XVIII.  Cue:  Future or current leader grinning as someone wakes

Waking on a Winter Morning

            Tap, tap, tap!  Frodo woke groggily, trying to figure out where he was.  Oh, yes--Rivendell.  His dreams had been very confusing.  He’d been lying in a boat, running water cooling the wood under him, the hilt of the broken sword from the barrow clutched in his hand.

            He blinked and looked out the window.  Aragorn stood on the balcony smiling.  He must have returned in the night!  Frodo rose and opened the door----

            ----Splat!  Thwack!  Thud!

            Sam, Merry, and Pippin each managed to get him squarely with a snowball thrown expertly past the Man’s side.

            “Payback!” exulted the future Thain.