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Brown was cursing himself inwardly for coming. He hated awkward moments, and he had inadvertently stumbled into one. As soon as Bunny and Tansy had contradicted each other, Brown had looked down at the table and bit his lip. The last thing he wanted was to get involved in some bizarre family intrigue, and so it was to his very great dismay that he found Fred suggesting that Tansy and Bunny take him, Brown Barrabury, with them to search for the Entwives. He tried to decline, but was stopped by two things. The first was the almost sorrowful earnestness in Fred's voice. Brown knew that Fred would have given anything to go along. He had loved traveling nearly as much as Brown, back before the accident...Brown had not actually felled the tree that broke Fred's back, but he still felt a level of responsibility, for not being closer by when Fred needed him.
Second, he had found himself immediately fascinated when Tansy had said: We are going to find the Entwives, wherever they might be. His mind flew back to the last letter he had been reading in Meriadoc Brandybuck's tome. The Entwives. It was undeniable. The old wanderlust rose up stronger than ever, and the thought of distant hill-tops and wind-swept fields banished from his mind any thought of a pleasant holiday with his relatives. Brown-the-Comfortable vanished and Brown-the-Wild-Rover leapt into his place.
He raised his eyes. They were very wide, and their look was intent and excited.
As soon as Bunny Took finished rattling on about details which he was sure he could pick up later, he stood. He bowed.
"Miss Bunny. Miss Tansy. I would be honored to accompany you on your Grand Expedition in the place of your good brother Fred, and to render any service that I may, on his behalf."
The rest of their evening was spent discussing logistics by candle-light, over a supper of roasted game-birds. Fred sat up with them late into the night, wearing a grin from ear to ear. Brown noticed.
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