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"For myself, lass, I'd have to say that no, I do not own a pony. I was hoping ye'd have enough for the lot of us and all the bags, though it does seem there'll be an awful lot of those! Good thing you have a cart, we'll surely need it."
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Primrose looked doubtful.
We have seven companions, and we'll need a pony for each of them. My father owns three, my brother one, and my mother one. That makes five. I own one. That's six. Someone can ride in the front of the cart with me, and that makes…
"Seven!" she cried aloud. She quickly told everyone her thoughts, but then a frown came to her face. "But my father can only lend us one of his. He needs the other two for his job of farming. Does anyone own any ponies?"
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"Hmm... with all this bandit activity, maybe the Shirriffs could ask to borrow them and return them later. Of course, we couldn't get a real Shirriff to do it."
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Primrose saw Olo looking towards Biffo. "I don't know," she said slowly. "Would that be right? Deceiving them, I mean? I'm sure one of you
must own a pony or two.
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"As for sleeping about out of doors, I think that we'd better not, not with these bandits about. We should be able to find a nice, affordable Inn where we can keep everything safe. And at any rate, I don't think we'll be gone too long, will we? At least that's what I told Maggie and the kids."
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"The problem is," their young leader replied, "can we find an affordable inn
everywhere we go? Prices might go high if the bandits are about. The innkeepers will know everyone will want to sleep indoors, and they'll take advantage of it.
"As to your question of how long we'll be gone, it had better not be too long. We have to be back before September the 22nd. So far these are our plans."
Primrose pointed to the map once again. "We'll be going from Hobbiton to Waymoot, and from there to Michel Delving. After Michel Delving, my plans are to go to Tuckborough. My cousin Peony lives there. She owns an inn and a store, and we can get some supplies from her.
"Are there any more suggestions as to where we should go after Tuckborough?"