Chapter 16 Games

"You're cheating!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

Bilbo groaned inwardly and rubbed his forehead. Two days had passed since the fight but that hadn't changed the way Frodo and Angelica felt about each other in the least. "Stop that you two." He warned after a few moments of their back and forth arguing during a game of checkers. Both tweenagers turned-- their brown and blue eyes wide.

"Tell her I don't cheat, Uncle Bilbo!" Frodo begged.

"He does not cheat, Angelica."

"Maybe with you he doesn't..."

"What did I say?" Bilbo asked in a serious tone. "Why don't you two find something else you enjoy? Obviously boardgames aren't it."

Angelica and Frodo agreed to the suggestion and began packing up the pieces and putting them back into the old box. The fight, as expected, had left Frodo with a lovely shiner on his right eye and he could barely open it. The two cousins walked into Frodo's room to put the game away and then Angelica flopped down on her stomach on Frodo's bed. "I'm bored," she said sighing. "What do you do for fun around here besides get into fights?"

Frodo gave her a nasty look. "I personally enjoy my time alone. Or I play with Sam Gamgee from nextdoor...you remember him from the last time you were here, don't you? He's the gardener's son."

Angelica nodded. "I remember him. Say...maybe we could call on him and the three of us could play hide and go seek?"

"That actually sounds like a pleasant idea," Frodo admitted as Angelica stood up, smoothing the front of her sky-blue skirt.

"Let's go!" she took Frodo's hand and the two of them darted into the living room. Bilbo stopped them before they made it to the front door.

"Where are you two going in such a hurry?" he asked.

"We wanted to see if Sam can come and pay," Frodo explained. "He hasn't met Angelica formally yet..."

"Stay right around Bag-End, Frodo. I don't want you getting another black eye from that Lotho Sackville-Baggins."

Frodo nodded. "We'll stay right here. We're only going to play hide and seek."

"Or tag," Angelica pointed out. "And don't worry Uncle Bilbo. I'll make sure he doesn't get into trouble."

Bilbo laughed and patted her on the head. "Good girl. Go on now..." He watched as the tweenagers put on their cloaks and mittens and bolted outside into the blustery winter air. Though it was wintertime in the Shire, snow hadn't fallen yet (much to Frodo's disappointment for he loved playing in the snow). They headed down the dirt road to #3 Bagshot Row, the home of Hamfast Gamgee and his wife Bell. Besides Samwise they had another son, Hamfast and three daughters: Daisy, May and Marigold. For a while Daisy had taken a "liking" to Frodo and spent most of the spring trying to chase him down and pull him behind one of the barns so they could "talk".

"They don't just want to talk when they say that," Fredegar Bolger, another close friend of Frodo's, had said the year before. "She's lookin' to court you!"

Frodo shuddered as they reached the Gamgee's and he knocked on the door stepping back. It opened and Hamson appeared in the doorway. "Good afternoon, Mr. Frodo!" he greeted happily.

"Good afternoon...is Samwise there?"

"Sam! Mr. Frodo wants to see you!" Hamson called as he went into the house. There was the sound of chatter and footsteps and:

"Hello, Mr. Frodo!" a small voice greeted cheerfully and Frodo looked down to see little Samwise Gamgee standing before him.

"Hello, Sam. Would you like to come out and play? This is my cousin...Angelica. The one I was telling you about before."

Sam looked at Angelica and then back at Frodo. "She's the one, is she? Okay...let me go ask my Da' if I can go..."

"We're only staying around Bag-End...I..."

"Mr. Frodo! What happened to your eye? Can' believe I didn' notice it before!" Sam gasped.

Frodo blushed. "Oh...I um...got into a bit of a scuffle with Lotho Sackville-Baggins two days ago."

"A scuffle? More like a war!" Angelica snorted folding her arms. "Both of them were unconscious after a spell...it was dreadful!"

Sam shook his head. "Did you pop him one?"

Frodo nodded. "Busted him right in the head...luckily I didn't kill him."

It was Angelica's turn to shudder. "Lucky thing you didn't."

"Oh...Da!" Sam called turning around. "Da!"

"What is it?" a female voice asked and Bell Gamgee appeared. "Hello, Mr. Frodo...what can I do for you?"

"I wanted to know if Sam could come out and play," Frodo asked.

"Of course he can...as long as he puts on his heavy cloak! And who is this pretty one with you?"

Angelica blushed as Frodo explained: "She's my cousin Angelica...visiting for the week."

"A pleasure to meet you. I am Sam's mother...Bell." The two of them shook hands and that was when Bell noticed Frodo's black and blue eye. She was just about to mention it when Sam hurried back dressed in his winter clothes.

"I'll be back before dinner, Mama." He said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Do be careful. Look out for Sam, Frodo...don't go too fast...he's much smaller than you are."

Frodo nodded. "I will, Mrs. Gamgee."

She shut the door after them and they headed back to Bag-End. "So what was the fight about anyways?" Sam asked as he rubbed his arms once the cold hit him.

Frodo sighed. "He was making fun of my parents again...he said that the only reason my mother agreed to marry my father was because it would be a good attempt to get my Uncle's money..."

Sam gasped. "I would have slugged him if he'd said something like that about my Gaffer or my Mama. That was downright awful!"

Frodo agreed but Angelica put her hands on her hips. "Honestly...the two of you would have been better off with a shouting match. It would have saved your Uncle trouble having to deal with Auntie Lobelia."

Frodo sniggered...he'd despised that woman ever since he'd arrived at Bag-End. She and her husband Otho were always showing up and trying to swindle the inheritance away from Frodo. Bilbo, however, would not hear of it and threatened to take them to the courts.

"How can you even call her Auntie?" he asked.

"Because she is your Aunt, Frodo. Now come on...let's play some tag..." she tapped him on the shoulder and shouted: "You're it!" before bolting away at a lightening speed. Frodo looked at Sam who was grinning and then took off after her.