Chapter 14: Matters of Opinion

Shortly before dawn Boromir entered the room, after politely knocking and requesting entry. He stood there looking grave and a bit pale until Gollum motioned him to sit at the foot of the bed (he himself was curled up at the other end, with one elbow propped up on the pillow).

"I am sorry to hear my father paid you a visit," said Boromir.

"Yes, yes, sss! His father," Gollum exclaimed. "He was saying things about the Master that are not nice. Aragorn did not think it was important, but Boromir ought to know better."

"What did he say?" Boromir asked, leaning forward urgently. "I have heard it from Mithrandir, and from Aragorn, and from my father, but I would like to hear it from you."

Gollum recounted the incident as best as he was able, though now it had gotten a bit circular and confused.

"It is as I feared," said Boromir, running his fingers through his hair. "My father's pride has been his downfall. He was wise, he believed he knew what was to come, and he cannot trust the unexpected deliverance of Gondor from a source so strange. He sees shadows and threats in every corner, and accuses everyone around him of being an imposter. It is no wonder that he knew not to make of you, who are a mystery even to those with the clearest thought!"

"Why did he have wrappings on his face?" Gollum asked.

"He made an attempt to set himself aflame," said Boromir, "and perish that way- so convinced was he that the War was lost."

"Set himself on fire!" cried Gollum. "That is the nastiest way to die." He should have asked me if he wanted to die, he reflected. He'd die quiet and quick that way.

"He thought it honorable," said Boromir. "He wished that I and my brother would perish with him-"

"What! Burning? He tried to burn Boromir?" By Her legses and spinners, what sort of monster is this? he thought, turning quite cold and clammy even for Gollum.

"Indeed, but Pippin Took intervened, saving us all; and that too my father cannot abide." He got up and began pacing back and forth, limping as he did so. "He says he has been robbed of death by a halfling."

"Hobbits!" Gollum exclaimed. Hearing that the tall, shiny hobbit prince was involved gave him comfort. "Of course it was hobbits. They is always saving peoples, they are. Sam ssaved us and he does not even want us to live."

"I am sure he has changed his mind on that point!"

"I hopes he has, or else he will be disappointed, he will never get rid of Sméagol at the rate he's going." A thought occurred to him. "Does, eh, does Sam know about Denethor?"

"He knows somewhat of the matter," said Boromir. "We have cautioned him."

Sam will look after the master, thought Gollum. We was forgetting about that part of things. Yes, he will keep Denethor away even if the Men don't bother enough about it. If She did not daunt him Denethor will not.

The memory of Sam and Frodo sleeping curled up together in Cirith Ungol came to him. He felt a little bit strange about it, in such a way that he decided that he wanted to crawl closer to Boromir, who was now seated at the end of the bed again, sitting with his head bowed.

"I would never have imagined a world where I had to warn the greatest heroes of our age not to go near my father," he said.

Gollum was now quite close to him, and noted that his hands smelled of the familiar ointment. "Did Boromir's hands get burned?" he asked, although the Man's hands looked fine. "They smells like Denethor's face medicine."

"Your nose is keen! I assist him with applying his salves when he allows it," said Boromir. "My father is particular about who is allowed to touch him. At times he rejects even me."

Right, Gollum reflected- Boromir was the favorite brother, although Denethor had still managed to find something critical to say about him.

Boromir was looking down at him, apparently only just now noticing how close Gollum had crept. "What if we are going about things the wrong way?" Boromir asked. "Would not my father learn to trust halflings, perhaps, if they were allowed to have a full conversation about the matter?"

"No, no, no," Gollum said. "That will not work, not at all! If his mind is sick and he thinks peoples lie to him, he will look into the hobbit eyes and watch the way they moves their hands, and he will find something not to trust, even if it is really nothing at all- and he will say: They are lying. I was right." He shook his head and reflected that perhaps there was a bit of sense in not wanting a general to be kind and gentle, after all; Boromir still seemed rather naive. "No, he mustn't take the hobbits to Denethor."

"Perhaps you are right," Boromir sighed. "That is what Mithrandir advises."

"They calls him wise, they do."

Boromir looked dismal. Gollum sized him up. "Sméagol was Gran's favorite," he said. He was still not sure his family would want him to talk about them, but they would just have to get over it, wherever they were in the life after, where if they thought about Sméagol at all they had probably been watching and pointing and laughing when Aragorn had dragged him about gagged and tied up at the end of a rope.

Boromir looked back at him. "Oh?"

