!" said Kitty, almost bumping into her short friend when she suddenly stopped short. "What?" she asked wondering what had made her pause. Devin simply raised her arm and pointed up at the sign for the practically medieval inn Strider had led them to. The door was open and light streamed out of it. Above the arch was a lamp, and beneath it swung a large signboard that was carved in the image of a fat white pony reared up on its hind legs. Over the door was painted in white letters: the Prancing Pony by Barliman Butterbur. The two girls exchanged a somewhat bewildered look before following the ranger inside. Their eyes nearly popped out of their heads when they saw the scene that awaited them within. There were even more 'hobbits' mixed in among the crowd of humans, and there were even some dwarves scattered about here and there. Devin blinked and glanced questioningly at Kitty, wondering if she was really seeing what she thought she was seeing. Kitty answered with a slow nod, confirming that this was in fact happening for real.

"Are we being punked or something?"  Devin whisper-yelled in an effort to be heard above the noisy din of the packed inn without drawing too much unwanted attention as they weaved their way through the crowd to catch up with Strider, who was already conversing with a burly but rather friendly-faced man with rosy cheeks. The man was looking at their guide with a very open and mixed expression of suspicion and apprehension, but he took the ranger's money and began leading him away from the main common room.

"Come," said Strider, gesturing for them to follow before they were left behind.

"Maybe they're filming a movie?" Kitty suggested lamely as they followed the two men up some stairs, doubting her own suggestion with the lack of noticeable cameras and crew that would be needed for such a thing.

"Kitty, everyone knows they're supposed to be setting up 'Middle Earth' in New Zealand," Devin stated in a very matter-of-fact manner thinking that information should have been common knowledge.

"Well, what else could it be? This is way too elaborate for some cheesy candid camera show!" Kitty hissed, beginning to feel nervous. "Even the smell is authentic."

"What was that?" the man, whom Devin guessed was supposed to be Butterbur, asked sparing a glance back in their direction while he unlocked the door to the private room  Strider had rented for them to continue their discussion in.

"Oh, um, we were just saying what a nice place you've got here," said Devin quickly. She didn't want to piss off the locals until they knew more about whatever was going on. Butterbur eyed them a bit skeptically, probably because they looked so out of place compared to the rest of his customers, and also probably because they were with Strider. He hadn't cared much for the ranger in the book either.

"Well, I'll be downstairs if' you'll be needin' anything else. But try hollering for Nob if you do. As you can see, we're more crowded than usual downstairs," he told the ranger before brushing past the girls to leave.