[Ealasaide]

Seamus

Unable to obtain rooms in the crowded inn and still less able to pay for them anyway, Seamus and Owen had spent the night in the common room, stretched out in armchairs before the fire. Exhausted from the day’s excitement, Shimshin, too, curled himself into a little ball in Seamus’ lap and slept soundly through the remainder of the night, a little silver-colored whistle clutched tightly in his small fist. As the common room began to return to life the next morning, Seamus awoke first. Trying not to wake Shimshin in the process, Seamus reached one of his long legs out across the hearthrug and gave Owen a gentle kick. Owen stirred, crossing his arms stubbornly across his chest.

“I told you he didn’t mean to take it!” he muttered angrily. Seamus grinned and gave his friend another nudge with the toe of his boot.

“Oy! Wake up!”

This time Owen sat bolt upright and glared around the steadily-filling common room for a long instant before coming to the realization that he had been dreaming. Catching sight of Shimshin still curled safely in Seamus’ lap, Owen sighed and slumped back into his chair. “Is it morning already, then?” he asked, blinking owlishly in the direction of the kitchen.

“It is indeed,” answered Seamus.

“Have we got enough money for breakfast? Whatever they’re cooking in there smells monstrous good.”

Seamus shrugged, then reached into his coat. After mining around for a while in the depths of his pocket, he withdrew his hand and deposited the whole of his funds on the small table that stood between the two armchairs. It amounted to three coppers, a button, and a few tufts of lint. Owen stared sleepily at Seamus’ accumulated funds, then dug into his own pocket. A few seconds later, two more coppers and an empty peanut shell had joined the pile on the table. The two young men stared at the meager pile with long faces. Then, Seamus shook his head.

“I daresay, if I’d known we were this strapped, I might not have been so fast and loose with those ha’ pennies yesterday,” he sighed.

Owen gave him a sideways look. “What ha’ pennies?”

“Oh, I gave those little chaps, Willie and Nick, a ha’ penny each to watch Shimshin for us while we played yesterday.”

“Oh...” Owen let out a sigh of his own. “Well, they were capital little fellows. I suppose it was worth the investment. Aside from that one brooch, I don’t think Shimshin got into much trouble. He’s got that little whistle there, but it doesn’t look to be worth much. Just a bit of tin, I expect.”

Seamus looked down at the whistle still clutched in the monkey’s hand. “I suppose it belongs to one of the little hobbit fellows. If we left it with the innkeeper, I’m sure she would see that it found its way back to them right proper and all.”

“I suppose so.” Owen sighed again as one of the Green Dragon’s serving girls whisked past them to another table bearing a plate piled high with fresh sausage and eggs. Seamus’ gaze followed the plate attentively, too, until it landed at its destination in front of a rather portly hobbit, who grinned and poured hot maple syrup thickly over the whole pile. Sighing in unison, the two young men pushed themselves regretfully to their feet. They had a long way to go yet to reach their destination and knew that the luxury of the inn’s fine breakfast was more than they could afford. They had come to the handfasting in the hopes of earning a bit of spare change by plying their trade as musicians, but in the end had ended up spending more than they made. Without speaking, both young men knew that discretion dictated they beat a hasty retreat before they spent even more.

Seamus lifted Shimshin, who awoke at once and scrambled agilely up Seamus’ shirt to his accustomed perch on the tall man’s shoulder. Once Shimshin had settled in, wrapping his long tail loosely around Seamus’ neck for balance, Seamus reached out and pocketed his share of the money on the side table and waited as Owen did the same. Then, exchanging a sorrowful glance, for they had both enjoyed their brief stay at the Green Dragon very much, the two young men picked up their rucksacks and their instruments and left through the inn’s front door. On their way to the gate, they dropped back around to the kitchen door, where they stuck their heads in and thanked the cook and the innkeeper both for their kindness and hospitality, asking that they say good-bye to Gil and the rest of the band for them, as well. Seamus gave the innkeeper the whistle Shimshin had stolen. Smiling at their story of how they had ended up with the child’s toy, the innkeeper promised that she would see that it was returned to Willie and Nick at the first opportunity.

Seamus and Owen thanked her again and took their leave. Within minutes, they had regained the open road and were on their way, the Green Dragon Inn sinking slowly into the distance behind them.