"Yes!" Gollum said. "Praps you do not believe it because Sméagol is the one telling you, but he was, he was her favorite, everyone else got mad at me for it, they did. Most people did not like Sméagol very much. I would say 'hello' and they would not look at me. And that made Gran like me even more. I would say 'Gran, they's watching, they thinks I'm your pet and I'll catch it later' and she would laugh, and put her hand in my hair..." He trailed off, whimpering.

Boromir waited for him to continue, although he did not look as if he understood where this was going.

"She taught me everything," said Gollum in a quavering voice, "and showed me her treasures, beautiful things, she had, and when I looked as if I wanted to have them she told me, 'keeps your nose clean and maybe I'll leave it all to you, Sméagol, then they can really be jealous of ye, eh?' And I would not have let anyone else have it because they wasn't nice to me," he said to himself. "They had plenty of chances."  

Boromir nodded, raised his eyebrows and said nothing.

"I said whatever I wanted and she never got angry with me," said Gollum. "She got angry with everyone else and never with me. But then the Precious came and she would not look at me anymore. She wouldn't speak to me. She, she stopped giving me food. She..."

Boromir had to wait for him to compose himself again.

"I had done something... something wicked," said Gollum. "But she could not know what I did- I had hidden it, and she couldn't have punished me for that, she did not know. Others suspected, but no one knew. I did not think I was so different that she ought to change so much. So I thought, 'she is tired of me, that is all, how dare she?’ But now- now I thinks, she was afraid of me, wasn't she? She ought to have been. She was old. Breakable," and he stopped. He felt tired.

"Do you tell me this because you think my father may be afraid of me?"

Gollum blinked up at him. "It is wretched when someone does not want you any longer," he said, and sniffled. "Even if it was a long time ago and you are only old Gollum and ought to be used to it. Boromir is sad, perhaps?"

Boromir started in surprise.

"Or maybe he isn't," said Gollum, "he is a Man."

"It is distressing to see the change in my father," said Boromir, "but I do not fear that he does not love me, or my brother. He is fearful that we have somehow been taken over by the Enemy, or replaced, and at times he treats me as if I am not really Boromir-" He paused. "But I should not take up so much of your time, Sméagol, as this affair is not your concern, and should not be your worry."

He's not going to admit he's sad, Gollum reflected. "Denethor may fear you, too. He may," he said. "He should. If he was going to do something you thought was cruel or wicked, you would stop him, would you not?"

"I would."

"If Denethor was going to hurt a hobbit, would Boromir stop him?"

"I would."

"Then, he should be afraid of you, if he thinks all of the hobbits are lying or playing some kind of trick, because you will fight for them," said Gollum. "You are strong, you are in charge of peoples, you can go against him if you wish because he is your father and because the King would help you. So he ought to fear you."

"It is a sad day," said Boromir, "when a father ought to fear his son."

"Did not he try to burn you? You should fear him too, then."

"I do not fear my father."

No? thought Gollum. No, you don't. There is no fear in your face. Then that is also why he does not trust you, we thinks, but that is not pleasant at all, so we will not say so. We've said enough. And what does Sméagol really know? He is not a Man.

"Good," said Gollum, instead. "Is there anything else he would like to say? Sméagol is very tired."

"I will not keep you," said Boromir. "I wished only to apologize."

And to talk to us hisself instead of trusting Aragorn and Gandalf, a bright young lad he is, Gollum thought. "He may see us whenever he likes, he may."

"Good night."

But Gollum could not sleep- he kept hearing faint noises outside of the kind he usually paid no mind to, and starting up thinking it might be Denethor. When he finally slept for a brief snatch in the late afternoon, he dreamt of long arms reaching out of Orodruin to pull and clutch at him, and at Boromir, who had done nothing wrong.

Eardwulf and Faelon appeared together that night, late in the evening when it was already quite dark. "Hello, hello," Gollum said languidly, sniffing at each of their hands in turn- they did not mind, they even extended their hands to make it easier! "They are both here!" They had probably appeared together at some point- surely they must have at some point back when two people had been teaming up to take care of him, but he hadn't known them back then. He stood up to get a better look at them. They leaned in, to help him see their faces.

"Hello, Sméagol," said Faelon brightly.

Gollum settled into his usual stooped posture. "Hello! Why are they both here? We do not usually see two at once anymore." He hoped they weren't here to do anything too involved or unusual. He had had so little sleep...

"We're here to take you for an outing, if you care to go," said Eardwulf. "We think you could benefit from exercise, lest you become so cooped up that you solve that need through your own means again."

"Aha! They have been speaking to the King," said Gollum, now beginning to be much more interested.

