|
Fear overcomes the Hobbit . . .
Madoc and Andwise came scuffing down the stairs to the common room, grumbling to each other all the way. ‘There he is,’ said Andwise, seeing Willem at the table with the Big Folk. ‘And old Mudfoot’s hounds take me if it’s not certain he’s had his breakfast already! And a substantial one by the size of the platter and the empty bread basket.’
Willem was caught up in the dire tales of Wenda and the man in the grey cloak. And spooked a bit by the presence of the man and woman who’d come to sit at his table. They seemed keenly interested in Wenda’s sightings, and he wondered what terrors they’d seen that lay behind their attentiveness. Goosebumps crept along his arms, and he shivered despite the warmth of the fire.
Imagine his shriek of fear and surprise as his two companions slid silently up behind him and poked him hard in the back with their hands, hissing at him as they did so. It echoed shrilly among the rafters as his imagination got the best of him, and he felt the wraith-like fingers of Wenda’s shadow creature pushing against him, reaching into his very being.
There was a loud thump as Willem, white as a ghost himself, slid from his chair in a dead faint . . .
|