Title: Climbing

Author: Anso the Hobbit

Beta: Marigold

Characters: Saradoc, Merry, Bilbo and Frodo

Timeline: Hobbiton, SR 1388, so Merry is 6 and Frodo 20.

Note: Written for Marigolds`s challenge #5 where the story starter was to write a story where a journey takes place.

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”Come on. You can do it. It`s not far, and you`re such a brave lad. I`m sure there will be a special treat waiting for you when we get to the top. There`s a good lad!” Your father had said, holding out his hand so you could grasp it if you wanted.

 

It was hard going for little hobbit feet to walk all the way up to Bag End from Hobbiton. The Hill was steep, and even if you walked the way that went past the Party Field, which was a rather flat area of the Hill, it was a long journey for a six-year-old hobbit lad.

 

You had promised loud and clear to all that would hear, that you could very well walk the Hill by yourself, thank you! You were not to be treated as a toddler. And you did not need to hold hands with an older hobbit either. This was something you would manage all by yourself. You had practiced too, walking up and down Buck Hill, and not allowing yourself a rest before you came down again. There had been one or two times that you had decided to roll down the grassy slopes of it, but mostly you had walked like a big lad.

 

When the day for walking the Hill in Hobbiton came, you were quite ready and had asked your father several times if you were there yet. Frodo would be at the top waiting for you, you knew that, and that was maybe more of a treat than the treats your father promised on behalf of Cousin Bilbo.

 

Standing at the bottom of the Hill, your courage failed a little. You didn’t remember it being that long and that steep. You craned your neck a little to see if you could possibly see Bag End, but the only thing you could see if you set your mind to it, was the top of the Party Tree, and even that looked little and far off.

 

“Are you ready, Meriadoc?” Your father said, seeing you frown and scowl at the winding road. You squared your shoulders, hitched your braces back in place on your shoulders (they had fallen off while you sat in the cart, they were new ones, and still a little too big, but you would grow into them soon enough). “Are you sure you want to walk up? We can take the cart you know.”

 

“It`s all right Da, I`ll manage.” And you had set off, quickly at first, your curls bouncing in the summer breeze. Your father let you set the pace, and for a while you walked on in silence. Slowly you could see the Party Tree coming closer. Just before the Party Field the Hill grew steeper, and you had to catch your breath a little, slowing down.

 

“Merry.” Your father had stopped your determined pace and put his hands on your shoulders. “You`re walking as if life depended on it. Come on, I`ll carry you for a while. You`re all flushed and sweaty.” But you wriggled out of his grasp and he set you down.

 

“I have to walk. I want to know that I will be able to come and visit Frodo on my own when he goes to live with Cousin Bilbo.” You said, folding your arms across your chest.

 

“Oh, but I`m sure you`ll manage that Merry. Besides, when we get back home I will see about teaching you to ride, so that you can ride to visit Frodo. But he`s not moving yet. You know that. It has to be his birthday, and Yule, and maybe even your next birthday before he does that Merry.”

 

You walked on, and suddenly you could see Bagshot Row, and the great Party Field beyond, vast and green. Coming level with the field and walking it`s length you couldn`t remember it being that large. You had to look back, several times, and once you even spun around in a complete circle to see Hobbiton with the Mill and the marketplace and the Water. You knew that Frodo was going to move to Hobbiton to live with Cousin Bilbo, but you didn`t think that it necessarily was a bad thing. And you knew that this was a getting-used-to-Frodo-soon-to-be-moving-trip. Frodo had been staying at Bag End for long periods before, and you had come to visit then too.

 

You could see Bag End! The bright green door and the lush garden waiting for you with Frodo and Bilbo and stories yet untold. And now, someone was standing there waiting, and it was Frodo. You slowed down to wave at the hobbits standing by the gate, and then without really knowing it you quickened your pace so that your father looked at you with a questioning glance, calling “Merry?” at your disappearing back.

 

“It`s Frodo!” You panted, setting of into a run, not stopping before you were just in front of the opening gate. Through ragged breathing you greeted your cousins and was soon enveloped in a great hug.

 

“You made it Merry! You walked all the way from Hobbiton! My, but you`re a big, brave lad.”

 

Beaming with joy over seeing your cousins again, you hugged Frodo back. “I did it, didn`t I?”

 

“I never doubted that you would, Merry.” Frodo said.

“Now, let`s see what kind of lad we have here, that walks such a long way.” Bilbo said. “That is quite a feat! I`m sure we have something extra special for lads like that.”

 

You knew it then, as you followed your cousins and father inside. That if you could climb the Hill of Hobbiton all by yourself, then there was nothing in the whole world you couldn’t accomplish if you only set your mind to it.

 

*****

 

I`ll do my best, and no matter how many steep hills I have to climb, I will climb them all and more, you thought, shouldering your pack and climbing another hill, your eyes constantly wandering between Frodo, Pippin, Sam and Strider. And now it was over. You had done your best and it was enough.

 

END