[Phervasaion]

Tom awoke early the next morning after the party, unlike the night before where he overslept. He got up at six o’clock to check that all things were ready for the trip and to make a few final touches to his packing. There was not much else to do so he made himself an extremely small breakfast which consisted of only two mushrooms.

Tom began to think more seriously about the journey ahead and the dangers that there could be. It wasn’t just Wargs and Orcs that he was worried about; he had heard that the East road to Bree was becoming icy and very slippery. And the cold weather itself could have been the death of the novice adventurers. He pondered these thoughts for some time when suddenly he heard a knock at the door which woke him up from his slight daydreaming. He opened the door revealing Cedric shaking in the cold weather with a huge bag on his back.

“Hullo Cedric come on in while we wait for the others to arrive,” Tom said as he invited him into his living room. He was just about to sit down again when he heard another knock at his door. “Err... Hang on just a minute while I get the door… Again,” He said as he once again walked to his front door. The hobbits now began to arrive one by one. Melody and Ivy and then the others came in. Madoc brought a wagon in which the hobbits could store their entire luggage.

Tom began throwing all the heavy bags upon the wagon and thanked Madoc for his help. After, Tom and Madoc trudged back through the snow into the house and looked and all the faces of the young hobbits about to embark on this great journey. Their faces looked worried and sad while, at the same time, excited and desperate.

After a slight pause Tom looked them all in the eyes. “Well…” He began. “If theirs n final things that anyone wants to do… then let us begin travelling.”