The Golden Perch Inn

[Mithalwen]

"Your first day? Really? I never would have guessed - you seem a part of the place already. Though I had heard of the cook's disappearance. It must have made things very difficult." Elin paused for a moment's consideration. "I think, if I won't be too much in the way it would be easier if I came to the kitchen. I'll probably have to steep anything we find in hot water anyway. I'll just check on Annie and be along shortly." Penny nodded and Elin turned and went back to the room to find her daughter had just woken and had missed her.

"You lef'me" Annie was not at her best when first awake even when well and she looked both grumpy and accusing as she addressed her mother.

"I was only in the corridor, talking to Penny; she brought me some tea and we didn't want to wake you, my darling", Elin had knelt by the little bed and drawn her child in to her arms to comfort her. She planted a kiss on the small frowning brow. "But I do want to go to the kitchen to see if I can make you a special drink to make you feel better. You'd be alright here with Isildur wouldn't you?"

Annie shook her head firmly "Don't want you to go." She tightened her fists around handfuls of her mother's dress.

"So you want to come with me? Well if you do, remember if you are well enough to be up, you are well enough to behave. Agreed? " Annie nodded.

So Elin helped Annie back into her blue wool dress and pulled from her bag slippers and a soft wool shawl of a lighter bluewhich she wrapped closely about the child. Then digging deeper she pulled out a squarish oilcloth wrapped bundle and deciding that she would follow Penny's example rather than try to pin up her hair in a hurry, she found a raspberry pink scarf to restrain her own curls. Finally they were ready to go. She shepherded Annie along with one hand and managed the bundle and the tea tray with the other.

She managed to create enough sense of purpose in crossing the common room that no one waylaid her but she did notice that Al was once again alone save his vittles. Though she chided herself for a lack of charity even as she thought it, it occurred to Elin that things that couldn't think for themselves were perhaps the best company for that hobbit.

Reaching the kitchen, Elin tapped gently on the open door. "May I come in? I am afraid I have brought the patient with me - she woke up and didn't want to be left alone."

[Folwren]

The rush for lunch was ebbing. There were fewer patrons in the inn now. Rowan was gathering plates and mugs from the tables and carrying them back to the kitchen. Seredic wiped the newly cleaned mugs just carried out from the kitchen and stowed them away beneath the counter.

“Goodbye, Andy,” he said to a departing customer, and then he looked at the last hobbit in the room. Mr. Alferad Brandybuck. He had not spoken to him since his initial arrival, and he had not been much impressed with the hobbit then. But Seredic made it a point to try to be friendly with customers, and it looked like Al was going to stay, so he put down the last mug, threw the cloth behind the kegs of ale, and came round the counter and approached the young hobbit.

“Will you be staying long?” he asked. “In amongst the rush there, I hadn’t gotten a chance to ask you. You’re from Buckland, if I’m not mistaken, though I don’t believe you ever said. . .”

[Undómë]

Rowan shoved the tray of mugs and plates onto the counter by the sink, carefully avoiding the soapy water spilled in splishes and splashes on the floor. Prim was in full swing with the dishrag and brush, scrubbing tea stains from cups, dried foam from mugs, and the dried bits of the now past lunch from a precarious stack of plates and bowls.

‘Give it a rest, Prim!’ Rowan urged her friend. ‘Here, have a seat,’ she went on, pulling a chair out from the kitchen table. ‘I’ll just put on a full kettle for some tea. You set out the honey. And grab some of those crispy nut cookies Iris set in the pantry. Mmmm mmm, they looked good for dunking is what I’m thinking.’ She fetched water in the largest kettle, intending to use what was left from the tea-making to heat up the wash and rinse waters. ‘We can tackle the dishes and such after a bit of a treat and a rest-up.’ She laughed and shook her head. ‘Besides, I have to tell you how old Granny got hold of our Miz Penny and was sizing her up to join the Greenhill brood.’

The door was slightly open to the side yard of the Inn, off to the left, where the garden was. Sounded like Cook talking. Brrrr! There was a cold draft scurrying through the opening in little gusts.

‘Making tea!’ Rowan called out in a loud voice. ‘Come in out of the cold, why don’t you and warm up!’

