Lost Findings and New Possessions
A week and three days and Frodo Baggins would be thirty three years old; he would be celebrating his Coming of Age. He and his Uncle Bilbo shared the same birthdate; September 22nd. Bilbo would be one hundred and eleven years old. If Bilbo continued to live, and some were certain that he would live forever, he would out-age the Old Took himself. All Bilbo needed was another nine years. And judging by how good he looked, how young he looked, he would probably do that and live an extra twenty years.
No one knew what it was that made Bilbo keep his young looks and live for so long. There were always whispers though. These whispers had started sixty years earlier after Bilbo had run off on some adventure with Gandalf the Lunatic Wizard and a bunch of Dwarves and had come back "cracked." To the rest of the inhabitants of the Shire, Bilbo had lost it a long time ago and now that preparations were being made for his and Frodo's massive joint birthday party, he seemed more nuts than ever before.
Bilbo sat in his study continuing his book. He was still stuck on a title but he liked the idea of "There and Back Again." It was a tale that he had begun writing almost instantly after he had returned home from his adventure with the Dwarves and Gandalf. He hadn't really thought much about it for a while, but Bilbo had something big planned for his birthday party and he need to get this book finished. Then he would give it to Frodo as a final, parting gift.
Bilbo had decided to leave the Shire. He had had enough of the whispers that constantly plagued him whenever he left Bag End. And now that Frodo would be of Age, it was time for him to take on some of his own responsibilities.
He was both worried and excited for Frodo; worried because he wasn't entirely sure if his cousin and nephew could handle taking care of everything that needed to be done on a daily basis, and that included constant harassment from the Sackville-Bagginses. And he was excited because Frodo would be a bachelor now. And a bachelor means that all the girls would be throwing themselves at Frodo; not that they didn't already, of course.
But Frodo had never really shown much interest in girls. His mind was constantly on faraway lands that he had read about in countless books and from the stories that Bilbo had told him. He dreamt constantly of meeting Elves and visiting Rivendell.
Bilbo wondered where Frodo had gotten to; he hadn't seen or heard him in a while. "Probably out thinking of Elves and Dwarves and the Lonely Mountain…" Bilbo said to himself with a smile.
He was right, well kind of. Frodo was lazing about in the backyard of Bag End under a tree in the shade, away from the hot sun. There was a cool breeze outside and Frodo was beginning to doze off when he heard a small cough. "Excuse me, Mr. Frodo?" It was Sam.
Frodo smiled and patted the grass next to him, indicating for Sam to sit down next to him. Sam, as always, hesitated momentarily. Though he knew to treat Frodo as an equal, like Frodo wasn't better than him, thanks much to Frodo's coaching, he was still worried that maybe one day he would be too forward and Frodo would be annoyed by a lowly gardener, no matter how many times Frodo said something like that would ever happen.
Sam sat down next to Frodo and sniffed the blue and orange flowers he was holding. He handed them sheepishly to Frodo who took them graciously. "I remember these, Sam," Frodo said with a smile. "We found that field of them when we went camping with Merry and Pippin. Did Rosie give these to you?" Frodo sniffed the flowers deeply again.
"Yes, Mr. Frodo," Sam said, breathing in the fresh air. "Miss Rose said to give 'em to you and to wish you a happy birthday." Rosie had made a small garden out of the flowers when she discovered small seedlings inside the original one that Sam had given her three years ago. They were gorgeous flowers and smelled of Pine Trees. Rosie's father had discovered, or perhaps named them himself, he wouldn't tell, as Liriacs. It had only been in that one particular field that the Liriacs had been found. Well, that field and the Cotton's backyard.
Sam noticed that Frodo looked a little down, but he couldn't understand why. In ten days, Frodo would be of Age; he should be thriving. Sam thought maybe Frodo had some left over sad feelings from the anniversary of his parent's boating accident a few weeks ago. He hated this time of year; he hated seeing his Master Frodo so down and sad; no toothy smile, no wide, curious eyes. Frodo's happiness was infectious to a lot of people and when it wasn't there, it was rather troubling.
"Mr. Frodo, is everything all right? I don't wanna be seeming too forward, but you don't seem okay." Sam tried his best to not be out of place. Frodo had told him long ago that he and Sam were friends and as such, there should never be any hesitance if one sensed that the other wasn't feeling the best that they could possibly be.
Frodo looked into his friend's eyes and smiled. Frodo knew exactly what Sam was thinking, and though it annoyed him ever so slightly that Sam's father had drilled into him that he was practically worthless and had no business going around asking his masters about their personal lives, Frodo knew that it was something Sam could never entirely shake.
"Sam, you remember that camping trip we took a few years ago with Merry and Pippin?" Sam nodded. Frodo sighed. "And, do you remember that locket I found?" Sam nodded again. "Well," Frodo hesitated. He looked into the sky and closed his eyes. "I've lost it. I don't know where it's gone. I kept it in my drawer and now it isn't there. It's almost as if it's just disappeared all on its own." Frodo put his head in his hands and pushed the hair back from his face. "I want it back, Sam; I need it back."
"We'll find it Mr. Frodo, trust me." Sam said. He hugged his friend, doing his best to console him after noticing tears brimming in Frodo's eyes. "We'll find it."
Three days had passed and it was now a week until Frodo and Bilbo's birthday's and there was still no sign of Frodo's locket. That locket meant everything to him. It wasn't just some old piece of jewelry. Frodo had found the locket on that same camping trip that he and Sam had gone on with Merry and Pippin and had found that field of Liriacs.
