Two Weeks In Paradise
1396 S.R.
Sam-16, Merry-14
"So, May wrote and asked if one of you kids wanted to go and visit her," Belle announced one morning at breakfast. All around the table, five young faces fell.
"Not Aunt May, please, no!" Hamson groaned. They had all been subject to Aunt May's visits to their hole and the thought of voluntarily visiting her made them cringe.
Aunt May. Quite possibly the two most frightening words in the Gamgee young-fry vocabulary. Every visit of hers was fraught with cheek-pinching and embarrassing childhood moments painfully relived.
Sam thought he would never live down the time she told the story of how he had screamed and cried in fright when Belle had brought home a kitten for the children as a pet. As it that wasn't bad enough, she had told it while his friend Percy Chubb was playing with him. Percy had laughed at him for weeks afterwards.
Aunt May was a spinster and had no children of her own, so she made it her duty to follow their lives closely. She came by every year for a visit and exchanged letters with Belle to stay informed of their lives.
Hamfast looked at his children's faces with displeasure. "Your Aunt May was nice enough to invite you to stay with her. One of you is going," Hamfast looked each child in the eyes before stopping at Sam. "Sam, you want to go visit Aunt May, right?"
Sam's eyes grew wide as he tried to figure a way out of the inevitable. Why did he always pick on him? He never did that to his brothers or sisters. Sam resigned himself to his fate and said, "Yes, Gaffer, I'm sure it'll be fun."
And so, arrangements were made for Sam to spend a couple of weeks with Aunt May at her hole in Bywater. He would spend the last two weeks of August at Aunt May's which was only a few days off. He carefully packed his clothes and other things he wanted with him, like the books Bilbo had given him over the years. Even though it was childish, he even packed the wooden elf figurine Bilbo had carved for him on his eighth birthday. Bilbo had painstakingly carved clothing and facial features on the elven warrior and had even painted it himself.
Sam would miss seeing Bilbo for two weeks. He didn't have lessons from him anymore, but he could still get him to tell stories. Even though Frodo received the majority of Bilbo's attention, Bilbo still had a special place in his heart for Sam, and Sam knew it.
Sam was looking forward to two weeks away from his Gaffer. Two glorious weeks away from his hollering and yelling and taunting. He was tired of being put down all the time by his father, and would not miss him at all.
The Gaffer drove Sam to his sister's hole. The entire time, the Gaffer yelled warnings at Sam about how he'd better behave himself because May would tell them all about it and he'd find out if Sam had misbehaved in any way. He made sure Sam realized how grateful he should be for this holiday, for he would have to do all the gardening to make up for Sam's absence. He told Sam that at his age, he never got to go on holidays like this and Sam should consider himself lucky...
Sam tuned the Gaffer out, his voice grated on his nerves. Sometimes he wanted to scream at him to stop talking. Sam would never say this out loud, but sometimes, he really hated the Gaffer.
When they finally reached May's hole, Sam was more than ready for his stay with her. She met them as they drove up and gave Sam a big hug after he hopped down from the wagon seat. May chatted with Hamfast as Sam unloaded the wagon with the small amount of luggage he had brought with him.
As Hamfast drove off, May put her arm around Sam's shoulder and led him into her home. And almost like clockwork, as soon as Sam had set his packs down, in went May for the cheek-pinching. He was growing up so fast! He was much taller than the last time she'd seen him. He was becoming quite a handsome lad!
Sam blushed with embarrassment. He wasn't used to being complimented. It was strange, yet refreshing after sitting with the Gaffer.
Aunt May prepared quite a spread for their first afternoon tea together. There were four different types of biscuits, a fresh raspberry and blueberry pie, bread, butter, and fresh clover honey, along with cold ham slices and wedges of cheddar cheese.
Sam was encouraged to eat his fill, which was quite a lot. Aunt May enjoyed seeing Sam enjoy himself. They reminisced over all of the funniest and most memorable moments of his youth. Aunt May loved having him all to herself. He was trapped, forced to listen to her stories, yet he found it wasn't so bad after all.
The first few days at Aunt May's, Sam explored the land around her hole. He read his books from Bilbo. He relaxed and did absolutely nothing, and he loved it. He'd worked almost every day since he was seven years old and he liked not having any duties to perform.
One morning, he found a special spot to sit and read his book. He found a tiny spring welling out of the ground. Beside it was a soft moss-covered log for him to lean against. His bare legs brushed against the cool green grass. The spring flowed away from him while making the softest trickling noises that sounded like bells. The sun filtered through the tree branches in rays that landed across his arms and legs in bright stripes. A cool breeze blew past him, cooling his body.
For a moment, he felt as though he was a part of this scene. Like he was a part of the log he leaned against. But then he opened up his book and was transported to a time long past, with heroes he had admired his entire life. He lost track of all time or his surroundings or the growling of his stomach, which wasn't enough to rouse him from his book.
