II
~Bilbo's Birthday~
The sun shone brilliantly down on Middle-earth, she put a smile on everyone's faces whilst they worked outside or inside, and the trees greatly appreciated her warmth, as did the animals. The great black horse from Rivendell, EveningStar, stood proudly on the lush green grass staring down at his reflection in the Bywater pool.
His raven black mane flowed down in front of his sturdy face and down his neck, his black tail swished behind him teasingly hitting his Master.
He lowered his head towards the clear blue pool to take a long drink, since they left Bree they hadn't stopped. His Master was in some sort of rush to get to The Shire, and here they were.
His Master knelt down beside the pool, glancing in to check her reflection. She wasn't wearing her normal silver gown, she was decked out in an ordinary blue dress, the corset was a tan color with two stitches down in between her breasts.
Her long reddish brown hair was pulled back behind her shoulders hanging loosely. A warm smile crossed her face as she stood up and twirled about before EveningStar, he snorted in agreement. He barely recognized her himself!
The two slowly strolled into Hobbiton admiring the beautiful scenery that they passed: the watermill that was in the Bywater pool, the great stone bridge they crossed over to enter the village of Hobbiton. They passed the market place where lots of hobbits were gathered to trade, sell, or buy goods. They wandered up the small pathway to the left until they reached a narrower path between a small stonewall covered in grass.
Taking the path to the right they passed some more hut like things the hobbits called smials, which were built right into the hillside. The doors were round and each door had its own design. They passed the Proudfoot smial, their children playing in the font yard as the father busily swept the stone steps. Continuing up the pathway they admired a large open space of green grass just before the road to a turn to the left and Bag End came into view.
In the large space of grass some hobbits were starting to decorate for the long awaited party of Bilbo Baggins; tents were being set up by four hobbits and lanterns were being strung up by some of the ladies. She watched them intently as one of the tents fell, she giggled to herself before her ears caught the laughter of children in the field ahead.
She watched the children running around chasing one another, she remembered coming to the Shire long ago when Frodo had been only twelve years old, and he had been taking care of the Gamgee's three-year-old son Samwise. She remembered that Frodo had treated Samwise as if he had been his own brother!
They came up past a tree on a small hill that overlooked a lake that was located near the market. She stopped to admire everything from the top of the hill; she could still see the hobbits setting up the tents and the sign for Bilbo's party. The lake was still for there was no breeze and the weather was just perfect.
She continued up the road until she saw a young hobbit that stood in front of the Bag End window, trimming the hedges.
He turned to look at who was riding up to Bag End, hoping that it wasn't those Sackville Bagginses for Mr. Bilbo's sake. He turned to see a young maiden he did not know, she smile at him.
"Mornin'!" He greeted cheerfully, thankful it was not an S.B. She returned his merry greeting.
EveningStar stopped in front of the gate that read: 'No Admittance Except on Party Business', his Master dismounted him gracefully before opening the gate and walking towards the round green door; the handle precisely placed in the middle. She took a gulp of the fresh air before gently knocking on the door to hear Bilbo voice yell, with an annoyed tone of voice.
"Go away, I don't need any, thank you!"
"Please Bilbo, let me hear of your wondrous adventures again!" There was a shuffle of feet on the floor before the door opened revealing Bilbo with a small plate in his hands; a piece of cake sat on the plate, and he was munching on some. She looked past Bilbo to see the light brown hardwood floor shone luminously under a wooden chandelier holding up candles.
She always wondered how Bilbo managed to light the candles, as hobbits were very small. And for an elf, she was very tiny- not much taller than Bilbo for he was just over 4 feet and she was 5.
He stared at her for a couple of minutes, taking in all her details from her eyes to her hair yet he could not figure out why she seemed familiar. Suddenly, it hit him as if someone had smashed the plate over his head.
"Good heavens!" He exclaimed with a look of surprise on his face, he stared at the girl standing in the doorway before he shook away his surprise and let her inside.
As she entered she noted all the little details of the smial that were still the same as she had remembered it last. A wide and long corridor was straight ahead leading to Bilbo's and Frodo's rooms just before another door, to the left was another opening which, as she remembered, was the living room with a cozy fireplace that was almost always kept. And if you kept going straight ahead you would enter the small, but bright and cheery kitchen.
