[piosenniel]

‘Who’s that?’ Delphinia Comfrey knelt down by her son Hamson, buttoning up his thick wool sweater as proof against the morning chill. The boy was smiling and waving at two of the Big Folk children, who stood behind their mother, waving back at him.

'That’s Rollo and Randy! The ones I told you about, from school. They got hit with the peas, too, and Rollo was egged same as Pearl.’ Hamson’s sister nodded in affirmation.

Randy, by this time was making funny faces at Hamson. His mother, Bettina Butterbur, noting the Hobbit child waving in her direction, had turned around and caught her son in one of his more rude stances – finger up his nose, eyes crossed, while his brother stood behind him giving him ‘bunny ears’ with his V’d fingers. ‘Now that’s enough of that,’ she chided the two of them. ‘No need to tease the Little Folk.’ The twins looked at her as if she’d gone daft. ‘But mom!’ they chorused. ‘That’s Hamson, the one we told you about. We’re friends!’

The two mothers eyed each other, taking each other’s measure. The children looked clean enough, each thought, And well brought up – attentive to what their mothers said. Mrs. Butterbur, a widow of two years, made the first move, and taking her sons’ hands walked toward the Comfrey’s. Not to be outdone, Mrs. Comfrey shooed her brood toward the approaching Butterburs.

Introductions were made and the first hesitant steps of a conversation about the recent events begun. Marigold Woodruff and her mother, Peony, joined the group as they stood in the side courtyard of the Inn. She, too, was a widow; though, in her case, her dear husband had been gone now for five years. A bond of mutual understanding sprang up between Bettina and Peony, both agreeing how much more difficult it was to be the only parent.

The three families turned as the door to the Inn cracked open, and the Innkeeper stepped into view.

Peony Woodruff’s voice rang out, expressing the concerns she and the other two mothers had spoken of.

‘We trusted you with our precious little ones, Miz Andreth,’ she began, Bettina and Delphinia nodding at her words. ‘Now, I’m not saying you did anything wrong yourself, but how do we know they’ll be safe if we leave them here again?’

‘We’re all busy at home, trying to make ends meet,’ chimed in Bettina. ‘We can’t be staying with them while they’re here. If it’s going to be like it was yesterday, best we just keep them home!’

Delphinia pushed up the sleeve of Hamson’s sweater and held up his left arm. There were red, angry welts where the peas had hit him hard, and a cut over his right eye where he had slipped on the eggy ground and fallen. There were murmurs of shock from both the Hobbit and Big Folk families.

‘This is too high a price to pay for a little letter learning, don’t you think?’ Bettina and Peony stood with their arms crossed tight across their chests, their eyes fixed on Andreth.

Someone in the crowd called out an angry ‘What are you going to do about it?’ toward Andreth.

Little Hamson’s voice piped up clearly in the silence. ‘Couldn’t we all help?’

[ November 06, 2003: Message edited by: piosenniel ]