The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey Edition (IN EDITING)

7. Roast Mutton

“Mr Gandalf, can’t you do something about this deluge?” Dori yelled from across the company. It was pouring from the sky. It wet their clothes and made them cold and shivering. The sky had turned dark and grey with lots of thick clouds, and the ground had gotten muddy and wet. It would be easy to sink into with their feet.

After a night of rest they had once again gotten up onto their horses and kept on going on the unsure path.

“It is raining, Master Dwarf, and it will continue to rain until the rain is done”, Gandalf yelled back, straddling his white horse that had gotten soaked from the rain. The wizard found it really easy to see with the help from the screen that rounded his grey hat.

Bilbo frowned to the wet rain droplets that ran their way down under his shirt. Bofur’s pipe had gotten wet down as he tried to smoke it, obviously it did not work. The rest of the dwarves had either let the rain drip down on their heads and soak their hair and beard, or they had thrown a hood over their heads, if they had one on their capes.

Aria was not even bothered by the rain, but she turned her face up towards the sky and let the rain drip all over her face with her eyes softly closed shut. Thorin watched her every once in a while from the corner of his eye. Aria did not mind it but just kept her face up against the sky, smiling. “If you wish to change the weather of the world you should find yourself another wizard”, Gandalf continuingly yelled over his shoulder and Dori muttered grumpily to himself. His short beard was soaked by the rain, as well as his hood that he had thrown over his head. It wasn’t enough with protection; the fabric was thin and widely sown together.

Bilbo blinked speedily to be able to see anything between his soaked fringes that was dripping down onto his face. He was hunching his back over his pony’s stately and long neck in a way of protecting the rest of his body from the rain.

“Are there any?” asked Bilbo.

“What?”

“Other wizards?” Bilbo retort.

“There were five of us. The greatest of our order is Saruman – the white. Then there are the two blue wizards…” Gandalf made a pause. Bilbo scowled when the paused had gotten too long. “Well, I have quite forgotten their names”, he said after a while sincerely and Bilbo made a half nod,

“And… who is the fifth?”

“Well, that would be Radagast – the brown.” Gandalf smiled damply as he remembered the odd man that he used to know long ago.

Bilbo shivered a little as some of the cold droplets made their way inside of Bilbo’s shirt.

“Is he a great wizard, or is he… more like you.”

Gandalf cocked his eyebrows and looked over his shoulder at the hunching hobbit. He was not offended just surprised. He grasped the reins a bit tighter and sighed.

“I think he is a very great wizard – in his own way. He is a gentle soul who prefers the company of animals to other. He keeps a watchful eye over the forest lands to the east” Gandalf continued to explain to Bilbo who just nodded and looked down at his pony’s neck. The rain was starting to make him cold and the shivers were starting to spread throughout his body.

Aria pushed back her wet strands of hair that had fallen over her damp face, she let go of her horse’s reins and laid down with her back over the white horse and let the rain fall over her brown leather dress and bare thighs. The horse did nothing but kept on walking, rocking its body from side to side. Her head carefully turned around to see what Aria was doing and neighed soundly. Aria stroked the velvety muzzle of the horse and her head turned back around again. Fili and Kili that was riding on either side of her smirked towards her and did exactly the same; they let go of their ponies’ rains and laid their hard backs down over their horses. Aria reached out both of her hands towards the two dwarf brothers and they willingly took them. They had made like a chain with the three horses walking right next to each other.