[Child of the 7th Age]

Bird couldn't stop laughing at the joke about the mushrooms. But for Child, this was no laughing matter. She reminded her friend how much hobbits love mushrooms, and asked whether the shapechanger would care to be in charge of clean-up when 50 hobbits got sick. Bird laughed, but promised once more not to pull any tricks.

Child was about to send her off to speak with Levanto, when she thought of another needed supply. "You don't think they'd have anything down there that resembles what we call "fruits"?

Bird looked at her with a puzzled face. "Why "fruits"? Do young hobbits have a special need for fruit?"

Child laughed, then leaned over and said, "Not those hobbits, silly. It's for us. I haven't seen a real piece of fresh fruit since Minas Tirith. Daisy used the last of those shriveled up apples for her pie, and it came out alright. But that's still not what I'd call fresh fruit."

"Don't forget that, while you were here eating up the last of the fresh stores on the Star, Rose and I only had what was available in the camps. And that wasn't exactly a midsummer's feast! The Orcs wouldn't even let us eat the fruits we raised ourselves. I used to dream about raiding apple orchards almost every night. Rose and I searched for fruit when we revisited Tol Fuin, but couldn't find any. See what you can do for two friends who'd love to see something resembling an apple!" Then she reminded her again about the milk and herbal remedies, and urged her to hurry back as soon as she could.

[ August 31, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]