THREE

"Mr. Frodo, would you like another blanket?” Sam hovered over his master carrying two blankets in his arms. One was already lying on the ground to make it easier for Frodo to sleep on the rocky ground.

“Yes, thank you Sam.” Frodo took one of the offered blankets, wrapped himself in his cloak and snuggled down. Sam lay down beside him and did not tell Frodo that those three blankets were all that they had to protect them against the wind and rain. They were going southwards and the weather would be warmer, Gandalf had said, but Sam didn't like to think about what kind of warmth that was.

Some time later, Sam woke to Frodo shivering beside himself. It was a cold night and the rain did not make it better. Silently as to not wake Frodo, he covered his master with the last blanket, lying down beside him again to huddle in his cloak. That Frodo would scold him for giving him all the blankets the next morning didn’t bother Sam. He was there to look out for Frodo and if that meant letting him have all the blankets then Sam didn’t think twice about that.

Beside him Frodo sighed comfortably and slipped into a deeper and and more calm sleep.

TBC