Untitled - BoG-Archive

“I cannot spot them; can you see any trace of them?”
Faramir shook his head in response.
“Then we must search… down the hill. They would have been pushed
down more from here.”
“I think you are right. Take care, though; it is said that oftentimes more
snow will tumble after the first, and it may happen at any moment,” Faramir
said, catching his brother’s arm before he started away. “And we must work
quickly for their sakes as well as our own. They will not live long under the
snow, if they still live at all.”
They separated, weaving through the deep tumbled drifts, each poking his
staff far under the snow, seeking with every step, feeling for something other
than hard stone beneath.
Minutes flew by. Faramir was no longer in sight. Would they find either of
the men alive, or find them at all? Boromir wondered. It seemed unlikely, but that
mattered little. They would search the whole mountainside if they must.
Just as he thought this, the end of his staff met something soft. His heart
leapt. Throwing the staff aside he began to dig in the snow frantically. The thin
leather of his gloves did little against the sharp ice fragments and the seeping
cold, and his fingers were soon numbed of all feeling, but he did not notice. He
tore through the snow, tossing it aside in great handfuls. It was thickly packed
and heavy, and by the time he had dug down a couple of feet he was fully
exhausted by the effort, but would not pause even to breathe. At last he stood in
a cleft up to his chest, and the man’s feet were uncovered. As gingerly as he
could, he cleared more snow away and pulled.
He had at last freed the man… but no breath steamed from his mouth, and
the snow beneath him was much too red. Boromir slumped down against the
snow for a moment, his mind blank of any thoughts that he could later
remember. He could hear his heart thudding in his chest as he pulled himself out
of the pit. He felt he was moving slowly, too slowly.
Retracing his steps he sought Faramir, and found him in a flurry of
digging. Wordlessly, he dropped to his knees and helped.
Without pausing, Faramir glanced over at him. “What did you find?” he
asked, already sure of the answer just by the look on Boromir’s face.
“Hador. Beyond any rescue,” Boromir breathed heavily, jaw clenched. “It
would not be right to… bring back what is left of him. We will build him a cairn
of snow, after this.”
They continued digging in silence.
A hand suddenly burst from the snow below them.
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