My assignment...

The sentence to include: "You want any help just say so." The sentence this time can be anywhere in the story, it doesn't have to be first.
Four things to include: An inn, a deer, a casket of jewels, a thunderstorm
Character to include: Sam.

A Bad Day Gone Good

"Nibs! What do you think you’re doing?" cried Sam in obvious distress.

"I’m helping, what does it look like?" Nibs calmly replied.

"It looks like you’re pulling out all Mr. Frodo’s flowers is what it looks like."

Nibs looked down at the mangled blossom in his hand. "These scrawny little things? These be nothing but clover. Ma has me pulling me out of her vegetable garden all the time."

"Yes, well your mum’s weeds also be Mr. Frodo’s flowers. He happens to like them and feels that a bed of them looks nice."

Nibs looked at Sam with an expression that spoke volumes about what he thought of Sam and his master’s idea of an attractive garden and not any of it was polite so he spoke not a word. He just knelt back down and started replanting the ‘flowers’.

Nibs Cotton was a nice boy. Many folk about Hobbiton and Bywater could agree on that fact. In fact if you should ask anyone who knew Nibs what they thought of the young lad they would likely say something along the lines of, ‘Aye, I know young Nibs. He’s a nice lad. He means well.’

It is that ‘means well’ that was the most distinctive mar on Nibs otherwise good character. Nibs was the youngest child of Tom and Lily Cotton. When he was born he was named Carl but his father who had a habit of bestowing nicknames on his children as soon as possible had taken to calling his youngest son ‘Nibs’ on account that he was the smallest baby Lily had given birth to. "Why Lily, my love, this lad is so small as to be nothing more than a nib." So the nickname was bestowed and perhaps sadly it stuck.

The funny thing with nicknames is that often they can greatly influence the way the bearer of the name behaves and thinks. Nibs’ older brother, Wilcome, was a happy baby, almost from birth he was smiling, so ol’ Tom quickly took to calling that son by the name of ‘Jolly’. The lad took great delight in the moniker and did his level best to live up to it by being cheerful as often as he could. Nibs didn’t feel quite as fond of his nickname. When he was still not more than a faunt he decided that he no longer cared for being thought of as small and wanted to be known for something a bit more positive. He gave it careful consideration and observed what was praised and admired in those around him. His oldest brother, Young Tom, was thought well of because he was a hard worker. Nibs asked his mother and father if there were any chores that he might be able to do. He was quickly given the task of feeding the chickens and the barn cats and helping to harvest the vegetable garden when things were ripe.

Nibs’ sister Rosie was praised for being pretty and thoughtful of others. Nibs didn’t know that he could do much for being pretty but he noticed that Rosie always kept her hair neat, washed her face and hands often and kept her clothes clean. Nibs did his best to follow Rosie’s example but the truth was, dirt really didn’t bother him all that much so he had a difficult time remembering to wash it off. And as for his hair, well he couldn’t see it so it was hard to know if it needed combing. Being thoughtful like Rosie seemed like it ought to be fairly easy, and it was when Nibs first set out on his campaign to improve his image. Volunteering to fetch hammers for his da or scissors for his mum was not at all difficult and he even got so that sometimes he could anticipate what a person wanted but not often.

Jolly was, as has been said, jolly. Nibs found this to be particularly difficult as there was quite a bit in his young life that he found frustrating. And though his efforts to make himself better thought of were earning him some of the praise he wished for, he was still thought of too much of being nothing more than being but a nib of a hobbit. That sort of thing did nothing to brighten his disposition. Nibs started to suspect that folks older than him were not all that bright. Nibs decided that if he couldn’t always be cheerful then he could strive to be patient at least.

Nick, or Bowman as he was called on formal occasions or when he was in trouble for something, got his nickname by being born the day before First Yule or just ‘in the nick of time’. Nick was mostly known for being particularly enthusiastic of the Yule holiday, and spent much of his time the rest of the year looking out for things that made him think of it. There wasn’t much of Nick that Nibs felt he could emulate to distinction but Nibs didn’t care. What really mattered to him was that Nick wasn’t that much older so he was happy to have Nibs as a playmate and that made Nibs feel less like a nib.

