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The Tenant from Staddle by Larner	6 Review(s)
French Pony	Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 4/25/2007
Ooooh, so close! They've almost put all the pieces together. They just have to take that one last step, and believe in stories! Author Reply: Yes, they're coming ever closer to understanding. They want to understand, and their father is being forced to learn more than he wants to know. Am so glad you chose to share your comments. Thank you!

Andrea	Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 4/18/2007
I enjoyed the discussion with the Watercresses about Strider being the new king a great deal! I would have liked to see their faces when they looked at the coin. And I'm right pleased that the Bree hobbits still remember Mr Underhill and his performance! Now that they have learned that said Mr Underhill is in fact Frodo Baggins, the Ring-bearer, the story won't be forgotten for a very long time. I also found it fascinating how easy it was for the hobbit children to gather information about Frodo and the Ring. Maybe it's because of their youth and their open-mindedness for all things, even those they have never heard of before. Bartolo could learn from his children! Last but not least I agree with the other reviewers that we might have just witnessed the beginnings of a romance :) Author Reply: To realize they'd witnessed someone known by these visitors to Bree who'd deliberately given an assumed name must have been a shock. And maybe they don't know the story of Isildur and Sauron and the use to which the shard of Narsil was put, but the realization that Frodo went on to do something considered great in the outer realm is incipient in their awareness and will one day become evident. The children WANT to understand, and to such information will be found if one insists on receiving it hard enough. You're right, though--Barti could definitely learn something if he would open himself to it, although he's already learning more than he wants to know, I suspect. As for a romance beginning--well, you never know, do you? Hee!

Kitty	Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 4/18/2007
The conversation at dinner with the Watercresses was rather amusing - their disbelief, first about Frodo ever have been there in Bree, and then about Strider being the King. Well, the coin was an evidence difficult to deny. Now I’m imagining the faces of the good people of Bree at Striders first visit there as the Lord King Aragorn Elessar, with his retinue and all. Wouldn’t that be a sight to behold? Loved the way Delphie defended Frodo. Really, I look forward to get to know why Bartolo didn’t get along with Frodo. It seems obvious there has to have been something between them. As for the question of swimming, I suppose a Bucklander would say one could distrust Bartolo because he doesn’t swim grin Little Alyssa is a very perceptive child. And the logic may be childish, but she is right about why nobody saw Frodo with It. Sometimes you need childish logic to figure something out. Anyway, the children are well on their way to find out and understand a lot about what happened. After all the agitation last week in the media about Friday 13th, I was grinning through Orin’s explanation what’s wrong with the number 13. No superstition, but simple reason. Oh, these dwarves are so wonderful down-to-earth. Anyway, clever way to confirm to the hobbit children once again that Bilbo didn’t made up his stories. Another suitor for Denra? Hmmm ... not as bad as the last one, but still ... somehow I have the feeling the best one might be staying in the house already ;-) And I was delighted to know Denra sold her medicaments to Strider. Of course, who could be interested in them, if not Aragorn? Healing hands alone don't cure everything, after all. Author Reply: This last Friday the Thirteenth was my birthday, so I didn't consider it very unlucky until I got home, at which time I got into a terrible argument and found myself wanting to pound someone into being reasonable, which of course was rather pointless. But as the Dwarves of Middle Earth knew nothing about the Last Supper, there had to be some other reason why they'd want someone else in the party for the journey to the Lonely Mountain, and considering their appreciation apparently for applied geometry in their carving and all, this seemed to me as logical a reason for preferring to take a burglar of unknown capabilities at Gandalf's recommendation. The folk of Bree must have been pretty shocked when they realized that Strider the Ranger was their new King--if they recognized him. It's likely that with his joy and delight at being there with his new family and possibly his Hobbit friends from the Shire they'd not recognize him, although if I recall correctly in The Ties of Family I had him appear in the Prancing Pony AS Strider the Ranger again and keep his distance from the others in his party until after the trial of a number of folk from Umbar. How much they appreciated in Bree who he was in the new order of things is, of course, anyone's guess. I love to think how Delphie might have been torn between loyalty to her husband and pride in her family of birth, and I agree with you that a Brandybuck or Frodo could easily have turned Barti's argument back on him as you noted. Lovely to think of. As for the children--I agree with you completely. After all, they are all part Baggins, you know. Heh! Thanks for the feedback.

