Chapter 9 – Preparations

The volunteers stood in the Master’s study, making their plans as the servants dashed about and prepared packs and gear.

Rorimac looked between his two sons, both determined and stubborn in their own right. “One of you will have to remain behind,” he stated. He could not risk both his sons and himself going into the Old Forest and never returning. While any one of their wives were more than capable of leading Buckland with Saradas’s help until Merry came of age, it would be a cruel and grieving task for their wives to lose them all. For even if Brandybucks did venture into the forest from time to time there was always the risk that the forest would awaken and claim the life of whoever entered.

Sara and Mac looked at each other. They spoke only with their eyes and after a time, Mac nodded. “I will stay.”

“Good, you can continue to join the bounders and guard the Gate and send messages back to the Hall. Our wives will be eager to hear word of the search,” Rorimac said.

Sara clapped his brother on the shoulder and hugged him in thanks. He was Frodo’s guardian and it was his responsibility to see to the lad’s safety. He had failed in that task, but he would not fail now. He would not leave the forest until Frodo was found, be he well or be he…

Sara’s thoughts trailed off and Merimac read the distress in his eyes. He hugged his brother back. “Frodo will be fine,” Mac said. “You will find him.”

Sara nodded, doubt creeping through his very being, and waited as his father turned to the other volunteers. Rory looked upon Rufus and Milo next. “One of you will have to stay behind as well.” He raised his hands for silence before the protests could be sounded. “I’m sorry, but if worse comes to worst, I will not have my sister grieving both a husband and a son.” Dodi and Dino nodded their agreement.

“I will come,” Milo said before his father could speak.

“Now, son,” Rufus started, but Milo cut him off.

“Mother needs you,” Milo stated.

Rufus shook his head. “You’re our only child and I’m an old man.”

Milo grinned. “You act like you’re never going to see me again, Father. I’ll not be bested by a bunch of trees.”

“We will both go,” Rufus said calmly, grinning back at his son. He turned to his brothers-in-law. “My Del would expect nothing less of either of us, and she said she’ll make meatloaf tonight if we return in time.”

Rory measured their resolve and nodded his consent. As long as they were willing and his sister understood the risk, he would need all the help he could get. He motioned to his team. “Come along then; Frodo awaits us,” he said, and they followed him out of the study.  

“Excuse me, Master, but I want to come.”

The fellows turned from the pony trap, their packs loaded up and ready to go, and found Gil standing there before them. Rory shook his head at the tween. “Sorry, lad, but this is no job for one so young. Get back into the Hall.”

Gil nodded his understanding but did not move. “I’m not much younger than Milo or Edic,” he pointed out. “Please, sir, I must go. I was the one who told Frodo that he lacked the courage to enter the Old Forest, and the very next day, he did so. It is my fault that he went in, and therefore it is my responsibility to retrieve him.”

The fellows looked at him critically and Rory grunted with disapproval. He looked the tween up and down and stared him hard in the eye. Gil did not back down from the scrutiny and he seemed sincere in his conviction. “Do your parents know?”

“They do. They approve my decision, though they’re not happy with it.”

“Then you shall come, but we will speak about this once we return. You had best hope Frodo does not come to harm from this.” Rory turned to the others. “He will take his share from the provisions we have. We do not have time to wait for him to get his own.”

“I already have my own,” Gil said and held up the pack that had gone previously unnoticed.

“Very well. We ride now.” Rory beckoned everyone into the cart. They quickly found their seats, and Rory took the reins. They rode off swiftly.

By the time the search party departed, the news of Frodo’s latest antics had spread through the entire Hall. Most were worried for the child, who had already been through so much. Some remembered Frodo’s last reckless act and sadly shook their heads at the teen gone wayward. To others, this was nothing more than a teen’s carelessness, and still others held the opinion that Frodo was not in the forest at all and was merely playing them all as fools. A few held the dark opinion that Frodo was attempting to finish what he had started two years earlier, in a place no one would have thought to look for him. “He’ll not be found breathing,” they said dramatically, “and he’ll be laid to rest next to his parents, bless him.”  

