We drove all day. We stopped only when it started to get dark. We wanted to rest a bit after the first day of the trip. Kili still hasn't paid me, but I decided to let him go for now.
Most of the Company was already asleep, only Kili, Fili and I remained on the reconnaissance. I was very tired, my eyes were slowly closing, so I rested my head on Kili's shoulder.
"Get some sleep. " Brunet said to me.
"Thank you. " I replied. "But I doubt that I could fall asleep with Bombur's snoring. "
The dwarf laughed. Sitting leaning against Kili, I saw that Bilbo couldn't sleep because of the snoring either. He got up and went to the horses. On the way I found out that he was allergic to horse hair and hence the reluctance to ride on one of them. He even wanted to turn home for a handkerchief, but Bofur gave him a piece of cloth instead. Suddenly, there was a strange sound through which I immediately wake up, just like Thorin, who was sitting near us.
"What was that? " Bilbo asked slightly frightened and came to us.
"Orcs. " Kili replied.
"Orcs? " Hobbit asked.
"Nasty creatures. " I added.
"Throat-cutters. " Fili supported us. "There'll be dozens of them ou there. The lone-lands are crawling with them. "
"They strike in the wee small hours when everybody's asleep. " Kili added. "Quick and quiet, no screams. "
"Just lots of blood. " - I interjected.
Judging by the hobbit's face, we managed to scare him quite a bit. Kili glanced at me and began to laugh quietly, and after a while Fili and I joined him.
"You think that's funny? " Thorin scolded us. Then he got up and walked over to us. "You think a night raid by Orcs is a joke? "
"We didn't mean anything by it." Kili began to explain to us.
"No, you didn't." An elderly dwarf entered into his words. "You know nothing of the world. " Added and left our group.
Thorin at first glance may seem quite harsh and not very sympathetic, but the truth is quite different. He has a really good heart and can be nicer than he is now. But he has reason to hate orcs.
"Don't mind him, laddie. " Balin said and walked over to us. "Thorin has more cause than most to hate orcs." Said as if he were reading my mind.
After a while, he began to talk about how the orcs had occupied Moria. He talked about how Thror had fallen and how Thorin had faced the Pale Orc. The war was won, and the Pale Orc disappeared. And I was very hopeful that he had died.
"And the Pale Orc? " Bilbo asked. "What happened to him? "
"He slunk back into the hole whence he came. " Thorin replied, walking back to us. "That filth died of his wounds long ago. "
I really hoped that Thorin was right and that my strange premonition wouldn't work.
***
We set off on the further journey in the morning. Unfortunately, we were caught by the rain, but we were still going ahead. Gandalf told us about other wizards along the way because we complained about the rain and asked him to do something about it.
Unfortunately, this wasn't his task, so that's how the stories about the others began. Fortunately, the rain was over and we didn't have to do anything so unusual. On the way we didn't come across any bunch of orcs, which made us very happy. The day passed very quickly and before we knew it started to get dark, so we started looking for a new place to stay. We found them near the forest, next to the destroyed hut. A good place like any other, or so I thought. Gandalf, on the other hand, insisted that we shouldn't stop here and go further, to the Hidden Valley. Oakenshield said that he had no intention of going there and here, of course, I agreed with him.
"Gandalf, where are you going? " Bilbo asked as wizard walked past us.
"To seek the company of the only one around here who's got any sense! " He growled.
"And who's that? " I asked.
"Myself! " He shouted back. "I've had enough of Dwarves for one day. "
Gandalf is very calm by nature, unless something or someone knocks him off balance, as in this case. Thorin told us not to pay attention to him. He told Bombur to prepare something for us to eat. And he told me and the hobbit to light a bonfire, and Kili and Fili to guard the horses.
***
For the evening, everything was ready. Bilbo and I lit a bonfire and Bombur cooked us something to eat.
"He's been a long time. " Baggins said as he approached me.
"Gandalf?" I guessed. "Don't worry. Who like who, but he'll be fine. "
Bofur handed me two bowls of food to take it to Kili and Fili.
"Come on." I said to the burglar and gave him one of the bowls. "We'll bring them something to eat. "
We went to the forest and found the brothers. They stood with their backs to us and paid no attention to us at all.
