The Hobbit and Her Memories

CHAPTER 4

BILBO'S POV

Trolls. Big ones. Huge.

One of them had two of our ponies, one under each bulky arm.

"Come on, let's go check it out." Thalia whispered and quietly made her way towards the large campfire in the distance. "Wait!" Kili and Fili yelled in their loudest whisper. They followed her, leaving me alone with their bowls of stew. I hesitated but followed anyway.

"Ok, I have a plan." Thalia said, when I caught up. Her ears perked when she spotted me. "Oh, you decided to come!" She looked excited that I came.
Then, looking back at Fili and Kili, she explained her plan.

"Ok, so I think one of us should go distract the trolls and the rest of us will free the horses. Easy. Now..." she looked at all 3 of us with a look that made me uneasy. "It's time to choose the distracter." Fili and Kili met eyes and both shrugged. But I wasn't going through this.

"Wait just a minute! We should tell Thorin and the others. We will be better off with everyone else." Kili shook his head in disagreement. "No, we can handle this." Thalia smiled.

"Then, it's settled." She pointed to herself. "Since you 3 don't want go, I'll do it." Fili, Kili, and I both stared at her. She didn't wait for a response. She was already making her way towards the trolls' camp.

I stood up to go after her, but Fili and Kili stayed put. "What are you two waiting for? We can't just let her go off like that." I said, but they didn't move.

"We decided to keep watch for any more trolls. You know, just in case." Kili said, and shooed me off. "Good luck with the ponies." I stared at them, and then, shaking my head to focus, I quietly ran to catch up with Thalia.

She had already started.

"Hello, Mr. Trolls." she politely said. "Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?" I hid behind a tree, bewildered on what was happening.
"You what?!" one of the trolls yelled disgustedly. "Who do you think you are comin' like you think you can speak to us?!" For a second, I thought they would smash her right then and there, but apparently Thalia was prepared for this kind of thing. Somehow.

"I'm sorry to disturb you at such a time, but I couldn't help as I was passing to smell such a sweet aroma." She played and curled her hair with her index finger innocently, while keeping her smile on her face. "I just wanted to ask you what ingredients do you use for such a splendid stew."

All 3 trolls seemed interested now. Here's my chance, I thought. I scurried around the tree-line and reached the corral that the ponies were kept in. I struggled to undo the knots.

Suddenly, I hear Thalia scream. I turned my head towards the sound and saw the biggest troll squeezing her in his colossal hand.

Oh no, I thought. And without thinking, I screamed her name.

"Thalia!"

THALIA'S POV

Everything was going well, so I really didn't know why the giant troll grabbed me. But I didn't have time to worry about that at that moment.

It hurt. The troll tighten his grip and was crushing my body. I tried to scream louder but my air was cut off.

Then I heard Bilbo yell my name. I cringed my neck over to see him step out away from the corral. Fili and Kili weren't with him, so they must've ran back to get help.

"Put her down." Bilbo demanded. This was a new side of Bilbo I haven't witnessed. He seemed almost too serious.

"Or what?" the smallest of the three trolls spitted. "Are you going to kill us?" Bilbo froze, gaping his mouth as if lost in words. Oh come on Bilbo, I thought. Think, stupid. The middle troll reached out to grab him but Bilbo was quick and dodged the ugly blunt.

"Over here!" Bilbo called from behind the fire. "Come and get me!" He sprinted around as the two trolls raced to catch him, while the big one held tight onto me.

"Shouldn't you help them?" I asked the fat troll. He glared at me. "Why should I do that?" he asked. I coughed at the smell of his poisonous breath. "Well have you seen him? He's got more meat on him than me, don't you think?" The fat guy thought about it for about a second. Then, sure enough, I felt myself being tossed and I landed on my side. Now all three trolls were after Bilbo. And they got him. I had to do something.

But luckily I didn't have to. Kili sprang out of the forest with his sword in hand and a quiver and bow over his broad shoulders. "Drop him!" he yelled at the trolls. "What!" they yelled back. Kili put on a devious smile. "I said, 'drop him'". The troll grunted and threw Bilbo at Kili, and Kili caught him.

Suddenly, the whole company charged out of the woods and began attacking the 3 trolls. I rushed behind a tree to stay clear from the battle. I spotted Bilbo, who had found a large knife to cut the ropes of the corral and freed the ponies. Good job, Bilbo, I thought. But it didn't end well.

One of the trolls had spotted Bilbo and caught him. Staying behind the tree for cover, I watched in amazement as Thorin, Kili, and the rest of the dwarves surrendered in Bilbo's behalf. Half of the dwarves were tied to a long spit over the fire while Bilbo, Thorin, Kili, Dori, Balin, and Bombur were stuffed in sacks with only their heads sticking out.

I had to do something. But what? Then, I spotted Kili's bow and arrows in the pile of the dwarves' weapons.

Perfect.