[Arry]

Andwise nodded his head at Derufin as he entered the common room. The man sat with a heaping plate of eggs, fried ham, and thick slices of toast slathered with butter and jam. He ate with a certain gusto, pausing now and then to take great gulps from his mug of steaming tea. The Hobbit smiled a bit at the picture as he approached the table where Derufin sat. Derufin, his mouth full of toast, pushed out a chair for the Hobbit with his foot and gave a brief nod of his own toward it.

‘You know, you keep tucking into your food like that and the lads will have you entered in the pie-eating contest at the Spring Faire!’ He looked beneath the table at Derufin’s boots and tapped them lightly with his toe. ‘Boots still, eh?’ He grinned widely at the man who bore a perplexed look on his face. ‘The day I find you with bare feet, I’ll know for sure you’ve turned into a giant Hobbit!’

Derufin put down his fork and laughed at the gentle joke. He waved then at someone across the room, motioning them to come over. Andwise turned to see who their companion might be. It was Ferdy, heading for the kitchen as his father had instructed; his tool box gripped in one hand, banged now and then against his knee. ‘The lad’ll not be joining us for breakfast,’ Andwise said to Derufin, who frowned as Ferdy waved back, but then disappeared through the kitchen’s door. ‘Mistress Bunce has plans for him this morning,’ the Hobbit went on.

‘That cabinet,’ returned Derufin. ‘Ferdy said something about it needing fixed.’ The man drummed his fingers lightly on the tabletop. ‘Though for the life of me, I can’t recall it being broken. I’m sure I would have noticed it.’

Andwise gave the man a half-smile and raised his brow slightly. ‘Cook’s plans go beyond a broken cabinet today,’ he said cryptically.

Buttercup had drawn near, wanting to see what the Hobbit would like. He could see her pretended nonchalance at overhearing the conversation and he gave a wink to Derufin. ‘Nowt for me, Buttercup,’ he said, sending her on her way. ‘I’ve had my breakfast already at home. Just come to pick up Derufin here. Got things to talk over . . . concerning the cottage and such . . .’ Buttercup nodded, giving a little sniff of disapproval at being sent off without hearing the particulars.

The Hobbit accepted a cup of tea from Derufin’s pot and drank it slowly as the man finished up his meal. The two then left the Inn making their way toward the cottage, waving as they exited to Buttercup. They walked along in comfortable silence, enjoying the fresh sights and sounds of the new day.

‘Partial to rosemary, are you,’ asked Andwise, noting that every so often the man’s hand strayed to the small sprig in his button hole. His face softened at a forgotten image and he spoke low. ‘My dear wife used to put rosemary in bottles of oil. She’d use a little each day to tame her flyaway curls. Even now I can remember the scent of it as she nestled against me . . .’

Andwise looked into the distance for a brief moment and took a deep breath. Then, gathering his thoughts about him again, he kept silent for the short way left to the cottage.