In the Shadow of the Star: Part 1

[Orual]

The news of the supposed skulker outside of Bag End had worried Sam. He thought of his children at home with their mother, who was hardly capable of protect herself against an attacker, as pregnant as she was, much less protecting all seven of their children.

"What do you think, Sam?" Frodo asked. Sam startled out of his thoughts.

"Think about what, Mr. Frodo?" he asked.

"About Bilbo's news, what he saw outside last night," Frodo explained. He looked a little anxious himself.

"I have to say it worries me, Mr. Frodo," Sam confessed. "Thinking of Rose and the children home alone, and Rose in no condition to defend them. Frodo-lad's getting older, but he's still not big enough or strong enough to take on a full-grown hobbit, much less one of the Big Folk. I'd like to think that Mr. Bilbo was just mistaken, but I can't convince myself of that. He's too sharp to be wrong about this, and if he's worried enough to send out those cudgels, he'd have to be pretty sure of what he saw. And if he's sure, that's good enough for me, so I'm uncomfortable with the whole business."

Having thus expressed himself, Sam fell into his own thoughts as they walked along the road, mulling over the news, and wondering how he could best protect his family.