Dain's post
Fréa looked over at Hama and glared. "Today we'll stick together. I want no one running off on hare-brained errands and getting in trouble. We need to pick up a supply or two. More importantly, we need to keep our eyes and ears open to see if there is any sign of Brytta or his companions."
Fréa and his brothers trailed in and out of stores, filling up their saddlebags with needed supplies while Hama walked alongside Archim. There was little enough to buy in a poor settlement such as this. A look around suggested that things were definitely tight in this run-down excuse for a hamlet.
Fréa asked a few questions of people milling about the street, but with little results. The villagers merely shrugged their shoulders and indicated they'd seen no travellers who fit the description he'd given them. As the party came near the middle of what passed for a market square, the two brothers and Hama disappeared into a shop selling spirits while Fréa continued ambling further up the street.
It was then that he saw him. Fréa could not initially tell exactly who he was. But his dress and stride clearly marked him out as an outsider and, even more, as a man of Rohan. The fellow was stopped in a public square lifting a ladle of water to his lips, having stopped for a moment at one of Fornost's public wells.
Fréa crept up as close as he dared and was stunned by what he saw. Standing in front of him, no more than ten feet away, was the familiar figure of Aldwulf. He looked once, and then again to make sure that he was seeing things correclty, but always with the same results. The man was clearly Aldwulf.
Sprinting back towards the shop where he had last seen his brothers, he tugged impatiently at Graitwa's sleeve, all his personal anger and impatience dissolving as he considered the possibility of victory and freedom looming just ahead.
"Come now, quickly lead your horses through the street. I have seen Aldwulf no more than fifty paces from here, stopping at a public well to take some water. He gives no heed to his surroundings or those about him. I believe we can follow cautiously as long as we keep a fair distance between us."
Fréa grinned with pleasure. Perhaps Aldwulf was fool enough to lead them to Brytta's encampment. Perhaps tonight, they would attack the camp and all his troubles would be ended, so that he could return to Edoras and get the promotion he deserved. With these positive thoughts, Fréa guided his brothers and Hama out into the roadway.
[ September 09, 2003: Message edited by: piosenniel ]
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