Tigger	Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 4/17/2007
I've been on the lookout for a new chapter of this. I know w/the computer problems you've been having, it's hard for you to share your wonderful stories w/us, but we do appreciate them when we see them. :o) Hmmm...Do I sense the beginnings of a romance between our Gondorian lawyer and his hostess? They do seem to be well matched and I loved Denra's realization that she did sell supplies to the King. Also knowing that the King is proud of the Breelands and the Shire for defending their homes. I'm sure that Aragorn was more than proud of them, as they really are his people and the lands he considers his home. Sigh...When will Bartolo learn not to be so silly when it comes to talking about how he feels about Frodo in front of Delphie? He really should know better by now. That was such a well written piece on the dinner between them and the Bree hobbit lawyer's family. It will take time, but another group of hobbits are learning about what really happened out there and that they are no longer isolated. I especially liked the reactions to Aragorn's face on the new coinage. That more than anything else would bring home the fact that yes, Strider is indeed the King. However, it's the children who seem to be learning far more about their cousin Frodo than he ever really wanted. Also that the stories they've been told all their lives are more than just tales to amuse small children and/or adults. They actually are true!! The little one is especially perceptive. Everything is starting to come together for them. Slowly, but it's happening. Really enjoying this one. Look forward to the next installment. :o) Oh and in reply to my last review you asked me if I was still following skating. Almost two weeks ago, I took in the Toronto show of this years Canadian Stars On Ice tour. Had a wonderful time, saw some great skating and found out yesterday I was actually watching a trio when Jamie Sale and David Pelletier were out there on the ice. Their little bundle will be arriving in October. So...That was a long answer to your question, but yes. I am still following skating. :oD Once again, looking forward to the next installment of this!! :o) Author Reply: One never knows what will attract the attention and affections of such as these. Perhaps they're being drawn together, or perhaps they're not.... So glad you liked the dinner conversation, and how much Pet and Persi and Lyssa are putting together. They do have Baggins blood, after all, as well as Bracegirdle. Heh! Bree, standing as it does at a crucial crossroad in Eriador, needs even more strongly to accept there is a King again, and to accept the new role what they thought of as a sinister individual has taken on. And so it's taking the coming of Shire Hobbits to begin waking them up a bit. Eventually we will learn at least a good part of why Barti still finds it hard to like Frodo, although that is still to be fully revealed. And the skating sounds glorious. I'd hoped to have my satellite service restored by now, but things keep conspiring to keep me from paying it off and all. Am so frustrated not being able to get it up again. Now and then I love to watch figure skating and ice dancing.

Linda Hoyland	Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 4/17/2007
I loved the reaction to the coins ! Author Reply: So glad you do, Linda. This will be a shock for many in the Breelands as they look over these new coins. Many will put it down to coincidence at first, I'm certain. Anyway, am able to be online for at least a short bit. Hope to read your new chapter when I'm done here.

Dreamflower	Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 4/17/2007
This was a very interesting chapter--the almost argument between Delphie and Bartolo was very revealing. He really doesn't have any real rationale behind his dislike of Frodo. I especially loved Delphie's incredulous response. “He swims.” She gave a disgusted sigh. “You don’t trust him because he swims? You yourself pointed out he grew up near the Brandywine. His mother was the Master’s sister, after all. Of course he swims." I could just hear her tone of voice. And I loved also the way the two of them revealed Strider's true identity to Ora and his family. I giggled all through that exchange. The children, though, are so close to the truth. If they'd had only a few minutes more with Orin son of Bofur they'd probably have had the whole story. Orin, after all, had not been primed to keep his mouth shut! I do think Pet and Persivo are going to find out the whole story before they go back to the Shire. Author Reply: No, Bofur hasn't been told not to tell, although as a Dwarf I doubt he'd bother respecting that wish from Frodo anyway. And the children are starting to put it together. I'd think that a true Baggins married to a Bracegirdle would lead to an interesting relationship, no matter how much they love one another. And at times she'd get terribly frustrated with the way Bracegirdles can take offense and hold grudges. Now, it's supposed to be Bagginses that are dreadfully conventional, but that's been changing a bit in the past two generations. Neither Frodo nor Bilbo has been particularly conventional at all; but now it's Bartolo who's most concerned about it, although you're right--this isn't a good rationale at all. And am so glad that all who've responded so far enjoy the discussion at the Watercress dinner table. Physical proof Strider is the King must have been a bit of a shock once it became widespread throughout the Breelands, I'd think. Those Rangers aren't as awful as we'd thought? Whaaaa? Thanks for the response.

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