Chapter 28: Bee-Pastures

I'm back!


Bella thought about what a strange group of people she had ended up with, and wondered absently as the brightly lit insect crawled slowly over her hands whether all dwarves were so utterly odd and individual, or whether she had just gotten lucky in finding the company of Thorin Oakenshield.

What Thorin thought about no one could know.

They were both startled out of their minds when a wizard came striding out of the bushes behind them though, and Kili and Fili stopped their jumping around by the fire to call happily over.

"Gandalf!"


"I always meant to see you safely over the mountains." They sat gathered around the fire as Gandalf spoke. "For all that came of that. But now I have things to be attending to."

A strangled sound escaped Bella's throat, and looking round none of the dwarves seemed too pleased at Gandalf's announcement.

"Oh! Don't make those faces! I'll not be disappearing quite yet, no, I plan on giving you a helping hand first at least."

The wizard observed them all and took his pipe out of his pocket to light. "You need supplies, desperately so. Food, blankets, desirably new clothes too."

He got nods of agreement.

"Now, there aren't many living in these parts, that is unless any have moved here since I last passed through. But there is one I know..."


The next morning the company was up at dawn. They had nothing to pack and decided to forgo breakfast in favour of reaching their destination as quickly as possible, and so were more or less straight on their way.

There was a chill to the early hour, the sun not yet having gained any reasonable height in the sky to warm the air, but the day held promise to be a good warm one and there was not a rain cloud in sight. Gandalf led them forward with long definite strides that had some of the unprepared jogging to catch up.

He led them right for the river, and when he reached the river he simply balanced his staff over one shoulder and waded straight in.

The company exchanged looks and followed. Bella thanked the Valar for Balin's buttons. Balin grumbled that his beard would get wet.

At about halfway over the water was up to Bella's shoulders, and it was also around that time when she put one foot in front of the other to find a dip in the river bed had made for a sudden increase in depth on the path she was taking, and disappeared under the water completely.

Thorin pulled her back out. "Trying to escape us, Mr Baggins?"

Bella clung to him and glared through her coughing and spluttering and told him yes, yes she was.

A flicker of a grin passed over his face.

"You can't swim."

"I can. I just don't." She argued, but caved under a look. "...I am rather poor at it."

He shook his head disbelievingly. "Better hold on, hobbit, lest you get yourself into anymore trouble."

She huffed, glared at Thorin, glared at the water in front of her, and gave in. She clung on tighter to the dwarf. "Just get me to dry land where I belong."

He chuckled this time, and waded forwards with her clinging to his back. Bella wound her arms around his neck and resisted the urge to hide her face in the dwarf's hair. She had not been carried since she was a child, she felt awfully silly.

"You know," She finally said. "For all you complain you always do a very good job of saving me."

He gave a grunt which she took as acknowledgement.

She did not speak for a moment, then voiced a quiet "...Thank you."

The water drew shallower again, but the dwarf slipped his arms under her legs and carried on instead of setting her down. "You are a member of this company, no matter what I may have let myself say. I would ask that you forget my words if you can find it in yourself to do so, I admit they were spoken for worry for your safety, and for everyone else's."

They got to dry land. "Besides, you have more than repaid any debt you owed. I would have lost my life two days ago, and how close it was with trolls cannot be forgotten. No need for thanks, Mr Baggins."

Bella smiled as he let her drop to the ground. "Bilbo."

"Then it is Thorin to you."

The dwarves congregated wet and bedraggled, hair and beards sopping. They all looked a mess, all apart from Dori of course who appeared as proper as ever despite his boots squelching with every step he took. Dori could pull off anything: it was as if the soaking wet look was the look he had been going for.

Dwalin had walked across the river with Ori's book held above his head and with a hand ready to grab his brother if he disappeared like Bella had done, not that the old dwarf had noticed – he was too busy scowling over his beard.

Fili and Kili shook themselves like dogs, earning curses from Oin and Gloin, and Bofur was laughing as he always was. The miner had apparently decided he would like to be carried too, and had held on to his brother until Bombur had tired of his sibling's antics and had thrown him off. Bifur looked to the skies, seemingly asking whoever was up there to listen why he had been landed with a group of lunatics.

Nori had already gone off after Gandalf, who had not, it seemed, seen cause to stop. The wizard really must have places he'd rather be, thought Bella as she gave a nod to Thorin and went to catch up with the tall old man herself, intent on asking him just where he planned on going off to once he'd shown them on their way.

"Gandalf!" She passed Nori and fell into a brisk walk beside the wizard. "You set a fast pace!"

The wizard made a noise of acknowledgement, though did not turn his gaze. "I hope to have everything settled and to be on my way before the day is out, or at least by first light tomorrow."

Bella almost tripped over a rock. "And where may your way lead?"

"Onwards. And not likely to anywhere pleasant."

The wizard spoke with finality and that was that, she got no more out of him on that subject.

