Week #2

“I really want to thank you once again for your help, Master Gamgee,” Bilbo huffed as the two hobbits slowly made their way down the long tunnels of Bag End, carrying a heavy oak chest between them.

“ ‘Tis no problem, Mr. Bilbo, always glad to help out. ‘Sides, ye couldn’t have moved all this heavy furniture by yerself. Careful ye don’t pinch your toes now,” Hamfast Gamgee said as they lowered the solid chest to the floor.

Behind them were the Gaffer’s eldest lad, Hamson Gamgee, and Daddy Twofoot’s eldest, Willidad Twofoot. The two tweens were handling Bilbo’s old night table, making sure not to nick the corners of the piece or the beautiful, dark wood paneling adorning the lower half of Bag End’s walls.

Bilbo directed the boys where to place the night table in the now overcrowded room located in the far depths of the smial. This room had been mostly empty … Bilbo couldn’t even remember what it had once been used for in the past, but for now it would make an excellent storage area.

“Will ye be needin’ anything else then Mr. Bilbo, sir?” the Gaffer asked, wiping the dust from his hands upon his worn breeches.

“No, no. I’m afraid that’s all for now.” Bilbo ushered the three hobbits out of the room and down to the other end of the smial. He served them all a cold drink and offered them slices of the cinnamon-raisin cake he’d baked last night.

The Gaffer looked to be quite uncomfortable sitting in the large kitchen of his employer’s grand smial. He finished his drink and slice of cake in as quick a time as was polite, without offending his master.

“Well, if that’s all ye be needin’ for today, I best be headin’ out to tend the garden, sir. Ye just let me know when yer ready to move that bed back into the room. Come on, lads.” Hamfast stood and donned his straw hat before heading out the back door on the far side of the kitchen.

Hamson and Willi were following when they were stopped by Bilbo. “Here lads, a silver penny each for your hard work today, which I heartily appreciate. Go buy yourself some sweets from the cart at the market. There’s enough coin there to get plenty to share with all your brothers and sisters.”

The two poorer tweens looked down at the coins in their hands then back up at the Master of Bag End. “Thanks, Mr. Bilbo!”

Bilbo smiled and chuckled as they ran out the door and full tilt down the lane. He could hear their delighted chatter as they disappeared down The Hill and his thoughts turned to Frodo. He pictured the shy, quiet lad running down The Hill after his new friends, smiling and laughing merrily with them.

The old hobbit's smile faded. Within a few month's time after the lad's arrival to Hobbiton, many of the area tweens would be starting or going back to their apprenticeships either here or in another part of the Shire. In fact, the only tween in the area that Bilbo could think of that would not be starting a working class apprenticeship, was the only one that he did not want Frodo to be around at all, namely, Lotho Sackville-Baggins.

The few times the two lads had been in the same place nearly always ended in Lotho tormenting poor Frodo. Lotho was four years older and outweighed the slight Frodo by at least two stones. The ill-mannered twerp had made it his task in life to provoke his orphaned cousin every chance he got and of course, his just as ill-mannered parents did nothing about it and probably even encouraged it. So far, the spirited Frodo never let his older cousin get the best of him, at least as far as Bilbo saw. The Master of Bag End was going to have to keep a sharp eye out as far as Lotho was concerned.

Bilbo had a feeling that Frodo was going to befriend the younger hobbit children in the area, just as he had done with the little ones at Brandy Hall. Bilbo realized that just as in Buckland, there were really few hobbits around Frodo's own age to play with. His many cousins were either much older than him--having come of age years ago--and now were having their own children, which in turn were Frodo's much younger cousins. Frodo seemed more comfortable with his younger cousins, as if he could relate with them better than those his own age and they simply adored him in return.

Bilbo hoped that in any case his soon-to-be heir would make some new friends here. He would have to remind himself to be sure to better introduce Frodo to his cousin Daisy and Griffo's delightful young son, Folco Boffin. And, there was always faithful little Samwise Gamgee to rely upon. Why just the other day during his lesson, Sam had carefully printed out a list of all the fun things he and Master Frodo could do together! Little Samwise appeared to be as excited as the Master about Frodo coming to live at Bag End.

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Once his old bedroom was bare of furnishings, Bilbo could see that the walls of the room remained in good condition through the years, but they needed a thorough cleansing. Borrowing the ladder from the Gaffer’s tool shed in order to reach up high, Bilbo spent the afternoon wiping down the walls with a cleaning rag and a bucket of soapy water mixed with a touch of vinegar, until their cream coloring could be seen readily once again. He made sure all of the cobwebs were out of the corners and all of the dust bunnies were gone. He also removed the curtain from the round window, surprised when it near disintegrated in his hands from rot, before washing clean the dingy glass window panes until they sparkled in the sunshine.

Bilbo inspected the alcove seat underneath the window, deciding it needed a new cushion and perhaps a recessed bookshelf, knowing of Frodo’s love for books. Bungo had originally installed the window seat in the nursery so his wife could sit and look out at her garden while nursing. When Frodo was a babe, Primula too, had often retreated here away from the mixed company in order to nurse. Bilbo himself, remembered sitting there while a story was read to him on a rainy day or using the window seat as a backdrop for playing with his favorite toys as a child.

The old hobbit just knew that Frodo was going to love this feature of his new room and would use it to its full potential … and probably then some, knowing the lad’s vivid imagination. Bilbo found himself a little anxious and excited at the prospect of sitting with his heir snuggled close, both in their nightshirts, while Frodo listened intently to an Elvish tale or poem that was read aloud to him before bedtime. The lad was nibbling on a biscuit and sipping at a mug of warmed milk with honey and nutmeg, occasionally pointing to a word and asking what it meant ….

Bilbo’s vision faded as the reality of the now bare room set in and he let out a heavy sigh. He had a lot of work to do first.

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