There was one thing Nibs didn’t understand, and that was that a good deal of the reason why he was seen as being small was that for a hobbit he was on the slim side, which was unusual for his family who tended to be robust and sturdy. This isn’t to say that Nibs was weak. He was a strong lad. And he seemed possessed of a near boundless energy. With his lean build he could run faster and farther than many. He could keep up with all of his efforts to be the very best of hobbits and still have more than enough energy for more normal activities of a young lad that were frequently considered punishment earning mischief. To maintain such energy a hobbit has to eat quite a bit and Nibs could often eat more than his oldest brother Tom. When a hobbit eats such large quantities and still remains lean folks are going to take notice. This particular eccentricity of Nibs’ reinforced the correctness of his nickname in the minds of others. But Nibs didn’t really understand that for a long time and by the time he did his habits taken on to be more like his siblings had long since become personal traits of his own.

Now that you know a bit more of Nibs we can go back to where this tale started. On the day that Nibs decided to help Sam Gamgee with "weeding" the garden of Bag End our young friend was finding it particularly difficult to be all that he wanted to be. That morning he had been working on cleaning out the cow byre when he slipped in some cow dung and fell, hitting his head heard on the stone floor of the barn and was knocked unconscious for several minutes. He only awakened when Young Tom came in and found Nibs lying on the floor looking for all the world as though he were taking a nap, though in a somewhat odd place. Young Tom quickly fetched a bucket of water from the rain barrel and threw the water on Nibs. Nibs started and spluttered and was greeted with his brother scolding him. "Wake up you lazy louse and get moving quick like or you’ll be doing Jolly’s chores as well as your own." Nibs was crestfallen. The situation was not his fault but he knew that if he told the truth to Young Tom the tale would not be believed. Nibs did the only thing he could; he worked as hard and fast as he could to get his chores done quicker than usual and hoped that his brother would think better of him for it.

Later that same morning when it was time for second breakfast Nibs wasted no time in washing up and going into the house for the meal. Once inside he took a moment to look about and see what he might be able to do to get the meal on the table. Second breakfast was the larger of the two breakfasts of the day in the Cotton house as well as most farming homes. The first was generally a bit of bread and cheese with coffee or tea to drink to stave off the hunger pangs of the hobbit who was needed outside to milk the cows and other such chores that needed done first thing in the morning. Second breakfast was a large meal that the whole family would sit down to the table for and take their time over having earned it with a couple of hours of hard work already under their belts. On this particular morning Nibs came into the house to find that the plates and eating utensils still needed to be laid out on the table. Without a word to anyone Nibs went to the cupboard where such things were stored and gathered up a stack of plates and bowls and started to carry them to the table, feeling good that he didn’t need to be told to tend to what obviously needed to be done. Misfortune was to befall our friend again. The family house cat happened to decide that it was the perfect moment to show some affection for the youngest member of the Cotton family and she sauntered up to him, unnoticed by Nibs to rub up against the hobbit’s legs. This show of affection tripped Nibs up. He managed to keep his footing but not the dishes he carried. They fell to the floor where many of them shattered.

"Nibs Cotton, it is too much to ask for you to be careful when carrying the dishes?" Scolded his mother.

"But Mum, the cat..."

"No ‘buts’ you need to learn to be more careful. Now step lively and get this mess cleaned up and be sure you get every little shard. I don’t want to find you missed one by stepping on it and cutting my own foot open."

Nibs hung his head and sighed heavily, "Yes, Mum."

After breakfast Nibs was sent to town to take care of a few errands for his mother. One of them being to Halfred Potter’s to order replacements of the dishes he had broken that morning. Normally Nibs enjoyed doing little errands for his mother but for this one he had been forced to take pocket money he had been saving for the Lithe Fair to pay for the dishes he had broken. That meant there would be far fewer sweets for him to stuff himself on at this year’s fair and he had been hoping to maybe buy a new dagger from the dwarf that came every year to sell knives and such things as a hobbit would use.

After tending to all that his mother had sent him out to do Nibs decided that a visit to Beg End to see Sam would be just the thing to cheer him up. Sam was always seemed happy to see Nibs and showed him considerable kindness and understanding. Likely because Sam was the youngest son in his family as well. Sam understood that for some reason the youngest sons always had a difficult time of measuring up.

Sadly, as we have read before, Nibs visit with Sam didn’t go all that much better than anything else that morning. After replanting Mr. Frodo’s ‘flowers’ to Sam’s satisfaction Nibs decided to leave before he could cause any more damage.