"Hey! " I called. "Are you okay? " I asked and approached Kili, and Bilbo to Fili.
"Hello? " I waved my hand in front of brunet's face.
"We're supposed to be looking after the ponies. " Kili said after a while.
"Well, you are, so what's the problem?" I asked.
"We've encountered a slight problem... " Fili interjected.
"We had sixteen... " Kili said.
"Now there's fourteen." Fili finished for his brother.
I handed Bilbo a second bowl and went to see which ponies were missing. After a while, Kili and I found that Daisy and Bungo were missing.
The forest was destroyed and the trees were uprooted. There really was something wrong here.
"Shouldn't we tell Thorin?" Baggins asked.
"Uh, no. " Fili replied. "Let's not worry him. As our official burglar, we thought you might like to look into it. "
"Well, uh... Look, something big uprooted these trees." Hobbit said after a moment's thought.
"That was our thinking." Kili agreed.
"It's something very big and possibly quite dangerous... " I didn't have time to finish, because Kili covered my mouth with his hand and told me to hide.
I heard a rustling and someone's footsteps. We hid all four of us, behind one of the uprooted trees.
We saw some light, as if from a bonfire, and from a distance we could hear someone's laughter and conversations.
"What is it? " Bilbo asked quietly.
"Trolls?" I whispered and glanced at Kili.
"Trolls. " Brunet confirmed.
He took my hand, we came closer to their encampment and hid behind the trees. After a while, Fili and Bilbo also joined us. From what I saw, there were three of them. They were maybe about five meters high. Two of them were fatter and one was thinner, who seemed to have a cold. One of trolls was carrying our two ponies and locked them in a corral with the others.
"He's got Myrtle and Minty. I think they're gonna eat them " Bilbo whispered. "We have to do something. "
We looked at him.
"Yes, you should. " Kili said. "Do something. "
"Me? " Baggins asked.
"Mountains trolls are slow and stupid, and you're small, they'll never see you." Kili added, Bilbo wanted to protest, but Kili continued. "It's perfectly safe. We'll be behind you."
"Guys..." I began, but Kili didn't let me finish.
He took my hand again and pulled me closer to hide.
"If you run into trouble.. " Fili said to hobbit. "Hoot twice like a barn owl and once like a brown owl. "
"W-what? " Burglar asked, but Fili had already pushed him to go to the trolls.
Hobbit began to slowly sneak into their encampment, and brothers and I followed him in the bushes and watched the whole situation.
"I don't believe you framed him like that. " I scolded them. "What if..."
"He'll be fine. " Fili said.
"And in case of anything we're right next door. " Kili added and winked at me.
Bilbo slowly sneaked into the corral and wrestled with the ropes that bound the gate. Suddenly, he moved towards the thinner of trolls.
"What is he doing? " I asked in a whisper.
"It was nice to meet you, little hobbit." Kili said, to which I slapped him on the head with my hand.
"Ouch. " Brunet groaned, but I immediately silenced him and continued to observe the whole incident.
Only now I saw that the troll had a knife under his belt. Bilbo probably wanted to take it away from him and use it to cut the ropes. One of the trolls was looking for some kind of spice for the soup he was cooking and almost took a hobbit instead. Baggins reached the troll, who had a knife and slowly tried to pull it out, but the troll fidgeted terribly and sneezed every now and then. Suddenly, he reached back for the handkerchief and took Bilbo with it, and then blew his nose at him. The view was really horrible and hideous. The troll got scared and dropped him to the ground.
"What are you then? " Fater troll asked.
"I'm a burglar... Uh, hobbit... " Bilbo replied, stuttering at the same time.
"A burglar hobbit? " The thinner asked.
"Can we cook him? " The second troll proposed.
"We can try." Thinner one replied.
Things took a really fast run at this point. We had to do something or the trolls would eat our burglar.
"We have to do something." I turned to the brothers.
They both agreed with me, but we didn't really know what to do.
"I'll distract them. " I suggested.
"No. " Kili replied. "It's too dangerous. "
"I'll be fine. " I said looking into his brown eyes. "I'll distract them, and you'll bring help. "
I knew Kili still wouldn't want to let me go alone.
"Don't worry. " I came closer to him. "I'll be fine, promise. I can do it." I tried to sound convincing.
