[Firefoot]

Annoyance flashed in Sondo's eyes at Sam's innocent question. Just do whatever you see needs to be done! But Sondo could not say this, of course; or rather, he could, but he wouldn't. Sam wasn't trying to be so dependent, after all.

"Ah, I don't think there's a whole lot to do. Just hang tight for a moment; I think we're getting ready to move on." Sam seemed a little disappointed, but there wasn't a lot Sondo could do about it. He gave Sam an encouraging grin and looked around, trying to remember what he was about to do. Oh, yes, Rory. He approached Rory, who was still watching Gandalf skeptically at the back of ring of hobbits. He leaned over toward Rory and whispered so that not even Gandalf would hear: "Hey, I understand where you're coming from... but even if it's not Gandalf, it's basically our only hope, right? I have no idea how we would ever get out of here on our own. As long as we get out of this horrible place, I don't suppose it really matters whether it's Gandalf or some ruffian that leads us out. Right?"

He didn't get a chance to hear Rory's reply, though, for right at that point Gandalf spoke up. "Now, if you are ready, we can go. I believe there is no more to be done here."

Sondo nodded. "We're all packed up and ready. So how are we getting out of this ravine?"

Gandalf stood. "Come, and I will show you." The hobbits shouldered their packs and followed Gandalf a short way down the ravine, back the way they had come. Very soon, they came upon a spot where Gandalf had tied a rope to something up above the ravine.

"Um, we've already tried this," someone said apologetically. "It didn't work."

"But you did not have me with you then," answered Gandalf. "You must trust me." Then, he murmured a few words under his breath, and Sondo understood them not. He was fair confident that they were not in the Common Tongue at all, and a sense of wonder filled him. Was this some kind of magic?

"I will help you up the rope one by one," explained Gandalf, "and do not fear, for the rope will hold." And miraculously, the rope did hold and each hobbit made his (or her) way to the top of the ravine, partly climbing the rope and partly lifted by Gandalf. Last of all, Gandalf came up with them, much easier since he was so much taller than any of the lads. Sondo hoped that Rory's doubts were now allayed; who else but Gandalf could make such a feat work?

"We should have just enough time to make it out before night falls," said Gandalf, taking up his staff and leading the way. Sondo was shocked to find that with Gandalf leading the way, the forest behaved. There were no roots that tripped or branches that hung low or ravines which opened before them. They did still feel menacing though, and the air still felt stuffy, or else it might have been counted a pleasant trek. Gandalf said very little, save to answer a few of their questions, and not always satisfactorily. For example, they had not yet figured out just what Gandalf was doing here in the first place, nor would he give them any more of an answer than that he was helping them. After a long spell of silence, Sondo finally got up his nerve and stepped up alongside Gandalf. "Master Gandalf? Would you tell us about Ol- I mean, Mister Bilbo?" He already knew the tale by heart; at least, the tale as the hobbits told it (and those accounts tended to differ on more points than one), but Gandalf would know how it really went, after all.

Gandalf paused for a moment before thinking. "Very well. I will tell you a part, for it is a long tale indeed and some of it would be best not told under cover of this forest. But I will tell you about the trolls." Sondo quickly agreed, though he personally would have preferred to hear about the dragon. So Gandalf launched into the story and Sondo and the others listened avidly, having never heard the familiar story told this way.

But as he listened, he also began to think. What made Bilbo's adventure so much more adventurous than theirs was? Bilbo had come back with treasure, perhaps, but had that been the point? What had Bilbo really gained from his adventure - what was he gaining? Could it be - had he really been having a 'real' adventure all this time without really even realizing it? Perhaps so. It was worth thinking about, but later - once he got used to the idea.

Gandalf was finishing his story: "'Dawn take you all, and be stone to you!'" Lucky for them that Gandalf had come along, thought Sondo. And lucky for us, too.