"So I have," said Eardwulf. "You must know what we discussed, then. In addition to that, Lord Faramir wishes to know how you'll conduct yourself while traveling."

They could have just asked Sam and Frodo about that, but Gollum was quite keen on having an outing, so he did not say so. At least- he thought he was keen. It occurred to him that whether he wanted an outing depended very much on where they were going. "Where are we going, where?"

"We were given no destination in particular," said Eardwulf. "I thought we might go out into the gardens, and then you can go where you wish, Sméagol. We'll follow behind."

"We will just go? Go right out?"

"Yes, at once, if you're willing," said Faelon. "You seem willing enough!"

"Yes, yes, willing, and obliging, nice Sméagol! But why are we going? To see how we conducts ourselfs, what does that mean?"

"I believe he felt that whether or not your behavior seemed troublesome would be obvious, and I think he is correct," said Eardwulf. "Your only task at hand is to walk alongside us wherever you wish- I think you know how to behave. But you are free to decline and stay here, Sméagol, if you don't want to go."

"No, no! Sméagol won't decline, he'll go out, if they wish," said Gollum in a rush, going between the two Men out into the hall. He stopped suddenly, hunkering low to the ground and looking at them over his shoulder. "Is they putting us on a leash?" he asked.

"No," said Faelon, "of course not! Why would we? You are not a prisoner, and if you were- I do not see the use of a leash, surely you could bite through it or untie it."

Eardwulf displayed his empty hands. "I have not even brought one, Sméagol. I do not expect you to give me trouble."

"No, no, no trouble at all!" Gollum wouldn't take it upon himself to enlighten them about how a wayward creature could quite easily be made to stay on a leash through the use of a few supplementary ropes in the right places, or by using painful Elf-rope. "Why- why should we stay here, then? We should go now, at once, yes precious, right now.” Before they changed their minds about the whole thing. “Let's go, let's go!" He darted forward again, then stopped again. "Wait," he said, dashing around the Men's legs and back into his room. He dug out his hood and mantle, which he had hidden under his mattress, in case anyone realized he ought not to have the garment and took it away, and put it on. Then he went back out in the hall.

"It is a warm night," said Eardwulf.

"Hot, stifling," said Gollum, "but we bears it." He drew the hood low over his face and scurried for the stairs. He drew himself up to a sharp stop beside the guard station, and looked up. "It is someone else," he said. "Good even-ing."

"Good evening."

The Man sitting there was big and strong and fit, and looked more like the sort of person Gollum would have expected to guard him from the beginning. He paused a moment (Faelon and Eardwulf took that chance to catch up with him), and decided he wanted to go outside more than he wanted to make introductions. Also, he ought not be telling everyone who he was. "The Men has said we could go out," he said instead.

"Then go," said the guard.

Gollum scrambled onto the stairs, and once there was forced to slow down to avoid going head-over-heels, since his weight was always shifted forward. He had not been outside since his ill-fated outing to the city; he had been too afraid of being seen as a problem to go out the window as he had gotten in the habit of doing. Now it was approved for him to go out, and he had two bodyguards- neither Eardwulf nor Faelon were among the largest and fittest that he had seen in this city of giants, neither were as tall as Faramir or or as imposing as Boromir, but they were healthy and solid, and there were two of them.

Once outside Gollum dashed about like a mad thing, scurrying, scampering and squeaking. He nosed about in corners he had avoided before for fear of being caught, crawled under benches, poked at any area of freshly turned earth, and avoided flowers. He also avoided the guards that were by the guest houses.

"Sméagol, you don't need to hide," Faelon exclaimed as he ducked behind a rock to avoid someone on patrol. "Whatever worries you so?"

"We will become known," said Gollum. "Shh! Don't say my name so loudly, he will know it!"

"Whyever may you not become known?" Faelon asked. "You live here."

Gollum snuffled irritably. Faelon was a gardener, he recalled, and thinking it was alright to be known struck him as something a gardener would believe.

Eardwulf saved him. "Sméagol happens to be a very private person," he said quietly. "It is no matter to me if he likes to hide."

"Yes, yes, no matter at all," said Gollum, slinking out into the shadows, as the guard had now passed by.

There was moonlight, sadly; the White Face largely hid behind clouds, but he frequently peeked out and sent Gollum shuffling underneath some handy bench or rock.

"Does even moonlight trouble your eyes so much, Sméagol?" Faelon asked. "You seem to tolerate the candlelight in your room."

