Disclaimer - Tolkien created Hobbits. Therefore, they belong to him.

A/N - Many thanks to Pippinfan and Pearl Took for giving me such wonderful reviews! You're making me blush, girls.

The Fellowship of the Greenholms

Chapter Four: Who Listens to Esmie?

"I want lots of flowers...maybe lilies, do you think?"

"We don't care, Esmie!" Sam groaned and pressed his hands to his ears. Ruby had gone to Elgantine Goodbody's for tea, so Elanor had instructed the Walkers to play with Esmie for the afternoon. They had no problem with that - except for the fact that Esmie wouldn't stop talking.

"What kind of flowers do you want at your wedding, Sadie?" Esmie asked, working diligently on a daisy crown. Sadie gave an exasperated scream and threw herself face down on the grass and didn't move.

"We don't care about stupid weddings, Esmie. That's girl stuff." Frodo snapped at her. Esmie rolled her eyes at her little brother; he had obviously forgotton that SADIE was a girl.

"Well I think Sadie should have roses. They're very romantic, you know." She ignored her siblings' tortured groans and continued her musings. "And a dress with embroidery on the bodice, and a train..."

"Please shut your trap, Esmie!" Sadie pleaded in a slightly muffled way. Her face was still planted firmly on the grass.

"Oh, well you at least should care, Dee." Esmie grinned at her sister. "Boys don't have to worry about wedding dresses and flowers and silver and--"

"Well maybe I just don't want to get married!" Sadie inturrupted, propping herself up on her elbows. "Did you ever think about that, Esmie Greenholm?" Esmie put one last daisy in her daisy crown and stood up with a smile.

"Oh, we'll see, Sadie." She winked an put the crown on top of Sadie's curls. "I'm going to help Mum cook supper."

As soon as she was gone, the Walkers sighed with relief.

"You'd never think that girl was only 12." Sadie shook her head in disbelief. "She sounds like a tweenager."

"And think about it - all that talk of weddings just because we caught Lily and Elfstan kissing last week." Paddie griped. "It's not like a kiss means they're going to get married!"

"Well, I did hear Elfstan telling Folco Boffin that he thinks he's going to marry Lily when they come of age." Sam commented.

"It's fine for him to talk about, he's almost grown up." Sadie sighed. "This marriage thing is quite silly, I think."

"Does being married mean you have to kiss and stuff like Da says Gaffer Sam and Gammer Rose do?" Frodo wondered.

"Yep."

"Oh yes."

"Of course."

"Then I don't ever wanna get married." Frodo wrinkled his nose.

"It's 'want to', Fro-lad, not 'wanna'." Sadie corrected. "But I share the sentiment."

"Why can't we all just get old together and not bother about this whole marriage thing?" Sam said woefully as he flopped back on the grass. "It's not fair." Sadie and Paddie looked at each other.

"Samwise," Sadie said slowly, "I think you are a genius."

"What?"

"Think about it," Sadie sat up, "By the time we're old enough to marry--"

"--No one will be able to make us marry!" Paddie finished, and a look of understanding dawned on Sam's face.

"So all we have to do is decide not to get married, and we're home free." Sam gave a low whistle. "It's bloody brilliant."

"Don't curse, Sam," Sadie commented automatically.

"Who made you my mother?" Sam retorted.

"Y'know, he's got a point, Dee." Paddie interjected.

"I know, I know!" Sadie pouted a little. "I just get that way when Esmie's around too much. But that's not the point."

"What is the point?" Frodo asked.

"The point is, Fro, that this calls for an important ceremony." she replied.

"Another pact?"

"Not quite." Sadie grinned. "Paddie, do you still have your old pocket knife?"

Soon, the four of them were under the oak sitting in a circle around a small pocket knife.

"Now, a blood oath is very solemn and binding." Sadie told her brothers. "We will shed and mingle blood, making our promise sealed, and we cannot break it." The boys looked nervous, and Sadie handed the knife to Paddie. He looked at it, then at Sadie. In the back of his mind, he noticed that Esmie's daisy crown was still perched jauntily on her head.

"Why me?"

"Eldest first." Sadie said. Paddie gulped and took the knife. After a few false starts, he made a cut on his left palm. Wincing, he quickly switched hands and made an identical cut on his right palm. He passed the knife to Sam, and it made its way rather quickly around the circle, until all four of the Walkers sat with blood pooling in their hands.

"Join hands, like this." Sadie directed, clasping Frodo's hand and pressing the cuts together. The boys followed suit. "An oath we make today," Sadie said solemnly, "In the sight of the Valar."

"Who?" Frodo whispered.

"We have become one in blood to represent our one resolve: to never marry as long as we live. Are we of one mind?"

"Aye."

"Aye."

"Aye. Who are the Valar?"

"This oath," Sadie continued, ignoring Frodo's question, "Can only be broken at the will of all whose blood we share." she paused. "Well, I think that does it."

"The Oath of the Four Walkers." Paddie said half to himself. Sadie's eyebrows shot up.

"Well, who would've thought our Paladin could be so elequent?" she smiled admiringly. "That's good, big brother." Paddie blushed.

"Can we wash our hands now?" Frodo asked. "They're getting sorta sticky."

The laughter of his siblings echoed cheerfully through the hills.

((Leave it to Sadie to think of a blood oath, eh? *grin*  Oh, I love these kids.  I really do.))