* Giles and Autumn were safe and warm inside the hole of Giles' cousin Fredegar, his wife Appleblossom, their four children, and Grandma Harfoot. Just outside the hole, flapping in the breeze high atop a pole above the snowbanks, flew a triangular red banner from a party pavillion. Giles thought the banner just the thing to let Bullroarer Took and the rest of his company know where shelter was. *
* Giles had bit back tears on seeing how thin and weak Grandma Harfoot looked, but everyone's joy on seeing each other overcame all else. Fredegar had shown Giles and Autumn where the stable was for the comfort of their pack ponies, so their foor-footed companions were fed and watered, as well as brushed and combed when the snow melted off their manes. The Hobbits then shared half a baked potato each for supper, each with half a pat of butter. *
Food is on its way, * Giles reassured his kin, * Not as much as when we come back from Rivendell, but soon there'll be fish on your table ... you're welcome to my portion of fish. And being a carpenter what's learned Dwarven lore, I'll make you a fine steel rabbit trap. Hopefully we'll catch one for stewing before I leave.
* Giles had gotten up from his table to poke his head out the door every ten minutes to see where the rest of the company was. Finally, as Autumn helped Appleblossom and a daughter clean the dishes, the jostling clatter of a wagon could be heard. Autumn dropped her towel on a table, and joined Giles to run out waving and smiling to greet the group. *
* Everyone aboard the wagon was subdued. That was when Giles noticed the box hanging slightly over the wagon's edge at the back, firmly tied down. * Where's Emerald?
[ December 09, 2002: Message edited by: Gandalf_theGrey ]
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