1 Sam's Tale

Reviews coveted and appreciated!

"I asks, yes, I asks. And it that isn't nice enough, I begs!"

Author: Nilramiel@aol.com, aka RosieCotton



Genre: General/Romance

Setting: The Shire, year 1419

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Chapter 2: The Lady's Gift

Rating: G

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Sam was kept very busy once the ruffians were driven from the Shire. There was so much to do that, although Sam and Frodo stayed with the Cottons for many weeks, Rosie had no opportunity to speak privately with Sam. She watched him closely; however, and she caught him looking at her many times, and the look in his eyes encouraged her, though he always ducked his head swiftly when he realized she was looking. "I'll wait a bit," said Rosie to herself, "He's not ready yet, to have a real talk. He's still in this adventure, though they've come back. He needs all of his mind clear to help Mr. Frodo and the others setting the Shire to rights. I've waited a long time yet, I can bear a bit more." So Rosie waited, but she was as sweet and kindly to Sam as an elfmaiden, and she did not know it, but he was also watching her.

Once the lockholes had been emptied, and the legal system put back in order, the hobbits set to work rebuilding Bagshot Row. Sam and his Gaffer did much of the work restoring the Gardens around the New Row. Hamfast Gamgee worked especially hard on the Bag End Garden. "I want ye to see nought but beauty when you look out yer window," he told Frodo on the morning that the brick was laid around the perimeter of the South garden. "Ye've seen enough ugliness and darkness for two lifetimes, from what my Sam tells me." Frodo said nothing, but placed his arm over the older man's shoulders and squeezed them gently in appreciation.

Sam was most grieved by the loss of the trees. His tender gardener's heart was broken when he had seen the destruction caused by Saruman's evil designs. All the while when they were working on Bag End, he spoke of the trees. "Why, it'll be generations before the Shire is back as it should be!" he exclaimed to Merry one day, "My grandchildren will be lucky to see it as we have, all green with new spring, and the birds nestin' in every yard. It tears me up, it does!" And the other travelers (as they called themselves) could not console Sam on this particular point, although he remained cheerful overall, and put his back into all the extra work that was set before him.

One day, many weeks after returning to the Shire, Sam was whistling up the path to New Row #3 when a sudden gust of wind caught him in the face. The breeze was from the west, and it was full of sweet smells. Sam stopped to inhale deeply. "Almost smells like elves, it does," he said to himself, and like a shock he remembered the Lady Galadriel, and her gift to him at their parting. He ran like a deer the rest of the way up the path and, passing #3, burst into Bag End.

Frodo, Merry, and Pippin looked up from the table in surprise. Although Bag End was not yet remodeled, it had become a place of retreat and meeting for the Travelers. The four hobbits spent a great deal of time there, sitting 'round the provender and recounting details of their journey (though there were a few things they did not speak of), and discussing, as Merry put it, "Things what need doing!"

"What Sam?!" exclaimed Frodo, "You know you've leave to enter without a knock, whenever you wish, but must you burst in, like one of Gandalf's fireworks?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Frodo," said Sam, a bit breathlessly, "but I've just remembered - the Lady's Gift! Her gift to me in Lorien. Do you remember?"

"Yes, Sam, of course I remember," laughed Frodo, "And I wondered when you would think of it."

"Well," said Sam, "I haven't so much as opened it. And just now, I smelt the breeze, and it reminded me of elves, and well, I think it's time to take a peek inside, if you take my meaning. The thought came to me sudden like. You still have it, don't you Mr. Frodo?"

"Yes, Sam. It is safe in the chest. Draw it out, and we shall have a look!"

Sam went to the back room, where Frodo kept a small but sturdy chest. It was made special for him by Elrond's folk, to keep the treasures of his journey in, for some of their things were too precious even for Michal Delving, and besides, the mathom hall would not open again for many weeks. Sam had pressed his gift into Frodo's keeping, having no chest of his own, and knowing that it would be safest among Sting, and the elven cloaks, and the Phial of Galadriel.