"We do not like any light at all," said Gollum, "but we bears it, the Men do not have such clever eyes." He looked warily in the Moon's direction. And the White Face is watching us, he thought. But Faelon doesn't know about that. He thinks it's alright to be seen.

How much pleasanter life would be if he could be seen and not bother about it! Gollum was tired, his head was aching from lack of sleep, and it would be such a relief if he could let go of the worry of being seen. He recalled that no one in the city had seemed to hate him for being Gollum. Even the robbers had not cared about his being Gollum, they only wanted to steal...

But that way lay carelessness and consequences. 

By then the Moon had gone away again, and he crept back out.

"It must be very difficult to be so bothered by light," Faelon said sympathetically.

"It is," Gollum sighed, and crept about his way, poking at the earth with his long fingers. He paused- he had come to the place where he had found that old coin Galil had liked so much. "May we dig?" There might be more interesting things buried here. 

"Here?" Faelon asked. He looked about. "I suppose that is alright, nothing is planted here yet- so long as you fill the hole back in after. Do you want a shovel?"

"No need, no need." Gollum began to scoop away the soft earth with his long hands, which were very serviceable as both paddles and trowels, as well as weapons. The soil was loose in this spot and his head and shoulders were soon buried in dirt.

Eardwulf remarked: "Did you tend to burrow from a very young age, Sméagol?"

"We do not remember. Nice burrow, dark burrow. It is strange to think of Sméagol as a boy, isn't it? He must be thinking of something like a polliwog."

"Not quite unlike one," said Eardwulf.

"Gran thought so too," Gollum said quietly. The smell of fresh earth was familiar and homey, though it was a different sort of soil than one would find near a riverbank, and did not smell quite the same.

"You must have been tiny," Faelon said. "The children of halflings must be tiny."

"Of course they are," said Gollum. He really did feel cooped up in that room, he had to admit- even as tired as he was the exercise was pleasant. This is a nice time, he thought, somewhat taken aback that he was enjoying himself, and then, as he was sitting there trying to savor the moment, he started missing the Ring.

No, I don't want to, he thought, I don't want to. Nasty thing! It is trying to ruin my evening even though it is dead. It's dead and I don't need to bother about it- but I miss it! How could I have cast it away after all those years of searching? No, no- it is dead, and he backed out of the hole, turning desperately, to Eardwulf- "What was he like as a child, not so tiny?" Gollum did not care, but he listened intently for whatever the answer may be. He could not picture Eardwulf the size of a hobbit and without his scruffy beard.

"When I was a boy I wanted to grow up to be a horse," said Eardwulf.

This was so unexpected that Gollum successfully forgot about the sick hollow feeling he had been distracting himself from. "Well! That is not possible."

"A hobbit can grow up to be a frog."

Gollum squinted at him.

"But that is what polliwogs grow into," said Eardwulf. "It ought not to be surprising."

"Whatever did he want to be a horse for?" Gollum asked.

"My people came from Rohan, the land of horses," said Eardwulf. "Have you ever seen such a land?"

"I have not. I have not heard very much about it." Gollum would, much later, learn that when he had gone under the Misty Mountains to hide away in the dark, the nation of Rohan had not yet been founded. "Sméagol does not like horseses, they are big and have knifes for feets." 

"That is sensible for one such as you," said Eardwulf. "I would like to see Rohan, and one day show it to my children. That was not possible during the war." He paused, and then said, in a tone that was oddly wry and sincere at the same time: "Thank you."

"He is welcome, of course," said Gollum, "he can talks about Rohan any time he likes, we do not mind it. We asked! He has children, then?"

"I do not, yet, but I desire to, one day."

"Then- we hopes he does get some, if he wants them," said Gollum, awkwardly. "Does he have a missus?"

"Not yet. I am looking for one who is extremely fond of dogs."

"Ah," said Gollum. "He likes dogses more than horses?"

"Dogs fit inside a house, so they are more convenient."

"I see, I see," said Gollum, who did not see at all, and that was all he could think of to say on the subject. He pushed the dirt back into the hole he'd made, as he had tired of digging and was not finding anything interesting, and went prowling for something else to do.

Once he had a nasty surprise and caught a scent of Elf. Elfs had a particular mind-aching stink that was utterly unmistakable, even though the trail was cold- the dratted thing had been by hours ago. Gollum had to puzzle over this for a bit, but then he recalled that the Master had traveled with an Elf- the Master had worn an Elfish cloak and was friends with Elves- and since Master's hobbit-friends and Man-friends were all hanging around, it was logical that the Elf was somewhere too.

