Chapter Six

Standing under the large tree, the troll frowned and stared more intensely up into the heart of the foliage over his head, not sure exactly what it was he was looking at. He rubbed his eyes with his fists and when he looked again, there was nothing but gently fluttering leaves in his field of vision. It must have been a bird or a squirrel, he decided. Trolls were not patient creatures or ones prone to thinking too much, so this one just shrugged and lumbered off to resume the hunt for the missing prisoners. He was never to know that he had actually found them and then walked away.

Legolas took a deep breath, held it a moment, and then let it out very slowly. That had been much too close for comfort. It was easy for Legolas to figure out what had happened.

The tree had felt the instant rise in the elf’s level of fear and had moved its leaves to shield him. Luckily, it was the right move to make, and the wood-elf offered the tree his immense gratitude for saving himself and Estel.

Of course, the danger was far from over. There were trolls coming and going in all directions. Since the same territory was being covered over and over, there was obviously no coordination among the searchers. One moment the area where Legolas and Aragorn were hiding was completely devoid of the large creatures. The next moment, it seemed to be swarming with them. Thus the haphazard search left the two friends no way to figure out how much time they might have to climb down and flee the area.

It was during one of the relatively quiet times that Aragorn took the opportunity to get into a better position so that he could be more secure, not to mention more comfortable. He did so by carefully moving his feet, resulting in both now being firmly planted atop the branch he was standing on. He changed the grip he had on the branch above him. As he released each hand, he opened and closed this fingers to try and relieve the ache that had developed. Stretching his shoulders muscles soon followed. It was a brief, but welcome, respite before he had to re-grip the branch.

Making these necessary adjustments also allowed him to give his whole body a short rest, though he retained enough tension to be able to move quickly, if need be.

Having this hiding place in the midst of the trolls was well worth any discomfort he might be feeling, so complaining was out of the question - at least for now. Comments on being stuck in a tree with the lithe wood-elf would, however, be too good an opportunity to pass up at a later time. Legolas would be expecting some remark or other from him. Aragorn refused to think that the current predicament would not be resolved in their favor and thus allow for a little humor.

Due to the trolls’ disorganized search patterns, it became apparent that the two friends were going to have to wait the creatures out, and it looked as though the wait was going to be a long one.

The sun had just risen above the treetops.

*~*~*~*

Hatch listened to the other trolls shouting and stamping through the forest but did not join them. He wanted to search, as well, but first he had another task in mind.

The troll leader walked over to the cages and stopped in front of the middle one that now contained a forlorn Pickett. He slammed his hand into the bars.

Pickett had not seen or heard Hatch’s approach, so the resulting noise startled him. His whole body jerked, and he almost fell over backwards.

“Git our here,” Hatch commanded in a tone that brooked no argument or even hesitation.

Pickett got to his feet and quickly, though reluctantly, exited the cage to stand directly in front of Hatch. His posture had a defeated look to it while his eyes reflected naked fear. He knew he was in for a tongue lashing, and possibly a physical one.

Hatch put his hands on his hips and stared down at the shorter troll with narrowed eyes. “How did they git out?” he demanded in a menacing tone.

Pickett didn’t think he could be in any more trouble, if he had unlocked the doors himself and then told the prisoners to run. Looking down at his very large, hairy feet, the troll replied, “I don’t know. I locked ’em up and stood right here in front like always.”

“You was asleep,” Hatch pointed out.

Picket nodded. “But, Hatch, they couldn’t’ve gotten loose, even if I was sleepin’. The doors was locked.”

“Then you tell me how they did it, you worthless piece of dung.”

All the hapless Pickett could do was shrug his shoulders and continue looking down.

“So they wiggled outa them cages and left ’em locked. Is that how they did it?” Hatch obviously didn’t believe his own words.

It wasn’t until then that Pickett looked over at first one padlock and then the other. They were still as secure as he had left them. He was really confused now. “They was magic,” he blurted out. It was the only thing that came to him.

Hatch cuffed Pickett on the left side of his head. Then, for good measure, he did it again on the other side. “They wasn’t magic. If they was, they’d never’ve got caught to start with.”

The troll leader was tempted to make Pickett go out and join the rest of the trolls in their search, but that would have been too easy. Also he didn’t trust this one to do even that with any kind of reliability. “Give me the key,” Hatch demanded, as he held his hand out.

Pickett rammed his hand down into the pocket of his dirty jerkin and moved it around inside. He soon stopped, a look of near horror on his ugly face.

Hatch’s expression showed that he was undoubtedly getting impatient. Finally, he barked out, “Well, give it here.”

“I don’t have it,” Pickett mumbled.

Not sure he heard right, Hatch asked, “You what?”

Rather than raising his voice to be sure he was clearly heard, Pickett mumbled even lower, “I don’t have it.”

Hatch was too impatient to ask again what Pickett had said. Instead he just grabbed the other troll’s arm and jerked it out of his pocket, prepared to rip the key from Pickett’s palm. When he saw the empty hand, he glared at Pickett with fury in his black eyes. “Where’s the key?”

Pickett shrugged piteously. “I don’t understand where it went.”

To say Pickett’s declaration was pathetic was an understatement. However, Hatch was not moved in the slightest by the other troll’s bewilderment.

“They stole it from you, you worthless piece of dung.” The troll leader was so enraged, he couldn’t even come up with a different insult from the one he had used a moment ago.

Shoving Pickett back into the cage, Hatch said, “If we don’t get them two back, you’ll suffer what they would’ve.” The threat was not an idle one, and Pickett knew it.

