[*Varda*]

Ama turned round and saw Penny arrive, rather breathless.

“You’re here!” she said, and poked Olo on the shoulder. “We’re all here! I suppose Garnet and Ruby couldn’t make it, I would have been surprised if their grandmother hadn’t caught them.”

“Oh well,” Olo murmured, engrossed in checking over the boat. “I wouldn’t have thought there would have been much room left in the boat, anyway. Ferd, help me push the boat in the water, would you?” The chubby hobbit aided him, and then clambered in himself, rocking the boat from side to side.

“Ok, everyone else in!” called Olo. “Quickly, before anyone comes and sees us.” The other six hobbits pushed their way through, stumbling and stepping on each other in a quest to find the best seat, that gave the most room. In the end, Rosie was half-sitting on Ben, but everyone else seemed relatively comfortable, although it was a snug fit.

With a last glance around, Olo jumped in the boat, pushing it off from the shore with his paddle. The boat slowly floated away from the shore, approaching the middle of the Brandywine, where the current pulled the boat down the river. The breeze blew and Olo tugged at the little white sail, letting it catch the wind. The sun still shone brightly in the sky as the troublesome cloud grew darker and drew nearer , but the hobbits paid no attention to this.

Sailing past Olo’s hole along the Brandywine, he saw his mother hanging out the washing, hoping it would dry in the bright sun. Standing up in the boat, Olo called;

“Ma! Look! We’re sailin’! I’ll be home tonight!” His mother heard him cry from the Brandywine, his voice growing fainter, and gasped as she saw the little brown boat float on by, nearing a bend of the river.

“Olo Brandybuck! You stop that boat and get back here this minute!” his mother shouted, a mixture of surprise, shock, and fear on her face. “Did you never hear what happened to that Primula and Drogo Baggins?” Olo simply waved as the boat was swept round the bend in the river, a grin on his face.

“Olo…” Ama chastised him. “That wasn’t right! Your poor mother will be worried all day!” Olo’s smile didn’t leave his face, as he breezily said;

“It’ll be all right, cousin. We’ll be home by tonight, and any trouble will be worth it after the day we’ll have!” Sitting back down into the small amount of available space left, the curly headed hobbit stared up into the sky.