Chapter Three

Across a Wide Ocean

He watched her as she gazed towards the west, waiting for the first thinning of the mist, watching for the first glimpse of their new home. Her Crimson cloak made her stand out vibrantly against the back drop of the white ship and the pearl grey mists. Frodo found it hard to take his eyes off of her. They were passing through the mists that separated Valinar from the rest of Arda. He would soon see what so few mortals ever have. By the end of that day he would be walking on lands where even not even a handful of mortals had set foot. But at that moment, Frodo cared little for the mythical beauty of Arnor. All he cared for was the simple sweet beauty of the lady before him, his own Linwe.

Linwe’s beauty was a simple and quiet sort even among other Hobbits let alone next to the ethereal beauty of Elves. When they had first met Linwe had been in the frequent habit of wearing her hair completely unbound. Hobbit hair being what it is, curly, wavy and just generally unruly, when aloud to grow very long then be left unbound it would generally look quite wild and unkempt. Most hobbits have a preference for neatness. The largest farms are often kept as orderly as the smallest gardens. Though it is generally the lady of the Smial that will see that the home is kept tidy husbands will frequently assist. Clothes are kept in neat order. Hair is kept neatly trimmed, braided, plaited and pinned. Linwe only differed from other hobbits in the matter of hair. In the early days of their getting acquainted, before they were married, Frodo found himself pondering what could be the reason behind this most un-hobbity preference of hers. Then one day, a few weeks before the restoration of Bag End was completed, he met up with Linwe as she was walking back to the Cotton farm, after a day of work in Bag End, in fact she had only just left the hobbit hole. In truth Frodo had been laying in wait for her so that he could walk her home. So he watched as she left the hole. He had observed that her hair was tied back in a ribbon at the nape of her neck, as was her custom when she was busy with work. As she made her first steps down the lane, Frodo observed her taking the ribbon from her hair then sort of shaking her hair out with her hand and giving her scalp a bit of a rub, after pocketing the ribbon. Frodo decided to ask her about this peculiarity, straight away. "I wear my hair like this," said she, "because the skin on my head is sensitive. Braids and hair pins that are secure enough to keep my hair from coming loose and falling in my face also happen to make my head hurt. It’s a shame really, as Merenwen taught my mother and I some very lovely ways of plaiting hair but they can take a considerable amount of time to do and then I can’t bear to wear my hair in the style for more than a few hours."

Frodo smiled a bit as his mind brought up a memory of his mother. "My mother used to complain of the same thing," said he. "Though I don’t think she was quite so sensitive as you apparently are."

"And how did she solve the problem?" asked Linwe with great interest.

"As she told it to me it was her grandmother that came up with the solution. Apparently when her grandmother was a young wife the fashion at the time was for young married ladies to cover their hair to show they were mature and had a family to tend to and no time for such frivolity as styling one’s hair. Some ladies would wound their hair up in a bun and wore a mob cap over it others took to wrapping their hair in scarves. The scarves were apparently quite popular for sometime as a scarf, using relatively little fabric, could be made of more costly materials and still be affordable."

"And was your mother able to wear her hair in this was without it coming loose and needing to be redone a few times a day? Because as comfortable as tying my hai back in a ribbon is, my hair will not stay tied back."

"I suppose it must have worked out quite well," assured Frodo. "Because my mother wore the scarves daily and had quite a large collection of them. They were long and rather narrow. She would wrap them around her head several times bundling her hair loosely into a section of the scarf, making a sort of bag for her hair. Other times she would let her hair hang loose down her back. Both ways were quite lovely, I thought. And she had some of the loveliest scarves of rich fabric and embellished with embroidery and long silk fringe. The fringed ones were my favorites."

"I’ve seen portraits, at Brandyhall, of ladies wearing their hair as you described. The pictures were quite old but the ladies in them did look quite pretty. The thought just had not occurred to me that it might be a practical solution to my problem. I wonder why the scarves went out of fashion?" mused Linwe.

"As my mother told me," answered Frodo. "The popularity fell away because hobbit lasses tend to be rather proud of their hair and found even the simplest bun preferable to covering their hair entirely."