He was a part of the story. He was right there, next to Glorfindel the Mighty Balrog Slayer, who had fallen to his death, along with the balrog. He had saved many people's lives that day. Sam imagined what it must have felt like to see him brought back up from the bottom of the cliff by Thorondor, the King of the Eagles. What a sad and tragic sight it must have been. He wondered at the strength and amount of braveness Glorfindel must have had to sacrifice himself so that those of his party could live. He knew he could never do such a thing.
Sam kept reading until he was snapped out of his fantasy by Aunt May's worried cries for him. He closed his book, stood up and made his way back home.
Aunt May had been worried because he had missed second breakfast through luncheon. He apologized for worrying her and showed her the book he'd been reading. While they ate, he told her about the adventures in the pages.
At home, Sam was usually pretty quiet. Everything he said seemed to end up with the Gaffer yelling at him for some reason. But here, he talked Aunt May's ear off, and she loved it. She just sat back and smiled while he chatted away.
Aunt May looked at the book he had been reading and asked him where he had gotten it from. Sam told her all about Bilbo and how great he was. He told her all about his adventures with Gandalf and the dwarves.
That evening, while sitting by the fireplace, Sam asked Aunt May to tell him what the Gaffer had been like as a child. Aunt May sat back in her rocking chair, her knitting needles sitting idly in her lap while she thought.
"He was very different from you. He liked to play out of doors mostly. He was a wonderful football player and excelled in all sports. He never liked to read like you do, though he did try many times. He said it was too hard for him. Reading and writing always came hard for your father. His friends always teased him when they read stories. I remember when he'd write, all the letters would come out jumbled up or backwards. We never could break him of that, though our father tried. He always thought your father wasn't very bright, but I knew he was, just in a different way.
"He was always so good with the earth and the things that grew in it. That's where I see that you're most like him. You love to garden just like your father," Aunt May paused and looked Sam in the eye. "I know he's a very difficult man to get along with, I had my share of time with him too, remember? Most of the time, when he comes across as angry with you, it's usually because he's angry at himself. It isn't easy growing up to feel like a failure. To be honest Sam, I think your father is jealous of you. I'm sure he wishes he could have read about those adventures when he was your age too."
Sam sat in silence for the rest of the evening reflecting upon what Aunt May had told him. She had a lot of insight into his father, and it gave him much to think about.
The first week passed pleasantly. Sam had grown quite fond of Aunt May. At the second week's end, he and Aunt May would travel to the Four Farthing Fair that signified the beginning of the Harvest Season.
The Four Farthing Fair took place in the fields halfway between the Three Farthing Stone and the point where the North, East, and West Farthings meet. All four farthings of the Shire showcased the best products of the summer. There were eating contests, receipt contests, races, and other fun summertime activities. Sam would meet up with his family there and return home with them.
He tried to come up with a good receipt to enter in the contest. He loved to bake and cook and create dishes that others enjoyed eating. He felt he could express himself with food better than he could with words.
He thought a tart featuring the best summer fruits around Aunt May's home would be just the thing to make. After finding a bucket, he wandered the grounds to see what he could find.
The sweet aroma of sun-warmed blackberries drifted through the air, causing Sam's mouth to water. He followed the scent to the source and filled his bucket with the tiny, delicious treasures. He also ate a fair amount of them while working and soon his fingers and mouth were stained purple from the juice.
He walked back to Aunt May's, quite satisfied from his snack. He walked though a small field filled with wonderful growing things. The clean smell of mint filled the air as his feet crushed it against the ground. Daisies waved their sunny faces in the breeze. Violets and pansies poked out of the grass, shyly. As he walked through the bunches of lavender, they brushed against his knees, sending their strong scent to his nose. He bent down, picked a handful of the flower buds, placed them in his pants pocket, and continued on his way home.
When he reached home, Sam placed his bucket on the kitchen table, emptied the flowers from his pocket and sat down to think about what he'd make with them. He didn't want an ordinary tart. He wanted his to be special. He thought the sweetness of the berries would compliment the sharp scent of the lavender. It wasn't a common pairing of flavours and would be sure to stand out to the judges.
Then he thought about what kind of crust to make. Ordinary tart crust was good, but Sam had been toying with the idea of creating a shortbread crust and thought this would be a perfect time to try.
He spent all afternoon experimenting with crusts and fillings and had Aunt May taste them to see if any were good. Aunt May was quite impressed with Sam's culinary talents. With her help, he perfected his receipt. He wrote it down so he wouldn't forget anything when the day of the fair came.
Sam grew nervous over the next few days. He really wanted to win, but wasn't sure if he was good enough. Finally the day of the fair came and Sam was up before dawn to make his tart.