The locket had been his mother's. Frodo wasn't sure how it had stayed on the water's surface for such a long time after the accident, but he wasn't about to ask trivial questions about gravity and whatever else when he finally had something to remind himself of his parent's, and now it was gone; along with that stone he had thrown into the river where he had found the locket.
Frodo wasn't even sure why he had thrown the stone away. Maybe it was some sort of symbolic thing because he would then later find the locket and he would once again be in possession of something that was his mother's. But now he didn't have either the stone or the locket. He was utterly perplexed as to where the locket had gone and Frodo was beginning to really regret ever letting it out of his sight. He let out a small cry and sat down on his bed in a huff.
Bilbo came in soon after and saw his distressed nephew and sat down next to him on the bed, putting an arm around Frodo to comfort him. Frodo buried his face into Bilbo's chest and began to cry.
"Frodo, my dear boy, what's the matter?" Seeing Frodo cry broke Bilbo's one hundred and ten year old heart. Just like Sam, Bilbo had always thought of Frodo's happiness as infectious.
"Uncle, do you remember that locket I found a few years ago when I went camping with Sam, Merry and Pippin?" Bilbo nodded, suddenly aware of what the problem was. "Well, I can't find it anywhere." Frodo began to sob again and hugged his uncle tightly. He calmed down a little and said "I don't know where it could have gone. I always kept it in my drawer, and now it's just gone. Like it grew legs or something and walked out the door."
Bilbo smiled. The metaphors that Frodo thought of sometimes amused him. "Frodo, I'll be back in a few minutes, will you be all right waiting for me here?" Frodo looked up at his uncle completely bewildered. What could Bilbo possibly have to attend to right now when Frodo was in such a state of hysteria? He nodded.
Bilbo squeezed Frodo a little, winked and got up from the bed and gently closed the door behind him. Frodo sighed. The tears had stopped, but he still felt awful. He waited for Bilbo to come back for what seemed like hours. Realistically, it was only a few minutes.
Bilbo came back, but, to Frodo's surprise, Sam was with him, and he looked guilty. Frodo was a little worried now. Sam often looked guilty or felt that he had done something wrong. But, since Bilbo had just left Frodo alone after he had confessed to losing his mother's locket, Frodo had no idea what was happening or where Sam's guilt was coming from.
Bilbo had his hands behind his back. He looked mischievous and Frodo was beginning to feel knots in his stomach, and a rather large lump grow in his throat. What if Bilbo had found the locket, but it was broken? Frodo wasn't sure how he would respond to that. He waited.
"Sam, I think you should speak your part first," Bilbo said, smiling at Sam, attempting, but failing, to reassure him that everything was okay.
Sam sighed. "Oh, Mr. Frodo, I'm sorry. It's all my fault that your locket is gone. That campin' trip we took with Mr. Merry and Mr. Pippin, you remember it? When you threw that stone from your mum into the water it didn't sit right with me that something so precious should just be left there to be forgotten. I know it was my idea and all but it just didn't feel right to me to leave it there. When you threw it and walked away, I watched it as keenly as I could so that I knew where to go to get it back. Lucky it didn't land all that deep and fishing it out again was easy."
Sam looked like he was going to throw up. Frodo didn't know what to make of the story Sam had just told him, but he definitely was not mad at his friend. If anything, he was grateful that Sam had retrieved the stone for him. Frodo thought to himself that maybe the reason Sam had kept it a secret from him was because Sam might have been worried that he had finally messed up and Frodo wouldn't forgive him.
"Anyway," Sam continued. "I gave the stone to Mr. Bilbo because I didn't know what else to do with it. I felt bad for getting' it back from the water so I definitely didn't want to keep it in my home."
Bilbo continued. "I wanted to give the stone back to you, Frodo, but I wanted it to be special. It wasn't long after Sam gave me the stone that you showed me the locket and right from that moment I had the perfect idea what to do with it. A few weeks ago while Gandalf was here, I had him take the locket and the stone to some sword smiths, the best he could find, and have them meld the stone inside the locket so that you would have the both with you forever."
And right then and there, Bilbo revealed the locket to Frodo. Frodo took it quickly from him and was so thankful to both Bilbo and Sam. "I was going to give it to you on the day of our birthday," Bilbo said after a few moments, "but when you cried out and told me about the locket being missing, I had to give it to you. I couldn't let you be in so much despair for another week. That would just be cruel."
Frodo didn't know what to say or what to think or what to do. He was so thankful to the both of them for doing the things that they had so that Frodo would be given this gift. The way the stone had been melded into the locket was stunning. The relief Frodo felt right now was immeasurable. He got up and hugged Bilbo and Sam tightly, saying 'thank you' over and over.
That infectious smile and happiness had returned to Frodo's face and entire body and Bilbo and Sam couldn't help but smile and laugh with Frodo. "It's wonderful to see you happy again, Frodo." Bilbo said. "I'm sorry we had to have this secrecy between us, but, all is done and everything has been returned, better than before I think," Bilbo said with a wink. "I think now, it's time for some cake, I'm starving!"
Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading; I really hope you enjoyed it. The camping trip mentioned is a story I wrote a few years ago called "The Adventures of Frodo, Merry, Sam and Pippin" so, if you're interested, you can read it there. My writing has improved since I wrote that, so it's not my best work, but enjoy nonetheless.