Author's note-  I would like to thank all of you who have taken the time to read my story as well as those who have shown their support with kind reviews.  I encourage all of my readers to stop and introduce yourself in the reviews area, I would love to meet you.

Chapter Four

 Years passed and Linwe grew, as is the habit of all children. Marmadas and Lila were adoring parents, taking great delight in every new discovery Linwe made. They were properly convinced their daughter was the most beautiful child ever born. Linwe had skin like new cream, with just a hint of pale pink in her cheeks, hazel eyes that seemed to change their dominating color depending on her mood. Her hair was soft brown with streaks of gold entwined throughout her curls. There were few that would disagree that Linwe was a lovely child.

Most children are inquisitive creatures, and Linwe was no exception. What was rather unusual was how quickly she was able to absorb anything that her parents and Merenwen would teach her. From the time she could walk and talk, she was following one parent or the other curious about what they were doing, as well as why and how they were doing it. When Merenwen would visit, it was with relief that Lila and Marmadas would put Linwe in Merenwen’s care. Merenwen would take the small child for walks in the woods and tell her about the animals, plants, and trees that grew there. When other Hobbit children were still tucked safely away in their nurseries, Linwe was already helping with household tasks. Linwe learned what her mother could teach her on keeping a house, sewing and cooking being two tasks Linwe enjoyed. Marmadas enjoyed having his daughter visit his workshop. Often he would help her make a small toy but limited her use of the tools until she was older. Merenwen taught Linwe how to read, write, and speak some Elvish and to sing Elvish songs.

For the most part, Linwe had a sweet disposition. She rarely threw fits demanding to have her own way as other children might. But that is not to say she did not have her moments when she could be willful. There was the matter of Linwe’s hair. Most Hobbit girls wear their hair pulled back in some way in an effort to keep it neat. Linwe refused. Lila would braid her daughter’s hair, and within the hour Linwe’s hair would be free of the braids, once again a wild mass of curls. Since Linwe adored Merenwen, Lila tried plaiting Linwe’s hair in much the same way Merenwen wore her own hair. This lasted somewhat longer than anything else Lila had tried. Sometimes Linwe would even ask for these plaits, but eventually Linwe would always undo what her mother had done.

"Linwe, why in all of the Shire won’t you leave your hair as I have arranged it?" demanded an exasperated Lila.

Linwe calmly looked into her mother’s eyes and said in her best child’s serious voice, "Because, Mummy, my hair does not wish to be tied up so."

Lila was incredulous. "And why does your hair not wish to be tied up so?"

"My hair feels crowded and uncomfortable when it is braided and such," said Linwe, as though this made all the sense in the world.

One day when Linwe was just seven years old, Merenwen came to visit. It was a sunny autumn day, near the end of harvest. In a few short days the folk of Bree and the Shire would be celebrating another bountiful growing season with festivals. For the occasion of the harvest festival being held in Bree, Lila decided to make Linwe a new dress. Lila had Linwe help choose the fabric, a lovely deep rose, and all of the lace and trims. Lila, with some help from Linwe worked on that small dress for weeks. On the day of Merenwen’s visit, Lila sent Linwe off with Merenwen and took advantage of the stolen moments of peace to finish Linwe’s dress. Meanwhile as Linwe walked through the woods, she became frustrated with the way the dress that she was wearing kept getting stuck on brambles and gorse bushes. Linwe noticed that Merenwen did not seem to suffer from such problems, and this set Linwe to thinking.

When Merenwen and Linwe returned from their walk, Lila called Linwe to her. "Linwe dear, I have just finished your lovely new festival dress. How would you like to try it on and show it off to Merenwen?"

"No thank you, Mummy. I don’t want it," said Linwe without looking up from where she was sorting pinecones she had collected on her walk.

Lila was taken aback. "But, Linwe, you have practically watched me put every stitch in this dress. Now I need for you to change into it and let me check the fit one last time."

Linwe looked up at her mother, her eyes having gone from their usual warm kaleidoscope of mostly green, brown and gold to a cold gray. Calmly and quietly but with the slightest hint of steel she said, "No, Mummy, I don’t want that dress now. I will not wear it."

Lila was somewhat daunted by the child before her. Standing to her full height, doing her best to show her authority over her willful daughter, Lila calmly but firmly spoke again, "Linwe Taralom Gamwiche, you have but one chance to explain yourself before I send you to your room without tea."

Linwe did not flinch from the threat she heard in her mother’s voice. "I do not want to wear dresses like that anymore. All of the ruffles, lace and frills get caught on the gorse bushes when I walk in the woods. I want to wear dresses like Merenwen’s. Hers do not get stuck on things as mine do."

A small smile touched Lila’s lips, "Linwe dear, this is a dress meant for a special occasion not for roaming in the woods. Even Merenwen has gowns for special occasions that she does not wear when roaming the wilds. However, I can see that maybe it would be a good idea to make you some everyday dresses modeled more to Merenwen’s own. But you will still wear this dress to the harvest festival as planned. Are we in agreement?"

"Yes, Mummy." Linwe spoke calmly but was obviously very pleased; the gold flecks in her eyes even seemed to shine out more.

"Now, you were rude in telling me that you did not want this dress, after all of the work we have put into it. When someone does something for you, regardless of whether or not it is to your liking, you are supposed to accept the kindness with gratitude for the individual’s thoughtfulness. I would like you to go to your room while we have tea and get that firmly set in that small head of yours. In the future if you have any disagreements about your attire, I expect you to bring the matter to me in a more polite and thoughtful manner."

"Yes, Mummy. I am sorry," Linwe said contritely.

