Once again, I don't own anything. I hope you all enjoy!
At that very moment his Aunt, also known as Aster Took, was happily coming back from the market. She had spent several enjoyable hours there this morning, and was pleased with her purchases.
Several pounds of fresh berries for some pies she planned to make in the next few days, a couple of spices she'd been running low on and hadn't had the time to make herself, and a few other odds and ends she'd been needing.
As she made her way up to Bilbo's smial she frowned at the door, startled by what she saw. They'd just had that door painted last week! Who would go about scratching strange symbols on other people's doors? Rude! She'd give them a piece of her mind if she ever found out who it was...she tried to swing the door in, and felt it hit something with a rather solid 'thunk'.
Hearing a groan startled her even more. Bilbo finished opening the door, rubbing his head in a rather pained manner.
She promptly forgot all about the mark."Bilbo! Oh, are you all right? Let me look at it."
As she tried to check his head, he did his best to hold her off. "No, no, it's fine. Just a little bump. Just to make my morning complete..."
She heard the last bit even though it had been said in a low mutter. "What was wrong with your morning? You seemed quite content when I left you a couple of hours ago. Weren't you going to enjoy the sun on the front bench?"
He winced. Then he closed his eyes a moment cursing his loose tongue in his head. Opening his eyes to meet her concerned gaze, he knew he had to tell her everything. She deserved it after all and if anything happened later that could be tied back to this morning (curse the wizard) he didn't want it to come back and bite him.
She listened patiently throughout his recital with only a few facial expressions to let him know what she was thinking. Tightening her lips at his confession of smoking (filthy habit), widening her eyes at the mention of the wizard followed by a quick narrowing at the word 'adventure'. Narrowing further at the mention of 'informing the others'.Finally a squeeze of his hand and a sigh.
"I don't know what to make of it either Bilbo. But if this mention of 'others' and the mark on our door means anything, it means he's not finished with whatever he happens to be up to. We'll just have to keep a watch out, and prepare to face whatever happens with aplomb and dignity. We're hobbits!"
Bilbo gave her a slightly disbelieving look.
She flushed slightly. "Well, mostly hobbits. And Tooks to boot. We can take anything a poxy wizard throws at us, and perhaps even throw a little back, all right?"
She gave him a reassuring smile, then went to put her things away with one last squeeze. He watched her go as she ducked expertly beneath the low parts in the ceiling. He believed she just might give that wizard a what for after all.
She had certainly given his cousin Lobelia Sackville-Baggins a right tongue lashing for attempting to steal the nice silver set, right before banning her from ever visiting again. He felt the corners of his mouth lift.
It had been the talk of the Shire for weeks, though most had come down on his Aunt's side. It might be rather rude to ban family, but to steal from family? Lobelia's standing in the Shire had certainly suffered for it.
It might have been different if she'd tried to steal something of his Aunt's, but that silver set had been a wedding gift from his mother's father upon his daughter's marriage. It was his by right. He sighed. He hoped everything would be all right.
Firming his back, he straightened. His Aunt was right. Nothing to be done for it now. They didn't have enough information. They were Tooks, though. They'd be ready.