The Green Dragon Inn #11 - The Last Chapter

[Tevildo]

The small side door to the Inn swung open and Camille came racing out into the garden. Most of the children were finishing their lunch. A few of the lads had pulled over to one corner and were playing marbles in a small dirt clearing.

"Miz Bella, I'm so sorry to have taken so long." Camille interjected. "I had the hardest time getting Rory back to the Dragon. I always thought my brother was just a little puff of air, and I could whisk him along in the barrow. But it took me forever. It must have been all that food Master Falco fed him last night!" Camille did not mention how the barrow had tipped over and her brother had been left sprawling in the dirt.

"Where is your brother now?" the teacher questioned.

"Inside, in the school room. It would be hard for him to come into the yard with the steps and all. He'll wait there till we go back in. I'll just get some lunch and take it to him, if you don't mind." With that, Camille snatched up a soup bowl and several pieces of cheese and disappeared back inside.

[Saelind]

As Willy finished shooting marbles, Neviel stood up and tugged impatiently on Woody's sleeve. "Did you hear that? That hobbit lass over there.....talking to Miz Bella. She said her brother was inside because he couldn't manage the steps. You know, I wouldn't like sitting inside by myself." Then he added in a softer voice, "I think I could help him with those steps...even carry him outside." Although only eight years old, Neviel stood a good foot taller than the teacher. The lad was slim but wiry and strong; he was used to bearing large bundles from his time on the road when he had carried his own belongings on his back. "Woody, I'll be back in a minute."

Before Woody or the others could say anything to stop him, Neviel ran off towards the building to see if he could help Rory. All the while he wondered: what was wrong with the young lad's legs that they wouldn't do something so simple as carry him down the steps? He remembered one time in Rivendell when there had been a young Elf who had a problem like that. The Elf had been in an accident years before. It had been his father who had taken the time to work with the Elf's legs and somehow reteach him how to walk. Neviel wondered if his father could somehow help Rory. He would have to ask him.

Bounding up the steps, Neviel pushed the door open and rushed inside the schoolroom. The hobbit lass Camille was standing protectively over her brother. She turned around to face the Elf. "Excuse me!" Neviel blurted out. "I can carry your brother down those steps. It's no trouble really. I promise not to drop him. And I thought he'd like to be outside with the rest of us. Maybe he could play marbles with us?"

[Arry]

Willy and Hanson lit out after Neviel, their shorter legs pumping fast to stay up with the Elf. Their curiosity was peaked at some new boy come to school. And why couldn’t he walk , Hanson wondered aloud as they hurried along. ‘Might be like one of Gaffer Lambswort’s sheep – the ones from last season. There were two as was born lame. Remember?’ huffed Woody.

Neviel was already speaking with the older girl, Camille, when they burst in, and crowded up behind him. Hanson recognized the posture the big girl had taken. Same’s the one Woody had when older kids had picked on him or their littler sister.

‘Don’t get too close to her. She looks like she might smack you if you do,’ Hanson whispered to Neviel. He peeked around one side of the Elf and grinned at the boy. ‘Hey!’ he said. ‘My name’s Hanson. This here is Neviel and that’s Woody. My big brother.’ He nodded to the open door to the schoolroom. ‘We’re all outdoors. Come out and play some marbles with us before the teacher gets us all back inside.’

He felt Woody nudge him to be quiet. Hanson shrugged away from his brother’s reach and stepped closer to the boy. ‘Come on! Then we can break into teams. You can be on me and . . . Neviel’s if you want.’

Hanson turned and stuck out his tongue at Woody.

[Esgallhugwen]

Uien stood up abruptly and began to walk away, "Uien!" Esgallhugwen called but to no avail. Leave her be for now, she thought turning to the others.

"I have done what I can to free her from the thoughts that doomed to trap her, but now she must be left along to sort her feelings out. She loves you Falowik, but something darker haunts her heart and she knows not who to turn to"

The familiar heat of flame subsided and Eswen sighed with relief glad that it was gone, for now. The sun was bright in the clear blue sky, she could hear children playing and turned her attention towards them.

Scurrying about, careless, free. They were playing marbles or so it seemed, but something had caught their attention and soon they were back inside talking wildly with the vigor of youth.

"A school? My dear Aman, what have you been up to?"

She managed to convince Falowik to sit beside her in the shade of the Inn, "give Uien time Falowik, don't wander into the wilds alone again, the meaning of that carven object may not be what it seems".

I come I come to hearth and home but what displeases me the most is the sight of ash and bone.

Elvish riddles

[Fairleaf]

Daisy faces off the nosy boys

‘Don’t be a pest, Reggie!’ Daisy saw her little brother get up from the marble ring and called out to him.

Reggie, however, was not about to miss out on something new and exciting. He ignored her, not even giving her the courtesy of looking her way.

‘Little snot!’ she muttered under her breath. She got up from her seat in the shade and rushed after him. ‘You just wait til I tell Ma how you been acting!’

He had a good head start on her, much to her misfortune. And he made it through the door to the schoolroom with only the barest of yanks from her grasping fingers on the tail of his tunic. He slipped away easily and went up to stand by his new friend, Hanson.

‘What’s going on?’ he asked, then saw the new boy seated in the classroom. ‘Is he gonna play . . .?’ he began to ask, but was cut off by his sister’s entrance.

