An unexpected journey

Chapter 4

  It was rather early when we left to continue our journey. Unfortunately, it was raining so everyone was cold, wet and not in a very good move if I do say so myself. I pulled my jacket closer to my body to try and get some heat.

"Mr Gandalf, can't you do something about this deluge?" Ori asked from beside the wizard. Gandalf looked down at the dwarf.

"It is raining master dwarf and it will continue to rain until the rain is done. If you wish to change the weather, I suggest you find yourself another wizard." He replied. I looked at him curiously.

"Are there any?" I asked the wizard. He looked at me in a confused manner.

"Any what?" He asked.

"Other wizards" I quickly clarified. He nodded.

"There are five of us. The greatest of our order is Saruman, The White. Then there are the two blue wizards... You know, I've quite forgotten their names." He trailed off trying to remember the names of the two blue wizards.

"Who's the fifth?" I asked him. He gave me a small smile

"Now that would be Radagast the brown." He replied

What is he like?" I asked.

"He's a gentle soul who prefers the company of animals than others. He keeps a watchful eye to the vast forest land of the east and a good thing too; for evil is always trying to find a foothold in this world" Gandalf stated. Before I could say any thing else, thunder rolled across the sky and the rain poured down harder. I gave a small groan and pulled my jacket closer to me once more.

-o-o-o-

"We'll camp here for the night' Thorin stated as the sun started setting. Even though it stopped raining hours ago, our clothes were still soaked. We tied up the ponies and started to set up camp.

"Oin, Gloin! Start a fire! When's that's done, Bombur and Bofur, start on dinner! Fili! Kili! Look after the ponies. Make sure you stay with them. Bilbo, go with them" Thorin ordered. Kili, Fili and I nodded. The two boys walked over to where we tied the ponies. I looked around for a second and saw Gandalf standing there uncomfortably.

"A farmer and his family used to live here" He whispered to himself. I started walking away from the camp.

"It would be wiser to mover on. We could make for the Hidden Valley" I heard Gandalf say.

"I have told you already, I will go nowhere near that place" Was the last thing piece of that conversation I heard before we got out of earshot. When we finished tying up the ponies, I saw Gandalf stomping away in anger.

"Where are you going?" I asked him.

"To seek the company of the only one around here that has common sense!" He exclaimed.

"And who might that be?" I asked

"Myself! Mr. Baggins" He stormed off into the woods.

"Come on Bombur! We're hungry!" Thorin exclaimed. While the dwarves were getting ready for supper, Kili and Fili taught me a bit of sword fighting. I have a feeling it's actually going to come in handy in the future. When I heard Bofur yell 'supper's ready!' I told the boys I'd go get their bowls. They nodded and went back to talking about...something. I don't know what it was. They were speaking dwarvish... I walked over to Bofur, who was serving the bowls.

"He's been gone a long time" I thought out loud.

"Who?" I heard Bofur ask. He handed me a bowl. I thanked him quickly

"Gandalf" I stated. He nodded

"He's a wizard. He does what he chooses to do. Here finish up quickly and then take these to the lads. They must be hungry" Bofur said. I sat down on a boulder and started eating my soup. Once I finished, I grabbed two bowls and brought it to the boys.

"Here. You must be hungry" I told them. They thanked me and leaned back against the tree. They stared off into the darkness of the forest.

"What's wrong?" I asked them. They looked back at me worried.

"We were supposed to watch the ponies but we've encountered a slight problem" Fili stated.

"We had sixteen ponies." Kili said. I nodded.

"And?" I asked.

"Now we have fourteen" Fili continued. I looked towards the ponies and counted. Like they said, we only had fourteen.

"Myrtle and Minty are missing" I concluded. They nodded.

"That's not good at all. We should tell Thorin" I said and turned to walk back to camp. They grabbed my arms and pulled me back.

"Uh. No. Let's not worry him. As our official burglar, we thought you could look into it" Kili trailed off hopefully. I agreed but still felt uneasy. I looked into the darkness and noticed something.

"It must have been something big and possibly dangerous if these trees are up rooted" I said. They nodded.

"Exactly our thinking" Kili agreed.

"Hey guys! There's a light over here. Stay down" Fili exclaimed from further on. Kili and I followed him and looked over. There was a light. Most likely from a fire. Quietly, we walked closer towards it. We came across a clearing but inside it, were trolls. 2 big and very smelly mountain trolls.

"Trolls" I whispered. The boys looked at me and nodded. We hid as we saw a third troll carrying 2 ponies.

