[Phervasaion]

“Wolves!” Tom cried as he walked towards the old Gaffer and Madoc who were already speaking with each other.

“Yes wolves,” stated the old gaffer looking at Tom. “Or so he said. The young traveller looked as white as a ghost so I doubt he was lying or just having a joke about it. But who knows for sure… You young Hobbits should be careful outside your homes. Who knows what dangers may lay ahead?” The Gaffer took a long puff of his pipe and a sip of his tea.

Tom turned and looked at the other Hobbits. They looked scared slightly, but Tom could tell that none of them would give up so easily after all the preparing for the journey. Tom turned back to the gaffer and sighed. “Ah well… I expected we would run into danger but I was hoping that it would not be so soon.”

Tom slumped into a chair next to Madoc and fell into deep thought. He could tell that the morale of all the hobbits was already falling and that was not a good sign. He thought that he should try to encourage all the Hobbits with a rousing speech, but he was never good at those sorts of things and the speech would probably have ended with him just giving up.

Tom rose out of his seat. “We must have some well earned rest soon as we have been travelling in the cold long,” he said to the other hobbits. “Here would be the best place to have. And, hopefully the wolves may have passed somewhere else when we actually reach their tracks tomorrow.” The hobbits nodded at Tom and they began to bring all of their things inside the inn. Tom went to the bar and booked the rooms and also decided to order dome ales and wines hoping it might make the hobbits feel slightly happier.

Tom looked at Melody who was bringing in her belongings. He wondered why she had snapped at him earlier and was led to believe that she was not really interested in him at all. All he wanted to do was make sure she was alright and she seemed to kick him away as if she didn’t want his company.

Tom paid Peony and walked out and grabbed his luggage from outside the inn and took it up to his room. As he made his way to the stairs he glanced across the room and saw that some of the Hobbits had already settled down in the inn and were drinking merrily with the gaffer. Tom hurried up and placed his belongings in his room and went back down to join the other Hobbits.