Several minutes later four Hobbits and a boy gathered with the supplies in the large room that was to be the campsite. "All right, Frodo, we have all the supplies. What next?" Halmir queried.

"Merry, you tell him. You know as well as I," replied Frodo.

"All right, Frodo. Master Halmir, first what we will do is get a fire started.

Sam, would you mind seeing to that? Your fires are the only ones that last long." Sam smiled and complied. "Right then, the rest of us will start with the tent. And, Frodo, it will not be right unless you direct this operation. Would you instruct us?"

Frodo sighed and resumed his position as Chief of the Campers. He and the other Hobbits created a gigantic circle of chairs. The largest blanket served as a roof, with smaller blankets hanging to the ground in between each chair, making walls. The "wall" that was closest to the large fireplace was tied to the side. A very thick "floor" was made of blankets and pillows so that each and every camper would have a comfortable night's sleep.

"What now?" asked Halmir, stretching himself out on the wonderfully soft floor of the indoor tent.

"Food!" cried Pippin.

Sam hid a chuckle.

"Not so soon, Pip, surely!" laughed Frodo.

"But of course!" Merry chimed in. "I’m hungry!"

At that moment there was a knock at the front door, and Sam hurried out of the Great Room to answer it.

A courier stood. Upon seeing Sam, he bowed low and held out a brown paper parcel. "From the King Elessar, he sends this to the Ringbearers, Sirs Meriadoc and Peregrine and Master Halmir."

"Thank you." Sam said, returning the courier’s bow. He trotted back to the camp-in, parcel in hand.

"What is it?" Frodo asked.

"Open it!" Halmir cried.

Frodo carefully opened the parcel. "It’s...seeds! Lots of them! But...what’s this?" Frodo pulled out a note written in the King’s hand.

"In the Common Tongue, the seeds are called popcorn. The Rangers often take it with them on their travels. It is light and filling and can be prepared quickly in a covered pan over an open fire. It is delicious with butter melted on it and salt. Enjoy your camp in. King Elessar."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" asked Pippin. "Let’s prepare the popcorn!"

"All right," Frodo said with a sigh. "As we are all as eager to taste it as you are, I see, we shall have it now. Who shall be in charge of cooking?"

"Not you!" cried Merry. "We all know what happens when *you* try and cook!"

"Merry, how could you?" cried Frodo in a tone of mock hurt, puckering his lower lip in a feigned pout that caused everyone to laugh.

"Oh, Frodo, that does look funny!" laughed Halmir.

"He’s a very good actor," observed Pippin.

"Aye, that he is!" exclaimed Sam.

"Do I hear the beginnings of a story?" asked Halmir.

Sam looked at Frodo as if to ask, ‘May I?’ and Frodo gave a nod of acquiescence. Sam cleared his throat and began. "Well, young master, the first winter Mr. Frodo was at Bag End Mr. Merry came for a visit around Yule. I’d done all my work that day, so Mr. Frodo asked me up to Bag End and we three lads went out to play in the snow. We got to fightin’ with some wooden swords Mr. Bilbo’d made for us…just pretending, you understand, and Mr. Merry came within an inch of landin’ a blow that would have cut off Mr. Frodo’s head if the sword had a-been real. Well, Mr. Frodo fell down moanin’ and groanin’, actin’ like he were wounded. I was scared. I thought he’d really been hurt. So I ran over and got down on my knees beside him and took his head in my lap. I didn’t see no blood, but I weren’t thinkin’, I reckon. Then Mr. Frodo pretended to die." A gasp from Halmir. "Then I was real frightened," Sam continued, "and so was Mr. Merry. We couldn’t get him to wake up, and he weren’t even breathin’. He didn’t even move when Mr. Merry tickled him. So Mr. Merry went runnin’ for Mr. Bilbo, and I stayed right by him, tryin’ to coax him awake. But when he didn’t come round I thought he was dead for sure, and by the time Mr. Merry got out there with Mr. Bilbo, I was blubbin’ like a baby. Then Mr. Frodo sat right up, laughin’, and hugged me till I got myself together, and kept sayin ‘I’m so sorry, Sam!’ Mr. Bilbo scolded him a bit for such a naughty prank, but as soon as it was over I thought it was funny."