"What brings you to Bag End?" He asked leading her into the small kitchen; she sat down at the table, her back facing the wall. A small window was to her left, the stove was facing her, and some food was laid out on the table being prepared to be stored away.
"Why, Bilbo. I thought you would know!" She exclaimed with a look of surprise on her face,
"Don't tell me that your age has already caught up to you! I came to wish you and young Frodo a Happy Birthday! I bring tidings from Elrond." She looked at Bilbo who was busily pouring water into a kettle, still munching away on some of his cake.
"He welcomes you to Rivendell whenever you wish to return." Lothaelin continued. She watched Bilbo reach up to get some saucers and teacups, he placed them on the table turning around again towards the stove.
"I will take that offer into consideration. Will you stay for my party?" Bilbo asked politely. Lothaelin could not forget how hobbits were always so polite to their visitors and family. (Bilbo had an exception for the Sackville Bagginses, she could understand why that was so).
When the kettle whistled loudly, Bilbo took it off the stove and poured the tea into her cup first before his own, she sat watching him wondering how a hobbit of one hundred and eleven could look as if he were still ninety.
His hair barely showed any signs of aging, it was still the same besides the gray hair that now showed mixed with brown; his face was still glowing with youth and showed he was one who possessed knowledge and loved an adventure.
Those hobbits who thought Bilbo strange were very wrong to judge him so, Bilbo was a very respectable and kind man who had taken his nephew Frodo into his smial when Frodo had lost his parents at the vulnerable age of twelve. Bilbo always considered his family members and friends; he even was kind to the Elves and Dwarves he encountered on his long walks in and out of the Shire.
Lothaelin sipped the tea gratefully, and thirstily; she had not had anything to drink since she had left Rivendell.
Bilbo took a sip of his tea and took another bite of his cake, he offered some to Lothaelin and she accepted a small slice gratefully; finally she had another meal other than the vast amount of lembas she had from Lothlórien.
"Frodo has been up and about lately, I do not know where he is at this moment." Bilbo had a small smile forming on his lips, he could recall how Frodo, as a young lad, would always want to join Bilbo on his long walks, and listen to the stories of Bilbo's adventures. He hoped that Frodo would share the same thirst for adventure as he had- and still did, as a matter of fact.
'I fancy he's sitting in a field reading a book, chewing on straw whilst a horse approaches.' She thought to herself as she took another sip of her tea, peeking over the rim of the cup at Bilbo. He was finishing off his cake by shoving the lot that was left into his mouth.
*
Lothaelin dismounted EveningStar across from Bag End, she sat under the tree on the soft green grass watching what the hobbits further in the village were up to. EveningStar grazed on the grass lightly eyeing his Master once in a while as she smiled, or sighed happily.
He did not know why she had wanted to come to Bag End besides that she wanted to see Bilbo, a hobbit that was like a second father to her. He wondered if there was something that was going to happen later in the night that had not been planned, for though nightfall was more than a few hours away, he could sense some tenseness from Bilbo as he walked his Master to the door.
Lothaelin didn't seem to realize to notice the tenseness of Bilbo as she was visiting him, yet what she felt was some sort of yearning for another adventure. She wished that she could accompany him on one of his adventures although he was starting to get old. She wondered if Frodo had ever wondered what Elves were like and if he had ever asked Bilbo if one day they could go visit the Elves. She remembered a young Frodo chasing a young Sam Gamgee around Bag End playing a game. Frodo had been about twelve as she recalled. Of course, she was much older than him by some thousand years.
She hoped that she would be able to see him before Bilbo's party; her heart beat excitedly in her chest at the thought of looking upon Frodo's face, wondering what he might look like after all these years. She propped herself up against the trunk of the large tree watching the hobbits still setting everything up for the party, she couldn't wait until nightfall when she would celebrate Bilbo and Frodo's birthday...
*
Loud explosions echoed in the Shire, music was being played by musicians as crowds of people stood around watching the people in the middle dance. Some hobbits sat at the tables drinking and eating. People laughed and clapped along to the music as everyone spun in one large circle as a male and a female hobbit danced a bit to the merry music before joining the large circle once again.
A young hobbit stood in the middle with his fists together as he jumped up and down excitedly, for some reason he seemed a bit familiar to Lothaelin. She continued to watch the hobbit wondering why he looked so familiar, yet she could not remember who he was!
