Chapter 2 - The Moving Party
At first, it was just Paladin and company offloading the boxes and setting up housekeeping in the new Smial. After some time, though, other members of Great Smials, curious and otherwise, came around and offered their help; the moving party number grew to four times as many who first started out. Pretty soon, the kitchen was declared clean enough to cook and serve in, and a fire was started in the hearth to make ready for supper.
In the mean time, all furniture was placed in their respective rooms and bedrooms, and arranged by their owners. Eglantine assigned a job to every member of her family--including her husband--the budding Thain. Everyone rolled up their sleeves and got to work on cleaning up the new home. Paladin was given the task of cleaning out the chimney flues (Frodo and Sam offered their help), Pearl and Pim were in the washroom scrubbing it from top to bottom; Merry and Pippin were outside beating the tapestries and rugs--if any were still intact. They were also instructed to beat out the mattresses, however, when they opened the door to one of the bedrooms, the bed went up to Merry's chest. They would not be able to lift the mattress, let alone take it out to beat it. So they did what any other hobbit child or tween would do; they jumped on it (Pippin was especially good at this!). As odd as it sounds, it wasn't all fun and games; Merry nearly choked on all the dust that flew out as he stomped with all his might on what was supposed to be the Thain's personal state bed. "Ferumbras knew what he was doing when he stayed in his tunnel!" Merry coughed and covered his mouth as he spoke.
Everyone was helping in some fashion to help the prospective Thain move in. The air was filled with a happy kind of energy; Ivanbold, a second cousin of Paladin's from the Isenbold line, killed two of his fattest pigs and they all had the largest feast any Took had seen in a long while. A celebration, it was called thereafter; the "new" Thain had come! Ferumbras was now well up in age, and everyone knew that Paladin had been his unofficial "assistant" for the past few years.
Paladin broke out several casks of his home brewed ale, and after a well-fed group of hobbits started in on them, the dancing began. At first someone brought out a fiddle, then a flute appeared, and then Pippin sat down and pounded out rhythms on an empty barrel as a makeshift drum. Merry danced with most of his female Took cousins--naturally after a mug of ale himself! He had the most fun dancing with Pervinca, and oh, they laughed at themselves! Pervinca didn't have much experience in how to properly dance, so they improvised; Merry was laughing so hard, tears were streaming down his cheeks! Pervinca collapsed in a fit of giggles not far from her cousin.
Pearl was eyeballing all the young bachelors along with her sister Pim. They also found they had suddenly become very popular among the tween lasses. A whole crowd of them gathered round and rivaled for the company of Paladin's daughters. Pearl was whispering a juicy secret to one new friend when her cousin Frodo came and asked her to dance. "No pretty young lass such as you should be without a dance partner!" Pearl blushed in spite of the fact that Frodo was her cousin. Pearl accepted his offer, and before they left, Frodo nudged his shy friend standing next to him, then Sam snapped to and bowed to the other lass in front of him, "Pleased to meet your acquaintance, Miss Pimpernel; may I have this dance with you?"
Pim laughed at Sam's bashful nature, then she smiled, "It would be a pleasure, Sam!" Everyone in the Shire knew Rosie was his heart, and Pim appreciated Sam's chivalrous offer; she stood up and curtsied, then took his arm as all four hobbit lads and lasses were off to dance the night away.