[Tevildo]

By the time morning came, Tevildo was perched on the steps of the Green Dragon cleaning and arranging his long, fluffy coat. He was not looking especially well today. One of his ears appeared slightly chewed and was tilted at a rather unusual angle, as if he had just come back from some dissolute errand.

This cursory impression was not far from the truth. In hopes of avoiding his mistress who'd unexpectedly turned up at suppertime, Tevildo had slipped outside and slunk down the road, spending the long night hours caterwauling with a feline member of the Gamgee household named Mushroom, a mouser who resided in the Hobbit family's barn. Although the family lived several miles distant, she had curtly informed the newcomer that the entire region of Hobbiton and Bywater was under her personal jurisdiction, and that no cat could take up residence without her personal consent.

Tevildo had strenuously objected, arguing that he had been hired on as a mouser at the Green Dragon and, therefore, had no need of anyone's aproval. Mushroom had not been impressed. She contended that the two-leggeds could make whatever arrangements they cared to, but no cat was coming into Hobbiton unless she personally approved the arrangement.

Losing his temper, Tevildo had countered with a stinging comment about the 'pint-sized master' of the Gamgee household. That had not gone over well. Despite Mushroom's earlier insistence that she was a free and independent feline, one who had no affection for her two-legged hosts, she had apparently taken these comments to heart. Thirty minutes later, Tevildo found himself at the bottom of a pile of several neighborhood cats, scraping and clawing his way out. Then, he turned tail and raced back to the Inn.

Once he had completed his morning grooming and repaired the damage to his ear as best he could, he mounted the steps to the Inn and pressed his small pink nose firmly up against the front door, waiting for someone to push it open. He did not have long to wait. There seemed to be a great deal of excitement in the air, with people bustling to and fro in anticipation of some unknown event, something which held no interest for Tevildo other than a possible source of things to eat and drink. As the door swung open, Tevildo padded inside and was greeted with aloud and triumphant cry, "You naughty kitty! Where have you been? I've been here all night, worrying about what you've gotten into. Now come say hello to me right away!"

Tevildo meowed piteously as he was swept up by a firm hand and plopped into the skirts of a chubby grey-haired woman with warm brown eyes and the hint of a smile on her face.