Sam knelt and opened the chest, and carefully lifting aside his master's mithril coat, saw the box. It wasn't particularly beautiful, although the wood was smooth and the lid fitted flawlessly over the top. Carven upon the lid was a single letter: G. "For Galadriel, or for Garden," he whispered, remembering.

He drew the box out, and replaced the mithril coat reverently, running his fingers over the cool silver, and thinking of all that had befallen them.

He vividly remembered the first time he had run his fingers across that miraculous coat, in Moria. Moments before, he had feared Frodo dead, His mind had clouded with panic and his heart had cramped painfully in his chest. But Frodo had been alive. Bruised, but alive. Sam had reached out, fingers trembling, to touch the mithril coat that had stood between his master and death…

"Sam!" called Pippin from the front room, (somewhat indistinctly, as his mouth was full of cake),"What's keeping you? I'd like to see your box, if you've a mind to share it!"

Sam sighed and closed the chest, fastening the clasps securely. Then picking up the precious box, he trotted back to the front of the house.

"Ah, here you are," said Merry, between bites, "We thought maybe you'd slipped down to the cellar for a beer!"

"Nah, just thinkin' of old things," Sam said, sitting down, and he laid the box on the table. The others nodded. They often thought of "old things" themselves, both fair and foul. "But I would surely like a beer, if you've got it handy, and a bite!" said Sam, "I didn't realize it but I am that hungry."

Merry pushed his plate toward Sam, who took a few bites, and Frodo poured his friend a drink.

Pippin picked up the box and examined it. "And what's inside, Sam?" he asked, turning it over in his hand. It was not much larger than his palm, but heavy.

"Let's see," said Sam, "The Lady said it was earth from her garden." He took the box from Pippin and turned it upright, gently working the lid loose. It was snug, but it slipped off easily enough, and when the hobbits looked inside they saw it was filled almost to the top with gray dust, soft and fine.

"What shall I do with it?" Sam asked his companions, although ideas were already forming in his gardener's mind.

"Throw it into the air on a breezy day, and let it do its work," suggested Pippin.

"No, pick one spot as a nursery, Sam, and see what it does to the plants there," countered Merry.

"But I'm sure the Lady wouldn't like me to keep it all for my own garden, now so many folk have suffered," said Sam.

"Dear Sam," said Frodo, "Always thinking of everyone but yourself. But in this I think you are right. Use all the wits and knowledge you have of your own, Sam, and then use the gift to help your work and better it."

Sam looked at Frodo and nodded. His master was, as Sam had always believed, one of the wisest hobbits in the Shire.

"And, Sam," added Frodo, his deep blue eyes serious, "Use it sparingly. There is not much here, and I expect every grain has a value."

Sam took one finger and carefully dipped it into the center of the silty substance, and almost at once touched something harder. Ever so gently, he brushed the soil away and lo! Buried in the center was a seed, like a small nut with a silver shale.

"I know exactly what I will do with this," said Sam confidently, and he brushed the dirt carefully from his fingers back into the box. He slid the lid back on, and placed the little treasure into his breast pocket.

~TBC~

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Acknowledgements: The characters, setting, and much of the dialog belong to J.R.R. Tolkien, and I give full credit to him. This story focuses on the relationship of Samwise Gamgee and Rose Cotton, and it is how I imagine the events following the Hobbits' return to the Shire following the War of the Ring and King Aragorn's coronation and marriage. If you have read the book, The Return of the King, you will find the events and much of the dialogue familiar. I have tried to "fill in the gaps," regarding Sam's courtship to Rose Cotton. Sam is my favorite character in Tolkien's work, and this is written with the deepest respect for both Tolkien and the noble Samwise.

Rating: The first several chapters are rated G; however, eventually I may include a sweet romantic chapter, or more than one, involving Sam and his Rose.