The Fellowship's Silvertongue. Part 2.

Is it Wise to Change One's Fate?

I followed a stable boy to the stables where he said he had a horse for me so I didn't have to share Aragorn's horse, Breggo. Aragorn kept telling me that because he found it irritating when I called him 'the horse', 'it', 'tall goat', or 'that one'.

"Here." The stable boy stood next to a stall, "this is Sheika." He whistled and a pretty spotted horse stuck its head over the stall door. "She's very calm and what you could call thunder proof, meaning it takes a lot more than an army to scare the wits out of her." 

"I like her black spots." I patted her muzzle shyly. 

"Aye, she's a beautiful Pinto." He said. "Sheika's tack is over here. I'll show you how to put them on." The stable boy walked over to where the tack was hung up.

Grabbed a thing of leather rope and metal. Then a saddle, small blanket, and a strip of thick leather with a buckle on each side. The stable boy held up the rope thingy. "These are the reins. This is the bit, which goes in the mouth of the horse. This is the saddle, and these are the stirrups. This is a saddle pad, then this is the girth, which prevents the saddle from sliding off." 

I nodded and we walked back to Sheika's stall. 

"These horses are smart enough not to move when getting tacked up, so you don't need to tie them. So, the saddle pad always goes on first, without the saddle pad, the leather from the saddle will irritate the horse and they won't cooperate with you." He set the saddle pad onto the horse's back, then picked up the saddle. "I just realized how tall Sheika is compared to you so it will be difficult putting on the saddle. But, place the saddle over the saddle pad, just so that the front of the pad shows from under." 

I tried not to get distracted by the stable boys who chased each other around with shovels of horse manure. The stable boy instructed me through the whole process and soon it was done. We brought Sheika out so that I could pack my stuff on her.

Almost everyone in the city was outside. Some with pack mules and some had to carry their belongings in straw baskets strung to their back. Some people were too old or too sick to walk, so they were carried on stretchers. Some women were crying because they had to leave their homes behind.

I turned away from the depressing sight and packed up Sheika. I strapped my duffle bag to the back of the saddle and stuck my sword into a loop that was specially made to hold swords during battle. 

"Are you ready to go?" I heard Aragorn behind me.

I tightened the buckle that held my duffle bag then turned to face him. 

"Yes. Are you?" 

Aragorn patted his horse. "Let's hope there is enough food to eat on the journey. A lot of these children will be starving."

"Prepare to recede from Edoras!" A voice called out from among the crowd.

Aragorn and I mounted our horses. I looked around for Gimli and Legolas. I first sighted Legolas, not too far away, close to him was Gimli on a horse with a lead rope attached to its bit. Holding the rope, was Eowyn. 

Aragorn, Theoden, and I were at the front of the crowd, along with some of what was left of Rohan's army. Gandalf had gone to retrieve Eomer and the Riders of Rohan. Without further delay, the journey to Helm's Deep had begun. As we trekked farther from Edoras, I looked behind me at the trail of men, women, and children. Behind them, upon the hilltop, was Edoras, sitting lonely and abandoned. I looked back ahead of me, only rolling hills and endless streams lay in front. It was as if we were going nowhere. Soon Legolas caught up with us, Gimli and Eowyn behind him. 

"How long exactly is this journey, Your Leadership?" Gimli asked Theoden. 

"It is a three-day journey, Master Dwarf. But at this rate, only two." Theoden answered. "The only stops we will make are in the evening."