Linwe laughed, "That makes sense. I must admit that my hair is the one thing about me that I think is truly pretty. However if I keep it down all of the time it does have a tendency to start resembling a birds nest, which isn’t particularly fetching to me. I think I will have to try your great grandmother’s solution. Who knows, I may bring them back into fashion."

Linwe did as she said she would and found the scarves to be the solution she had longed for since she had been an obstinate child telling her mother that hair did not like to be all ‘tied in knots’. As a wedding present, Frodo found his mother’s collection of scarves and gave them all to Linwe who loved them and wore one of them almost daily.

All in all where as all of the other lasses of the shire were like fancy flowers carefully grown and nurtured by master gardeners, Linwe was like a wild flower a simple beauty apt to grow off in any direction she or it set a mind to and he loved her all the more for it.

Frodo watched Linwe looking expectantly into the mist. He thought she looked lovelier than ever that day. Her face was glowing. Frodo had heard something of how an expectant mother glowed when she was with child. He had not paid much attention to such things before, but now as he looked at Linwe he saw it was true. Her figure was now fuller too, which would have made Esmeralda and Lily Cotton happy. Beneath her deep crimson cloak she wore a dark blue velvet gown. It was a new gown, made from the fabric of one of Merenwen’s gowns. The baby Linwe carried had already grown enough to make it so that she was unable to wear any of her own dresses.

Frodo finally tired of merely looking and moved to stand at Linwe’s side near the wheel of the ship. "What word do you have for me, are we nearly there?" asked Frodo as he slipped an arm around Linwe.

"Master Cirdan assures me that we are due to leave the mists within the hour. Within two we shall reach land."

Frodo leaned towards Linwe and whispered into here ear, "Are you ready for that?"

"I’m terrified," Linwe whispered back.

"You have nothing to fear."

"Nothing but hundreds of strangers staring at me. I know I will trip or do something else to make myself look foolish."

Frodo gave her a gentle squeeze, "You will do nothing of the kind. You will be lovely and graceful. Everyone will love you. Everyone always does."

"Not everyone loves me."

"Oh really?" Frodo made sure she saw his expression of disbelief. "Name for me one person who does not love you."

"That is easily done, Violet Longbottom."

"Who is Violet Longbottom?"

"She was the daughter of a tailor in Bree. One market day she was showing off for a bunch of us girls her new hair ribbon. It was a ghastly shade of green and she was telling everyone it was Elf made. I never particularly liked Violet, she was always bragging and showing off. That particular day she asked me if I didn’t find her ribbon to be the loveliest I had ever seen. I told her quit truthfully that thought it was one of the ugliest hair ribbons I had ever laid eyes on."

Frodo laughed, "Linwe Baggins! I am shocked. I did not think you capable of such rude behavior. But was that really enough to keep Violet from ever loving you?"

"Violet Longbottom did not like me before that day and she never cared for me afterwards either. And I assure you the feeling is mutual."

"Well, I do stand corrected. However you will not embarrass yourself today. Quite likely we will be overlooked with the return of The Lady Galadriel."

Linwe smiled, "I am sure you are right. I am sure that there will be no one there who cares in the least for the Ring Bearer."

Frodo sighed. "Well there is that. But really dear, everything will be fine."

Linwe sighed, "I know, but I can’t help it. I will always be shy of strangers. This situation is made all the worse because I know so little of where we are going. I know of no place where I may hide when the crowd gets to be completely overwhelming, and even if I did, I do not know when I would have a chance to slip away."

"Have you talked with Merenwen about this?"

"No, she would go to Lady Galadriel who would kindly make a fuss and that would be embarrassing too. I will muddle through this as best as I can. I will be fine... I think."

~~~~~

The surrounding mists shimmered to pale gold as sun light started to penetrate through. A few moments more and the ship was out of the mists and sailing once more on sun shimmered ocean. "My friends we have arrived," declared Cirdan.

