Red (The Hobbit Fan Fiction)

9. To the Rescue

9. To the Rescue

            I paled. “What do you mean there’s only fifteen? How could you have lost two of them?” Immediately I hoped Remy wasn’t one of the two who had suddenly disappeared.

            “We don’t know. Let’s take a tally and see whose missing.”

            The four of us went around the area, counting the ponies. I found Remy who was a bit flighty; I calmed him down with soft, soothing words. Maybe one of the two missing ponies had been near him, or he had seen something.

            We all met back together a few moments later.

            “Daisy and Bungo are missing,” Kili reported.

            “Well, that’s not good,” Bilbo stammered, laughing nervously. “That’s not good at all. Shouldn’t we tell Thorin?”

            “Uh, no,” said Fili. “Let’s not worry him.”

            “That would put him in a cheery mood,” I said sarcastically.

            “As our official burglar, we thought you might like to look into it,” Fili said, directing his words to Bilbo. I had to remember that I was never a part of the contract; I was just another addition to the company. Bilbo was their official burglar.

            “Well, uh…Look”—Bilbo nodded towards the downed tree closest to us—“something big uprooted these trees.”

            “That was our thinking,” Kili murmured.

            “It’s something very big,” I concluded.

            “And possibly quite dangerous,” Bilbo added apprehensively.

            “Hey,” Fili called lowly. “There’s a light. Over here.”

            We caught up with Fili, who was crouched behind a downed tree. In the distance, I could see faint light bouncing off the trees. We weren’t the only inhabitants in this area. I swallowed, wondering if it wasn’t too late for my nightmare to start coming true at this point. I flinched as I heard gruff laughter.

            “What is it?” I asked incredulously.

            “Trolls,” Kili growled. He bounded over the tree, his brother followed him. I sat the bowl of stew on the tree as I passed over it. I looked over my shoulder to see Bilbo following with both bowls of stew in each hand. I rolled my eyes. Of all the things to worry about, I was pretty sure the stew was at the very bottom of the list.

            Faint quaking under our feet made Bilbo and I take cover behind the uprooted trunk of a nearby tree. There were panicked squeals of terror coming from two ponies. My heart clenched. What business did Trolls have in the forest? What right did they have to steal our ponies? I blanched when I realized what was going on. They’re hungry. They’re stealing our ponies so they can eat them.

            I peeked around the trunk to see a massive, thickly-built figure stomp through the woods. Two struggling ponies kicked at air. I recognized both of the ponies: Myrtle and Remy. I let out a squeak of terror but quickly covered my mouth. The Troll didn’t notice, it kept trudging along towards the fire. They’re going to take all of the ponies. They see free dinner.

            “He’s got Myrtle and Remy,” I hissed. “I think they’re going to eat them. We’ve got to do something!” I looked from the brothers to Bilbo.