[Firefoot]

The corners of Nick's mouth turned upwards in a watery smile. Shimshin had not abandoned him after all! He had simply gotten trapped in a locked room. Tentatively, Nick reached up to pet the monkey's shiny black fur. It wasn't soft, exactly, but it was comforting at any rate.

"You wouldn't leave me, would you, Shimshin?" he asked. Shimshin cocked his head at Nick, and Nick knew he was listening. Suddenly, he began to giggle; Shimshin's long tail was trailing down his back, and it tickled. Shimshin made a chirping noise - Nick thought it sounded like laughter. Comforted and emboldened, Nick thought that he would try the steps now. He stood up slowly, careful not to disturb the monkey on his head. Shimshin sat securely as Nick began to make his way back down the hallway, but hopped off once he reached the stairs. Nick was disappointed but also glad since he was not very steady going down anyway. He took it one step at a time, holding tightly to the rail that was just above his eye level, and soon he had reached the bottom.

When he found that Shimshin had not followed, he called out to him: "Come on, Shimshin!" After a moment's hesitation the monkey sprang nimbly onto the railing and came down that way, tail weaving in and out for balance. From the end of the railing Shimshin jumped onto Nick's shoulders, knocking Nick slightly off balance. Shimshin did not weigh very much, but Nick was after all a very small, young hobbit.

"Where should we go now?" Nick asked Shimshin amiably. "Maybe we should find Willy, huh? He went chasing after the cat. I don't know what happened then. He left me, and you found me. I wonder what Willy did to the cat? ..." So Nick began chatting with the monkey, who was clearly listening, even adding soft chirps and clicks. Nick was more confident going through the Common Room this time around, though he still stuck to the edges and tried to remain unnoticed. Had he been paying attention he would have seen that people had noticed him, smiling at the little hobbit lad with the monkey on his shoulders.

Outside, Nick found immediately who he had been looking for. "Willy!" he cried. Shimshin started a little at the loud noise and Nick could feel him tense.

"Oh, good, I found you," said Willy, clearly relieved. Nick frowned - he had found Willy, not the other way around. "And you found Shimshin too. Mr. Seamus has been looking for him. You wait here and hold Shimshin, okay? I'll go find him," continued Willy, and not waiting for Nick's reply hurried off in search of Seamus. Now Nick had no intention of "holding Shimshin." Shimshin was his friend, not his prisoner, and if the monkey wanted to leave, he could. Nick might even go with him, and he told Shimshin as much - Shimshin understood, Nick knew. He was finding that, though he adored Willy, he rather preferred Shimshin's company.

Willy, in the meantime, was extremely thankful not only for finding Nick but also for finding something to do. After all, he reasoned, he was helping... just not in the sense that old Gammer Oldbuck had intended. He snuck a glance her way; she wasn't watching him any more. Willy was having some trouble finding Seamus - both of them were moving, and several more people had arrived since the beginning of the party (including, he thought, that pair of hobbits from Bree. Interesting folk, them - were all "Outsiders" like them?)

Finally, he spotted Seamus, who was at the moment looking up a tree for the now-unlost Shimshin.

"Mr. Seamus, Mr. Seamus!" called Willy. The man turned and smiled in recognition. "Me and Nick found Shimshin! Nick has him around by the front of the Inn."