I thought I wasn't pretty, that I wouldn't win their hearts anyway,
so what was the problem? Ruby proved me wrong.
"Look in the mirror Di, look. Your red hair is so curly, look!-" she pulled on one of my locks and it bounced back into place-"and your eyes, such a deep blue, they are almost purple. Your face is fair and pale, except for a few freckles across your nose. Your hands have not seen work, and you are thin, not fat like some other lasses-"
"Basil Smallburrow," I murmured, thinking of a portly lass I used to know. I saw Ruby nod into the mirror. She pulled a small wreath of roses from her apron pocket, and placed it on my head. I leaned against her shoulder and sighed.
"I don't want to go. I don't want them to pick me," I sobbed quietly. She stroked my hair, and she smiled.
"Di, you would have nothing to fear with either of them. They are not like that Radamund Proudfoot that Emma got stuck with. I know them personally, and if they chose you, they would be wise indeed, except for your temper." She smiled, and I had to smile, too.
"Di, you are supposed to go get a new dress for this ball, so we had better take you to Mrs Teagrass's shop to be fitted," She got up from her perch on a stool and took my hand as she took me out the front door of our hole. That was one thing about Ruby I never understood. She would take you somewhere, but rarely explain where, and never give you a chance to decide whether you really even wanted to go there in the first place. I think the word for that was spontaneity but a more proper word was Ruby, because the word fit her like a glove.
Mrs Teagrass's shop was full of lasses all shouting and waving order slips at either the shopkeeper herself or one of her many apprentices taken on for such an occasion. Mrs Teagrass was a good friend of Mother's, and therefor, we were on visiting terms with her. She had promised Mother a dress for the wedding of one of us, but since Emma's dress was simply Mother's old one, the gift remained unused until that day.
I sat down in one of the free chairs by the window, watching the hobbits stroll by. I was immersed in my own world of dragons and warriors when Mrs Teagrass saw me. She smiled at Ruby, and then finger-whistled (what I called putting your fingers in your mouth and then whistling).
"STORE IS CLOSED FOR TODAY! EVERYBODY- OUT!" She then proceeded to shoo the lingering patrons out the door with a broom, and then turned to us. We hadn't budged because we had realized that she was making time for us in a very efficient way.
"How may I serve you young lasses today?" She said, making a grand curtsy. I grinned and clapped, and Ruby laughed.
"Diamond needs a dress. Finest one you can make her, with a wreath of flowers to match for her hair. She needs to look her best for the ball next week." Mrs Teagrass smiled and nodded.
"Aye, another one caught up in this whole mess? It seems like those young Messrs are going ta have their hands full picking a bride. Did ye know that the dwarves, I hear tell, have as many wives as they please! This be because of the lack of maidens in those dwarfish cities deep underground. Not that I can blame the lasses, I wouldn't want to be caught in all of that dank dirt, but considering that they are so lacking in lasses, one dwarf could have all of the ladies in the city!" Ruby cleared her throat at this pause in the chitchat and spoke up quickly.
"Ma'am, do you think white would look fine on Diamond? Or perhaps, blue, for her eyes?" Ruby was rightly interrupting Mrs Teagrass, who very well could sit and chat about the most mindless things for hours. It was enough to bore someone to tears, and I was glad of Ruby's boldness. But Mrs Teagrass picked her head right up from the measuring ribbon that she was using on my bosom at the moment, and shook her head furiously, mouth full of pins.
"Ner, ner adall. Ping's de ondy ride co'or fer a redead," she said, spewing spittle and a few pins. I tried not to squirm, but I couldn't help but quiver irritably at the word pink, or more rightly, ping. Why did I have to be a redhead? Pink was my least favorite color in the Shire. Mother couldn't force a pink frock over my head if she tied me down to a chair with my arms and legs restrained (that of which she did try and do, but I knocked the chair over). Ruby looked at me, and her eyes expanded, seeing the expression on my face. I shook my head resolutely, my mind having been made up.
"Mrs Teagrass, I implore you, make it blue or white. Even green or purple would do. Just not pink. Diamond hates pink." Ruby had crossed the room, and I could tell that it was all she could do to keep from dropping to her knees and begging. I nearly laughed out loud, but remembered the solemnity of the situation and bit my tongue.
"Rubigalia Crystalline, I must set my foot down. Pink is the only color I have enough of to make a lavish enough dress for Diamond, and lavish it shall be. So now, shoo, and I will go make it for you. Shoo! Before someone thinks that you two are special customers!" She winked, and pushed us out of the door.
"Trust Camomile Teagrass to make her own choices about someone else's purse," Ruby snorted. Ruby did not take kindly to being called Rubigalia, which was a delicate spring flower that died in the frost. It was grown in the Southfarthing, where the weather was the fairest, but just in the end of the last age, when Sharkey and his men came into the Shire, that a few brave hobbits brought the Rubigalia to the Northfarthing. Ruby did not like being referred to as "a delicate flower".