We forgives him for it, Gollum told himself. Sméagol is reasonable, and willing and obliging, too. But he was not sure everyone knew this or believed it about Sméagol. (He had only recently decided it might be true himself, and he was not even always decided on that.)

Eventually he realized he was near the gate into the next Circle. He approached it and sat close by, looking up and over his shoulder at his minders.

"You want to go through, Sméagol?" Faelon asked, looking troubled.

"Everyone is asleep now," he said. "And if anyone is awake, we will not talk to them! Quiet Sméagol!"

"I had not expected you to wish to go so far this night."

"There is a place where the water leaps and dances," said Gollum. "A fountain, that's what it is."

"Ah, a fountain! I should have guessed you would find them of interest. Which one do you speak of?"

Gollum's eyes grew enormous. "There are many?"

"There are four in the city."

"Four! Four!"

"But they are all some distance away," said Eardwulf. "Faelon and I are tiring, and you also seem to be tiring. You are beginning to favor your left hand." Indeed, Gollum's hands and feet were still a little tender from his days of crawling all over hard surfaces in the city, and he'd become sore. This did not quite put him off of going to see the fountain, but Eardwulf's next words did: "Are you not yet hungry?"

"Yes! Yes, we are." He'd found some snacks here and there in the dirt but hardly enough to take the edge off. "We will go back, then, Sméagol will go back." He shuffled away from the gate. "But they will have to lead us back now," he said. "We are confused, we do not know this place well." His voice lowered conspiratorially. "Sméagol has gotten himself lost, poor silly thing! They will have to lead him back the way Baggins did," and he stopped there. He did not understand why Bilbo had been so helpful that day. At the time Gollum had been so distressed that he didn't dwell on it.

"I shall do better than that," said Eardwulf, "as you are lightweight and plainly footsore, do you want me to carry you?"

"Yes! Kind Man, good Man-"

"Come here, then."

Gollum wriggled into his arms and curled up with his chin on Eardwulf's shoulder. From his cozy perch he had a good view of Faelon's face. "He looks young," Gollum observed lazily.

"I am three and twenty," said Faelon politely.

"Just a pup!" Gollum exclaimed. "Has he gotten hisself married, or is he too young, or does he like dogs too much, like Eardwulf?" He would not normally have thought of this question but the earlier conversation with Eardwulf had put it into his head. Sometimes peoples are married or wish to be, Gollum thought, with a feeling of satisfaction that he had figured out something about the race of Men.

Faelon was silent for a while. Gollum assumed this was because he was put off by Sméagol's awkward small talk and he was beginning to chide himself when the young Man answered: "I would be wed now, but my betrothed was slain by orcs."

"O," said Gollum. He had no possible way of knowing this, so there was no need to chide himself after all, he'd done nothing wrong. "We are going to help the other Men kill some orcs."

"So I hear," said Faelon.

"I have- gollum! I have killed lots of orcses already, eh?"

"My goodness! You have?"

"Yes, yes! We had to be very careful about it, we did. No sword. Nothing."

"However did you manage it without even a sword?"

Gollum swallowed in his throat and pretended he had not heard. He had once been quite proud of his throttling prowess- and in some moods he still was- but something in Faelon's honest boyish face made him not so proud of it. "Orcs will all be gone someday."

"Do you think so, Sméagol?" Eardwulf asked. His voice rumbled pleasantly in his chest. "I find that too hopeful."

"They have no chance," said Gollum. "They will be gone. There was a town of them in the mountain, that stood for hundredses of years, and then one day- one day they thought they would fight, and the next they were gone. Gone, gone. Only bones, dry old gnawed boneses piled at the root of the mountain to show that there had been orcs. And- all of the orcs went South." He closed his eyes. "They must have. Yes. They were called there, called away. So they were all in one place, and very few got away. They will all be gone." He opened his eyes and saw his long hands clutching Eardwulf's shoulder. He realized his hands were muddy and filthy. I am smudging his nice vest, Gollum thought numbly.

Just then Eardwulf's hand shifted on his back in a manner that felt like a caress. Gollum felt ancient and fragile. He relaxed his grip and let the Man's arms support his weight.

The next thing he knew he was back in his room. He had fallen asleep. Eardwulf had put his hood back and the tips of his fingers just brushed Gollum's cheek.

He turned his head, unable to keep himself from being alarmed by an unexpected hand near his face, and Eardwulf quickly withdrew. "You're badly overheated," he said. "I asked Faelon to bring water for a cold bath- if you'll consent to take one, that is."

Gollum squeaked dully. Eardwulf helped him remove the hood and mantle.

