[Child of the 7th Age]

30 October


Hob warily retreated underneath his blanket and plugged two fingers into his ears to shut out the early morning racket. He'd been having such a wonderful dream until the birds had woken him with their raucous serenade.

There he'd been.... proudly seated at his own board while Cami ran back and forth from the kitchen to the table carrying heaping platters of eggs and fried ham which she lovingly offered to him. He could almost smell the whiff of warm bread and rasher of bacon as the sweet odors wafted up to his nostrils..

Neighbors politely knocked at the door of the burrow and stepped inside, asking Hob for advice or paying their respects to the newlyweds. With a tip of the hat and a respectful bow, they thanked him for his part in helping to clean up the Shire. "Ah, yes, Master Hob, you Shirriffs are top notch.I don't know what we would ever have done without you. You deserve all the rewards the Chief has heaped on your head..."

As the words drifted away inside his mind, Hob sighed and pulled the covers over his face making one last futile attempt to slip back into his dream. But it was no use. Several twigs were poking him squarely in the middle of his back, and he couldn't find a comfortable place to settle on the ground. With a grumble of protest, he uneasily stood up, glancing over at his two companions who still lay sleeping soundly.

Hob was not looking forward to the day ahead, especially once they managed to meet up with the Big Folk and carry out whatever plan against the Tooks that Ferny had in mind. Still, there was no use dawdling or lying abed. He trotted down towards the roadway, hunting for the small stream they had passed last night just before they'd stopped to make their camp. The soft gurgle of water and the splash of fish leaping out of the pond and then down again greeted his sleepy eyes. He knelt and brought up a handful of water to his face, splashing it about, in an effort to pull himself back to reality. It was then that he heard the gentle clip-clop of a pack pony trotting along the road, seemingly coming in his direction. He heard the traveler hesitate and mutter some unintelligible words and then stop the pony for a moment, leading the beast off the road in the direction of the stream.

With his heart all aflutter, Hob hurriedly pushed his body into a nearby patch of thick bracken, lying flat against the ground, but lifting up his head just enough to be able to see who had come down to the water. His eyes widened in disbelief as he took in the incongruous scene in front of him. For there, squatting on the ground and hastily filling her water bottle, was his beloved poppit Cami Goodchild.

Cami did not look to be too happy. Her face appeared tired and irritated as she tilted back her head to take a drink and stuffed a small piece of journeybread into her mouth. Wherever she was going, she was in an awful hurry.

For one instant Hob thought to pop out of the foliage and run up to her, throwing his arms about her shoulders and giving her a welcoming hug. But then he stopped. That action was totally unthinkable. Cami would not approve of the hobbits he was travelling with, and even more importantly, she was apt to open her mouth and find herself in some serious trouble with the Shirrifs and Ferny.

Hob watched as Cami picked up the reins of the pack pony and urged him back down the road, jogging as fast as she could in the direction of Tukborough. He shook his head and sighed. Hob had no idea what was going on, but he did not like the looks of all this. Cami was supposed to be in Buckland tending to the Brandybuck children, not gallavanting off across the countryside.

He strode back uneasily towards the campsite, vowing to keep the matter to himself. With a well-aimed kicked on Olo's rear, he bellowed out to his two companions..."Hey, git up. Break camp. We've plenty of work to do today." At the back of his mind, he kept wondering if perhaps they'd be fast enough to find out the answer to exactly why Cami was speeding towards Tukborough.

[ September 27, 2003: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]