"Maybe, maybe the dress will still look nice," I tried to be optimistic, but Ruby would have none of it as we walked home that evening.
"Look in the mirror Di, look. Your red hair is so curly, look!-" she pulled on one of my locks and it bounced back into place-"and your eyes, such a deep blue, they are almost purple. Your face is fair and pale, except for a few freckles across your nose. Your hands have not seen work, and you are thin, not fat like some other lasses-"
"Basil Smallburrow," I murmured, thinking of a portly lass I used to know. I saw Ruby nod into the mirror. She pulled a small wreath of roses from her apron pocket, and placed it on my head. I leaned against her shoulder and sighed.
"I don't want to go. I don't want them to pick me," I sobbed quietly. She stroked my hair, and she smiled.
"Di, you would have nothing to fear with either of them. They are not like that Radamund Proudfoot that Emma got stuck with. I know them personally, and if they chose you, they would be wise indeed, except for your temper." She smiled, and I had to smile, too.
"Di, you are supposed to go get a new dress for this ball, so we had better take you to Mrs Teagrass's shop to be fitted," She got up from her perch on a stool and took my hand as she took me out the front door of our hole. That was one thing about Ruby I never understood. She would take you somewhere, but rarely explain where, and never give you a chance to decide whether you really even wanted to go there in the first place. I think the word for that was spontaneity but a more proper word was Ruby, because the word fit her like a glove.
Mrs Teagrass's shop was full of lasses all shouting and waving order slips at either the shopkeeper herself or one of her many apprentices taken on for such an occasion. Mrs Teagrass was a good friend of Mother's, and therefor, we were on visiting terms with her. She had promised Mother a dress for the wedding of one of us, but since Emma's dress was simply Mother's old one, the gift remained unused until that day.
I sat down in one of the free chairs by the window, watching the hobbits stroll by. I was immersed in my own world of dragons and warriors when Mrs Teagrass saw me. She smiled at Ruby, and then finger-whistled (what I called putting your fingers in your mouth and then whistling).
"STORE IS CLOSED FOR TODAY! EVERYBODY- OUT!" She then proceeded to shoo the lingering patrons out the door with a broom, and then turned to us. We hadn't budged because we had realized that she was making time for us in a very efficient way.
"How may I serve you young lasses today?" She said, making a grand curtsy. I grinned and clapped, and Ruby laughed.
"Diamond needs a dress. Finest one you can make her, with a wreath of flowers to match for her hair. She needs to look her best for the ball next week." Mrs Teagrass smiled and nodded.
"Aye, another one caught up in this whole mess? It seems like those young Messrs are going ta have their hands full picking a bride. Did ye know that the dwarves, I hear tell, have as many wives as they please! This be because of the lack of maidens in those dwarfish cities deep underground. Not that I can blame the lasses, I wouldn't want to be caught in all of that dank dirt, but considering that they are so lacking in lasses, one dwarf could have all of the ladies in the city!" Ruby cleared her throat at this pause in the chitchat and spoke up quickly.
"Ma'am, do you think white would look fine on Diamond? Or perhaps, blue, for her eyes?" Ruby was rightly interrupting Mrs Teagrass, who very well could sit and chat about the most mindless things for hours. It was enough to bore someone to tears, and I was glad of Ruby's boldness. But Mrs Teagrass picked her head right up from the measuring ribbon that she was using on my bosom at the moment, and shook her head furiously, mouth full of pins.
"Ner, ner adall. Ping's de ondy ride co'or fer a redead," she said, spewing spittle and a few pins. I tried not to squirm, but I couldn't help but quiver irritably at the word pink, or more rightly, ping. Why did I have to be a redhead? Pink was my least favorite color in the Shire. Mother couldn't force a pink frock over my head if she tied me down to a chair with my arms and legs restrained (that of which she did try and do, but I knocked the chair over). Ruby looked at me, and her eyes expanded, seeing the expression on my face. I shook my head resolutely, my mind having been made up.
"Mrs Teagrass, I implore you, make it blue or white. Even green or purple would do. Just not pink. Diamond hates pink." Ruby had crossed the room, and I could tell that it was all she could do to keep from dropping to her knees and begging. I nearly laughed out loud, but remembered the solemnity of the situation and bit my tongue.
"Rubigalia Crystalline, I must set my foot down. Pink is the only color I have enough of to make a lavish enough dress for Diamond, and lavish it shall be. So now, shoo, and I will go make it for you. Shoo! Before someone thinks that you two are special customers!" She winked, and pushed us out of the door.
"Trust Camomile Teagrass to make her own choices about someone else's purse," Ruby snorted. Ruby did not take kindly to being called Rubigalia, which was a delicate spring flower that died in the frost. It was grown in the Southfarthing, where the weather was the fairest, but just in the end of the last age, when Sharkey and his men came into the Shire, that a few brave hobbits brought the Rubigalia to the Northfarthing. Ruby did not like being referred to as "a delicate flower".
"Maybe, maybe the dress will still look nice," I tried to be optimistic, but Ruby would have none of it as we walked home that evening.