When the Dwarf Came A-Visiting ~Míriel

Chapter 7 ~To the Market We Shall Go Part 2

            Many pastries, cakes, and tarts later, I was beginning to feel satisfied once again.  I glanced smugly at Frodo, who was coming towards me; the other lads apparently having found something better to do than to simply stand around discussing females.

            Mrs. Bracegirdle was off helping a customer when Frodo came up and glared at me accusingly.  “Where did you get that?” he said, pointing at the half-eaten raspberry tart in front of me.

            “I earned it.”

            “Ha.” Frodo grabbed my ear.  “Peregrin Took, if I find out that you have been soiling the Took name by stealing, then I can assure you;”

            I interrupted him before he could finish his threat to end my life.  “Frodo, there are other ways to obtain food for the hungry than by stealing.”         

            Just then, Mrs. Bracegirdle returned and saw Frodo holding “her precious lad‘s” ear in a vice-like grip.

            “Mr. Baggins,” she said sternly, “What do you think you are doing to my precious lad?”

            Frodo dropped his hand.  “Mrs. Bracegirdle, I must offer my sincerest apologies for Peregrin’s misdeed, and I can assure you that you shall be reimbursed for all he stole...”

            “He thinks that I stole the food,” I explained to a puzzled Mrs. Bracegirdle.

            “He does now!” she exclaimed.  She then put her hands on her plump hips and glared menacingly at Frodo.  “I’ll have you know, Mr. Frodo Baggins, that young Peregrin here is one of the finest lads you could ask for, and he most certainly did not steal from me.  Why, the poor lad was well near starvation!  It was the least I could do, givin’ him some nourishment.”

            Frodo knew when the odds were against him.  He bowed his head.  “I beg your pardon, Mrs. Bracegirdle, Pippin.  I spoke to soon.”

            Mrs. Bracegirdle humphed and turned to her next customer.

            Frodo shook his head.  “Come on, Pip, Bilbo said I needed to keep you with me.”

            “Keep me with you here.”

            Frodo laughed.  “I think not, Pip.  You’ve gorged yourself enough for one sitting anyway.”

            I waved a sad farewell to Mrs. Bracegirdle and followed Frodo.  At least the hunger pangs were gone.  Now I could concentrate on the delights of the market other then food, such as...I thought hard.  What other delights were there?

            Ah, well, I was with Frodo.  He would surely lead me somewhere interesting.  As we walked leisurely along the road, I breathed deeply of the sweet air.  It was spring, and the flowers had just come into bloom.  Various vendors had taken advantage of this fact and had many of these flowers for sale.  I thought that it was rather silly, selling flowers, when one could simply pluck them from the grass, or better yet, leave them in peace.  However, someone must be buying them, as the flowers continued to sell.

            To my surprise, Frodo walked up to one of the flower carts and purchased a single white rose.

            “Frodo,” I said as we walked away from the cart.

             “Never you mind, Pip.” he replied.

             Well, that ended that conversation.  Soon we walked up to a cart filled with fabrics, the dressmaker’s cart.  I sighed.  Frodo was so boring.  What was next, the jewelry cart?

            “Hullo, Mr. Baggins, Mr. Peregrin,” greeted Mrs. Chubb, the owner of the cart.

            How come Frodo was “Mr. Baggins” yet I was “Mr. Peregrin?”  Shouldn’t I be “Mr. Took?”  Ah well.  One simply had to live with the fact that life was unfair at nine.

            “Hullo, Mrs. Chubb,” we said in unison.  I looked around anxiously, hoping that her daughter, Lily Chubb, was nowhere in sight.  Fortunately, I saw no one.

            Lily Chubb was Merry’s current love, but, alas for him, her heart was given to another.  Frodo.  There was only one problem with this, and that was Frodo detested Lily.  Ever since she had, for all practical purposes, attacked him behind the tent at Bilbo and Frodo’s party last year, he had made it a point to avoid her. 

            And what made even less sense was that Frodo was willingly coming to her mother’s cart.  It was as if he was willingly walking into a trap.  And why had he purchased a white rose?

            I must take a pause from the happenings of the market to tell you of the fate of Bombur and Merry, who had been left in Bag End alone, by themselves and with no supervision whatsoever.  I still shudder at the thought.  Whatever was Bilbo thinking?

            When Merry awoke from his nap at the table, the first thing he was aware of was that his neck was aching rather badly.  “Remind me never to fall asleep at the table again,” he thought groggily.  The other thing that he noticed was that someone was knocking rather loudly upon the back door in the kitchen.  He got up with a groan, did his best to rub the sleep from his eyes, moved his head around to get the crick out of his neck, and made for the door.

            The annoying rapping continued even as Merry slowly meandered his way to the door.  “I’m coming, I’m coming,” he muttered.  Why must people be so impatient?  He finally reached the door and made the mistake of flinging it open.  In flew an unsuspecting Samwise Gamgee, whose mother had somehow heard of our guest and sent over a basket of eggs.  Fruit, in this circumstance, would have been much more appreciated.

            Sam flew through the door, and as he did, he threw his basket aside as he put his hands out to break his fall.  Merry watched in horror as the eggs became airborne before crashing down all over him, the floor, and anything within reach of a flying egg.  Merry was speechless.  Other than the fact that the egg yolk slithering down his back was downright disgusting, to top it all off, he was wearing Frodo’s shirt, which he had “borrowed” as he liked it better than his own.  (What could he say; it was softer and more comfortable.)  His cousin would certainly have a few words to say about that.

            Sam recovered his voice much more quickly than Merry.  He instantly began to apologize, trying to look perfectly miserable as he hid a laugh at the sight of Merry covered in egg yolk.

            “Oh, Mr. Merry I’m so sorry.  Here, let me help you,” Sam half-apologized, snorting as he tried to hold back the giggles.  He picked up a wet dishtowel from the sink and tried to wipe Merry off with it, but only succeeded in smearing the egg further.

            Merry just watched blankly.  What about this day had gone so wrong?

            Sam gave up and threw the dishrag back into the sink.  “Where are Mr. Bilbo, Frodo and Pippin?”  He asked after looking around in confusion.

            “Market,” Merry said wearily.  He just wanted to go back to sleep.

            “And they left you here?  Alone?” Sam’s eyes widened to the size of saucers at the thought.

            “Well, not quite alone...” Merry muttered.

            As if on cue, Bombur came and stood as close to the kitchen as he could.  “Master Merry, are you all right?  I heard...” his voice faded as he noticed the mess.

            If Merry had thought Sam’s eyes were saucers before, they had now widened to the size of platters. 

            “Mr. Merry,” he whispered, “That’s a, a,”

            Merry was getting tired of the whole ordeal.  “Bombur, this is Samwise Gamgee.  Sam, this is Bombur.  Yes, he is a Dwarf.  Yes, he is staying here.  Yes, Bombur, these are eggs all over me and the floor.”

            Bombur’s face fell at this last statement.  “But, we could have eaten them!  Why ever did you throw them on floor?”

            Putting his head in his hands, Merry just groaned.

To be continued...

Anyone who enjoyed the Merry part of this chapter can thank Hai.  Otherwise, I would not have even thought of what events could befall Merry from lack of sleep and being alone with Bombur.  Thanks Hai!