She watched him sit down beside a chubbier hobbit- the one she had seen trimming Bilbo's hedges! The hobbit pushed the other hobbit into one of the female's that was dancing; by the look of it she guessed that he enjoyed every moment of his dance.
Silver rockets rose in the air and descended over the lake zooming over it until they at last exploded in a fury of different colors. The hobbits that sat and danced around the open space stared in awe of the fireworks Gandalf created.
Bilbo sat on a bench with a massive bunch of little hobbits sitting around him in a circle, eyes wide open and mouths too, listening to him tell his tale of his adventures of running into the three trolls.
"So there I was, at the mercy of three monstrous trolls, and they were arguing about how to cook us! Whether it be turned on a spit, or if they should sit on us one by one and squash us into jelly! They spent so much time arguing the whithertos and whyfors that the first light of the sun crept up over the tops of the trees and turned them all to stone!" The children jumped at the last bit of news of the trolls, he laughed and continued his story.
Gandalf walked over to his cart and pulled out some more fireworks, he smiled at them with a gleam in his eye; he left his cart to go light the fireworks when Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took came out from their tent. Merry lifted Pippin into the cart to grab some fireworks, Pippin searched for one and pulled it out; Merry shook his head.
"Not that one! The big one, the big one!" He exclaimed. Pippin threw the other one back in to the massive pile and pulled out the largest one with a dragonhead at the top. Pippin jumped down and ran into a tent waiting for Merry, Merry stood outside the tent eagerly bouncing around; he looked around and took a bite of his apple before running in the tent after Pippin.
"There!" Pippin exclaimed. Merry looked at his cousin with his eyes wide open.
"You're supposed to put it in the ground first!" He shouted pushing the firecracker towards Pippin.
"It is in the ground!" Pippin cried out pushing the firecracker back to Merry.
"Outside!" Merry pushed the firecracker back at Pippin; he took it and pushed it back to Merry.
"This was your idea!" The firework exploded in their grasp taking the roof of the tent with it. Merry and Pippin lay flat on the ground covered in soot; the firework flew straight up into the air with a loud bang, hobbits everywhere stopped what they were doing and watched, even pointed at this.
The firework became a dragon's head, it turned around, sprouted wings and flew in low over the frightened hobbits as they scurried about trying to get out of its way.
The dragon then flew over the lake dissolving into a spectacular shower of sparks; Merry and Pippin watched the results of the dragon with smiles on their faces.
"That was good!" Pippin nodded toward Merry who then agreed.
"Let's get another one!" Suddenly Gandalf appeared behind them, grabbing their pointy ears pulling them up onto their feet.
Gandalf put Merry and Pippin to work on cleaning dishes while a large birthday cake with one hundred and eleven candles was brought to the center table.
Hobbits chanted "Speech, Speech!" as Bilbo stood on a table and cleared his throat to begin his well thought out speech.
Lothaelin was hidden in the tree just behind the barrels of ale that Bilbo was stood on as he began his speech. She hoped that no one's gaze would wander past Bilbo to see her lurking about in the tree. For some strange reason she had a strange feeling of dread working up in the pit of her stomach as the speech began. She did not know what was going to happen, yet she feared that it may be something dreadful.
"My dear Bagginses and Boffins, Tooks and Brandybucks, Grubbs, Chubbs, Hornblowers, Bolgers, Bracegirdles and Proudfoots!" He began with a correction from a Proudfoot sitting on the bench, feet propped up on the table. Bilbo brushed aside the correction and continued his speech.
"Today is my one hundred and eleventh birthday! Alas, eleventy one years is much too short a time to live among such excellent and admirable hobbits! I don't know half of you half as well as I should like and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve!" The hobbits sat in silence looking at one another stupidly, as if trying to figure out whether or not what Bilbo had just said was a compliment to them.
Lothaelin could see Gandalf looking at Bilbo intently as he was smoking his pipe; she figured that he too knew that something was about to happen. Lothaelin listened to Bilbo intently as his voice lowered.
"I have things to do. I've put this off for far too long." Bilbo resumed almost in a whisper. He fumbled in his pocket for something, though she did not know what it was. The hobbit that seemed familiar had been smiling but his smile slowly faded as Bilbo whispered so only he could hear himself. Bilbo resumed the rest of his speech; Lothaelin could clearly read the hobbits facial expression. He was confused as well as concerned about what Bilbo was referring to.
