[piosenniel]

It was not surprise which graced the features of Pio’s face. It was amusement. ‘Look!’ she said, drawing Mithadan’s attention to the approaching couple holding the baby. ‘It seems as if Cami has attracted another stray.’ Mithadan laughed, and looked at Pio thoughtfully. ‘Yes, well she seems to have that talent, doesn’t she? People of all sorts come under the power of her presence, don’t they?’

Man and Elf stood as the trio approached. The new couple was greeted warmly with handshakes and embraces. Pio bent down to hug Cami, who held the little one in her arms. A small gasp escaped the Elf, and stepping back, her eyes glinting, she looked closely at Cami. Pio opened her mouth to speak, but her words were swept away by a howl from the little girl.

Little one! Your ear is hurting! Pio’s hand went soothingly to the side of the baby’s face. ‘Cami, I have my bag of medicinal herbs in my room. Let us see what we can find for her.’ The two women and the sniffling child went into the kitchen.

Pio directed Buttercup to heat up a cup of salt in one of the frying pans, while she found one of her clean socks and her herb kit. The warm salt was poured into the sock and held lightly against the baby’s ear – the heat from it bringing some relief for the pain. Pio showed Cami the proportions for a mixture of willow bark and a pinch of athelas in a small dollop of honey. She put a small drop of the mixture on her little finger and teased open the mouth of the little girl with the sweetness of it, depositing it deftly on the roof of the child’s mouth. Tastes good, does it not, little one!

Mithadan and Maura came in to the kitchen, their faces serious, reflecting the gravity of their conversation. ‘I travelled quickly here from Gondor, bringing only what I thought I might need,’ she heard Mithadan say. ‘Let’s see if Piosenniel can draw on her resources here . . .’

‘And what resources are those that will you be needing, Maura?’

Pio handed the little one back to Cami and bade them all sit down at the table. Maura spoke of his concerns about the increasing number of incidents involving unfriendly he had just learned about. He spoke of his need to arm himself and Cami to defend their family and those around them as need be.

‘A sword, I think for myself. And a bow for Cami.’ Pio looked with interest at Cami. ‘You will take up a weapon?’ she asked, remembering her frustration in earlier situations where the obstinate Hobbit refused to arm herself. ‘To defend myself and my family,’ came the unhesitating answer.

‘Your family . . . yes . . .’

Pio stood and motioned them to follow her to her rooms. From the chest in the front room, she took out a bundle rolled up in oiled leather. It was about three and a half feet long, with the ends folded over and securely fastened with leather ties. She unrolled it on the floor, and the well polished blades caught the light and gleamed. Maura smiled appreciatively, his hands longing to touch them. Her eyes roamed appraisingly over the five long knives, coming to rest on the last one.

‘Stand up, please,’ she directed him, eyeing his height and the muscling of his arms. She picked up the knife she thought would suit him best. The sharp, double-edged blade was the shape of a long slender leaf, twenty inches of fine Dwarven steel. Seven more inches finished off the length of the haft from the cross piece to the simple ball pommel. ‘It is a light and sturdy blade, Maura. It should serve you well.’ She watched as his hand closed round the leather bound grip and he swung it carefully in a few practice strokes.

It fits your hand well, Master Bladesman. May you find no cause to use it.

Pio looked up at Cami from her seat on the floor. ‘It will take me a little longer to get a bow for you.’ Mithadan gave her a hand up, and she stood, rubbing the small of her back. ‘Perhaps you and Maura can talk strategy and planning, Mithadan. Surely we can help organize, if only from behind the scenes.’

A movement outside the window caught her eye. ‘Ah, there’s the answer to the other needed weapon!’

She took Cami by the hand, and pulled her from the room, leaving Mithadan and Maura to talk. ‘I saw Hob,’ she said, ‘just cross the yard into the stable. He does some hunting for the Inn as does his friend. I think we can get a bow for you from one of them . . .’

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Child's post

Cami had gone to visit Hob at Pio's suggestion, hoping that he could find her a suitable bow. However, all of the hunting bows he pulled out for her had a much heavier pull than she felt comfortable with. Hob had just given up on his search and left, when Minta poked her head through the stable door. She'd heard the rumors about Cami's young charge and wanted to have a look herself.

Minta led Cami back into the house. She grinned broadly at the little one toddling along behind them who was already feeling better from the effects of Pio's herbs. "What's her name?," she asked.

"Her name?" Cami's mind went blank. "I'm afraid we haven't given her one yet."

"But you and Maura must come up with something," Minta urged. "Otherwise, it could be bad luck, and these days we don't need any bad luck, especially with children."

Cami knew she was referring to the recent events in East Farthing but did not want to call them by name for fear they would somehow leap over to Bywater and Hobbiton and take on new life of their own accord.

Cami promised that she and Maura would decide on a name that very evening and let Minta know the next day. Laughing and joking, Minta caught up the child in her arms and offered to look out for her whenever Cami needed to work in the Inn, a proposal which Cami quickly accepted.

"Now about that bow. Leave it to my husband to come up with something that's twice as tall as you need and with a pull that's far too heavy for you to handle. I think I have something that will work a little better."

She went to a storage cupboard and removed a wooden bow, that was carefully crafted to Cami's proportions and height. "I've two of these. My father made them for my brothers. But after they outgrew them, I managed to get them myself."

Minta stroked the bow with firm but loving hands in a way that suggested she knew how to use it. Cami looked at her with surprise. She had never dreamed that this mild hobbit woman had ever handled a weapon of any kind.

"With five brothers, I couldn't help but learn a few things about bows and woodcraft and such. My brothers would never admit it, but I could hit the target as often as they did, and took down just as much game." Here Minta lowered her voice. "To tell the truth, after I heard the rumors about the bandits, I got out my own bow and went out in the field to practice again."

Cami looked cautiously about, as if she was afraid that someone might overhear. "I thought I was the only lass in the Shire who ever took to such things."

"You'd be surprised. There are a few of us, though we don't make a point of parading it through the marketplace." Then Cami told her how her own daughter Rose had learned to wield a short sword. Minta looked at her admiringly, "Not even my brothers can do that."

Cami thanked Minta and was just about to leave when the two-year old lass began fiddling with the bowstring and going through Cami's new quiver of arrows, dragging them out one by one. The child held one up to her nose and peered down at it intently. "Stop that now," Cami chastised her, grabbing the arrow back as quickly as she could.

"No, no. Lolly want. Lolly like."

The lass again reached out for the bow until Cami managed to pull her up by the shoulders, her little arms and legs beating the air in complete frustration at the prospect of being separated from such a treasure.

Minta took the squawling bundle from Cami and grinned, "This one certainly has a mind of her own, and seems to have a liking for bows and such. But I'll keep her out of mischief, I promise."

As Cami took up the bow and made her way back to her room to store it away, a random thought occurred to her, and she burst out laughing. A very headstrong little girl who called herself "Lolly" and who could not put down the arrow. It should not be hard to find a suitable name. She made a note in her head to talk with Maura as soon as she could.

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