"I know. " He replied. "But I'll be worried anyway. "
However, after a long while, he agreed. I was to distract the trolls from our hobbit, and the brothers were to bring help at the same time.
I took a deep breath and ran out to the trolls.
"Hey, you! " I shouted to them.
"We? " One of them asked.
"Yes, you. " I replied. "And do you see any overgrown reptiles here?"
You could see from their faces that I had offended them.
"Will you be so nice and wean our bu.. I mean hobbit to earth? Because if not... "
"And what can you do to me? "
"Well, I don't know... I can, for example.. Cut off your hand? " I suggested. "What do you say? "
"As if you didn't notice the little creature..." The fater troll added. "There are three of us, and you are one. "
I begged Kili and Fili to hurry up because I was running out of ideas.
"Are you sure? " I played for time.
"I can count great, that's my advantage. " "And your face is your disadvantage... " I concluded.
"What did you just said?! " He growled at me.
"Not only you have such an ugly face, but you're also deaf and can't count? "
"Be careful with words! " The thinner troll shouted.
"Exactly. " The thicker one added, which I offended. "And to count, I count well... You're alone... "
"Mistake. " I interrupted him. "You should take some tutoring. " I added and suddenly the rest of our Company ran out of the forest.
I pulled out my sword and cut off one of the trolls' leg. The fight began, the trolls couldn't keep up with us, we were much smaller than them, but also faster, which gave us an advantage.
"Drop him! " Kili shouted to the troll who was holding Bilbo.
"You what? "
"I said... Drop him! " He repeated, and after a while the troll threw a hobbit at him and both fell to the ground. I just rolled my eyes and ran up to help them get up.
Later, hobbit ran to release the ponies, and Kili and I returned to fighting.
A blow, a dodge, a blow. Fighting them went pretty well for us until they caught our burglar. They threatened to tear him to shreds if we didn't put down our weapons. I wanted to attack one of them, but Thorin stopped me and told me to put down my sword. So reluctantly, but obediently, I carried out his request.
***
After a short while, we were all tied up and thrown into bags. Half of the Company was taken to fry, and half sat tied in bags with their heads on top, waiting for their turn. I belonged to the group that waited for its turn, just like the Kili I was leaning on, and Fili and Thorin were lying next to us. I tried to free myself, but I couldn't.
"We ain't go all night. " Troll said. "Dawn ain't far away. Let's get a move on. I don't fancy being turned to stone."
"Wait! " Bilbo called. He got up slowly, though I have no idea how he did it. "You are making a terrible mistake. "
"You can't reason with them. They're half-wits! " Dori said, who belonged to this group that was frying.
"I meant with... " Bilbo said. "The seasoning... " Said.
"What about the seasoning? " Troll 'cook' asked.
"Well, have you smell them? " Bilbo asked. "You're gonna need something stronger than sage before you plate this lot up. "
"Traitor! " One of the dwarves shouted.
But Baggins didn't pay attention to this and continued.
"The secret to cooking dwarf is... " Hobbit tangled in his own words. "It's, uh... Yes, I'm telling you. The secret is... To skin them first. "
"To what?! " Kili and I shouted. "Skin us?! "
"Tom, get me filleting knife. " Troll who spoke to said.
Perhaps Baggins played on time, but somehow it didn't work out for him if they were about to skin us!
"What a loud of rubbish! " Second troll said. "I've eaten plenty with their skins on. Scarf them, I say... Boots and all. "
Suddenly, I saw something moving in the bushes. Bilbo apparently noticed it too, because he glanced at that place and then went back to improvisation. I wasn't entirely sure, but I thought I saw the tip of a gray hat. I hoped it was Gandalf.
"He's right. "A thinner troll came up to us and took me by the legs. "Nothing wrong with a bit of raw dwarf. Nice and crunchy."
"No! " Thorin shouted.
"Lia! " Kili shouted.
"Put me on the ground, you shackled head! " I screamed and tried to free myself, but in vain.
If it wasn't for Bilbo, troll would have swallowed me whole a moment later.
"Oh, not that one! " Baggins shouted. "She's infected! " Said, to which I looked at him.
Infected? I thought. Since when?