~~~~~

Frodo sighed heavily and burrowed deeper into the bed he lay upon. The day had finally ended. Linwe was fast asleep at his side. Frodo lay next to her with one hand resting protectively on her stomach, musing over the events of the day. Their welcome to the lands of the valar had been as momentous as Linwe had feared. As they had sailed into the harbor they could hear the ethereal sound of over one hundred elven voices raised in song to greet the arriving ship. The highest ranking of the Eldar had been present to the welcome the new arrivals. As Frodo and Linwe finally took their first steps on the lands of their new home Frodo offered Linwe his arm, taking comfort from this familiar act of courtesy and affection. The Lady Galadriel, Lord Elrond, and Gandalf the White were soon greeted with what appropriate pomp and ceremony. Then Gandalf spoke in a voice that commanded attention and preceded to make the introductions of the rest of those notable members of the party that all gathered were truly anxious to see. This was the point at which Frodo felt the proceedings became overdone. First to be announced was Merenwen who was introduced as The Guardian. Then came Bilbo, Finder of the Ring. Followed by Linwe, The Beloved, and Frodo The Ring Bearer. He supposed this was all to be expected. Elves were terribly fond of ceremony, but Frodo was disappointed that Gandalf had not been able to restrain himself more. However Linwe had made him exceedingly proud. She stood straight and calm at his side. The only clue to what she was really feeling was the tight grip she kept on his arm.

As the sun started to sink below the horizon the gathering moved into a large building, that Frodo had missed the name of, for a banquet. Frodo had been amazed that he and Linwe had a chance to eat with all of the introductions they had to endure. Linwe tolerated all of the festivities better than Frodo thought she would have, thanks largely to the constant music made by instruments and voices. Linwe had become so caught up in what she was hearing that she made no mention of wanting to leave. However the events of the day did catch up to her and she eventually started to nod off at Frodo’s side. Merenwen who was never far away and ever watchful, took notice and came to show Linwe and Frodo to their rooms.

Plans to accommodate three hobbits had apparently been underway for sometime. The three were shown to a suite of rooms, two bedrooms and a sitting room. The sitting room was furnished with seating for both big and small people. The bedrooms had been furnished for the benefit of the with beds and wardrobes sized perfectly for them. Frodo had time to take this all in but Linwe had barely taken notice. She had placidly allowed herself to be led to her room, assisted into proper sleep attire and put into bed. Frodo suspected that Merenwen had used some herbs to encourage Linwe’s complacent behavior.

Frodo was well pleased with the arrangements that had been made for their comfort. He was glad to be on land once more, though he had greatly enjoyed the experience of sailing and hoped to do so again. Still it was good to be where one had space to walk. Good to have more to see than a seemingly endless expanse of ocean, though that too had its merits.

Merenwen had informed them that evening that their current accommodations were only temporary. When Linwe had asked when she could expect to see her new home, Merenwen had only said when it was time, and made mention that there were other things that needed to be attended to first. Frodo had tried to get Merenwen to explain further but she had steadfastly refused. However she assured them that the next several days would be given over to relaxing and becoming accustomed to being on land again.

Frodo was anxious to get Linwe to their new permanent home. He suspected that they had still more traveling to endure to get there and this concerned him. Linwe was now entering the second of the three phases of pregnancy. Her belly had a round bulge to it, just large enough that the dresses she brought with her no longer fit, but at the same time too small for it to be quite noticeable under the generous folds of fabric of her new gowns. Frodo feared that Linwe would soon be too far along for comfortable and safe travel and he was reasonably certain she would not be happy giving birth to their child in any place that they were not calling ‘home’.

Their child.

At times Frodo wondered if he would ever stop being amazed that he was to be a father. For over a year he and Linwe had longed and hoped for a child. They had made plans, shared dreams then consoled one another when all seemed to have been shattered. No amount of imagining could have prepared Frodo for the reality of Linwe being with child.

As he did nearly every night now, Frodo thought of how far he and Linwe had come. He counted his blessings until he felt his eyelids start to grow heavy with sleep. He gave Linwe a kiss on the tip of her ear and one final rub of her belly then drifted off to sleep.