Part 12

It did not take a tracker to read the signs.

The Reeve and his men had not followed Belecthor to the derelict barn; instead, they had veered off to the east, taking a narrow deer trail. “In about a quarter of a mile,” said the young woodsman, crouching beside the footprints, “this joins the forest road the second cart will have taken.”

Legolas swore, softly. “Then the Reeve will reach the abductors before we do. We must hurry!”

The trio set off at a swift pace, with Belecthor leading the way.

“Lassui,” said Eowyn, as they ran either side of the muddy path, “this means that the Reeve must already know where the people who took Arador are hiding.”

They leaped over a puddle.

“Yes, Melmenya,” replied Legolas. “And I do not think that the villains want a ransom—in fact, I fear they want revenge.”

They ran in silence for a few moments. Then Eowyn said, “But they could not have known that they would find Arador beside the stream.”

“No. That must have seemed like a gift from the Valar.”

Belecthor suddenly turned right, and they followed him, out onto the forest road, where a muddle of fresh footprints, sharply outlined in the mud, overlay a set of cart tracks.

“Do you have any idea where they might be going?” Legolas asked the young man.

“There is a mine,” replied Belecthor, “up by Amon Hill. It’s not been used since the dark days, but those are the only buildings I know of in this part of the forest.”

“Do you know a quicker way there?”

Belecthor cast a glance at Eowyn. “We can climb the Ambenn Rocks, my Lord, but—”

“I can manage,” said Eowyn.

They cut back into the forest, and soon found themselves at the foot of a steep escarpment. Belecthor ran up the rocks on all fours, as sure as a mountain goat; Legolas sent Eowyn up behind him. “Watch where he puts his hands and feet, Melmenya and do exactly the same.”

Eowyn scrambled up the rock face; Legolas followed close behind her.

“I have been thinking, Lassui,” panted Eowyn, as she climbed. “A mine—might that not be—where the blue comes from?”

“What is mined in this place?” Legolas called to Belecthor.

“Salt, my Lord,” he said, “and other things.” He had gained the summit, and he reached down and, grasping Eowyn’s arm, helped her up the final few feet. “There, my Lord, my Lady,” he said, “is the mine.” He pointed across the valley.

Legolas come up beside his wife, and they both gasped at what they saw.