Chapter 128. The doors open

Tall Hat speaks a series of words, to no avail, and then he throws down his staff. I lay my ears back as I watch him closely; is he about to pick up Youngest and knock on the doors with his head? Somehow, I do not think such a thing would be good for a young hobbit.

But no, instead, he sits down without speaking further. Perhaps he has used up all the words he knows.

But then I throw up my head and start in fear at the far-off sound of wolves howling, borne to my listening ears on the wind.

Though my Sam was in the middle of packing away "take" items in his pack and rearranging them so that he might fit more, somehow he is instantly standing by my side. As I stand trembling, head high, nostrils flared to sample the wind, eyes wide and ears swivelling in all directions, he strokes my neck and whispers soft, soothing words.

The Other Big Man (the one with the shield, though his shield is not on his back but leans against the cliff wall) has also jumped to his feet at the sound of the wolves, and he snaps at my hobbit, 'Do not let him run away!' It seems my Companions will soon be buckling my harness in place and loading everything in the "leave behind" pile on my back.

I must admit I would not object to staying with my Hobbits – and the rest – where ever it is we might be going next.

The Other Big Man finishes by saying what we all have been thinking from the time we reached the top of the slope and saw the ominous Lake: 'How I hate this foul pool!'

I might differ with his choice of words, for the extent of dark water looks much larger than a pool to my eyes. But I definitely would differ with his choice of actions to follow, for he picks up a large stone and heaves it with all his remarkable strength, so that it splashes far out on the dark waters.

I hear a slap, along with a swish, as of something moving under the waters, and a bubbling sound.

Master is as disturbed as I feel, for he rebukes the Other Big Man! And, strangely, he says that he fears the pool (Do my eyes then deceive me? Is it a pool and not a Lake?) more than the dark behind the doors (And how does he know it is dark behind the doors when they are closed?). He even fears it more than the wolves we can hear howling on the wind!

The younger hobbits also sound nearly frantic. Not-Merry-at-all is of one mind with me, for he wishes he could get away, and Youngest seems to want the wizard to pick him up with no more delay and knock upon the doors with his head!

Tall Hat has not heard, luckily enough for Youngest hobbit. Perhaps the situation is not quite desperate enough to batter Youngest's head against the rock? He sits with head bowed, and I cannot tell if he has given up or is simply thinking deeply.

But there are ripples far out on the Lake. I am highly aware of them, and my awareness makes my skin twitch. I raise my head as high as I can and stare at the dark... pool. Pool? Lake or pool, I stare at the ripples spreading across its surface, coming closer, some even lapping on the shore as the breeze brings the howling of the wolves to our ears again.

Unexpectedly, the wizard jumps to his feet, and he is laughing! He speaks of a riddle – and how I wish I were a Dwarf pony, for I might have solved the riddle for him before now, and told him the answer (since he is learned in the language of horses and ponies), and the Company might even now be safely away from the moving waters.

He leans down to pick up his staff from where he cast it down, stands upright again, and nods, either to himself or the rock. (I wonder if a nod is part of the password?)

'Mellon,' he says, a word I remember hearing in that marvellous Valley where the old pet waits and Merrylegs still grazes, I hope.

One of the shapes on the wall – A star, I think Tall Hat called it? Though it looks different from the stars in the sky bowl above our heads – glows brighter and then fades again.

But then... 'Look!' Youngest whispers, pointing at the wall. And it seems that his poor head is out of danger, for as we all look, we see an outline form on the wall where none was before, becoming a pair of doors that open slowly outward until they are resting against the wall. In the opening that these doors hid but a moment ago, I see a shadowy stairway climbing steeply into darkness, and I understand why Tall Hat said I must take my own way home and cannot travel further with the Company. This sad thought makes my head droop, but the Voices whisper comfort, and so I raise my head again and stand, waiting for an order from one or another of my Companions who, at the moment, are standing quite still and staring in wonder.

Tall Hat reaches down to take up his pack, easing it onto his shoulders as he speaks. 'I was wrong after all,' he says, 'and Gimli too,' naming the Dwarf.

As if the words have released them from a spell, our other Companions shoulder their own packs. Tall Hat turns to the more-wondering-than-Merry hobbit and slaps him on the shoulder. 'Merry, of all people, was on the right track!' He goes on to explain how he made the doors open, I think, though I do not quite follow his explanation.

I do, however, understand him when he finishes, saying, 'Now let us go!' and strides forward.

Is that the order I am waiting for?

But just before I can make up my mind, I hear Master cry out behind me! His terror kindles an answering fear in my heart – I whirl and rear up, as if to meet a foe, but this foe is far beyond my understanding or my strength! Master is on the ground, and the lake is roiling with monsters, and one has seized his leg and is dragging him into the dark waters!

Run! The Voices lash at my thoughts like a multitude of whips. Lest the monster should grab you and pull you down to your Doom! Run away!

I scream, high and wild, whinnying the pure terror that has seized me. I whirl away from the roiling waters; I run at the stairs, but they are too steep! 

The Voices shout at me, Not that way! 

At the last moment before crashing into the wall or laming myself on the stairs, I swerve and flee at my top speed alongside the cliff, galloping and dodging the fallen rock that litters the path and leaping the stones that would bar my way.

Behind me, I hear screams and shouts, then a shattering boom that echoes over the roiling Lake, followed by terrible rending and crashing noises as if the monsters behind me are pulling the very cliffs down into the dark waters, fuelling my fear and spurring me to run ever faster!

When I reach the slimy, loathsome stream we crossed as the dusk was deepening, the noise has ceased and the ominous waters of the Lake are still and silent once more.

I stop short of the stinking water, throw my head high, and listen with all my might. Even the Voices are silent.

I am alone.

~ * ~ *~ * END Part 1 * ~ * ~ * ~

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Author's notes:

Some thoughts here are derived from "A Journey in the Dark" in The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien. Bill's story continues in Part 2: The Way Home, scheduled to begin posting in April.

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