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The flowers were easily gathered. There were many little garden plots about the Green Dragon, all of which, Buttercup had kindly told her could be used for bouquets for the tables. In the Inn’s kitchen, she put the pretty blossoms together in colorful bunches and then into the vases she’d found in the basement.
‘Oh, the tables will look so nice!’ said Buttercup. ‘Here, let me help you take them out to the front yard.’ The Hobbit took an armful of tablecloths with her and soon the tables were all set up for the party.
‘Help me find the little lanterns, won’t you,’ asked Telu, following Buttercup back into the Inn.
The boxes of them were soon ferreted out of the cupboard beneath the stairs along with the candles to put in each lantern. The two women soon had them all ready to be used. ‘I’ll carry out the boxes,’ Telu offered. ‘Can you find us a step-stool so I can reach up into the branches of the trees and get them hung?’
Buttercup brought along the step-tool from the kitchen. With the Hobbit steadying it, Telu began to place the lanterns among the branches of the trees that lined the Inn’s front yard.
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Young she was and yet not so. The braids of her dark hair were touched by no frost, her white arms and clear face were flawless and smooth, and the light of stars was in her bright eyes, grey as a cloudless night . . .
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