He placed half of the berries he'd picked the afternoon before in a pan with water, sugar, and the lavender. He let those boil together until they became a thick mixture.
Next he placed flour, sugar, and fresh cool butter in a bowl and with his fingers, mixed the ingredients into a crumbly dough. He painstakingly kneaded small handfuls until his fingers ached and the dough was smooth and unified. He placed this in the tart pan and pressed it into the bottom and sides and pricked it with a fork. He placed dried beans in the tart and put it in the oven to let the crust bake without overcooking.
When the crust was partly baked, Sam took it from the oven and poured the beans out of it. He placed the other half of the berries in the crust and covered them with the warm berry mixture. He placed this back in the oven and baked it until the crust was golden brown and the filling was bubbling. He set the tart in the open kitchen window to cool off.
Several hours later, it was time to leave for the fair. Sam carefully wrapped his tart in cloth and held it in his lap while Aunt May drove the wagon.
When they arrived at the fair, it wasn't difficult to find the canopy where the receipt contest was being held, as it was in the very centre, the focal point of the fair. Sam dropped off his tart and went off by himself to explore.
He watched the young children run the three-legged race. They laughed and had fun falling over each other. He walked past groups of women gossiping and men talking about the weather and its effect on this year's coming harvest.
He ran into Merry, Frodo's cousin, at the lemonade stand. They walked around for a while, sipping glasses of the tart beverage and looking for pretty girls. They wondered who would get a girl first, Merry was very out-going and good looking, but Sam was very kind and sweet. Things were growing tense between the two when Vera and Vula, the Boffin twins, found them and each took and arm of one of the boys. Soon, the two couples sat at a table, eating strawberries and other foods offered at the food stalls.
A few hours later, Sam bid the group farewell as he raced off to the receipt canopy, for judging began in a few minutes. As he approached the canopy, he found Aunt May and his parents talking to each other. Belle smiled as she saw her son for the first time in two weeks. She gave him a big hug and a kiss on the forehead. Sam blushed with embarrassment. Hamfast greeted his son by asking if he'd behaved himself at his aunt's. Aunt May told them how he was a perfect guest and was welcome to visit whenever he wanted.
Sam walked to the canopy to watch the judges try all the entries. His competition was quite varied, from Peony Longbottom's tomato soup to Lobelia Sackville-Baggin's zucchini bread, to Ponto Proudfoot's strawberry jam. Sam was the youngest contestant, but he still felt he stood a chance to place in the top five entries.
Bilbo Baggins, Old Rory Brandybuck, and Paladin Took were the judges and went from entry to entry, tasting, talking, and conferring with each other. The entries had numbers assigned to them so the judges wouldn't know whose was whose.
After what felt like an eternity, the judges had made their decisions. They looked at the list of names and numbers so they could announce the winners. Bilbo called for the crowd's attention while Paladin and Old Rory held onto the ribbons.
Bilbo announced the first three winners and the crowd clapped for each one. When Sam didn't hear his name called for fifth, fourth, or third place, he almost gave up hope. There was no way his tart would take anything higher than that.
His confidence dropped even more as Peony Longbottom was announced as the second place winner. Sam was breathless as Bilbo opened his mouth to announce the first place winner. "And the first place prize for the Annual Four Farthing Fair Receipt contest is..." Bilbo paused for so long, Sam thought he might pass out from holding his breath. "Samwise Gamgee and his delicious blackberry lavender tart with a shortbread crust!"
Sam's jaw dropped open and his eyes grew wide with shock. He felt light-headed as he approached the judges and shook their hands. Old Rory handed him the green ribbon which Sam held gingerly, wanting to keep it clean. Bilbo gave him a warm hug and exclaimed, "I'm so proud of you boy!" Sam thanked him and hugged him back.
He ran to his family who congratulated him with hugs and kisses. Hamfast even went so far as to clap him on the back and say, "You did pretty good for yourself, son." These words meant more to Sam than his ribbon or anything else in the world.
Sam's head was buzzing when the time came to go home. He wasn't used to so much attention and being shy, he was quite overwhelmed. He also had to say goodbye to Aunt May. He was sad to leave her, for he had come to care for her and wanted to stay in touch with her.
Sam walked side by side with Hamfast to the wagon. He turned to his father, and asked him, "Gaffer, do you think you could show me some of your football moves? Aunt May told me you were very good."
Hamfast stopped, looked at his son, surprise showing on his face. To Sam's amazement, his father actually put his arm around his shoulders and pulled him into a hug. "That would be wonderful, how about tomorrow?"
"I can't wait," Sam replied.
United once again, the Gamgee family drove home in silence, content with each other's presence.
That evening, Sam put his green ribbon at the foot of his bed and fell asleep with that image in his mind. The next day, he and his father enjoyed a fun game of football together.