[Snowdog]

The waggon rolled slowly along the road as it approached Stock. Darrell Largebarrel was enjoying his trek down from Oatbarton and through the Shire. Long had he supplied the ales exclusively to the Green Dragon, but he wanted to expand. So with his original line of brews remained exclusive, he had gotten a contract to supply a tap at the Floating Log in Frogmorton. He was hoping for the same at the Golden Perch in Stock. He huddled deeper into his cloak in hopes it would turn the wind. But being from the North Farthing, he appeared under-dressed for the chill to the locals he passed in the East Farthing.

"The town is in sight old boy!"

he said to Benny his workhorse. Benny didn't seem to excited other than realizing he would be getting some oats and fresh hay. He rolled slowly up and onto the side of the road near the inn. Seeing someone working a herb garden he waved as he stopped.

"Another inn old boy. We'll likely be here for the night, and hopefully I'll get a chance to bend the ear of the proprietor. Here you go..."

Darrell gave Benny a carrot to chew before he headed for the door. Pulling it open he could hear the faint din of dishes rattling and voices mixing. He walked to the bar, giving a nod of greeting as he said,

"Good afternoon! A mug of your house beer if you please"

[Mithalwen]

Elin shivered a little in the wind - the hobbit cloak she had borrowed from the kitchen was no more than a cape on her long frame. She had found some herbs alive in a sheltered spot by the back door: thyme, sage, chives, mint, sweet woodruff and a rather leggy rosemary bush. They were mostly dormant and she had picked only a few sprigs that might serve if there were none in the kitchen - she had tried the garden first to make the most of the light on this short winter day.

Annie had been left inside - her cold had been temporarily forgotten when she had discovered the big grey tabby cat nested in a basket in the pantry. Happily the creature was good natured enough to at least tolerate the child's affection and Elin hoped that so occupied, her daughter would be no trouble to that kind Miss Rowan, while she was outside with Penny's cousin Iris. The older hobbit woman had been bemoaning the state of the cabbages in particular.

"Yes, you are right it has been let go - but there is nothing that a bit of time and effort couldn't put straight" said Elin to Iris as they surveyed the kitchen garden, forlorn in its neglect and the November wind. "The bones are here... you can tell it has been well tended in the past.. it wouldn't be like starting from scratch". She stooped down and ran a handful of earth through her fingers. "This is good tilth save for the weeds. The main problem as I see it is is that it is a bit late in the year for winter planting - my grandmother reckoned that should be done by the end of October and we were a good deal to the south. I suppose it might be worth trying unless your winters here are very harsh..." .

Iris' reply was interrupted by Rowan calling from the kitchen. It wasn't so long since the last cup of tea but another would be welcome still.

[Galadriel55]

After such a hearty meal and a pint or two of the best beer in all of Shire, Al was feeling quite drowsy - not so drowsy as to take a nap, but enough not to go looking for trouble. For the past hour he has dined alone, brooding on the injustice of the people around him and the wrongs they have done him. But it is known, in the words of his renowned grandmother, that a mug of good ale makes old grievances stale, and soon enough Al's mood cleared and he dwelt more on his drink than on his grudges.

He did not move as the other visitors steped out one by one into the wind and the room enptied. He did not even notice that he was the last customer left. His reverie ended when the innkeeper came up to him and asked politely about how long Al woud be staying.

“In amongst the rush there, I hadn’t gotten a chance to ask you," he explained. "You’re from Buckland, if I’m not mistaken, though I don’t believe you ever said. . .”

"From Buckland indeed, from Brandy Hall itself!" Al replied, content for the time being to talk about his home and his plans with Master Boffin. "You ain't going to find nothing better! You should come visit it sometime!" Al paused to take another sip of ale. "I'm on my way to Tookbank, you know. I'm a taking my time getting there. Small, drab, moth-eaten place it is. But my mother's kin has the rotten luck to live there." Al sighed and sipped his mead again.

[Folwren]

Good heavens, this chap can be long winded! Dick said to himself as Al answered in an entirely speech what would have been better answered in two sentences or less. And when he had finished answering, Dick found that he hadn’t actually answered at all.

“So that means you would be staying how long, exactly?” Dick asked again, patiently. He had seen hobbits consume a great deal of ale and Al had drunk more than two pints already since he arrived that morning. It would be understandable if his wits were a little addled by the brew.

Before Al could respond, a new customer came in through the front door. Dick patted Al’s shoulder and turned to greet the new gentlehobbit.

“Good afternoon!” the stranger said. “A mug of your house bear, if you please.”

“Certainly,” Dick replied, coming around the counter and picking up a mug. He filled it to the brim, the froth threatening to spill down the edges and handed it to the hobbit. “You a stranger in these parts?”