The Golden Perch Inn

[sallkid]

Hop Deepdelver carefully negotiated the street, constantly on the lookout for pursuers. He shifted his weight under the sack of purloined game birds he was carrying, and silently cursed all gameskeepers everywhere.
He had long been considered an odd hobbit amongst his family and aquaintances, who had always found him a bit tookish, holding council with strange sorts and conversing openly with Rangers and the few Dwarves that passed through the villiage. Occassionally he would come home spewing wildly exagerrated stories involving life and death encounters with wild wolves or bandit chiefs. In fact his long sojourns tended to have a different objective, poaching.

He had learned well from the strange Ranger folk he associated with, learned the ways of woodlore and put them to his own purposes. Until tonight he had remained uncaught, untill tonight when he had been forced to make his escape through gorse bushes and mud.

He came finally to an inn, the Golden Perch, knowing no-one in this town would recognise him he determined to sell his game and make reservations for the night.

[TheGreatElvenWarrior]

Lily and Ruby came up the lane in their little two hobbit cart, their baskets sitting beside them, eating a loaf of bread that their mother made for the journey to Buckland. Ruby said to her older sister Lily, 'Why do we have to stop tonight?' (Since she wanted to see her cousins promptly, and was looking forward to see her family, of which their Mother, Estella had ten brothers and sisters.) and Lily promptly replied 'Because it is getting late'. Lily went to the Inn often since she started going to her Relatives holes to deliver some of her Father and Mothers fine food and gifts which she had been doing since her family moved(with her older sisters of course), which her Mother is and was a Brandybuck so they lived in Buckland until their Father 'Tom' Tunneldweller got a hole of their own that was big enough for the family.

This would be the first time Ruby went with her, Ruby was excited, and she said that her doll 'Esmeralda' was excited too, Ruby looked at her ribboned hair through her looking glass and smiled. Ruby always wore ribbons in her hair and very fancy and colorful dresses. She was excited to go to their relatives holes especially because her cousins were there.

Daisy neighed almost as a sign of relief when they pulled up at The Golden Perch for they had been going for quite a long time. Lily got off the cart and said to Ruby 'Stay here', and went around to the stables, to find someone to house the lasses, the cart, and Daisy their pony.

[sallkid]

Approaching the Inn, Hop had a good viewpoint on the scenario. He watched the two hobbit children pull up thier cart with mild disinterest, he was more worried by the shouting coming from up the lane, Hop had been forced to hide from dogs on his forays, covering his tracks with stinking mud, but wolves (and he was fairly sure the shouting had said something about wolves) he knew little about, other than the stories he had made up himself to exagerate his adventures.

If Hop knew anything about hiding it was that if one did not want to be seen, one should avoid going toward a disturbance. Nevertheless even his heart couldn't stand the sound of someone in trouble, for he was not a heartless hobbit despite his meaness and greed. With a sigh of regret at his own bravery, he unslung his sling, deposited the game in a cranny under a bush and started up the road toward the shouting, running and screaming trying to make himself as big as possible.

[TheGreatElvenWarrior]

Lily went around back to see if she could find the stable hand, but what she found was not a stable hand but another hobbit lass that looked a bit older than Lily with her pony. Lily shrugged and went back to her cart to see what her younger sister was doing (since she was very mischievous). Lily came back to the cart only to find that her younger sister, Ruby was missing...

Ruby in the meantime decided that since Lily was gone she could just leave the cart and pony to sit there since after all she said 'What do you have to worry about in the Shire, eh' and left the cart. She went inside the inn and since she was a little sneaky with herself she decided to go behind the rather disheveled counter to get 'The best beer in the East Farthing' as her Father said, and so she did.

[Dunwen]

In the Golden Perch’s yard, Peri waited for several minutes, but no one appeared to take her pony. She thought she heard voices coming from somewhere, as if people were shouting somewhere outside the building. They were too faint for her to hear what was being said. It struck her as rather odd.

Absent-mindedly stroking the pony’s neck, she considered her choices. Although she was quite capable of caring for Brightheart herself, she wasn’t sure if she should do so here. She knew her Dad wouldn’t care for a stranger in his barn without permission. Still, she’d pushed Brightheart hard today and didn’t want him to stand indefinitely. She noticed a small pony-cart with two hobbits pull into the yard. They would need to find stabling for their animal, too.

Looking about once more, she saw the main door into the Golden Perch. Peri decided that Brightheart shouldn’t have to stand any longer. She tied the patient animal to a sturdy bush by one of the walls and entered the common room hoping to find someone who could help her. Looking about, she was amazed to find several people who were clearly not hobbits sitting at the tables. She even thought some might be elves.

Her heart leaped with excitement at the prospect of actually meeting someone of another race, but she remembered her poor pony and found a friendly hostler to take care of Brightheart. She also told him about the other pony pulling the newcomers’ cart so that he could see to that one as well.

[TheGreatElvenWarrior]

Lily ran into the Inn and found her little sister at a table with a smirk on her face. Ruby then said 'What took you so long?' Lily began to get hot in the face and then dragged her sister out of the door. Lily replied very sternly 'I told you to stay in the cart.' and also said 'What were you up to?' Ruby then decided it was best if she told her, so on she went about taking the ale from behind the counter, and drinking almost a whole mug of it. Lily then said "Next time you will be coming with me' and 'You are not getting any supper tonight.' Ruby was not pleased.

Lily then went and found someone to stable Daisy, and the stable she was in was right next to another pony that belonged to another hobbit lass. Lily found the hobbit lass that had told the person that helped stable their pony and thanked her (she actually was the lass that Ruby had seen in the stable yard, and her name turned out to be Periwinkle and she was from Tuckbourogh). They went inside Lily made Ruby apologize to the innkeeper and pay for the ale. Then they promptly got a room and Ruby stayed in it the rest of the night.

[sallkid]

Hop's senses began to catch up with him just as the first wolf turned. Leaping into a nearby tree he swiftly reached the first branch. "Well this is a to-do" he though to himself, "here we are stuck up these two trees, we shall be very lucky to get eaten swiftly."
He unshouldered his sling and picked a stone out of his pocket, Loading the sling he lobbed the missile at the nearest wolf, it bounced harmlessly off the creatures flank, Hop gave up and let his shouting join that of the other distressed individual.