The Menacing Case of the Marish Wolfpack
(Being a confidential report from Lancogard North-took to Bounder Primstone of the Northfarthing Watch)
THE SHIRRIFF-HOUSE, STOCK, Eastfarthing in the Shire, on this the 13th day of Wedmath:
My Dear Roliman:
Yes, I know you’ve told me not to be informal in correspondence, but I’m writing to you of a matter that’s becoming more alarming with each passing day. When I took the temporary assignment for the Eastfarthing Office, I thought it was going to be a simple matter of keeping the watch and handling small things – but the size and scope of the incidents that have surfaced in the last week is disturbing to say the least.
Two nights past, after I closed the case involving Odo Bolger (see my previous case files), there was a startling event here in Budgeford: a pack of wolves came running at breakneck speed through the center of town! Eyewitnesses report the pack simply came at a full run down the main street, passing by hobbits without attacking or molesting in any way, and headed west into the hills north of the Water by Frogmorton.
Well, that started the investigation. I began by interviewing the eyewitnesses, and all accounts put the pack as starting this run from the ruined walls northeast of Bridgefields. All accounts also agreed that the wolves harmed not a living thing, hobbit nor beast, in their wild run through town. So, I armed myself and set out for a hunt near the ruins and pulled up by Milo and Linda Bolger’s farm. The Bolgers were very helpful with news of what goes on there, so I was able to approach the ruins – and found an entire pack of the beasts holed up within the walls! I was able to thin out the pack a little, bagging three or four of them before seeing more of them roaming Puddifoot’s acres. After bringing down a few more, the pack started to scatter in the direction of the Brandywine, following the river back north.
Now upon my return from the hunt, I spoke with the Bolgers once more. While we agreed that thinning the pack was all to the good, it still didn’t answer the question as to why the pack raced through town in the first place. At this point, Linda spoke up, mentioning that while she was away on errands south in the Marish, she spied a wolf at the summit of the Yale, an enormous beast that was digging around the ruins – and let out such a howl that she fled in terror back home, just in time to be frightened by the wolf run.
That was my next clue. I rode to the top of the Yale to see what might be found, and there were wolf-tracks all over the heights, of a size I had never seen before – and a patch of turned dirt which had buried a collar! A strange collar it was, huge and inscribed with runes I had never seen before. When I returned to the Bolgers and showed it to them, all agreed that whatever beast wore this collar was as large as a draft-pony – but the runes were a mystery, until Linda suggested I seek out one of the Elves who camp in the hills above Woodhall; perhaps one of them might be willing to help.
Now Rolo, I know, seeking help from Outsiders isn’t looked upon kindly, but this was rapidly turning into a crisis; and I guess I wanted to see Elves again myself, but that’s another story. It just so happens that, as I approached the crest of the ridge above Woodhall, there was indeed an Elf encamped there and he was willing to help with the situation. It seems that the collar was a mark of servitude, put upon a wolf-chief by some master; and the wolf’s name was Laugfût, actually a Warg! If this beast removed its collar, it may be striking out on its own without a master.
This got me thinking that the night that this Laugfût got its collar off was the same night of the commotion at the ruins and the wolf-race. It all fit together: the warg freed itself from whoever owned it before and took over the Bridgefield pack, fighting with any who opposed it; the wolves that ran through Budgeford were the defeated tribe and hightailed it out for other parts. The danger to the whole district was now worse than ever! Well, there was nothing for it. I armed up again and stalked the ruins once again, this time looking for not the whole pack, but just one.
And I found it – more than I bargained for! I had seen large-ish wolves in my time, but Laugfût was the biggest, meanest-looking wolf I ever laid eyes on or arrow to! Mind you, my bow is made of tough ash from the Greenfields, and draws a keen arrow, and it only takes one, maybe two arrows to bring down a wolf. But this? Not only did I shoot four arrows into its hide, but when it charged, I had to deliver the last blow with my long-knife! Scared I was, Rolo, and no mistake! But when the rest of the pack saw their leader fall, the others fell quiet and slunk away north, leaving the ruins as a pack and headed away.
So, there it is, we solved the Menacing Case of the Marish Wolfpack. As soon as this report is filed, I shall send a letter to Shirriff Smallburrow in Hobbiton warning him about the wolves who ran into the woods south of Overhill. I am also conferring with the Bounders here to get the word out: there are wolves in the Eastfarthing, and the Watch has to be alert for any more sightings and report them to the Shirriff-house without delay. We will have to be on the lookout for the pack that headed north in the direction of Scary; they may either join up with, or fight with the wolves already there, and that spells trouble.
I remain
Yours in Service to the Shire,
LANCOGARD