Edon and his friends had returned immediately to Morti’s room after leaving the dining hall. The situation had grown much more serious, and whatever guilt they had been feeling before had leapt by bounds after the Master’s announcement. Edon had at first managed to keep his mind off the fact that Frodo had disappeared while under his care, but the guilt had been building steadily as each day passed and now it all but crept around his heart and throat, threatening to clamp down without mercy.

Why hadn’t he watched Frodo more closely? Because he never thought the teen would do something this stupid, that’s why. And why had Frodo done this? He knew that answer well enough, having just spent an hour with Gil telling Esmeralda all that they knew, and while he wanted to allow Gil to take the sole blame, he knew that Frodo would never have had the opportunity to enter the Forest had he not allowed the lad to come with them.

“Maybe I should go too, help with the search,” Edon mused. “After all, none of this would have happened if we hadn’t taken Frodo with us.”

“Go?” Fendi squeaked. “Are you mad? Only Brandybucks go in there.”

“Besides, the searchers have probably already left,” Morti pointed out.

“Yes, but only just. I can catch them up,” Edon said.

“Rory will never allow it,” Fendi said. “You’re not family, you’re too young, and you’d need your parents’ approval besides. By the time you get to Mauville and back, they’d have reached the Forest and already gone through the tunnel. The bounders won’t let you in.”

“If I had permission they would,” Edon said.

“Who’s going to give you permission?” Fendi asked. “Saradas is as strict and stuffy as they come, and Mac won’t be any better when he gets back.”

“I could go to the Mistress,” Edon suggested. But what would he say to her?

Fendi and Morti shook their heads, unable to believe their ears. “Edon, there’s nothing you can do,” Morti said, trying to talk sense into his friend. “If you go now, you’ll risk going in alone, and you’ll get yourself lost next. How is that going to help anyone?”

Edon sighed and banged the back of his head against the wall in frustration. His friends were right and he had missed his chance to help Frodo after they left the Gate without him. “I shouldn’t have let him come. I knew I shouldn’t but I did anyway. This is just as much our doing as it is Gil’s. What if they don’t find him? What will happen to us then?”

Fendi and Morti had no answer and a dread-filled silence fell over the room.  

Frodo woke from dark dreams and stretched groggily. He was still lying where he had fallen and he was sore and bruised where his body had slammed against the hard earth. Snatches of his night terrors, brought on by the hallucinogenic fruit, fled before his eyes: dark, cold tunnels filled with echoing laughter; cold, wet hands reaching out to grab him as he ran by; goblins and wolves attacking at all sides; his parents’ faces frozen in terror under the water, their mouths shaped to form his name.

He shivered at that last image and closed his eyes again, as though he could shut it out by doing so. He had been terrified in his sleep but unable to awaken, and now once woken he wanted to forget his dreams as quickly as he could. He pushed the lingering images from his mind, not wanting to remember more, but the dread that filled him even in waking was difficult to shake. He had been feeling dread already for the past two days; he had not thought he could possibly feel more but he now realized he had been wrong. With effort, he pushed that aside also and opened his eyes again.

Now, he wanted only to get up and leave this place, not caring that it will only take him further into the forest’s black heart. He wanted to get away from this tree with its mocking promise of food, get away from this spot where the sun could not penetrate the thick weave of leaves tangled overhead.

He stood on quivering legs, his stomach a hard, shriveled knot in his belly, no longer grumbling over its lack of food. His throat however was parched and he knew that he would not be able to make much of a sound if he attempted to. There was no reason for him to call out anyway. He knew no one was looking for him and wouldn’t even think to do so until another day or two, if they did at all. They certainly would never think to look for him here. He was alone, as he had always been since his parents left him. How could they leave him? Was it because he hadn’t bothered to say good night to them when they dropped him off at Del’s apartment? Had they been mad at him? Had that somehow caused them to not mind the boat? How could he be so heartless?

