[Tevildo]

She was a slim, rag-tag of a hobbit girl who looked more like a boy. Camille wore crumpled brown breeches and a tattered shirt that had two buttons missing from the bottom. The pants were several inches too short, but they were the only ones she had. Her thick mop of brown curls was also cropped quite short, which made her look even more like a lad. She had slipped in through the back entrance of the Inn at a moment when Cook and the other kitchen helpers had run out to see what had happened to Marigold. She scampered quickly through the kitchen and headed for the door that led into the Common Room.

Camille padded silently into the Common Room, observed by no one with all the hubub going on, and slid down behind the bar, crouching low and hiding. The aroma from the noonday middle still hung heavy in the air. Her stomach growled in frantic protest. She was tired and hungry, oh so hungry, but she had no pennies in her pocket to buy even a hunk of bread. Worse than that, there were two others waiting at home equally as hungry.

She could see that many guests were finishing up their lunches. Camille considered the possibility of whisking something off someone's plate when they weren't looking or perhaps going back to the kitchen to sift through the garbage bins. She was quite good at both those things. She was about to run out and try to snatch two slices of cheese that had been sitting on someone's plate when she looked over and saw the scene that centered on Marigold. The girl had evidently been hurt and everyone was crowding about her with offers of food, gifts, and greetings. What a lucky lass! Camille could not remember the last time anyone had given her anything other than a cuff on the head from a farmer who was angry when she was caught red-handed stealing eggs. Staring over and seeing the pile of dresses, her heart sank down to her toes. What she would give to own one dress, just one, that was half as lovely as the ones she was looking at now.

Camille watched mesmerized as the beautiful Elf gathered up the dresses and gently began to guide Marigold toward the stairwell, letting the lass lean on her arm for help in walking. As soon as it looked as if the hobbit would have trouble climbing the tall staircase, the Elf set down the dresses over the handrail, picked up the hobbit child in her arms, and continued walking upstairs. She was presumably planning to return in a minute and retrieve the clothing.

Slipping out from behind the bar, Camille made her way to the base of the staircase. What beautiful, beautiful clothes! Just like the ones her mother told her about that she had once worn in her younger days before things had turned so bad. Camille reached out and fingered the lovely green skirt. Almost without knowing what she was doing, Camille picked up the dress and tucked it inside her bag. She was not the kind of hobbit who normally stole things, except for food when she was desperately hungry. But she told herself the lass had so many pretty dresses, she surely wouldn't mind if one got lost. Yet somehow she knew that she had better hide the dress from her mother who might not see it quite that way.

Heaving the bag over her shoulder, she ran back into the kitchen, stopping for a moment to sift through a pile of peelings that had been left to the side of the table when someone had been interrupted in rolling out a pie. She found the remnents of two apples, both brown and shrivelled, and stuffed these inside her bag. She had to get something to bring home. Then she raced into the pantry and, surveying the shelves, found a loaf of bread that she quickly tucked under her arm.

Suddenly, without warning, she heard noises from the room outside. It must be Cook and her helpers returning to the kitchen. Camille's heart beat wildly. There was no possibility of her making an escape without being seen. For the past week, she had lied to her mother and said that she had earned the pennies and the food by doing laundry for a farmer in the neighborhood. Camille wasn't really afraid of being scolded or even cuffed. But what if they told her mother that she had stolen a dress and some food? She flattened herself against the wall and waited, hoping that no one would see her and she could slip outside later after everyone had left.