Hatch slammed the door. It clicked shut but remained unlocked. Hatch was sure that Pickett wouldn’t dare leave without permission. If he somehow worked up the courage to get away, he’d better keep going until he left troll territory far behind, because if he was caught, Hatch would kill him.

*~*~*~*

There was no problem for Legolas to outwait the trolls while sitting up in the large tree. He not only would not be uncomfortable, he would be quite happy doing so for hours on end. His calm demeanor proved that.

Aragorn, on the other hand, was already getting weary of standing on one branch and tightly gripping the one above him. His will was as strong as ever, but his body was betraying him more than he cared to admit.

“How are you doing?” Legolas asked an hour after the sun had risen above the trees.

“Not as well as I would like.” the man replied. He hated admitting that fact to the elf, but he knew he had to be truthful. Too much was riding on them staying hidden and thus staying safe for him to let pride get in the way.

From above, Legolas said, “I can come down and help you get settled on that branch.”

“It wouldn’t help, I’m afraid. Sitting down on this branch would be even worse than it is now, after a while.” He remembered more than one time when his bottom had pained him after spending time sitting with the elf in a tree very much like this one. A soft chuckle told him that Legolas also remembered such times.

“Of course, I can’t stay like this much longer, either,” the ranger unhappily pointed out. He looked up at the elven archer. “I don’t hear any trolls nearby. Can you hear any shouting?”

Shaking his head, Legolas said, “None of them are shouting. They went silent a while back, but I do hear a lot of crashing through the underbrush to the east.”

“Do you think they’ve left this area and gone that way to search?” the man asked hopefully.

“Probably. However, I don’t trust them to be gone entirely. I think we should wait until I hear nothing at all from them for a time.”

Aragorn pursed his lips. “How did I know you were going to say that?”

“Sorry, Estel, but I would not care to leave the safety of this tree too soon and run in to any of those creatures. We worked too hard to get this far.” Though he had to concede it wasn’t very far at all, as distance goes.

Aragorn couldn’t argue with the elf’s logic. He would just have to suck it up and endure the position he was in for a while longer. He was getting to hate those three words. He was a ranger, after all, and rangers were patient people, either by nature or by training. They were also not new to discomfort.

There was one other fact that had a bearing on the situation: Aragorn was still young yet. He had not lived long enough to fully develop the maturity and confidence he would be renowned for in the years to come.

Happily, it wasn’t too long before Legolas slid down next to Aragorn and said, “I think they have moved farther out into the forest. It is probably a good time to climb down and retrieve our horses and our weapons and get away from this place.” Legolas grinned and swept his arm downward. “Shall we?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

Legolas held on tightly to the ranger’s arm, as Aragorn let go and bent down so he could grab the branch he was standing on. He swung down to the one below it. He was joined by the nimble elf, who was beside him in a flash. The maneuver was repeated until both friends found themselves on the lowest branch.

“Stay here,” Legolas whispered, and before Aragorn could do more than think about opening his mouth, the elf was on the ground. He soon disappeared from Aragorn’s sight.

Making a quick check of the nearby area, Legolas satisfied himself that no trolls were close enough to intercept them. He returned to stand directly below Aragorn. “Jump,” he told the man.

Not taking the time to think about what he was about to do and trusting Legolas implicitly, Aragorn jumped. He barely felt himself touch the hard-packed earth, as Legolas grabbed him and eased the last few feet of his decent.

The two friends stood for a moment and grinned at each other before crouching down to further hide their location.

“Where do you think our weapons are being kept?” Aragorn whispered.

“I would say the leader would keep them in his hut,” the elf answered. “I doubt he trusts the others with any of them.”

“My thought, as well. I just hope that Hatch isn’t carrying my sword with him. I won’t leave without it.” The ranger’s stubborn streak was firmly intact.

Legolas put his hand on the man’s shoulder. “Do not worry, Estel. We will not leave without all of our weapons.” He understood exactly how Aragorn felt, because he didn’t intend on leaving his bow or his knives behind. Of course, their lives came first. It just remained to be seen if they could get away with all of it.

Those words from Legolas were all the ranger needed. “Let’s go.”

Keeping low, they began to run through the trees. They stayed out of sight of the clearing, as they moved in a wide circle around the nearby camp.

Legolas soon brought them both to a stop.

A little anxious, Aragorn asked, “Do you hear a troll?”

“No, but I think Hatch’s hut is right through there.” He had turned to the left and was now pointing that way.

The two crept to the edge of the trees and peeked over the tall grass that grew between the trees and the ring of huts.

Aragorn was not surprised in the slightest when a hut, larger than its neighbors, appeared right in front of them.

There were no sounds to be heard in the camp.

“The trolls must have gone a long way off looking for us,” Aragorn remarked.

“I do not think they have the least notion that we would not have run as far and as fast as we could once we escaped the cages.”

Legolas then made his way to the rear of the hut with Aragorn right on his heels. They both flattened themselves against the lopsided wooden slats and inched their way to the corner.

Holding up his hand to stay the ranger’s progress, Legolas carefully peered around the corner, and when he didn’t see any trolls, he motioned for Aragorn to follow him.

The same maneuver was repeated, as the elf came to the front corner, which was visible from the clearing. The large fire burned low but no trolls were in sight.

“No one is home,” Legolas remarked.

“They must all be out looking for us.” The ranger grinned. “It’s nice to know we’re so popular.”

“I can do without that kind of attention,” the elf commented dryly.

Archer and ranger quickly made their way into the hut, moving into the shadows on either side of the door, just in case one of the camp’s inhabitants showed up and might be able to spot them in the sunlight shining into the hut through the open doorway.

Now it was time to begin the next part of their escape.

TBC