"Look! He has Myrtle and Minty! I think they're going to eat them! We have to do something" I whisper yelled.

"Yes you should. Mountain trolls are slow and stupid and you're so small" Kili said. I realized what they wanted me to do and shook my head.

"They'll never see you" Fili continued. I still shook my head.

"It's perfectly safe. We'll be right behind you." Kili said patting my back.

'If you run into trouble, hoot twice like a barn owl and once like a brown owl" Fili instructed. I repeated that in my head a few times.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I asked them. They nodded and pushed me forward. I slowly walked toward their 'pen'

"Mutton yesterday, mutton today and blimey if it looks like mutton tomorrow" One of the trolls grumbled from his log.

"Quit your whining. These ain't sheep. These are west nags" The one cooking said.

"I don't like horse. Never have. Not enough fat on them'' The dumbest looking one said.

"Well, it's better than that leathery old farmer. All skin and bones he was. I'm still picking bits and pieces oh him out of my teeth." One trolls said. Now I was in the pen. I saw rope tying the ponies to a post. I quietly ran towards it. Just then, One of the trolls sneezed.

''Oh, that's lovely. A floater" Cook rolled his eyes.

"It might improve the flavour" Dummy said. Sneezy smiled

"There's more where that came from" He said. He was about to blow his nose into the pot when Cook pinched his nose and pushed him back. I realized that trolls can actually tie really good knots so I took my dagger from my boot.

"Oh no, you don't" He said. I started cutting and Sneezy did what he does best. He sneezed. He reached to his back pocket and grabbed his handkerchief. I hid behind one of the ponies when Cook looked back at them.

"I hope you're going to gut these nags. I don't like the stinky parts" Sneezy complained. Cook whacked him on the head with the ladle.

"Sit down and be quiet" Cook said.

"I'm starving. Are we having horse tonight or what?" Dummy asked.

"Shut your cakehole! You'll eat what I give you" Cook said. I smirked. He kind of sounded like a parent scolding their child. This dagger wasn't helping at all. I put it away and looked for something sharp. I looked at Sneezy's belt and saw a rather sharp knife. I smiled and walked towards it.

"How come he's the cook? Everything tastes the same. Like chicken!" Dummy said

"Except for chicken" Sneezy added sarcastically.

"That tastes like fish" Dummy agreed.

"I'm just saying that a little appreciation would be nice." Cook said. I knew how that felt sometimes. I got a hold of the knife but Sneezy moved so I lost my grip on it. I must have missed something because I got knocked over as Cook hit Sneezy over the head. I slightly pushed up the knife from his belt. Cook tried some of his soup and praised himself. He let Dummy taste it.

"Good ain't it? He he. That's why I'm the cook" He bragged. I rolled my eyes. Men and their bragging. I saw Sneezy reach back. Probably for his knife so I moved out of the way. Turns out... He wasn't reaching for his knife. He was reaching for his handkerchief that I was standing right in front of. Conclusion, he also picked me up. I closed my eyes and covered my mouth as he blew his nose. I ended up getting troll boogers in my hair. Disgusting.

"Blimey! Look what came out of my hooter! It's got arms and legs and everything!" Sneezy exclaimed.

"What is it?" Dummy asked.

"Don't know but I don't like the way it wiggles around" Sneezy stated. I stopped for a second and gave him a glare.

"I wouldn't wiggle around so much if you put me down'' I said. He put me down and I shook the snot out of my hair and clothes.

"What are you then? An oversized squirrel?" Dummy asked. Can they be THAT stupid?

"I'm a burgler-uhh...hobbit" I corrected myself. The trolls looked at me weirdly. I honestly don't blame them. I probably sounded stupid.

"A burglahobbit? What's a burglahobbit?" Sneezy asked.

"Can we cook him?" Dummy asked Cook. Cook shrugged.

"We can try, but he'll only make a mouthful. He's all skin and bones" Cook said.

"Maybe there's more burglahobbits around these parts. Maybe enough to make a pie!" Dummy exclaimed excitedly. Cook grabbed me and I let out a small yell.

"Are there anymore of you?" He asked me. I shook my head

"No there's not. Now can you let me down?" I replied annoyed.

"Liar!" Sneezy said.

"Hold his toes over the fire. Make him squeal" Cook said as he threw me to Sneezy. The latter brought me towards the fire. Just then, Kili and the other dwarves jumped out of the bush.

"Drop him" Kili stated simply while drawing his sword.