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Homeward Bound

At last the hobbits had their faces turned towards hoain; but at first they rode only slowly, for Frodo had been ill at ease When they came to the Ford of Bruinen, he had halted, and seemed loth to ride into the stream; and they noted that for a while his eyes appeared not to see thes about him All that day he was silent It was the sixth of October

&039;Are you in pain, Frodo?&039; said Gandalf quietly as he rode by Frodo&039;s side

&039;Well, yes I am,&039; said Frodo &039;It is my shoulder The wound aches, and the o today&039;

&039;Alas! there are some wounds that cannot be wholly cured,&039; said Gandalf

&039;I fear it may be so withback Though I may come to the Shire, it will not seem the same; for I shall not be the sa burden Where shall I find rest?&039;

Gandalf did not answer

By the end of the next day the pain and unease had passed, and Frodo was ain, as merry as if he did not remember the blackness of the day before After that the journey ell, and the days went quickly by; for they rode at leisure, and often they lingered in the fair woodlands where the leaves were red and yellow in the aututh they ca and the shadow of the hill lay dark on the road Then Frodo begged them to hasten, and he would not look towards the hill, but rode through its shadoith head bowed and cloak drawn close about hied, and a wind came from the West laden with rain, and it blew loud and chill, and the yellow leaves whirled like birds in the air When they cahs were alreat curtain of rain veiled Bree Hill froht

So it was that near the end of a wild and wet evening in the last days of October the five travellers rode up the cliate of Bree It was locked fast; and the rain blew in their faces, and in the darkening sky low clouds went hurrying by, and their hearts sank a little, for they had expected more welcome

When they had called many times, at last the Gate-keeper cael He looked at them with fear and suspicion; but when he saw that Gandalf was there, and that his coear, then he brightened and wished them welcoate &039;We won&039;t stay for news out here in the cold and the wet, a ruffianly evening But old Barley will no doubt give you a welcome at The Pony, and there you&039;ll hear all there is to hear&039;

&039;And there you&039;ll hear later all that we say, and hed Gandalf &039;How is Harry?&039;

The Gate-keeper scowled &039;Gone,&039; he said &039;But you&039;d best ask Barli to you!&039; they said, and passed through; and then they noticed that behind the hedge at the road-side a long low hut had been built, and a nu at them over the fence When they cae there was tattered and unkempt, and the ere all boarded up

&039;Do you think you killed him with that apple, Sam?&039; said Pippin

&039;I&039;m not so hopeful, Mr Pippin,&039; said Sam &039;But I&039;d like to knohat became of that poor pony He&039;s been onand all&039;

At last they ca Pony, and that at least looked outwardly unchanged; and there were lights behind the red curtains in the los They rang the bell, and Nob cah; and when he saw theave a cry of surprise

&039;Mr Butterbur! Master!&039; he shouted &039;They&039;ve come back!&039;

&039;Oh have they? I&039;ll learn them,&039; came Butterbur&039;s voice, and out he came with a rush, and he had a club in his hand But when he saho they were he stopped short, and the black scowl on his face changed to wonder and delight

&039;Nob, you woolly-pated ninny!&039; he cried &039;Can&039;t you give old friends their na me like that, with times as they are Well, well! And where have you coain, and that&039;s a fact: going off into the Wild with that Strider, and all those Black Men about But I&039;lad to see you, and none more than Gandalf Come in! Come in! The same rooms as �C before? They&039;re free Indeed most rooms are empty these days, as I&039;ll not hide froh And I&039;ll see what can be done about supper, as soon as may be; but I&039;m short-handed at present Hey, Nob you slowcoach! Tell Bob! Ah, but there I&039;htfall now Well, take the guests&039; ponies to the stables, Nob! And you&039;ll be taking your horse to his stable yourself Gandalf; I don&039;t doubt A fine beast, as I said when I first set eyes on him Well, come in! Make yourselves at hoed his , and still seemed to live in his old breathless bustle And yet there was hardly anybody about, and all was quiet; from the Common Room there came a low murmur of no ht of two candles that he lit and carried before them the landlord&039;s face looked rather wrinkled and careworn

He led thee to the parlour that they had used on that strange night o; and they followed him, a little disquieted, for it see a brave face on sos were not what they had been But they said nothing, and waited

As they expected Mr Butterbur came to the parlour after supper to see if all had been to their liking As indeed it had: no change for the worse had yet come upon the beer or the victuals at The Pony at any rate &039;Noon&039;t est you should coht,&039; said Butterbur &039;You&039;ll be tired; and there isn&039;t , anyway But if you could spare o to your beds, I would dearly like to have some talk with you, quiet-like by ourselves&039;

