2 A chance

Lifting up the little guy in one swift movement, the traveller's eyes fell on the young woman and for once he was totally at loss about what to do. His gaze was judging her from head to toe, and if the previous demonstration had not been enough the way she held herself indicated that she was a fighter, if a little bit unsure of her skills. She seemed very young, but the courage she had shown for facing the wraith pushed him to trust her. However, much was at stake, and it was no light decision. Time was coming short for Frodo, and the wraith would not give up until they had the ring. There was no obviously no time for interrogation. Maybe he could just go and she would join some companions on her way?

- 'Do you travel alone?'

- 'Yes,' stated Frances, unsure about what to say.

The ranger grimaced. Leaving her behind would have been safer for the group, but he could not do that in good conscience and leave her to die. His grey eyes were boring holes into her; he could not fathom why a woman would travel alone in these troubled times.

Frances knew she needed to stay with the group if she wanted to have a chance to complete her mission, but the violence of the attack and the emergency of the situation did not help her cause. How could she convince them that she only wanted to help? Her opponent in this staring contest was obviously wondering who she was and what was her purpose.

- 'Can you keep up with a quick pace?" he asked,

Frances nodded, startled by the implicit offer.

- 'I will'

- 'Then come, we must make haste.'

The confrontation had ended so swiftly that Frances stood motionless for a split of a second. This meant she had a chance, and it would be time soon enough to prove trustworthy. Grabbing her bag at the bottom of the hill, the young woman hurried after the little company who was already disappearing into the darkness.

The pace had indeed been quite intense, and for the first few hours in the dark, Frances struggled to keep up. The hobbits, names Sam, Merry and Pippin, were carrying torches for their own protection while Strider carried Frodo. The nickname would have made her laugh if she had not been rationing her air intakes. Obviously, the ranger, as they called him, had dismissed the interrogation until quieter times, and the young lady tried to be as invisible as possible while gathering information from the chattering of the two rusty haired hobbits. Asking questions might have raised suspicion, and she needed as much intake on geography and history of the place before trying to build an identity of her own. She had no idea of the shape of this continent, but it seemed obvious that it wasn't her reality from the sheer existence of different races.

After several hours of night-hiking the young woman knew everything about a place called the Shire where the little ones had been living their whole life, but it was about all she would know about these lands before the ranger started interrogating her. Needless to say, that she had no idea what kind of story she would be able to pull up, especially since he seemed to be quite acquainted with the history and geography of the place. Apart from being totally intimidating, the economy of his gestures showed that he was used to travelling, and there was no way she could manage to cheat on somebody as aware of this world as a traveller would be. "Well, shove it,' she thought, she was a terrible liar anyway and would have to find something that came very close to the truth.

The little company was making the first real halt after walking all day long. The little ones were too worried for their companion to talk with her, and the breaks too short to engage in a real conversation. Nicely enough, the company shared with her some dried meat and a few nuts since she did not have much to sustain herself. The strict diet was getting fast on her nerve, she who had the habit to always travel with chocolate or in case her blood levels dropped, had nothing but an apple for the day. Soon enough her short supplies of chocolate would be depleted, and her sugar tooth already felt totally hopeless in this endless walk. However, more than the pace and lack of sweet food, she dreaded the moment when Strider would start questioning her. Even the perspective of sleeping could not compensate for the stress of the future confrontation.

Well, OK, sleeping seemed good right now. If she had not been in full alert because of the possibility to be ambushed again by the freaky ghosts, Frances would have collapsed to the ground and slept twenty-four hours in a row. The young woman was dead on her feet, her body not used to skipping a whole night and walking ten hours with close to no sustenance. She made a mental note to keep in better shape in the future, or upgrade her training with the FBI to keep up with the requirements of time travel and medieval roads. If she had not been hiking around in the mountains so much as a kid, and always walking in cities rather than using a car, the young woman would have collapsed halfway. Remembering how people made fun of her, telling her that she should have been born in another century with her stupid refusal of using too many machines, Frances realised that her little habits might have saved her for once.

As Strider set Frodo down directly into Sam's hands, he gave her a funny look.

- 'We need a fire for I have some herbs to crush into steamy water. Stealth is our ally. Can you get some material?'

Frances, exhausted but happy to be given such a task, nodded. Not a minute later, she was gathering twigs and thorns from pine trees to build up a little fire that wouldn't be too obviously spotted. The threat of the black riders still held, and nobody would sleep well this night. As she took care to remain stealthy, she heard hushed voices seemingly arguing in the campsite. Turning her head to peek between the lowest tree branches, Frances listened intently. Sam, holding Frodo closely, was trying to convince their guide to do something. His stance uneasy, Strider answered in tones that did not tolerate any argument. Then he left silently, letting the hobbits crouched around a little hearth he had dug in haste. As Frances came back, the hobbits gave her a queer look. It felt natural, after the fiasco of Weathertop, that they would be wary of her. She responded by a wink, which achieved to loosen the cousin's Merry and Pippin's nerves. Samwise, however, was hunched over Frodo's body and would not let go his defiance.

Carefully, the young lady proceeded to pile up herbs and twigs in the little pit. Smoke should be kept minimal, and therefore she had chosen only very dry material. When the pyramid was ready, Frances realised that she had no idea how to light up a fire without a match. An uneasy smile frozen on her face, she turned her back to the hobbits and searched the path for Strider, in case he would be there. There wasn't anybody in her line of sight, so she extracted a lighter from her bag and lit up a little flame at the very bottom of the pile. Carefully, slowly, she corrected the structure of the fire to get more and more embers by adding some sticks and blowing over it. When Strider finally got back, he found a nice layer of logs producing enough heat to boil a bowl of water.