"Yeah, she's got worms in her tubes..." Baggins continued. After these words, the troll threw me back at Kili. "In fact, they all have. They're infested with parasites. It's a terrible business. I wouldn't risk it. I wouldn't. "
"Parasites? Did he say 'parasites'? " Oin shouted.
"We don't have parasites! " Kili protested. "You have parasites! "
Bilbo made a face saying "seriously?!". Only now I figure out what Baggins meant. Thorin apparently also figure it out because he kicked me and Kili with his leg.
"I've got parasites as big as my arm! " Kili shouted after a second of silence.
"Mine are the biggest parasites! " I shouted.
"No, I've got huge parasites!" Brunet argued. "We're riddled! "
"Yes, we are! I'm riddled! "
The whole Company started screaming what kind of parasites they were. One shouted through the other.
"What would you have us do, then? " Fat troll asked and approached hobbit. "Let them all go? " He growled. "You think I don't know what you're up to? This little ferret is taking us for fools. "
"Ferret? " Bilbo asked with a grimace on his face.
"He thinks that, because you're fools! " I shouted.
Suddenly, Gandalf appeared. Fortunately! He stopped on the rock and with his magic stick broke the boulder in half, and then the rays of the sun fell straight on the trolls, which after a while turned into stone.
After a few seconds of silence, everyone started laughing and cheering.
"Bravo, Bilbo! " I shouted.
***
Gandalf helped us get out of the bags and free ourselves from our bonds. We were really lucky.
"Where did you go to, if I may ask? " I asked Gandalf.
"To look ahead. " Wizard replied.
"What brought you back? " Thorin asked as he approached us.
"Looking behind. " Gandalf replied with a smile. "Nasty business. Still, they're all in one pice. "
"If it wasn't for Bilbo then... " I started, but I wasn't allowed to finish.
"No thanks to your burglar. " Thorin interrupted me.
"He had the nous to play for time. " Gandalf supported me. "None of the rest of you thought of that. "
I looked at Thorin.
"Maybe you're right. " Dwarf replied looking at me. I smiled at him and then turned to Gandalf.
"Since when do mountain trolls venture this far south? "
"Oh. Not for an age. " Wizard replied. "Not since a darker power ruled these lands..." Added, and he and Thorin exchanged meaningful glances.
I wasn't sure what could have been going on. There was silence, which I interrupted after a while:
"They couldn't have moved in daylight." I remarked.
"You're right. " Thorin supported me. "There must be a cave nearby." Added and began to look around.
***
After about ten minutes we found a troll cave. Entering it, I felt a terrible stench. Everywhere was full of bones and gold. As soon as Bofur and Gloin saw the gold, they immediately began to whisper something among themselves and hide valuables in their pockets. Gloin asked me to bring him a shovel, and when I did, he explained to me what was going on.
"We're making a long-term deposit. " He said to which me and Dwalin, who was standing next to me and watching the whole incident, shook our heads.
Gandalf and Thorin, on the other hand, looked through various finds of trolls. I saw some swords there that turned out to be elven swords. Thorin didn't want to take any of them at first, but Gandalf assured him that he wouldn't find a better weapon, so he accepted it after a moment of reflection.
I didn't want to stand in that stench, so I went outside to the brothers. I sneaked in as quietly as possible and scared them.
"Do you want us to have a heart attack!? " Kili asked, holding his hand on his heart.
"Maybe. " I smiled.
"You couldn't have live without us." Fili added with a sly smile.
"I have to agree on that. " I replied and smiled back.
"What's in the cave? " Kili asked.
"Stench. "I replied to which they both looked at me with a question mark. "Trolls don't have a cleaner. "
"And even if they had it, they probably ate it with taste. " Kili laughed.
"Probably yes. " I replied laughing. "There're various junk, swords and gold. "
"The others have already making a long-term deposit? " Fili asked, pointing at Bofur and Gloin.
"Yes. " I replied to which the three of us laughed.
***
We waited a few moments for everyone to come out of the cave.
Gandalf found our burglar a sword. It wasn't too big, but it was just right for him. We were about to continue our journey when I suddenly heard a rustling.
"Did you hear that? " I asked Kili.
"Loud and clear. " He replied and began to pull the bow and arrow out of the quiver.
I did the same.
We gathered the whole Company in one place and waited for what would emerge behind the bushes. Something or someone was approaching us at a very fast pace.