Nell's hooves pounded upon the dirt road, carrying her master slumped in the saddle. A lone nightingale chirped a bar of sweet notes and there was a chorus of frogs singing raucously from a wood on the right. Laurie chided herself on being so sleepy, but the way to Hobbiton was much longer than she anticipated. Though she did not know its name, Laurie was following the Great East Road. She had already passed through Whitfurrows and Frogmorton, tiny hobbit villages, each window and door properly shut and barred for the night. At that very moment, Nell was passing the Three Farthing Stone, though it was too dark for Laurie to see.
Though used to long journeys, Laurie sighed and hoped it would be morning soon. It was never this cold in the South, she thought as her breath formed a cloud of frost. She urged Nell back into a canter and slept a little, letting her horse follow the road.
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