Title: Trouble

Rating: G

Thank you Shirebound for looking these over for me!

Summary: Drabbles of various hobbit children getting into trouble. Written for Marigold’s Challenge 12. Write a story beginning with “ ! You come back here this instant!” Of course each incident begins with the starter. Enjoy!

“Frodo! You come back here this instant!” cried Primula as the lad ran off. She leaned against the doorway trying to make herself heard.

Frodo was a good lad, but like all lads he had a mischievous streak; this stage in his life just seemed to be lasting longer than any other. He had disappeared around the bend in the road with a pie in hand – a pie she had made especially for tonight’s dinner.

“Lads will be lads,” she muttered with a smile; after all, he wouldn’t be young forever, he should enjoy it while he still could.

~~~~~~

“Merry! You come back here this instant!” shrieked Pervinca Took.

Merry laughed delightedly and danced away from the child, holding the baby doll just out of her reach. Merry didn’t have any of his own siblings, so he made do with his closest cousins – even though they were lasses, he got along remarkably well with them, except for when he was teasing them.

But when the little lass began to cry, Merry crouched down to her level and offered the doll back. Promising to never take the baby again, he helped her to dress it in a new frock.

~~~~~

“Peregrin Took! You come back here this instant!” called Eglantine, as her only son tried to flee the scene of his crime. “Apologize to your sisters now!”

Regretfully Pippin came back into the room. “Sorry, Nell, Vinca.” He wasn’t sorry for his actions just sorry he had been caught.

Nell glared at him, Vinca smiled but it promised revenge. Pippin met Pearl’s eye behind his sisters’ backs and she tipped him a wink; he never teased her. Both of the younger girls stalked off, one mad and the other vengeful; oh well he knew they’d forgive him as always.

~~~~~~

“Sam Gamgee! You come back here this instant!” called the Gaffer. “What do you mean by making a mess in Mr. Bilbo’s gardens?”

Not wanting to sound pert, Sam bowed his head and said nothing.

“You clean this mess up; there will be no lunch for you until everything is back in place!” the Gaffer continued to mutter as he left.

Sam went to work, carefully tending the flowers, removing the weeds as he went. Marigold began to work silently beside him. “Thank you for not telling, I didn’t mean to make a mess,” she whispered. Together they cleaned up.

~~~~~

“Faramir Took! You come back here this instant!” called Diamond. “Don’t track mud through the house! Gracious me, what did you do to your pants? No, take the dirty clothes with you! Then you had better tell me exactly what you were doing with Aunt Nell’s cat!”

She sank into a chair across from her husband. “He’s your son,” she sighed in exasperation.

The little lad bounded back into the room, now wearing dry clothes, and threw himself into his mother’s arms for a hug. Pippin looked up and smiled. Diamond smiled holding the lad close, “Most definitely your son.”

~~~~~

“Eleanor! You come back here this instant! You have not finished your chores yet!” But it was too late, the lass had already disappeared into the golden sunshine, book in hand.Rose sighed resignedly. Eleanor was a dreamer, and nothing could keep her inside on such beautiful days. It didn’t matter if she was only going out to read some fairy story (“much easier to imagine the things one reads if you are sitting on the grass or in a tree” she had said one day when trapped inside because of rain). Someday she would write her own fairy tales.