"Is it far? To the home of the person you were telling us about?"

"Hmmm..." Gandalf looked to the sky. "Half a day or less."

Bella fell back to walk with Nori with the wizard not being in mind to talk, and grumbled to the dwarf about needing food to live.

The land on this side of the river was populated with lines of oak and elm on either side of the grass land much like the other side was, but ground was less rocky and the grasses grew taller as they travelled on. They tickled Bella's legs awfully, so she complained to Nori about that too. He just laughed and told her about a place he'd once been where the grass was so tall that you could not see over its top, and about how people could get lost in it and wander around for hours trying to find their way out. Bella imagined this was very possible, recalling the time she herself as a young hobbit found herself stuck in farmer Maggot's corn field: no matter how straight she had attempted to walk in one direction she had never seemed to happen upon its edge.

They were heading to the house of a man named Beorn, a skin-changer Gandalf called him, for according to his word the man could change his skin at will. Sometimes he was a man, and lived in a wooden house in an oak-wood, sometimes he roamed far and wide in the form of a huge black bear, as real as any you would meet in all but mind. And indeed, the wizard had told them last night when Bella had, wide eyed, inquired further, no one knew for sure in which form he had been born. Some people said that he was a bear descended from the ancient great bears that lived in the mountains before the giants came there. Others said he was a man who's forefathers were among the first men and lived in this part of the world even before dragons were seen in these skies and before the goblins came from the north.

He was a kind enough soul for the most part, but possessed a quick temper that you did not want to bring out. They would have to watch themselves.

In all truth Bella was rather skeptical about meeting Beorn: she would admit to herself if no one else that what she had been told about him scared her. She imagined him as a giant Dwalin, but even thicker armed and double the height with a beard twice as bushy. She had told Bofur this as they settled down to sleep last night. He had chuckled and dared a look over at Dwalin, but Bella knew he too was not at ease with the idea of going to such a dangerous sounding man for aid.

The sun rose and the day grew hot, and for many hours Gandalf led on allowing little time for rest. He marched them up hill and down dale, and despite their previous days rest the journey was tiring in the heat and slowly everyone began to lag behind.

It was just after lunchtime, or there abouts, that they noticed the great patches of flowers that had begun to appear: all the same types and colours growing together as if planted, and oh! The bees! Huge things they were, bigger than hornets, bigger even than your thumb! They flew about buzzing and humming in a lazy sort of way, heavy and weighed down with their loads of pollen and lulled by the midday heat.

"Bee-pastures." Gandalf could be heard muttering to himself ahead.

Bella did her best to duck around them, and couldn't hold a squeak when one got way too close to her face for comfort. She was a hobbit, she was used to bees, but these were four times larger at least than any she had seen before, and she had no doubt the sting one could give would be nothing to laugh at. She watched her step.

At some point along the way Gloin let out a rather undwarvish scream and began a frantic little dance that involved much shaking of his head and shouting of 'get it off, get it off!', but a mere glance back at a laughing Fili and Kili confirmed in Bella's mind that there was nothing to help with the getting off of.

It was only a short while after this that they came to a belt of tall oaks backed by high thorn-hedges, and Gandalf suddenly stopped and turned.

"Here we are."

He regarded them as they gathered, sweaty and red faced in their half destroyed clothes, and the weapons they dragged with them all that they carried.

"Perhaps...yes. Perhaps that would be best." The wizard seemed to come to a decision before addressing them.

"This is where our -with any luck- host lives. There is a gate down there." He motioned along the hedge. "We shall go to meet him in small groups I think - pairs will do, a few minutes inbetween. He could easily send such a big group away, so best to take things slow."

No one had anything to say to that, Gandalf knew what was best here.

"Come, and keep quiet unless spoken to, let me do the talking, we can't have this messed up. With me, Bilbo!"

Bella jumped slightly and rushed after the wizard with no small amount of fear in her heart as he set off again. Why her? Surely she could tag along later? Perhaps hidden behind Bombur?

"Oh, and leave ten minutes at least before starting to appear. There are things I must discuss with Beorn before hand." Gandalf called over his shoulder.

Bella sent a look back, but then they rounded a bend in the hedge and the company disappeared from sight.

She sighed and let her shoulders slump.

"...How are you faring, my dear?"

Bella almost didn't realise she was being spoken to.

"Oh! Fine- good, great, I suppose, all things considering-."

The wizard hummed and nodded thoughtfully before laughing.

Bella frowned. "Sorry?"

"Oh, don't mind me, Miss Baggins. I was only thinking. You know, hobbits never cease to amaze me. You can learn all about their ways in a month, and yet even after a hundred years they can still surprise you. And here I thought Belladonna Took was the most strong hearted hobbit I would ever meet. I believed that you had a lot more to give than any of the others knew, but you might just prove more important on this quest than even I could have guessed."

They came upon the wooden gate and the old man held it open, still chuckling to himself.

"Hobbits...quite remarkable."


:)