"I regret to announce this is the end! I'm going now. I bid you all a very fond farewell!" Bilbo turned his gaze towards the hobbit that seemed familiar to Lothaelin. Bilbo looked him in they eye as the hobbit tilted his head slightly trying to figure out what was going on.
"Goodbye." Bilbo whispered as he slipped on a ring and disappeared.
Gasps were head from the crowd of confused and astonished hobbits. Frodo stared at the spot Bilbo had stood with confusion and surprise written all over his face. What had Bilbo done? Why did he leave? Frodo wondered silently not just to himself, the young maiden in the tree heard his thoughts.
Lothaelin peered out from behind the leaves of the tree looking at the hobbits face; finally it had hit her! He was the young hobbit she had seen in Galadriel's mirror! Though she did not know why she had seen him in the mirror, she wasn't particularly worried about it. She looked around trying to see if she could find Frodo although she did not know what he looked like.
She turned her gaze towards Gandalf as he suddenly rose from his seat; Lothaelin watched the hobbits chattering as they went back to their business (eating) before she noiselessly jumped down from the tree. She threw her cloak on and fastened the leaf to form a hood, which she pulled over her head as she ran up to Bag End in the shadows.
She knew that she had to talk to Gandalf to figure out what was going on! She was just as confused as the hobbits that were left at the party. She climbed in through the window in the kitchen unnoticed by Bilbo or Gandalf. She crept around the corner close enough to hear everything that was discussed between Bilbo and Gandalf.
From where she was crouching she could see Bilbo take something gold out from his pocket and played with it as Gandalf started to lecture him about a ring and his behavior. Bilbo raised his voice at Gandalf telling him that it was his fault he came across the Ring, he assumed Gandalf wanted the Ring for himself. Lothaelin could feel the cold air rush through the window swirling in a dark cloud above Gandalf causing him to grow taller and appear stronger.
She heard Gandalf's voice boom throughout the smial. She shuddered at the rumble in his voice; she sucked in her breath when Bilbo looked at Gandalf, his eyes wide with terror. She heard him whimper and saw him run towards Gandalf embracing him in a hug. Lothaelin let out her breath quietly watching Gandalf return the hug.
Bilbo walked towards the door Gandalf stopped him, mentioning that the Ring was still in his pocket. Bilbo laughed uneasily and took the Ring out; he held it in the palm of his hand slightly tipping his hand to let the Ring fall. He hesitated for a moment then let it fall to the floor with a thud before he scurried out the door and paused.
"I've thought of an ending for my book: 'and he lived happily ever after, to the end of his days." Lothaelin's face lit up with happiness, the ending was an appropriate ending for Bilbo's book of adventures. She hoped that he would finish it in Rivendell with all the peace and quiet and beautiful scenery around him. Bilbo and Gandalf exchanged good-byes before Bilbo walked off singing his favorite walking song.
Lothaelin stood in front of the fireplace and threw back her hood watching Gandalf lean over to pick up the Ring. A bright light flashed before her eyes revealing fire surrounding a catlike pupil that she had seen before so many times; it haunted her dreams. She stepped back as if someone had nearly crashed into her. She looked at the Ring lying on the floor, Gandalf stood up straight inspecting the Ring from a distance.
The Eye flamed furiously about, whispering something to her; a tight feeling started to well up inside her chest like she was being held underwater or someone was strangling the breath out of her.
She leaned over with her right hand placed on her chest, gasping for breath. She closed her eyes but the Eye only appeared to gain strength that way, if she left her eyes open the pain lessened, but she could still see the Eye.
Soon Lothaelin's face drained white, if the Eye didn't disappear she feared that she would be killed. Gandalf stood before her, his arms under her armpits he raised her up in his arms and set her down on the bench. The Eye disappeared and her breathing became natural again.
*I saw an Eye! What is going on? * She asked through telepathy, she had not the strength to use her voice.
"You saw the Eye of Sauron, child." He replied with a bit of hesitation evident in his voice.
"Sauron!" Lothaelin spoke, her voice sounded very quiet and far away. She couldn't believe that she saw Sauron's eye, he had been very powerful long ago. All that changed after Isuldir claimed the Ring for himself.
Gandalf briefly told Lothaelin about the Ring and Sauron as he sat near the fireplace and smoking his pipe while she stood with her back to Gandalf looking out the window.
