Part 3

Next day

“There,” said Haldir.

He was pointing, through a ragged line of trees, across the vast, white expanse to a low hill far in the distance. Eowyn, shielding her eyes against the glare, peered in the direction of his hand, and was disappointed, for she could see nothing but snow...

...

It had taken them a day and a half to find the place.

They had started out from Eryn Carantaur in a festive mood, and had spent a convivial night with Haldir’s friends at the little farmstead close to the Doro Lanthron road, but when they set off again, early that morning, something had changed.

Everybody’s spirits seemed low.

Even Gimli was silent.

…

Eowyn dismounted.

Her bag lay open: spread out, as though someone had searched it roughly, then tossed it aside. She picked it up and, with a heavy heart, felt for the djinn’s lamp.

“He is not here,” she said.

“I am so sorry, melmenya,” said Legolas.

He and Gimli had also dismounted, and were crouching beside her, examining a set of tracks which, although more than a day old, could still be read.

“Someone beat us to it,” said Gimli.

“A horseman,” said Legolas. “He entered the clearing from the east,”—he nodded towards the Mountains of Shadow—“paused here for a while, to examine the bag, then left, travelling north-west.” He rose gracefully, and wrapped a comforting arm around Eowyn’s shoulders.

“What shall we do?” she asked, scanning the plain as though the mysterious rider might still be visible.

Legolas glanced at Haldir.

He had been planning, once they had recovered the djinn, to spend a few hours finding out more about the strange stories Eowyn had told them on the previous day, and now he was considering sending the March Warden—with Gimli, if the dwarf were willing—to investigate, whilst he and Eowyn went after the stranger.

But something—a tiny, niggling sense of foreboding—made him decide against it.

“We will follow his trail, melmenya,” he said. “And, when we find him, we will offer him a generous reward for a lamp that has so much sentimental value for us.”

…

“He is heading for the Caras Arnen Road,” said Eowyn, some time later.

Legolas had been thinking exactly the same thing, and he had been struck by the efficiency with which the man was navigating his way across the plain—for he was sure, now, that it was a Man.

He is like, he thought, one of Master Eldacar’s ingenious machines.

Relentless...

Haldir rode up beside him. “This route will take us past Ayleth’s cousin’s farm. Perhaps we should stop there”—he glanced at Eowyn—“and spend the night under his roof.”

There was a note of anxiety in the March Warden's voice which Legolas recognised; it seemed that Haldir was feeling the same unease as himself.

“Yes,” he replied. “That is a good idea.”