‘Stop this!’ He shook the cobwebs from his head, too vigorously for his weakened state. He stumbled over and fell onto the ground with a thump. Berating himself was getting him nowhere, that much he knew from hearing it almost every day since he came to live at Brandy Hall. He couldn’t stand about mulling over events that happened so long ago when there were more pressing matters in the present to contend with. There had to be food somewhere in this forest, there had to be water. He just needed to find it.

Ignoring his pain and dizziness, he stood again and looked around, listening and smelling. There were no sounds of trickling water and in all his time in the forest, he had never seen any creatures inside it, not real ones anyway. Still, there had to be something growing here that he could eat. He had heard owls the previous night, and owls needed to eat, as did their prey. There was edible vegetation in the forest somewhere and Frodo was not yet ready to give up on finding any.

Knowing he would not have the strength to make it back up the slope that he had come down yesterday, Frodo turned and picked the direction that seemed to have the most light. He stumbled along for time unknown, continuously casting his eyes from side to side with slow caution, for his vision still tended to blur around the edges if he moved his head too quickly. He did find a few bushes with berries growing, but as he did not recognize the fruit, he was hesitant to try them and so passed them by.

Finally, he came to a bush that had a fruit he did recognize: raspberries. The bush was nearly pecked bare by the birds that lived within the forest, but Frodo took what he could find. He tasted one cautiously, biting off a small portion of it and holding it on the tip of his tongue. When all he tasted was sweet nectar, he grabbed at more of the berries and ate them hungrily. There were not enough to satisfy his stomach, which began its grumbling again once it was given the food, but it did much to ease his mind. If he had found these, then there must be more.

He continued to stumble forward, staying close to the fruit-bearing bush, figuring that there must be more nearby. He found at least two more such bushes, each of them with a few handfuls of the fruit upon them. Frodo ate them all, satisfying his stomach for the time being as best he could.

Feeling slightly more confident and a bit more clear-headed, Frodo continued on further and deeper into the forest.  

The search party reached the Hay Gate an hour past luncheon, or what would have been luncheon had they been at the Hall. They unloaded the pony trap and tethered the ponies to nearby trees, then descended the stairs to the tunnel. The tunnel was lit by lanterns hanging from hooks hammered into the stone, making the narrow passageway seem even more dismal than it already did. They were required to walk in single file, and they made their way carefully, burdened by their supplies. When they emerged on the other side, they were just in time to see the bounders exit the forest.

“Well?” Sara called and the gardeners looked down from their trimming. Finally, they would be able to find out what was going on.

“We’ve searched just ‘long the border and a mighty bit further in, ‘bout a hundred yards or so,” Hob said. “We found one trail, sir, and it seems fairly fresh.”

The eldest hobbits walked off toward the forest to speak details, leaving the youngest to mind the supplies. Gil watched Milo and Seredic closely in the flickering torchlight. Milo and Edic were seven and six years Gil’s senior respectively, and already of age. Gil studied their faces for signs of the fear that beat within his own breast, but in Milo he found only determination.

“Why did you come?” Gil asked him.

Milo glanced at the tween and measured him critically. “My parents took Frodo in for a while after his parents died. He was like a brother to me for a time.”

“You would do anything for him?”

“Yes, including pounding you into the ground if I thought it would do any good.” With that, Milo went to join his father’s side, leaving Gil with Edic.

The other lad made no show of having heard the exchange and continued with helping the bounders sort the supplies, as the gardeners looked on and tried to make sense of everything.

Gil held back any questions he had for the youngest Brandybuck and went to help with the organizing. Before he did so though, he looked into the forest, blacker than black, and gulped. He did not want to go in there, truth be told, but he would not back down now. He had committed himself to this errand, and he would stick to it no matter how long it took. He set to organizing the supplies until the Master called for him and Seredic to join the others.