Halmir laughed. "Oh, Frodo, you didn’t!"

"Yes, he did!" cried Merry. "And we lads only seven and nine years old! He frightened us out of our wits!"

"I said I was sorry!" Frodo pleaded.

"Are you going to talk for the rest of the evening, or are we going to make the popcorn?" asked Pippin.

"All right, all right!" laughed Merry. "But we still haven’t decided on a cook."

"Let Sam, if he will," suggested Frodo. "He’s a wonderful cook, and I seem to recall his having made a delightful coney stew at one time."

Sam blushed. "If you like, sirs."

"We would like, sir," Merry returned cheekily, handing Sam a pan and the popcorn.

Sam, finding himself appointed head cook, poured the strange-looking kernels into the pan with some butter and salt, covered it, and held it over the fire. The others sat in a semi-circle around the fireplace. For a while nothing happened, and then pops could be heard with growing frequency.

"Do you think it’s supposed to do that?" asked Pippin.

"Of course it is, you silly Took!" said Merry, giving his cousin a playful thump on the head. "It’s called popcorn, after all."

"Oh, right!" said Pippin, causing everyone to laugh.

"Oh, look!" cried Sam on removing the lid to peep at the corn. "That don’t look like any corn as I’ve ever seen."

Four pairs of eyes peered over his shoulder, and four voices exclaimed in wonder.

"It looks like snow!" cried Halmir. "I’ve heard of popcorn, of course, but I’ve never seen."

"The pan looks a bit full," said Sam. "Mr. Frodo, do you think as I ought to pour some off into a bowl to keep it from spilling?"

"I don’t know, Sam," replied Frodo, turning thoughtful. "Perhaps it’s supposed to look full? Aragorn didn’t say anything about pouring it off. Maybe we’d better leave it be."

Sam replaced the cover and waited, not voicing his own misgivings. The popping continued, and Merry and Pippin grew bored waiting for it to be ready. "How long do you suppose it takes?" Merry asked.

Sam turned to him. "Till all the kernels have…"

"Sam! Look to the corn!" cried Frodo, lunging forward.

But he was too late. The lid seemed to fly off the pan, and suddenly popcorn was in the air, in the fire, all about the tent-a veritable snowstorm. There were gasps of astonishment, cries of dismay, and a wail of "Oh dear!" from Sam, and then the storm subsided, settling onto the floor.

"Oh, I’m so sorry! It’s my fault!" cried Sam, fetching a bowl and beginning to clean up the mess.

"No, it isn’t, Sam," said Frodo. "I shouldn’t have told you not to pour it off. We ought to have listened to your good sense."

"Oh well, it’s still good anyway," said Pippin, picking a fluffy kernel off the floor and popping it into his mouth. "Mmmm! It’s delicious! Wish we had it in the Shire!"

"Stop eating and help us clean up!" Merry ordered.

"But it’s good! Why not just eat it off the floor?"

At that moment a small, furry body flew into the circle, the little mouth snatching at the corn.

"Oh no!" Frodo and Halmir cried at once. "Quick!" And the five campers all snatched up bowls and began scrambling to get the corn out of the path of the ferocious mad wolf, who promptly began to beg.

"Oh Frodo! What are we going to do with....." Pippin asked gesturing to the puppy who seemed to be everywhere at once, begging for food. She seemed to enjoy letting the Hobbits and lad get within a hair's breadth of her before hopping out of reach. Finally, Halmir got a hold of his puppy.

"Oh Frodo, can she stay with us tonight?" Halmir asked when they had all settled into a circle inside the tent.

"I, uh, suppose so." Frodo answered. "She might enjoy the stories."

"Stories?" Halmir queried.

