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GamgeeFest's Keepsakes by GamgeeFest	10 Review(s)
Agape4Gondor	Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 2/27/2007
One of my favorite parts was Crickhollow - this chapter was a delight! Author Reply: I've always wondered what happened after the Conspiracy was unveiled. You know Frodo would have been asking for explanations. He got rather more than he bargained for with Sam! :D Thanks for reading!

Antane	Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 7/3/2006
Yes, sticking with him til the end. I love that little discussion. How about "I love you too much to let you go alone." That's ten! :) And Merry and Pippin could have said the same thing. How lucky Frodo is! Namarie, God bless, Antane :) Author Reply: That is ten words and would have worked just as well. Perhaps Merry and Pippin could use it! Frodo is lucky to have such friends, just another part of that extra protection that Illuvitar granted him. :) Thanks for reading!

belleferret	Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 4/8/2006
This is quite wonderful! I love your Sam and his relationship to Frodo. Author Reply: Thank you so much! Sam and Frodo are always looking out for each other, and Sam never doubted what his role in Frodo's life was meant to be.

Bodkin	Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 4/2/2006
Ten words or less. Actually, I don't think Sam needed any words - just a look. He wasn't going to be left behind, whatever Frodo said. I like the talk about how Frodo managed to get away with all sorts of mischief by using Sam as his patsy. Perhaps Frodo was a bad influence on him! But he set up the precedent really for Sam to insert himself between Frodo and trouble - and he's not going to change his ways now. He will conspire with Merry to look after him, like it or not. Author Reply: Frodo already saw that look when the Conspiracy was revealed and he knows there's no way he can convince Sam or the others to stay behind. Now he wants to hear it from the horse's mouth, so to speak. LOL, a tiger doesn't change his stripes! Frodo used Merry to get into harmless mischief at Brandy Hall and he continued that tradition in Hobbiton with Sam. Sam was more than eager to do anything that Frodo asked him to do, and Frodo was careful not to get him into anything that would get him into (too much) trouble with his father. Yep, it is Frodo's fault, in every way, that Sam spied on him. Not just for teaching Sam how to spy and unknowingly giving his consent to it, but also for being so wonderful and caring that Sam couldn't help but to care back. Sam has always looked out for Frodo, and there's no way he's going to stop now. He'll take every measure possible to ensure that Frodo is safe.

harrowcat	Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 4/1/2006
I really enjoyed this GF, especially the way that it starts off sounding like a monologue but is, in reality, a dialogue and, indeed, almost an interview. Author Reply: Well, this did start off as a monologue, until I realized that it would be much funnier if it were actually Sam attempting to explain his motives to Frodo rather than the reader. :) An interview indeed, and Sam does well under the pressure. It helps that he had months to prepare for this moment, for he knew it had to be coming. Thanks for reading!

Andrea	Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 3/31/2006
But you’re right. I suppose I can’t really act too surprised after encouraging you all those times. I just never thought you’d turn it against me.” “Against you?” I look up real quick at that and shake my head. “Not at all sir. It was FOR you.” That was wonderful! I love your Sam! And that story about the lasses! Well, at first I feared Frodo would end up with no lass at all - on purpose. But no, he did this all to finally dance with that very special girl. I wonder who she is! Author Reply: I wonder too! Whoever she is, I'm sure she was counting her lucky stars that night! Sam knows just what to say to his master to get him to see reason. He had a long time to rehearse this speech, but the most important declarations came right at the end, the ones he didn't prepare for but most have known on some level would come up.

Dreamflower	Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 3/31/2006
Oh, how lovely! We all know that gap's there--Frodo had to ask Sam why, at some point early on--and I've done a little filler for it myself, but this is definitely one of the nicest I've read. Sam knows, none better, how Frodo's going to take it. And he may be a weensy bit ashamed of himself, but he doesn't regret it one bit. And he knows how to tell just so, clever Sam, so that Frodo really can't stay angry with him. And I was really tickled at the thought that it was Frodo who planted the idea in Merry's head to ask Sam to watch out for signs of Frodo leaving, LOL! Talk about the biter bit! grin Wonderful job! Author Reply: This was originally going to be Sam just reflecting on the beginning of his life as a "spy" just before Merry asks him to go undercover, but then I got the image of Sam saying all this to Frodo at Crickhollow, and the thought rather took over the story! Sam will never be ashamed of anything he does for Frodo, unless he feels he failed Frodo in some way. Getting Frodo to see that it wasn't a betrayal was the thing he was most worried about, but Merry helped with that and Sam just took it from there. And it's not as if Frodo can ever stay mad at Sam for any length of time. He'd have forgiven him by morning at the latest. LOL. I first touched on it being Frodo's idea in "A Tale" after the cousins have been reunited. I've tried to fit it into other stories since then, but this is the first opportunity that I've been able to do so. Not that it would have happened any differently had Frodo not suggested it, but it certainly took the pressure off of Sam quite a bit! Any time Sam started feeling guilty about it, he could just remind himself that it was Frodo's idea. grin

shirebound	Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 3/31/2006
“‘I doubt very much Sam would have given Frodo up if he thought it would bring harm to him,” Mr. Bilbo said and I had nodded stoutly to that for it were the right truth sir. Even then, I was looking out for you. “Because… Because I can’t imagine the Shire without you and this way, I won’t have to.” He smiles at me in that soft way of his that just fills you up with warmth and knowing that you’re important to him I'm constantly impressed with your Sam. He's just perfect. This IS Sam. Author Reply: Sam, in his simple, honest, unassuming, and modest way, tells Frodo exactly everything he needs to hear. More than just it was Frodo's fault/idea that Sam learned to spy and used that to watch over him, but that Sam would do whatever it takes to see Frodo happy and safe, and that Sam's going has nothing to do with Gandalf telling him he had to. (Though I rather think Gandalf ordered Sam to go to give him a legitmate reason for going that even Frodo couldn't dispute, knowing that Sam fully intended to go anyway.)

Queen Galadriel	Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 3/30/2006
chuckles So, Frodo taught Sam to eavesdrop, eh? :) And the story about the lads and lasses and the flowers was so cute! Oh, what a confession! I sure wouldn't want to be the one having to make it. But the end was surpassing beautiful. Wonderfully done! God bless, Galadriel Author Reply: Yep, this really is all Frodo's fault. I've often wondered why someone like Sam would do something so daring as to not only spy on his betters, but on his master. I briefly touched on the idea that Frodo, unknowningly, gave his permission to Merry for Sam to watch him in "A Tale That Grew in the Telling" and it's a thought that has survived to go into my fanon. Frodo can be quite the rascal and every now and then he reminds of us. It is a good thing that none of those lads and lasses thought to question Sam. Even if Sam didn't give Frodo up, it wouldn't have taken them long to make the connection. :) I wouldn't want to be in Sam's shoes... er, feet?... either! Poor guy, to have to explain himself to Frodo while Frodo's giving him The Look. But he would have known that this was coming and that he'd eventually have to come clean. He's likely been rehearsing this speech since the spring!

Larner	Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 3/30/2006
Absolutely perfect explanation; and the perfect reason for going, too. Frodo has his companions, and all of Middle Earth will need them. Author Reply: Frodo probably should have implemented that "ten words or less" rule sooner, but then we wouldn't have gotten all that lovely nervous rambling from Sam. This actually started out as a completely different story, with Sam telling the reader about how he learned to spy and it ending with Merry asking him to spy on Frodo, but then I thought it would be funny if Sam was telling all this to Frodo instead. Sam will have to experience a Shire without Frodo in it, and when that day comes, he'll have his companions to see him through.

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