"I will not insult your intelligence, Sméagol, by claiming not to know why you wished to hide your face," said Eardwulf, "and as it is your face, you may decide for yourself whether you wish to hide it, but I'd recommend that you not do so when the weather is so warm. Then, too, perhaps I ought not to have carried you so close to the heat of my body."

"I was tired," he said. "I am still tired- I am always tired."

Gollum's hands were weak and fumbly. Eardwulf helped him take off the next layer of clothing as well. "I fear for your safety, doing this errand," he said. "Or any other."

"Has he ever seen a hobbit?"

"I have seen them at important functions."

"They're so soft," said Gollum. "Does he know- the old one, he stole things from a dragon! It was the last dragon. I heard it in Lake-town, from big Men that carve cunning things from wood. They were singing praise for the hobbit who stopped a dragon. He told it riddles and carried away its treasure, and it went out, angry, angry, and it... it died." And I was so angry when I heard of it, he thought. I wonders if he cheated it at riddles.

"I did not know the old hobbit had done such a thing. Was it Baggins?"

"Yes, Baggins," he said. "Eardwulf knows about Baggins?"

"I know that Baggins helped you when you were lost in the city. You told me yourself."

"Yes, yes," Gollum said distractedly. He did more than that, he thought. I must not have said anything about that bit. Peoples do get angry when I say I wants to kill him…

"I did not know you had been to Lake-town."

"Yes. Yes, I have been from the mountain, the mountain in the mist, and Goblin-town, to the lake, and through the nice dark woods, the shady forest. I have been many places that I should not have been," he confided. Trying to kill someone who helped me come home when I cried to him like a frightened dog, he thought, fidgeting.

"That is a long way," said Eardwulf. "How did you manage it?"

"I walked. The hobbits walked, too. All the way to the mountain of fire." He shivered, though he was boiling hot. "I thought I'd die, I thought I would shrivel up, and the hobbits are so soft, so tender. But they- kept- walking." His voice sank to a whisper. "And when he could not walk anymore, the other one picked him up and carried him."

"I have heard the songs of the hobbits who walked to the mountain," said Eardwulf. "The songs of the Ringbearer and his servant."

"You have? I have not."

"Do you wish to hear them?"

"No. No.”

"The songs break my heart," said Eardwulf, "and I was not there to see it."

Gollum was silent, considering this. The Man spoke again: "You have not asked if you are in the songs."

"Ought Sméagol ask?"

"You were on the mountain."

Gollum paused. "I doesn't want to be in songs," he said. "I hope I am not."

"No. No, there are no songs about the Ringbearer's guide."

Gollum slumped in relief and lapsed into silence.

Faelon soon returned with the water, and Gollum had his cold bath, which he enjoyed very much, and then the Men bid him farewell and left him lying in bed with a damp cloth on his forehead and promises that someone would bring him food and more water soon. He lay there dozing, and listening to the fading conversation in the hallway:

Faelon: "He is difficult to keep track of! I barely managed it."

Eardwulf: "He was pausing to let us catch up. You did not 'manage' it. He has very keen hearing, as well..."

Faelon: "It is scare creditable, at times he seems as if he can barely walk and at other times he is as swift as an arrow."

Eardwulf: "He can hear us."

Faelon: "Was he offering to avenge my betrothed?!"

Eardwulf: "He was being polite, in his way, I think... and he can hear us..."

The voices faded.

In his dreams he saw the Master, tall and bright, flickering with a white flame. "Wᴀᴋᴇ," he commanded, and Gollum sat up, tangled in bedding and soaked with sweat.

"Yes- yes, Master, I am here- Sméagol will go wherever you wish- gollum, gollum!" His chest heaved.

The figure of legend had vanished. A sheepish hobbit stood by the door, turned aside as if he were leaving. "I'm very sorry," he said. "I could not sleep and I thought to make good on my promise to visit you, since night is your time to be awake, but plainly you were not awake. I did not intend to interrupt your rest."

"Master! He may stay, he may interrupt whatever he wishes!"

"Are you sure? I suppose- in that case I will stay. I did promise to visit."

"O yes, he promised. Must keep promises!" Gollum agreed, and he scurried across the floor to greet Frodo, patting his knees. "Come and sits! Sit with Sméagol. Master needn't lurk like a burglar, precious, and he ought not." He went to the table and shoved one of the chairs in Frodo's direction. Frodo came and sat in it, and Gollum curled up at his feet.

"Would you not rather sit in the other chair?" Frodo asked.

