"Cousin Bilbo, why is your house full of dwarves?"
Fifteen heads turned to where the voice had come from. A young girl stood there with a look of confusion and amusement written across her face.
"Angelica! What are you doing here at this hour? You should be in bed," Bilbo exclaimed.
"The maid saw several dwarves pass by and I had to see with my own eyes," answered the girl, drawing nearer.
"Here lass, sit here," Balin rose from his seat and offered it with a bow.
"Thank you," she said, sitting gracefully," You have some explaining to do cousin."
The girl with the auburn curls and green eyes listened as Bilbo told an account of the events up until her arrival.
"…..and they were just handing me a contract when you came in so if you will excuse me, I must go read it," Bilbo walked into the kitchen for more light.
"What is your name, lass? I believe Bilbo mentioned it, but it has already slipped my mind," Balin addressed the girl.
"My name is Angelica, but everyone calls me Angel."
"A pleasure to meet you, Angel. I'm sure the name suits you well," he responded with a teasing glint in his eye.
"On the contrary, many of those who really know me would say otherwise," Angel replied with a mischievous grin.
This comment brought amused smiles from the rest of the company, excepting Thorin and Dwalin.
Angel glanced over to where Bilbo was reading the contract and longed to be in his shoes (metaphorically, of course; hobbits don't where shoes.) She glanced at the faces around her until her eyes rested upon Gandalf. She instantly remembered the stories he used to tell her as a child and how she had longed to go with him on his journeys. Her mother always told her how unusual it was for a hobbit to have such an adventurous spirit, such as hers, but she didn't care.
She tuned out the conversation as all the stories Gandalf told her came flooding back. She remembered stories of the elves (oh, how she longed to see them!), of the great battles, and tales of dragons. She had always wanted to be in one of those stories herself. A little voice in her head told her that perhaps this was her chance to have an adventure of her own, but she pushed the voice away, knowing that Bilbo would never approve…..
Her thoughts were interrupted by her cousin passing out right before her eyes. She suddenly wondered what she had missed….
After preparing a chair for Gandalf to set Bilbo in, Angel made some tea to help him recover. She listened in silence as Gandalf tried to persuade the stubborn hobbit to go with them. Angel almost despaired when Bilbo walked out of the room, claiming that they had the wrong hobbit, when she saw the hopeful look in Gandalf's eyes.
"You think he will change his mind?" she asked hopefully.
"My dear child," replied Gandalf," I believe his mind is half changed already."