&039;That is just e should like, too,&039; said Gandalf &039;We are not tired We have been taking things easy We et, cold and hungry, but all that you have cured Come, sit down! And if you have any pipe-weed, we&039;ll bless you&039;

&039;Well, if you&039;d called for anything else, I&039;d have been happier,&039; said Butterbur &039;That&039;s just a thing that we&039;re short of, seeing hoe&039;ve only got e grow ourselves, and that&039;s not enough There&039;s none to be had from the Shire these days But I&039;ll do what I can&039;

When he cah to last them for a day or two, a wad of uncut leaf &039;Southlinch,&039; he said, &039;and the best we have; but not the h I&039; your pardon&039;

They put hie chair by the wood-fire, and Gandalf sat on the other side of the hearth, and the hobbits in low chairs between them; and then they talked for ed all such news as Mr Butterbur wished to hear or give Most of the things which they had to tell were a mere wonder and bewilderht forth few comments other than: &039;You don&039;t say; often repeated in defiance of the evidence of Mr Butterbur&039;s own ears &039;You don&039;t say, Mr Baggins, or is it Mr Underhill? I&039; so mixed up You don&039;t say, Master Gandalf! Well I never! Who&039;d have thought it in our times!&039;

But he did say s were far from well, he would say Business was not even fair, it was downright bad &039;No one coh Bree now from Outside,&039; he said &039;And the inside folks, they stay at home mostly and keep their doors barred It all co up the Greenway last year, as you may reme away from trouble; but most were bad men, full o&039; thievery and ht here in Bree, bad trouble Why, we had a real set-to, and there were some folk killed, killed dead! If you&039;ll believe me&039;

&039;I will indeed,&039; said Gandalf &039;How many?&039;

&039;Three and two,&039; said Butterbur, referring to the big folk and the little &039;There was poor Mat Heathertoes, and Rowlie Appledore, and little Tom Pickthorn from over the Hill; and Willie Banks froood fellows, and they&039;re ate, and that Bill Ferny, they caone off with theht of the fight, I ates and pushed theht was early in the New Year, after the heavy snoe had

&039;And now they&039;re gone for robbers and live outside, hiding in the woods beyond Archet, and out in the wilds north-away It&039;s like a bit of the bad old times tales tell of, I say It isn&039;t safe on the road and nobody goes far, and folk lock up early We have to keep watchers all round the fence and put a lot of hts&039;

&039;Well, no one troubled us,&039; said Pippin, &039;and we caht we&039;d left all trouble behind us&039;

&039;Ah, that you haven&039;t, Master, more&039;s the pity,&039; said Butterbur &039;But it&039;s no wonder they left you alone They wouldn&039;t go for armed folk, with swords and helmets and shields and all Make them think twice, that would And I must say it put me aback a bit when I saw you&039;

Then the hobbits suddenly realized that people had looked at them with amazement not out of surprise at their return so ear They the in well-arrayed cohtfrom under their cloaks, and the helms of Gondor and the Mark, and the fair devices on their shields, would seem outlandish in their own country And Gandalf, too, was now riding on his tall grey horse, all clad in white with a greatsword Glahed &039;Well, well,&039; he said, &039;if they are afraid of just five of us, then we have ive you peace at night while we stay&039;

&039;How long will that be?&039; said Butterbur &039;I&039;ll not deny we should be glad to have you about for a bit You see, we&039;re not used to such troubles; and the Rangers have all gone away, folk tell htly understood till nohat they did for us For there&039;s been worse than robbers about Wolves were howling round the fences last winter And there&039;s dark shapes in the woods, dreadful things that it makes the blood run cold to think of It&039;s been very disturbing, if you understand me&039;

&039;I expect it has,&039; said Gandalf &039;Nearly all lands have been disturbed these days, very disturbed But cheer up, Barlireat troubles, and I alad to hear that you have not been deeper in But better tiers have returned We caain, Barli his mind this way

&039;Then the Greenill be opened again, and his oings, and the evil things will be driven out of the waste-lands Indeed the waste in tier, and there will be people and fields where once there ilderness&039;

Mr Butterbur shook his head &039;If there&039;s a few decent respectable folk on the roads, that won&039;t do no harm,&039; he said &039;But we don&039;t want no more rabble and ruffians And we don&039;t want no outsiders at Bree, nor near Bree at all We want to be let alone I don&039;t want a whole crowd o&039; strangers ca up the wild country&039;

&039;You will be let alone, Barlih for real the shore lands south of the Brandywine, without any one living within many days&039; ride of Bree And many folk used to dwell away north, a hundred miles or more from here, at the far end of the Greenway: on the North Downs or by Lake Evendim&039;