The Love of Two Hobbits- A Frodo Baggins Love Story

Chapter 12

The day after, I found myself sitting upright in my bed, reading on of my old books again. The window was latched open, letting in the warm spring air, the golden glow of the sun’s rays and the sweet smell of fresh flowers and pollen. It was quite a peaceful day and I was feeling quite drowsy, I had turned down the offer of swimming under the falls with Merry and Pippin. Instead, I intended to spend my whole day relaxing and enjoying my own company with my book and a cup of raspberry tea. I had my whole day planned and I didn’t want anything to get in the way of it.

 I was completely absorbed in my book and didn’t notice the twittering of the birds, the squealing of the neighbour’s piglets nor the quiet humming of a young girl skipping along the road. I was in a far off land where ordinary life did not exist and that is where I intended to stay for as long as I could. I didn’t even notice my brother’s face appear in the window or when he tried to get my attention by whistling. I didn’t notice him until he lobbed a large and particularly hard acorn at my head.

“Oi!” I cried, looking up and rubbing the side of my scalp.

“What are you, deaf?” hissed Pippin anxiously; I noticed he kept constantly glancing behind himself nervously.

“What do you want?” I asked irritably, reluctantly putting down my book and turning towards him.

“Erm—well, I’m not exactly allowed out today,” he whispered, again glancing behind himself. “Would you perhaps be able to cover for me?”

“What? I thought you were allowed to go out with Merry today,” I said puzzled. “I remember Mother saying it was ok.” Pippin shook his head impatiently and sighing anxiously.

“Yeah well, I got into a bit of an incident yesterday afternoon, involving a pig and the neighbour’s house, but I’ve got no time to explain—I’m supposed to stay inside all day and I’m not allowed out at all,” he said quickly. “Can you please keep Mum off my back?”

“Oh alright, but if you get me into any trouble, you’re dead.”

“Thanks Lily,” he said quickly. “Ok, I’ve gotta go meet Merry. Now DON’T turn me in, be back later.” He hopped out of the window and sprinted through the garden; I stood up and skipped over to the window, sticking my head out.

“You owe me one!” I called out after him; he waved his hand in response and disappeared over the hill and into the forest. I chuckled to myself and settled comfortably back in my bed, I picked up my book when I heard my mother call from the kitchen. I dropped my book huffily in my lap, sighed and rolled out of my bed and onto the floor. I lay there for a few minutes until I heard my mother again, she was making her way up the hallway.

“LILY! I need to ask you something,” she cried from behind the door. I rolled onto my stomach just as the door flew open. “What are you doing on the floor?” she asked impatiently, pulling up my sheets and fussing about my room.

“Enjoying my book,” I answered sulkily; my face was pressed hard into the floor boards. Why couldn’t I enjoy my day in peace and quiet, without worrying about anything?

“You’re going to do the housework today, remember?” she instructed, “I’m going out to the markets all day and you’ll look after the house when I’m gone.”

“What?”

“I told you this already, you agreed to clean the house when I’m gone,” she reminded, I groaned angrily and reluctantly rolled into a sitting position.

“Do I have to, why can’t Pippin do it?” I asked grumpily, Mother scoffed.

“Do you remember the last time I let him take charge of the house? That will not be happening again,” she replied sternly. I smiled and remembered how long it took to remove that entire flock of geese from the kitchen and back into Farmer Maggot’s pen without him finding out. “Anyway, Pippin’s in his room for the whole day and not allowed out, he’s serving a punishment, so DON’T let him out or your both in trouble.”