Sorry about the long wait. Here is my Chapter 11 and I hope you enjoy it.


The tall wheat stocks rustled quietly as the gushes of warm wind cruised past.

I was quite thankful that I wasn't wearing a dress, for it would sweep up, showing with the breeze. And that would not be a good thing, especially if you were standing beside Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took.

Merry jumped past, into some more wheat, out of sight.

Pippin sighed as his cousin raced on, full of the energy he would long of having. His face had clear, straight marks which his sweat used as guide lines, slipping down his face.

"You are so unfit, Pip," I giggled, "You ought to get more exercise."

He groaned and stumbled after me as I waded through the golden corn.

Suddenly, I spotted Merry, midst-way through a clearing from corn, his face showing uncomfortable thoughts.

"One moment," he called to me. He sprinted into the opposite direction, into the corn.

I could feel the puzzlement spreading across me. As I made to step after him, Pippin drove up, holding up an arm.

"I think he forgot to go before we left," he said quietly, but I could here the amusement concealed in his voice.

"What? Oh-" I blushed terribly when I realised what Pippin spoke of. "You know, if he needed to go, he could have just said."

Slowly, the heat melted off my face as Pippin shrugged.

"Stay here," he said softly. A smirk slid on his lips. "I'll jump out on Merry and scare the life out of him."

The draught of loneliness swept through as Pippin, too, left.


"Ma," I called through to the kitchen. "I'm going now!"

Her figure showed from the kitchen doorway, her face looking hard.

"Where are you going exactly?"

I didn't like her tone. It sounded hard and I knew she was going to get mad with me.

"We're going to Farmer Maggot's." I said a bit too innocently.

"We?" she asked, curtly and hollowly.

"Pippin and Merry are coming too," I said, as if it were obvious. Well, it was.

Her golden eyes looked at me weakly, sorrowful, and empty. I tried to abstain her gaze, so creepy and unusual to me.

"All I ever wanted was a little girl," she whispered. "And when I got you…I thought everything was just perfect. But now, I have a tomboy, just like her father. She has only friends, that are…are made for trouble…"

Tears blinded me as she said her last hollow, harsh words that echoed in my brain for a time.

"I wish I never had a child like you."


I was quite glad for once that Pippin and Merry weren't there where I was, thinking about my last moments with Ma. I sniffed quietly as I observed the thick layer of tears build up like a wall over my eyes. Then, they all released and sank into the dirt under my feet.

The sun glittered in the abyss of the sky, and shone against something in the ground.

Curious, I knelt down, my fingers pushing the close dirt. I pulled it out slowly, examining it under the ever-growing light.

It was a necklace.

The silver, metal chain was so light in my grasp that it almost felt as it weren't there. I followed the string to the small circle, delicate and smooth.

I flipped the face to the other side, and saw curves emblazed in it. They were weaving throughout each other. The words in the centre of the silver frame were quite distinct as I read:

A & A

Hope

I came to my senses as I heard a shout. Stowing away the necklace, I had a split second to turn around and groan as Merry collided with me. I fell to the ground, dazed.

"Get up!" he hissed, "Get up!"

He ran on as his younger cousin came, panting, nearly tripping over me.

"Petal?" Quickly! We need to move!"

I saw the vegetables locked in his hands. He helped me to my feet, as we ran to the direction that Merry just did. Sprinting through the glistening stalks, alongside Pippin, the news suddenly sunk in.

"You stole vegetables?" I panted, but running ceaselessly.

Pip looked at me quickly and a smirk edged on his face. He stopped smiling as he heard voices. He picked up his speed, so I had to try and catch up, despite my efforts.

The next moment, I was on top of Pippin, and to my horror, he was on top of Frodo.

"Frodo!" Pippin called, surprised, as he turned to Merry and me. "Hey, Merry, Petal, look! It's Frodo Baggins!"

"What other Frodo do we know?" I said bitterly, climbing off Pippin and brushing myself down. I looked at Frodo's bewildered face as he lay underneath Pip. I looked to Merry as he clambered off Sam, who I just noticed, also with us, looking slightly disgruntled. A grin fell on Merry's face.

"Hello, Frodo," he smiled.

Sam got up from the ground and stalked over to us. "Get off him!" he growled, pulling me off Pippin gently before shoving him back to me as well. "Come, Frodo."

The stout Hobbit helped his master up, brushing him down before Merry picked up the fallen veggies and placing them into Sam's arms.

"What's the meaning of this?" Sam asked. A short gasp left him as he turned on angrily at us. "You've been into Farmer Maggot's crop!"

Dogs' growls and barks grew louder from the direction we just fell from, and we heard…oh, hell…

…Farmer Maggot.

My gasp was replaced by a yelp as Merry seized Frodo and I and pushed us towards the exit, through some more corn. Pippin followed, leaving Sam, standing there confused and dumb, holding the vegetables still enveloped in his arms.

I continued running, feeling the hot blood pumping in my head, my heart rate quickening by a lot.

"I don't know why he's so upset," Merry called, innocently, as we sprinted through the corn, each stalk hitting our faces in turn. "It's only a couple of carrots-"

"-and some cabbages," Pippin piped up, pointing it out. "Oh! And those three bags of potatoes that we lifted last week. Oh – oh! And the mushrooms the week before!"

I stared, amused mingled with horror, at Merry by my side.

"Yes, Pippin," Merry said, clearly irked. "My point is, he's clearly overreacting."

The stalks shrunk as we left the fields, charging as fast as we could to get away.

"Run!" Merry yelled quickly.

The mistake that I made was looking over my shoulder, not seeing where I was going. As I looked back, I slammed into the frozen statue of Pippin, as he had glazed eyes, looking over the steep slope. We balanced ourselves, trying not to fall. Pulling him back, something pushes me: Frodo. It was kind of like a small routine.

Bump, steady, slam, balance. Bump, steady, slam, balance.

We all sighed in relief as we looked over the drop, not falling. It didn't last long until Sam hit Merry, hitting Frodo, shoving me, moving Pippin.

Yelling and groaning, we all slipped down the slope, dirt kicking into our faces as we all toppled down, hearing each other's moans and yelps as we toppled down the hill.

The last pain injected as the impact slammed my head back, hitting the bottom. Sam was thrown back across me, giving weight to my stomach. I gave one final shriek as Merry crashed on my legs.

Apart from low muttering and cursing, there was silence ebbing around us.

"Oh," Pippin said lightly, breaking the quietness. "That was close."


Thanks for reading! Spesh thanks to mwang, Breezieberry (x2), Sopmay (x2), anonymous guest, Spiff, Reach and Alphaartist1 for reviewing. Thanks to you if you review. But an ordinary thanks for reading anyway, lol.