Uncle was writing in his study again and I was left bored. I had been reading most of the day but I was bored of reading the same books over and over again. It was driving me barmy! I had never really followed the hobbit ways since uncle Bilbo tried to introduce me to them; being a woman, considerably taller than any hobbit, meant that I had other ways of busying myself. I sat down to write a letter but then suddenly realised I had no one to write to anymore. It has been 6 years and the thought of laketown is still upsetting me.
I still see the face of my mother in my head and often cry when I go to do something and realise I have no need to do it. Uncle Bilbo stopped coddling me after a year or so and he explained to me that once you have expressed your feeling you must continue your life as no one on middle earth would want their family to spend the rest of their lives mourning them.
"I wouldn't want you to be in mourning for me for the rest of your life" he told me.
I had survived on scrubbing and cooking for masters but before I knew it I was penniless and homeless when the guards came and threw me out of the home I shared with my mother. Their argument was that another family was in need of a home and I was expected to move to a smaller house as I was supporting myself. The only issue with that concept was that there were no such available homes in laketown and I found myself leaving with the few belongings I had.
Soon I came to uncle Bilbo who took me in gladly. He accepted my prolonged sadness about mother's death and allowed me to stay with him until I was able to leave and begin a life for myself. At the age of 20 I am now able to live alone but uncle will not have it. Instead he insisted that I stay with him and I took his 'invitation' and I thank him every day for it.
"Uncle?" I called popping my head into his study.
"Yes dear?" He answered, ceasing his actions but not turning around to face me.
"I am going on a walk around the fields again. Would you like anything whilst I'm there?"
"Ohh yes!" uncle replied suddenly jumping to his feet. "Some cabbages, carrots and potatoes from farmer maggot."
"Yes uncle," I say to him. "I'll take the large basket."
"Yes do, do," Uncle tells me, fishing around for some money. "ohh and get a half block of the good strong cheddar from bessy as well."
I run to get the basket and just before I leave uncle is at the door ready with my hat and the money for the food. He is so attentive and treats me as his own. I realised a very long time ago how lucky I was and to this day I still know how much I owe him for his generosity. As I exit the front gate I see Bilbo settle himself on the front bench and then give him my best smile before setting off for the farm.
I did this often because I often got bored of my surroundings and being in the shire and having a small amount of freedom was enough to keep me from going insane. Uncle could spend weeks never leaving the house and during these moments I would be responsible for the pantry, ensuring it was at constant readiness for company despite never having any visitors.
"Good afternoon Victoria!" I turned and found the only hobbit I couldn't stand in the whole shire. Benedict Dickson. He had taken quite a shine to me from the moment that I had arrived in the shire, completely disregarding any kindness or politeness when myself and Uncle Bilbo requested to have some privacy. Benedict and his mother Sally had been convinced that I would marry Benedict when I realised that they owned one of two flour mills in the shire. I couldn't have been more disgusted to be honest.
"Can I help you Ben?" I said enhancing my annoyance in the question.
"Why yes you can," He replied breathlessly. He was quite a big hobbit, proving that food was truly a hobbit's first love. "Please come to dinner tomorrow night. I must tell my mother of our engagement."
I stopped dead in my tracks and stared at Ben right in the eye looking down on him ever so slightly. I was human but I was considerably shorter than most.
"I will never marry you Benedict Dickson!" I yelled at the top of my voice. "You are fat, lazy and only want a wife that can cater for your every need and I will never submit to that. Find yourself another wife because you won't get one out of me."
"I'm the best offer a human like you is ever going to get," Benedict replied changing in stance to a confident one with his arms folded.
"I don't care if you're the only offer I get," I replied with more confidence. "I would reject you every time."
I turned and walked away without looking back. I knew due to his size, he wouldn't be able to catch up with me. I ran the errands for uncle then immediately returned home. I was in no mood to do anything now. When I stepped through the front door uncle called me into the kitchen and I gladly accepted the tea he offered.
"What's the matter?"
"Nothing uncle," I said pausing. "I got your vegetables and cheese."
"Vicky..." Uncle said softly. "Is Benedict Dickson bothering you again?"
"No more than usual," I replied. I decided in the same second that I should tell him what happened on the path when I was walking. "He asked me to dinner with his mother to announce my engagement to him, when I refused to dinner and any kind of attachment he said I was the best offer I was ever going to get."
"That's not true now is it?" Uncle comforted me.
"It just made me wonder if I'm that ugly or unkind or..." I trailed off.
