Chapter 1

"Good Morning Pervinca!" Frodo waved to the little girl of 15 (8 to a Man) in the tree.

"Good morning Frodo," she said with a giggle. She quickly latched on to a branch with her knees and hung upside down letting her dirty blond hair hang like a curtain.

"Where's your dad? Uncle Bilbo has a note to give him."

"Oh, he's visiting my aunt and uncle in Buckland, but you can leave it on the dining room table inside." She pointed towards the house.

"Thanks," Frodo answered. At this point, Pervinca's older sister of 20 (10 to a Man) was hanging upside down form the tree, with her light brown curls hanging downward. "Good morning Pimpy," greeted Frodo with a smile.

Pimpernel smiled back shyly at the nickname and murmured back a greeting. She was much more conservative than her little sister, and she hardly ever talked unless it was necessary. But if you put a fiddle of flute in her hands she was off.

As Frodo walked away he heard little Pervinca shriek, "He's so cute!" Frodo's fair cheeks went pink. He never liked how younger girls liked him, he didn't understand it. He was only young, orphaned Frodo Baggins.

As he silently opened the door, he found himself colliding with a very small object that was holding onto his leg. "Frodo!"

Frodo looked down to find little Pippin Took, the youngest child of 10 (5 to a Man), clutching his leg.

"Pippin!" he replied. "How is the little guy" he asked, tousling Pippin's nearly-golden hair.

"Good," he replied with a big grin.

"Where's your dining room table? I gotta leave a note for your dad."

"Right over there," he pointed at a long table in the room next door. "When is your coming-of-age party Frodo?" he added.

'September 22, along with Bilbo's 111th, which is months away" Pippin always asked Frodo about the party.

"Well, I'm super excited," Pippin informed him. "Can we play soccer there?"

"Why not?" Frodo said as Pippin finally let go of his leg. "And," he added with a sly grin, "here's something for your troubles."

Pippin looked down in amazement at the few sweets in his hand. "Thanks Frodo!"

"Your welcome lad," he replied as Pippin ran around him to go play outside with his sisters.

Frodo very nonchalantly placed the letter on the long mahogany table. As he did so, he examined the Hobbit hole surrounding him. The Future Thain lived modestly, if you considered his riches. It had the same look as Bag end, except perhaps a tad bigger. But when he turned to leave, he heard a voice from the couch by the door saying, "You know, you really shouldn't have given him those sweets."

Frodo whirled around to find the eldest Took child, Pearl. She was lying on the couch with an oil lamp above her head, stitching a sampler. "And why ever not Miss Pearl?" he always made fun of her for acting so mature by calling her as if she was some old maid.

"Because, if you do, he'll be asking for more sweets every time you come around."

"Touché, touché,' he said in resignation. He then peered over at her sampler. "I like it," he commented.

"Thanks," she said, "I've been working on it forever."

Frodo took a second look at it. It was poorly done, and the stitching was uneven. But Frodo couldn't bring himself to comment rudely, so he just replied, "You know, I always recalled you of being an outdoors-y type. Why aren't outside on this fine day?"

"Because," she said, as if it was obvious, "Mother says that when I'm married, I won't have time for silly games, and I should at least begin doing housework."

Frodo was surprised to be hearing about marriage from Pearl, and it kind of hurt, but he pushed that aside as he continued to stare at the sampler. "I see, well, it's a lovely… dwarf."

Her face grew gray when he said that, and she replied bitterly, 'it's supposed to be an elf."

"Elves don't have beards," he informed her.

"Really?" Frodo could see a tear trickle down her cheek. "I wish I knew more about them!"

Frodo, realizing he was wrong to comment, felt like he should say something nice. "Well, to tell you the truth, you are the only other Hobbit to have ever seemed interested in elves and dwarves and such, besides little Samwise Gamgee."

"The Gaffer's son?" she asked, forgetting her hurt feelings.

"The very one," Frodo said. And then inspiration sparked. "And, the way he's learned more about them is by reading."

"If only I could do that to," she said with a sigh.

"Well, your father's the Future Thain isn't he? I'm sure he has plenty of books on elves in his library."

"There's the catch."

"What catch?"

"I can't read?"

"What do you mean you can't read?"

"What I mean is that I never learned how to read!" she said such finality, it made Frodo grow silent for a time.

After he got back his speech, he asked, "Why not?"

"My father always said that giving a woman an education is liking giving an orc more teeth." She stared into Frodo's shocked blue eyes. "And he also says that when I'm married I'll have a husband to read for me."

"What's all this talk about you and marriage?" Frodo exclaimed. "I mena, you shouldn't think of marriage until you're at least 31! And what are you... 29?"

"25," she corrected.

This made Frodo stop abrupt in his monologue. "25? 25? Are you sure?" he looked her up and down. She was much further along than most 25 year olds (13 to a Man). But he didn't saying considering it was rude.

"I'm positive," she answered.

"Wait, so you're 25, and you can't read?"

"No," she answered bluntly. "It's just a skill I'll never learn."

Frodo looked at the pretty lass, and an idea hit him as hard as a rock. It was obvious. "You know…" he began, scratching his head, "Uncle Bilbo taught me everything I know, including reading…"

"So do you think Bilbo would teach me?" she asked hopefully, getting up from the couch and clasping her hands together.

"Oh no, Bilbo would never go against your father." But since he couldn't stand to see her hope deflate like a balloon, he added, "But, personally, I wouldn't care doing so."

"Really?"

"Yeah, there's a tree I always sit under in the woods near Bag End where I read. We can meet there."

At this, Pearl ran to him by the doorway, and hugged him. Frodo felt his face grow even pinker. "Thank you," she whispered in his ear. Then she let go and stared into his eyes. "But, what can I give you?"

Before he could say that she didn't have to do anything, he remembered how he reacted when little Samwise did something for him. He would always give him a sweet of sorts or something like that in return, no matter how much Samwise refused it. He then glanced at the discarded sampler still on the couch. "You know, I've always had a passion to learn how to sample."