"You are forgiven," said Lila bending over to hug her errant child. "Now go to your room and stay there until I call you back." Lila watched as her small daughter left the room with her eyes cast down. When Linwe was out of the room, Lila let out a great sigh, then turned to smiling Merenwen.

"I am most impressed, Lila. You managed that with great patience," Merenwen complimented Lila.

"Bless that child, she spreads sunlight wherever she goes. But there are times when it is a strong-willed, full-grown Hobbitess that is looking out at me from those eyes, and that was one of those times. That is no ordinary child."

Marmadas was the first to notice what he came to call "lost-spells." Occasionally Linwe would stop whatever she was doing and be found gazing off directly in front of her sometimes for less than a minute and sometimes for longer, without really seeing. The first time this was noticed Linwe was a baby sitting in her chair at the kitchen table. Marmadas was there having his breakfast when he chanced to look up at Linwe and found her looking right back at him without blinking and, as far as Marmadas could tell, without really seeing him.

"Lila" called Marmadas puzzled and concerned by his daughter’s behavior.

"Yes dear, what is it?" asked Lila as she came into the room.

"It’s Linwe. Look at her. She has been staring off like that for nearly a minute now. I waved my hand in front of her face she did not seem to notice. And then I took her little horse out of her hand, and she did nothing."

"Nothing? I can’t take that horse out of her hand just to change her clothes without her crying," said Lila in amazement.

"I know. What do you think is wrong with her?" asked Marmadas

"I don’t know," said Lila with a frown creasing her brow.

Lila and Marmadas mentioned this to Merenwen, who said that they would all just have to wait until Linwe was older when she could tell them about what she was experiencing. When Linwe could at last talk, she told Marmadas and Lila that she could not remember what she had been thinking of and would quickly get busy elsewhere. Lila and Marmadas decided that it was best to let their daughter be. It was not until Linwe was twelve years old that they finally were able to get some insight into what was happening with Linwe.

One sunny day Merenwen was making her way through the woods to visit the Gamwiches, when she happened across Linwe sitting on the same stone where Merenwen had found Lila all those years before. And, like Lila, Linwe was weeping. So again Merenwen asked, "Little one, why do you weep so?" Merenwen waited, but Linwe did not respond. Merenwen took a closer look and realized that this was one of Linwe’s lost-spells. Merenwen thought for a moment, then asked in Elvish, "Linwe Taralom, why do you weep?"

"He is sad," said Linwe in Elvish, her voice sounding rather distant. "His heart is breaking. I can feel it."

"Whose heart is breaking? What is his name?" asked Merenwen speaking again in elvish.

"I do not know," sobbed Linwe.

Merenwen set down on the stone next to Linwe and took the child into her arms. There Merenwen sang an elvish song, a soothing one, to Linwe, as she had so many times before. Linwe soon drifted off to a calm sleep. When Linwe woke up in Merenwen’s arms, she asked Merenwen what had happened. Merenwen said she had found Linwe sleeping by the stone and left it at that since Linwe obviously did not recall what really happened.

Hobbits tend to be social creatures, but Linwe was not. Linwe was rather small for a Hobbit, even her feet were not of proper proportion to a growing Hobbit child. Many a Hobbitess considered it her duty to go to Lila and give her some bit of advice on what Linwe needed to be fed to make her grow. Linwe, who tended to be a bit shy, preferring to read or walk in the woods alone, became self-conscious with so much fuss over her size. But despite all of this, Linwe was still well thought of. Almost everyone seemed to be drawn to her. She was not aware of it, but in her rather shy quiet way Linwe made the folk around her feel good.

However, no matter how well liked she was, that did not prevent people from debating what it was that made Linwe, well Linwe. Some blamed it on the bit of Took blood; there had long been rumors of one of the Tooks marrying a fairy many generations ago. Fairies were supposed to be slender and as she was. Then there were those who said it could only be her Brandybuck heritage. Those Brandybucks were known for doing such odd things as taking boats out onto the Brandywine River. Hobbits from the Shire said it came from living in Bree among the highly unusual big folk. Old Hanna Proudfoot liked to point out that Linwe was distantly related to Bilbo Baggins and everyone knew he was cracked. But it was only Lila and Marmadas who really knew the truth of the matter. For it was only Lila and Marmadas who knew about Merenwen and her involvement in helping Lila have her one precious child. While still in the womb, Linwe had been exposed to a considerable amount of Elvish magic and herb lore designed to ensure the birth of a healthy elf. After Linwe was born, Merenwen realized that the measures she had taken worked a little too well on little Linwe and instilled in her a few Elvish qualities. So on that day Merenwen found Linwe weeping in the woods, having one of her lost-spells, it occurred to Merenwen that perhaps Linwe was exhibiting a touch of the elvish ability to see other places and times in one’s mind. Later, Merenwen told Lila and Marmadas of the incident and her mounting suspicions.

"Is there anyway we can know for sure this is what is happening to Linwe?" asked Marmadas, a frown furrowing his brow.

"At this point, no. Not when Linwe appears to be unaware of the episodes herself." said Merenwen.

"Can these visions harm her in any way?" asked Lila.

"I don’t think so, not as long as she cannot remember them. We will have to watch her closely as she gets older. If the day should come when she is aware of them, then I can teach her how to live with them. Until that day comes, I think it is better to say nothing to her of them."

 ~~~~~

 The same day Linwe sat on the stone, weeping, feeling a loss she did not understand, in the Shire little Frodo Baggins sat huddled alone in a small hollow beneath the roots of a massive tree, weeping, his heart breaking for the parents he had lost.