Daisy, of course, was mortified. Here was here new acquaintance, soon to be friend, she hoped. And there were the other boys and Reggie annoying her. At least that’s how it looked to her.

‘Oh, Camille!’ she said going to stand by the older girl. ‘I’m so sorry my brother’s bothering you . . . and this must be your brother, right.’ She glared at the gathered boys. ‘What are you all doing in here anyway? Leave my friend and her brother alone!’

[Firefoot]

Not one to be left out, Willy had trailed after the other lads towards the school room. He was as curious as the others about this other lad, who apparently couldn't walk. He thought of how boring life would be if he couldn't walk and run and play and felt a wave of sympathy for the lad he had never seen before.

He walked in almost immediately after Reggie's sister and caught the end of the conversation: "Is he gonna play...?" Reggie was saying.

"Oh, Camille! I’m so sorry my brother’s bothering you . . . and this must be your brother, right."

"We're not bothering," interrupted Willy. What was wrong with her? Didn't she realized how lonely the boy must be? "We thought maybe-" Willy realized he didn't know the boy's name. "-he would want to play marbles with us. We thought it'd be lonely, having to sit in here while everyone else is playing outside."

[piosenniel]

Cook muses on the two firewood stackers and encounters the Elf in her garden . . .

Cook had recovered, somewhat, from her erstwhile dishwasher. Ginger had come back into the kitchen with two of the other servers and they had cleaned away the messy area surrounding the sink. The wet and dirtied tea towel, Cook had taken herself to soak in some hot sudsy water with a half cup of lemon juice stirred in to ease out the stains.

While the others mopped up the kitchen’s floor, she went out the back door to catch a breath of fresh air. The lunch cooking was done and those of her staff had the serving of it well under control. Supper was all ready to be cooked a little later. She had a few precious moments to herself.

The warm spring breeze caught a stray curl, teasing the springy grey flecked strand from behind the Hobbit’s ear. It tickled her cheek. Unthinking she made to tuck it firmly under her head band. But looking out over the pleasant, sunny day made her feel quite young again. And she took the band from her hair, letting all her curls toss in the breeze.

The old kitchen tabby had braved the day and was curled up in a patch of sun. She raised her head as Cook stood on the porch and meowed a bit. A little protest, as Cook stood blocking the sun.

‘Well, begging your pardon, Gammer,’ Cook said, leaning down to give the feline a little scratch behind the ears. The Hobbit stepped down to the first step of the porch of the sun, gathering the back of her skirt neatly beneath her. She stretched her legs out and wriggled her toes, enjoying the feel of the sun’s heat on them.

There, to her right, near the Inn woodshed were Derufin and his helper. Anyopâ, she said, thinking on the man’s name for a moment. The wagon was halfway unloaded now. The two men had taken off their tunics as the day grew warmer. Their skin glistened as the light hit it. The muscles on their arms bulged as they carried the large armfuls of wood to the shed. Hot dirty work, she thought to herself. And thank goodness they had been willing to do it for her. ‘I must remember to cook up some sweet treat for master Derufin,’ she said, making a mental note of her decision. ‘And find out what the other fellow likes, too. Small payment for a big job.’ She took a closer look at Anyopâ. ‘Hmmmph! A little too stringy! Course maybe that’s how they grow ‘em where he comes from.’ She eyed him again. ‘Needs a bit of fattening up, I think. At least while he’s under my roof.’

A short way beyond those two were the Inn’s gardens. One for vegetables and a smaller one for herbs – cooking and medicinal. Cook shaded her eyes against the sun. Hmmm . . . now there was someone walking about in her herb garden. Tall fellow, she could see. And, Land Sakes! He had his cloak all pulled up around him and his hood up, too. Every once in a while she saw him stoop down to finger a flower or a leaf. Didn’t pick any though, as far as she could see.

With the pride of all Shire gardeners rising in her, she thought perhaps he might be admiring the layout of her little bed and the healthy, hardy plants she had nurtured from seed to leaf and flower. Mayhap he was a gardener in his own right.

Cook stood up and smoothed her skirt and apron with her hands. She took the hairband from her pocket and caught back her curls. Filling the oaken bucket from the pump, she went walking toward the tall fellow and her garden. His back was to her and he was bent over, his long fingers brushing across a low growing plant with softly bristled leaves that had spread over a nearby rock.

‘Woolly thyme,’ she said, coming up to stand beside him. ‘One of my pride and joys, that is. Had to trade a number of starts to my other herbs to get that. Comes up from the south . . . far south.’ She bent over and pinched the leaves of a similar plant near it, though these were smooth and shiny. ‘This one too’s from the more southern lands. Quite tasty on Shire brook trout. They call it lemon thyme. Here, smell it . . .’ she held the crushed sprig out to him.

[Huan]

‘Who’s that? Over there. With Cook.’ Anyopâ took the handkerchief from his breeches’ pocket and wiped the sweat from his face. He nodded toward the garden area where Cook stood speaking to some cloaked man.

It was an interesting scene, the compact, tiny Hobbit and her long, tall companion. He could see her bend to pluck some bit of plant, take a deep whiff of it, and then offer it up to the other person.

‘Odd, don’t you think,’ he went on, ‘that he seems to conceal himself. The day is far too warm for that.’ He grinned at Derufin, drawing the back of his arm across his already beaded brow. ‘Or so it seems to me.’