Chapter 15. Another Pause

'Hurrah!' young Frodo-lad cheered. 'Mr Freddy is on the mend!'

'But what of Estella? When will her family get her back?' little Rose wanted to know.

'I think it would be fun to be a boy,' Lily mused.

'Lily!' Her mother laughed in shocked amusement. The thought had sometimes crossed Elanor's mind, to be truthful, when cumbersome skirts and dusting had frustrated her, whilst her brothers worked in the fresh air out of doors. Of course, she would never admit as much to her daughters, not until they were joyful mothers with their own brood and understood how fine it was to be a girl after all.

'Is the story nearly over?' Elfstan wanted to know.

'Not for quite awhile,' Samwise said, 'but that's enough for tonight. Why, your mum might put me on water rations if I read into the wee hours again, as I did last night!'

'I wish I could eat every hour on the hour,' Tolman grumbled. He was a teen, growing rapidly, and his mother despaired of ever filling him up.

'Off to bed with you now,' Fastred said, knocking out his pipe. 'If you tire your gran-dad too much, he might not be up to reading to you on the morrow, eh, Sam-dad?'

'Gran-dad's never tired!' Frodo-lad shouted.

'I don't know whose gran-dad you're talking about,' Sam said reasonably. 'This one's ready to seek the pillow.' He smiled at the eager faces before him, the future of the Shire. How he'd miss seeing them grow up.

'We'll read on tomorrow, if you get all your chores done in good time without grumbling,' he said.

'It's a promise!' the children chorused, and Elanor laughed.

'Honestly, Dad, I don't know what took you so long!' she said.

'Eh? What's that?' Sam said.

'You ought to have come round here years ago with a big book and a promise. Chores done in good time and no grumbling! 'Tis every mum's dream!'

'Ah, then, sweet dreams, Ellie,' Sam said with a fond smile, ruffling the curls that would not stay confined. 'Sweet dreams, my lass, and I'll see you in the morning.'

As she moved around the parlour to blow out the lamps, he patted the Red Book. 'Good night, Mr Frodo,' he said softly. 'One of these mornings I'll be seeing you.'

'What was that, Dad?' Elanor said, turning from putting the watch-lamp in the window.

'O just talking to myself, lass, naught for you to worry your bright head about,' Sam said, and yawned.

'Ah,' Elanor said wisely. 'I won't trouble my head about it, then, unless you start to answer yourself. Good night, Dad,' she said tenderly, and they went their separate ways.