It was Paladin's night out and he felt he had earned it. A gate had broken, a fox had got into the hen house and he'd lost three hens, his best pony threw a shoe and his youngest children had thrown the house in a tizzy over Yew.

He sat in his usual booth at The Horse and Wagon allowing the cozy atmosphere, cheerful crowd and excellent ale to release the tension in his shoulders. Just before he needed to leave the conversation at a nearby table caught his ear. Talk of Dwarves in the Shire was news worth listening to. They didn't come through often but when they did, it was a way of hearing some news of other places.

"I tell ya true it was the funniest thing I'd heard in years! This group of Dwarves actin' all upset over losing some nonexistent bauble."

"Where was this again, Ansegar?"

"Up at The Great Road Tavern in Waymeet, just shy of a month ago. I was up there for the sheep market." Ansegar's audience nodded. "Them Dwarves said they had come up the North road, ya know, the Waymeet-Sackville Road as we call it, when their cart wheel caught in one o' them nasty holes in the road that Mistress Lalia don't see fit to have repaired. Just near here, near to Whitwell that is, or so they said. Near to broke the axle and sent some of their cargo flyin' through the air."

"And ya say as they said they lost something? Something valuable?" a voice urged as Ansegar's voice paused.

"Let a hobbit take a drink of his ale, will ya, Orgulas!" the storyteller finally replied. "Aye, they said as they lost a dragon's egg."

The whole table of hobbits burst out laughing. Nearby, Paladin's eyes went wide as he strained to better hear Ansegar's tale.

"Aye. Aye. Can ya believe it! All solemn they were too."

Through the next burst of laughter Paladin heard, "Must think we're all like Mad Baggins!" and "Only real dragon be The Green Dragon in Hobbiton, but it only spouts ale and pipe smoke!" Ansegar and his friends roared at the jests.

Paladin Took's mind was racing. Old cousin Bilbo's adventure. A dragon with a hoard of jewels. Dwarves saying they'd lost a dragon's egg near Whitwell. Pippin's odd red lizard.

He ran out of The Horse and Wagon, mounted his pony and galloped all the way home.

Tolley, the stable manager, was doing his last check of the day when his boss came flying up to the large sliding doors and into the center aisle of the stable. Paladin's pony was lathered and panting, his rider pale and out of breath.

"Tolley . . . good." His boss tossed him the reins as he slid out of the saddle. "Walk him. Bed him down. G'night."

"Sir?" the stable manager got no further; Paladin was already gone at a run toward the house.

"Lanti! Lanti! We've a problem, Lanti." Paladin let the kitchen door slam behind him.

"Hush! You'll wake the children!" his wife scolded from the parlor. He ran in to flop panting on the sofa. "Whatever has you so upset, Paladin? Are you ill?" Lanti dropped her knitting, went over and started to feel her husband's forehead and check his pulse.

"Yew. Yew's the problem." He took a deep breath, let it out slowly, then continued in a calmer voice. "I'm not ill, though I've had a fright."

"Something about Pippin's lizard has given you a fright?"

"A tale I heard at The Horse and Wagon." He took another deep breath and related the story. Soon Lanti sank down beside him on the sofa.

"A dragon? You . . . you think . . . you think Yew is . . ."

"A dragon. Yes. It makes sense. He's not the right color for those little lizards that we see round about here. He's grown larger than they are. You mentioned he seems frightfully clever and various pieces of jewelry are missing."

"They're here."

Paladin and Lanti looked toward the doorway where Pippin stood with his hand held out. Lamplight glinted off the objects in his hand.

"What are you doing up, Peregrin?" his mother asked, but Paladin motioned to let him talk.

"How much have you heard, Pip?"

"I heard you run in, Papa." The lad was frightened; he hadn't used "Papa" for several years. "I heard you say there was a problem so I came to listen by the door." He looked at the jewelry in his hand and whispered, "I already know. Yew wasn't very happy about it, but I made him give me everyone's things. I told him it wasn't nice to take things from people who have helped him. He said that was 'surprisingly wise' coming from me and he got it all out of his cave."

"He said?" Lanti asked, amazed.

Pippin looked up at her. "Yes. You remember, don't you Ma? In Cousin Bilbo's story, well, in all the stories with dragons in them, the dragons all can talk. That is how they trick people into doing things."

She nodded.

"I was in my room, like I was supposed to be, and telling him I didn't understand how he kept getting out because I knew I was putting the cover on and he said, 'I'm stronger than I look.' I thought I was hearing things and I was scared. Then he showed me how he could get out."

"All right, Pippin," Paladin said. "Bring the jewelry here and then go back to bed. We will deal with this in the morning."

Pippin poured the ring, cufflink, pin and thimble into his father's hand. "I don't think he'll hurt us." He said as he turned to go. "I told him the story Aunt Esme told us about the dragon that helped the faeries and that Merry has the dragon's scale that fell from the sky.*" Pippin stopped at the door and looked back at his parents. "Yew seemed very impressed. He sort of bowed to me, asked to be put back in his cage, went straight into his cave and went to sleep. Good night."

Paladin and Lanti sat staring at the empty doorway quite unsure of what to do or what might happen next.

A/N: See my stories "Count The Stars" (read first) and "A Dragon In Buckland" at Many Paths to Tread or at Stories of Arda.