[Child of the 7th Age]

Hawthorne purposefully marched over to where Dandelion was standing. The young lass stood up to her full three feet and looked Dandelion straight in the eye, thinking it best to take her medicine and be done with it.

The older hobbit fixed a stern gaze on Hawthorne, "You were so anxious to get to Bywater that you left me stranded beside the road. The cart broke an axel just ten minutes after you went galloping off, and I toppled into a ditch. I twisted my ankle, and there was no one to send for help! If Master Samwise hadn't come along on Old Bill, I might have sat out there all night!" Dandelion was not one to enjoy talking back to one of her Brandybuck employers, but she could not let her young Mistress get away with such bad behavior. If Master Merry had been here, he would surely have chewed Hawthorne's ear off.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think," the lass blurted out. "I was excited and in a hurry to get to the Inn." Then she hung her head, "But that's no excuse..."

Master Samwise nodded his approval, "No excuse in the slightest! You are young and strong and should have helped poor Dandelion."

Hawthorne hung her head, then gazed up at the two of them, looking a little sheepish, "I was going to surprise you. I've gotten a job in the Inn, just like Master Merry wanted."

"What sort of job?" asked Dandelion very gently, not wanting to discourage Hawthorne from her good intentions.

"I'm helping out in the kitchen."

"Helping out with the clean up and serving and such? That would be a very good idea."

"Actually, Dandelion, I've been put in charge of the cooking."

Dandelion rolled her eyes towards the heavens and, in pure shock, took a step backwards, nearly keeling into Samwise's arms from the pain in her ankle. All she could say in reply was: "Oh, dear! That's not what Master Merry meant..."

Dandelion sighed loudly and turned to look at Sam, "I'm awfully tired and my ankle is throbbing. I'll take up your kind offer to come stay with you and Rose at Bag-end. Then tomorrow morning, I'll come back down once my cart is fixed, leave off Hawthorne's luggage, and have a little chat with the Innkeeper to try and straighten all this out."

Dandelion leaned closer to Sam and whispered in his ear, "Miss Hawthorne doesn't know one end of a kitchen from the other. We'll have to see about getting her a more appropriate situation." Then Dandelion said her goodbyes to Hawthorne, advising the hobbit lass to work hard and be careful.

Samwise took up Dandelion's arm, gently guiding her towards the door, "I expect you're right, Dandelion. There seems to be a mix-up of some sort, but it can wait till the morning to straighten out. What possible damage can a young lass do in less than a day?"

With this final word of reassurance, Samwise helped Dandelion onto Old Bill's back and, taking up the reins, led the pony westward towards Bag-end.