“Flynn will take us to the trail they found and we’ll take over from there,” Rory said once all were assembled. “We stay together at all times, unless we must by necessity split up. Be prepared to sleep in the forest tonight if we must. Once we enter the forest, we will not leave it until we find Frodo. If anyone wants to turn back, they can do so now.”

No one moved and after a few minutes, Rory nodded and entered the forest.

Gil was handed an unlit torch and a striker from one of the bounders. He braced his pack more securely on his shoulders and held his torch in his trembling hand, his knuckles white with fear. He hesitated at the very edge of the forest, his feet refusing to carry him further until finally he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and stepped forward. His foot dragged with that first step, feeling leaden and cumbersome, but once he had set foot onto the soil of the woods, his other foot followed more easily.

A hundred yards to find the trail was no great distance, yet it seemed as though a mile had been traveled before Flynn pointed it out to them. Dodi bent over it to inspect it and nodded grimly: those were hobbit tracks, and a young hobbit at that. Flynn left them then, eager to get out of the forest, and the others pushed on, Dodi in the lead so he could follow the trail unhindered.

Gil couldn’t help but feel useless. For all his conviction, he had nothing to contribute to the search. He jumped and turned at every sound, hoping desperately that it was Frodo, drawn by the sounds of their voices, and fearing it would instead be a monstrous wolf or some other creature come to make them its next meal. But it was only ever another searcher, stepping on a branch or stumbling over leaves. The trees themselves were silent and nothing untoward occurred.

After a time, they came to a halt. Dodi was puzzling over the trail, that now seemed to go in many different directions and yet at the same time, remained ever going steadily forward. “It seems he might of tried to return,” he analyzed, “but he wasn’t allowed to leave the forest.”

“We’ll scout ahead,” Marmadas stated, and he, Dodi and Dino rested their packs on the ground and went on while the others sat and took some rest.

The day was hot and the forest was musky and dank, compounding the heat to near unbearable levels. All of them had already discarded their waistcoats and rolled up their shirtsleeves; Milo and Edic had done away with their shirts altogether. They sat and waited in the shade, for the little bit of relief it gave them, but drank only a little of the water, just enough to wet their palates.

After another half-hour, Dodi, Dino and Marmadas came back from scouting ahead. “The tracks get a bit more confused up ahead, but there are two distinct trails heading off in opposite directions,” Marmadas reported. “We could not follow either one of them to their end.”

“We cannot risk the chance of bypassing him,” Saradoc said. “We will have to split up.”

Rory’s brow furrowed. They were few in number already and splitting up into smaller groups was not advisable. Still, his son was right. They could not risk ignoring one path for another.

“Half could go ahead on what appears to be the return path and scout that way,” Dinodas suggested. “The rest of us can wait here for report and guard the second path. That way, if there’s trouble, we shouldn’t be too far off to hear your shouts.”

“For that matter, we may as well all go,” Rufus said, “but that will delay us terribly. I suggest we split up. We can mark the paths as we go so that we can find each other more easily.”

Rory nodded. “We’ll need a tracker on each team then. Dino will go with Milo, Rufus and myself; we will take what appears to be the return trail. Marmadas, you go with Dodi, Gil, Edic and Sara on the other trail. Mark your trails well but do not mark any of the trees. Use only the branches and rocks on the ground to mark your way when necessary. We’ll catch up with you as soon as we are able. However, I do not want us sleeping in separate camps tonight. When the light begins to fail, we will all return to this spot.”

They packed away what little scraps remained of their meal, shouldered their packs and moved on. They were not long on their way before they found where the trail forked. They did not say farewell, but waved each other good luck and separated. Not more than a minute passed before the forest came between them, cutting off all sight and sound of each group as they made their way further into its black heart.
 
 
 

To be continued…