"No, no, we wouldn't," Gollum said amiably.

"I would prefer you do so. I like to face the person I am speaking to."

"O, very well, if he wishes it." It was a far easier command than many Frodo had given him. Gollum hopped up onto the other chair and rested his chin on the table. "Where is Sam?"

"He is sleeping. I did not wish to wake him."

Gollum blinked and sat up. "He will not be pleased to know you came here alone. Not pleased at all."

"He will not be angry, if that's what you mean," said Frodo. "But he will be anxious if he wakes and I am not there, so I ought not to stay long."

"You ought not be going about alone."

"Why not, Sméagol?"

"You never knows who's about," said Gollum. "Nasty peoples, maybe."

"Well!" Frodo said. "I have had this conversation before but I did not expect to have it with you. I assure you I do not need a guard."

"Didn't say nothing about guardses," said Gollum. "They are not very good, no, Men is all half-blind but for the King; but you are going about without even your Sam, and that is not needed at all, when he will go anywhere with you, even to the fire, yes, and he would go with you now whether he is sleeping or not, and he will say 'why didn't you wake me, Mr. Frodo, when I was sleeping just there and would have gone with you and instead you was all alone with nasty Sméagol', and there are nastier things than Sméagol. Much nastier, yes, but if you do not want to listen to us anymore we cannot make you."

Frodo looked at him oddly. "I dare say you are trying to help me in your fashion," he said at length. "I did hear that Denethor came to see you. Is that why you are so concerned?"

"They told him," said Gollum to himself, "and he still goes about alone."

"I have no fear of Denethor. I thank you for being concerned for my safety but I promise you I am not in danger."

"Very well, if he says so," said Gollum.

Frodo looked about the room. "I have nothing more to say about that matter. How have you been spending your time lately, Sméagol?"

Gollum told him about his outing in the garden. Frodo listened patiently, even when Gollum repeated himself, as he frequently did.

"How have you been feeling?" said Frodo at a point when Gollum had paused to try to remember what he'd been talking about.

"Tired, tired, they will not let us sleeps!" Lest this seem to be a criticism of Frodo, he hastily added: "But we bears it, yes. Sméagol has such a nice safe place to sleep that now he is getting lazy and soft."

"You certainly look a great deal better than you did when first I saw you," said Frodo. "You're already not as thin as you were."

"No, no, Sméagol thought he would disappear if he got any thinner."

"I am- glad that you look happy." Frodo hesitated, and said, without betraying any kind of emotion: "Are you?"

“Am I?”

“Happy, I mean.”

That was quite a question. Gollum reflected on it a minute and said: "Not always, of course, master, but Sméagol has nice foods now, and a safe place to sleep. Peoples are kind to him now. He does not want very much more than that. There's one thing they can't give us," he said, with a sidelong glance. "You know."

"Yes, I know."

"But that is gone, and we will have to- do without it." He sighed, and coughed a little.

"You have a cough, Sméagol?"

"Only a little one. The air is too dry and too warm, and Sméagol is, eh, slimy. Outside. Inside too."

"I see," said Frodo. He blinked and raised his eyebrows, and looked around at several things in the room that didn't seem very interesting to Gollum. "Well- I hope- I hope you're not ill?"

"No, no, jusst slimy.”

"I... I see."

Just then a knock came on the door. "Who is it?" Gollum cried. He never knew who might turn up these days- although Denethor would not have knocked first.

"I've come to bring you some water," said a muffled voice.

"Good, good! Thirsty," said Gollum. He glanced over at Frodo. "Now he must hide," he hissed.

"Do you mean me?"

"Yes, yes, he mustn't see you here."

"Why not, Sméagol?"

"Because," said Gollum, "people will think strange things about the master if he's friends with Sméagol."

"I am afraid I have been telling everyone I know you, so he may as well see me," said Frodo.

"Everyone?" 

"Everyone. It is the truth and I have no desire to hide it."

"Sméagol?" the voice said through the door. "Who is in there with you?"

"Plainly he knows you," said Frodo. "Why would he think less of me for knowing you? He must not think you so very horrible if he's come to bring you a drink of water."

"I suppose," said Gollum. "Still I think it is a bad habit to say you knows us, but the master must do as he likes." And he was thirsty. He went to open the door.

"The Ringbearer!" Maeron cried. He was plainly in shock, and did not expect Gollum to know someone so important. Gollum could not help but preen a little.

"Good evening," said Frodo. "I came to look in on Sméagol- he has helped me, in the past..."

