[Child of the 7th Age]

Cami carefully dipped her feathered quill into the ink pot and set her pen to the first sheet of vellum. Beside her on the table lay a short list of friends and kin whom they had decided to invite to their dinner. Her eyes quickly scanned the names to make certain no one had been omitted: the Tooks, the Brandybucks, and the Gamgees; Bilbo's cousin Angelica Baggins; Fatty Bolger; and Amaranthas. Jotted underneath were the others who would need no formal invitations: herself and Piosenniel, Frodo, Bilbo, and the mysterious guest Lorien.

Cami stared at the last entry with a puzzled expression on her face, wondering why a Vala would bother visiting the Shire and just what he would look like. Outside of dreams, she'd met only one Vala face-to-face. That had been Ulmo, Masters of the Seas, who had visited the hobbits on the isle of Meneltarma at the time of the Choosing. She expected Lorien to be similar in appearance and behavior, very majestic and full of light, with a grave and measured demeanor, which would brook no familiarity or interference. She would need to mind her conduct and urge Piosenniel to do the same, since her friend had not seemed too happy about his coming.

Cami's reflections drifted away from Lorien to focus on Bilbo's expected arrival. It had been so long since she'd seen her teacher. Her last memory of him came from some thirty years before, when she'd sat under the Party Tree, long since cut down, and watched him vanish with no advance warning. Cami did not like to remember that day, since it held a secret she'd never admitted to her friends or even to herself. There had been a time, in fact a very long time, even after she'd learned about the Ring, when her main feeling towards Bilbo had been one of anger. She had repeatedly questioned why he had to disappear from her life without saying anything, leaving her hopes and plans so adrift. But the years had mellowed her heart, or so she imagined, and this resentment had slipped to the back of her mind with the excitement of her teacher's arrival.

Cami now bent to her task with renewed vigor and, within a short time, finished writing out her first invitation. It was done in an elegant, spidery script, that she'd learned some forty years before when, seated beside Sam, she'd studied her letters and numbers at Bilbo's kitchen table.

20 Thrimidge, Year 1433 S.R.

Honored Guest,

My friend Piosenniel and I are pleased to invite you and your family to a dinner party given at 7 o'clock sharp on 21 Thrimige in the Green Dragon Inn. This is a welcome home celebration for our dear friends Frodo and Bilbo Baggins who will be arriving that evening to spend some time with us in Hobbiton.

As many of my own friends recall, I myself have been absent from Hobbiton for some twenty-four years, and have only recently returned from my travels for a brief holiday in the Shire. I look forward to greeting each of you and catching up on all the local news I have missed.

At our dinner, you will also be able to meet my good friend Piosenniel who hails from a land far distant from here.

Your friend,

Cami Goodchild

********************************************

An hour or so later, and Cami had finished her task. All the invitations lay stacked in a pile, neatly tucked inside their envelopes. Cami scooped them up in her hand, as her heart filled with pleasure. Never, in all her years, would she have dreamed this was possible. She ran to Pio's room and knocked on the door, but there was no answer. Then she hurried down to the kitchen which now seemed largey deserted.

The Elf sat alone in front of the cooking fire staring at a letter that was set before her on the table. Cami wondered how many times Pio had read it and whether she'd committed all the words to memory. The hobbit made no comment on this, but quickly pressed the invitations into her friend's keeping. "Here they are! All done. Can you make sure these are delivered as soon as possible?"

Pio nodded in agreement. Then, the two women talked a bit on the various preparations that would be needed for the dinner and who would be responsible for each.

Pio took in Cami's quiet smile and observed, "You look happy, happier than I've seen in a long time."

"Yes, as happy as I can be." Cami's voice sounded content but still a little wistful. Yet Pio did not miss the hidden meaning of these words.

To cover over the moment, the hobbit quickly turned and pointed to where Mithadan's letter still lay on the table, placing her small hand over that of her friend, "Don't worry, you'll see him again soon. He'll be here for the twins' birth. Then everything will be alright."

Pio sighed and, remembering that Lorien was coming, thought with some bitterness, Why can I not say the same thing to her?

[ February 18, 2003: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]