Upon leaving Bag End, Nibs let his feet lead him where they would. At one point they found a pinecone and started to kick that along ahead of him. He didn’t feel in any particular rush to go home. On days like this where he felt like that there was little he could do right he found it best to make himself scarce. He knew he could get a way with that much as the chores he was able to help with were done and his mum and da believed that children ought to have some time to play, so the afternoon was his. The puffy white clouds of the morning gave way to heavy dark clouds and the wind started to kick up but Nibs ignored it in favor of ambling along with the pinecone. The pinecone didn’t appear to mind and he seemed to be doing well with this task. He kicked the pinecone ahead of him then counted how many steps it took him to reach the pinecone.

Kick

One Two Three Four Five

Kick

One Two Three Four Five Six

Kick

One Two Three Four

"Well it’s a sad day when a sturdy hobbit lad won’t even glance at a stranger in need on the roadside, let alone offer some assistance. I guess hobbits aren’t what they used to be."

Nibs turned around to see he had managed to walk right by a grumpy looking dwarf. Nibs wasn’t in much of a good mood himself and had quite enough of people assuming the worst about him that day and he sort of forgot his manners at that point. "If you want any help just say so. You’re about the fourth person to assume the worst of me today and I have had quite enough. I am as willing to be of assistance as any right-minded hobbit would be but I just didn’t happen to see you there. Is it my fault you look more like great stone than proper thinking person?"

The dwarf started to laugh, "Well you’re a spirited one. My apologies young master. I ought not to have assumed the worst of you as you put it. Now let me ask you, laddy, can you help an old dwarf out?"

Nibs looked at the dwarf, then around the surrounding area, puzzled that he could find nothing obviously amiss. "I am at your service, Master Dwarf, what assistance may I give you?"

"Right! Yes! As it happens I turned off the road here down a little track that I happen to know leads to a small cave where I plan to wait out the coming storm."

"Storm?" queried Nibs.

"Yes, storm, boy. Surely you’ve noticed the clouds overhead and the wind picking up. My kind may dwell in caves but we know when a right wicked storm is coming. And I assure you that in about half an hour anybody with any sense is going to be hunkered into a good shelter."

Nibs looked up at the sky. He paused a moment to take notice of the wind and to get a good feel of the air surrounding him. He was a bit embarrassed that he had not noticed it earlier; the old dwarf was right, there was indeed a bad storm coming. To confirm his new awareness there was a rumble of thunder, and a deer went running by into the nearby woods, running towards where Nibs knew the trees were especially dense and likely to offer shelter to such a woodland creature. "I believe you are right."

"Of course I’m right. Now as I was saying I turned down a lane heading for shelter, just me, my cart and my pony, Buttercup. But as we were making our way down that little track one wheel on my cart went into a mud hole that happens to be a lot deeper than it looks and now my cart won’t budge. Now I can heft the cart up enough so that Buttercup can pull it forward but I need someone to guide Buttercup forward so as she knows it’s all right to move. You could do that much couldn’t ye?"

"Of course, I’d be glad to," asserted Nibs, hoping that he would not find mishap in this venture too.

"Well then let’s get onto it. This storm won’t be coming on gradual nor light."

"May I know your name?"

"Oh yes, of course, I’m known as Tawlin."

"It is a pleasure to meet you Master Tawlin. I’m Nibs Cotton."

"Pleasure to meet you, Nibs."

Young hobbit boy and old dwarf set off side by side a few paces up the road, then turning into the trees down a barely discernable track. Pleasantries and speculation made up conversation between the new acquaintances. All the while Nibs was giving some thought as to how he could help Tawlin and still get home before the storm hit. Even at a good run it would take him at least a quarter of an hour to reach home and he doubted he would have ten minutes to make the trip once Tawlin’s cart was set to rights.

They turned a bend, then the track wandered its way along the base of a low limestone cliff face. A little way ahead there was a pony cart that wasn’t much bigger than what the hobbit farmers used. The cart was sitting quite lopsided with the right hand wheel, furthest from the stone face, sunk down into several inches of thin mud.

"Well, there she is," announced Tawlin. The two walked up to examine the sunken wheel. Without a word Nibs knelt down and stuck his hand into the mud in front of the wheel. "You’ve got some stone blocking the wheel too. That wouldn’t do anything for making pulling out of the mud hole easy," observed Nibs with a touch of understatement.

"Right you are, lad. I noticed that myself. Buttercup found the sudden, hard stop to be a bit distressing," agreed Tawlin also making a small show of understatement.