Maeron fumbled with the pitcher, set it down, and bowed deeply to Frodo. Ah, the Men bow to him, Gollum thought, so I must too. He prostrated himself on the floor.

"There is no need to bow," said Frodo.

Gollum got up and went to get a drink of water. "There is only one cup," he observed, and, after filling it, handed it to Frodo. Frodo had always offered to share water with him, even if Gollum did not ask for it.

"Is that for me?" Frodo asked.

"If he wishes it."

"I thank you, Sméagol, but I am not thirsty."

"No? Very well, very well." It wasn't as if he really wanted to share.

Gollum drained the cup himself, and hissed in satisfaction. He poured another- he could pour from the pitcher easily enough, although sometimes he spilled a little when it was full and heavy.

Maeron was standing there staring in awe at Frodo. This seemed only natural.

"Sméagol is hungry, he is," said Gollum. "The master may be hungry too. He should bring food for hobbits, as well as food for Sméagol!"

"I am not hungry," said Frodo, standing.

"No? Then only bring food for Sméagol," Gollum said to Maeron.

"I know you do not like to be watched at meals," said Frodo. "and I don't want Sam to wake and find me gone- it would frighten him- so I think now is a good time for me to leave." Gollum must have looked as disappointed as he felt because Frodo added: "I'll be back, Sméagol."

"Goodbye, then," he said, though not very graciously. “Ach! But the master is not going back alone, is he?”

“I was planning to,” said Frodo. “I came here alone and nobody interfered with me.”

“Sss, sss. It is not wise, when peoples would go with you, and you walks about alone.”

“Are you offering to go with me?”

“No, we did not mean to, master,” said Gollum, raising his head, “but- why not? We should. I should go with you. You are foolish to go out alone, and Sméagol still has his teeth and his hands, he does.”

Frodo betrayed no change of expression, at least, not one Gollum could interpret. “No, no, Sméagol. The moon is rather bright tonight. I know how its light torments you.”

Gollum muttered under his breath and glared at the window. “We was out before,” he said. “Stayed away from it.”

“The sky is clearer now,” said Frodo. “The moon is very bright. And you must want to go back to sleep, so I will not require your services- you must stay here, but thank you.”

Maeron was still standing there, watching the conversation. Gollum pointed at him. “You! You’re a big Man, and your silly eyes like the light, that’s right. You ought to walk with the master.”

“Me!” Maeron exclaimed. “I would find it an honor if- the Ringbearer will allow it.”

“The Ringbearer will compromise,” said Frodo, with a slight slump of his shoulders. "I will be going now, then. Good night, Sméagol," and to Maeron: "My own people call me Mr. Baggins," he said, as they walked out of the room together. "You are welcome to do the same."

Sméagol shalln't call him that, thought Gollum, pouring himself another cup of water. It would confuse us.

The room was so empty, so quiet, with the master gone, out there now walking under the light of the Moon.

Gollum sat with the window at his side, sneaking little glances at it and scowling. The silvery beams of moonlight seemed almost to be teasing him, they slipped in and out as they pleased.

It is not fair, he thought. Why can’t I go out, eh? I am not doing anything that can’t be seen, am I? Maybe that silly gardener Man is right.

Gollum set down the empty drinking cup and hopped lightly to the floor. He approached the window by circling it, as if it were an item of prey that might get away from him, and at last- slowly, cautiously- eased open the shutter.

He blinked out at the White Face. His long hands trembled.

Nothing happened, except for the light hurting his eyes. He could not shake the impression that- maybe- just maybe the Moon did not actually care about Gollum or what he was doing. And if he did, well- Gollum wasn't doing anything wrong- was he?

After a moment of this he felt a bit faint, and withdrew, closing the shutter. I can't do any more, he thought, not tonight, with a feeling as if he were apologizing to Frodo, although Frodo did not know anything of the little bout of silliness he'd just gone through- and a good thing too.

He was tired, tired beyond words. Maybe he would go back to sleep after the Men brought him his next round of food.

He sat at the table and doodled until a knock sounded on the door.

"Is it food?" Gollum asked.

"Yes, Sméagol."

Gollum approached the door, but it opened before he could reach the handle. The Man with the platter was faced with the sight of Gollum huddled against the floor, blinking up at him with his huge round eyes.

Giving Gollum a wide berth, he swerved across the floor to set the platter on the table and Gollum hopped up next to it. It was chicken. "I was told to give you a message, as well, Sméagol. The Lord Boromir wishes to embark from here with you in three days' time."

"At last," said Gollum. "We have been waiting for ever," and he set upon the chicken quite contentedly. 

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