[Child of the 7th Age]

Hawthorne Brandybuck

Hawthorne Brandybuck jabbed her heels repeatedly against her pony's withers and trotted up the South Lane in the direction of Bywater. Her chestnut curls jounced up and down against her back, framing a pair of blue eyes that glinted with determination. Approaching the crossroads without slowing down, Hawthorne yanked back on the reins at the last moment and brought Periwinkle to a walk, staring intently at the unfamiliar structure that now loomed west of her, no more than fifty paces distant. A sturdy wooden sign hung from a pole in front of the building, proclaiming it as “The Green Dragon Inn”.

The hobbit lass dismounted her pony and bounded up the steps, her expression relaxing into a smile. She was further away from home than she had ever been, and that alone made her happy. She had managed to leave her servant and companion a good ways behind. About two miles down the South Lane, a pony cart inched slowly up towards Hobbiton, its wheels creaking out a protest against the heavy load. This cart held all of Hawthorne’s worldly belongings, including several chests filled with articles of clothing and trinkets the young hobbit could not bear to leave behind. The driver of the cart was Dandelion Greenhand, a stout and sensible Harfoot of middling years whose principal task in life was to keep an eye on Hawthorne and make sure that she did not meet a disastrous end.

Despite running off from her companion, Hawthorne was fond of Dandelion. The older hobbit had entered the service of Brandy Hall twelve years before to care for all the Brandybuck children. Hawthorne had been a young lass then. The earlier nanny, Cami Goodchild, had unexpectedly left Buckland for a post in distant Gondor, never to return. Although Hawthorne had been fond of Nanny Cami, she was delighted to discover that the new nursemaid did not require so much serious schoolwork.

Over the years, all of Dandelion’s other charges had gone off and married, starting families of their own. Younger servants had come into these households to help tend the newborn babes. Eventually, only Hawthorne had been left in Dandelion's care.

Two months earlier, the young lass had announced to her parents that she was determined to go adventuring. Although not yet of age, Hawthorne had taken a fancy to the idea of a carefree life on the road. Her parents’ initial reaction had been one of horror. No respectable daughter of a well-to-do hobbit landowner would ever countenance such an unconventional lifestyle. Hawthorne’s mother, Hornbeam Proudfoot Brandybuck, had almost fainted at this suggestion since her daughter was just reaching the age when she should be trying to snare a young hobbit lad. Meriadoc Brandybuck, recently named Master of Brandy Hall, had finally intervened and, making certain assurances to the parents, persuaded them to let young Hawthorne journey to the West Farthing in the company of her old nurse. Letters were exchanged between Brandy Hall and Bag-end to provide additional guarantees for Hornbeam and Otto that all would be well with their daughter.

Yet all these trying details were far from Hawthorne’s mind as she pulled open the Inn door and peaked inside the Common Room. The place was filled with folk of every age and description, representatives of various peoples and lands. Hawthorne had never seen so many different folk gathered in one place. To be truthful, she had never even spoken with an Elf, but had only viewed one or two from a distance. As her eyes swept the room, she gasped in sheer surprise to see so many of the fair folk, tall and graceful and looking a bit melancholy, seated throughout the dining area.