[Imladris]

"They camped here, my lord," said the man with the aquiline nose as he stooped over the ashes of a fire. "Though I have no ranger's skill, it appears they have but one horse among them, which means they will be walking."

The merchant nodded, and broke into a grim smile. As the servant heaved himself to his horse, he said, "We will have the boy by noon, no?" The servant nodded and kicked his horse in the ribs. The horses cantered across the narrow path, the thud of their hooves echoing dimly in the shallow dales.

They would slow their horses and trot them every few hours, every once in a while slowing them into a walk. "I love my horses," the merchant said, touching his black horse's neck, and rubbing it. "I do not want them injured or to become lame. The boy is not worth the price."

"I would have thought the necklace would have been though," the servant said.

The merchant sighed, persed his lips and said, "But no horses can replace this one."

Near noon they came to a river and the merchant saw a group of people underneath an elm tree. There were two men, a boy, and two young women. The boy was skipping pebbles on the river, a few feet from the main group. He was strong and wiry, and had an air of cocky confidence about him. "There is the boy," the merchant whispered.

The boy turned, saw them, and with a shout dashed away, following the river upstream. Driving his heels into his stallion's ribs, the merchant thundered after the the boy. The horse quickly gained upon Aeron, who swerved away and began to splash through the shallows of the river. With a grunt, the merchant hurled himself from the back of his horse and barrelled into Aeron, knocking into the river.

By now, the party under the elm tree had sprinted foward and the servant had dashed between him and the merchant, a short dagger drawn. The merchant, twisting Aeron's arm behind his back said, "I want to know why you took a known thief under your wing...and I want weregild for the merry goose chase you have led me."