[Fordim Hedgethistle]

Snaveling and Roa sat and waited their turn for the healers. When they had arrived at the small plot where the tall Elven woman was tending to the wounded, she had assessed them both with a glance, and deemed them only moderately wounded. She bid them seek shelter from the rain beneath a makeshift canopy that someone had constructed from a torn canvas tarpaulin, and Roa had been given a draught of something that the Elf woman had brewed in a small pot. Snaveling could see that Roa’s breathing became easier as she drank it down. As the Elf woman was moving away she paused and looked sharply at Snaveling, and he knew that she was recalling that he had been involved in the scene at which that bellowing Halfling – Tobias, he believed he was called, Tobias Trumpeter or something equally ridiculous – had taken up the accusing cry against Valthalion. For a moment it appeared as though the Elf was going to say something about this, but a man with a badly burned back moaned for her, and she moved off to give him care.

Roa turned to Snaveling, and began to ask if the Elf woman knew him, when there were two very sudden and, for Snaveling, very unwelcome arrivals. First, the very same rat-faced Halfling that he had been thinking about rushed over from the food line with a bowl of soup clutched in his hands. Without looking up, he dove beneath the shelter of their tent and sat down heavily right between them. So surprised were Roa and Snaveling that they did not know what to say or do, so they watched in amazed silence as the Halfling quickly gobbled down two huge mouthfuls of soup. It was only as he was coming up from the bowl for his third dive that he noticed them both staring at him. He looked back and forth between them, a tiny fragment of turnip clinging to his lower lip, and then let out a nervous laugh. Snaveling was on the point of speaking to him, when Valthalion suddenly appeared under the canvas. He pulled up short when he saw Tobias, but then – to the shock and amazement of everyone present – smiled at Snaveling and said, with something approximating good humour, “Hello. I’m glad to see that you are not too badly injured.”

Roa was struck speechless by all of this, so it was up to Snaveling to recover his wits first. Actually, it took a couple of tries, but he did manage to say, as civilly as he could, “Thank you for your concern, my lad, but I am not as feeble as some may think. I may look frail, but that is the result of the leagues I have travelled, not the years.” He paused for a fraction of time so small, that few would have noticed it before adding, “Sit down with us, my lad, your work today had earned you some rest.”

Snaveling’s response put Roa even further into shock, and set Valthalion back a step or two as well. The only person there who was not at a loss for what to do was Tobias, who had seized this opportunity to swallow the last of his soup. He belched loudly and settled backward onto the grass.

Valthalion greeted Roa, who was able to recover herself well enough to return it with one of the many overly-courteous phrases used by such people. The young man then sat down, somewhat closer to Roa than to Snaveling, but while he regarded the older man with caution, his gaze was more guarded and less overtly aggressive than he had used before. Snaveling looked about him at this odd group of folk and wondered what in this Middle Earth had conspired to bring him into it. It was as he was considering the odd quirks of fate that a thunderbolt clapped in his mind, and he realised what had happened. His vision swam and his heart pounded in his ears like a galloping horse: his luck had finally returned!

Forcing himself to remain calm, he turned to Valthalion and spoke in the measured tones of an experienced man of the world. “I understand, Val, that you I and have had our differences this day – I daresay you are as eager as I to put them to rest. Let us say that each of us has perhaps spoken too rashly of things that we only knew in pieces. For my part, I regret what I may have said about your role in setting the fires amongst the trees. Having seen how you sought to save people this day, including my lady Roa,” he nodded benevolently toward the Dunadan, “I have no doubt that only the noblest of intentions led you to run into that copse.”

Valthalion was wary in his response, but he thanked Snaveling for his words. Snaveling smiled and then continued. “The only other matter that stands between us is a slight purse of gold. I understand that having found such a thing on my person, given my general appearance and look of destitution, you would naturally assume that it was not mine. But as I have already told Roa, I came to this Shire seeking to buy some land of my own away beyond its southern borders: somewhere I could settle and live my own life. To that end, I sold all of my worldly possessions before I left the South, and that gold that you have taken from me,” here had to recover the use of his voice somewhat, “represents all that I have in the world.” Snaveling paused for a moment to gauge the effect of his words. Valthalion looked hostile, but wary. Roa was virtually unreadable, and he found her gaze unnerving, as though she could read his innermost thoughts. Tobias looked confused. Nobody spoke in response, and Snaveling let the moment stretch on for a time before springing his final trap. “As proof of what I say, I am glad to see that my business partner has come to join me,” and he looked directly at Tobias.

The surprise to all of them was, this time, like a physical slap, but Snaveling pressed ahead, eager now to see if he could make it clear to the Halfling what he was after. “I had arranged to meet this gentlehobbit here this morning. I was going to buy some kitchen utensils from him for the home that I will build on my new land – I believe you saw these being destroyed in the fire. Quite a pity! I assure you,” he said, giving Tobias a meaningful Look, “I intend to honour the terms of our contract; even though the items are lost, should I be able to convince this young Man to return my gold to me, I will happily pay you the sum we discussed.” Snaveling watched Tobias swallow once, then twice, and then nod slightly. He had agreed. Snaveling turned to Roa to make his final appeal. “This fine Halfling and I were then going to discuss the terms of my purchase and he was going to arrange for the sale of the land. In order to prove to him that I was serious, I showed him my purse yesterday, and he can vouch for that.”

Snaveling looked at Tobias hard. For a moment, the Halfling returned the gaze in silence, but there is no understanding like that which exists between thieves. Putting on his most honest face, Toby turned to Valthalion and Roa and said, “This is true. He did show me that purse. The gold is his.”