"Oh yes! It's when we sit around and tell stories by the firelight. Mr. Frodo tells the best. But I think tonight we'll be telling some memories, so's you can get to know us and we can get to know you. Right, Mr. Frodo?" Frodo nodded.

"So, who goes first Frodo?"Halmir asked, stroking the now calm Ana’s back.

"We usually do youngest to oldest, but you're the youngest and we don't want to put you on the spot. So, Pip will go next and then we'll go in clockwise order, which would be Merry, then me, then you, Halmir, and last will be Sam, as our grand finale." Sam blushed at this. In the half light, Frodo could not tell for sure, but he fancied he noted some anxiety in young Halmir's face. When the boy realized he had fallen under Frodo’s shrewd gaze, he flashed Frodo a smile. Frodo returned it but did not stop worrying about him.

"Well, Pip, we're all waiting very patiently." Pippin sighed at his older cousin before proceeding.

"I remember a night when I went to stay at Brandy Hall. Frodo was there, too. And, I don't remember why we were all there, but it was in the spring time. Maybe some cousin or other was getting married, anyway..."

"Don't remember why? It was my birthday!" Merry interrupted indignantly.

"Oh, yes. Give me mercy. I was very young, remember? Besides, that's not what this story is about. As I was saying, Merry here, as the future head of Brandy Hall, was swept in the currents of relatives, letting Frodo get me all to himself." An exasperated sigh from both of his elder cousins. Pippin loved teasing them in such ways. "Anyway, Frodo was taking me on a tour of the grounds. When we came to the vineyards, we decided to explore them. It was very much fun. But then, we heard this barking and this *huge* dog was bounding towards us!" Pippin paused, his green eyes dancing. He had captured his audience. Frodo knew what was going to happen, of course, but he still loved to hear his cousin recount their adventures. Pippin continued, "Frodo took me in his arms and he ran as fast as could."

"And Pippin was no feather, I might ad!" Frodo commented.

"You can’t blame me, Fro. So we were running from this big dog, when Frodo fell." A gasp from Halmir. "The dog came right up to us, and...he took my biscuit!" Halmir and Merry laughed. "It wasn’t funny to me. But don’t worry, this story has a good ending. The dog ran away because all he had wanted was the biscuit. Frodo, who was very shaken, I might ad, took me home and then (this is the best part) I got *three* biscuits! Well, that’s my story."

"That was funny, Pippin. Storytelling must run in your family." Halmir said.

"Thank you, Halmir. But now, I believe it is our good Merry’s turn."

"Alright, alright. Let me think for half a moment. Hmm." Merry grew very serious as he searched his memory for a good story to tell Halmir. "I have one!" he exclaimed at length.

The other campers leaned forward to hear.

"It was before Bilbo left, and Frodo had Pippin and I over for a while. We decided to go exploring one day, and we took the that small forest just behind the Water. Frodo said he knew where we were going and how to get home, but I wasn’t so sure. So I decided to tie a piece of string to a branch right in front of the way we were supposed to get home; the road forked in that place. And sure enough, on our way home, Frodo says, ‘I...think...we are supposed to go...that way.’ I keep telling Frodo that I told him that he would get lost, and he kept denying that we were lost. Finally we came to the fork in the road, and I saw my piece of string. We made it home safely."

"And I will have all of you know, I could have found my own way home without Merry’s string." Frodo said. "Well, now I suppose it’s my turn." Everyone was by now munching happily on popcorn. All eyes were turned expectantly on Frodo. "Let’s see now. Ah! I’ve got an excellent one. My chore at Bag End has always been mowing the lawn. It was soon after Bilbo had left and Merry and Pippin were staying with me for a while. I assumed they could behave themselves for as long as it took to mow the lawn. When I was half way through, Sam comes over to me and informs me that Merry has disappeared. Sam is certainly not one to panic over nothing, and I didn’t see any fun in his face. Moments later, Pippin came running out and he was sobbing, ‘Merry’s gone! Merry’s gone!’ And this wasn’t just one of Pippin’s tricks, either, I could tell. By now I was very worried. We all looked for him, and could not find him anywhere. Just as I was about to march down the Shirrif’s office, here comes Merry walking up the road from Hobbiton. Sam and Pippin, but especially I, was very angry with him. He had gone on a walk without telling anybody."