The man opened a leather pouch that hung around his belt and proceeded to work a mixture of dried leave into an unidentified recipient. Frances longed to ask what he was doing, but she'd rather remain unnoticed. Asking questions was too dangerous for now and would risk breaking her nonexistent cover. There was no way of knowing what a woman from this world should be able to do or not. Therefore, she stayed silent as the man treated the hobbit's wound.

Out of exhaustion, the little ones fell asleep very soon after eating the meager rabbit that their guide had caught. Frances, travelling without any kind of bedroll, was starting to freeze up. "Note for self,' she thought, "next time pack a survival blanket'. Not wanting to draw any kind of attention, the young woman was ready to curl up around the hearth when Strider suddenly fixed his intense gaze on her. There was no challenge in his eyes, just a prying interest, and something so much older than his age.

- 'My lady,' he said, using a title nobody had ever called her. "Our company stands in great danger, and for the sake of the hobbits I need to know who you are, and what is your aim in this land."

There it was, the interrogation that she feared. There was no way to lie to those intelligent eyes. However, the tone he had used on her wasn't nearly as suspicious as she would have thought.

- —' My lord,' she answered, instinctively responding to his nobility. "I do ignore a lot about this world, and I am not accustomed to travelling alone in those parts.'

Strider nearly jumped out of his skin as she used this title, but he said nothing. Could the girl know who he was exactly, or was it just a lucky guess?

- 'I do not wish any harm to come to your friends, and will therefore be parted from you if need be. However, I fear that I am lost.'

- 'Where were you heading to?" he asked. It is not safe for ladies to be travelling alone in those troubled times.

- 'I…'

There it was, the perfect moment to invent a fantastic story of dragons and princesses. Unfortunately, lying wasn't one of her many talents and she relinquished. Her face opened for any prying, Frances looked into his eyes with sincerity.

- 'I have no idea why I am here, I was just wandering and am absolutely lost.'

Surprised, Strider observed her face intently to detect any kind of deception, but he could only find a strange type of blunt honesty.

- 'You surely have some friends, a family, somebody that lives around here.'

- 'I very doubt that'

His eyes gave nothing away, his face a careful mask of neutrality. Yet, she would feel the danger lurking around him. The man was deadly, and would not hesitate to kill her if she proved dangerous.

- 'Then where do you hail from?'

- 'Strider … this is what they call you, right?'

The man nodded slowly, trying to assess where she wanted to lead this conversation that went frustratingly nowhere. He had learnt nothing and yet his questions had been very direct. He smiled inwardly as he thought how the twins would think him rude.

- 'How come you do not use your own name?'

The ranger tensed and Frances bit her lip. She had obviously struck a sensitive chord and wondered if it would help her or seal the man's indulgent spirit towards her. Aragorn, for this was his name, protected his identity and heirloom in the wilds because of his legacy. Even if the strange woman had shown tremendous courage fighting the Nazgûl, he wondered if she could not become a liability. With Frodo carrying the ring, she could well be a spy. However, his intuition told him that she would be true to the group. Never before had his guts betrayed him, and so he took a risk.

- 'I protect myself and those whom I love,' he answered cryptically.

- "Strider. I am being perfectly honest with you by telling you that I will never put this group at risk. There are also things in my past that I do not wish to relate because they are part of my history. I come from a place that lies far away from your borders, from a distant land where life is so very different from here. I have no idea what were the beasts I have fought in your company, but they nearly drove me mad from terror. Were I to wander alone, I'd probably be dead by now. I will not beg you to keep me close, for I realise that you are responsible for many lives. But if you allow me to accompany you, I will obey any order. Maybe in time I will be able to understand the reasons of my presence here. For the moment I am at loss. If you wish me to leave, please say so and I will go…"

The last bits of the fire were fading out, casting a red light over the ranger's features as his mind raced under his skull. Her sincerity has touched him, and he wasn't one to be cheated easily. However, there was much she did not tell, and the importance of his mission made the decision much more difficult. The responsibility that laid on his shoulders was so heavy that it made him hard to breathe, and Frodo was getting worse. It came to him to protect the halfling and the ring no matter what. If he had been travelling alone, the answer would have been too obvious. Yet, his heart could not accept to leave her behind, and he had to admit she had some guts. In a fight she might very well be useful. If she proved treacherous, he could cut her down easily.

- You will travel with us to Rivendell, but behold the dangers that lay ahead. You cannot be safe amongst us.'

- 'I thank you, my lord, for your generosity. Pardon me for asking but, would I be safer if I travel alone?" she asked, bluntly.

- 'I honestly do not know. The things that chase us are the nightmares of many, even among the wisest of our people.'

- 'What are they?'

- 'To this question I will differ the answer,' he murmured slowly, hoping she would catch the meaning.

- 'Fair enough'

As the young lady shifted from her seat to curl in a bowl under her jacket, she smiled at her new guide.

- 'Thank you giving me a chance.'

- 'This is what it is,' he answered, his eyes burning with the light of the fire, "A chance. I will keep my eyes open in case you should deceive us,'

Frances nodded, she did not expect less from the ranger. His threat would have freaked her were it not for the good nature of the ranger. This meant, however, that she would not take watch this night. Curiously, even if the cold weather cut through her bones, the young woman fell asleep very quickly. Exhaustion eventually won the day.