The Green Dragon Inn #11 - The Last Chapter

[Folwren]

Tim, after inviting the hobbit ladies over to Fordogrim’s table and fetching them chairs, and quite excused himself from the group and slipped outside the inn to make sure that all was well in the stables. He found Meri the stablemaster fairly red in the face from hobbling around and Tim felt a pang of guilt when he saw him.

“I’m here, Mr. Meriadoc,” he said. “You’d better take a seat and rest that foot of yours. I’m sorry for being gone so long. Mr. Fordogrim had me in for lunch, you see.”

“Well, at least you’re back now,” the hobbit replied rather shortly. He took Tim’s advise and seated himself on a barrel just outside the barn door. “There’s another horse just recently come in,” he went on, pulling a pipe out of his vest pocket and then searching for a match. “Make certain that he’s properly cared for. I couldn’t do more than put him in the stall. He was too big for me to groom with just one hand.”

“I’ll deal with it, don’t worry,” Tim replied. He turned at once and had just stepped into the barn door when he saw his sister emerge from the kitchen door with something under her arm. He paused half a second, looking at her, and then proceeded into the dimmer shadows of the barn to do his job with the horses.

[Farael]

In spite of himself, Farael gasped as the elf approached his table, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. He had been too busy talking to the dwarves to notice this lady elf listening in on his conversation. He had actually been to Ithilien once, sent by his father to make a business arrangement and seen a few elves yet he did not expect to find one in “the wilderness” as he thought of places any further than Rohan from home.

Ibun didn’t make things any easier from him, as he offered her a seat and refreshment even before he was able to mutter a soft “Yes, m’lady… I have been to Ithilien. It really is a lovely city.” Then he looked into her deep, grey eyes and blushed deeply. He gathered himself, hoping Teluyaviel would not have noticed how flustered he had become. “whe..” he had to clear his throat before going on “where are you from?” and he added to himself “From my dreams, I would guess” then he smiled at her, forgetting all about the dwarves for the time being.

[Valier]

Startled from her daydream.Penn looked down to see a Hobbit pulling at her sleeve offering her a cloth to sop up the mess. Penn's face turned red as she looked at her front.She was about to thank her, when she blurted out "Oh my goodness!" and asked what was in the bag.

Penn was reluctant to tell her of her companions,for fear of not being allowed to stay."Don't worry."Penn said."They are harmless...Most of the time."Then the woman got a strange far off look like she was deep in thought,then shrugged and laughed reached into the bag and pulled out 2 fuzzy creatures that were fast asleep."These are my friends.Mer and Pip,they're Ferrets." Penn waited to see the Hobbits reaction.

[Undómë]

‘A lovely city.’ Telu’s brow furrowed at the man’s answer. But then, of course, he was a Man, he would notice the city part, wouldn’t he. ‘I was wondering, though, did you see the gardens that are said to be there, now? I had heard the Elves of the Woodland realm had made and maintain them.’

Her voice trailed off. Though his gaze seemed set on her, she thought perhaps his mind wandered from her questions. The hint of a smile played at the corner of her lips.

Telu pulled her cloak close about her and brought her hood forward, thrusting her face deep in shadow. ‘Is this better?’ she asked. ‘Is it less……distracting?’

[Primrose Bolger]

‘Ferrets!’ Ginger eyed the two sleeping animals. To be honest, they looked so sweet and peaceful. Her fingers itched to touch them. ‘Best not wake them,’ a little voice in the back of her mind warned her.

Just this past spring a trio of ferrets had got into her family’s henhouse and ate the eggs beneath the hens. Two of her mother’s prize layers had been dragged off, too; and a number of the little chicks killed.

‘Where did you get them? Are they tame?’ Ginger asked the woman. She thought about what Cook might say if she knew there were ferrets in the Inn. ‘What do they eat?’

[Valier]

Farael's boot is attacked by a ferret on the loose

As Penn held out the ferrets,she noticed the hobbits expression.She had seen it before.The hobbit wanted to touch them,but was reluctant."Where did you get them?"She asked. "What do they eat?" "UM I found them when they were very young abandoned by their mother I suppose,and they eat pretty much everything when they're not sleeping." Penn placed the seemingly sleeping ferrets back in the bag.

"It won't be a problem me having them here will it?" At that very moment a flurry came from the bag and out popped a white head ,Pip as the creature was called quickly ran down Penn's leg and on to the floor and under all the feet.

"OH that bugger!" Penn exclaimed as she too got on her hands and knees and turned her head this way and that,making a soft clicking noise."He does this all the time."Penn exclamed to the Hobbit."Dont worry he won't hurt anyone...I hope." "I guess he's found something he likes."

Penn crawled clumsily on looking for her friend when she spotted a white fleck out the corner of her eye,it seemed Pip had found what he was looking for..a shiny boot buckle belonging to a man that sat at a table with two Dwarves and an elf. Penn intent on catching the ferret crawled right up almost under the table and..

"AH HA got you!" but when she went to lift him he still had a hold on the man's boot and was now shaking his head fiercely side to side. Penn looked at the tables participants."Umm so sorry...He seems to like your boot ,she said to the man,Im Penn and this rascal is Pip,give him a minute and he should let go...Maybe." Penn smirked and waited for they're reactions.

[Farael]

Farael was captivated by the sound of the voice of the elf. If her beauty was striking her soft, melodious voice was too captivating to resist. He noticed she had said something about some gardens and he was ready to reply that he was not a big fan of gardens but he had seen some very nice plants growing around when many things happened at once.

First, the elf seemed to notice he was not really concentrating on the conversation they were having and she pulled her hood forward, trying to joke around- Farael thought afterwards- which only made things all the more embarassing for him.

Then he tried to stand up and bow to this, the most beautiful of elves and explain to her it was her voice and not her face which had cast a spell on him. At the same time he felt something tugging at his boot which almost made him loose balance. He sat down again heavily to find a small animal - was it a ferret? - who had bitten his boot and was now shaking its head as if trying to tear some for himself. Holding the ferret now was the lady he had seen walk into the Inn just a few minutes before and this all was just too much for the young man from Gondor.

His first reaction was to yell out in frustration but being two ladies present he managed to let out a chuckle instead. It was a minute before he could compose himself and stand up as he had meant to. The lady had already apologised to him and introduced his animal as 'Pip' and when Farael turned to look at Teluyaviel she still had her hood on and he could not see her eyes. The little animal was now on the lady's hands so Farael bowed politely and smiled at the elf and the woman.

"I beg you forgive me, for this has been all very unexpected. First of all, m'lady, pip and Teluyaviel, I should introduce myself. My name is Farael son of Hadar from Gondor. I beg you forgive me but you two, or should I say three?" Farael looked at Pip "have caught me off guard. I would appreciate it m'lady elf if you let me see you while we are talking. I'm afraid it's your voice which surprised me the most and not your eyes, although I must say they are beautiful. As for miss Penn and lil' Pip, do not worry about my boots, they are old and worn, a little bite won't do much damage to them. I think we still have one last chair so feel free to join us if you'd like."

Having all this off his chest, Farael told Penn about what Teluyaviel had asked him and went on to answer that even though he had seen some very pretty gardens, it was the buildings which he liked the most. He admitted that he liked more the things made by skill than the ones that could grow by themselves.