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The stable master had suddenly excused himself and Jinniver turned to Andwise the hobbit, with a smile on her face. He offered her some pipeweed and she filled her pipe as she listened to him. “What about you? From Bree I heard. What brings you so far afield from home?”
“Yes, I am a Breelander” Jinniver took a draw on her pipe and blew a smoke ring. “Our farm is on the Greenway, just outside the walls, though far away enough to be called a quiet place. I live with my old Dad, and my niece has lately joined us there. My brother is a brewer in Bree itself. You could call our farm a nursery, as we grow only flowers and shrubs, not taters and wheat, though we do grow herbs. I’ve come to The Shire to see if some of the good folk hereabouts would like to buy from us.”
Andwise looked as though he was a little puzzled. “Well, it is not so far, and now we have regular carts going to and fro on the road, it would be easy to send deliveries. I even thought of making a little seed catalogue of sorts, so that over the winter evenings the gardeners of the Shire can pass the time in ordering those things they want to grow when spring comes around”.
Jinniver was keen to know if this would be something Shire folk would like. It was an idea she had thought of before leaving home, but had decided to keep it in the back of her mind until she saw how things went. She had not known what to expect of the Shire, though some of the Hobbits of Bree, regular customers and good friends, had urged her to try for some trade here. Her father had been keen on the idea, though he was nervous about letting her go alone. “Still, I suppose you’ve seen through enough troubles. I daresay you could handle yourself” he had said, more to reassure himself. As Jinniver looked around her, she wondered at her father’s worries. She had never thought such a friendly and charming place could exist. She blew another smoke ring contentedly and then her face became more serious.
“I have heard tell about the troubles that the Shire itself suffered, worse than we had in Bree. Though they were bad enough,“ she said sadly. “And yet it is so welcoming here. In the inn last night, there were many people, elves and men, who I’d only call peculiar, and look at that strange man under the tree there now.” They watched as the grey haired man woke up and got to his feet. “These are all as old friends in the Shire, and yet I wouldn’t go down The Greenway without such as this” Jinniver pulled out the old dagger she carried. “The King may have come back, but there could still be untrustworthy creatures abroad.”
Andwise looked a little startled as she put the knife onto the table, and she withdrew it with a smile. "Or am I too wary, master Andwise?"
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