"Oh Frodo! You had to tell *that* story." Merry cried. "There are so many others...why that one?"

"Because that was the only one I could think of just then." Frodo remarked. He smiled innocently at his cousin; Merry only frowned at Frodo.

"Halmir, it’s your turn, lad." Sam said gently.

"But I like listening to your stories." Halmir protested.

"We need to be fair, Halmir. Besides, I would love to hear a story from you. I hardly know you." Frodo said gently.

"I remember one time when my dad took me to work with him. He was a member of the Rohirrim, see. He let me ride the horse my sister and I shared. It was a small reddish-brown with white patches named Cloudfire. So I rode Cloudfire and my dad rode his big black horse called Midnight. Captain Eomer said that I could ride with my father when me father went to patrol the Western borders. I think that was the most fun I had with my father. We got to talk and mess around with him. He was always a wonderful father, and when he was home, he would play with me and Halwyn, my sister. But he was away a lot, helping fend off the orcs. The time I went with my father we ran into no orcs, for which I was very grateful." Halmir paused. Tears were in his eyes and he sat staring at his hands for a few moments. Frodo placed a comforting hand on the lad’s shoulder.

"That was good story, Halmir. I am sure your father would be very proud of you right now. He sounds like a wonderful man."

Halmir sniffed and nodded. He smiled gratefully at Frodo. "Well, Sam, I believe you are next in line to tell a story."

"I suppose so, Halmir." Sam agreed. "I’m goin’ to tell a story that no one’s heard. Maybe not even Mr. Frodo."

Frodo arched his eyebrows. He was surprised that Sam would do that. But then, Sam had been very surprising on the Quest.

"It was on the Quest when we were in the Emyn Muil. Mr. Frodo and myself had put up camp for the night under an overhanging rock. I was first watch. So I set myself up and tried to keep a lookout in all directions. I heard a funny noise from beside me, and I looked over and jumped. Mr. Frodo’s face was only inches from my own. ‘Mr. Frodo, it’s only been a couple of minutes, you should try to sleep.’ But Mr. Frodo didn’t seem to hear. ‘Where’s Merry?’ he asked, all frantic like. I looked at him funny, and then realized he was more than likely having a waking dream. ‘He’s with Strider.’ I answered carefully. ‘He stole my good tea and he knows I want it.’" Sam paused until everyone’s laughter died down. "I tried not to laugh in his face, of course, but it did sound rather absurd. So I just said, ‘I’m sure he’ll return it, Mr. Frodo.’ But he wouldn’t be appeased that easily. No! He said, ‘No, he’s going to toss it into the Brandywine.’ ‘I doubt that, Mr. Frodo. More likely if he uses it for himself.’ says I. But before I was done sayin’ that, Mr. Frodo was back sleeping again!" Everyone howled with laughter. Even Ana was howling, which only caused everyone to laugh all the harder.

By now the fire had died down to glowing embers. Halmir yawned, followed by Frodo, and then Sam and Merry and Pippin.

Frodo laughed, "My goodness, yawns are contagious!"

"I think we should all be a gettin’ to bed, if you take me." Sam said around a yawn.

"Mmm-hmm." Pippin mumbled. He was already curled up in his spot and looked like he really was asleep. Merry plopped down next to his young cousin and drifted off with a murmured,

"G-night."

Sam helped Halmir get comfortable on Frodo’s right side, and then settled himself on Frodo’s left. Soon Sam was snoring gently.

Legolas peeked in the Great Room and saw the chairs and blankets. Beckoning Gimli, the two peered inside the makeshift tent and smiled at the pile of Hobbits and one lad and a pup, all sleeping soundly.

*~*~*~*~*~*

TBC....

Copyright Frodo Baggins 2006