"I suppose I ought to go around and introduce myself to Buttercup," said Nibs, "so that she knows it’s all right to follow along with me."

Buttercup was a fine looking pony, or at least Nibs thought so. She had a glossy black coat and a long mane, some of which hung down over the top of her head to obscure her large eyes. Oddly enough, Buttercup had a series of bright yellow satin bows tied up in her mane, in a neat line down the back of her neck. Nibs wouldn’t have thought a dwarf would care to have his pony ornamented in such a way. "Hello there Buttercup," he said, offering his hands for her to snuffle. "I’m Nibs and I am going to be guiding you as you pull this cart to more solid ground. Is that all right with you?" Buttercup snorted and butted him in the shoulder as if to say ‘go on with it, then.’.

"All right then, as long as we are agreed." Nibs stepped to one side and called back to Tawlin. "We’re ready now. Give her a lift."

Nibs had heard that dwarves were possessed of amazing strength but he had never seen one demonstrate. He watched as Tawlin leaned back against the cart. Then he set his feet firmly beneath him, grabbed the lower edge of the cart with both hands and finally pushed up with his legs and all his might. The heavy cart slowly tilted up then onto the other wheel.

Nibs knew his cue when he saw it. He grabbed hold of Buttercup’s bridle and gave a bit of a tug. "C’mon now, lass, it’s time we did our part. Follow along with me and we will have you and your cart moving smoothly along again." Buttercup bobbed her head once then took a firm business-like step forward followed by another.

Four steps and Tawlin called out, "Whoa now, we got it out!"

Nibs looked up at Tawlin as came forward. "That was rather impressive," said Nibs. His voice was calm but his eyes were rather large around.

"Take to moving around large stones as I do, young Nibs, and you will one day be a solid hefty hobbit. Likely need to eat a bit more too, I think I see a bone or two peeking out."

Nibs snorted, "I already eat more than my two oldest brother’s combined."

Tawlin squinted down at Nibs, "That so. Humph. Well, I suppose there is a lot I don’t understand of hobbits. Though you’re right decent folk," he said with single firm nod.

A loud crash of thunder startled the two companions. Lightning crackled across the sky. A strong gust of wind ripped through the surrounding trees.

"Well, come along, Nibs lad. The cave is just up ahead a little way. I think you had best stay with Buttercup and me. With a wind as cold as that, we are going to have hail at any minute."

Nibs didn’t argue. He picked up his feet and ran to keep up with Tawlin and Buttercup’s fast trot. Within a few minutes Tawlin was ushering Nibs into a cave, the opening of which was obscured by some brush and vines. "I never knew this was here!" exclaimed Nibs as he tried to look about him in the dim light from the opening.

"Aye, you’re not really supposed to, lad. Dwarves have been keeping this place hidden from the hobbits for a long time now," replied Tawlin as he went about the business of lighting a torch that Nibs had not been able to see was mounted on the wall.

Nibs frowned in puzzlement. "Why ever for?"

"So that we have a place to stay when passing through your fair land."

"Well why not stay at one of the Inns? The Green Dragon is quite cozy," persisted Nibs.

Tawlin took the torch down off the wall and used it to light some logs that had already been laid out for a fire. "Because as mannerly as hobbits are a lot of them are skittish of strangers. Likely because most folks in the world are quite a bit bigger than the largest one of you is. Dwarves have a high respect for the hobbits, we sort of feel that there is something about the lot of you that is special and ought not be trifled with. So we go along with your people’s own instincts and we keep a bit of a distance. Few of us come to The Shire and those of us that do always stay in little caves such as this away from your kind. The only time that dwarves have stayed in a hobbit dwelling is when dwarves came to call on that Master Thief, Bilbo Baggins."

Nibs shrugged and started to free Buttercup from the cart after taking notice of a sort of stall at the back of the cave. "Why then come to the Shire at all?"

Tawlin took some straw from a pile and laid it out to shape up two pallets as he answered. "Well, there are certain things that only hobbits can provide, such as the best quality pipeweed. Then there was something that our master once said."

"Your master? Who is your master? What did he say?" Nibs had a suspicion that his new friend may have said more than he was supposed to. Tawlin affirmed this suspicion when he immediately started to intensely busy himself with rummaging about inside his cart before muttering his response. "Not important, that."