Uncle scolded me gently for thinking such things and we both set about getting dinner ready as it was late afternoon. Fish and chips sounded like good comfort food for the evening I was having. Uncle let me change into my nightgown and then surprised me with my dinner in my bedroom. He never usually allowed this but I think he was trying to cheer me up; as well as trying to encourage me to have an early night.
I loved my uncle dearly and he always knew how to cheer me up. It was late in the evening when I heard a lot of voices shouting. It took me a few moments to wake up fully but I did not realise that there were more individuals in this hole than I thought. I carefully got changed into a small vest type shirt and some shorts I usually wore for hiking through the woods and went off to see what the noise was. My socks were making me slip every few steps and I was cautious of my surroundings because I knew there were other hobbits in the house apart from myself and my uncle.
But they didn't sound like hobbits...
Walking towards the dining room, I found weapon upon weapon, bag upon bag all over the sitting room floor.
"I can't go on an adventure!" I heard uncle cry. "I have a loved one to take care of."
Sensing this was my cue...
"Uncle?" I asked walking into the dining area.
Thorin POV
I heard a young woman's voice behind me calling for her uncle. As I turned around in my seat, along with the rest of the company and I was taken aback by what I saw. I saw a small but young woman standing there with her eyes fixed on her uncle Baggins, clearly confused as to why there were dwarves in her home.
Her hair was shorter than you would typically find on a hobbit and she was thin and every part of her body was in proportion not fat like a hobbit. Was she even a hobbit? Gandalf was the first to speak up and greet her politely.
"Goodness me my dear Bilbo," he exclaimed. "This must be the niece you spoke of. Tis a pleasure to meet you Victoria Baggins, I am known as Gandalf the grey."
"It is a pleasure to meet you Gandalf I have been told stories of your fireworks by my uncle. I have so wished to meet you." She replied so eloquently. Victoria spoke so beautifully and I couldn't take my eyes off her which must have been obvious because Balin tapped my shoulder and whispered "You're staring laddie."
"You are a most polite and pretty young lady," Gandalf told her as he led her to a seat. By chance she was seated next to me and I found it increasingly hard to stop myself from staring upon her beauty again.
"Mr Baggins," I began with a stern voice. "Will this woman be accompanying us on our travels?"
"What travels?" The young hobbit asked. "Uncle, are you leaving?"
"No" Mr Baggins replied simply.
Clearly unsatisfied with the answer she received, she turned to me.
"Where are you going?" She asked me directly and I felt a substantial amount of guilt at this point because I couldn't remember her name. Before I could answer Mr Baggins interrupted.
"Do not ask such questions Victoria. Return to your room please."
"No she shall stay, as will you Mr Baggins." Everyone around the table was clearly surprised at what I had just said but I ignored the looks I was given from everyone including Victoria.
"We are persuading your uncle Bilbo to accompany us on an adventure to the lonely mountain." Gandalf told her.
"Oh I have heard of it!" Victoria exclaimed. "I lived in lake town with my mother some years ago and though I never stepped outside the town, I learnt much about the surrounding areas. Mother would not let me study much about what happened to the mountain and the dragon that attacked it. I continued to discover as the years when on."
"Continue," I encouraged her, I admit I was intrigued. "What do you think happened?"
"Well the books said that the mountain was once a prospering kingdom that lived in harmony alongside the city of dale. Equally peaceful and no conflict ever occurred between them. Dwarves are great miners and they had resided in the mountain for many generations and the line of Durin was secured by umm...oh! A grandfather, a father and a grandson." She spoke very clearly and was feeling no anxiety about speaking in front of so many of us. "The heart of the mountain was found and the king believed he now had the right to rule and expected the greatest leaders in middle earth to pay homage to him. A sickness began to form in the king and he cared only for gold; hours upon hours were spent in the treasury and the grandson watched as his grandfather was taken from them by his greed and love for gold."
Hearing this story did not bother me and I wondered why. Was it that I had heard this tale so many times before? Was it because I already knew all the details? Or was it the speaker?
"Soon a firedrake from the north took to the city of dale and then attacked the mountain causing the dwarves to be cast out. They wondered for days and then took up employment wherever they could in the hope they would one day take back erebor." Victoria finished.
"Incredible"
"Such intelligence"
"I have never seen someone recite the story so well when they weren't actually born at the time of the disaster," I told her. Rising to my feet I bowed to her in respect. "Thorin Oakenshield, at your service Miss Baggins."