[doug*platypus]

Biffo had to admit that so far, Primrose had definitely been living up to everyone's expectations. Bilbo's faith in her was not without reason, it seemed. Biffo had nodded approvingly as she guessed at times and distances. She had, he thought, been right in her reckoning, if they were to travel by pony and from Hobbiton. He did not of course know where Primrose's beasts were stabled, however.

"For myself, lass," Biffo rejoined, "I'd have to say that no, I do not own a pony. I was hoping ye'd have enough for the lot of us and all the bags, though it does seem there'll be an awful lot of those! Good thing you have a cart, we'll surely need it."

Biffo seemed to recall Prim mentioning a cart-pony at Bag End, and was glad she had the cart to complete the matching set. Olo Proudfoot, who had been listening with interest and taking notes more than talking, now chipped in.

"You're right, Primrose, you'll need a good excuse to borrow all that ponyage!" Olo said. "Hmm... with all this bandit activity, maybe the Shirriffs could ask to borrow them and return them later. Of course, we couldn't get a real Shirriff to do it."

Olo cast a smirking glance towards his nephew, hinting maybe that with a hat and a feather or two, he could look very much the part of a Shirriff, if it came down to it. Biffo pretended not to notice.

"Very good suggestion about the decorations, Pearl," Biffo said.

To tell the truth, the hobbit had forgotten about Pearl for a minute there. Actually, he had mistakenly thought there were only five travelling conspirators. He looked down at his toes and began counting the group off to make sure, this time: Primrose, Pearl, Crystal, Annabell, Melilot, Olo, Biffo! Ah, seven! Very fortuitous! Pleased with his skills of numeracy, Biffo looked up and paid attention again. His uncle was talking.

"As for sleeping about out of doors," Olo was saying, "I think that we'd better not, not with these bandits about. We should be able to find a nice, affordable Inn where we can keep everything safe. And at any rate, I don't think we'll be gone too long, will we? At least that's what I told Maggie and the kids."

Biffo didn't mind at all about sleeping indoors or out, and had done a great deal of both (sleeping being one of his strong points). He could definitely see the wisdom in Olo's suggestion though, and was once again grateful that the Proudfeet were there to help guide the younger (though very able) hobbit lasses. He was particularly impressed at Olo's helping out, as looking after a family must take a bit of work. Biffo hoped on his behalf that they would not be gone too long, or Olo would surely miss his family and his comfy hobbit-hole. The thought that any unforeseen trouble might await them hardly entered Biffo's mind.