Nibs shrugged, then continued on with settling Buttercup in. From outside the cave came the sound of torrential rain and hail and the sky grew even darker. Nibs found it hard to believe that it was only late in the afternoon on an early summer day. Tawlin hauled out a pile of folded blankets from the back of the cart. "Well, Nibs lad, unless I am mistaken this storm is not likely to let up until well after dark. I think you had best stay here with Buttercup and me though I suspect your family will be fretting for you."

"My mum will, but only a little. They knew I was likely to be out and about until dinnertime, visiting with friends. They will assume that I am staying with one of them but Mum will still worry a bit that I was caught outdoors when the storm hit."

Together dwarf and hobbit set up camp, prepared then shared a meal, all the while telling one another of themselves. Tawlin sympathized with Nibs’ struggles to measure up to his older siblings and to be seen as more than just a ‘nib’ of a hobbit. Tawlin admitted that he had no specific business bringing him to The Shire at that time, he just happened to enjoy passing through when he was on his way elsewhere.

"So where is it you are headed?" asked Nibs.

"I’m on my way to Bree to see a man about some jewels," replied Tawlin with a puff of his pipe.

"Jewels! Well! Are you buying them or selling them?" Nibs asked excitedly.

"I’m selling them of course. Dwarves have no reason to buy what they can pull from the earth anytime they have a wish to."

"Can I see them? I have never looked at jewels up close or touched them."

Tawlin chuckled. The lad’s eyes were bright as sapphires in their excitement. "Very well, laddy, so you shall." Tawlin pushed himself up off the ground and went over to the cart and started to rummage around in it. Nibs wondered, not for the first time, what was being pulled about in that cart. "Ah, here it is," called Tawlin then grunted as he lifted a smallish casket from the cart. In the fire and torch light Nibs could see that the casket was made of oak reinforced with burnished iron bands. The wood was carved with angular designs that Nibs knew were usual to things dwarf made but he had never seen designs as elaborate as these. On the front of the casket there were seven raised copper shapes. Tawlin pushed on them one at a time in a random seeming sequence. Each one slid inwards, then with the last one Nibs heard a click then the lid of the casket lifted ever so slightly. "Come on over and take a seat next to me, boy, so that you have the light of the torch helping you to see better."

Nibs did as he was told. Once settled companionably next to Tawlin, the grizzled grey dwarf lifted the lid of the casket. Nibs gasped, as it appeared that a riot of colored flame burst from the open casket. "Now there’s something I don’t see everyday!" breathed Nibs.

Tawlin chuckled, "No, lad, I don’t suppose you do. The good hobbits of this world don’t seem to set much of a store by such things as jewels. They’re pretty to look at but they don’t have much practical use for all their being highly prized by men, elves and dwarves."

Nibs frowned, "Why do all of you care for them so much, then? What do you do with them?"

Tawlin lifted a large rough cut ruby, that Nibs figured was about the size of both his fists put together, then held it up so that it alone could catch the firelight and shoot it back out in a mesmerizing way. "We, and by that I mean humans and elves as well as dwarf kind, we like to cut these stones into new shapes and combine them with things wrought of metal to make beautiful things, jewelry to be worn, ornamenting particularly special knives and swords. They have even been used to decorate our homes. The elves like to put them where sunlight can shine on and through them. Down in our underground cities jewels become our flowers, you get my meaning, young friend."

Nibs smiled at the blaze of color before him, "Yes I do, Tawlin. Yes I do."

The two friends whiled away several hours closely examining all of the jewels in the casket. Tawlin named off each kind and shared all he knew of them and described the places beneath the ground where he found them. After while Nibs yawned a large aching yawn, in his hand he clutched a sapphire the size of a walnut. "Well, my young friend, I think it is time that we turned in for the night. Don’t you?"

Nibs looked longingly down at the stone in his hand, "I suppose so."

Tawlin chuckled. "Go on with you, Nibs, and take that stone with you. It seems it has found a friend in you so it would not be right to take you from it."

"Really?" Nibs could hardly believe what he heard. "You really mean I can keep it? For always and everything?"

"‘For always and everything’ as you put it," laughed Tawlin.

Nibs jumped to his feet and impulsively gave the burly dwarf a hug. "Thank you, Tawlin. For the sapphire and... and... well and everything. I sure am glad that old cart got stuck. If you get my meaning."

"That I do, Nibs lad," returning the boy’s hug. "That I do."