A Mistake

That morning at dawn the four of them set out for Bree.

It was a long walk at first, and even Raina was starting to get tired when Gandalf called for Sam to keep up.

But soon, the old Wizard stopped, as did the two Hobbits and the girl in his wake.

“Be careful. The enemy has many spies. Is it safe?” Gandalf asked Frodo, who nodded in response.

“Good. Never put it on. The enemy will be drawn to its power.

“I will meet you at Bree. Be safe,” Gandalf said as he rode off on the road. Frodo turned into the wilderness with Raina and Sam by his side.

“It’s going to be a long journey,” Raina said. “But we finally get to go somewhere! What if we meet some odd folk, like Elves and Dwarves!”

A grin spread across Sam’s face. “Wouldn’t that just beat all?”

Frodo laughed. “It’s officially an adventure. We will be able to tell our grandchildren about how we traveled with the-” Frodo paused, dampening the moon with the mention of the serious topic. “The you-know-what.”

After that no one spoke for fear that someone would say the unspeakable words and give them away. It had been a few hours, and Raina was mostly focused on taking the next step, making sure her mind didn’t wander so she wouldn’t stumble. The three eventually came to a small farm, almost getting lost in the rows and rows of corn.

“Mr. Frodo? Miss Maethoriel?” Sam called, and Raina could sense his uneasiness.

“We’re right here, Sam,” Raina called back to him.

“I thought I’d lost you,” Sam panted as he caught up.

“What?” Frodo said with a small smile.

“Just something Gandalf said.”

“What did he say, Sam?” Raina asked, turning around to look at him curiously.

"'Don't you lose them, Samwise Gamgee!' And I don't mean to."

Raina smiled and gave him a hug, before she was tackled by none other than Pippin Took, carrying an arm load of vegetables.

After a second, Merry comes through and knocked Frodo over.

“Raina?” Pippin asked, looking down at her. “Merry! It’s Raina Maethoriel!”

“Hello Raina!” Merry called excitedly.

“Hello to you, too!” Raina said in amusement.

“Get off her!” Sam said, hauling Pippin off Raina, and helped her up.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Frodo asked.

“Hold this,” Merry said to Sam, dropping his vegetables in his arms.

“You’ve been in Farmer Maggot’s crop!” Sam hollered as Pippin pulled Raina into corn and away from the angry voices following them.

“Run, Sam!” she called back to him with a small laugh.

“What are you laughing about?” Pippin asked as they tore through the corn, heads of it smacking into them. “This is serious business!”

She laughed even more. “Of course it is, Took.”

"'Dunno why he is so upset. It's only a couple of carrots!" Merry said, crashing through the stalks next to the girl and the Hobbit.

"And some cabbages. And those few bags of potatoes that we lifted last week and, and the mushrooms the week before!"

"Yes Pippin! My point is, he is clearly overreactin'. Run!"

Sam and Frodo caught up with them as soon as they had escaped the jungle of corn, but they all ended up falling down a gorge as soon as they had gotten out.

The five tumbled down the slope, and once they had rolled to a stop, Raina untangled herself while laughing.

“How often do you do this? It’s so much fun!” she announced as the Hobbits started laughing too. Her laugh was contagious.