"Bilbo!" Lothaelin's keen elvish ears caught the faint voice; she lowered her head for a moment trying to picture where the voice was coming from. The hobbit she had seen in the mirror was running up the hill towards Bag End already.
"It's Frodo." He whispered. Lothaelin felt like her heart had stopped.
The hobbit she had seen in Galadriel's mirror was Frodo? She could not believe that she had seen Frodo already and had not known it was he sooner! She hid in the dark kitchen, pulling her hood over her head again waiting for Frodo to enter. When Frodo came in through the door he looked around for a bit before noticing the Ring on the floor in front of him, he picked it up and walked towards Gandalf.
As he drew near, her heart beat quickened, Lothaelin stared at his face intently as he stood near the fireplace, his dark curly brown hair and his bright blue eyes were definite give-away. She did not understand how she could of missed that! He had definitely changed since she had last seen him as a young hobbit but there was no reason why she didn't recognize who he was right away!
Lothaelin listened to Gandalf explaining everything to Frodo; all he knew was that Gandalf needed to get out of Bag End to find the answers to his questions. He headed towards the door Frodo following behind him.
"But you've only just arrived! I don't understand!" He said stopping as Gandalf turned around to face him, he was hunched over so he wouldn't bang his head on the ceiling as he had earlier that day while visiting Bilbo.
"Neither do I. Keep it secret. Keep it safe." Were Gandalf's last words before he fled from Bag End on his horse riding towards the White City; he paused to look at the mountains, fire was just beyond them in Barad-Dűr.
Lothaelin had returned to the tree that was across from Bag End, she sat down by EveningStar unaware of everything around her. Her mind was occupied with everything Gandalf had told her moments before he had left to Minas Turith.
I must go to Minas Turith, I assume I will be gone for quite some time. I am leaving you in charge of watching over Frodo for me until I return, by then I should know more about this, this Ring of Bilbo's. If anything...suspicious should happen you must tell me immediately!
She did not know what was going on, but she swore to Gandalf that she would watch over Frodo with her life. Bilbo was like a second father to her and she would not let anything happen to someone that he loved so much. She grabbed her bag and took out all the lembas that she had left, two.
The next morning she would have to go into the market to buy some food for her and EveningStar, but she was taller than the hobbits...Lothaelin devised a plan so that none of the hobbits noticed that she was not a hobbit.
*
Lothaelin remained by the tree near Bag End, checking on Frodo every day as he greeted the hobbit that trimmed the hedges, Samwise Gamgee...he too had grown up. She followed Frodo everywhere he went pretending that she was about doing her own business.
If Frodo went to a party then she would hide amongst the trees waiting until he came back out, Samwise was always by Frodo's side, which made her task a lot easier.
She knew that Sam would not let anything happen to his new Master, Sam also lived a few smials away from Frodo and they always walked home together after the parties. Lothaelin kept a closer eye on Frodo when he was walking the rest of the way home by himself, especially at night.
After a month and still no sign of Gandalf, Lothaelin began to worry that something terrible was going to happen, though she did not know what or when. Wanting to keep her word to Gandalf, and her loyalty to Bilbo, she kept a daily journal to record anything unusual that happened in the Shire.
October 22, 3001
It has been a month and there is no sign of Gandalf. Though when I went to survey the outskirts of the Shire I came across a Ranger. I asked what he was doing in Hobbiton and he told me that Gandalf had told him to watch for anything or anyone suspicious. I asked if there were any more Rangers about and he said that there were Rangers everywhere on the outskirts of Hobbiton. He said that Gandalf had mentioned me to them, and that I am watching over Frodo for him, if they saw me they were not to approach me unless I approached them.
So far there has not been anything-suspicious going on about the Shire or Hobbiton for that matter, though I have to wonder why Gandalf has not returned to visit Frodo. However long it takes for Gandalf to return I will keep my word and watch over Frodo until Gandalf tells me that I no longer have to watch over Frodo. Though I do not feel the need to follow him everywhere he goes when Sam is around, especially now since I know there are Rangers about. I will, however, watch him if he leaves at night.
For seventeen years Lothaelin kept her word to Gandalf, she watched over Frodo even when Gandalf returned for short visits. Though with every visit Gandalf told her to keep her eye on Frodo until he felt that all was safe. With that, Lothaelin knew that the Ring was more powerful and dangerous than she had ever imagined.
oIIIo
oIndexo
